November 22, 2007
After a long day of travel on Tuesday, we finally made it to our destination and it was well worth the wait. We began our day by loading the bus up at 6 a.m. in College Station to catch our flight to the U.S. Virgin Islands from Houston. From there, we stopped in Florida and had about a three-hour layover which was enough time to study, relax and people watch in the Miami International Airport. To pass the time, Gulley, Sydney and I went to Starbucks and I ordered my personal favorite, a strawberry frappucino with chocolate chips. On the plane, we used Danielle Gant?â„¢s camera to record Sydney sleeping and boy was that a sight to get on tape!
Once we arrived in St. Thomas, we boarded an open-air safari bus and it was a crazy drive to the hotel! The Island natives drive on the opposite side of the street here and the lanes are so narrow and windy. It was definitely an experience. We took pictures and had a great time. When we arrived at the hotel around 10:30 p.m., we were all in search of food. The friendly hotel staff stayed open for us as we enjoyed a meal of fish and chips and fruit punch. Then, it was lights out to get some much-needed sleep for our snorkeling tour in the morning.
Did you know that iguanas here are common like squirrels around our campus back home in College Station? The next morning, we were greeted by several iguanas as we waited for our catamaran on the hotel dock. We were too scared to play or feed them, but Sydney was brave enough to chase one. The locals say they are attracted by toenail polish, so those of us who had flip flops on, kept our distance.
As we sailed away from our hotel, a couple of us got a little seasick and didn?â„¢t get into the water. Instead, we enjoyed watching the rest of our teammates and coaches snorkel in the clearest blue water I?â„¢ve ever seen. Katy, Reado, Aqua, Micheaux, Ashlaa and Damitria all said they saw sea turtles and stingrays during their underwater adventures.
Once we got back to the hotel, we enjoyed some free time on our own. I ran into players from Connecticut, Stanford and Duke (teams playing in the St. Thomas Division at the Paradise Jam). We all played together in the McDonald?â„¢s High School All-American Game this past summer including Duke?â„¢s Jasmine Thomas and Connecticut?â„¢s Lorin Dixon and Maya Moore. Even though I am unable to play right now (due to a season-ending torn ACL injury), it?â„¢s just a good experience to come down here and watch and cheer on my teammates and grow from it and learn.
My four months so far at Texas A&M has been a learning experience. It is definitely a big transition from high school to college. My favorite class on campus is Management 105 taught by Dr. Welch. I currently live with Sydney and Maryann, so this trip has given us a nice little break from each other, especially with Sydney being the class clown of the team (LOL).
I am really going to miss my family this year over the Thanksgiving holiday, especially the turkey my mother prepares for us and the sweet potato pie only my grandmother can make. But, I am very thankful to have the opportunity to go to college and be around all of the good people down here at A&M. They are just like my family back home in Kansas City and I?â„¢m very proud to be a part of the Aggie Family.
We are preparing for Wichita State right now in practice and then we will be off to the tournament welcome party this evening at Paradise Point. I hear we will be taking gondolas up to the highest-point in the USVI. Our game will be on a tape-delayed broadcast on the radio tomorrow night, but you should be able to keep up with our game score on the Sportsticker since we are now ranked No. 10 in the nation. Until next time ?...
Happy Thanksgiving and BTHOWSU!
Tyra White is a freshman guard from Kansas City, Mo., and is majoring in journalism at Texas A&M