I thought this island was so cute, and probably overlooked much of the time because it's grandeur doesn't quite match it's surroundings. I wanted to honour its existance. "Hello, cute island! I would live on you!"

Do you see how green it is? And filler green! The nature was so thick with greenery in places that there was no way of seeing through it. We have green in the desert, but it's not the same. We have trees that have a few desperate leaves of pallor green that are straining to stay alive. Vainly holding on to any bit of health, they are beaten by the merciless heat, barage of dust, and lack of water. To drive by plants that were not only alive, but thriving and lush was much too emotional of an experience for me. It's in overwhelmingly happy moments like this that I step back mentally from the situation and take special note of the blessing that is at hand. Often, I will say to myself, knowing that there is more to come, "Even if this was all there was to my trip/experience, I would be happy." I try to live in the moment and let the joy of it wash over me and take presidence over anything else. No pressing matter, future schedule, hopeful wishes or even promise of chocolate can break my grasp on that particular experience. I must FEEL it and make it mine forever. I felt the nature. I felt its effect on me and I'll be escaping to that moment at least 300 times in the next months.

At this point in the trip, I was still behaving myself in the dietary sense: listening to my body and avoiding as many carbs as possible because they just didn't make me "feel good." As a matter of fact, I had sent the flight attendant into a spiral of confusion when I refused the dinner and only wanted a glass of water. "You don't want to eat?" "No, thank you, I've eaten a lot already, thank you."

Things were about to change.