ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (November 25, 2009) – Rutgers women’s basketball begins play at the 10th annual Paradise Jam on Thursday, Nov. 26 with a 6:00 p.m. EST contest against Southern California. Senior Brittany Ray was a freshman in 2006 when the Scarlet Knights last spent Thanksgiving in the tropical paradise. She catches you up on what she and her teammates have been up to.
“It feels so good to be in warm weather for Thanksgiving, but then again I miss my family. Both Myia (McCurdy) and Rah’s (Junaid) families can substitute for now (they both made the trip) as they have been wonderful in the absence of my family for the past three years now.
We landed on Tuesday morning, the first of eight teams participating in the Paradise Jam to arrive in St. Thomas. Fun, fun, fun has been the theme for the past two days since we got here on Tuesday. Yesterday, the team enjoyed an hour of sun-filled fun jet-skiing in the cool and so blue "that it looks like light blue Gatorade" waters of the Virgin Islands. I had the opportunity to drive the jet-ski this time and had the honor of driving my athletic trainer Lori Uretsky. The jet-ski instructor (Ramon) specifically said to keep the speed between 10-15 mph, but at one instance I was doing 23 mph. I swore that Lori fell off the ski because of all the water that was splashing in my face and all the waves I was hitting, I almost went out of control. Thank goodness I gained control back and she didn't fall off. It would have been hard to explain to her family how I was responsible for the drowning of their loved one.
Later that evening, we enjoyed the cuisine of a local restaurant called Havana Blue and although it took forever to get our food (we get hungry very easily with all our hard workouts!)- let me tell you that the food was delicious. I had skirt steak with cilantro-chorizo mash and fried crispy onions. Three words to describe it, Oh My Gosh!!!!!!
Today was even better. After practice and lunch, we went on a short boat ride to the reef and then snorkeling. Everyone was so excited! We saw an array of creatures, fish, stingrays, turtles, sea urchins and coral reef. The salt water got caught in my eye a couple of times but hey, you gotta take the good with the bad. We also had fun jumping off the side of the boat after our snorkeling tour was over. Nikki (Speed) and Chrissy (Huber) were the best in that department and made the biggest splashes (plus the both are pretty good divers). We soaked in the sun on the boat on the ride back to the hotel. Once we returned our fun was halted with study hall (we are students, too, after all) and then had about an hour to relax before dinner. As I write this, we are currently in the gondola, riding up the mountain to have a nice dinner. I'm so excited, this ride brings back memories of my first time coming to the Virgin Islands as a freshman in 2006. So far, the Paradise Jam has been extremely enjoyable- we know the fun will stop as the games will begin. (not that the games aren’t fun!)
After the gondola ride, we amused ourselves by watching a parrot show. The parrots were adorable, they showed us their tricks. They played basketball, rode bikes, and even showed us they could add (4+2=6). We finally ended our evening with a great meal outside with the lights of the Virgin Islands beneath us (breathe deeply and imagine!) So far, Paradise has been good to us and we hope it continues with three wins! J Check out the photos that our SID Stacey (Brann) has taken! We are camera hogs!”
