For those of you who don't know us (or don't know both of us) we chose to do a joint-blog venture because it seemed more likely that we would actually post with some sort of regularity. Also, since chances are we will be doing roughly 90% of our activities together, having two blogs with the exact same experiences seemed a little excessive. We will break up the fonts to hopefully make it easier for everyone to recognize who is writing what (or make it more confusing). If you see this font, it's Kelley. If you see this font, it's Maria.


We will start with a little background information for those of you who only know us as unique individuals. Approximately three years ago, we were both living on the same floor in our dorm building at the University of Miami. 


I woke up bright and early one fine Tuesday in September for my first Calculus lab, and immediately felt ill. I slowly maneuvered my way down my lofted bed and into the communal bathroom, where Maria was doing her normal morning routine, though I didn't know who she was. It suddenly became very imperative that I get back to my room to lie down. As I made toward the exit, my vision went black. I woke up a few seconds later, lying on the cold, wet, and exceedingly disgusting bathroom floor, staring up into Maria's foaming mouth (she was brushing her teeth).


Side note: This same thing had happened to me before in a bathroom at a hotel in Vermont (I broke a toilet with my head) and would happen to me again a year later in my bathroom at my new dorm room (my head missed the toilet). I don't know why it happens, all I know is that it's been almost two years without another instance and I'm overdue. 


It's been said that there are two sides to every story: here's mine.  It was a Tuesday morning and I was about to have my first ever biology quiz.  I was brushing my teeth and minding my own business when suddenly a figure emerged from the shower area.  She stood in the doorway of the bathroom and the longer she stood there, the more confused I became.  Was she drunk?  High?  Both?  I swear that I took my eyes off her for one second, and then suddenly she was on the floor.  I was so concerned/overwhelmed that I didn't even bother to remove the toothbrush from my mouth, which is why I looked like I had rabies when Kelley opened her eyes.  And that's how we met!


So even after that rough start, through the years we have become friends, and we were fortunately able to schedule our study abroad experience at the same time and at the same place. And that brings us to now!


We met up in Los Angeles yesterday to start the trip, and were picked up at the airport by my uncle Tom. After dropping our bags off at the apartment, Maria and I decided to go take a walk by the beach, which was only a few minutes walk away. 

The pier

I wanted to feel the Pacific Ocean.

It was cold.

For whatever reason, there were a large number of bees that were on the beach. I'm not sure why, all I know is I stepped on one and got stung. At the first feeling of pain, I ran through a list of poisonous marine life that lives on this side of the country that I could have possibly trod upon, but it was Maria who made the connection between the bees camping out/dying in the sand and the sharp pain in my foot.

We went to dinner in Santa Monica with my aunt and uncle, returned to the apartment and went to bed.

We spent the majority of today just hanging around the apartment. We walked around town for a little while with my aunt, visiting a farmer's market and some unique restaurants and stores (stopping by a CVS to stock up on snack food for the 10 hour flight ahead of us).

Our plane takes off at 11:30 PM tonight, and we are slated to arrive in Nadi, Fiji at 5:30 AM on July 8th (July 7th, 2011 will never exist to us...).

In Fiji we're hoping to do some snorkeling, visit the Sri Siva Subramaniya temple, and explore a little.  It looks as though we won't have internet access there, so look for our next blog post to be after we get to Australia (we're arriving in Sydney on the 10th at 11:40 AM their time...which is a 14 hour time difference for those who live in the Eastern time zone of the U.S.).  

One last thing: we should probably explain our title. Kelley and I are obsessed with the show Top Gear (the British version, of course).  For those of you who've never seen it: watch it NOW! 

Basically, one of the presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, usually pauses when he describes something as being the best (or the worst)... in the world. It became an inside joke between the two of us, and we thought it was an appropriate title for our blog which will follow us traveling around... the world.

Hopefully we will have internet soon and will update when we can!