February was definitely a great month, both on and off tour. For starters... my birthday is on the 2nd, Groundhogs day!
Did anyone catch whether we're going to be having more weeks of winter or not? I never caught it.
Anyhow, after a wonderful celebration of my twenty-fourth year of existence, I arrived at LAX yet again at 4am for a flight to the Bahamas. Our arrival that afternoon allowed us to still watch the sun set on the beaches of this beautiful island. Our driver was delightfully well-informed in the history and inhabitants of the island listing fun facts at each turn of the road. It was when we starting crossing a bridge from the mainland Bahama island, to the private island of the world famous Atlantis resort that we all paused for a few moments to truly take in this flawless island. It had 4 hotels, one room was famously stayed in by Michael Jackson at a crazy 30,000 dollars a night. I don't think I need to even mention that I didn't stay anywhere near that... or in that price range... but the trip was still amazing in my eyes.The first thing we did when we arrived was eat and napped. All of our luggage had been delayed so I chose not to go out and sleep early to be able to enjoy the morning sun.
Sure enough, at the crack of dawn I was awake and ready to run amuck. I started solo at the Dolphin Cay where I got to swim and play with dolphins. It was about an hour experience that started with a tutorial of their daily life and an interactive swim, pet and play with dolphins. I have a keen liking for dolphins in general so this was definitely something I wanted to invest in. Could you imagine the job of the trainers there? They get to swim and play with dolphins all day! (not that my job is bad… just another cool one)
From there I met up with the others and foundour way to the beach (which was just steps away) to go jet skiing. All of us got our own jet ski and next thing you know almost ten of us are creating waves in the fluorescent blue/green ocean. There was another private island off of our island that wasn’t even large enough for a bedroom but it was told to us that it was off limits and not to go that far out into the ocean. So of course… we all agreed and went straight to that island. We only rented them for thirty minutes, and it took most of that time to get out there and back, but we tore up the Atlantic ocean none the less. It took all of the jet ski owners to flag us all in and get us to come back to shore. We didn’t want it to end… but we didn’t want to spend another fifty bucks for 30 minutes.
Instead, we wanted to spend our other 50 bucks on para sailing. This was the first time I’d ever been para sailing and it is something I suggest for anyone to do if they get an opportunity! Especially in such clear waters. It’s one thing to look at an ocean from your hotel room, or a plane, or even from a boat… but to sit thirty or forty feet in the air and simply hover over the ocean for miles is a truly breathtaking experience. I kept looking for wild dolphins or sharks or anything of the sort. I think the area was a popular touristy area and just outside the coast where cruise ships disembark, so I didn’t expect too much wildlife.
Interesting story to follow that as our boat was taking us back in, Naka and I tried to get the driver of the small boat to drop us off in front of our hotel (which was around the way from where most everyone else unloads from boats). He was cool, so he agreed and pulled around the cove only to find that there was a net close to shore that rang along the shore a few miles to keep wildlife from coming up to the beach and the guests. We found a small break in the net and took the small boat up to shore. As our boat approached the white sand, Naka and I stood up to jump out of the boat when in the two feet deep water we saw a baby shark about four feet long! It was insane! People were snorkeling ten yards from this crazy creature.
Obviously we were there to work... so that evening, Super Bowl Sunday, timed between halves of the game... we rocked out on the beautiful beach for a show for the guests of the hotel. It was a quick show and so many people were interested in the the Giants vs the Patriots that it went quick. The beach made for a musty, slippery and sandy stage. All of the factors that make for great dancing (sarcasm).
Our last night in the Bahamas we went to Aura, the hottest nightclub on the island... the club was cool, but not really that packed and we were exhausted from a long day in the sun, so Rachael and I took pictures around the cool hotel.
From the Bahamas we traveled to New York for the Madonna/Gucci fund raising event to perform at the United Nations for an auction thats money went to support the research, awareness, etc for HIV/AIDS in Africa. These children from Uganda performed at the opening and talking to them was truly humbling.
We went back to Los Angeles after this for Grammy weekend. Our first stop was a private show that 'In Style' magazine put on for the hosh posh of Hollywood. 
As soon as we arrived on Thursday, we went to a sound check for a show that consisted of a fashion show and ended with Rihanna closing the evening in a show.The next morning we were in rehearsals for the Grammy performance with Morris Day. We were doing his "Jungle Love" into Rihanna's "Umbrella" into her "Don't Stop the Music." I've never performed at the Grammy's before, so it was an honor to be able to join in this performance. It was amazing to see the audience give us a standing ovation! (I know I'm hardly the reason they did, but amazed to have been a part of a group that got one) The Grammy's were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and we were in the first fifteen minutes of the show, so as soon as we performed, we booked it out of there to avoid the aftermath traffic. I made it home in time to watch it air live on television (since it was being filmed o
n eastern ti
me).
