All posts in SEA

…With the added chance of drowning.

Oh, and it’s snowing right now in Woods Hole. How fitting. When I got here there was snow on the ground, and as we leave, there’s snow falling.

The shore component of the program has been quite interesting and fun. At the end of the day, it’s how we’ve built a family. You can’t change your family, so you accept them as they are, and hope they do the same with you. You work together and play together, and appreciate every bit of them, and you love them for who they are. I know I do. And having lost most people yesterday to their parents or drives home, I already miss them, and cannot wait to reunite (hopefully sans any snowboarding injuries, Chelsea).

I’ve been trying for the longest time to upload a video of two of us racing to put on our survival suits, but the internet connection has not improved one bit since we got here.

Kat Conway trying on the flexibility of the foul weather gear, and Tim A and myself with our survival suits on.

So, its time to put on all of our learning into practice. We’ve learned the basics of sailing and navigation, but it’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together out in the Caribbean waters.

The schedule is: Monday, fly into Puerto Rico, spend a few days meandering the island, maybe a little beach action. Then Wednesday morning fly to St. Croix, go snorkeling with our Chief Scientist, Jeff, to collect data for our coral diversity and health project, and then hopefully a tour of a Rum Distillery.

Thursday, a tour of a sugar mill (St. Croix and the Caribbean in general have an extensive and complex history with sugar production) and then report to the SSV Corwith Cramer at 1400. We’ll be sailing to St. Martin the next day.

Then we’ll make stops in Samaná, Dominican Republic; Port Antonio, Jamaica (and Discovery Bay), returning to Key West on May 9th. I’ll stay on board as a deckhand, and help bring the ship back to Charleston, SC.

Taking photos while riding a bike — not easy.

Also, I’d like to take a moment to introduce some of my shipmates and, through good times and bad, my family for the next few months.

Arianna.

Sarah, who is probably doing something illegal in that photo.

John Paul.

JP, Hilary and Tim B.

We decided to stop by the aquarium in Woods Hole again!

And then on the way back, we stopped at a coffee shop, of course, then took more photos along the way.

Mel, this is for you. Putting to use the self-portrait-taking skills.

Feeling wicked smart after a visit to Cambridge, Ma — home to Harvard University. A remarkably similar place to UNC, the campus was astonishingly beautiful. There were smart looking people all over the place, probably made to look much smarter by the lovely, warm weather experienced this weekend. Following two weeks of awful weather (remember I’m from Panama via Arizona, anything but warm and blue, sunny skies is bad weather to me), warmth made the weekend feel even more fantastic.

Sitting on the T today, I had the strangest thought: that people here just LOOK different. I’m not sure I can really explain exactly how, but they do. Maybe it’s bone structure, or even something simpler like fashion, but either way, I’m not sure why it struck me as odd. Of course people look different, why should that stand out in any way? And yet, to me, it did.

Things here in Woods Hole are going fast yet slow, because I’m itching to get out to the Caribbean. Captain Steve has asked if any of the students are interested in, once the official program ends in Key West, sailing the ship back up to Charleston, South Carolina as deckhands. It would extend my stay on the ship till May 20th (instead of finishing on the 9th). I mean, it’s not like I’m in a hurry to get back to real life. Think I should do it?

Last Friday, we went to see one of our teachers, Mary Malloy, play in a concert with a local symphony. It was great to reconnect with music, even though it was a far cry from Judas Priest and the like. Not only was the music fantastic (the violin soloist was out of control good), but I also enjoyed  getting a glimpse at a little piece of community life here in Woods Hole/Falmouth. It’s so different from Arizona. This whole experience feels as though I’m living in an alternate universe. I wish I could explain better. Maybe eventually I’ll be able to come up with the words. Hopefully soon.

I’m heading down to Puerto Rico on March 29th, and then St. Croix on March, 31st. So if you have any suggestion on things to do or see in those places, let me know. I think we’ll just relax by the beach. Lord knows it’s the last bit of comfort we’ll probably have for a while — the SSV Corwith Cramer not being a capacious luxury liner. Sadly, after that date, I will probably be off the internet till we get to the different ports. I’ll take my laptop with me though, and hopefully continue to edit photos as I go along, and put them online when I get the chance.

I’ll just sneak into a hotel and steal their wi-fi.