A glimpse into paradise

 Dearest gentle readers,

Today marks a day of new friends and new enemies. A late night battle over a spare box fan meant our early wake up call was extra hard today. Early risers woke up at 5:45 while the room full of sleepy, less cool, sweaty sleepers didn’t get up until 6:20 (probably due to the fact we didn’t have ac🤨). Breakfast was another day of pancakes and sausages with a less warm kitchen staff at the ripe time of 7am. After quickly eating, we loaded the truck (finally reunited with truck G!) to head to club med for our boat launch. Angie, Eric, and Maurika spent a luxurious day there yesterday so they served as our tour guides. We practiced our French with Simón (bonjour 🥖👨‍🎨) who proceeded to spell every one of our names wrong (even after we after we spelled them out loud). We scoped out an old shipwreck from a barge that capsized in 1902 (which was then bombed by the US military- “classic americans” said Simón). There were lots of black durgon, blue tang, and sergeant majors. Then we moved to our next location, where we explored the edge of the reef aka the drop off. Some searched for sharks while others hid behind their snorkel buddies. We did spot a shark sized barracuda who tailed us backed to the boat. After a failed photo attempt, the crew thought we looked in need of saving and dove in after us. Mike was showed up by his snorkeling ability, leaving many in the class impressed. After being herded back to the boat, Simón graciously allowed us to jump off the top of the boat and eventually the whole class was peer pressured into it. With sufficient sea water ingested, peeling sun burns, and no new bug bites, we headed back to shore and bid adieu to our new French friends. We returned to reality (aka truck g and no see ums) but with a pit stop at Wendy’s first. It was soon time for lunch where we feasted on grilled cheese and “some type of stew”. We were also introduced to a new drink- deemed “pink drink”- which we slurped up, leaving us full and quenched 😋. From there, the class split up into our research groups to brainstorm project ideas. We were supposed to meet with Mike at 3 to tell him our proposals, but his mid day nap took precedent 🙄. The break was appreciated though, as many caught up on past work or played card games. When Mike finally appeared, groups were met with his iron fist and many hopes were crushed. Projects were finalized and it was finally time for dinner. The usual schedule resumed with class in the evening (this time lead by Angie!). We discussed the microbial and chemical makeup of seagrass beds. As we write this, we are preparing for our nightly no see um battles, coconut oil slathering rituals, and peaceful goodnights. 

We’ll be thinking of you,

Kailee 🫶🏻 and Abby 🫶🏼