Toby’s Birthday at Club Med!

Good evening beautiful blog readers, commenters, and lurkers.

Today started off bright and early for room K (and Logan) who arose at 5:45 AM and made the trek to Graham Harbor to see the sun rise. Even a couple of our resident sickos (Shannon and Madi) made the journey despite their sniffling and coughing. We made it out to one of the rocky cliffsides and sat amongst some snails and friendly hermit crabs for the viewing of the dazzling pink and yellow glow above the sea. We then, unfortunately, had to leave as our stomachs were rumbling in anticipation of our daily Gerace kitchen breakfast. We made it back to the research center with one minute to spare, soon appeasing our hunger with pancakes and bacon. 

After breakfast, excitement began to build amongst us as we had a very exciting day ahead of us. We were going to Club Med! Somehow, the lovely people at the local all inclusive resort decided to allow us hooligans in for a day. As we got ready to depart, we put on our very nicest clothes and made ourselves look like presentable members of society for the first time since our arrival on the island. We then loaded up truck Y promptly at 9:45 and started a windy ride to the resort (much to the dismay of many of us who had just done our hair). Entering Club Med took a few minutes, as Mike had to help check us all in and convince the resort staff that we actually belonged there. Once we got in, Mike showed us the lay of the land and then let us disperse like larvae (fun marine ecology fact for the day, since today was more-or-less a free day after our month of hard work: the larvae of many marine organisms often travel great distances by ocean currents, which allows them to disperse away from their parent organisms and settle somewhere else. This increases genetic diversity (which is good!)). Anyways, after we (the larvae) dispersed, many different adventures were had. Some of us scurried to get iced lattes and second breakfast (like hobbits). We were absolutely in awe of the beautiful spread of fresh fruit, fresh squeezed juice, and pastries. 

After this, a group of us decided to hit the pool, where we were quickly swept into a water aerobics class, in which we were led by an extremely energetic Frenchman wearing head to toe neon. We were definitely showed up by our  elderly counterparts in the pool (but in our defense, we suspect that they had done this before). We all had a blast (and even broke a sweat!) and by the time the class had finished it was time for lunch. Lunch was an overwhelming experience for all of us, one of our group members swears she met god at the doors of the desert room (Yes, there was a desert room). 

After lunch, the group once again dispersed, many of us heading to the beach. There was volleyball, a few lovely games of spikeball, a sailboat excursion, attempted paddle boarding, and a whole lot of much needed lounging. Before we knew it, it was time to hand in our towels (oh, how nice clean towels are……we had all forgotten the luxury of fluffy, freshly laundered linens…..) and hit the road. And back to Gerace we went! 

At dinner, we celebrated Toby’s birthday (happy birthday, Toby!!!), with the Gerace kitchen making yet another delicious cake for us. Shout out to Paola for supplying the candles! The rest of the night was spent relaxing, playing games, and working on some upcoming figure analyses and research project presentations and papers. 

Toby’s Club Med Birthday Review: “The sailboat was exciting, wet, and scary. Also, desert! Also, FRESH FRUIT! I think that encapsulates my entire Club Med time.”

Thats all for today, folks! 

Goodnight kisses,

Madi, Shannon, and Toby <3