Learning is what we have been doing
these past few days. With the test on Tuesday and ID presentations also due on
Tuesday, everybody has been busy doing something. Not to mention all the rain
we are getting, everybody seems like they can’t wait till lectures are over and
the sun finally comes out. It seems like here in Jamaica, the days are long and
never ending. For our wet lab collections, my group has collected a lot of cool
things like sea urchins, algae, and a bunch of snails. One thing that we just
added to our collection on Monday was the upside down jellyfish that we
spotted. I had to use my fin to sweep the jellyfish into the bag while my
partner collected it, as we were both afraid that the jellyfish would sting
us.  The other day my partner and I saw a
balloon fish and failed to catch it with our fin-scoop technique. No matter
what we did the very slow balloon fish was uncatchable.

            Other than
the 9 mosquito bites I got, the burn/sting that I got from snorkeling, and the
cold showers, I think I am starting to adapt to Jamaica. I can’t wait till I
get this test over with and start with the research project and visit other areas
of Jamaica. The only thing I have to do now is to finish studying a bunch of
Latin names for the test, which is going to drive me nuts.

-Lawrence

This was the fish that we were
trying to catch for like 20 minutes. I tried hitting it with my fins but it
never worked.

This was the jelly fish that we
caught using the fin-scoop technique.