Like watching the sun rise as you wake up for a voluntary 6:30 pre-breakfast dive, or getting your favorite cheap t-shirt back after being reunited with your luggage [ed: Roxane grabbed the wrong suitcase at the airport!  But has gotten her bag back!]. Fortunately these little things also come with the incredible opportunity of traveling to Jamaica during an extremely cold winter, being in the water almost every day, and studying Marine Biology in a very tangible setting. I’ve gone snorkeling twice so far and it’s been pretty cool. We have to find, identify, and collect our own specimens. So far, my group and I have found different kinds of algae, puffer fish, yellow rays, and other species of colorful fish that you might expect from the Tropics. They hang out around the sea grass beds and little patches of coral that go from the dock, past the lagoon, and up to the algal ridge where the waves break. There’s also some mangrove trees nearby -rooted in the water- that I haven’t explored yet. Yesterday, the instructors and students pooled together some clothes so I didn’t have to go the day without essentials. That’s definitely a testament to how nice everyone here is. As I was driving back to the airport to get my missing luggage, I learned some really cool things about Jamaican culture and attitude. There’s a very stark contrast between the “no problem” attitude here and our class work, which is rapidly paced, albeit very interesting. Nevertheless, I expect these varying attitudes to equalize with time, especially as I learn more and get into research.

Up close to a Puffer Fish  

– Roxane