Going Home

We got up at 4:00am. Why? Because apparently the power went off, which means our fan went off, and we all got hot. This was after last evening's Archie Story creeped everyone out. We were supposed to be in the taxi by 5:30, and I was thinking if we got up at 5, we'd be OK. But apparently Archie had other ideas.

We flew out at about 7am, and we got through customs and into the Ft. Lauderdale airport by 10am. Our plane to Atlanta did not leave until 5:45pm. So we had some time to kill before boarding for sure. I saw a couple of interesting sights while waiting.

I'm not going in there...

This is the arrival/departure screen at Ft Lauderdale. I'm worried.

So I picked up a book in the bookstore and read it while waiting for the plane. When it was finally time to board, I was really itching to get home. Kinda literally itching, there were tons of mosquitos that had a bite of me during the week. So after a two-hour flight to Atlanta, an hour and a half on the bus, I was greeted in front of LeNoir Hall by my hubby and my six lovely children. I'm so happy to be home, and I had a great time in Andros. This trip was really educational, I learned a lot about the ecology of Andros, and also about the people and culture of Andros as well.

Day 7

 
Today is our last day, we are going home tomorrow! We went out to Coconut Grove to complete our final project for this trip. We aimed to determine the population differences between inside the reef and outside the reef of several species of fish. My assignment was to count grunts, I saw two. The water was really nasty, it had lots of seaweed and debris. There was a lot of dogtooth limestone going in, so it was a bit of a pain. Austin, our Forfar guide for the day, showed us three different species of nerites that occupy the dogtooth limestone on the shores of Coconut Grove.

Then we went into Nichol's Town for lunch. A game of ultimate frisbee got started, so we stayed at the beach at Nichol's Town for a bit. I walked over to the local watering hole to get a soda, and it was the best grape Fanta I've ever had! A couple of local ladies ran the store, and they had a cat running around in there. I doubt our local health department would smile on that, but they (and the cat) seemed just fine with it.

Afterwards, we went to the grapefruit farm that the Mennonites run. I took a little nap in the van while everyone picked grapefruits. We went over to the bake sale that the Mennonites have every Friday, and I bought some cookies. They had honey, and lots of different sweets and breads. Everyone was really tired, so we headed back to the station to start packing and getting ready to go home.

We ate dinner and had a wrap-up lecture afterwards. Then we all went out to the campfire and Molly told us the Archie Story. Apparently Archie Forfar was a diver who built the field station initially as a diving resort, and then added on the field station. Archie may or may not have died in a diving incident, and Molly scared us all with several reported sightings of Archie's ghost. We all dispersed and went to bed expecting a visit from Archie, it made falling asleep a bit of a difficult task. We leave wicked early in the morning!

**It appears that I left my camera in the room when we went out, so I posted a picture I took of the local yummy soda that I bought from Terpy's Treats this evening**

Day 6

Brittle star

Spiny sea urchin

Furry sea cucumbers

We jumped in the van and went out to Money Point in time to catch it at low tide. When we got there, we walked out on the point and started turning rocks over in order to find any invertebrates that were trapped at low tide. Right away, we found several spiny sea urchins. I also found a brittle star and a banded star. Then I flipped over a rock and found two furry sea cucumbers. We were all hoping to find an octopus, but no such luck. We also did a beach clean up at Money Point. We are going to compare the kinds of trash we found from the clean up we did earlier in the week.

All the stuff we found

Garbage at Money Point

Morgan's Bluff

     After lunch, we went to Morgan's Bluff. The story is that Captain Morgan, a pirate/privateer, would take a goat up to the bluff, tie a lantern around its neck, and have it walk in a circle to mimic a lighthouse. Ships would then believe the passage was safe and crash on the reef. Morgan would loot the wrecked ships and hide his booty in a nearby cave, which we also visited.

Morgan's Cave

Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole

After visiting the cave, we went swimming in Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole. It is said that Charlie arrived from the airport, went straight to the blue hole to dive, and was never seen again. After a few days, they found him in an adjoining cave, and his family wanted to leave him there because they believed that's what he'd want. I enjoyed swimming in his blue hole. It's important to note that you do not want a blue hole named after you in the Bahamas. This island has so many stories and legends, it is really cool hearing all the local wives tales.

We didn't have lecture tonight, and we went out to eat at Hank's Place. It was good food and we all had a blast.

Sign at Hank's Place

More Hank's signs

LOL!

Day 5

Our schedule board in the dining room

Today was a no-swim day so we could dry out a bit. But after we got back, I jumped in with my snorkel anyway.

Atala butterfly

Racer snake at Atala Coppice

We went to Atala Coppice and saw the Atala butterfly. We also saw many of the same plants we saw at Maidenhair Coppice. Our guide spotted a racer snake and picked it up. When he handed it to me, it pooped all over, and it smelled so incredibly bad! We identified many of the plants we are supposed to learn, and then we hopped in the van and headed toward Red Bays. On the way, we stopped at a savanna/swash area and dodged the poisonwood to go check out saw grass and mud. Can you tell I like boat trips better than road trips?

Basket weaving at Red Bays

Mrs. Marshall

At Red Bays, we met several families that do carvings in mahogany wood, make baskets, sell sponges and other souvenirs. I bought three baskets (one for my mom, one for my grandma, and one for me!) and a carved bonefish for my dad. I need to buy a few more souvenirs for my kids, and I think I'll have everyone covered. We met Mrs. Marshall, a 96 year-old woman who was the bush doctor and midwife for the island of Andros until recently. When the new government took over, they told her she could no longer provide medical care on the island. She was not happy about that at all. She showed us all of the awards that she has been given for her service to the island and its people, and she was very proud of those. She also told us some stories about when she was younger and skipped school to go skinny-dipping in the ocean. She told us that she had 14 children! It was really exciting meeting Mrs. Marshall, she has been a pivotal citizen of Andros, and I hope that the government realizes what a treasure she is and allows her the freedom to practice her craft and to pass it down to younger generations as well.

When we got back to the station, I grabbed my snorkel and went out into the water. I forgot my camera, and I was really sorry. I saw a barracuda, some damselfish, and a grunt. After dinner, we had a lecture on invertebrates. We go to Money Point tomorrow to look for inverts at low tide.

Day 4

Sea star at Saddleback

Today was another day on the boat. We went out to Saddleback Cay to look for sand dollars on the sand bar at low tide. I found several sand dollars, and a conch and a sea star. I'm bringing the sand dollars home, but I let the conch and sea star stay in their homes.

We took the boat out to North Pass -- or Turtle Reef as the Forfar staff calls it -- to snorkel a bit. It never gets old seeing the reef and all the fish and other creatures that live there. After a short snorkel, we went back to Saddleback Cay for lunch and our hermit crab project. We were trying to determine whether the crabs had a food preference, or if they just ate whatever we put in front of them. There were four groups, and our crab just wanted to be free. I think he did finally humor us and munch on some bread. I decided to just have a few crackers so that I wouldn't get sick snorkeling again.

Giant hermit crab

French angelfish

After lunch, we went to the oceanic blue hole at Rat Cay, and I think this was the best snorkel of the whole trip. We saw a giant hermit crab and a trigger fish. There was also a huge barracuda and a tiger grouper under a ledge of the blue hole. I got some up-close attention from a pair of french angelfish, and I snapped a picture of a donkey dung sea slug. Yeah, ew. Dr. Ballenger says this critter can upchuck his innards when threatened and then regenerate them. Poor thing, he already looks like a giant sea poo, he doesn't have much going for him. The blue hole is really cool, lots of fish hang out in there. The reef is alive with every coral that grows in the Bahamas.

Ew. Donkey dung.

Coral at Rat Cay

The next stop was the Three Sisters Patch Reef, but I sat this one out since the waves had once again given me that not so easy stomach. I didn't hurl today, though. And of course, they saw a nurse shark. The funniest thing happened at Three Sisters. Bill and John are snorkel buddies, which means they stay pretty close together and watch out for one another. Bill had already gotten in the water because someone had seen the shark, and he was eager to see it. John was still putting on his gear, and Bill was trying to wait for him patiently. John jumped up on the bow of the boat to hurry and get in the water, shouting, "Wait for me, buddy!" But his flipper got hung in the anchor rope, and he went flying face-first into the water. I think Bill almost drowned laughing. And John survived unscathed. We came back to the station tired, but excited about all the great things we had seen. We finished the second half of the mangrove project, and are still crunching data on that one.

We had some yummy barbecue ribs for dinner, and then we had a geology lecture. I am nice and sunburned and tired out of my  mind, so I'm heading to bed.

Day 3

Mullet sees us off as we load up the bus

Walking through the coppice

Banana hole

Today we loaded up in the van and headed to Maidenhair Coppice. A coppice is an area within a pine forest that has different vegetation and soil composition. It is elevated higher than the pine forest. There are also banana holes in the coppice. Banana holes are big holes in the ground due to dissolution of the limestone from which the Bahamas were formed. The small holes join together to make giant holes in the ground that are sometimes joined by caverns into adjacent banana holes. We saw several varieties of plants endemic to the Bahamas and to coppices specifically. We sampled some of the edible plants like pigeon plums, cinnecord, and we picked some sappadilla fruit, but they weren't ripe enough to eat. We also came across a termite mound, and Dr. Ballenger said she'd give five points extra credit if anyone would eat a termite. So I ate one. It tasted like a bug with a bit of a minty after-taste. I might need that five points!

Termite mound

Sign at Androsia store

Then we went to Androsia to visit the batik factory. Batik is the "fabric of the Bahamas." The workers spread a length of white cotton cloth over a table that is lit from below with a stamp pattern, and they dip sponges in wax and stamp the pattern onto the fabric. The fabric is then dyed bright colors, and the wax prevents the dye from penetrating where the stamps are placed. Then they wash the fabric in hot water to remove the wax, and this produces the pretty patterned batik fabric. Androsia has a store where you can buy batik items such as bolts of fabric, clothing items, purses, and many other souvenirs.

Workers in batik factory

Wrecked ship at Androsia

We then walked out to the shore area and saw several houseboats and sailboats at the docks. We also walked out to a point on the shore and saw a wrecked ship and a lighthouse.

Lighthouse at Androsia

We had lunch on Somerset Beach and did a beach clean afterwards. We are going to analyze the trash we found and compare it to a cleanup we do later in the week at Money Point.  Then we stopped at a store at Fresh Creek for ice cream before we headed to Church's Blue Hole. A blue hole is like a banana hole, only much bigger and deeper and filled with water. The top layer of water is a fresh water lens, and underneath is salt water from the ocean. Blue holes are somehow connected underneath to the ocean, and their depth is affected by sea levels. It looks like a round pond, and of course we went swimming in it after we were advised not to pee in it. Andros provides fresh water to its citizens and to other islands in the Bahamas that do not have access to fresh water. We had to jump about 15 feet from the side, and it was a blast! We returned to Forfar for dinner, and we had a history lecture afterwards.

Trash picked up at Somerset Beach

Day 2

Lionfish

Coral and Fishes at Dave's Patch Reef

Today we spent the day on the boat. First, we rode out to Dave's Patch Reef and did some snorkeling. There were lots of fishes and varieties of coral, and I took a lot of pictures with the underwater camera. I even got a few pictures of a lionfish. The lionfish are not supposed to be in the Bahamas, they were released accidentally during a hurricane, and they've become a nuisance. They have no predators in the waters of the Bahamas, so there are too many of them. But they are really cool looking, even though they are a menace. They have long spines that protrude from their bodies, and they sting anything that touches them. So I took my picture and moved along.

View at Pigeon Cay

Emily and the cushion star

Next we took the boat to Pigeon Cay, where we walked around the shoreline and learned about some of the shoreline vegetation and terrain. We also saw two different species of nerites. Emily even found a cushion starfish!

Angel Fish at South Pass

We had lunch on the beach at Pigeon Cay, then we loaded up the boat and went out to snorkel at the reef at South Pass. The water was really choppy and after a little while, I started feeling kinda bad. I tried to power through it, but when I got back on the boat, I totally barfed off the side. So when we went over to the Blue Cay Blue Hole, I waited on the boat while everyone else snorkeled. I just wasn't feeling it. Everyone who did go out got to see a pair of spotted eagle rays, and I was very happy for them. I was also very happy to get back to the field station and get on solid ground.

We started on our group project on the red mangroves when we got back. Apparently, the guides at Forfar have said that the red mangrove deals with the high salt content of the water that they grow in by sequestering all the salt into one leaf and sacrificing it. The leaf turns yellow and falls off. We collected a yellow leaf from four different red mangroves, a green leaf next to the yellow, and a green leaf opposite the yellow leaf to compare the salt content in each leaf. We used a refractometer to determine the salt content of the leaves. But in order to do that, we had to do some serious grinding up of the leaves, because they didn't want to give up any moisture. We are going to examine the data we collected when we get back home and draw our conclusions then. So stay tuned. On the edge of your seat, right?

After dinner, the staff at Forfar gave a lecture on plants. That information will be very useful tomorrow when we go to Maidenhair Coppice. Coppices are areas within pine forests that are elevated, and they have better soil. Therefore the plants are different. While the pine forests pretty much contain Bahamian pines, bracken fern, palms, and *gasp*poisonwood, the coppices have more tropical type plants. Oh, and poisonwood. It's everywhere. But we'll talk about the coppice tomorrow.

Stop the World and Let Me Off

We met at LeNoir Hall on Friday at 1:00pm for our trip to the Bahamas. There are twelve of us: Dr. Ballenger, who is our group leader; Emily, a pre-dental biology major; Sydney, a pre-med; Caitlin, a communications major; Elicia, a biology major looking at zoology; John, a pre-med who wants to be a physician's assistant; Justin, a computer science major; Hema, a pre-med; Parag, also pre-med; Bill, a biology major interested in ecology; Stacy, an education major; and me.

When we got to Atlanta, it was really different to be on a group trip. I'm used to doing everything by myself, and it was really nice to be in a big jolly group of students who were excited about a trip to the Bahamas. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, arriving at about 7:45pm. We got our bags pretty quickly and boarded the shuttle to our hotel. Everyone was starving, so we walked to a nearby TGI Friday's for dinner. It was fun, and we were entertained by a very enthusiastic sports fan at the bar whose volume control was apparently increased by alcohol consumption. We had a few jumpy moments when he surprised us with his loud cheering.

We had to get up at about 4:30am so that we could catch a shuttle to the international airport because our plane took off at 6am. Our plane was VERY small! One student sat in the co-pilot seat, and there were eight of us on the plane. It was awesome not having to fight for a window seat, because they were ALL window seats. We could see the ocean all around us, and we even saw the sun rise. As Andros Island came into view, I couldn't help but be excited about the adventure ahead of us!

After an interesting cab ride on the wrong side of the road, and some welcome advice from the driver about poisonwood, we arrived at Forfar. The second group was delayed an hour, so we hung out in the water while we waited for them to arrive. We found several shells and many varieties of algae.

This is as close as I got to the dolphins!

In the afternoon, I learned how to use my snorkel equipment. It was amazing, it's like a whole different world under water. I also tried out my underwater camera. Three dolphins were swimming nearby where we were snorkeling, but they didn't come close enough to get any good pictures. The group that were shooting the creek got really close, almost close enough to touch the dolphins! After dinner, the Forfar staff had an orientation lecture and then a lecture on fish.

Packing Packing Packing

I'm not going to post much tonight, I'm too busy packing and obsessing. My checked bag weighs in at approximately 29.5 pounds. There's not much left to stick in my carry-on bag, so hopefully I won't go over the limit. I'm debating bringing my knitting. Hubby says that I won't have time to knit, but I have to entertain myself on the plane somehow. I think if it fits, I'm bringing it.

I posted about this on my Facebook tonight, but I wanted to add it here on the blog as well. John and I were planning on a big date tonight since I'm leaving tomorrow for a week. We were thinking Red Lobster or Olive Garden. In the car on the way to the restaurant, I was talking about the wish list posted on the International Field Studies website. John said that we should skip the big dinner and spend the money on supplies for Forfar instead. I could have HUGGED him right while he was driving! So instead of Red Lobster, we had a hot dog in the Sam's Club snack bar and bought a few things for Forfar from their wish list. I hope I don't sound like I'm tooting my own horn, it was totally John's idea. Dr. Ballenger was talking about how hard it is to get supplies on Andros Island, and it was inspiring. And maybe if I go over my packing limit, they will be nice since I brought goodies! It's not much, but if I had more weight, I could probably do a little more. ;)

The Forfar wish list can be found here: Wish List

TWO MORE DAYS!

I can hardly contain my excitement, we leave in TWO MORE DAYS! I've packed, unpacked, and repacked about 10 times now. I obsess constantly about the 40-pound weight limit for all my personal gear. I have no idea how I'm going to get everything on the packing list into my little bag and be sure it doesn't weigh more than 40 pounds. I'm sure I'm going to forget something really important, and there's nowhere on Andros to just pick up something that I've left. I've even started having dreams about forgetting certain vital undergarments and spending the whole week, well, without them. My husband is just about ready to give me the swirly of death.

I'm also a bit of a mess about leaving my family for a whole week. I used to work for a company that had yearly conferences, so they aren't really fazed about me being gone for a week. And since I've started school, I'm not quite as pivotal to the running of the household as I used to be. My hubby, John, has really taken over a lot of the responsibilities that I've carried. He shops for groceries, organizes the kids' chores, and does laundry! And all this in addition to working a very demanding full-time job.

Dr. Ballenger brought a couple of baskets that she purchased on Andros to class yesterday. They are really pretty, and I look forward to being able to watch the locals make them, and maybe buy one too! Here's a picture of the baskets:

The fabric that is on the sides is batik, and it is made on the island at a factory. Dr. Ballenger says we are going to tour the factory while we are there.

Today we were divided into groups for the projects we are going to do while we are on the island. We will all gather data for all projects, but then each group will be responsible for an individual project and analyzing the data. We are doing four projects: a fish project, a plant project, an invertebrate project, and a service project. The service project will be done by everyone. I am on the plant project team. Everyone was really eager to be on the invertebrate project because it involves hermit crabs. Then the next most popular project was the fish project. I didn't mind being on the plant team because it seemed like plants would hold still and be studied. I didn't want the team leaders of the plant team to feel like no one wanted to be on their team, and I feel like I know the least about plants and flowers, so I wanted to learn something new.

Our project involves the red mangroves on Andros. The guides have said that the red mangrove deals with the high salt content of the water that they grow in by sequestering all of the salt into one leaf and then sacrificing that leaf so that the rest of the plant has fresh water. This leaf turns yellow and then falls off. A mangrove tree will have one or two yellow leaves, so our project is about discovering whether this statement is true. Dr. Ballenger says that if the yellow leaf contains all of the salt that the plant extrudes, it should taste salty. When she broke a yellow leaf open and tasted it (yeah really!), it did not taste salty. So she thinks that it's possible that the roots of the mangrove have a high sugar content, higher than the salinity in the water that causes the water to move into the roots by osmosis, and exclude the salt from entering into the roots altogether. We won't be getting into the root system on this project, but we will be measuring the salinity of the yellow leaves of the mangrove and comparing it with green leaves immediately around it and some opposite. We did some trials today with some local plants to see if we could extract enough sap from the leaves of a similar plant to examine it with a refractrometer. The hope is that we will be familiar enough with the materials that we will be proficient once we get to the island. Here's a picture of our efforts from today:

We also did a little walkabout on the campus today to test our understanding of leaf configuration and also to be able to identify poison ivy. We found the offending vine snaking up a tree near LeNoir Hall, and everyone made sure they got a good look at it without touching it. We looked at different vines and trees and identified whether the leaf was simple or compound, and whether the arrangement was opposite or alternate. I haven't had a lot of experience with plants, I'm not a very outdoorsy-type. So all of this is new to me. But I am learning a lot. Here's some pictures from our walkabout:

 I am getting so excited about this trip! I only have to pick up a few more things to pack, and I think I might be able to stay under the 40 pound limit. Tomorrow is our last class before we leave!

 

Andros Island - La Isla del Espiritu Santo

This is day one because I'm so excited about my trip that I can not wait until Friday to start journaling. That's alright, because today was the first class for our upcoming trip. The class is Biology 1225H, Ecology of Andros Island, Bahamas. The H is for Honors, which means that in addition to the class and the trip, there are some additional requirements to satisfy for the honors designation. That is where this blog comes in. To fulfill the Global Perspectives portion of the class, I am required to keep a journal, electronic or otherwise, chronicling the trip. While I am on the island, I will not have access to the internet, so I will be keeping a written journal. When I return, I will record the written entries into this blog.

I'd like to start this blog by thanking the people who have helped this trip happen for me. First, the Center for International Education: Maggie Miller has been an incredible help during this process. I have never been anywhere that required a passport, and she coached me through applying for the trip, the scholarship application, getting my papers sorted out, and pretty much everything that needed to be done. Also, I want to thank the CIE for the Campus Internationalization scholarship. It sure helped pay for some of my expenses for the trip! Dr. Julie Ballenger is the one that talked me into going on the trip. Spring was my first semester, and I really wasn't considering taking a study abroad trip so soon. But Dr. Ballenger said it would be a lot of fun and that four semester credits would be the icing on the cake. My friends and family have been awesome throughout this whole going back to school thing, and they have been so enthusiastic about this trip. Well, my husband isn't quite as enthusiastic, he's downright jealous.

So I wanted to open this blog with a little information about Andros Island. Andros is the largest island in the Bahamas, but its population is only about 8,000. This Bahamian island is not very developed, and has a variety of ecological environments to explore. Many animal, plant, and fish species can be found on Andros, which makes it an ideal place to take an eager group of biology students.

Andros was initially inhabited by the Lucayan Indians. The Spanish "discovered" the island in 1550, calling it La Isla del Espiritu Santo (The Island of the Holy Spirit). It was a crown colony of Britain until the late 1960s, and in 1973 became its own sovereign nation. Andros is a destination for many ecotourists because of its variety of ecological environments and plant and animal species.

We will be leaving from CSU on Friday, May 20, and returning on May 28. All this week (16-19), we are having classes at CSU from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Today we discussed the packing list, itinerary, and some of the rules for the trip. There are eleven students and one instructor going on the trip to Forfar Field Station on Andros Island, Bahamas. It will be a bit of a primitive experience (read: no computers) for me. I go camping every year with my family, but we still have our cell phones to keep us company in case "roughing it" starts getting under our skin. There will be no cell phones, computers, internet, iPads, or anything to connect us to the "real world." I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out about Tuesday morning.

I will also be missing my son Micah's high school graduation. I had the dates mixed up when I signed up for the trip, and didn't realize that the trip would coincide with his graduation. I have MUCH mommy guilt about this, even though he assures me he would go to the Bahamas instead of graduating himself. I'm sure I'll be feeling weepy on Friday, but on Saturday I'll be home, and we're gonna party!

I suppose I've blathered on enough for one blog post, the remaining posts will hopefully be MUCH shorter. I'll also try to take lots of pictures to share. Until next time!