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!
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