Welcoming Committee

Our break was wonderful! I really can’t emphasize enough how great it was to have no schedule and to have time to spend together. During the semester we’re pretty short on time, so it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy exploring the island together.

The decision to rent a car was a great one. It allowed us to explore the island on our own time. We didn’t have to make a schedule and we could sleep in without worrying about missing our bus or holding anyone else up. We named our car Darwin, for Charles Darwin. What else would two bio majors name their car?

I loved being able to show Ryan my favorite parts of the island, and I loved seeing a few new ones with him. He’s normally so busy that he doesn’t have time to explore the island as much as I do, so it was great that he was able to see so much of it!

For a two week break, we sure managed to cram a lot of things in! Our first task, of course, was moving. It was a bit stressful to pack up all of our things- we’ve accumulated so much down here! I was really surprised, but it made sense. Between food and kitchen supplies, we’ve really increased the amount of stuff we own.

We also had to work over break, since we were both on Welcoming Committee. It was a lot of fun to introduce new students to Ross and Dominica! Many of them were so overwhelmed when they got off the plane- there were all tired after a long day of traveling and in a completely unfamiliar setting. Most of them were pretty accepting and very curious about life on the island. We were able to give them lots of hints and tips about living on the island, and to reassure the concerns of many new students. One of my favorite questions came from a parent who walked up to me and asked me if the tap water was dangerous to drink. I quickly reassured him that I had been drinking tap water for 4 months and had no ill effects so far. He blinked at me for a moment and then declared loudly, “But I was told that that tap water here can kill you!” I wasn’t sure what to say, I mean, I was clearly standing in front of him still alive.

Another good moment was when we took a group on the Island Tour, and the bus I was on stopped to look at the parrots at the Botanical Gardens. There were two cages with Sisserou (the Dominican national bird) and the Jacko parrots. A boy leapt out of the bus and hurried up to me and asked, “These parrots talk, right? I want to talk to one!” I was unable to keep my incredulous look off of my face. These weren’t pet parrots, and even most pet parrots don’t talk. If they do talk, it’s only in mimicry- it’s not actual conversation. I can’t believe that some of these people got into medical school!

The next post I will upload some photos of our adventure! I just have to grab the images off of Ryan’s computer.