Home Sweet Home... kind of

Well I've been home for about a week now and I must say, I miss Little Cayman more than I thought was possible. I'm glad to be home with my family, boyfriend, pets, comfy bed, delicious food, and air conditioning, but I feel like there's now a part of me that's missing. By the end of my three weeks in Little Cayman, I grew so accustomed to the sound of the ocean, the entertaining locals, the daily dives, the fresh air, the clear night sky (I could see the Milky Way - no I'm not kidding), the palm trees, and my new family at CCMI that I felt I could have stayed there forever. I honestly felt like I belonged there. And now, being back in New Jersey, I honestly feel like I left some of myself back on the island.

I don't think Little Cayman wanted me to leave either! It took 27 hours from the time I got to the airport in Little Cayman until the time I landed in Philadelphia. First, my flight from Grand Cayman to Miami was delayed four hours. That, obviously, resulted in me missing my flight from Miami to Philly. And the next flight from Miami to Philly wasn't until the next morning at 9 am. So, thankfully, the airline accommodated me in one of the airport hotels for the night. But then, when I got to the counter to check-in for my flight the next morning, I found out the airline had gotten me a reservation on the new flight, but never actually got me a ticket. So after a half hour on the phone with them, I finally got a ticket. But by then, I had missed the boarding time. So I had to call them again and get a ticket for the next flight, which wasn't until 3 pm. So I got to wait in the Miami airport for 5 hours. With no WiFi (AHHHHH!!!!). I made it safely to Philadelphia at 6 pm (15 hours after I had originally anticipated). I'm just thankful that the airline realized it was all their fault and didn't make me pay for any of their mistakes!

All the fun of Little Cayman isn't entirely over, though. The research projects we spent a week of incessant work on have the potential to be shown at international marine biology conferences sometime in the next year. Dr. Foster, our professor at CCMI, will send them in to the conference of our choice and hopefully we'll receive grants to be able to attend! Likewise, all of the scientists we worked with at CCMI have offered up their services if we ever need a letter of recommendation or anything in the future. I have a feeling this internship may become one of the most beneficial and memorable experiences I've ever had.

So, in three weeks I have dove in the Caribbean Sea ten times (racking up about 8 hours in bottom time), swam with sharks, turtles, groupers, barracudas, stingrays, eagle rays, and a plethora of Caribbean reef fish, collected and analyzed data for scientists at the research station, assembled my own bonafide research project that will be presented at an international conference, and met a wonderful new group of people that I can't wait to see again. I also sort of found myself there; I realized that I will only be happy in my future if I am involved with the ocean. It's a necessity now, and I can't wait to find a career that will fulfill that need. I pray that I will be given the opportunity to experience something this extraordinary again.

     

Now you know why I want to go back, right? Time for another adventure?

- Elissa