Sunday, May 14th, I woke up before the sun to jump on a flight to St. Maarten. As a not-morning person, you can imagine how difficult this was for me. I cried saying goodbye to my mom and dad, even though I've been away at UA for longer times than I'll be abroad. I've never truly been so far from them.
I was filled with more than just travel anxiety sitting on my first flight. Was I going to make any friends? Was I going to get a terrible sunburn? Was I going to get eaten by a shark? Were my classes going to be challenging? Was I going to miss my family? Was I going to be lonely?
I've found the answers to those questions to be, so far: Yes, Yes, Not yet, Yes, Yes, and No.
It's impossible to feel alone on an island surrounded by not only my incredible peers and wonderful teachers but so many friendly locals. They call it "The Friendly Island" for a reason.
Classes have been challenging in the best way, encouraging me to embrace new experiences and change the way I think about marketing the island. Class instruction is paired with amazing excursions to help us better understand the island, the people, and the culture. This week, we were able to take a tour of the island by bus and by boat.
Seeing the island for the first time was breathtaking. Monday, we got to drive all around the island, which is divided in two. There's the Dutch side, Sint Marteen, and the French side, Saint Martin. One of the most interesting things about the island is that despite the sides having separate governments, St. Maarten is borderless. While there are markers to indicate which side you are on, the locals share the island and live together in harmony.
Another insight from the bus tour was how important St. Maarten's history is to the people who live here.
Roundabouts have statues in the middle honoring important figures of their history, such as "Lady Liberty" and "The Traffic Man." The people who live here see these statues nearly every day, keeping their history at the forefront of their minds. There are markers everywhere honoring different parts of the island's history, such as this one from Marigot.
We spent Friday on a catamaran, sailing all the way around the island. Words cannot express how beautiful the boat trip was, but I can try.
The water here is the clearest blue and I'm making it my new favorite color. Everything here is so bright and colorful. At a few stops, we were able to swim and snorkel. With such clear water, we could see everything swimming past us, from starfish to itty bitty fish to what I swear was a baby shark, but no one agrees. We even jumped into the ocean from the top of the boat (also, I may have realized I have a fear of heights).
We saw so many beautiful places, including the Tint Amarre Isle, a quiet island off the shore of the mainland owned by the French. The sun zapped a lot of us, so we got to rest and recharge before swimming some more. I can already tell this will be one of my favorite days of the whole trip.
So, one blistering sunburn and many laughs later, I'm wrapping up my first long week of learning, swimming, singing karaoke with our teachers, and curing my beach hanger (iykyk).
To me, the rest of my time here looks like spending late nights with my new friends, learning a lot, hopefully getting a really good tan, and continuing to make memories that will last me a lifetime.
I refuse to count how many days I have left here. Instead, I'm choosing to live fully in every moment and enjoy this opportunity that I am so blessed to experience!
To Mom and Dad, I'm doing just fine <3
-Kalleigh Ahern
Comments