Back in the Bahamas

Finalizing everything for my class is what consumed most of my time yesterday. I wanted to finish the blog post about Belize prior to doing any work and after over 2,000 words had finally completed it. We did a group project and I wrote my course reflection. The assignments offered the general stress of getting it done in a time crunch, as well as aggravation of the writing process taking too long…yup, just like almost every other essay.

The highlights of yesterday were Seminar and the Alumni Dinner. In Seminar, the winners of the Engineering a New Tomorrow project were announced and presented their ideas. One group focused on environmental sustainability, another on education, and the third on gender equality. In the gender equality presentation, they did the activity that we had done in class where they asked the men to sit on the floor (lower than the women) and did not allow the men to talk…the Dean had suggested the activity to them. I wasn’t too happy about that, but overall I really enjoyed the presentations. My personal favorite idea was a book that this group planned to sell, which would promote reading in the US and proceeds would be sent to a fund to supply uniforms to students in developing countries that cannot afford them.

The Alumni Dinner was great! I had a generous 8 minutes to get ready in between Seminar and the dinner. Everyone looked great as we were all dressed up. It was a 4-course meal, and my entrée was Chicken Supreme. I inhaled it, and managed to avoid getting food on my clothing! (Kudos!) After dinner, I took a bunch of pictures with my SAS friends. Soon afterwards I feel back into work mode, and finished my work around 1:15am (it would have technically been 12:15am if we didn’t lose an hour because of the time zone.) Yep! I’m back in the Eastern Standard Time zone.

I fell asleep and woke up early for my 8:30am for my presentation for class. The presentations were enjoyable. It was interesting to hear about the other experiences and insight that my peers had on our FDP in Costa Rica. The class certainly ended on a high note, with us stating a goal that we set for ourselves. My goal is to stay involved with at least one of the communities I have visited during this voyage. One of the Lifelong Learners bought us cookies, which like all the other desserts on this ship have been: extraordinary! It was sad to have to bid farewell to my class, but I’m glad everyone was optimistic about the time we had.

After my final, I had to briskly pack so I could hand over my checked luggage over to the crew, so I don’t have to lug it off the ship. (Let’s just hope it’s under 50 lbs.) At 1400, we had our convocation. The Deans and some keynote student and faculty representatives spoke. The Dean had done an exercise during her speech where she asked the women in the room (The Union) to scream “We need the men, too!” It was nice to feel like my voice was heard. Following the Convocation, I joined an English-speaking (my first full English one!) conversation circle. I was glad I could contribute with the AFS phrase that “everyone’s experience is unique to them.” My SAS family had one final dinner, and it was just as great as the others. I have laughed and smiled the most at these dinners; I’m really going to miss our “post-port family dinners.” I concluded my evening with pre-port orientation of the Bahamas and a few rounds of good-ole Bananagrams, which becomes ridiculously complicated when you play with engineering majors. In pre-port, they thought it was funny comment that areas we should avoid while traveling home are: New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and all of New Jersey. Actually, it was pretty funny. :)

Most of the day, I have been saying farewell to many people. Some wanted contact information, but other than that I’d like to think that I’m content with everything that I’ve done on this voyage. It is a lot to process, but this blog has been helpful to reflect upon all of my experiences. Many of the people that I have met on this voyage have been fascinating. They come from different backgrounds with diverse opinions and perspectives on various issues. I’m grateful for having this opportunity to learn and I feel that this SAS Maymester group has helped change me for the better. (I like to think of the song “For Good” in this instance.) I hope to use what I’ve learned on this voyage to help and inform my community because I know my global perspective has not only been enriched but also altered while on this experience. Just because someone is living in poverty, doesn’t necessarily mean they are unhappy. We sometimes forget the phrase “less is more.”

Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day with travelling and disembarking the ship. I’ll be getting off the ship in Nassau around mid-morning (if all goes according to the plan) and arriving in New Jersey around 10pm. It’s hard to believe that I’ll be softly rocking to sleep only for one more night. Time is a paradox at times when you feel like time is standing still, but in retrospect, it flew by. I feel like I have known these people and been on this voyage for much longer than 4 weeks, but I cannot believe I’ll be back in New Jersey tomorrow. I’m certain tomorrow will be an emotional day for some and/or an exhausting one for others. I can only be happy with another blessed experience and opportunity. I just imagine the next challenge will be adjusting solid ground and be able to move around parameters much greater than the MV Explorer. I’ll start by relaxing, having faith, and taking a few deep, cleansing breaths.

¡Hasta pronto!
Matt

P.S. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try to work on a blog entry at some point tomorrow. But I can promise a final post will most likely be a few days after I return home. I’m particularly excited to see my family and friends tomorrow and the next few days after having limited communication on the ship.