Turtles and life on Statia

Airport: I was put on standby in St. Martin and I was booked on the 6:30 flight out to Statia. (Island speak for St. Eustatius). I basically planted myself in front of the desk so I could get on the next flight. I figured that the flight would be small, but I was not prepared for how small it was! It was about a 15 passenger plane. The flight was booked with mostly med students, back for their next term. I sat next to a med student, Jafar, who scared me by talking about how they almost died the last time he was on this really small flight. But we got in ok, and flying into Statia was pretty awesome because you could just about see the whole island at once. The best part was after landing in Statia, there was the baggage claim, which they told me was a hole in the wall. Now I didn't believe them, I was thinking conveyer belt, but no really it was a hole in the wall! I got in alright and I collected the rest of my bags the next day when they could bring in the next load of luggage. I was picked up by RJ and taken to the place that he's housesitting at for dinner. The rest of the interns and volunteers joined us there.

Turtles: That night the interns and volunteers had just decided to go back home to the Botan, or Botanical garden where we live and we got "The Turtle Call" which means that we all went running to the truck to go look at the turtle. Turtle call means you have license to drive as fast as possible down the rickety road to get to Zeelandia Beach where the turtles are nesting. Usually there are 2 people on turtle patrol at night and they call up to the Botan in case you want to see the turtles. In this case, however they needed to put a tagging device on the turtle, which meant everyone had to be there. It took hours! We got there at 11PM and finished at 3AM. Needless to say, the turtle was not a happy camper.

Life on Statia: Life on the island is very slow. Everyone is very friendly but there are a couple of rulse: The first is; do not walk around town without a shirt on. You must be clothed, and have your shoulders covered when in a government building. The second rule is; You must say "good morning," or "good afternoon" when going into shops around town. They think you are rude if you say just "hello." Also, the most interesting thing culturally here is the gossip. It's amazing, someone saw us out on Zeelandia beach, which is apparently very dangerous to swim on. We didn't know and instead of telling us that we shouldn't swim, they reported it to STENAPA that we were swimming on the beach. I also never saw anyone while I was there, so it gives it kind of a creepy element. The gossip goes all the way around the island first and then you'll hear about it. Although considering that the island is pretty small, it doesn't take long.