Programs Blog

October 9, 2024 

Location: Frederiksted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

Weather: 84°F, extremely sunny and humid

Hello again! 

My name is Sara Abraha, and I’m from St. Paul, MN. I attend Carleton College, where I major in biochemistry and chemistry (yes, I willingly signed up for organic chemistry, and no, I haven’t fully recovered). But as much as I love the labs, I needed a break from my usual routine of studying molecular interactions and enduring Minnesota winters. So, I decided it was time to get out of my little bubble and explore the world. There’s only so much you can learn sitting in a lecture hall, and I was craving a real adventure—one that involves more palm trees than textbooks. So, I applied to SEA, and here I am in St. Croix! 

Today is travel day! Our bus left the Falmouth station at the totally reasonable hour of 5:45 am. This meant all of us had to drag ourselves out of bed at 4 am with so much excitement and energy. My suitcase was another whole adventure. For context, it weighed in at a casual 61.5 pounds, and I needed to shave it down to 50 pounds. After what some (ahem Sydney) would call “questionable measures,” but I prefer to call “ingenious innovation,” I managed to make it happen. Pro tip: dumping your body wash, sunscreen, and every other liquid into Ziploc baggies saves a ton of space. And yes, it worked like a charm. 

Next up was the real challenge: squeezing my newly slimmed-down (but still hefty) suitcase into an already-packed van. Did I mention it was 5 am? And pouring rain AND hail? The pure joy! After a 2-hour bus ride, we finally made it to the Boston airport where we could shift focus from our misery to something even more thrilling—Caribbean fish and invertebrate flashcards. Gotta love a mid-travel study session, right? 

Our layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico was brief but just long enough to devour an inappropriate amount of candy (fuel for the next leg of the journey, obviously). From there, we hopped on a tiny plane bound for St. Croix. Katie got chosen to be the co-pilot while the rest of us were crammed in the scorching backseats of the plane. I quickly forgot about the heat as we were greeted by breathtaking views out the window.  

Finally, we landed in St. Croix! We were reunited with Heather, Craig, and Leandro (who had arrived a day earlier). They whisked us away to our villas in Northside Valley, where we immediately unpacked, settled in, and were rewarded with some much-needed pizza. And just like that, our St. Croix adventure began. 

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be partnering with some cool organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, Butler Bay Coral Restoration, and CHANT (Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism), just to name a few. Not only will we be helping with their ongoing projects—like collecting data on their coral reefs and working on restoration efforts—but we’ll also be conducting our own research.  

Thanks for reading! 

 Sara