Having read the trip itinerary, I could not be more excited for the trip to start tomorrow. The planned activities provide a perfect balance between community service and cultural immersion. It is important to not only help the community, but to also understand the community’s hardships. While gathering some of the extra provisions needed for the trip such as bug spray and a Cipro prescription was a little inconvenient, it is a reminder of how lucky I am that my worries for the trip are preventable and I have the means to do so. Others are less fortunate. They have to face widespread violence and poverty daily. During the trip, I am eager to do be exposed to these circumstances and do my part in helping. Thankfully, I have a really great team to do this with and I can’t wait to get to know them better.
Shell Shock Update
Team Shell Shock has arrived safely at their destination. I received email confirmation of their arrival from our community partner, and I also spoke with a very tired team leader after their lunch. She assured me of their safe arrival and was ready to rest after a long day of travel. I will post additional updates when available.
An Adventure Awaits
As I eagerly await my short hour before I leave for Newark Airport, I can’t help but to think back to the day when my team came together and learned our service assignment. That day, I learned that I would be working on sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica with such amazing people and soon to be friends. I was ecstatic to say the least. Now only hours away from our journey, I’m preparing myself for all of the excitement and hard work of the days to come. Our 10 days in Costa Rica will be filled with services, turtles, bananagrams (a tried and tested crowd pleaser), and lots and lots of sunblock. I’m hoping that my hours spent watching Blue Planet and the Planet Earth documentaries will prove handy but I cannot wait for a trip full of learning, giving back, and fun. For now, I should get a little more packed, pick up a snack for the airport (24-hour Giant is a lifesaver), and get myself moving because an adventure awaits!
Ayudando a las tortugas!
I finally finished packing my bag, after a long day of travelling back to Lafayette from Washington D.C. Within hours away, my wonderful team will be departing to Costa Rica to participate and enhance our knowledge on sea turtle conservation. Being my second ASB trip, I am very thrilled to work along with 13 other members, working together to achieve the same goal. From my previous trip two years ago, the team definitely made an impact in the community of McAllen, Texas with the social issue of Immigration Reform. We returned home with more knowledge on the social issue, and became active citizens. In regards to this service trip, I am sure we will do the same. This will be my first time traveling to Costa Rica. I have anxiously been waiting all winter break. Being my last semester at Lafayette, I’m grateful to be part of another awesome service trip!
Shell-Shock: Pre Trip Thoughts!
Even though I’ve travelled outside of the country on multiple occasions, the pre-departure rituals remain the same: I watch t.v., devour the remaining leftovers in my fridge, sleep extensively, and, most importantly, I procrastinate. I should be more responsible at this age, but for some reason I can’t help but be anxious and paranoid to the point of apathy. Don’t get me wrong; I’m excited! Participating in conservation efforts on behalf of sea turtles will be a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’ll never forget, but tonight I’ll barely get any sleep and will only breathe freely when my feet safely touch ground in Costa Rica. For now, I’ll try not to think. Hopefully readers will sympathize and eventually appreciate my well articulated (hopefully) post-trip response(s).
Shell Shock: Adios America
Dear Team Shell Shock Fans,
After almost finally finishing packing, at 11:30 pm, the night before our 4:15 am arrival at the airport, I have time to think about what the next ten days are going to have in store for us 16 lucky Lafayette students and faculty members. To be honest I have no idea what to expect, and I kind of feel like I’m walking in blind. Although these months of hard work and preparation ensure me that I am not actually blindly winging this process, but as a first time team leader and only newly 20 years old, I cannot help to be a little but nervous. As most ASB trips have been mainly on focused social issues pertaining to societal injustices and even some about environmental conservation, this is the first one that I have heard about that is based on the almost forgotten (or at least frequently overlooked) issue of animal conservation, sea turtles specifically for all of the fans who are just joining us, and I hope that it creates a positive precedent for future trips. All I can hope that this experience will bring everyone awareness, wisdom, curiosity, fun, and something they will never forget and will hopefully want to continue having an active role in.
Adios America,
Olivia
Shell Shock Pre-Trip Reflection
I am really excited and anxious to discover what lies ahead for the Shell Shock team and I in Costa Rica. I think that this trip will have in store for us great and new experiences that will become memories that will hopefully never leave us. Sea turtle conservation is such an important issue and one that unfortunately very few are aware of. I hope to take what I learn from this trip to do further good and service outside from our trip to Costa Rica. I intend to take full advantage of this trip and not shy away from new friends and adventure.
Although we will be working with other things than specifically sea turtle conservation, I am particularly looking forward to seeing the baby turtles! After packing and unpacking and repacking for the past couple of days I can honestly say that I have not been more eager about leaving the country. Costa Rica, here I come!
Shell Shock: Pre-trip
I’m extremely excited for this trip to begin. I can’t wait to find out what exactly we’ll be doing to help the sea turtles and the local community. The opportunity to assist in conservation of such a remarkable animal is amazing and I am so thankful that a program has been designed to do so, since it is such an important cause. I wish it was Wednesday already so we could get started!
Last, But Not Least
This year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ASB–how to expand our marketing efforts, increase alumni participation, enhance programming, etc. I’ve also been working on creating a Gala dinner to celebrate and promote the club’s 21 year history. The purpose of all of this work is to promote why ASB is such a fantastic experience–learning about a new social issue, being thrown out of “Lafayette’s bubble,” becoming friends with a group of people I might not have otherwise known on campus. I’m excited to be reminded of this powerful experience to which over 500 alumni and current students can relate.
My senior thesis, in part, looks at the effects of India’s waste problem. In our pre-trip education, we learned about the effects of ambient light (bad because it guides turtles in the wrong direction), trash (again, bad for killing turtles and/or effecting their migration pattern), fishing (bad–do you sense a trend here–because the sea turtles get accidentally caught in the lines or hooks). Like all social issues, sea turtle conservation is complex as there are cultural and economical forces also at play.
In sum, I’m excited to learn firsthand about this social issue and enjoy another ASB journey with Lafayette peers…And while getting to the airport at 4:15 AM will be rough, it surely will be worth it in the end!
Pre-Trip Reflections
In 12 hours I will be leaving Lafayette for Costa Rica along with 13 other students and two professors. I am currently sitting in an airport, about to fly back from Florida, where I was on a training trip with the rest of the swim team. The logistics of this service trip are impractical (the three-hour window in the middle of the night tonight at Lafayette during which I will need to pack, the dependence on my flight being on time…) but I knew the moment that I heard about this trip that it was the opportunity of a lifetime. I have always wanted to go on a service trip but had never had an opportunity to do so. And so, when I learned that ASB club was having a trip to help save sea turtles (my favorite animal), I knew it would be a horrible mistake not to apply. And then I was accepted, and had to break the news to my coach that I would be in Costa Rica conserving sea turtle beaches instead of swimming two-a-days in Easton over interim. And to my surprise, he was incredibly supportive, because he understood that this was a cause that meant a lot to me. And now here I am, 12 hours away from an amazing opportunity to help out a community and an endangered animal in a way I will probably never get to do again. In hopes of performing the best service I can, forming new friendships, and making a difference, I am ready.