By Darcy Perin
12/13/2020
It is the final night in quarantine, and tomorrow morning we will be leaving Shelter Island to board the R/V Sally Ride. All in all, it has been a really enjoyable stay! I think it going to be a hard adjustment because they really spoiled us here. Every day, the hotel staff delivered three meal directly to our room, and I’m happy to say that food did surpass my expectations. Almost magically, final exams lined up perfectly with our quarantine dates which I am extremely grateful for because it kept me decently busy. Another thing that made quarantine enjoyable was that we had the ability to go outside and walk around the island. The weather has been beautiful, and we are located by such a busy port that I feel as though I’ve seen every kind of boat imaginable, including a huge navy aircraft carrier. In addition, our Mexican visa issues are also finally being resolved. The authorization of our visa’s was approved a few days ago, and hopefully (fingers crossed) there aren’t any issues when the applications are dropped off at the consulate tomorrow. Our cruise plans are not completely ruined without the visas, but it is preferred that we have them because then we will be able to sample within the Mexican EEZ. Other than this visa saga not too many extremely exciting things have taken place in the past two weeks, but I know we’re all really exciting to be boarding tomorrow, so there will be more to come!
By Maggie Gaspar
12/13/2020
Two full weeks of quarantine have passed by here in beautiful San Diego, CA. Every day has been sunny and 60oF but it hasn’t all been sunshine and vacation. Studying for final exams and attending meetings for cruise preparation have kept me very busy and focused on what is important. Both COVID tests came out negative and all my course finals came out positive! My last weekend on dry, solid ground was spent by going on walks around Shelter Island and calling loved ones to wish them happy holidays before this intense 3-week excursion and reminding myself how truly lucky I am to have this incredible opportunity amidst everything else being shut down in the world.
View from hotel room balcony (credit: Darcy Perin)
View from behind the hotel (credit: Darcy Perin)
Credit: Darcy Perin
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