Submitted by Rachel Narcho on the 2018 spring semester program in the Cayman Islands sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development…
My second week of placement was two days of professional development and three days of break. CIS was having their mid-term break. I made the most of the professional development, learning about the expansion and future of CIS, while preparing myself for my next week of teaching lessons.
I was invited to take part in the annual half-day boat trip with some of the staff members at CIS. We took off at 1:00 pm, and arrived at the Coral Garden. We started our snorkeling adventure there for about a hour. The water was so clear and there were beautiful fish everywhere. Next, we headed to the infamous Stingray City. As we hopped off the boat, I soon realized that I could stand. I looked around me and couldn’t see land for miles. We were standing in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, surrounded by stingrays in the wild. Initially, I was terrified. I soon became comfortable and started listening to our guide. He explained that 100 years ago, fishermen became irritated cleaning their fish off by the harbor and getting swarmed with mosquitos. They started coming to this spot, now called Stingray City, to clean off their fish. The stingrays became smart, and realized they didn’t have to hunt for food and swarmed the area. Fifty years ago, the locals realized they could turn it into a tourist attraction. The stingrays mind their own business until you are holding a piece of squid. Then, they will start swarming and suck it out of your hand with their mouth, located just under their body. It’s quite amazing. The female stingrays are the bigger ones, attracting the most attention. The small ones are not babies, but rather the males. I was brave enough to touch the stingray this trip! We then headed to Starfish Point, to see and interact with starfish in the wild.
We made our way home, and Hannah arrived that weekend! It was nice to have a friendly face on the island and across the hall! We spent Sunday night getting to know each other a bit better at a local Mexican restaurant, and headed home to get ready for what would have been my 3rd week of placement and first week of teaching math lessons!