TSSG 2008 Voyage Log

Our last full, five-day week in California was stressful but worth it. Lots of talk about packing and some last-minute checks for passports and medical information. On Monday we had our first snorkeling lesson at the YMCA. We learned a whole different way to breathe, and although we felt claustrophobic at times, we still got through it and had many ab-crunching laughs.

Tuesday we discussed our ideas on the oceanography projects for the voyage. At the end of the day we had our second small-boat sailing lesson. Instead of peacefully sailing around we became more comfortable, competitive, and strong in our sailing. We played with a floaty ball, throwing it from boat to boat. Girls who found sailing scary were opening up and liking it more and more. With Vincent, our Leadership teacher, we talked about how to communicate to one another if we have conflicts and how we go about dealing with those conflicts. We worked on how we confront each other about problems, seeing that there was some tension between some girls. At the end of the day, with TILT, our video class, we sent some themes for our documentary.

Thursday was our field trip to the Romberg Tiburon Center for the Environment. The 13 girls split into two groups. Half went into the bay on a motor boat to take some tests and see how to test the bay. The other half went to the mudflats to take pictures and notes for our oceanography projects.

Written by Valentina Perry

Week Four was the week of love. Valentine’s Day was approaching us and love was in the air. With leaving being in less then twenty days away, we are beginning to prepare what we need and speed up in our classes. As we finished up the second section of Time of the Butterflies in English, the characters were also finding love. They were getting married and defining their positions in the revolution. In communication Vincent helped push our self-love by having us perform Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman” in front of the rest of the group. Also he gave us warm bellies on Wednesday when we had our “Vincent loves goodies day before Valentines Day Party” (as I call it). We had sweets galore and great laughs. We also began our history projects on the islands. We were divided into four groups for our four port stops, and we have to present a research paper before we leave. Lastly in oceanography we discussed differences in ocean water and tides. To put this into effect we took tools to the beach at the Hyde St. Pier and tested the water for salinity, depth, and temperature. Friday we went to the tidal pools and experienced the marine life that lives there. We saw sea anemones, sea urchins, star fish, crabs, and sea snails. We also were setting goals for ourselves in boot camp and swimming. In saying goodbye to our old boot camp instructor, Lindsay, and meeting our new one, Becky, we were introduced to a new work out style. Pushing ourselves, we did lung busters in swimming and obstacle courses at boot camp. Over the weekend some girls took place in a garage sale fundraiser that took place in San Mateo at Ami’s house and had a good success. Excitement for March 6th is building quickly, and we our close to reaching the first drop on this rollercoaster.
Written by Angelina Zervas

Entering the third week of the semester, we were warned the pace of all the excitement would begin to slow. But any worry of this looming boredom drifted away as all us girls got even closer. We started sharing personal thoughts and pushing each other past some of our social comfort zones. In our communication class, Vincent took these growing bonds to the next level when he turned on a magic faucet releasing some bottled up tears. While we were growing closer, Nettie helped us see ourselves in a broader sense.She gave wise explanations of tides, prevailing winds and the moon’s pull on the earth. These concepts had never made sense to any of us until it came through her patient teaching. Molly stimulated our senses and sparked our creativity with a little trip to sit on the beach, observe our beautiful surrounding and put what he felt into written words. All this plus swimming and boot camp training and we’re still carrying on with the same high level of enthusiasm and excitement for our steadily approaching departure day.

Written by Sophia DeNicola

To see more images from the first week of TSSG 2008, Click here

During week two together, we faced many physical and educational challenges that not only got us fit, but brought us closer together. On Monday, we began our routine workout at The YMCA pool that we will be doing up until we depart on our voyage. We came together as we realized that we were not in perfect swimming shape and had a fun time pushing each other while doing boot camp outside in the pouring rain.

In oceanography class, we discussed everything there is to know about rocks with Christine along with plate tectonics. During navigation class with Nettie, we found out how difficult using navigation tools can be. We learned more about longitude and latitude and how to read and plot points on a nautical map. These things will all come in handy during our voyage. In English class we began reading In the Time of the Butterflies; a true story about the four Mirabal sister’s fight against dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. This novel really proved to grasp our attention and interest during our first discussion about it. We also had a map quiz on all the islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea. Communications class stressed the importance of interpersonal communication and we shared our personal experiences with communication going awry. Watch group A stepped up and initiated Crew Muster on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. During this time we discussed possible fundraising ideas in order to make our trip even more fun.

The highlight of the week was Thursday during history class when we went aboard the three-masted ship named Balclutha on Hyde St. Pier. There Molly gave us the history of the Caribbean. It was really cool getting to see beforehand what we were getting ourselves into.

Written by Naiema Jackson