Tobago Expedition: Day 5
Word of luggage!
Persistence in calling the airport has paid off. After days of being in limbo, my bags have finally appeared. In Cairo, Egypt. I'm too shocked at the airline's incompetence to come up with an appropriately snarky comment.
Reportedly, my bags have been sent back to JFK, forwarded to Atlanta and are now flying towards me as I write this. They were, in fact, due to land an hour ago, but the flight was delayed. With luck, I will have them in hand tomorrow morning.
The party last night was a blow out, and dinner of coconut curry shrimp over rice was perfection. As the night ran a bit late, everyone woke up whenever (ah, to not be rudely awakened at six in the morning!), slowly worked on tea and coffee, lazed around and worked on our tans. The biggest project of the day was Sunday chores: they're like daily chores but more intense. I was saddled with making dinner; trying to figure out portions for seventeen people was challenging. In the end we had enough- a lovely (if I do say so myself) tomato-based sauce with fried eggplant, onions and garlic with chickpeas thrown in for good measure, green beans and garlic bread. The only hitch was my measure of the rice- we'll be eating leftovers for days.
For those of us still working on the science course, today's other project was a continuation of fish study. Using identification books, flashcards and a handy computer program, we grouped off and pounded characteristics, families and individual names into our heads. I still feel hopeless, but I am starting to differentiate one fish from another. Fortunately we can take the test as many times as we need to pass...
Having been here a few days now, and finally having learned everyone's names, personalities have become more apparent. Seventeen people, and therefore seventeen distinct personalities, living in one cottage on top of each other day and night, is a recipe for conflict. Try as anyone might, blow-ups are bound to happen. This is when expedition leaders distinguish themselves. A good leader will calm combatants down and find a compromise to the situation. Less experienced leaders either step back or, worse, compound the problem.
So I found it particularly interesting when our expedition leader was in the role of combatant. A little background on the current climate: several volunteers prefer to sleep Saturday nights rather than take part in the festivities. They happen to be in the room at the front of the house. They also happen to be my roommates. The only thing separating them from the Saturday night parties is a screen window. Obviously, they don't sleep well.
Last night, shortly after midnight, one of my roommates asked for the music to be turned down. Our fearless leader had a bad reaction to the request and a shouting match ensued. I was blissfully unaware of the altercation until this morning when bits and pieces of the story floated around. Asking my roommate directly didn't yield much as she was still too furious to talk about it.
The matter was dropped until dinner, when our leader brought it up publicly. He gave a long-winded lecture pertaining to Coral Cay's many years of experience in running these expeditions and said Saturday nights are sacred as they provide everyone with a much needed way to blow off steam built up over the week. He used the weight of the organization to defend his decision to party like it's 2999. He then ended with (and I quote), "And if you don't like it, pack your bags and go."
Personally, I can see both sides of this issue and am not sure a perfect compromise can be reached. However, he should have tried to find some sort of solution rather than falling back on the ‘my way or the highway’ attitude. His absolute lack of professionalism has my roommates considering his offer to leave the program. The tension in the cottage is palpable.
As mentioned previously, friction is bound to happen in living conditions like this, but I'm losing faith that they will be handled properly. It is the expedition leader we should be able to turn to for a cool-headed resolution, not find him at the heart of the issue.
On the plus side, it makes for a great television substitute.
