This morning I spent working and studying, I spent about half of that time studying ahead for biology, a quarter blogging, and a quarter researching Summer internship opportunities. At 1:30 that afternoon I walked into town with four other students. We picked up motion sickness medication (they didn’t have Dramamine) and produce from a stand in town. The stand had the largest avocados I had ever seen, a shock for having been told that avocados weren’t in season at the market we had visited the previous week. I bought three, as well as some fruit to snack on and one of the other students bought a massive pineapple and a slice of watermelon that made my giant avocados look dwarfish by comparison. We got back at around five and I got ready to go on a bioluminescent boat tour that night at 6:30. I highly recommend doing a bioluminescent tour of some sort, though I would not recommend boarding ‘Sugar Lips’ unless you’re specifically seeking a wild night of partying. The $400TT cost included transportation by cab to the dock, dinner (though by the time we had it it was more of a midnight snack), and more drinks than you could possibly consume. There were eight of us including myself and there were six other girls, five of whom were visiting from Scotland and Ireland. Our first stop was off of a small island where we jumped into the Caribbean waters causing a splash of green-blue sparks. This was the bioluminescent plankton. It looked almost like fairy dust in your palms as you wiggled your fingers through the water, reminding me of the sparks that float away from a fire or the stars but with a distinct green hue. Keep in mind when booking your vacation and your bioluminescent excursions that it is nearly impossible to see in a full moon and so you want to be as close to the New Moon or Dark Moon, which is when it isn’t visible in the sky, as possible. We reboarded the boat and were served some of the most delicious rum punch I’ve had thus far. It wasn’t so fruity as to leave you skeptical that your drink is even alcoholic but wasn’t so filled with rum as to make you gag with ever sip. In fact, it was so good it could probably qualify as dangerous. Our second stop was at No Man’s Land where a beach bonfire and dinner were waiting for us. Dinner was Caribbean rice and a salad which was fulfilling but not anything to brag home about. In my experience the ‘party’ was uncomfortable and tense, the ratio of ‘crew’ (meaning crew and friends of the crew who we did not know would be aboard) was roughly equal. I have discussed in previous journals the culture of ‘wining’ and how dance is, in general, more social than sexual. I did not feel that way in this situation. I was surrounded by strangers who wanted to corner me into a dance and used the excuse of culture as a way to try and sidestep the word ‘no.’ This had not been my experience in the clubs or even at other more public party outings and it made me incredibly uncomfortable. I was glad when we finally boarded the boat and started going home. We got home at just before three the next morning. Overall, I think the day was worth the experience but I wouldn’t go out on the ‘Sugar Lips’ again. I didn’t get as much of a bioluminescent experience as I was expecting, we didn’t get to go to the third stop at the Nylon Pools because the crew got so busy trying to dance with everyone, and the hard-core party experience made me very uncomfortable and tense which doesn’t pair well with having fun. The only thing that was truly phenomenal about the ‘Sugar Lips’ in my experience was the rum punch.