Journals from the week ending March 7, 1997
Night Fishing
Jacquie Davies, 3/4/97, aboard ship...On the evening of the 23rd of February, most of us ventured out for our first time on a night fishing trip. Around thirty-five students and teachers piled into two long dhonis after sun down, equipped with bait and fishing lines. As a substitute for fishing rods, we wrapped line around a plastic bottle, simply rotating the container to 'reel in' or let out line.
Not being an experienced fisherman in any way, my first obstacle lay in deciphering between the weight of a nibbling fish on my line and just the lonely bait. Before long, screams of excitement from some and terror from others emerged as a barracuda and an elaborate reef fish were flung onto the deck.
Part of me felt badly for trying to catch the tropical fish that I had raved about just a few hours earlier while snorkeling. One has to realize, however, that our catch was negligible in comparison with those who do it for a living. Although I didn't win the prize for the largest fish, or even come close for that matter, I was glad to have experienced something new.
Representing Class Afloat
Amanda Verkade, 3/3/97, aboard ship...
This semester, the staff decided to have two students represent the student body. The two co-presidents would have such duties as organizing events at sea and helping with the organization of land programs. Also, because the scheduled ports are more populated this semester, Concordia will become more noticed which involves such things as TV and newspaper interviews.
Jon Dillon and I were voted in as the co-presidents of the group. After we had left Langkawi, Maldives was our first port where we had the opportunity to represent the program. Jon and I gave four tv interviews and one interview that will be published in a local magazine.
The Maldivians were excited that we had chosen to visit their country and the media was eager to show us to the rest of their citizens. Also, while we were in the Republic of the Maldives, Concordia hosted a reception along with the Ministry of Education for the Maldives. The high commissioner of Canada even flew down from Myanmar for the event which turned out to be a huge success. It is times like these that the students and I come to realize in what a unique experience we are involved.
Maldives
Michelle Lanteigne, 3/3/97, aboard ship...
The Maldives were one of the stops that I looked forward to the most. The islands are surrounded by an outer reef. There are over 1,900 islands and atolls. The islands were more than I had expected. They had white sandy beaches and turquoise water- tropical paradise. I spent most of my time at the beach and in the water. Snorkeling was one of my most amazing experiences on the island. The reef was full of colors. There were hundreds of brightly-colored fish and coral. Every inch of the reef was different.
One of the nights while we were at anchor in Male, some of the locals took us night fishing in their long boats called dhonis. They took us to a different reef area and anchored. We had long lines with chunks of bait at the end. We let the lines sink and waited until we felt a tug or nibble. Most people caught barracudas. A moray eel was caught, too.