Here we go.....

Hi everyone!

This is my introductory blog post for my trip to Martinique!

In the wee hours of the morning I will be leaving for a 4 week study abroad in the Caribbean. I am going as an assistant to my friend and colleague Anna, who is the director for the program. Anna and I have been working on this trip for over a year, finding the right group of students, matching them with host families and general planning for the courses being taught there. A lot of work has been done coming up to this moment and we’re really excited to get over there!

So where is Martinique?

Martinique is in the lower part of the Caribbean, the “lesser Antilles,” in between Dominica and St. Lucia. We are arriving just at the end of the rainy season and the weather is generally mild, with not much of a variance in temperature each day, usually a low of 70°-75° and a high of 80°- 85°

Why are we going there?

Well, Martinique is actually part of France! It, along with Guadeloupe, is an overseas department of France. This means that we can take students studying French and give them an immersion experience in “France” with a Caribbean twist!

We are going with 24 students from the University of Delaware each of whom will be taking 2 intensive courses during their time on the island; one in French (different levels depending on the student) and one in Caribbean culture. This second class is the one I get to help the most with as it is the one that offers lectures on the local culture and takes the students on excursions around the island!

I’m looking forward to exploring a new part of the world, and maybe learning some creole. You’re invited to come along with me on my adventures!

Here’s a poem for all of us on the eve of our departure:

For the Traveler

Every time you leave home,

 Another road takes you

 Into a world you were never in.

New strangers on other paths await.

 New places that have never seen you

 Will startle a little at your entry.

 Old places that know you well

 Will pretend nothing

 Changed since your last visit.

When you travel, you find yourself

 Alone in a different way,

 More attentive now

 To the self you bring along,

 Your more subtle eye watching

 You abroad; and how what meets you

 Touches that part of the heart

 That lies low at home:

How you unexpectedly attune

 To the timbre in some voice,

 Opening in conversation

 You want to take in

 To where your longing

 Has pressed hard enough

 Inward, on some unsaid dark,

 To create a crystal of insight

 You could not have known

 You needed

 To illuminate

 Your way.

When you travel,

 A new silence

 Goes with you,

 And if you listen,

 You will hear

 What your heart would

 Love to say.

A journey can become a sacred thing:

 Make sure, before you go,

 To take the time

 To bless your going forth,

 To free your heart of ballast

 So that the compass of your soul

 Might direct you toward

 The territories of spirit

 Where you will discover

 More of your hidden life,

 And the urgencies

 That deserve to claim you.

May you travel in an awakened way,

 Gathered wisely into your inner ground;

 That you may not waste the invitations

 Which wait along the way to transform you.

May you travel safely, arrive refreshed,

 And live your time away to its fullest;

 Return home more enriched, and free

 To balance the gift of days which call you.

~ John O’Donohue ~