Journals 2007/2008

Megan O'Neill
Fairhope High School, Fairhope, Alabama

"The development of an Arctic ice stream dominated sedimentary system, the southern Svalbard Continental Margin (SVAIS)" Spanish Research Vessel, B.I.O Hesperides July 29 - August 17, 2007

Journal Index: July 25,26,27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 August 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9            10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16            17 - 18 Additional Resources

August 18, 2007
Saturday/Domingo: Sweet Home Alabama

At 3:45 am we boarded the shuttle with our luggage and headed to the airport to board our 5 am flight to Oslo. Going home was a bittersweet thing. I had such a wonderful time with so many new experiences, but I also missed home and was ready to be there. Unfortunately, I had to endure the 27-hour trip. I was again going to be surprised if my luggage actually made it all the way with me! The flight to Oslo was easy, and it was there that I said good-bye to my friends from Barcelona. We exchanged contact information and Catalina and I discussed our plans to hopefully get some students to do an exchange between our schools. It had been so great working with her on the ship and I look forward to our collaboration in the future! As our planet gets smaller with technology, these contacts are going to be vital to a professional workplace.

The flight to Amsterdam was easy and then I went through the detailed question/answer session for customs to board the flight to the U.S. It was great to hear those Southern U.S. accents that I am accustomed to from the travelers around me getting ready to head to Memphis! The 10-hour flight was easy also and I had the pleasure of sitting next to a film professor from Austin, Texas coming back from India. Very interesting to speak with her about her travels and exchange my stories! Finally I arrived in Memphis and the last leg to Mobile was a breeze - Home Sweet Home at last! And then the heat/humidity hit me - where's the next flight to Svalbard?!!!!!

I would like to add a list of thanks to all that made this journey of a lifetime possible for me because I know that it takes a team of support to bring this all to fruition.

• Andrea, Sara, and Gail for all of your tireless effort for the ARMADA Project
• Kate Moran for connecting us with Angelo Camerlenghi
• Beverly Thomas for supporting my interests and making it possible to leave my job to go on an adventure to share with our students and community
• Kimberly Pratt and Kathy Couchon for the information about "life on a ship"
• Stephany Hannon for EVERYTHING from the Spanish classes, helping coordinate my classes, news updates, e-mails and your caring spirit
• Tresha Garrick for starting off my school year with a new group of students and making it so easy to return
• Donna Cook and Wayne Kilborn for taking care of my home, rides to the airport and e-mails!!!
• Anderson McKean for cold weather workout gear
• The library ladies and staff at school for such a warm welcome home!
• Angelo Camerlenghi for inviting me and being brave enough to bring teachers and media personnel onboard and making it all look so easy!
• Catalina Sureda for learning English to translate and the teamwork on our projects
• Monica and Ben for English conversations and photography lessons
• Elena for the lessons on culture in Spain (meats from Salamanca, etc!)
• Jaume, David and Sarah - Constant entertainment!
• Maite for being a great roommate and Spanish lessons
• The Armada Crew and Scientists for accommodating my attempts at Spanish
• National Science Foundation for funding such an incredible program
• VECO for providing a satellite phone and parka
• Most importantly: to my family for taking care of my horses and dog, sending e-mails and for being my biggest fans. I love you.