What do sept students do when they arrive at Saba?

[SABAShadi]

Hi, im starting in sept. I would like to know what the students do during the first couple days prior to orientation. For example do we pay dorm room tuition and get meal tickets for the cafeteria? I like food, so what type of food does the school offer. I have been thinking about almost every possible situation and was wondering about the food. Do students buy food and stock up in the dorms? or are there close resturants around?
How do most students pay the school tuition, can you charge it? Or must it be a check? thanks

shadi

[doctor2007]

There is not much to do on Saba prior to Orientation. If one comes a few days early like (2-3 days) he/she might get a dorm room and can check out the school and the island. The school cafeteria won't be open until the day of orientation, so one can eat at local restaurants. You can also do groceries shopping at the local market (called My Store). It has pretty much everything, but the best time to get fresh stuff is on Thursday afternoon. The cafeteria offers different foods on different days, a variety of foods. Don't worry about the specifics, they are well prepared and always fresh. I haven't had any problem with their food. However, it'll take you 1-2 weeks to get used to the different food taste. Everyone pays doorm fees during orientation day in the afternoon. All tuition is done by check or Loan. Most students are on loans, so when the loans get distributed the school takes out the tuition and give the student the rest of the loan.

Hope all this helps. One adivice, don't come to Saba earlier that 1-2 days prior to Orientation. You will get bored. Enjoy the days that you have off the island. Get ready cause the ride is difficult.

Hi, im starting in sept. I would like to know what the students do during the first couple days prior to orientation. For example do we pay dorm room tuition and get meal tickets for the cafeteria? I like food, so what type of food does the school offer. I have been thinking about almost every possible situation and was wondering about the food. Do students buy food and stock up in the dorms? or are there close resturants around?
How do most students pay the school tuition, can you charge it? Or must it be a check? thanks

shadi

[Ferrarijp]

I'm going to take that extra time to get to know the island. I'll probably get a cell phone activated and look into scuba lesson prices and schedules. Other than that I'll be kicking back and resting before we have to hit the books.

I guess if it gets to be too much of a bore, a few of us can always take a trip to St. Maarten.

[sheraz]

I wouldnt go there a few days before school but thats just me. I noticed on the first day I was there and there were some people that had been there for a few days already and they looked pretty bored to me. 1-2 days before hand should be more then enough to get aquainted to the island. Also shadi I think I am your mentor so I'll email you about some stuff later. Alot of people bring food from home, but that only lasts you a certain amount of time. If you are living in the dorms get used to microwave cooking - its not easy. There are alot of restaurants around so food is not a problem down there, everyone likes eating.

[SABAShadi]

Hey, thanks for the info, yeah i will be arriving on the island on sept 2nd and I am sure i will get bored a little bit. My bro and i visited in july for 4 days and had nothing to do except watch tv, hehe. About the microwave food, I think i have adjusted already...college has made me not miss home made food for a good while now.
Anyway, ill see you all on the island, i have to go finish moving this stuff from my apt. bye bye! and thanks again.

-Shadi

[wolfvgang22]

does anyone down there on the rock do a low carb diet? I've lost about 15 pounds doing the Atkins thing, and I wondered if continuing that would be very difficult down there. Can you get splenda sweetener in the store?

[Ferrarijp]

My parents are sending me a side of beef every month of the semester... I've lost over 100lbs on the Atkins and I don't intend on gaining any of it back. I figure five more months on this diet and I'll need some Drano to open up my arteries, but I'll reach my ideal weight of 65lbs. :lol:

[ttwl]

What is the story with mentors? Does every first semester student have one???

[swinginislanddoc]

ttwl,
Yes, every first semester student gets a mentor - it's the mentor's duty to contact you.

Wolf,
Hope you're being careful with that atkins thing. You can get Splenda ($$$$) at JRs. You can also make orders of meat from Cost-U-Less on St. Maarten and pick it up on the Thursday boat.


Any more questions? :P

~S 8)

[lobotomy_man]

mentors.... when do they contact us????

Me.

[SABAShadi]

Mentors should contact us soon, mine did already and he has helped me out so much already! thanks Sheraz! I think they usually contact us via e-mail.
gl
shadi

[Ferrarijp]

Shadi, have you learned anything about the dorm room assignments? In our welcome packets, we are told we can contact someone in the upcoming weeks.

[sheraz]

you should be getting an email or something in the mail telling you whether you will be living in the dorms or off campus (because saba doesnt have enough room in the dorms for all first semesters). The email/mail should have your dorm roomates name and email address.

[futureofamerica]

what is mentor's responsibility? what do they do to help the 1st semester students?

[ResearchingGuy]

Mentors are usually there to answer questions about life on Saba, classes, books, etc. You should get an e-mail from your mentor soon. If not, don't worry, you'll meet them once you are here. The good thing is that these relationships usually last through out your time here (at least until your mentor graduates) and they can provide help like notes, books, etc. past first semester.

Of course, there's still the rest of us you can consult.

Best of Luck!

[SABAShadi]

About dorms, my mentor told me that eating int he dorms usually gets repetative, imagine, no kitchen! Anyway, i have been trying to get my assignment for the dorms as well, but i think that the Island office, housing in general is getting hit hard with all the studenst and new applications, they are really nice and hard working, i am sure they will send out an e-mail to all of us asap, you could even try calling the US branch if you are really want to. Alright, gotta go dance int he rain, i am so sick of OHio's weather!
shadi

[classic]

That's a really big front that's moving in Shadi. I dread having that thing come down south; we've had soooooo much rain this summer. I guess we should enjoy it while we can though because we won't be seeing too much of it on the island!

[futureofamerica]

thanx for the info researhingGuy. I think having a mentor would be a great help.

[SABAShadi]

Ohio took a hard hit last night, the storms were so loud they woke everyone up. Anyway, while i was at saba, nothing really hard hit, weather wise. It was just spur of the moment showers, cant wait to go!