Saint-Martin

Looking back on our time on the island of Saint Martin fills us with a certain kind of melancholic sadness. Not just because we miss the sun, the waves and palm trees or running around in crop tops and shorts during February. But because our time in the Caribbean didn’t feel like a vacation or a touristy trip and rather felt like an actual life there. You read that right. It was life. We worked, we cooked, we meet tons of interesting local people and we went to school there. Everything that happened to us during that time was localized to this small patch of Land – smaller than Munich – in the middle of nowhere, Caribbean. Our everyday lives back home seemed to have been put on ice. That is to say, going back to the freezing cold of German winter didn’t just mean throwing on our winter coats, but leaving a piece of us, leaving the people we met, the friends we made, behind. Leaving life behind.

Now, that may sound sad at first but think about what that can tell you about our time on the Island.

After arriving, getting a good night`s sleep and settling into our temporary home, we visited where we would spend a good portion of our time. The university of Saint Martin, or USM. We were greeted with open arms, high spirits and high expectations. After introducing ourselves and what we do, the mission statement was clear. We were to produce and shoot two short films for the university, create a bunch of social media content, and set up a system that allows the university to keep posting and creating content, after we are gone.

The first days of the project were spent planning and working out who will do what. And, naturally, exploring the beautiful island, playing pool and having a bit of fun while creating the first video impressions and taking lots of photos. The next step was to get to know the university a little bit better. We sat in a couple of courses and got the opportunity to get to know a few students and teachers. The hospitality and warmth of the people made us feel right at home – like we belonged.

After our teachers went back to Germany, we were left to our own devices for the weeks two and three. Of course, that didn’t bother us in the slightest as it meant taking full responsibility. Delivering a satisfying product to the university was now completely up to us. And with that task we flourished. From the first opportunity we got we began to film interviews, b-roll footage, drone shots and impression of the university and the island itself. We took every chance we got to get some impressive images and were really fighting to get the perfect results. Waking up early to catch sunrises, working through the pains of a flu, fighting sunburns and heat strokes, you name it. We were really giving it our everything, even sacrificing some shoes. Everything for the shot. We wanted the videos to be perfect and were working on them right up until the very end. After a few sleepless nights of editing, we were satisfied and ready to present our work. For our presentation and farewell, the lovely people of the university invited us to a tasty lunch of homecooked, local food. It was truly delicious. And they loved the videos!

Obviously, working was not the only thing we did while on the island. We also got to know the culture, the history, the people and the beautiful fauna and flora of one of the most impressive places we have seen. We went scuba diving. We rode the steepest zipline on earth and we took part in a traditional Caribbean church service. Just to name a few things. Also, we played pool. Lots of it.

We also learned quite a lot during our stay. The obvious ones are working independently in challenging and unknown situations and improving our English conversation skills. But we also learned a lot about the history and culture of the island. We met a lot of interesting and impressive personalities. And we made a few really good friends among ourselves.

Maybe now you can understand why we feel sad that the time is over. But we are incredibly grateful that we got the chance to make this kind of once in a lifetime experience, create some unforgettable memories and spend February in the sun.

Now, without making this too long, I will leave you with a recommendation: When you get to Saint Martin check out Mamas Pizza. Tell them the Germans sent you!

Visiting a beautiful and unique island means making memories, experiencing once-in-a-lifetime moments, finding special places, and meeting incredible people. The island of Saint Martin offers its tourists a lot, but its inhabitants even more. And on our trip to the Caribbean island, we weren’t just tourists. We were living and working there for three weeks. The life we experienced was uniquely educational. We didn’t just learn a lot about the island but also about working independently, about the people, and about ourselves.

Stepping out of the airplane after the nine-hour flight felt like stepping into a new world after waking from a dream. We went from the freezing cold of German winter to being surrounded by palm trees and a warm breeze blowing through our hair. With a little help from our teachers, we got our cars on the first morning and were ready to explore the island. Since our first meeting with the university wasn’t until the second day, we spent the first day at the beach, watching the sunset—an incredible feeling just hours after boarding a plane at -3 degrees Celsius.

On the second day, we finally met with the incredible people of USM, The University of St. Martin. We were welcomed with open arms by university president Antonio and the other warmhearted people at USM. After introducing ourselves, we moved straight to business and decided together on what we were going to accomplish during our three-week stay on the island. We were to produce two videos for the university, one video for our dear Dutchies (some very nice Dutch students with whom we were working for two weeks), and shoot some additional photos of campus life for the website. During this planning session, we also heard the first real words out of Duane’s mouth: “You guys strike me as makers. I love that!”

Duane is responsible for the university’s media representation and is not a big fan of long, fruitless discussions. Duane is also an immensely warm and fun person and was an absolute pleasure to work alongside. His hands-on approach to creative work was an enormous help since he could assist us in getting people to agree to interviews, scouting locations, and giving us feedback to exactly fulfill the wishes of the university regarding the videos.

Alright. Goals had been set, so we got to work. After some internal planning and deciding who would fill which role, we spent the first two weeks shooting the videos. We split our workforce into two groups. One group was working with the Dutch students while the others were working on the image film for the university. The third video, a vibey introduction to a performance art class, was filmed by all of us.

Within just a couple of days, the university project team had their first day shooting b-roll footage of the university campus, shortly followed by an education class they also filmed. Meanwhile, the team working with the Dutchies was exploring the island for lost places to film for their documentary. The next shooting days were planned for the second week and were supposed to be interviews with our protagonists and some more b-roll footage of them. During our time working on the videos, we met many incredible people who had lots to tell. Carmen, for example, is a sweet lady who finished her education in her fifties to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher. This made filming interviews with them super interesting. Duane contacted some alumni and students for the image film while the Dutch students had their contacts ready to meet up.

Working and enjoying life made time feel like it was both flying by and stretching forever since we experienced so much more in such a short time than we were used to. And since the trip wasn’t supposed to be only work, we also had free time to explore the island. We went on a hike, watched sunsets, attended a Caribbean church service, enjoyed sunrises, chilled on multiple beaches, partied, went snorkeling, explored lost places, watched wildlife, got tattoos, enjoyed the local cuisine, and so much more!

The third week was spent editing the videos and creating a final product. During this time, we remained in close contact with Duane to create a product that was satisfactory for the university. We learned a lot working this way because it was a real-life experience working with a real “customer.” We couldn’t just deliver a video that we liked; we also had to respect the wishes of the university.

Before we knew it, those three incredible weeks were coming to an end. The final days were close, and with them came a final review of all we had accomplished. We met with the university staff once again and presented our videos. The staff, Antonio, and Duane were very pleased with the results, and in a few weeks, the videos will go online!

Looking back on the time we spent on this unique island feels like reminiscing about a dream. We felt completely detached from our lives in Germany and were just living in the moment on a small piece of land in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. These incredible memories of once-in-a-lifetime experiences will stay with us forever. So will the friendships we made and the people we met. We will always have a place in our hearts for this special place. I can’t wait to get back to the island to meet Duane and Antonio again!