Days 12 & 13 (Jan. 15 & 16, 2011)!

Hi!

It's been a crazy couple of days, and just like last J-term, my posts are not going to be as frequent over the next couple of days because of all the wrap up activities that take place when wrapping up the program. Over the next few days I've got to first take a test, then finish a group research project, and hammer out my personal paper. It's going to be cuuuuhrazy!

I'll tell you about my life the past few days, though. I can't remember if I followed up on what happened Friday night...we went to the WhaleSong.org benefit concert in Paia, which was fun!! Really earthy, hippy,  and sweet music (whale song duets with clarinet and soprano sax!)...Hawaiians are so chill. Seriously. Anyway, we left that about 8 pm and got back to the condo and I did laundry, typed some notes, and went to sleep! Then Saturday happened.

Day 12/January 15/Saturday!
Yay for having an off-day! I woke up at 8:30 am (ahhhh, relaxing!) and went for a run on the beach! Because of the most recent storm (the one that flooded everywhere in Kihei), the beach was/is a mess. I was doing a walk/jog/sprint routine, and every time I hit the "walk" stage, I'd save shrimp and small ocean invertebrates from being washed up! They were still alive, so I threw them back into the waves. Shrimp are so cute. :)

After I got back from my run, a plan was finally created for what we were going to do on our day off! We originally wanted to SCUBA/snorkel...but, the waters were pretty murky and full of sharks, so we opted out of that. Instead, we rented a jeep and drove to Big Beach in Makena and hung out there all day!! I LOVE TROPICAL BEACHES. Little Beach (aka the nude beach) was right over the cliff. I didn't go there, but one my roommates did. Anyway, on our way TO the beach, we stopped at a little roadside stand and I got a pineapple rice with fruit salsa taco! Yay anti-globalization and supporting the locals!

Swimming in the ocean was AWESOME! Although, I lost my snorkel mask because I got bulldozed into the sand by a huge wave and the ocean swept my goggles right off my face! I still have the snorkel tube, though. And I've got an extra pair of swimming goggles with me, so when I go on the snorkeling trip with mom and dad, I can just wear those. But yea! Then we drove back to the condo, ate dinner, and went to class. In class, we watched a movie called the Dolphin Dealer. Christopher Porter is a horrible human being, and the Ocean Embassy organization and SeaWorld and everything in Dubai need to be dismantled and suffer as much as the dolphins they put in captivity suffered. I was/am extremely upset at the way humans treat marine mammals, and animals in general.

After the movie, my roommates went to a lounge downtown Kihei, and I stayed and typed up notes and began my personal essay. The movie was kind of a buzzkill and I felt really sad about it, so I just felt like cuddling in my jammies and not moving.

Then I went to sleep :)

Day 13/January 16, 2011/Sunday
Today we woke up bright and early to go on a whale watch!! Hawaii Ocean Rafting is the company, located in Lahaina--SUPER AWESOME SAUCE! We got within 20 feet of a female whale who was tail slapping in the company of several aggressive bulls that were vying for physical proximity to her! I don't have time right now to upload the videos, but they're super amazing :) :)

So, we were on that from 7 am-9:30 am, and then we explored the town of Lahaina for a little bit! It reminded me a bit of Bar Harbor, ME...except, without the hills and the water is a lot bluer. We ate lunch at a restaurant called Cheeseburger In Paradise and our waiter was super friendly...ex-military who is completely nomadic (lived in 8 countries and 32 states). Whoa sauce.

Then we went out for afternoon field research! The sun was brutally hot today and there wasn't much of a breeze. So much sunscreen was used. Oh my gosh. And I still got slightly burnt!!! We got some pretty good data.

Then we came back to the condo, ate dinner (I had yogurt and strawberries and toast because I had a big lunch), and went to class! Class was, once again, a horrible movie about dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. Crying through the whole thing--the movie is called The Cove. I had to look away many times, but I could still hear the screams of the dolphins as they were being murdered. Japan is scary. And it's a very influential movie. See it at least once--the "disney" version, like I saw. Apparently the raw version is exponentially more graphic. I can't even imagine seeing the raw version...I could barely handle the "disney" version. So, all in all, it was another great day that ended with discussion of dolphin murder and human desire for greed and domination--aka: speciesism.

So, tomorrow we've got morning field research and mom and dad are flying to Maui!! Wooooooo!!!! We're expecting a big storm tonight (Sunday) that will go into Monday, so I'm a bit worried about the whole flight situation, but mom and dad are smart, so if the plane has any trouble, they'll know how to steer it to safety :)

Love!