Homezies, yah

Home. At last.

Back to school soon! Classes start up on Feb 7! This semester:

-Chemical Reactions
-Cell Physiology
-Biomolecular Science
-Indigenous Peoples (GE requirement)
-Statistics for Science

Cheers until my next adventure, which will hopefully be this summer when I participate in a Research for Undergraduates Experience (REU) somewhere in the USA!

LOVE!

Byyyyyyye, byyyye, Miss Hawaiian sweet...pie...?

HI!

We're going to be experiencing our last day of Hawaiian awesomeness today. Sad face.

Before we leave, we plan to do the following:

1) eat a delicious breakfast (made by momma!)
2) chill by/in the pool
3) chill by/in the ocean
4) put our heads underwater to listen to the humpback whale song (HAPPINESS)
5) chill with our toes in the sand
6) watch whales from the lanai
7) chill with the sunshine
8) feed a bird from the lanai
9) send postcards...finally...
10) shower in the greatest shower EVER
11) kiss the floor of 613 Honua Kai and worship it for being such an amazing condo
(12)...(ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, ....................pack...................maybe.....................................)

Red eye flight stuff: Hawaii-->Los Angeles-->Chicago-->Dubuque.

Snow (AND COOPER!!!! Thanks for watching him, Gramma and Fred :)!!!), here we come!

LOVE!

Look! Look!

I've uploaded whale videos! And the video from our presentation!

Click me!!!!!

Maui is fantastic :) Honua Kai is the most glorious and luxurious place EVER!

Seriously.

So, the luau was amazing last night (BIG HAPPY FACE)! Yup. Photos to follow.

Adventure for today: my foot got murdered by coral. Ouch. I'm ok, but MAN did it hurt. We chilled by the pool/beach all day. Super relaxing.

Tomorrow: whale watch in the morning and then lunch/dinner at Lahaina Pizzeria! YAY!

Then, we don't have any plans for like, ever. Until Monday morning, when we go snorkeling out at Molokini (sp?)!!!!

We fly Wednesday night. I actually kinda miss snow...........

LOVE!

Days 14, 15...and the rest of my trip until mom and dad pick me up on Thursday (1/20)!

Day 14/January 17, 2011
Today we had field research in the morning. There were so many boats out--it took us forever to find a pod where we could have a before boat period of at least 15 minutes. But, our persistence paid off and we found a really good one! Woohoo! So after that, we got back and ate lunch (I was feeling very veggie-y, so I ate a bowl of corn! It was so delicious. Mmmm!) and worked on data analysis for yesterday and today! Then we worked for a little while on our group research paper. Then we made an awesome group dinner! Spaghetti! And awesome garlic bread! It was so good! Even though we only had 10 minutes to spend eating it because we had to get over to the Marine Sanctuary to hear Dr. Green give a lecture to the public about the impact of sound (military sonar, boat traffic, and seismic geological testing with air guns) on marine mammals. Super duper interesting. Then we came back to the condo and we've all been studying FOREVER AND A DAY for the final exam tomorrow night. I'm totally going to bed soon.

Also, mom and dad arrived safely in Maui :) They experienced luggage problems, but I think those were resolved. They were going to call me when they got to the condo, but mom texted and said they were super sleepy, so I'll just talk to them tomorrow!

Day 15/January 18, 2011
Today is bittersweet. It's bitter because it's the last day of field research (sad face!) but sweet because I get to see my parents!! They're going to meet us at the field and observe us doing our research! I'm so excited!!! I'm going to go for a run on the beach, study all morning, and then we've got field research in the afternoon and then our final exam 7-9 pm. Then we're going to work on our team research paper. Then we're going to sleep.

Day 16/January 19, 2011
We've got all day to work on our team research paper...whoa sauce. Then we present it at 7 pm to the class! I'll post our research paper when we're done :)

Day 17/January 20, 2011
Today my personal essay is due! I'll post that when it's done...tonight I'm also going to a luau in Lahaina!!!!! One last hoorah with the team :) I'm super stoked. Mom and dad haven't decided if they're going to come, too, but either way they're going to pick me up from Menehune before the luau and we're going to head off to Kaanapali for the week! <3!

I'll update accordingly while I'm with my parents. For now, though, I'm going to be too busy to think straight! So much work to do and papers to write.

LOVE! And thanks, again, to everybody for reading my blog :)

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!

Day 11/January 14, 2011

Oh my goodness! The internet is working INSIDE the condo!! I just ate breakfast and turned on my computer to type up my notes before we left for the field this morning and LO AND BEHOLD: when I reflexively clicked Mozilla to reflexively check my email, it worked! Anyway, yea. So, I'm really excited right now.

I'm also really excited because I did really well on the first test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next test is on Tuesday. Supposedly, it's easier. I'm not going to change any of my study habits though. Apparently a lot of people didn't do well on the first test...but Laura said that our team did the BEST out of all the teams!! We're such superstars.

So, yesterday the weather actually cleared up! However, there was so much flooding on the road, they closed it, so we couldn't get to our research site. We went on the roof of Menehune, instead! We ended up finding a really cool pod of whales...except they were exactly ON the horizon (not a "tick" or a "1/2 tick" down on the binocular compass), which made it SUPER hard to see anything. The only behaviors we could see were blows, breaches, and any other surface splashes. No body parts. The person on the theodolite confirmed blows, though! YAY! After we did our afternoon shift, then, some of the girls went to the grocery store (all I needed was yogurt and cheerios, so I didn't go...Amber picked them up for me and I paid her back! W00t!). While they were there, Miss Jillian and I went through the initial data analysis! Then we ate dinner. And the group was back at that point. Amber made homemade guacamole, which was really yummy!! Class happened--not in the classroom, but in the TA's room (106)/because of the flooding we couldn't get to the classroom. Class discussion was about N30, WTO, globalization, privatization--yea, pretty much against globalization. Where's the fun in cultural homogenity?! Why go to Sri Lanka if it looks exactly like Atlanta, Georgia? No uniqueness. And, (possible) privatization of water?! REALLY?! Wow. Humanity sucks. I've got more to say on that, but this post is an unexpected diversion (because the internet actually WORKED!) and I've got to type up some notes before we leave!

Tonight we're going to a benefit concert for the founder of WhaleSong.org! They buoy he puts in the water with the hydrophone that records the humpback whales singing costs a lot of money (and right now it's not in the water because he doesn't have the funds), so he's having a concert to raise some moolah! We'll be at that for a while tonight and then we'll come back and tomorrow is our day off! We talked to Laura and she's got a friend at a dive shop who is going to try to give us really good rates so we can go SCUBA diving/(snorkeling) off of Molokini (sp?)!!!!!!! Ziplining was >$90/person, so we opted NOT for that. We're going to have so much fun! I hope I have time to write some postcards, too. It's been crazy busy. If I don't send postcards while I'm at OMI, I'll send them the week I'm with the parentals :)

For now, note typing time!

PS: I forgot to tell you what I ate yesterday! The greatest thing I ate was yogurt and chopped up fresh strawberries (from the farmer's market!) and shells in white cheddar noodles. Yumm-O! K, bye.

PSS: Did you know that there's such thing as monkey poop coffee??! Don't worry, nobody is drinking it here. Apparently it's extremely expensive. Ummm, that's really gross.

Day 10/January 13, 2011



Here's the radar! Kihei is right where the "i" in Kahului is!



Aaaaaaaand the storm is continuing! Here's a picture of the radar (hopefully it worked). Pretty epic, yea? Kihei is right where the "i" in Kahului is. The power has gone out so many times this morning...mostly before 6 am. Anyway, so the morning groups probably aren't going to go out and if they don't go out, the likelihood of the afternoon group (us) isn't too good either. Looks like we'll have another 2-class day! And today is a food run, but I don't have much to pick up. Just a box of cheerios and yogurt. I'm probably going to start my personal essay, too! The essay is supposed to be our assessment on the state of the oceans and we're supposed to come up with a unique "something" we can do to help improve the state of the oceans. If anybody has any ideas, I'd love to hear them! Anyway, yea! So, that's pretty much it! It'll be another low-key day. Sad, really. I miss the whales :(

There is lots of flooding, too. The picture here is just a taste...the entire road in front of Menehune is flooded. Flash flood warnings are in full swing! This is just a picture of the beach area.

Flooding! Oh my goodness!

Update: with all the rain and stuff, Marsha has said she doesn't think the Road to Hana is a good idea. I wasn't going to go anyway--I'm probably going to go snorkeling and ziplining! Or, if that doesn't work, I'll probably end up chilling on the beach and reading my book :) <--major happy face. I love the ocean.

Love! And, I'll try to update again soon. It's tough because the internet is so finicky...we can only access it on the lanai, and even then it's tempermental. Oh, and my parents shipped my camera and the post office dropped one of those "re-deliver" sheets off, but I think I'm deducing from the fact they haven't come back to drop anything off that I've got to bring the sheet "requesting" a re-deliver TO the post office. So, I'll do that at some point.