Time to Catch Up

Like I said in my last post, I was not sure when I would have access to Internet again after moving. I currently type this post sitting in my classroom (yes, my classroom) at Tafuna High School hooked up with an Ethernet cord to the wall. We have talked with Blue Sky and will hopefully have Internet up and running in our apartment in a few days. Yes, I am moved into the apartment. I believe this may be the largest bedroom I have ever had to myself (except maybe when we lived on the farm). I plan on doing a video tour of the apartment for you all soon. I have not recorded it yet, but as soon as I do I will post it. The place is nice and our host family/landlords are great. We have a commute from school - between 30-40 minutes each day, but it is doable. After we moved all of our stuff in, we headed down the road to a grocery store. There's a little one right in front of our house but limited supply. I live in the village of Pava'ia'i, a little off the main road on the fringe of the rainforest.

Here's the laundromat and store that is right in front of the building we live in:

When we arrived at the grocery store a 1/4 mile away from our place, I saw Tang on the shelf! I haven't had Tang since Sheldon and I used to go to Katherine's house, our babysitter. I may have to buy some one of these days to see if it's as good as I remember.

This is the outside of the grocery store we walked down the road to for a few things. Cool thing when we were in there - a Casting Crowns song was playing. I've ben to a Casting Crowns concert with my family, and I enjoy their music.

Sneak peek of the apartment. This is looking through my bedroom window:

This is the outside of the building. There are four units to the building, and I live on the top right hand side. Yes, I have a balcony/porch. Will be hanging up my Ecuador hammock I bought in the rainforest as soon as it gets here. Hopefully within a few weeks.

Moved in on my birthday, and I found some Tradewinds Sweet Tea at the grocery store. Figured I could buy one as another little birthday present to myself. haha

So these first few nights at the apartment make me like the location even more. Cannot see the ocean from our place, but there are mountains in the background. I think I mentioned living on the fringe of the rainforest... well, there are several flying foxes out and about at dusk and through the night. Flying foxes are a species of fruit bats. So cool! I hope to become a professional bat watcher and photographer before the end of the year. Total biology nerd was seen our first night in Pava'ia'i. Hannah said it was cool to see me so passionate and excited.

Woke up Sunday morning and had my glass of orange-mango juice on the porch just outside my room.

I went with a few other girls to a Christian Church we had been invited to by a woman that works in the Dept of Education. Here's a photo of me in my first Samoan church outfit.

It was a bit different from what I am used to at home, but I liked it and everyone was so nice. The cool thing about this church is it may not look like a church, but the outside is not what is important. It's about the people inside the church. You can't have a church without people. Only about 40 or so people in there, but they were all so nice.

We were introduced at the beginning of service. Kind of hard to miss us sitting there. The only pulagis (not Samoan)  except for the pastor and his family. Miss Natini (the woman we went to church with) took us out for lunch afterwards and invited the pastor and his family. We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant, and then he invited us to the service later that evening hosted by the youth as they had just finished a weeklong camp. I ended up going back because it sounded interesting and a good time. They all remembered my name from the morning. I made friends with a few little girls - Tasha and her younger twin sisters Rita and Tala. I sat up front with them. Yep, up front. A little un-Lutheran of me hahaha. You all should understand that joke.

I felt very welcome there, and Andrea and I are planning on going back this Sunday. The youth sang, presented things they learned, and went through a slideshow of photos from their camp. They served bars and hot chocolate after the evening service by the youth.

It is an amazing and powerful experience to be in this room with these people that sing hymns with such truth and energy. I couldn't help but feel invigorated and enlightened. I very much enjoyed this experience. After evening service, I talked with Brother Richard a lot (who seems to be somewhat of an assistant to the pastor). We discussed my background, what I'm doing here, and some of his background. It was a really cool conversation.

I've seen some of the members of that church out on the street, and they've all been saying hello and remembering me. I recognize them, as well. Bought myself a little ice cream. Grandma and Grandpa Wingert, these should look familiar to you. I thought of your house right away :-)

Now, back at the apartment finishing my catch up post at 8:12pm local time, where I do have Internet now! Blue Sky came and set it up today.

Monday we caught a bus at 7:10am, rode it to the Tafuna road, and then walked 25 minutes to Tafuna High School, where we met for the general assembly with the DoE. Just a big official ceremony, and we were introduced as the new World Teachers. Met with our schools next, and our Vice Principal talked with the 5 of us who will be teaching at Tafuna.

Went and looked at some school supplies to get an idea of things I may want after seeing my classroom, and then I came back to the apartment. I went on a little walk, and bought a bundle of green banans. These are a different species of banana than what you would be buying in the grocery store back home. These don't turn yellow when they ripen from my understanding. I paid $4 for this whole bundle.

We boiled some for dinner to eat along with some leftovers from our orientation. I asked our landlords how exactly to boil them before we did it, and yep you boil them with the skin. It comes off much easier after they've been boiled. Everyone in the apartments was pretty satisfied with my little purchase.

Tuesday morning began with a staff meeting at Tafuna followed by department meetings. I now have met other science teachers and my department head Dr. Rose (from India). The current schedule has me teaching three sections of Earth & Space Science and two sections of Marine Science! Should be good. Here's the Marine Science textbook I have available, and I will getting the Earth Science book from Dr. Rose hopefully Wednesday.

I realized I had not taken a photo of the welcome sign to the school yet, and now seemed like a good time to do it. I spent most of my day at the high school minus a little meeting with my Field Director at her office. Received the key to my classroom, number 301.

Big project for Wednesday to get some of that done. I did arrange my desks Tuesday afternoon, and I'm liking it. I also spoke with a few other teachers today, including one of the Special Ed teachers. There are ones who are curious and stop by and chat for a bit, then others just do their own thing.  I also saw a student sitting outside and asked him to help me move a table from one end of my room to the other. It was the only thing I wasn't able to lift by myself. He was pretty quiet at first, but then I got him to talk a little bit. His name is Fred and is a freshman at Tafuna this year. His mom is one of the counselors, and she used to teach science. I just enjoy meeting people and learning a little about them. I told him even if he doesn't take one of my classes that he should stop in and say hi sometimes.

The football players started working out in the gym this afternoon, and I could hear their music. I was singing along all afternoon in my classroom. First thing I did was open the windows and turn the fans on inside my room, and then realized how close I was to the outdoor gym and the cafeteria. Should be interesting to see what noises I hear throughout the year. Anyways, bit of a long day but a successful day. Feels good to be in my classroom setting some things up. It's really happening. I'm teaching some high school science for the year.

By the way, if anyone happens to have any books that may deal with Marine, Earth, or Space Science and are willing to part with them for a while, let me know. I have a nice set of bookshelves in my room, and I would love to fill them with references if I can find them. I will have a physical mailing address before the end of the day on Wednesday to add to my forms of communication and connection. I know some have been wondering. A lot has been happening while I have been away from the Internet, and I will continue to post whenever I have the time. No promises it will be every day when school gets going. I love writing these posts, but some days I'm sure I will come home and just be wore out or want to go for a little hike or whatever.

One last note to any of my teachers, professors, mentors, and all of you have made an impact on my life that may be reading this, I just want to say Thank you. I would not be the person that I am today if it wasn't for every single person and experience I have had thus far. Some of my overarching goals for the school year are to get my students to enjoy learning (like my great teachers and professors did for me), make them curious about the world around them, and encourage college using my experience as an example. Good night for me, and good morning/day for y'all when you read this long post.

Fantastic Friday and My Birthday

Get ready for all the great things that took place on Friday. Left at 8am for Fagatele Bay - Natioanl Marine Sanctuary. It is the only national marine sanctuary south of the equator and is the most remote one. Pretty cool. We met a few workers from NOAA, and we got to do some snorkeling. Lots of bright fish in the reef. I didn't go far into the reef, as I haven't snorkeled in 3 years (first and last time was when I was on the Galapagos Islands). Nobody saw any sea turtles yet, though. It was also a nice little hike down to the bay. I'll be going back there at some point this year.

Next on the list... a presentation from the National Park Service. Best presentation ever! It was nicely put together, I learned about the area, I want to hike every single trail they have, and my love for National Parks grew. I also love the National Park puletasi. So cool! Ranger Sam and Ranger Pali spoke with us, and I am a little jealous of their jobs. Education outreach like this si one of my favorite things. Throughout the presentation I decided that working for the National Park Service for a  while at some point in my life is now on the bucket list. Aaaack. You just should have seen my face throughout the presentation and after. I felt elated and so excited. Sounds a bit ridiculous. I remember checking out the NPS job application once. Definitely going to fill it out sometime. I could even just volunteer there. That's how Ranger Sam ended up with his job here. I asked at the end of the presentation. I also told Pali that working for the NPS is on my list, and she said I will do it :-)

Spent a little time just chilling and chatting with a few people before we headed to the market in Fagatago - First Friday! The market has a lot more vendors including crafts in addition to food on Fridays, plus on First Friday there are food options and entertainment. I had so much fun there. One of the cultural experiences that is unique here. Will definitely be doing this again. I had some supoesi for $1, which is as soup with papaya in it.

Met my landlord, as she was selling some traditional Samoan dessert. It had sugar, coconut milk, and something else in it. Kinda reminded me of a marshmallow texture. It was good. This may have to be one of my new profile pictures below. The sky in the background looks nice, yeah? I also bought a flower for my hair - it's sort of a thing here.

So word spread that my birthday was August 4th, so a few girls brought me a cupcake. I remember seeing the little girls at the stand telling us about them as their aunt makes them. I had a strawberry bubble gum one. Yum. Thanks Megan and Melanie!

Fresh coconuts were also available. It came with a straw so you could drink the water first, and then they cracked it open for you to eat the coconut. Oh my goodness! So different from the dried coconut we use in baking. Delicious! I'm definitely getting one of these next time I'm there. Megan was nice and shared with me.

The entertainment was provided by a youth group and some churches. They were awesome! It was so cool to see the confidence these kids have when they are singing.

There waas also some traditional Samoan dance:

And a creative dance team with "Team Challenge". They were amazing, and there routines were so cool. They did at least four while I was sitting there. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. I told a few of the girls after that I really liked their routines.

In addition to the flower I picked up for my hair, I found a ring to wear. My Samoan ring. Turtles are very sacred here, I love turtles, and my favorite color is blue. My little birthday present to myself. I also was on the lookout for a ring, as I sorta broke the one I got in the desert at the beginning of the summer. It still sits in my jewelry bowl, but I don't want to wreck it anymore. I wear my bracelet from Ecuador every day, so now I have my Samaon piece of jewelry to wear all the time. I may still find a way to fix my desert ring or make it into something else. Hmmm. I'll work on it.

Okay, so left the market about 8:30 and four of us started walking a ways to see if a bus came by. Megan, Sarah, Hannah, and I were the last ones still there. We waited by a bus stop for a bit, and then a pickup pulled in with a family. The mom driving said they were headed to the Tafuna area and wanted to know if we'd like a ride, as long as some of us didn't mind riding in the back with her boys. They were such a nice family. Was the perfect ride home! Hannah rode up front and chatted a bunch with the mom. The rest of us were in the back with the brothers - Christopher, Nicholas, and Daniel. They all go to a private high school. We chatted about school, Samoa, and general stuff. Then, Megan mentioned it was almost my birthday, and they said "we have to sing happy birthday." And they did - both English and Samoan. Coolest thing! Last year was the first time I spent my birthday with a group of people outside of family - my best friends from college. That was one of the best times I have had. Just adding on. This was a pretty neat experience to have Happy Birthday sung to me by three brothers -Samoan gentlemen in the back of their mom's truck. Thank you guys! Hope I see them around. May have to go watch their team play football some time. They asked if we had heard of Mom's Place, a restaurant, and some had. Well, their mom owns it. Definitely going there! May become a regular. I'd love to see them all again. A great family. They lived in California for a while, and all three of the boys have plans for college and a career. Really glad that their mom picked us up. :-)

After that adventure, a few of us headed to the Bowling Alley. Used to be a bowling alley a while ago, but is now a dance club. I wanted to check it out while we were still within walking distance. It might be the only place of its kind on the island. Got my dancing in, and then we called it a night. I had a fantastic day! Turned 22 back in Nebraska about 6pm here, and then at 12pm I was 22 in American Samoa.

Saturday morning woke up at 6:30 (yep on my birthday haha) as I wanted to check some emails and such before we headed for our last orientation meeting. I also lucked out and was able to video chat with both of my parents a bit. Then, Mom took the computer to Grandma Boschen's house, and I was able to see her. Then, she went to Aunt Paula's house, and I was able to see Aunt Paula, Kyle, and Rebecca (cousins). It was fun :-)

Left at 8:15 and got a ride with a few others offered by a nice gentleman all the way into Utulei to  the restaurant at Sadie's by the Sea for breakfast and our last WT orientation meeting. Beautiful little spot as you can see. May have to go back there some time, as well.

I had french toast and iced tea. Mmmmm.

Then, Melanie and Megan asked the waiters if they could get a dessert for my birthday, and here they came singing happy birthday and everyone joined in. Boy, can't say I've ever been wished happy birthday by so many people before. Many Friday night and then Saturday morning. Haha It was very nice of the waiters, and I thanked them.

Chocolate cake. Lots of chocolate cake. I took a few bites and then started passing it around the whole group.

Here's what it looked like when it made it back to me. Perfect! I took a few more bites, and that was all folks :-)

Rode the bus back to our turn off, picked up my official WorldTeach skirt from the sew shop, and started walking back down the road to VoTech, where we are now preparing to leave and move to our housing placements. I didn't walk too far, and then a man asked if I wanted a ride to VoTech. He's seen us walking by and was really nice and talkative. He told me his name was Sini, but I can call him Max (his middle name). He also said if I ever needed any help just to let him know. It's so cool how friendly everyone is here. A friendly little island that is my home for 11 months. Well, I hope you all capture a bit of my elation over the past day and a half. It was hard to catch me without a smile on my face. Look at all the cool experiences I had in just one day, and the adventures have only begun.

Also noticed I have quite a few Birthday wishes from friends back home, all over the place. Thank you all!

Not sure if I will have Internet access right away in my apartment, so I will post again as soon as I can. Looking forward to having a bedroom to organize my stuff in and start at school. Pavaiaia village and Tafuna High School here I come!

Simple Day

Checked my email this morning and enjoyed the quote for the day, which I would like to share:

"Think of life as a gigantic ice cream parlor with infinite flavors to taste. Tell yourself the goal of life is to taste as many flavors of experience as you can. Admittedly, you won't like every flavor. But hey, you don't need to go near that flavor ever again. Instead, indulge in flavors you know you're passionate about! And don't be afraid to taste something that might look a little funny -- you never know." -Karen Salmansohn

After some further discussion with our Field Director on the subject of moving day, we had a presentation from two women - fa'afafines to be exact. It was really interesting to understand some of the gender roles of the society and learn more about things I had only briefly read about before leaving for this nation. Then, we worked on our in country mission statement for the year. Each WorldTeach cohort writes their own mission statement at the beginning of each new school year.

After lunch we had some free time, but I did not really have any errands to run; I decided to stick around campus and begin some of the tidying up we needed to take care of before moving. I finished reading a book while some water boiled, cut out some box-tops for education, and simply enjoyed the little bit of alone time. After I took care of a few chores I decided to get in a workout for the day, which felt good. I have also been stretching a bit every night before I go to bed.

Then, it was time for the WorldTeach donation giveaway! The volunteers from last year left behind some items that could be of use to our new group, and we randomly drew numbers, walked into the room, grabbed an item we wanted, and then waited for the next round. I was #3 the first round and snagged a snorkel and mask. Below you will see a photo of my grabs from the day including a clipboard, frisbee, puzzle, dress, lunch bag, and a few notebooks. All useful for the year and then some :-) It was a lot of fun. Reminded us all a bit of a garage sale (but everything was free). We also collected some dish towels and t-shirts we will be turning into dish rags for our apartment. I will be living with Andrea (the fellow Nebraskan) and Hannah (from California).

It may not seem like I did a whole lot today, but it was a good Thursday. By the way, I am super looking forward to the adventures of Friday. Gonna leave you all hanging with what that all entails until the next post after it has all taken place. :-)

Walla Walla Wednesday

No real reason why I said" Walla walla" other than I wanted an alliteration. Figured I should save "working Wednesday" for some time when I'm actually working in school. haha Walla walla is also just fun to say rolling off the tongue. I hardly feel my cold at all anymore. Good feeling today.

Before I start writing about my day, I keep forgetting to mention that I added a quote to the top right hand corner of my blog. Not sure if anyone noticed, but it is a quote I received the day I was offered the position through WorldTeach. I have a subscription to a daily quote email, and I thought it was pretty cool that the quote was so fitting for my decision that day. A sign, you might say. Being here right now, being a volunteer teacher, and being here for the people of American Samoa is what I am supposed to be doing right now. "Live life with no regrets." - another of my favorite quotes. Also, before I go over what I did today, I wanted to let you all know what the name of the village is that I will be living in for the year - Pavaiai, American Samoa.

A few fun things to talk about from today. After a little discussion on the idea of "international development" and our service here, we headed into the village of Utulei for a little walk through of the one and only museum. Nice little place with some cool stuff. They have a lot more in storage but need ample display cases to protect some of the really old artifacts.

I took this first photo because the way the poles go through the box reminded me of Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yep... I'm a bit of a nerd, but that's part of Jessica Boschen :-)

I found this next little thing to be pretty cool. Pieces of the moon brought back by Apollo 11 along with the American Samoan flag that was on board given to the nation by President Richard Nixon. (Fun fact: Nixon was the oldest elected U.S. president. How many of you knew that?)

There were also some paintings that had powerful messages I even understood.  For instance, this one is about fa'alavelave, a term used to describe big family events here including weddings and funerals. The ties of the family are one of the most highly held values here.

After walking around inside the little museum, we had the opportunity to learn some weaving with a few ladies from the village. I worked with Sisi's group, weaving a bracelet out of dried leaves and ribbon. She had them started for us, and then we were able to finish them. I love learning little cultural crafts like these.

After lunch it was time for teaching practicums, and I was one of the teachers going today. I presented the beginning half of my lesson on what science is and the first parts of the scientifc method. This is one concept I plan on going over at the beginning of the school year and coming back to throughout the year. Every single science class I took in college always started with going over the scientific method, as it is rather important. If there is one thing I can teach my students this year, I want to make them curious about the world around them, want to ask questions, and develop ways of finding answers to those questions - which is what science is all about.

Not far into my lesson I fumbled with the chalkboard eraser resulting in a big spot of chalk on my shirt. I guess this is why I will mostly be wearing white blouses when I teach. hahaha

I began my lesson using a little activity I learned from my bio professors at Morningside College. The box experiment. I had two boxes that were sealed, each containing an object inside. Each contained one of the three objects you see at the bottom of this first photo: a plastic ball, a pencil eraser, and a binder clip. I told them they could use any methods they wanted to try to determine what was in the box (without opening them of course). Many of them shook the boxes, some at different speeds, and held the potential objects in their hands trying to determine which sound matched. After I let them experiment a bit, we discussed what science is including:

1. Making an observation

2. Asking a question

3. Forming a hypothesis

4. Experimenting

 The other trick with this opener is I did not tell them what was actually in each box. This was exactly how it went in my college classes. We do not always need to have answers and in some cases may not have any, so it is an important piece of science to understand.

After discussing these key points to the beginning of the scientific method, we began my next activity. I had a few submissions from my readers last week asking them to follow the steps I would be giving to my students. Thank you to those of you who participated. All of their submissions came back rather similar and simple, and I realized that just reading the directions off the screen by one person was different from me reciting the directions to my class having them taking turns drawing shapes. Nothing wrong with it being simple, it's different from my final product, which is what I wanted, and you will understand soon.

Here's what a picture came back from one of my blog participants:

Here's how it went: I handed a sheet of paper and a marker to one student and asked them to draw a square. The paper was then passed to the next student, and they were asked to draw a triangle. Next, a rectangle, a circle, and another square each done by a separate student.  Here's what I received:

I then took the paper, and raised it up asking "what is this you guys?" "I gave you the simple shapes needed to draw a house. Why do you not have a simple house that looks like mine?"

Their responses included: you didn't specify enough; the directions weren't clear; etc. Great! Then, we broke down what just happened. I made an observation that our drawings were not the same. I then asked why our drawings were not the same, even though we followed the same basic directions. The students then hypothesized it was because I did not give specific enough directions. This then led into our discussion on procedures, which are an important component of any experiment.

I asked all students to individually write a procedure for drawing this simple house. I also asked them to share with a partner what they wrote, comparing some characteristics of their procedures. We listed some characteristics of good procedures including detailed, specific, ordered, and easily followed by a reader. 

We then wrapped up what science was and the first four basic components of the scientific method. 1. Observation 2. Question 3. Hypothesis 4. Experiment (procedure).

In addition to my fellow WorldTeach volunteers in our mock classroom, we had one local high school student participating. His name was David, a student from Tafuna High School (where I will be teaching). After our session with 5 lessons in my room, we had some pizza with the students who came, and I also met Tauesi (another student from Tafuna). I chatted with both of them a bit and am excited to see them around campus when I start teaching there. David is a great student and really fun to talk with, both of them were. I even got the boys to take a photo with me. My first photo with Samoan students :-) David is in the middle and Tauesi on the right. 

Before dinner I noticed the moon was full and really bright above the ocean and decided to take a few photos. It is really pretty tonight.

After eating our Chinese take-out that our Field Director ordered tonight, I went back out with my tripod and captured a few shots of the moon and the moonlight shimmering on the water. I thought it was a nice sight. Also, just for fun I'm going to throw this in... I know some may laugh, but my good friends will appreciate this. I found myself thinking about Breaking Dawn tonight. haha The moon shining off the ocean off the coast of Isle Esme. Oh the Twilight series. 

A reference to Indiana Jones and Twilight in the same post... yep, I'm definitely a bit of a nerd. Proud of it. haha I'm an adventurous and fun loving nerd :-) That is where I will leave this post.

Lua

Lua is how we say Tuesday in Samoan. Lua also means "two". By the way, all of you I talked to before leaving I was pronouncing "Samoan" wrong. It is pronounced saw-moan. Lua, lua, lua. What was I up to today? Well, our first discussion was with our field director about some logistics for moving day- Saturday, August 4th (this Saturday) followed by a discussion with Moana, a resident of the Leone village, speaking to us about Samoan etiquette and the Matai system. Many of the etiquette thing she described I briefly remember reading in some of the things I was sent in the weeks before my departure from home. The matai system is a chief system in villages here on the island. She also gave us some copies of these tourist brochures, but they do provide some really useful information.

Our final language class took place today where we practiced some things we had already looked at, and looked at a few new things including colors. I haven't really memorized all of the things we've covered, but it was nice to just have some exposure to it, particularly the pronunciation and style of the language. Then we had a little cake with the Elders before they left. Hope to see them out and about some times here on Tutuila.

Next was an attempt at some video chatting with some of my best friends -Karena, Sarah, and Kyle back home. It was a short lived conversation, but it was nice to see them and chat a bit. I have posted one of my favorite photos I have with each of them.

Karena, who is now working for All-State in Lincoln, NE:

Sarah, who is moving into an apartment this Saturday and transferring to College of St. Mary's.

Kyle, who is currently living in Omaha and in the market for a job:

Then I went to the bank, and it was a success. I opened my account with the Bank of Hawaii on island, where my monthly living stipend will be deposited. After that success I decided to go on a short solo adventure, as I had the rest of the day free. I rode the bus and stopped before the village of Utulei, and found myself walking around a bit where I got a couple more nice shots. I enjoy taking photos of the mountains from all sorts of perspectives. I thought this first one was cool because it shows a basketball hoop just like the ones we have at home with the ocean and the mountain in the background.

As I was walking to the bus stop, I had my closest encounter with an angry dog. Something we read all about and to be prepared for when we arrived. He just shot across his driveway barking, and I thought "crap", but luckily the owner was in the garage and called him down, and I waved to them. Just something to get used to here. I was about ready to shout "haloo", which means stop in Samoan as I began crossing to the other side of the street. Just something we deal with here. You get used to spots to take extra caution at. Dogs aren't the normal pets we're used to seeing at home. One big difference here. Enjoyed my little excursion on my own, though. Felt good to get out and find my way around. :-)

I came back to campus and initiated a little walk to try to find Airport Beach. Two others went with me, and it was a nice little walk. Well, an exciting walk really. Not too far along, I noticed an eel, and even got a photo right before he swam under the rock! Not the best photo, something I'll work on throughout the year, but you can see him in the middle of this shot. I looked up some species, and I believe he may be a Moray of some kind. Also saw sevr

Also saw several bright colored fish. Definitely at the ocean. Ooo, and there were some in a little group that would swim along and hop up and out together. Something I will definitely go back and sit around one day and try to catch a good action shot. I sort of have one, but it's hard to see. Need to take my telephoto lens out for that. Was still cool to see. Wouldn't know there's a bit of a biologist in me, would you? An interest in the natural sciences or anything? haha

Here's just a few fun shots I took along the way. First, some coral at maybe a little beach (not sure if it was "the" airport beach or not); next, a random car seat on the shore (there was actually a decent amount of trash along the walk that had washed up... maybe a volunteer project coming along with some of my students); third, a nice shell; finally, a few shots of the sun shining brightly above one of the mountains on the walk back to campus.

That's the really cool thing about this place. Some of my friends are commenting how it looks like paradise here, and it sort of is. It has the ocean, the rainforest, and mountains. Still surreal to think that I'm here in such a cool place. I love the mountains and the rainforest (which differs from my other rainforest experience - the Amazon), and am enjoying the ocean view. Hope to get myself on more hikes up into the rainforest and the mountains, though.

Then, I just came back, showered, and laid on my bed for a while before our Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I did just say "Thanksgiving dinner". Tonight's cooking group chose to slave over a Thanksgiving meal... in July. haha Wasn't all ready until about 7:40. Sat down, sent a few emails, and updated my blog. Almost left it until tomorrow, but decided I had some cool things to talk about from the day. Now time to go relax and continue to push this little string of "being under the weather" that I aquired. Nothing a little more nighttime cold relief can't help fight. Hope you enjoy my little bit of humor. I'm no comedian, but I just like to flat out write about my day. A nice way for me to close my day.