So I have been in Bonaire for a week now, and it feels like a month! I guess that's because we've been kept busy since the very beginning and everyong has gotten along so well. We're slowly getting into a routine here and things have been going so great. Every time I go outside by the water I take a moment to really appreciate where I am and who I'm with. I'm so thankful for this opportunity and if this week is any indication of the next three and a half months, I just know they're going to be the best months of my life thus far.
It's late here and everyone's exhausted, either konked out already or zoning out in front of the TV. We stayed out last night pretty late-ish and then did a boat dive this morning and had class in the afternoon (we were a day behind in our schedule because of the travel mishaps last weekend). I'm sitting in one of the really large comfy chairs (pics to come, I promise!) and a movie's playing in the background.
So the boat dive. Lots of people (including myself) were a little seasick on the boat ride out to the dive site, Bonaventura, which was off the coast of Klein Bonaire, the small island off the coast of Bonaire. The water was choppy and the wind was crazy. Once we got in the water, we felt much better. We went down to about 50 feet and just cruised along the reef. Today's dive was my favorite yet because the reef was the most biodiverse I've seen. Tons of various coral, algae, and of course, fish species were present.
One of the things I love most about diving is having multiple dimensions in which to move. On land, you can basically only move laterally, left or right, but in water, you can go left, right, up, down, diagonally, anything. It takes some getting used to, but in the end, is the most amazing experience ever because when you're in the water, you're immersed in the environment WITH the fish. I know it sounds obvious, but you really start to feel like one of the fishies. There were schools of small fish that were just chillin' when we swam by and they were surrounding us, appearing unbothered by our presence. The coolest thing I saw today was an eel! It was about the size of my forearm and was popping its head out of a coral, looking left and right and opening and closing its mouth. So creepy!
In addition to diving today, we were able to go out to dinner because Friday and Saturday nights we aren't provided dinner. Us girls went to a cute little place that overlooked the ocean while the guys went to a place called Waddaburger that was much cheaper and had no waiting time. Boys. Afterwards we just roamed downtown, stopping here and there to check out the places. Two girls and I decided to go night swimming and that was so great! There were tiny bioluminescent dinoflagellates bobbing around the water that would light up when you swished the water around! It was so cool! And, because the sky was so clear, we saw tons of stars. It was like we were surrounded by stars, both in the water, and in the sky.
Tomorrow is our first day of nothing since being here and I'm really excited to sleep in, go food shopping (getting kinda tired of weird milk and cereal), and of course, go swimming and work on ma tan!
Good night, all!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Underwater Limbo
Greetings! I am sure you all are wondering what today's title references. Allow me to enlighten you. Today, we had to do a peak performance buoyancy dive where we needed to work on maintaining neutral buoyancy (sounds easy, but is kinda difficult when you just need to use your lungs to keep from hitting the sandy/corally bottom and rising too fast to the surface), and do a couple other skills. Just for funsies, we played limbo where we needed to swim under a limbo stick held by our two instructors. We didn't have to do the whole "How low can you go" and twist your body backwards thing; it was just swimming. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I was the victor of our little group. I felt pretty proud of myself just because I was having a little difficulty with the buoyancy and was still unsure of my diving abilities. As my prize (or "booby prize," as my mom likes to call prizes of that sort) I got a little wooden sea turtle key chain, which my instructor joked about being a lame prize, but is really something I will treasure.
Anyway, this week's dive bootcamp has really been intense. Yesterday, we did three dives, all with different skills covered and purposes. For the last one we had a fish ID quiz, where one of the interns pointed out five fish and we wrote on our slates their species. Everyone aced it! Best. Quiz. Ever. In addition to learning fish and coral species slowly but surely, we have been really working on improving our diving abilities. As soon-to-be rescue and advanced divers, there are certain skills that need to be learned, such as underwater navigation, which we are working on now. It's a little confusing, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's actually quite fun to just swim about with a compass, la di da. It's important that we master these diving skills now because we will be doing our independent research, which requires proficiency in diving (specifically, scientific diving by AAUS standards; AAUS = American Academy for Underwater Sciences, I think?).
In addition to the diving, we have been introduced to all but one of our classes. They will meet once a week, for an entire day. Sounds kind of intense, doesn't it? I think what will be most difficult about this semester is not necessarily the workload, but will be keeping organized and on-task when in an environment that is so lax and well, beautiful. When classes do start in two weeks (after SCUBA bootcamp), I'm sure I'll get into my usual scheduling habits. It's nice because many other people here are just as organized as I am (if not more), so we're all in the same boat here (haha get it, boat? Like water, and diving? ehh I tried).
I was just about to sign off for the night, and almost forgot to tell you something! Last night, we had a lecture at the CIEE research station led by the head of the Bonaire Marine Park, Ramon de Leon (I hope I got his name right). He discussed the status of the coral reefs here in Bonaire and what the community can do to help preserve them. I was saddened to hear that fish and coral diversity and abundance are on the decline (which isn't exactly new, but is unfortunate nonetheless). However, what was most reassuring was the amount of community involvement that I saw. The room was PACKED with people from all over the island who share the same common interests of conservation. After the lecture, audience members could not wait to be involved in the discussion. Despite the terrible evidences of ecosystem degradation, there is still hope.
The entire coastline and waters surrounding Bonaire are a part of a national marine park, meaning no one can take or bother any of the aquatic life. Divers are actively helping monitor the lionfish population (lionfish are invasive to the Caribbean and are causing MAJOR problems). People are writing to politicians, starting movements, holding lectures, spreading awareness. I am honored to be a part of this island community where people are so dedicated to preserving their natural resources. It's almost refreshing, in a way, from life in the US. CIEE seems to be a metropolis for environmental change here on the island and I look forward to collaborating with community members to learn more about how Bonaire is working to preserve its coral reefs. Bonaire seems to really be sticking to the motto: "Think globally, act locally." I think we all need to do this in order to ensure that some change actually happens or else there won't be the pristine reefs or green forests or crisp tundra that we all know and love (and oftentimes take for granted).
Enough of the preachy, preachy, it's bed time for this mermaid. Good night to you all!
Anyway, this week's dive bootcamp has really been intense. Yesterday, we did three dives, all with different skills covered and purposes. For the last one we had a fish ID quiz, where one of the interns pointed out five fish and we wrote on our slates their species. Everyone aced it! Best. Quiz. Ever. In addition to learning fish and coral species slowly but surely, we have been really working on improving our diving abilities. As soon-to-be rescue and advanced divers, there are certain skills that need to be learned, such as underwater navigation, which we are working on now. It's a little confusing, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's actually quite fun to just swim about with a compass, la di da. It's important that we master these diving skills now because we will be doing our independent research, which requires proficiency in diving (specifically, scientific diving by AAUS standards; AAUS = American Academy for Underwater Sciences, I think?).
In addition to the diving, we have been introduced to all but one of our classes. They will meet once a week, for an entire day. Sounds kind of intense, doesn't it? I think what will be most difficult about this semester is not necessarily the workload, but will be keeping organized and on-task when in an environment that is so lax and well, beautiful. When classes do start in two weeks (after SCUBA bootcamp), I'm sure I'll get into my usual scheduling habits. It's nice because many other people here are just as organized as I am (if not more), so we're all in the same boat here (haha get it, boat? Like water, and diving? ehh I tried).
I was just about to sign off for the night, and almost forgot to tell you something! Last night, we had a lecture at the CIEE research station led by the head of the Bonaire Marine Park, Ramon de Leon (I hope I got his name right). He discussed the status of the coral reefs here in Bonaire and what the community can do to help preserve them. I was saddened to hear that fish and coral diversity and abundance are on the decline (which isn't exactly new, but is unfortunate nonetheless). However, what was most reassuring was the amount of community involvement that I saw. The room was PACKED with people from all over the island who share the same common interests of conservation. After the lecture, audience members could not wait to be involved in the discussion. Despite the terrible evidences of ecosystem degradation, there is still hope.
The entire coastline and waters surrounding Bonaire are a part of a national marine park, meaning no one can take or bother any of the aquatic life. Divers are actively helping monitor the lionfish population (lionfish are invasive to the Caribbean and are causing MAJOR problems). People are writing to politicians, starting movements, holding lectures, spreading awareness. I am honored to be a part of this island community where people are so dedicated to preserving their natural resources. It's almost refreshing, in a way, from life in the US. CIEE seems to be a metropolis for environmental change here on the island and I look forward to collaborating with community members to learn more about how Bonaire is working to preserve its coral reefs. Bonaire seems to really be sticking to the motto: "Think globally, act locally." I think we all need to do this in order to ensure that some change actually happens or else there won't be the pristine reefs or green forests or crisp tundra that we all know and love (and oftentimes take for granted).
Enough of the preachy, preachy, it's bed time for this mermaid. Good night to you all!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I can't spell...
Clearly I never watched Power Rangers or I would have spelled the title for my previous blog properly. I am deeply sorry for making the terrible spelling mistake. It's kind of embarassing.
Ok, I fixed it. Hopefully before anyone saw my mistake. And, because I can't understand Dutch, I can't delete this entry....
Ok, I fixed it. Hopefully before anyone saw my mistake. And, because I can't understand Dutch, I can't delete this entry....
Team Power Rangers Takes to the Sea
Ah, it has been a while, hasn't it? Well, it sure seems that way seeing that so much has happened since we last spoke. I guess I should begin by saying we went on our first dive today! That was certainly the highlight of the trip so far, let me tell you. After a little difficulty with weights and then several skills reviewing, we headed to the reef. My buddy and I were pointing out every cool thing we saw to each other - the queen angelfish was definitely my favorite. The corals were mostly orange, with several tube sponges popping up here and there. The fish were the most fascinating - with colors of bright blue, yellow, orange, pink, white, black, and many more - and they were darting about, chasing one another, nibbling on algae, and just chilling under the corals. I thought I was going to do my independent research project on the effect of ocean acidification on corals, but I think I want to switch to fish because they are just so darn interesting! We also saw a little sea snake on our way back up - now that was creepy!
Oh, before we even did the dive, they wanted to make sure we could swim and tread water and such so they made us tread water without our hands for 2 mins (easy), swim under water for like 25 yards (couldn't even do it...) and then swim for 400 yards in under 12 minutes (a task I thought was impossible but turned out to be almost fun?). Luckily we had lunch immediately after that fiasco so we could all refuel before diving!
I should also mention that everyone arrived safely to our humble abode after several missed flights due to snow and the like. The three last students arrived late Sunday night while we were at a barbeque pot-luck dinner birthday party for the guy who makes our food, Gibi. He's the nicest man I've ever met. His friends and family were there as well as the staff from CIEE. I don't think I've ever eaten so much food in one sitting in my life. It rained a lot (it tends to do that from time to time since it's still the rainy season), so we ended up eating at tables under the awning of our Resident Director's house.
Speaking of our Resident Director, I must inform you that the staff are so nice, smart, and chill, like I want their jobs. They make me feel so comfortable and safe here; I just know I'm going to have a great semester. Yesterday we had an orientation of sorts where we did ice-breakers and got to know a little more about the program and one of the things they said about being in class was, "Shoes are optional." Basically, I feel at home here.
Alas, another part of being here is the school work. Obviously. And seeing as we've started SCUBA bootcamp this week we have a lot of reading and dive logging to do. I've been kind of living in a dream world and need to get back to my habit of scheduling everything I do, but it's hard because the island is so relaxed. Like, if something needs to be rearranged or rescheduled people don't mind, they just work around it, no big deal. It's a new mindset for me to get used to, for sure, but I like it.
Before I sign off, I should just mention that the title of my last entry, "Bon Bini," means, "Welcome," in Papiamento, the language spoken by the locals. It is a combination of Dutch (which is surprisingly easy to understand because words are written much like they sound), Spanish, and Portuguese. And, today's title references the name my dive buddy and I gave ourselves because our wetsuits are the brightest and most fashionable (and obviously the coolest).
If you've read this entire thing, you deserve a medal because I literally wrote a novel right now.
Until next time, bon nochi!
Oh, before we even did the dive, they wanted to make sure we could swim and tread water and such so they made us tread water without our hands for 2 mins (easy), swim under water for like 25 yards (couldn't even do it...) and then swim for 400 yards in under 12 minutes (a task I thought was impossible but turned out to be almost fun?). Luckily we had lunch immediately after that fiasco so we could all refuel before diving!
I should also mention that everyone arrived safely to our humble abode after several missed flights due to snow and the like. The three last students arrived late Sunday night while we were at a barbeque pot-luck dinner birthday party for the guy who makes our food, Gibi. He's the nicest man I've ever met. His friends and family were there as well as the staff from CIEE. I don't think I've ever eaten so much food in one sitting in my life. It rained a lot (it tends to do that from time to time since it's still the rainy season), so we ended up eating at tables under the awning of our Resident Director's house.
Speaking of our Resident Director, I must inform you that the staff are so nice, smart, and chill, like I want their jobs. They make me feel so comfortable and safe here; I just know I'm going to have a great semester. Yesterday we had an orientation of sorts where we did ice-breakers and got to know a little more about the program and one of the things they said about being in class was, "Shoes are optional." Basically, I feel at home here.
Alas, another part of being here is the school work. Obviously. And seeing as we've started SCUBA bootcamp this week we have a lot of reading and dive logging to do. I've been kind of living in a dream world and need to get back to my habit of scheduling everything I do, but it's hard because the island is so relaxed. Like, if something needs to be rearranged or rescheduled people don't mind, they just work around it, no big deal. It's a new mindset for me to get used to, for sure, but I like it.
Before I sign off, I should just mention that the title of my last entry, "Bon Bini," means, "Welcome," in Papiamento, the language spoken by the locals. It is a combination of Dutch (which is surprisingly easy to understand because words are written much like they sound), Spanish, and Portuguese. And, today's title references the name my dive buddy and I gave ourselves because our wetsuits are the brightest and most fashionable (and obviously the coolest).
If you've read this entire thing, you deserve a medal because I literally wrote a novel right now.
Until next time, bon nochi!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Bon Bini!
I have to start off by saying it just took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how to log into my blog because all of the instructional details are in Dutch, which is the official language of Bonaire. As we speak I'm sitting inside the residence compound at the CIEE Research Station. It is in Kralendijk, the capital. It consists of a large house with three students rooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, and big living area on the inside, and then two student rooms/bathrooms connected on the outside (with outside entry), a dive room with outside entry, outdoor showers, big tubs to rinse our gear in, and two intern rooms. It is entirely walled in and gated with a padlock for maximum security. My room is one of the outside-entry ones with two bunk-beds, fitting four girls. Due to weather/travel mishaps some students still haven't arrived yet! Because of this, we have another chill day where there's nothing required of us until 8 pm. We'll be going to the beach later, for sure!
Shall I discuss yesterday's events? Well everyone arrived in different chunks of time; a few students here, a few students there. So 4 of us arrived at the house first, around 7 am. We saw the sunrise in Bonaire when we were waiting to go through customs - that was really cool and super exciting! We had a tour of the place, got our room assignments, and then went to unpack. Let me tell you, as soon as I was outside in Bonaire, my hair began to frizz and I began to sweat like no other. It's quite a shock from the dry, cold, New England winter. Haha and you guys all have snow now! Kinda jealous, I'm not gonna lie.
Lunch and dinner were provided for us yesterday (like most days), and they were really good - nothing too fancy, just salad, sandwiches, cooked veggies, lasagna, and chocolate cake. A local man makes food for us - he's so nice! We are super close to the water! There's a set of apartments behind us, a small one-lane road, and then the waterfront. There aren't many beaches here, there are just coral fragments comprising the beach. I was walking barefoot (obviously) and my feet are on the fast track to being super tough and permanently black. Yay yayeee! We went for a stroll yesterday with one of the interns and she pointed out local landmarks and of course, fish! Tons of parrotfish, damselfish (Trop Bio, what what!), and a couple others were swimming around. We went snorkeling (you can basically just go swimming anywhere here, as long as you're careful of boats and fishermen), so we walked up to a beach near a hotel and went exploring. There were mostly craggy rocks and remnants of reefs past but tons of fish! I saw some damselfish, parrotfish, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, blue tangs, spotted trunkfish, and some others I can't remember.
After a long day of unpacking, exploring, and of course, making new friends, we were all pretty exhausted. After dinner we played a trivia game called "Pub Quiz" - the teams were "How to Drug Your Children" (my team - woot woot - we were the victors) and "Albatross." After that we hit the down and just went to a little bar that was on a pier overlooking the water. We saw a lot of flying fish hopping out of the water - they were really cool! Since we all were tired, we left after a little while. When we got back, three more students had arrived! This was big news since for most of the day about half of the crew were still not there. Three more students have yet to arrive - they'll get here tonight.
I slept for 11 hours last night - literally passed out. They gave us sheets and a pillowcase, but because I like more weight when I sleep I had a towel on top of me. We have A/C and it was pretty cool at night anyway so I was comfy comfy.
I'm thankful to have made it here safely and without a hitch. Of course, my BCD leaks, so I might have to get a new one, but at least I'm here! I am really looking forward to beginning classes and to getting to know everyone. We have the whole country just about represented - California, Montana, Colorado, Joisey, New York, New Hampshire, DC, and many more!
It's lunch time now and I want to grab something good so I will be leaving y'all. I love you all and thank you for checking out my adventures!
Shall I discuss yesterday's events? Well everyone arrived in different chunks of time; a few students here, a few students there. So 4 of us arrived at the house first, around 7 am. We saw the sunrise in Bonaire when we were waiting to go through customs - that was really cool and super exciting! We had a tour of the place, got our room assignments, and then went to unpack. Let me tell you, as soon as I was outside in Bonaire, my hair began to frizz and I began to sweat like no other. It's quite a shock from the dry, cold, New England winter. Haha and you guys all have snow now! Kinda jealous, I'm not gonna lie.
Lunch and dinner were provided for us yesterday (like most days), and they were really good - nothing too fancy, just salad, sandwiches, cooked veggies, lasagna, and chocolate cake. A local man makes food for us - he's so nice! We are super close to the water! There's a set of apartments behind us, a small one-lane road, and then the waterfront. There aren't many beaches here, there are just coral fragments comprising the beach. I was walking barefoot (obviously) and my feet are on the fast track to being super tough and permanently black. Yay yayeee! We went for a stroll yesterday with one of the interns and she pointed out local landmarks and of course, fish! Tons of parrotfish, damselfish (Trop Bio, what what!), and a couple others were swimming around. We went snorkeling (you can basically just go swimming anywhere here, as long as you're careful of boats and fishermen), so we walked up to a beach near a hotel and went exploring. There were mostly craggy rocks and remnants of reefs past but tons of fish! I saw some damselfish, parrotfish, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, blue tangs, spotted trunkfish, and some others I can't remember.
After a long day of unpacking, exploring, and of course, making new friends, we were all pretty exhausted. After dinner we played a trivia game called "Pub Quiz" - the teams were "How to Drug Your Children" (my team - woot woot - we were the victors) and "Albatross." After that we hit the down and just went to a little bar that was on a pier overlooking the water. We saw a lot of flying fish hopping out of the water - they were really cool! Since we all were tired, we left after a little while. When we got back, three more students had arrived! This was big news since for most of the day about half of the crew were still not there. Three more students have yet to arrive - they'll get here tonight.
I slept for 11 hours last night - literally passed out. They gave us sheets and a pillowcase, but because I like more weight when I sleep I had a towel on top of me. We have A/C and it was pretty cool at night anyway so I was comfy comfy.
I'm thankful to have made it here safely and without a hitch. Of course, my BCD leaks, so I might have to get a new one, but at least I'm here! I am really looking forward to beginning classes and to getting to know everyone. We have the whole country just about represented - California, Montana, Colorado, Joisey, New York, New Hampshire, DC, and many more!
It's lunch time now and I want to grab something good so I will be leaving y'all. I love you all and thank you for checking out my adventures!
Friday, January 6, 2012
First Post!
Welcome to my blog! I decided to keep one while away in Bonaire in order for my friends and family to follow my adventures. I am not sure how often I will have internet access while abroad, but I do hope to update things on a semi-regular basis. Ya never know with those tropical islands...
With just two short weeks until my departure to Bonaire, there are still a bunch of things I still need to do to prepare. My mom's been worried that I'm saving everything until the last minute, but I reassure her that I have everything under control. Ha. But really. I've been spending time with close friends and family, applying to summer internships, completing necessary paperwork so I can, in fact, leave the country, and attempting to relax on the couch with my doggie. Needless to say my cold tolerance this winter has gone WAY down ever since I started packing my bathing suits and shorts. I look forward to the 80 degree sunny weather Bonaire promises. Aaaahhhhh paradise awaits! But don't let this fool you, I'm pretty sure my abroad program is going to be intense. The syllabus calls for fish and coral identification quizzes the first week and Advanced SCUBA Diver certification by week three. I'll be kept busy, don't you worry!
If anyone's particularly interested, here's the website to the CIEE Research Station on Bonaire, where I will be staying: http://www.cieebonaire.org/
Alas, this is enough for now. I'll update y'all once I'm settled in the Caribbean!
With just two short weeks until my departure to Bonaire, there are still a bunch of things I still need to do to prepare. My mom's been worried that I'm saving everything until the last minute, but I reassure her that I have everything under control. Ha. But really. I've been spending time with close friends and family, applying to summer internships, completing necessary paperwork so I can, in fact, leave the country, and attempting to relax on the couch with my doggie. Needless to say my cold tolerance this winter has gone WAY down ever since I started packing my bathing suits and shorts. I look forward to the 80 degree sunny weather Bonaire promises. Aaaahhhhh paradise awaits! But don't let this fool you, I'm pretty sure my abroad program is going to be intense. The syllabus calls for fish and coral identification quizzes the first week and Advanced SCUBA Diver certification by week three. I'll be kept busy, don't you worry!
If anyone's particularly interested, here's the website to the CIEE Research Station on Bonaire, where I will be staying: http://www.cieebonaire.org/
Alas, this is enough for now. I'll update y'all once I'm settled in the Caribbean!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)