"Hey, do you live here?"

Before I begin, I must state that some cruise ship tourists today thought that Crystal and I were locals here on da island!  It's probably because we are so sun-kissed it's insane.  And we actually know where we're going in town.  But anyway, hasn't it been a little while since we've last spoken?

Well, I know it was only on Wednesday but that seems like a lifetime now that I've become a professional WINDSURFER. Yes, that's right, you heard me, I learned how to windsurf on Friday!!  A few of us rented bikes and biked all the way to Sorobon on Lac Bay (see map below) to learn to windsurf at a place where people come from all over the world!  I hate to brag, but I was killin' it out there.  It was a little bit of a challenge at first, but once I got the hang of things, it was really fun!!  The board was huge and the sail was small pretty much ensuring that any noob would stand up, but still!  I was turning left and right and there was a good stretch of time that I didn't fall that I was going back and forth just gliding along, having a total blast!!  And the fun didn't end there! 

Yesterday we took our bikes down to the southern region of the island for some exploration and some swimming.  We made it all the way to Pink Beach (see map) and went to two beaches for swimming.  Unfortunately, the snorkeling was sub-par due to all of the sedimentation from the sand (corals don't exactly like a lot of sand), but the water was still so beautiful and refreshing, I can't really complain.  Everyone's been really active these last couple of days since we've all had so much free time. 

Actually, on Thursday (yeah, I know I'm going out of order here), I went on two dives with my research buddy, Wiley.  He was hammering rebar into the ground to create plots in which to observe fish species (I mostly tried not to sink and kill corals from holding all the wicked heavy rebar).  It was pretty fun to help him out with his research because I was just his assistant so I didn't have to make the decisions and call the shots, ya know? 

On the other hand, my research has a new development: there were these panels that I put in the water last week to get covered in algae and stuff so I could eventually put them out on the reef to see if baby sea urchins settle on them, and guess what?  They went missing.  Yes, nowhere to be seen.  So that's nice.  I'm going to have to see if I can come up with a Plan B (ugh, but hey, that's science fer ye!).

Let's see, what else has been going on around here?  Nothing much, really.  Tomorrow we'll be dissecting lionfish and looking at their stomach contents so needless to say I'm looking forward to that!!  They said that the pair that dissects and measures the most gets a free tank card (to use for diving, of course) so I'm gonna have to find a good partner, that's all I'm sayin'. 

So on the bottom-ish right is Lac Bay, where we biked to on Friday, and on the bottom-ish left is Pink Beach, which is one of the beaches we went to on Saturday.  Remember, we live like right in front of Klein Bonaire, basically in front of where it has a little point.  We're pretty intense bikers now.

Had to have a little photo shoot next to one of many murals along the road near the airport.  This was my favorite painting.  And that's not a mountain behind the wall, it's a roof.  (I thought it was a mountain from this picture, actually...whoopsie)

Yes, I have weird toes.  Let's just ignore that and look at the sand and the water and the sky! Oh my!

Our pet, Hernando.  Found this little bugger chillin' on our wall the other night.  Not sure exactly where he went, though...

Thanks again for checking out ma blog!  I love you all!

Peace,

Catalina

"No dessert until you finish your iguana stew!"

As today's title indicates, I have, in fact, eaten iguana.  I must inform you that it actually tasted like chicken, no joke.  It was really bony, but also quite yummy!  That happened last Thursday, so I shall begin with the events of last week then get to today.  It's gonna be a long post, so you should probably go get a snack or something. 

Let's see...what did we do last week anyway?   Ah yes, we went on a dive looking for coral diseases on Thursday.  That was kinda fun, only because we got to have a little more independence in terms of our buddy teams and whatnot.  We also had our final rescue scenario (remember those things?) as we were ascending and now we're RESCUE DIVE CERTIFIED YAY!  In just four weeks we've all improved so much with our diving skills as well as our knowledge of the reefs where we're diving (I know like all the fish and coral species we see so yup).  I'm just looking forward to continuing to grow as a diver and underwater scientist!

On Friday we had a workshop about our Independent Research Projects (I'll get to that later) and then went on a field trip to the sewage "treatment" plants and landfill of Bonaire.  That was a most interesting trip for several reasons.  Firstly, our tour guide was an old hippy man with a British accent who's a major environmental activist on Bonaire.  He's probably one of the coolest men I've ever encountered.  Secondly, we learned that they hardly treat their sewage/waste water and they dump it in trenches in the middle of the island.  So that's a problem in and of itself.  It also smelled just wonderful when we stopped by a trench and saw the ground stained black.  And then, we learned that at another location they use the ground where they dump the crappy water to grow food for livestock.  Just think of the chemicals.  At the landfill, we saw mounds of broken kitchen appliances, cars, and just random garbage items.  What caused a wave of emotion within me was seeing goats feeding on all of it.  They were having a feast!  To learn that this mountain of trash has no separation from the natural world (no liner in the ground to prevent chemical leakage into the soil, no gates around the property to keep out the goats, NOTHING) and that it is on an incline leading to the ocean struck a heartstring. 

Oftentimes it is easier to turn the other cheek when it comes to things we typically ignore, such as what happens to our trash once the garbage truck picks it up from our house every week.  What is more difficult is to address the problems in terms of our way of doing things and to question if what we're doing is actually the best for our health, our environment, and our children.  Our tourguide, the British home boy, was an inspiration because he is doing what no one really wants to do: admit that we've been living in a dream and that if we don't address our mistakes now, these resources we take for granted may not be as abundant or pristine as we're used to. 

After that trip, we all needed to sanitize ourselves and get ready for another night on the town.  We went to one of the resorts in the southern part of town and then to our favorite place to dance our little hearts out, Havanas.  The rest of the weekend was actually pretty uneventful because our research proposals were due on Sunday so Saturday and Sunday I spent working on my proposal.  Fun times indeed. 

Sunday afternoon there was a parade in town for Carnival (or Karnaval, as they spell it here).  It was a little different than parades in the US because they didn't have any marching bands, paraders had an infinite supply of alcohol, the costumes were extremely intricate (see below) and everyone was just dancing to tropical music played from the floats.  Basically the entire island was downtown and everyone was having a great time.  It was fun to be a part of such a cultural experience.  Everyone was happy and dressed up.  This jumpstarted my excitement for the upcoming Karnaval week (I'm also on break so that's been lovely)!

On Monday we all did our trial runs of our research dives - mine went pretty well.  We still have a few things to iron out in terms of data collection, but I won't bore you all with the details.  I tried explaining my research to my lovely sister, Vicky, and our dear friend, Vinny, earlier today and they nearly fell asleep.  Thanks guys.  But anyway, my dive buddy, Wiley, is such a big help when it comes to my research, so I know we'll do a great job!  Tomorrow we'll be diving twice for his research and we get to hammer some rebar into the ground underwater. Now that should be an interesting adventure!

Tuesday was Mardi Gras as well as Jul's 21st Birthday so we had a big ol' celebration at the house.  We went down to the beach for a while, ate a ton of pizza and snacks, and had an awesome time.  Around 10 pm or so (I actually don't really look at the time anymore...island time, ya know) we all hit the town because there was a parade (it was actually the same one as on Sunday).  What made this parade even different (and better) than Sunday was that everyone in the crowd was able to join in on the dancing.  Devon, Max and I were getting our dance on with a bunch of people in pajamas (that's what the theme of the costumes and float was).  The music was amazing, the people were so happy, and everyone was having fun.  I really felt a part of the culture of Karnaval in the tropics.

After the parade, the mass of paraders and non-paraders made its way to the stadium in the center of town, where we all waited until midnight for this thing called "The Burning of the Momo," which was a culmination of the whole of Karnaval.  There are many traditional stories surrounding the Momo (ya should Google it because my rendition of the stories would only be disrespectful to the culture), but what we saw was a big statue/doll type thing dressed up like a king get doused with lighter fluid, then ignited, and then there were fireworks.  Literally the entire island was gathered outside the stadium for this event.  The parade and the burning of the Momo were the best way to experience Karnaval on Bonaire.  I had so much fun and am happy to have been a part of such a great tradition.

After the Momo, we all headed to Havanas (our usual hangout) for some good ol' fashioned dancing.  It was a blast, as always, and instead of just playing some techno American mixed with tropical island music, there was some traditional Dutch music mixed in.  Its style really made me want to just bop up and down from side to side if that makes any sense at all.  I'll have to show you what I mean. 

Today we just spent hanging out on the dock making hemp friendship bracelets (courtesy, moi) out of the beads that I had as well as corals and shells we found on the shore.  Ah, what a tough life.  So far Karnaval week has been going swimmingly; it's nice to have a little break from our classes and get to experience the island life a little more.  I feel more integrated into the culture now and we've only been here for a little over a month (seems crazy, doesn't it?!).  Who knows what the rest of this week has in store for me, you'll just have to wait and see!!

THIS JUST IN: I went outside for a quick second and guess what I heard???!?!?!?!?!?!!!??!!!?!
Donkey's hee-hawing!!!!!!!!  They sounded pretty close and OMG that was the coolest thing ever!!!!

OH and before I sign off: PICTURES!!!!!!  YAY!

Goats just having a little snack on some chemicals. Yum.

The Parade on Sunday.  Check out those costumes!!  Look how intricate!

Posing with a family at the Burning of the Momo.

Laughing so Hard I Snort, Day Three of Three

Hello again!  This has been a most interesting week in Bonaire and it's not over yet - last night we went on a night dive, and today I finalized my plans for my Independent Research Project.  Quite exciting, I know.  Furthermore, judging by today's title, lots of laughs have been shared in these last couple of days.  Ah yes, but that is normal when living with such lovely people on a beautiful island. 

I shall begin by recounting the events of last night's dive.  I was a little scared but also super excited to see the reef we've grown accustomed to but at a totally different time than ever before.  We had our flashlights and little tank lights so we were equipped for exploration!  Before we set off, the sun was setting over Klein and the sky was a beautiful pink/orange - a good sign for the dive ahead!  The stars had just started to come out when we entered the water and were about to make our descent.  To begin, we made our way to the reef crest, and traveled along, poking our lights into the little crevices of the corals, looking for fishies and creatures.  The coral polyps were extended because they feed at night.  Some animals my buddy and I saw were:

Several (but not quite this abundant) long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum, my homeboys),

And a midnight parrotfish that was about two feet long and chillin under a coral head. 

Some other things we saw were a spiny lobster, a cute shrimp, some nocturnal squirrelfish, and tarpons that were the length of my body! 

Let me just tell you about the tarpons - they're shiny and super big and feed on little fishies.  When divers go out at night with their lights, tarpons like to chill with the divers because the lights shine in their prey's eyes and they become stunned, making them perfect snacks for the tarpons.  The first time we spotted one, my buddy and I locked eyes for a good minute, shocked at the size of the fish.  After we got over that, we continued swimming along, me a little frightened of the large fishes lurking near us. 

Ok, so this might be a wee bit of an exaggeration, but I swear they looked like this.  Maybe a foot or two shorter, but not by much.  And they traveled in pairs. Talk about scary.

Anyway, the dive was continuing very smoothly until we had to turn around on the reef and continue back in the direction from where we had come.  This was a challenge because the second group of students was behind us and we were being pulled very rapidly by the current towards them!  So many of us were bumping into each other, becoming very flustered, and ocassionally losing sight of our buddies.  I did not like this at all because I like my space (as you all probably know), and this rule also applies in the water.  It's almost even more difficult to watch out for other people while underwater (and in the dark) because you have to look behind your fins, and above, below, and in front of your body.  Once we hit the current and were past the other group, we were soaring!  It was like being in Narrow River in the summer when you ride the current and it's moving the fastest it's ever gone.  If I wasn't so paranoid of bumping into a coral, I would have enjoyed this a little more.  Alas, we made our safety stop at 15 feet and my buddy and I turned off our lights and swooshed the water in front of us so we could see the bioluminescing dinoflagellates - they were so cool!  Despite some pile-ups and the crazy current, everyone was super excited after the night dive!  To make things even better we had cake waiting for us at the house (we always get dessert on nights we get dinner)! 

As for the academia, today I (hopefully) finalized plans for my Independent Research, which I hope to begin next week.  I am going to try and determine if the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, is recovering at our dive site by noting their density as well as measuring their recruitment (so the number of little baby urchins that stick onto some structures we put out on the reef).  I also hope to look at the amount of algae and coral cover in areas where I find urchins and areas where I do not in order to see if there's a correlation between urchin presence and algae/coral cover.  It's been a bit of a challenge to come up with methods for the field because you can think something is a good idea and then try to actually implement it in the water and it doesn't quite seem possible any more.  With the assistance of our lovely interns and professors, however, I am certain it will all work out! 

Things are very quiet tonight since many people went out to karaoke night at one of the local bars.  Because I am not quite the singer (except in the car, alone) and I don't like going out on school nights (I know, such a nerd), I declined to go.  It's kind of nice to just have a night to relax and figure out things with my research. 

After Friday of this week is Carnival week (NO SCHOOL!!!!) so we're all planning on renting bikes, exploring the island, partying with the locals, ya know, typical tropical doings.  I'm excited to see what Carnival really is as well as to have my research sorted out by the time the weekend rolls around.

Alrighty then, this mermaid has to hit the primary literature (ah, such is the life as a mermaid-slash-scientist).

Bon nochi!

Didn't I tell you, I'm training for the Olympics?

So remember that time I told you that people wanted to swim to Klein Bonaire?  Well, I did with seven other students and it was the most amazing adventure, ever.  Just for some background info, Klein is off the coast of Bonaire and it is about a half mile away from Kralendijk, the city we live in. 

Usually I wouldn't write two blog posts in one day (that's a little excessive, I know), but I will make an exception for this adventure.  So, we grabbed all of our gear (wetsuits, snorkels, masks, fins) and went down to the dock where we do all of our diving and swimming and whatnot.  One of the guys at Yellow Sub was making us feel all doubtful about the swim, saying that if he needed to come rescue any of us we'd owe him a case of beer, each.  Anyway, his words of discouragement did not deter us, however, and we set out.  It was quite the swim, but it wasn't so bad.  If I didn't have all of my gear, I'd have so much more trouble.  Took us about 35 minutes to make it there.  When we were approaching the island, the water was getting really shallow but tons of corals were everywhere!  It was really different from our usual site at Yellow Sub.  As we dodged the fire corals and long, waving gorgonians (thing of fluffy, huggable sea fans and feather dusters), we got to land!  Land ho!

The island is another desert like Bonaire, made from ancient coral reefs, and had tons of pretty and large shells along the coast.  While we were making our way to the beach that was in the distance, several of us saw a woman snorkeling who looked like she was in distress.  We went into rescue-mode and went in the water to try and help her.  When we got to her, she said she was fine and was only signalling to some people on the boat nearby.  That was frustrating because we had just finished a long swim and had then physically exerted ourselves thinking we were going to have to save this woman's life. 

Aside from that excitement, more excitement followed!  When we made it to the beach, we hit the water for a nice snorkel.  Let me tell you, it was the most incredible snorkel because we saw so many hawksbill sea turtles (and tons of other cool things, but nothing compared)!!!  I am absolutely in love with them.  I was smiling and making my typical excited high-pitched "Eeeekkkk!!!" sound the entire time.  It's actually quite difficult to smile with a mask on because you get water in your mask and it's just bad news.  I have to work on that.  The cutest thing was when one of the turtles made its way to the surface, popped its little head out of the water for air, and then went back down.  They are so graceful and peaceful.  Several were just chillin under some corals and, of course, we frightened them so they came out from hiding to glide away.  Two of us followed (I guess you could also say, chased) one turtle into the shallows and were following it about.  At one point, we had kind of cornered it so when I turned to my left, there it was, about three feet from me!  AAHHHHH!!!  So adorable!

When it was getting late, we decided to head back to the "mainland" because we didn't want to get caught swimming in the dark, what with boats and scary sea monsters.  Heading back was a little more difficult than getting there (getting tired, ya know), but we all made it back, safe and sound.  When we got back to shore, we were a little ways from where we first started (we did that on purpose because it was actually a shorter distance to shore that way than the first way we went).  We then just snorkeled up the shoreline to Yellow Sub.  We saw some cool palometa swimming about and a huge school of caesar grunts chillin' under a dock. 

So yup, coolest, most spontaneous, amazing afternoon ever.  I'm pretty sure I killed my shoulder swimming (hard core) and I still have readings to do for class tomorrow, but it was totally worth it.

Anyway, tis time to hit the books (it's not all fun and games around here, ya know).

Yours truly,
Catalina

P.S. I totally felt like a mermaid today, too.  Schools of fish were surrounding me and I swear they liked me.

Bonaire.  That lil' island to the left was today's swimming destination, no big deal.  This picture can also give you a perspective of where we live, it's basically the area in front of where you see Klein Bonaire.

Klein Bonaire.  We swam from about the very right of this picture to that little stretch of light-blue-ish in front of Klein.  Yeah, we're hard-core.  Looks a lot farther from this angle than it felt.  Yikes.

I'm on Island Time

Greetings, loyal fans!  So I actually just worked up a sweat hanging my clothes out on the line to dry (it's been quite humid lately - great for my afro!) and now I'm just enjoying a lazy Sunday in Bonaire, sitting outside under the awning of our porch.  Per the request of my lovely mother, here's another blog update!  I've been pretty busy these last couple of days, which is why there hasn't been one for a while.  Now, where to begin???
I shall start with the events of the week.  We went on several dives this week, some were rather less exciting compared to our DEEP WRECK DIVE TO THE HILMA HOOKER we did on Thursday!  That was so amazing!!!  So there's this boat that sunk in the '80s off the south-western coast of Bonaire kinda on purpose (so it could be used as a dive site), and it's about 100 feet deep!  When we descended, we crossed over a pretty reef, and then I looked down a ways (at around 50 feet) and there I saw it!  It was dark and kinda looming in the distance.  I got a little creeped out, but was excited to continue the descent.  When we got to the sandy bottom next to the ship, we kneeled on the bottom, monitored our (and our buddy's) air consumption and depth, and looked at a color chart that we saw on the surface.  The red on the chart had turned brown while the blue, yellow, and green were slightly darker.  Our professor also brought down a plastic bottle filled 1/3 with water - that, and a tennis ball, had imploded from the pressure at depth!  She had also brought down an egg to see if it would keep its shape under pressure, but it didn't, even though it should have.  A yellowtailed snapper came up and ate the egg, actually!  Just munched it right up! 

After our little demonstration, we swam around the ship, looking into the hull from the top of it.  The ship was on its side so we got to glance in fairly easily.  It was so cool, you have no idea!  Corals, sponges, and algae were growing on the ship, giving it an eerie presence.  I was using up a lot of air at depth, mainly because I just breathe a lot when under water, but also because air consumption increases at increased depth.  We were just swimming along, exploring the ship and the corals around it.  I loved seeing the steering wheel thingy (whatever you call it on ships) and that was really neat!  I pretended to drive the ship, wondering what it was like in the oldendays. 

When we had surfaced, we had to actually perform another rescue scenario - now that was exhausting after a very deep and exciting dive, let me tell you.  My professor was saying, "We have another scenario that will begin in no time..." and in the meantime, I look over and one of the students is face down in the water.  So I jump into Rescue Mode and everyone else joins in.  She was such a good sport - we kinda splashed water into her face, and were tugging her about in the ocean, but we eventually got her to shore and she was saved!  We have another rescue scenario or two to do before being fully certified!

Anyway, enough of that stuff.  As for the academics, this week we came up with our Independent Research Project topics.  After some stressful meetings with our advisors and interns and lots of brainstorming, we presented our ideas to the entire group (professors, students, interns) on Friday afternoon.  I am hoping to study the impact of the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, on the benthic environment at our usual dive spot.  I want to look at percent algae cover, live coral cover, and coral diseases in areas where I see the sea urchin.  There might be a slight problem in that not many have been seen around the Yellow Sub dive site, so I may have to ammend my idea, but I'll address that when the time comes.  I'm looking forward to the research because these urchins suffered a mass mortality in the Caribbean in the '80s and may be recovering.  Their mortality resulted in a lot of algae growth, which prevents coral growth and recruitment - bad news.  Because they feed on algae, I'm going to see if their presence actually keeps down algae growth and has an impact on increased live coral cover.  I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited to start it up!

This weekend has consisted of another trip to the grocery store, chillin on the dock and snorkeling, and being lazy - so it's been a nice reprieve from the past week.  On Friday night, we all went to the local bar/club, Havanas, like last week and had a grand old time. 

The more time I spend with everyone, the more I realize that this is the perfect pairing of students, ever.  We haven't had any drama (let's keep it that way), and with our rescue training, everyone really looks out for each other.  We respect eachother's desire for independence, but at the same time try to include everyone when we go on excursions (like snorkeling and whatnot).  We're basically a bunch of marine and environmental science nerds from different backgrounds, but with the passion and interest in conservation, which I love. 

Anyway, I have to get going, because some people want to go swim to Klein Bonaire, and I kinda want to go, but at the same time I don't want to drown.  This will be interesting.  Maybe I can bring a floaty?

Love from the Caribbean,
Catalina

Feeling like a Bonairian

Why hello there, it's time for another update from the world of the mermaids and mermen in Bonaire!  Let me begin by stating that the past four days were so lovely and made me really feel like a resident of the island.  I'll start with Friday and work my way to today.  Just to warn you, it's gonna be a long entry, so get ready.

On Friday we went to two new dive locations in the morning to run transects and look at the number and species of fish we saw.  It was really fun to go to locations different from our usual spot at Yellow Sub dive shop, which is like a minute from our house.  After the first transect where my tape was going all over the place, I started to get the hang of it and only swam along one depth contour and my tape was laid out much much better.  This increased my confidence in terms of underwater transects - thank goodness because the entire semester is going to consist of reef research.  The sites had a different variety of corals and more fishies and I liked seeing more of the island on our way to the sites!  In the afternoon, we had class about diving physiology and rescue diving, which were interesting, ya know. 

That evening several girls and I walked to a nearby pizza place, Pasa Bon Pizza ("Have a good pizza," in Papiamentu), because we were all really craving pizza.  It was delicious and pretty cheap!  Next, the whole group hit the town to celebrate Shelby's 21st Birthday!  We went to the only club on the island and when we got there there was this one guy really bustin' moves on the dance floor.  Being the intense dance-lover that I am, I couldn't resist hitting the dance floor with Crystal.  We broke it down, pop-and-lock-ghetto-lovin'-American-students-outta-control-maybe-being a-little-too-extreme-style.  I've never danced or sweat so much in my life.  It was a blast!  Afterwards, Amelie and I decided to go for a nightly snorkel and we saw my dear friends the bioluminescent dinoflagellates. 

Saturday was a pretty chill day, aside from the fact that I got to go the supermarkets and get food!!  Each week we are able to ride into town to go shopping for food for the week (mostly breakfast, snacks, and some dinner foods because we're provided with lunch and dinner every day except Friday and Saturday).  Last week, I had missed the vans to the stores by about one second (I literally watched the vehicles drive away...) so I was on my last rations of individually boxed cereals I brought with me.  I was pretty excited to go shopping and get food for the week!  It's really incredible what a difference having fruit and some peanut butter makes - I'm happier because I have snacks.  What a fatty, I know.  Anyway, the rest of Saturday was pretty uneventful, aside from doing some homework and Skyping with some friends back home.

We basically had an entire tour of the island on Sunday, which was amazing!  We went to the salt pans and slave huts of the southern part of the island, saw the waves on the eastern coast, saw the mountains (yes, I call hills mountains because I'm from Rhode Island and we have NO mountains) of the north, and got to dance the harvest dance with the Bonairians at a bar in the middle of nowhere.  The island is covered in cacti and was formed by volcanic rock and ancient coral reefs.  We were able to see different villages and dive sites, indian cave markings, and even a windsurfing place we definitely want to revisit!  Seeing the island was a great way for us to really feel a part of the culture and environment that is Bonaire.  It is such a beautiful place and I'm so thankful to be here!

Today we went on a field trip to Lac Bay (pics not here, sorry!), which is a little inlet that has sand and relatively shallow, calm waters and is lined by mangroves.  We had a tour of a mangrove swamp with all three mangroves (red, white, and black), tons of bird species, and tons of mud.  Obviously I would be the one to step in all of the muck and sludge - but I loved it, so that's ok!  I was wearing Liz Lee's Tevas (which got tons of looks of approval, btw) so I was equipped for adventure!  At the bay we went snorkeling around the seagrasses and mangroves.  The visibility wasn't the greatest, but the water was so blue and the sand was so white I was in heaven.  After our field trip, we came back to the station and had our first official class, our Tropical Marine Conservation and Biodiversity course, which I am sure I'm going to enjoy, especially with all of these field trips and whatnot.

Clearly this weekend has been quite eventful, eh?  Things are really starting to pick up here and I'm loving every moment.  Below are just a few pictures from our tour on Sunday - check out my Facebook for more!

 Slave huts - the Dutch built these for the slaves only 20 years before slavery ended on the island.  Before that, they were left on their own, without shelter or fresh water.

At 1000 Steps dive site.  There were actually only 72 steps, but I'm sure it feels like 1,000 steps with dive gear! 

Please ignore my multiple chins, but I'm up on top of a "mountain" overlooking Kralendijk, where we're staying, as well as Klein Bonaire, that little island off the coast of Bonaire.  I still feel like I'm living in a dream. 

Until next time, bon nochi!

Buddy-Tastic

Golly, it sure has been a while since I've last updated ye, hasn't it?  So much has happened in only a few short days.  We went snorkeling on Sunday and saw a sea turtle!!!!!!!  Highlight of my life, right there.  Now if only I saw a moose, then my life would be complete (another of my life's goals, but that's for another time).  The turtle was only about the size of my torso, maybe a little wider, and was just gliding through the water, so chill and relaxed, while tons of us tried to follow it without freaking out too much.  Hm let's see...other cool things...OH we saw an octopus, too!  It looked like a rock when still (good evolutionary skills, if you ask me) but then came to life when it glooped around along the ocean floor. 

Aside from the cool creatures we've been seeing while exploring the deep blue, we've been working on perfecting our rescue skills and our scientific diving abilities.  We can now administer emergency oxygen to a patient as well as help a fellow diver in distress.  It's actually quite fun learning how to save people, if that doesn't sound totally weird.  We've done a ton of role-playing emergency scenarios and the other day we simulated a truck accident in which a cut on my leg bled so much I passed out then died.  'Twas quite fun to bring out my inner actress.  Everyone is doing a great job being emergency first responders and oxygen adminsters.  Today while at the water, we broke up into two groups and needed to find a "missing diver" (it was a yellow robe tied to the bottom of the ocean that our instructor hid).  We had to come up with a plan to find the "diver" so some of us had to dive and go in a "U" pattern back and forth, others snorkeled, others stood on shore to signal to us rescuers.  Our team found the "diver" in about 14 minutes!  I just hope I'm never in a scenario where a fellow diver goes missing. 

In addition to the rescue skills, we've been learning how to conduct scientific surveys underwater.  This has been quite the learning curve for me since I've done transects on land and only in about 3 feet of water.  For those of you who have no idea what a transect is, it's where you lay out basically measuring tape for a certain distance and then swim (or travel) along it and count things like number of fish, coral types, coral cover, etc.  What makes it challenging while underwater is trying to lay it out in a straight line along the same depth (today my line was at 35 feet), without letting the current pull you or the tape in any odd direction.  You also need to focus on your buoyancy - meaning you don't accidentially kick the corals or your partner or start to ascend far from the reef itself.  It's been a bit of a struggle for me because I'm not one to multitask and I like everything to be perfect (quite impossible, I know, I know).  I'm certain, though, that with more practice it will be easy as pie!  Tomorrow we're going to two new dive sites and we'll be conducting fish surveys as well as being assessed for our skills.  Kinda nervous, but I know it will be a lot of fun. 

I've been realizing that this semester really is unlike anything I'm used to, which is just what I wanted, even if it is a little unfamiliar and unpredictable. All of the field research takes learning away from the classroom (where I'm finding I'm more comfortable) and into the water, where the magic really happens.  It's fun to be immersed in an environment where you do not exactly belong, but that you respect and want to understand.  Our surveys and research reinforce topics discussed in class, and I think that is one of the best ways to learn possible.  I am really looking forward to when all of our classes begin not only to begin learning more about this incredible ecosystem that is in my backyard but for some normalcy (if things could actually be normal when you're living with about 20 other young people in a house on a tropical island for four months). 

Well I've got quite the early start tomorrow for our two dives, so I shall be going.  Thanks again for reading this novel, you guys are great!

This is Catalina, signing off