I know I haven't blogged in a while, sorry if this one is a little longer then normal! I just realized tonight that I am exactly half way done with my exchange here. I literally cannot believe how fast time has been going, before I know it I will be home already!
I have been very busy the past 2 1/2 weeks! Two weeks ago we went on a field trip for our Hawaiian Ethnozoology course down to a bay near hilo. We put on our water shoes and got some gloves on, and went searching for animals we have learned about. We found tons of interesting things, a lot of creatures that we were looking for we found under rocks, we would just lift them up and we would see sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and many other things as well. I actually had a big sea turtle swim right up to me and it started eating off the rocks, it was amazing. At first I panicked because I did not see it right away, then I just watched it eat for a while realizing it was completely harmless. It was really cool to get out into the water and see some of these creatures, I haven't really been snorkeling around here and it made me really want to get out in the ocean more so it was good for me. The other part of our field trip was actually using parts of the coconut tree to make a toy. I had just done a presentation on the coconut tree for the class, they call it the Niu here in Hawaii. It is one of the most important plants for them. They use every part of it for many different things. For each presentation in class we were required to make something out of what we had, so luckily my roommate was in my group and she made some desert out of the coconut, I was actually very sick that week, I feel like it was really going around here. I sure isn't fun being sick away from home, but my roommate sure is amazing at taking care of me!
I don't know if I mentioned this but I did get a position on campus to proctor students with disabilities. It is only a few shifts here and there, but it is something. I had my first shift a few weeks ago and it was pretty easy. It will be nice to get some extra money. I just proctor students while they take exams out of their classrooms. I signed up for a few more shifts coming up so hopefully I get a few more hours in before I leave!
The trip for last weekend was going to the Hilo Zoo! We got to experience one of the only tropical rainforest zoo's in the US so it was pretty cool to see. they had quite the array of animals, and it was definitely something worth seeing.
This morning I finally got home from Oahu (The Island honolulu is on). I flew over there mid last week to visit Ashley! We were lucky enough to have a place right on Waikiki and just relax. We had a little condo and I enjoyed a soft bed so much it was very painful coming back to my little bed here. We had a lot of fun and 2 of my friends from here flew out a day later then me and stayed with us. We did a lot of relaxing, but one of the most non-relaxing things I have done yet in my life, SKYDIVING!! It was amazing. I am so glad I did it there, and I would love to do it again. We went up on the north shore to do it, and we actually got to fall from 14,000 feet. I was very nervous the night, in fact I didn't do much sleeping at all. Ashley didn't jump with us but Brittany Alexander, Ashley (my roommate) and I did it. It is definitely not what I expected it to be, and honestly I think anyone could do it, its really not as scary as people think it is. We had a beautiful view when we were falling, we saw whales in the water and beautiful beaches and reefs. Our free fall was for about 60 seconds, and then they pulled the parachute and we played around in the air for a while. We went on a pretty clear day, but there was no wind so the landing was a little rough, but worth every minute of it. I ended up not getting a video of myself jumping because it was a lot of extra money to get the pictures and video, but my friends did so it was fun to watch theres. I am in a way glad I didn't, because I really don't want to know what my face actually looked like jumping out of that plane. The guy I was jumping with was really cool, he has done thousands and thousands of jumps, and I am really glad I had him, We jumped out last so I got to see everyone jump out and land and everything from above, so it was really cool. Other then that we did not to much else besides go out a few nights in Honolulu. We went to senior frogs and us 4 ladies had a good time, there is no night life here so it was fun to get out for a few nights. It was sad to say goodbye to Ashley, it was nice seeing someone from home.
This week I have some homework to catch up on, and a big midterm on Thursday which I am a little worried about. School is going OK, I am really really really ready to be done as of now (school wise). The weather here has been pretty rainy actually, hopefully we get a few clear days soon.
I can't say this enough, but time sure does fly by. I can't believe it is already March! I do miss everyone very much! Hope all is well with everyone, see you guys soon!
Hopefully It doesn't take me 2 weeks to blog again!
Aloha!
Brittany :)
Here are some pictures!
My roommate and I before we got on the plane to go up!
This was my guy!
I had to buy a shirt
Our plane
Ashley and I at our restaurant in Honolulu
The 4 ladies!
Us on the beach
