Sorry for the Absence

I really am sorry for the long silence that has occurred.  Things have gotten crazy and I have gotten lazy about updating.  Luckily this is going to be one of the more relaxed weeks that I am going to have since getting here, so hopefully I will be able to fill you all in on everything.

For the most part nothing too exciting has happened.  We all got to watch a sea turtle for about 10 minutes on one of our dives.  It was the biggest I have seen in Bonaire so far so that was really cool.  The only other thing that I can think of is that we went "spelunking" on Friday to learn about Bonaire's caves.  When I think cave I think of the traditional mouth of a cave carved into the side of a mountain sort of thing, but the mouth of this cave was literally a hole in the ground.  And not even a big hole.  We did this exercise where we all turned off our lights and sat in the dark to see if the bats would fly close to us.  I was a bit reluctant about this idea, but because there were other people there more nervous about sitting in the dark than I was, I was surprisingly calm.  I didn't have a bat fly close to me, but I don't think I needed to hear such a thing anyway.  There was also a part of the cave where we had to crouch down on all fours to get under.  I mention this because one of the girls made the comparison of walking like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.  I was in the middle of scrambling under this overhang and couldn't help but smile to myself.  I couldn't laugh out loud because I was concentrating hard on getting out, but I thought it was really funny and that you would appreciate it.  It was extremely hot and I ended up sweating out of places I didn't know I could sweat.  Luckily, that was the case for everyone so we were all able to bond over it, I think...

We had our midterm in Coral Reef Ecology last week.  It wasn't too bad, although there was a lot of material to cover so I am unsure how I did.  Based on the key that we were allowed to look at after we finished the exam, I believe that I at least got some credit on all of the questions.  We also had our Advanced Scuba Final this week.  It involved dive physics and physiology, rescue skills, EFR, DAN Oxygen, and other fun stuff.  I got confused on the first few questions so we shall also see how that went.  Monday is our Tropical Marine Conservation Biology Midterm worth 300 points.  This is the one that I am really nervous for.  There was A LOT of material covered so getting it all back into my head will be an interesting challenge.  Considering that I haven't been doing particularly well on the quizzes I am truly worried.

Went to Lac Bay yesterday.  I am currently sporting a Portland sun tan, meaning my back is a different color from my front.  Luckily I wasn't burnt too badly (compared to another girl that must be in a lot of pain right now).  This was the one time that I have gotten any sort of prolonged exposure to the sun and I got burnt! How not fun is that?  Fortunately Marissa had aloe that she let me use last night so getting to bed was a lot easier than it would have been without it.

It has also occurred to me that there are two people here that I have not introduced you to.

This is Paul.  He goes to Juniata College.  If he had a super power it would be that whatever glass he touches is half full and the word he dislikes the most is the plural of wasp.  He's pretty amusing like that.

This a Amanda.  She goes to Oregon State.  This picture is from our Rincon Walk field trip.  She is wearing a sun bonnet.  She's really cool and funny. 

So that is what has been going on as well as everyone that is on this trip.  I'll try not to be a stranger to the blog.  Love you all!