Today was a big day, I had my first Identification exam, and I totally aced it! We had to know 45 organisms, their scientific name, and their higher taxonomic group and we were tested on 20. We did all three mangroves; Red (Rhizapora mangle), White (Laguncalaria rocemosa) and black (Avicennia germinans), we covered three fish; Damsel adult (Stegastes TP) and Damsel juvenile (Stegastes IP), and the Schoolmaster Snapper (Lutjanus apodus). Just a side note, when you are characterizing fish you either pit IP meaning Initial phase, or baby, or you write TP meaning terminal phase, or adult. We also saw a lot of algae, a starfish, and several more. It took us about 45 minutes, and we left at 9:00am. The water was surprisingly warm, but I still wore my wet suit! You can never be too careful. If I could do something differently about packing, it would have been to get another rash guard, and a shorty wet suit. Sometimes the weather is just right for the in between of a rash guard, and a long wet suit. Remember last blog I told ya the difference! Aside from the exam, I had a quiz right when I got back to campus in socioeconomic policy with Pete Parker (not the superhero). He is so cool; he did work in Tibet for the forest, and then decided to try his luck down here. He is very intelligent and knows his stuff, and is very engaging.
The professors and staff here in general are great! We have a morning meeting everyday at 7:50am so we can discuss the weather, the day, and community plans. Outside of class, the professors are just other adults here. We play ping pong with them, watch movies with them, play volleyball and basketball, or whatever. It is very laid back and it is a wonderful respectable atmosphere. Once you enter the classroom they are your mentor, guide, and teacher, but once we leave they are your friend. It is great to have that.
Besides all that, everything is going great, and I am finally getting in the swing of balancing social, volunteering, snorkeling, and school work! It is nice to have a break from all the clubs, and meetings and UC life. Not that I do not miss it. However, one thing I notice as I look around the classroom at all of the students, is that if we all went to school together to a place like UC or Niagara, most of us would not speak to each other. We are all so dynamic and different. We would be in our own clubs, Greek life, etc. However, here we are a family, and we are all so accepting. I was so nervous my first night here. I kept asking myself what I got myself into, why I thought this was such a good idea. I realized I had two options… (1) Go home or (2) Swallow the nerves and shine. I was talking to a few kids about their thoughts the night before they flew down, and the night upon arrival, and they all said they were scared out of their minds. A lot of them were crying, some I did not even see because they did not come out of their room. The moral of all this “deep” stuff is you are never the only one. Whether you are joining the military, going abroad in the future, interning, or plan on moving because of a job, you are never the only one feeling the way you do. There will always be people that are scared, lonely, excited, etc. Just be you.
Alright, well class is over! It is time for lunch, I am starving. I am always so hungry after a snorkel; you really work out without even knowing it. It is all leg work. Today I am going to swim some laps in the ocean from the pier to the buoy then a few girls and I are going on a run before dinner. I am going to try to start working out if I get time to. Especially since we will be going to the bar tonight for Arties birthday, he is 21 (not that is matters too much here).
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