Week 7: 2/12-2/18

Sunday: Field Trip to Volcano National Park

It was really hard to wake up this morning. My arms and legs were so tired from the hike and having to pull myself up the sugarcane shoot/waterslide but it’s all good because today I got to go on a field trip with my geology class, and y’all can bet that I was ERUPTING with excitement because geology ROCKS. My classes met up at 9 am at the school and took some of the vans up to Volcano National Park. When we got to the park we stopped by the visitor’s center and stood by this huge diagram they have of the island since the entire island is 3 big volcanoes. While we waited for a couple of students to meet up at the park we talked about and planned our trip. We decided that we were going to do the crater drive and some of the hikes along the way. To start the adventure, we stopped by the hotel in the park and looked at the crater and let me tell you this thing is huge. There are craters within this crater that have craters within those craters and so on!!! There is even a lava lake in one of the craters. It GINORMOUS! After looking at the crater we got back into the vans and drove down to the crater hike where we got out and walked around for a little bit. Here you can see the difference and how long it takes the lava to cool and harden from looking at the rocks. Here you can see the dark black basalt which indicates the rocks had harden, but there are certain areas where this basalt cracks. When this happens and there is a lot of rain, the rain would fall through the cracks and would hit any lava that was still hot underneath and cause steam that would bring up minerals such as sulfur and iron. The iron that it brings up would eventually rust which is part of why you see so many different colored rocks in this area. After we looked around a little bit we hiked over to the lava tube. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the National park. This lava tube was discovered in 1913, 3 years before the National parks were created. I enjoyed coming to see the lava tube a second time around because this time I was able to appreciate the science and the mechanics of how it was made. About a week ago in my geology class we learned that as the top of the lava cools some of the lava below is still hot and keeps moving towards the coastline. When this happens, the hot lava will eat away at the floor below the hardened lava creating these tubes. When all of the lava is expelled and done flowing through the tubes, the tubes will stay whole like this one and othesr will crack open and create great places for ferns and other plants to grow. When we were done walking through the tube we got back in the car and drove to the opposite end of the crater and played in the rocks. We looked and identified some of them like Pele’s hair, Pele’s tears and Olivine Basalt. It was a great way to put what I have been learning in class and apply it to what is happening at a really volcano. When we were done shifting through rocks, we went to the site of the 1979 eruption and walked around looking at the different types of lava fields and the different lava formations. We even found BLUE Rhyolite which is apparently a relatively new discover. The reason it looks blue is because there are crystals that are exactly 440 nm apart from each other, this is the wavelength of blue, and when it hits them it gives off a blue color. ISN’T THAT AMAZING!! This is also why some of the lava rocks will look purple at times. After walking around a bit, we ate lunch and got to know each other a little bit and then walked back to the vans and drove further down the crater drive. My teacher even showed us a crater that isn’t on the map due to the crater being really deep and known for pieces to break off and fall in making the crater larger J. Apparently, you used to be able to jump over it with a horse but if someone did that now they would surely die. After that hike we drove the rest of the crater drive and stopped to take pictures of where the lava field met the ocean. One thing that was really neat is that we could see South point from where we were and it was still about an hour drive away, thank you high elevation! When we finished the drive, we made our way back up to the visitor’s center and looked around the shop. We then hoped in the cars and drove back to campus. When we got back, I did laundry, caught up on some homework and went to church with some of my friends, came back and went to sleep. Today was a very fun learning filled day. I hope I can go on another field trip!

Monday: Relaxation

After the busy weekend I had I decided to take today and just relax. I went to my class this morning and learned about the different Hawaiian Gods and was assigned a group project. We are doing research on Kū who is the god of war, fishing, sorcery, forest and rain. I am very interested in learning about the Hawaiian gods and mythology. After my ‘Ohana class, I went to my aquaculture class and we talked about the nitrogen cycle which was interesting. Then I went to lunch with my friend Michaela and spent the afternoon doing homework and relaxing. I also started to read the third book in the Red Queen Series and it is super good! My friends and I then decided to head down to go paddling, but I ended up not paddling due to feeling tired and weak from this weekend. So we took the day off and hung out together until small group. After that I went back to my apartment and went to sleep.

Tuesday: Galantine’s Day

I am usually not a big fan of valentine’s day but this year was a lot of fun. For one, I am in Hawaii. Number two, I spent the evening watching Letters to Juliet with some of my friends I have made here. It was great just getting to eat cake and Cheetos and just talk and hang out.

Wednesday: Free Lunch and Homework day!

For some reason, I woke up really sad this morning. I haven’t had that happen before and it just kind of made my day sad. Today like every other Wednesday is my HOMEWORK day! I know, I know, it’s the most exciting day of the week for me J. Like most Wednesday’s, I go to my two classes, do homework, go to free lunch at BCM, do some more homework, go swimming at the pool, grab dinner with my friends and then do some more homework and get a good night’s rest so I can do all of the fun things on the weekend without stressing over having too much homework.

Thursday: Classes

Today was really fun. In my first class, which is Global Change, we finished presenting our projects on renewable energy. My friend Elaine and I did ours on wind energy on the water. Everyone said we did the best which was cool since I don’t like to get up in front of crowds, but I must say I have gotten significantly better at it since I started college. After that class I went to Volcanoes and Earthquakes and we BLEW STUFF UP!! That’s the most fun I have ever had in a class. We took diet coke and Mentos and simulated volcanic eruptions. The first bottle we only did one Mentos and the fountain that came out was a good height. Then I got to help with the second bottle and we put seven Mentos in the bottle and all of the diet coke shot out of the bottle; it was really cool. I had never done that before but this wasn’t even the best part. The next thing we simulated was a Hawaiian eruption and this was sooo explosive. We took a metal barrel and filled it with water and plastic bottles. Then we took one of the plastic water bottles and duct taped it to bricks and filled it with LIQUID NITROGEN caped it and threw it in the barrel. The first go around didn’t work really well, and the bottle came lose and floated to the surface and the bottle exploded and made a huge bang! IT scared the S***t out of everyone and the teachers started cussing it was so funny. The second and third go arounds went a lot smoother. The force from the pressure in the bottle caused the balls and water to fly out of the barrel and into the air. IT WAS SO EXCITING!! After that I had my first class ever in College get canceled. So instead of having to go to class, I went and packed for my weekend trip to the Volcano with BCM. After that Stefanie, Emma and I went to paddling. Stefanie and I were in the double haul with Rosa as our steersmen. It was also Stefanie’s first day sitting in seat two! Which was super fun! We had a blast sitting in the same canoe! We paddled outside of the break wall and then back in. When we got back to campus we grabbed dinner, and then went back to our dorms to go do homework but it kinda took me 2.5 hours to get back to my dorm. After I finished eating I spent another hour in the dining hall standing around talking to friends, and then when I left I ran into some friends and talked to them for about 30 minutes, and then when I was passing Campus center I ran into Alexa, Frankie and Zion and talked to them for another hour… Yea I know, I know I like to talk. It can be a problem at times but I just love to socialize! I can really be a social butterfly at times.

Friday: RETREAT to the Military Base

Today was absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited for this weekend that it was really hard for me to sit still in class; don’t worry though I did go to my classes and paid attention it was just hard. After classes I went to lunch with my friend Michaela and then went back to my room to do a little homework and finish packing. Around 3 I headed to BCM to help get ready for the Retreat! I was soo excited to go!!! I helped pack the vans with all of the food for the weekend with the help of Josh, Jack, Stefanie, and Russell. We then took the food up to the military camp we were staying at on the Volcano. Now guys take note that ….I stayed on an ACTIVE VOLCANO FOR THE WEEKEND!!!! Students from Oahu came to the retreat too. It was so great getting a chance to meet more people and from other islands. Isn’t that incredible! It was amazing! We stayed in the Barracks and had access to all sorts of cool things that are usually just for military people. It was such a neat experience. That night we had dinner, had worship, played some games and made friends. It was also an emotional night. Stefanie and I sat outside looking up at the stars and just talking about life and the last few years. It was a great time and I had a great getting to know her more. She is by far the best friend I have made here and I am so glad I met her and became friends. After we talked we ran into a guy and he asked us if we wanted to go see the lave lake!! By now y’all should all realize that Stefanie and I can’t say no to adventuring and new experiences…it’s just impossible for us to do. So Mark gave us a ride to see the lava lake. We didn’t really get to see it due to the fog coming in, but we did see some of the outlines. This nice guy, Reese, had a super nice camera and was taking pictures of all of us with the stars! Guys isn’t that incredible! The stars in the pictures. We are waiting for the pictures and I can’t wait to see them! The fog started rolling in and we were not able to see 3 feet in front of us so we piled in the car and came back to the camp. It took us extra-long due to the fog but it was sooo worth it. We went straight to our dorm when we got back and one of the girls in BCM opened the door and before letting us in and asked us if we had to sleep in the bunks. We answered no, she smiled and let us in. Felicity, Bella and Anika had built a fort from the sheets and laid out the mattresses on the floor. It was a blast! We stayed up for a while talked and got to know each other. After that we went to bed so we wouldn’t be tired to the busy day tomorrow.

Saturday: Retreat and South Point

We woke up at 7:30 today so we could do all that we had planned. To start the day we had breakfast as a big group, and had the opportunity to get to know some more people. There was 40 of us at the retreat so it was the perfect size to get to know everyone. After breakfast we had another worship and small group session where we talked about trust. It was a very helpful session and made me think a lot about my life and what I want to do and the people I trust. It was eye opening. After that session we had a little bit of free time and we walked around and talked and got ready for out adventures in the afternoon! Around 12 we went back to the Ohia room and ate lunch and left for our adventures around the island. Stefanie and I and some others went on the adventure to the south part of the island. The first place we stopped was the black sand beach. And guess what we saw…SEA TURTLES! I love sea turtles. They are so cute. There were just 4 of them on the sand sunning themselves. After that we head further south to the Punalu’u bake shop, which is the southernmost bakery in the USA! AND GUYS THEY HAVE THE MOST AMAZING DONUTS EVER!!! They are called Malasadas and are a take on a Portuguese dessert! I had a Guava and a traditional one. I can’t wait to go back and take my grandparents!

After going to the bakery we headed further south to the real adventure! After about a 20 minute drive, we made it South point. Which is the southernmost point in the USA and it also makes me the most southern person at USC and in my family! HAHAHA! The most exciting part of the day is that South point is the also a great place to go Cliff Jumping! The cliff is 40 feet high. I was scared but not as much as I thought but I was definelty nervous. I never thought I would go cliff jumping, it’s just not me but when in Hawaii… you know I just had to do. So I jumped in the water and had a ton of fun. I didn’t correctly jump in though and kind bruised and hurt my butt… but its okay I will heal and it was so totally worth it. A once in a life time experience for a couple bruises and cuts. In order to get out you have to climb a ladder but I could not get up the ladder so I swam over to the rocks and a local helped pull me up. That is really hard to do when the waves kept pulling you in and out. It is also the point where I got the cuts I currently have on my legs, but don’t worry Stefanie, the future doctor in the group, bandaged and fixed my legs up!! J Stefanie, Alexa and I all jumped! It was a great day and an experience I am very happy I got to share with those two ladies. We always go on the best adventures together! After jumping we headed back to base camp, cleaned up, ate dinner which was curry, one of my absolute favorite meals here. We also had another worship session about community and the importance to have people around you who are going to support you, be by your side through life and help pull you through life. We spent some time talking about our community in our small groups, and I realized I have a huge and great support system both here and back home. I am so lucky to have all of those people in my life. I don’t know what I would do without any of them. After small groups some of the boys from Oahu were having a ton of fun and were playing with the instruments and singing songs and making some up. It was so much fun to just laughing and sing with a great group of people. After that we all went back to the barracks and got ready to sleep. It was such a long day that as soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

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