Week 17: 4/23-4/29

Sunday: Homework

After going to bed really late last night. I slept until 10:00 am. As soon as I got up I got back to work on my paper. I had to get a first draft done today so that I could work on making my presentation for Thursday. I finished my first draft around 3:00 pm in the afternoon, and then worked on my composting presentation for Thursday, my geology essay and my presentation for coral reefs on Thursday as well. When I was done, I met with Stefanie and had dinner and then went to Kellsie’s aunt’s house so that Alexa, Linda, Kellsie and I could make chicken long rice for our classes luau tomorrow. It was a really interesting process. We had to boil chicken for 45 minutes and then shred it. We cooked the chicken in chicken broth and water and added mushrooms and green onions. Then we made long rice, which is really just white noddles but I lost the battle on that one so we will call it rice and boiled those until they were soft and chewy. Then we mixed it all together and just like magic we had chicken long rice. When we were done, Kellsie brought us back to campus and I went back to work on my essay. (This is possibly one of the hardest week I am going to have while in Hawaii and it may not be the most fun to read about either, sorry guys but I cannot go adventures every day no matter how much I want to!)

Monday: Studying

Today was another day spent in the library after classes but at least I had fun in my Ohana class. Today was our luau. All of the groups got up and talked about the dish we made and we had all sorts of stuff to eat. There was Kalua Pork, sweet potato pudding, haupia, chicken long rice, squid and Ti leave option, salmon and tomatoes, normal sweet potatoes, and tea. It was really fun! After class, I went to Aquaculture and we began our review for the take home final that we will get on Friday. After my classes, I grabbed lunch with Michaela and then headed straight to the library to study. I have my last coral reef ecology exam tomorrow and I have to do well on it or I will not be in good standing for the final. I was in the library until 10:30 and then came back to my room and went to bed.

Tuesday: Studying

I am not going to lie, I didn’t really pay attention in my classes today. In global change, we were talking about Ocean acidification, water quality and doing a wrap up for the semester and then in my geology class we talked about the hazards of Earthquakes. I am doing well in both classes so I spent the time looking over my flashcards for my coral reef ecology exam. After these classes, I went to lunch with Michaela and then went back to studying for my exam. I felt okay about this exam. I had the feeling I was going to do the same as I have on all my other exams but the time will tell; maybe I did better maybe I didn’t we will find out soon. After my exam, I went back to my room to take a nap and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working on my presentations for Thursday and my Homeless debate for tomorrow. I made it bed somewhere around 2:00 am which is pretty good based on how much homework I have been doing this week.

Wednesday: Homework

I started off my day by giving a presentation/debate on Homelessness. Emma and I were partners in the debate and we got to talk about the cons of homelessness in Hawaii. I am really glad we got cons because I could not think of a single thing that is good about homelessness. Alexa and Cherry where on the opposing team and where talking about the pros and how everyone has rights and has rights to the land. They made a very compelling argument, but Emma and I won the debate after talking about the amount of trash and safety issues with allowing homeless to live on beaches such as Waikiki. After the debate, I went to Aquaculture and we talked more about the final and reviewed some more. Then I went to Dr. Beets’ office to talk to him about my presentation and he helped me edit it so it wasn’t too long and to make sure all of my material was correct. He also told me that I was going first tomorrow. FIRST….ahhhh. So stressful but after talking to him I felt better. Then I ran over to free lunch to grab some food and then Zion and I went to the library to work on our projects. Around 6:00 PM I met some of my friends for dinner and we ended up staying in there for 2 hours talking and then left to go work on more on the presentations. This week is almost done; I am so close.

Thursday: Presentations

Today was one long day. It was probably the hardest and longest day I have had all semester. I gave two presentations. One in global change which was on composting. For some reason whenever I give presentations in this class, I always am up there for 20 minutes. Apparently, I am good at giving presentations and great at answering questions. I didn’t know that but after my presentation everyone said it was incredible. It made me feel really good about myself especially since the presentation I have been freaking out about for the last week is later today. During my Volcanoes class, I reviewed and kept looking over my PowerPoint just to calm my nerves and make sure that I knew the material. At the same time, we were talking about tsunami’s and watching a movie about them. When class was over, I grabbed lunch by myself and then went to the classroom to get ready. At this point I was freaking out but Dr. Beets walked in and calmed me down. I started my presentation at 12:31 exactly and finished at 12:36. I hit exactly 5 minutes and he said that my presentation was incredible and that I had done a fantastic job. I was so relieved. I WAS FINISHED! Now for the next two classes I would get to sit back and relax and didn’t have to worry about giving a presentation. The rest of the class I was shaky but that was partially because of the adrenaline that was rushing through my veins. After the class, again several people said I gave a great presentation and was one of the best in the class. I don’t understand it but apparently, I am a good public speaker? It must be all the nerves beforehand and the fact that I love to talk and will talk peoples ears off. I guess that skill has finally paid off! When I was done with class I went back to my room and took a nap and let me tell you it was the best nap in the world. I slept for several hours and then got dinner and went to bed. I got some much-needed sleep after this week.

Friday: HOME FREE - HELL WEEK IS OVER

Today was the best day this week. In ‘Ohana I got to sit and listen to a debate and the Aquaculture we just talked about ourselves. My teacher really wanted to get to know me and my classmates so we told him all about ourselves. After that, I spent the day relaxing. I went to the pool. Then hung out with Stefanie! It was a lot of fun! Today was a much-needed relaxing day. Then I went to dinner at the end of the semester dinner for NSE. We had panda express and had a chance to talk about our experience and our favorite parts of the semester. It was a great way to catch up with those who I didn’t see a lot and to see what everyone thought of the island and learn about their favorite things. When the night was over, I caught up on all of my shows and went to bed early so I could have a great day at place of refuge tomorrow.

Saturday: Place of Refuge

My day start bright and early! I woke up at 7:00 am and was at the student life center at 7:45 am so we could head towards place of refuge. We had to leave right on time if we wanted to get a chance to snorkel; it takes three hours to get there making it one of the furthest spots from campus. Stefanie, Julia, Emily, and Meyers were the only people I knew going on this trip. Most of my friends went on the trip in February, but Stefanie and I were on the BCM trip to the volcano and south point. We took the southern route around the island to get to place of refuge and just like every time I have gone on this route, we stopped at Punaluʻu Bake Shop. I got a couple gifts and malasadas. I had a vanilla filled and a guava malasada. Those are my favorite ones. When everyone was done, we got back in the vans and drove the last hour to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, also known as place of refuge. We parked the cars and went to the information center where they talked about the park and its significance. Back in ancient Hawaiian times, when someone broke a kapu, law, and the only punishment was death, the person only had one chance to survive which was to elude your attackers and make it to the boundaries of Puʻuhonu. This was also a place where defeated warriors and civilians could go and escape and seek shelter during times of war. No one was allowed to leave the place until the priest gave you the clearance to leave. When he did, the kapu breaker would be allowed to return home forgiven of his crime. Today a replica of the kiʻi surrounding the Hale o Keawe temple can be found. This site is still considered to be sacred and still holds the bones of the past chiefs. This site became a national park in July of 1955. When we were done looking around and taking pictures, we grabbed our snorkeling stuff from the vans and headed towards the other parking area which has a path to a great snorkeling spot called 2 step. This is the best place on the island to snorkel. On the way over to the spot Stefaine found two mangos on the ground and picked them up so we could have them as a snack. We put our stuff down, put on sunscreen and then grabbed our snorkel gear and went for a swim. In order to get into the water you have to go down these two lava rock steps, hence the name, that way you do not harm the algae and organisms that live in the tide pools. Depending on the tide and the water level determines how hard or easy it is to get in the water. Luckily for us, it was a nice day and high tide so the water would splash and carry you up the steps. It is important that you put all of the gear on while you are sitting on the step and then slide your way into the water while at the same time watching your butt. If you sat down in a weird way you could get struck by the sea urchins that were imbeded in the rocks. Once we were all ready we dove in and were amazed! This reef was like an underwater city. There were fish everywhere. There were yellow fish, blue fish, what I presumed mus be red fish but who knows since they were so deep in the water. There was coral everywhere. There were huge sea urchins and we even saw an honu!! It was so cool! We were swimming down deep, doing flips, pointing out cool things we saw and just having a good time. We all decided to take a break and get out of the water. Stefanie and I ate the delicious mangos, they were probably the BEST MANGOS I HAVE EVER HAD! It was so juicy and sweet. When I was done eating I borrowed stefanies fins and went back in with another girl named Alexa and Miles. After about 20 minutes I got cold and needed to go put on more sunscreen so I got out of the water and went to talk to everyone. We took a 30 minute break and then we all went back in the water so we could get pictures with Meyer’s Go Pro. We were just having so much fun! It was a blast! We were in the water until 1:30 when we were told by the staff it was time to go so we dried off and got back in the vans to drive back to campus. We got back around 4:30 which gave me time to shower and then meet Stefanie and Julia for dinner. We talked for a little while but I was so exhausted that I went back to my room and watched NCIS and NCIS LA and went to sleep. I had to be up early again for tomorrows adventure.

#PlaceofRefuge #PuuhonuaoHonaunauNationalHistorticalPark #Luau