After five weeks of two hour practices, four times a week, we finally had our dance performance today! And it was SO MUCH FUN!
First came the costumes. We spent four hours yesterday making beautiful braided belts made of leaves. We took long strips of dried Pandanus leaves (which are very solid and used to make roofs) and braided a bit of these, then began to incorporate strips of Outi. Leaves were incorporated every stitch, so we ended up with a very dense belt of bright green leaves pointing out in every direction. Next we tied beautiful yellow and white flowers onto headbands, about a third of the way around, and we were done! Somehow this took four hours.
After the costume making, some of us went to Maria's last volleyball game, which was a lot of fun: the local kids decided to imitate our loud cheering, which was hilarious, and Maria's team won every game! Interesting also that we saw a few of what we refer to as "she-men." Apparently it is a Tahitian custom for families to occasionally raise boys as girls, although I am not sure why. These men dress like women and are very accepted by everyone. Anyway, back from the volleyball game, the guys decided to get accustomed to their costumes, which consisted of leaves tied onto a belt...and nothing more besides little leaf cuffs on arms, legs, and head. Once we got over the initial giggling of seeing the appropriately termed "side butt" (gaps are left in the skirt on both sides to allow crouching), they did their dance. It looked great besides the fact that we occasionally saw of these guys than we ever wanted to. While the guys were dancing, all the girls wet their hair and braided it as instructed, so that everyone would have wavy hair in the morning. I was specifically told NOT to do anything...
This morning we awoke at 6:30 and met with Hiriate and Iriate, our two dance teachers (with confusingly similar names), to get dressed. Girls were given two brown or red pareos depending on standing position These we tied around our hips as skirts, and tied another, smaller one as a top. We then added the leaf belt we had made the day before, our flower headbands, and a flower lei, and we were good to go! To their dismay, the guys were told that they had to wear underwear underneath their leaves to avoid flashing the president, so all that practice the night before had been in vain.
We all walked over to the Atitia center, leaves rustling. We really lucked out: it's been raining the last few days, but today the sun was shining and there was virtually no wind (but oh so hot). We lined up and sang a round of the Atitia song, then made our way up to the amphitheater where we were to perform. The show was great: the guys opened with the Haka, a traditional Maori dance designed to scare the enemy, as we well as some Marquesian dancing. Then we did our three dances. The first was the Otea, a fast-moving, hip-shaking dance with occasional screams of 'ia orana, Maeva, and Kura Ora ("welcome" in three different Polynesian languages). Next we did an Aparima, a slower-moving dance in which we also sang the Atitia song, which was written specifically for the event. We ended the show with another Otea, fast-moving and featuring Sam the drummer's prouesse, and then we were done! The whole performance was so much fun -- Tahitian dancers are always supposed to smile widely, and I was worried it'd be forced, but it ended up being so much fun that I didn't even have to think about it. After our performance, we were congratulated by Polynesians and American millionaires (who came to see the station and consider donating) alike, and then we all shared a huge Polynesian feast, or Ma'a tahiti, consisting of traditional starches, roast pig, poisson cru, and much more. The president, Oscar Temaru, then made an appearance, and the guys danced a special Haka just for him.
It was really such a great experience: the teachers were so proud of us, and everyone was so impressed with our dancing...and of course we all had so much fun doing it! Hopefully we'll be receiving a DVD of the performance soon...
And now to figure out what to do with all of our extra time! Work perhaps?
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A memorable birthday.
It's been quite a while since I updated...things have been getting pretty busy over here. I was contemplating changing projects for a while after talking to a marine specialist appropriately named Seabird -- I wanted to study the effects on coral biodiversity of the ongoing outbreak of Acanthaster planci, huge coral-eating starfish. Unfortuately, even though the GSI's loved my idea, the professors like my original topic too much and won't let me change...so back to comparing Great Barrier Reef and Moorea coral biodiversity instead.
So the last couple of weeks have basically been spent doing work, with a few minor adventures here and there (kayaks to snack stands, swims, snorkels, etc.). One thing I've really been appreciating is how friendly the Polynesians are. One guy named Ariitea has made it his goal to entertain us, and drives half way around the island to pick a few of us up and take us back to his amazing house with a pool table, beautiful island art, and a gorgeous view of Tahiti. Pablo, who has been teaching the guys some Marquesan dancing, is so delighted to have new friends that he has devoted every Sunday to us. Last Sunday he invited eight of us over to his friend's pension (family run hotel) right next to Temae public beach. This place had a salt water pool (so we the choice between the "big pool," the ocean, or the little pool) and paddle tennis courts, so we spent the afternoon hanging out there and having a barbecue on our own private little beach. The owner's story was typical of many people's here: he was moving back to France from Vietnam as a child, had a stopover in Tahiti, and never left.
In other funny random news, one of my classmates, Stosh, is working on a project studying clams, which happen to be a delicacy here (and highly illegal to eat, as they are protected). He set up an experiment in which he spent hours collecting clams and repositioning them by a public beach to see how they their predation rate changed, and returned a few days later to find that predation had indeed increased...not by fish, but by people! Someone had eaten his project. And this is where you realize how small Moorea is: turns out Irma knows the person who ate the clams, as they bragged to her about all the clams they got, and Irma yelled at them in defense of poor Stosh.
Besides that, dance practice has been getting very intense, considering we have only a few days before the big performance, which is this Saturday. The dance teachers want it all to be perfect, as we are the first international group of students to ever perform Tahitian dancing in a cultural event like this one, so it had better be good! Apparently they are all really proud of us.
Last weekend was the big weekend of birthdays. It's funny, only three of us will have had birthdays here, and they were all clustered together: Oct 17, 25, and 26. For Vanessa's birthday on the 17th, we had a big party in the Fare Pote'e outside with music and dancing. Some people decided to dance on the table, and we actually managed to break one of the tables (it was old), which was pretty funny. We were all afraid that Irma would kill us, but she thankfully never did.
This past Friday night, a few of us went over to Ariitea's, then Saturday night we had another evening outside in the Fare Pote'e. One thing that's nice out here is the weather never cools down too much in the evening, so you can be outside without a sweater...in fact I haven't worn a sweater or long pants since we got here. Sunday, which was Danielle's 21st birthday, the cooking group made us a cake for the both of us with "21" written in chocolate on it. Once the clock hit 9 pm, midnight in California, the "Happy birthday's" began (which, when you live in a house of 22 people, is quite often).
My actual birthday was probably my most memorable yet. It's funny how on their 21st birthdays, most people go out to a bar, use their ID for the first time, and buy themselves a drink (and some then drink way too much and get very sick). While I wasn't expecting that to happen here in quiet little Moorea, I wasn't quite expecting what actually DID happen.
I went out with Al that day to do some field work in Ma'atea, on the southern side of the island. We were snorkeling right off the private property of Jimmy B., a funny little old American who moved to Moorea about 40 years ago and is now caretaker for a very wealthy family's vacation home. It was pretty windy out, but we decided it would be fine, and set out pushing our kayak through the waves. As we got to deeper waters, I clambered into the kayak, but as Al got in after me, the whole thing toppled over. All our stuff (pencils, measuring tapes, clipboards, cameras, etc.) went floating away, and we managed to grab everything...except for Al's hundred dollar fins, which were swept away by the current within minutes. Discouraged, we nevertheless decided to continue on. We paddled on for about 15 minutes to the barrier reef, crossing a deep channel on the way. Once arrived, we tied our boat to a pole, and took turns doing our field work as we only had one pair of fins. Meanwhile the waves were crashing nearby and the strong current kept tugging at the kayak. Al actually managed to break one of my fins, but we were able to fix it. The reef out there was probably the best I've seen. I went snorkeling around for an hour, and everything was so vibrant and diverse: large purple Montipora species, big bulky Porites, delicately branched Acropora, and tons of intricate little encrusting corals everywhere. There were so many fish out there, including swarms of blue fish that pulsated around corals in clouds. I saw a beautiful red octopus out there, and got freaked out by a 2m long black-tipped reef shark that came out of nowhere, which are harmless but definitely have that stereotypical scary-looking shark shape. When I got back to the kayak, Al made a reassuring comment, "I think our boat is sinking!" Sure enough, there was definitely a few inches of water in the ancient kayak that hadn't been there before. She quickly finished her field work, and then we began our journey back to shore.
By then the rain had started to fall and the wind had gotten a lot stronger: we were in a little, old, sinking kayak about 20 minutes from shore, with waves running perpendicular to shore and the sky darkening by the minute. We managed to move forward for about 2 minutes, then suddenly a wave pushed us over. The problem was not only that the current was hitting the boat from the side, but also that the kayak had filled with water internally, and thus had no balance at all. By reflex we grabbed the oars and our data sheets first, then were able to collect everything else. Thankfully there were large coral heads around, so we were able to climb back into the kayak by standing on it. This time we only paddled on one side of the boat, but the current was so strong that we still weren't really moving forward. This time we managed to stay onboard for about 5 minutes, and then we were pushed over again. We lost all of the measuring tapes we had brought as well as Al's water bottle, but once again managed to save the oars and the data sheets. We realized that there was no way to paddle back to shore, especially since there were no more corals to stand on to climb back in, and that we had to swim it back in. Not an easy feat considering only I had fins, and that we were lugging an overturned, water-filled kayak as well as oars and clipboards with our valuable data. It took us at least 15 minutes of swimming hard against the current to get back to shallow waters. We swam over a deep channel where we could no longer see the bottom, and although I was delighted to see a spotted eagle ray, Al saw a few hammerhead sharks below us, which are known to be aggressive towards humans. We finally made it back to shore, where Jimmy welcomed us and told us he'd called our GSI when he could no longer see us as he was worried about the storm. We took showers in an awesome little outdoor shower hut, and then Jimmy made us hot chocolate and provided us with toast and peanut butter while telling us tales of Moorea, shipfaring, and drowning. Anyway, all is well that ends well, and all I have to remember the adventure by is some coral scrapes, a large bruise, and a good story to tell.
When we got back to the dorms, we ran to dance practice and then had the most delicious dinner yet: at my request, the cooking group made Greek food, including hummus, Greek salad, pita from scratch, stuffed eggplant, and Spanakopita. I was given a glass of wine with my dinner, and then the cooking group brought in an amazing cake and everyone sang. I spent the rest if the evening exhausted and just hanging out in the living room, with no energy left to celebrate. The day had ended up being exciting in a very different way than I had anticipated, and definitely a memorable one.
So the last couple of weeks have basically been spent doing work, with a few minor adventures here and there (kayaks to snack stands, swims, snorkels, etc.). One thing I've really been appreciating is how friendly the Polynesians are. One guy named Ariitea has made it his goal to entertain us, and drives half way around the island to pick a few of us up and take us back to his amazing house with a pool table, beautiful island art, and a gorgeous view of Tahiti. Pablo, who has been teaching the guys some Marquesan dancing, is so delighted to have new friends that he has devoted every Sunday to us. Last Sunday he invited eight of us over to his friend's pension (family run hotel) right next to Temae public beach. This place had a salt water pool (so we the choice between the "big pool," the ocean, or the little pool) and paddle tennis courts, so we spent the afternoon hanging out there and having a barbecue on our own private little beach. The owner's story was typical of many people's here: he was moving back to France from Vietnam as a child, had a stopover in Tahiti, and never left.
In other funny random news, one of my classmates, Stosh, is working on a project studying clams, which happen to be a delicacy here (and highly illegal to eat, as they are protected). He set up an experiment in which he spent hours collecting clams and repositioning them by a public beach to see how they their predation rate changed, and returned a few days later to find that predation had indeed increased...not by fish, but by people! Someone had eaten his project. And this is where you realize how small Moorea is: turns out Irma knows the person who ate the clams, as they bragged to her about all the clams they got, and Irma yelled at them in defense of poor Stosh.
Besides that, dance practice has been getting very intense, considering we have only a few days before the big performance, which is this Saturday. The dance teachers want it all to be perfect, as we are the first international group of students to ever perform Tahitian dancing in a cultural event like this one, so it had better be good! Apparently they are all really proud of us.
Last weekend was the big weekend of birthdays. It's funny, only three of us will have had birthdays here, and they were all clustered together: Oct 17, 25, and 26. For Vanessa's birthday on the 17th, we had a big party in the Fare Pote'e outside with music and dancing. Some people decided to dance on the table, and we actually managed to break one of the tables (it was old), which was pretty funny. We were all afraid that Irma would kill us, but she thankfully never did.
This past Friday night, a few of us went over to Ariitea's, then Saturday night we had another evening outside in the Fare Pote'e. One thing that's nice out here is the weather never cools down too much in the evening, so you can be outside without a sweater...in fact I haven't worn a sweater or long pants since we got here. Sunday, which was Danielle's 21st birthday, the cooking group made us a cake for the both of us with "21" written in chocolate on it. Once the clock hit 9 pm, midnight in California, the "Happy birthday's" began (which, when you live in a house of 22 people, is quite often).
My actual birthday was probably my most memorable yet. It's funny how on their 21st birthdays, most people go out to a bar, use their ID for the first time, and buy themselves a drink (and some then drink way too much and get very sick). While I wasn't expecting that to happen here in quiet little Moorea, I wasn't quite expecting what actually DID happen.
I went out with Al that day to do some field work in Ma'atea, on the southern side of the island. We were snorkeling right off the private property of Jimmy B., a funny little old American who moved to Moorea about 40 years ago and is now caretaker for a very wealthy family's vacation home. It was pretty windy out, but we decided it would be fine, and set out pushing our kayak through the waves. As we got to deeper waters, I clambered into the kayak, but as Al got in after me, the whole thing toppled over. All our stuff (pencils, measuring tapes, clipboards, cameras, etc.) went floating away, and we managed to grab everything...except for Al's hundred dollar fins, which were swept away by the current within minutes. Discouraged, we nevertheless decided to continue on. We paddled on for about 15 minutes to the barrier reef, crossing a deep channel on the way. Once arrived, we tied our boat to a pole, and took turns doing our field work as we only had one pair of fins. Meanwhile the waves were crashing nearby and the strong current kept tugging at the kayak. Al actually managed to break one of my fins, but we were able to fix it. The reef out there was probably the best I've seen. I went snorkeling around for an hour, and everything was so vibrant and diverse: large purple Montipora species, big bulky Porites, delicately branched Acropora, and tons of intricate little encrusting corals everywhere. There were so many fish out there, including swarms of blue fish that pulsated around corals in clouds. I saw a beautiful red octopus out there, and got freaked out by a 2m long black-tipped reef shark that came out of nowhere, which are harmless but definitely have that stereotypical scary-looking shark shape. When I got back to the kayak, Al made a reassuring comment, "I think our boat is sinking!" Sure enough, there was definitely a few inches of water in the ancient kayak that hadn't been there before. She quickly finished her field work, and then we began our journey back to shore.
By then the rain had started to fall and the wind had gotten a lot stronger: we were in a little, old, sinking kayak about 20 minutes from shore, with waves running perpendicular to shore and the sky darkening by the minute. We managed to move forward for about 2 minutes, then suddenly a wave pushed us over. The problem was not only that the current was hitting the boat from the side, but also that the kayak had filled with water internally, and thus had no balance at all. By reflex we grabbed the oars and our data sheets first, then were able to collect everything else. Thankfully there were large coral heads around, so we were able to climb back into the kayak by standing on it. This time we only paddled on one side of the boat, but the current was so strong that we still weren't really moving forward. This time we managed to stay onboard for about 5 minutes, and then we were pushed over again. We lost all of the measuring tapes we had brought as well as Al's water bottle, but once again managed to save the oars and the data sheets. We realized that there was no way to paddle back to shore, especially since there were no more corals to stand on to climb back in, and that we had to swim it back in. Not an easy feat considering only I had fins, and that we were lugging an overturned, water-filled kayak as well as oars and clipboards with our valuable data. It took us at least 15 minutes of swimming hard against the current to get back to shallow waters. We swam over a deep channel where we could no longer see the bottom, and although I was delighted to see a spotted eagle ray, Al saw a few hammerhead sharks below us, which are known to be aggressive towards humans. We finally made it back to shore, where Jimmy welcomed us and told us he'd called our GSI when he could no longer see us as he was worried about the storm. We took showers in an awesome little outdoor shower hut, and then Jimmy made us hot chocolate and provided us with toast and peanut butter while telling us tales of Moorea, shipfaring, and drowning. Anyway, all is well that ends well, and all I have to remember the adventure by is some coral scrapes, a large bruise, and a good story to tell.
When we got back to the dorms, we ran to dance practice and then had the most delicious dinner yet: at my request, the cooking group made Greek food, including hummus, Greek salad, pita from scratch, stuffed eggplant, and Spanakopita. I was given a glass of wine with my dinner, and then the cooking group brought in an amazing cake and everyone sang. I spent the rest if the evening exhausted and just hanging out in the living room, with no energy left to celebrate. The day had ended up being exciting in a very different way than I had anticipated, and definitely a memorable one.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I now have snorkel mask tan lines (and worse booty tan lines).
The last few days have been absolutely amazing. WARNING: this will probably be a very long blog entry.
Friday evening we decided to all finally go out. My friend Danielle had met a Polynesian guy a few weeks earlier, so he came to pick about six of us up to take us to the Miki Miki, the club where all the locals go. We stopped by his house on the way, which was gorgeous. It was actually his dad's house (his dad used to work for the bank here), up on a hill with a great view of Tahiti. The living room had an ocean theme, with blue lighting, a Va'a (Polynesian row boat) hanging on the ceiling, sea shells, and beautiful island artwork everywhere. I saw this big, elaborately carved wooden "pole" on the wall, so I asked the dad what it was; turns out it's a "casse-tete" in the literal sense of the term (head-breaker), a pole that was once used in the Marquesas for human sacrifices. So we had a nice time hanging out there for a bit, then headed over to the Miki Miki, where we met up with the rest of our class. It was fun, they were playing music from Grease followed by Tahitian music, and everyone was dancing, which was great. After that we stopped by a huge parking lot where a whole bunch of people were hanging out and listening to music, and then got a ride home. (for anyone who is worried about my safety, we ALWAYS travel in groups...and this island is extremely safe)
Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and pretty much jumped right into a jeep headed to the public beach, where I was to go check out the corals. As I was snorkeling around, I saw two huge day octopuses: one of them was hiding inside a coral head, and the other was actually undulating across a coral head right beneath me. Octopuses are really the masters of disguise: this octopus would come out and move around a bit (from one end of his arm to the other, it was probably about 1 m diameter), then suddenly change its color and texture to look exactly like the coral, then change again and move further, etc. When I got out of the water an hour and half later, I found three more people from the class had come by bike to the beach. Maria's volleyball team was having a barbecue there, so we all wandered over (even though Maria was technically the only one invited), and of course the friendly Polynesians offered us food. Once again, this was a really great experience because we got to spend time with the locals and join them in their everyday activities.
In the evening we were invited over to the CRIOBE station (the French research station nearby) for a barbecue of Mahi Mahi, breadfruit, and vegetable kebabs. It was great to meet all these French scientists and just hang out with them, talking about science and (mostly) other random things...and getting my Swiss accent made fun of as usual.
Sunday was another great day. In the morning, a couple of us got to go out rowing with some toursists (elderly Americans). Frank, one of the heads of Gump Station, also runs a tourism business, and as one of the activities he offers is rowing, we got to fill in the empty spots in the boats. It was funny that the tourists were questioning us about the island, but I guess we have been here for a month, and we were surprisingly knowledgeable about everything they asked about. Next I went out by boat with a few others to explore the barrier reef just outside of Cook's Bay, where I will be conducting some parts of my project. Within two minutes of jumping into the water, I was lucky enough to see a large sea turtle just hanging out on the sea floor (and I got a great picture!). After spending a few hours out on the water, some of which was spent waiting for my friend to hack out giant clams from coral heads, we came back to land and I showered. Five minutes later I decided to join in on a kayak mission across the bay to check out an abandoned hotel (that Gump Station will probably buy in the near future and expand into). It was so much fun, we took out two two-person kayaks and stealthily made our way across, where we tied up our boats and explored the hotel (there really wasn't too much to see, except for some cool-looking tikis). By the time we were making it back across, the sun had set and we were rowing at starlight, which was so beautiful and peaceful.
Monday I actually spent most of the day working on identifying corals based on pictures I had taken and guides. It's surprisinlgy difficult: corals have a tendency to look very similar, and there's also the problem that they tend to be extremely variable, and can thus look very different from one area to the next, even if it's the same species. Anyway, at about 2 pm we found out that we would be going to Tetiaroa the next day, an island about two hours away, where we would spend the night. As this island is basically uninhabited, we had a mad rush of going out to buy food for the next two days and dozens of cases of water for the entire class.
And then the adventure began.
We all got up at 5:30 am and were amazingly ready to go on the dock by 6:30 am (actually on time for once). We divided the 22 students, 3 GSI's (graduate student instructors), and 2 Biocode scientists among three boats, and off we were! The next two hours were basically like being on a two hour long roller coaster. The boat I was on was just a simple fisherman's boat (which we later found out is not supposed to hold passengers), and we all held on for dear life as we bounced across giant waves all the way to Tetiaroa, getting soaked in the process (at some point I was even considering putting a snorkel mask on). A few times along the way, our driver whipped out a harpoon and went chasing after Mahi Mahi, but unfortunately never caught any. Anyway, we survived and when we got to Tetiaroa, we were greeted by four humpback whales (two mother and two calves). It was amazing, the whales came up to within 30-40 feet of the boat, and we could even see the white of their underbellies through the clear water. The whales were even kind enough to jump out and do some acrobatics for us.
So now a little bit more about WHY we were on Tetiaroa. Tetiaroa is an "atoll" (in quotation marks because geologically, it is not technically an atoll, but just an island sunken down by the weight of Tahiti and Moorea) that belongs to Marlon Brando's family. It is basically a bunch of motus (little sand islands covered in palms and other plants) in a ring around a shallow lagoon of crystal clear water. They are currently in the process of building an "eco-lodge" on the Onetahi motu, a supposedly environmentally friendly resort that will be the most posh resort in French Polynesia, with bungalows going for $2000 a night. The hotel has a partnership with the Gump Station, as they will work together to study the ecological impact of the hotel. The hotel owners will also build a satellite research station to the Gump Station on Tetiaroa, so scientists will be able to do work there and entertain guests at the same time. The construction is thus in progress, and should (maybe) be done in 2012.
Anyway, we were invited to come check out the island thanks to this partnership, but also to collect some bug and plant specimens for the Biocode lab, as well as take pictures of all marine life (Biocode is a project the Gump Station is involved in, in which they are working on coding out the DNA for all species on Moorea). So we arrived to the construction site for the wharf they're working on, which is currently a platform of concrete jutting out in the middle of pristine turquoise waters ("eco-lodge"?). Two very enthusiastic construction workers rode their little launch over to pick us off our larger boats and take us to land, refusing to take anyone but the girls first, much to the guys' distress. Once we had all arrived on land, girls AND guys, it was announced that we would all be climbing into the back of a huge dump truck to take us to the hotel construction grounds. And we did just that: we literally scaled a huge truck, all stood in the part that normally holds concrete and such, and drove all the way to the motu, crossing ocean and coral heads along the way (and following a path made of sticks and coconuts). That was definitely a very unique method of travel...probably won't be riding in a dump truck again anytime soon. When we finally arrived at our site, we dropped our stuff on the beach and jumped into the beautiful water. It was so nice and warm and clear...and full of squishy sea cucumbers -- hundreds of them surrounded us, and of course we couldn't resist picking them up and watching them eject their internal water in super-soaker style (anyone ever have a sea cucumber water fight?). After claiming our accomodation for the night, grey trailors on the beach with rock hard mattresses reminiscent of a prison cell, we had lunch. The hotel is nowhere near done, so we basically got to stay on a construction site with amazing scenery (I'm not complaining at all). And I should probably mention that we had no running water and no bathrooms.
We then set out on an adventure, snorkeling through blue waters from motu to motu and walking on beautiful white beaches in between. The most amazing part of it all was that no one was there: the only official resident of Tetiaroa is Marlon Brando's son, who was invited to dinner but too shy to come (he grew up on an uninhabited island, so I imagine his social skills are a bit undeveloped). We were thus walking on sands and through waters that very few people have walked on before, considering this "eco-lodge" is the first hotel to be built on the island. After a day of exploring, relaxing, and playing with the hundreds of hermit crabs out there, we had dinner (we cooked in the workers' kitchen), hung out a bit, and went to bed. Besides the rock hard mattresses and lack of pillow, the night went rather smoothly.
Next morning we got up, had breakfast on the beach, and set out to do some SCIENCE! I joined the marine "photosafari" group: our goal was to go to a variety of sediment types and photograph every living thing was saw there to add to the Biocode library. We set out for a walk to find a good spot, but due to really intense waves, we weren't able to find a safe place to snorkel. So we walked back to our camp site and just ended up snorkeling there instead, getting a few not-so-exciting photos mostly of sea snails. And then it was already time to head home. We all piled into the dump truck once again and got out to the wharf construction site where the little boat was waiting to take us out to the Gump Station boats. This time, though, the waves were really intense and the tide was a lot higher than the day before, and we had to go out in threes, waiting for the opportune moment to get past the reef crest without getting smashed by the waves -- definitely kind of terriying. Back in our boats, I was imagining the worst considering the waves we had just seen, but the ride back ended up being much, much smoother than on the way there, and I never once feared for my life. We again had a few unsuccessful harpooning expeditions, although when we got back to the Gump Station, our driver was nice enough to give us a huge Mahi Mahi he had caught earlier that day.
Back at home, it was so nice to take a shower and rid myself of two days' worth of sunscreen, bug spray, dirt, and sand. We picked up some pizzas at the local Allo Pizza and had a nice dinner. I also finally got to look in the mirror and see the perfect outline of my snorkel mask I have printed on my face due to how tanned I got in the last couple days (I definitely got a few shades darker in Tetiaroa)...hopefully this tan will even out soon and I will not go on looking like a racoon for long. Oh, and my booty tans got a whole lot darker too.
Friday evening we decided to all finally go out. My friend Danielle had met a Polynesian guy a few weeks earlier, so he came to pick about six of us up to take us to the Miki Miki, the club where all the locals go. We stopped by his house on the way, which was gorgeous. It was actually his dad's house (his dad used to work for the bank here), up on a hill with a great view of Tahiti. The living room had an ocean theme, with blue lighting, a Va'a (Polynesian row boat) hanging on the ceiling, sea shells, and beautiful island artwork everywhere. I saw this big, elaborately carved wooden "pole" on the wall, so I asked the dad what it was; turns out it's a "casse-tete" in the literal sense of the term (head-breaker), a pole that was once used in the Marquesas for human sacrifices. So we had a nice time hanging out there for a bit, then headed over to the Miki Miki, where we met up with the rest of our class. It was fun, they were playing music from Grease followed by Tahitian music, and everyone was dancing, which was great. After that we stopped by a huge parking lot where a whole bunch of people were hanging out and listening to music, and then got a ride home. (for anyone who is worried about my safety, we ALWAYS travel in groups...and this island is extremely safe)
Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and pretty much jumped right into a jeep headed to the public beach, where I was to go check out the corals. As I was snorkeling around, I saw two huge day octopuses: one of them was hiding inside a coral head, and the other was actually undulating across a coral head right beneath me. Octopuses are really the masters of disguise: this octopus would come out and move around a bit (from one end of his arm to the other, it was probably about 1 m diameter), then suddenly change its color and texture to look exactly like the coral, then change again and move further, etc. When I got out of the water an hour and half later, I found three more people from the class had come by bike to the beach. Maria's volleyball team was having a barbecue there, so we all wandered over (even though Maria was technically the only one invited), and of course the friendly Polynesians offered us food. Once again, this was a really great experience because we got to spend time with the locals and join them in their everyday activities.
In the evening we were invited over to the CRIOBE station (the French research station nearby) for a barbecue of Mahi Mahi, breadfruit, and vegetable kebabs. It was great to meet all these French scientists and just hang out with them, talking about science and (mostly) other random things...and getting my Swiss accent made fun of as usual.
Sunday was another great day. In the morning, a couple of us got to go out rowing with some toursists (elderly Americans). Frank, one of the heads of Gump Station, also runs a tourism business, and as one of the activities he offers is rowing, we got to fill in the empty spots in the boats. It was funny that the tourists were questioning us about the island, but I guess we have been here for a month, and we were surprisingly knowledgeable about everything they asked about. Next I went out by boat with a few others to explore the barrier reef just outside of Cook's Bay, where I will be conducting some parts of my project. Within two minutes of jumping into the water, I was lucky enough to see a large sea turtle just hanging out on the sea floor (and I got a great picture!). After spending a few hours out on the water, some of which was spent waiting for my friend to hack out giant clams from coral heads, we came back to land and I showered. Five minutes later I decided to join in on a kayak mission across the bay to check out an abandoned hotel (that Gump Station will probably buy in the near future and expand into). It was so much fun, we took out two two-person kayaks and stealthily made our way across, where we tied up our boats and explored the hotel (there really wasn't too much to see, except for some cool-looking tikis). By the time we were making it back across, the sun had set and we were rowing at starlight, which was so beautiful and peaceful.
Monday I actually spent most of the day working on identifying corals based on pictures I had taken and guides. It's surprisinlgy difficult: corals have a tendency to look very similar, and there's also the problem that they tend to be extremely variable, and can thus look very different from one area to the next, even if it's the same species. Anyway, at about 2 pm we found out that we would be going to Tetiaroa the next day, an island about two hours away, where we would spend the night. As this island is basically uninhabited, we had a mad rush of going out to buy food for the next two days and dozens of cases of water for the entire class.
And then the adventure began.
We all got up at 5:30 am and were amazingly ready to go on the dock by 6:30 am (actually on time for once). We divided the 22 students, 3 GSI's (graduate student instructors), and 2 Biocode scientists among three boats, and off we were! The next two hours were basically like being on a two hour long roller coaster. The boat I was on was just a simple fisherman's boat (which we later found out is not supposed to hold passengers), and we all held on for dear life as we bounced across giant waves all the way to Tetiaroa, getting soaked in the process (at some point I was even considering putting a snorkel mask on). A few times along the way, our driver whipped out a harpoon and went chasing after Mahi Mahi, but unfortunately never caught any. Anyway, we survived and when we got to Tetiaroa, we were greeted by four humpback whales (two mother and two calves). It was amazing, the whales came up to within 30-40 feet of the boat, and we could even see the white of their underbellies through the clear water. The whales were even kind enough to jump out and do some acrobatics for us.
So now a little bit more about WHY we were on Tetiaroa. Tetiaroa is an "atoll" (in quotation marks because geologically, it is not technically an atoll, but just an island sunken down by the weight of Tahiti and Moorea) that belongs to Marlon Brando's family. It is basically a bunch of motus (little sand islands covered in palms and other plants) in a ring around a shallow lagoon of crystal clear water. They are currently in the process of building an "eco-lodge" on the Onetahi motu, a supposedly environmentally friendly resort that will be the most posh resort in French Polynesia, with bungalows going for $2000 a night. The hotel has a partnership with the Gump Station, as they will work together to study the ecological impact of the hotel. The hotel owners will also build a satellite research station to the Gump Station on Tetiaroa, so scientists will be able to do work there and entertain guests at the same time. The construction is thus in progress, and should (maybe) be done in 2012.
Anyway, we were invited to come check out the island thanks to this partnership, but also to collect some bug and plant specimens for the Biocode lab, as well as take pictures of all marine life (Biocode is a project the Gump Station is involved in, in which they are working on coding out the DNA for all species on Moorea). So we arrived to the construction site for the wharf they're working on, which is currently a platform of concrete jutting out in the middle of pristine turquoise waters ("eco-lodge"?). Two very enthusiastic construction workers rode their little launch over to pick us off our larger boats and take us to land, refusing to take anyone but the girls first, much to the guys' distress. Once we had all arrived on land, girls AND guys, it was announced that we would all be climbing into the back of a huge dump truck to take us to the hotel construction grounds. And we did just that: we literally scaled a huge truck, all stood in the part that normally holds concrete and such, and drove all the way to the motu, crossing ocean and coral heads along the way (and following a path made of sticks and coconuts). That was definitely a very unique method of travel...probably won't be riding in a dump truck again anytime soon. When we finally arrived at our site, we dropped our stuff on the beach and jumped into the beautiful water. It was so nice and warm and clear...and full of squishy sea cucumbers -- hundreds of them surrounded us, and of course we couldn't resist picking them up and watching them eject their internal water in super-soaker style (anyone ever have a sea cucumber water fight?). After claiming our accomodation for the night, grey trailors on the beach with rock hard mattresses reminiscent of a prison cell, we had lunch. The hotel is nowhere near done, so we basically got to stay on a construction site with amazing scenery (I'm not complaining at all). And I should probably mention that we had no running water and no bathrooms.
We then set out on an adventure, snorkeling through blue waters from motu to motu and walking on beautiful white beaches in between. The most amazing part of it all was that no one was there: the only official resident of Tetiaroa is Marlon Brando's son, who was invited to dinner but too shy to come (he grew up on an uninhabited island, so I imagine his social skills are a bit undeveloped). We were thus walking on sands and through waters that very few people have walked on before, considering this "eco-lodge" is the first hotel to be built on the island. After a day of exploring, relaxing, and playing with the hundreds of hermit crabs out there, we had dinner (we cooked in the workers' kitchen), hung out a bit, and went to bed. Besides the rock hard mattresses and lack of pillow, the night went rather smoothly.
Next morning we got up, had breakfast on the beach, and set out to do some SCIENCE! I joined the marine "photosafari" group: our goal was to go to a variety of sediment types and photograph every living thing was saw there to add to the Biocode library. We set out for a walk to find a good spot, but due to really intense waves, we weren't able to find a safe place to snorkel. So we walked back to our camp site and just ended up snorkeling there instead, getting a few not-so-exciting photos mostly of sea snails. And then it was already time to head home. We all piled into the dump truck once again and got out to the wharf construction site where the little boat was waiting to take us out to the Gump Station boats. This time, though, the waves were really intense and the tide was a lot higher than the day before, and we had to go out in threes, waiting for the opportune moment to get past the reef crest without getting smashed by the waves -- definitely kind of terriying. Back in our boats, I was imagining the worst considering the waves we had just seen, but the ride back ended up being much, much smoother than on the way there, and I never once feared for my life. We again had a few unsuccessful harpooning expeditions, although when we got back to the Gump Station, our driver was nice enough to give us a huge Mahi Mahi he had caught earlier that day.
Back at home, it was so nice to take a shower and rid myself of two days' worth of sunscreen, bug spray, dirt, and sand. We picked up some pizzas at the local Allo Pizza and had a nice dinner. I also finally got to look in the mirror and see the perfect outline of my snorkel mask I have printed on my face due to how tanned I got in the last couple days (I definitely got a few shades darker in Tetiaroa)...hopefully this tan will even out soon and I will not go on looking like a racoon for long. Oh, and my booty tans got a whole lot darker too.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Time flies in Paradise.
The weeks are certainly beginning to fly by.
Monday I went out to Temae beach with a bunch of the marine people, had a picnic on the beach, and snorkeled around, trying to get a better picture of the variety of corals out here. The underwater landscape here is so beautiful: the corals, all different colors and forms, sparkle in the sun (assuming there is sun) and teem with life - brighly colored and patterned fish, algae, purple sea urchins known as Echinometra and huge, black, scary looking Diadema, giant sea cucumbers, little snails, etc. My favorite are the Damselfish: they are little brown fish (about half the size of your palm), kind of plain looking, but they are so feisty. They defend the coral heads that are covered in algae (their food source) very aggressively, staring you down and darting at you to keep you away...I've been butted many times by an angry damselfish (but of course it doesn't hurt that much).
After Temae, we headed over to Champion, the "Costco" of the island. Normally we go to Are's, a tiny supermarket with about four aisles and only half a wall of produce (thankfully the local Lycee d'Agriculture ships us baskets of papaya, lettuce, pineapple, and bananas). Champion, on the other hand, must have at least ten or twelve aisles -- what luxury. The food selection is better, but they also have a lot of random things there, including clothing, bags, snorkel gear, and guitars! I bought myself a lovely little guitar for F 2500 (about $30) so that several of us can practice guitar at the same time (it's fun, in the evening there's three or four of us sitting around in the living room playing). After the Champion adventure, we headed back just in time for Tahitian dance lessons. This time some Tahitian girls were there as well, and they taught some of us Tahitian words (most of which I've forgotten). Everyone is soooo friendly here, even the little kids!
Tuesday was another busy but interesting day. One thing that's nice about the Gump Station is how involved it is in the community. Berkeley has a partnership with a new group that works on providing environmentally friendly housing for low income people. The houses are designed in a traditional manner (on stilts, which provides good aeration, etc.), which allows cultural preservation as well as makes the houses more green by cutting back on energy required for cooling. The students from Berkeley were invited to attend this very important ribbon cutting ceremony (held on Gump Station property), which was also attended by the mayor of Moorea, a representative of the president, and other prominent people from French Polynesia. There were speeches in Tahitian and in French, and they then had everyone present, even us menial students, sign some blueprints of the houses, which were then ceremoniously put underground in a block of cement. So we are now part of Tahitian history :)
Tuesday evening, after our dance lessons, we were invited up to Professor George Roderick's hut for pizza. After dinner we had a discussion about life after college...it was pretty informative, and the basic things I retained from it are:
1. After college is the best time to take time off and do all those crazy things you've always wanted to do...such as travel the world. I think I have part of that covered already.
2. It's all about connections! Apparently we have a great advantage with this class, since we got to know on a more personal basis quite a few professors and graduate students who probably know a lot of the people involved in similar research, etc. all over the country.
It was an interesting discussion...I still don't know what I want to do with my life, but definitely gave food for thought! Apparently scientific journalism is a pretty cool career though...hmmm...
Wednesday was spent working on some stuff around here and making eggplant parmesan for 22 people (actually turned out all right!). Thursday I headed out with a buddy to Afareitu, a site I'll be sampling on, and swam around for an hour trying to identify corals...it was actually not as bad as I thought, but I just need to practice some more and figure out how to hold my underwater key, pencil, camera, and waterproof-paper-and-clipboard all at the same time while battling waves.
We then had a 2.5 hour dance lesson...it's funny, the dance teacher speaks English but still prefers having me translate everything for the group. Same for Sam the drummer, who keeps screaming AAAAAALLLLEEEEX every few minutes to have me translate lyrics, instructions, etc...it's kind of fun. We're also learning a song in Tahitian that goes along with our dance. Apparently we are the only class that's ever gotten so involved with the community! After dinner David Hembry, one of our GSIs (graduate student instructor) gave a beginner's French lesson. I got to be his assistant, which was a lot of fun!
This morning I met up with George to discuss my project, and then a bunch of us headed over to the CRIOBE station, a French research station, to check out their library. Now the plan is to come up with a schedule for the rest of the five weeks here...nooooo so little time left!
Monday I went out to Temae beach with a bunch of the marine people, had a picnic on the beach, and snorkeled around, trying to get a better picture of the variety of corals out here. The underwater landscape here is so beautiful: the corals, all different colors and forms, sparkle in the sun (assuming there is sun) and teem with life - brighly colored and patterned fish, algae, purple sea urchins known as Echinometra and huge, black, scary looking Diadema, giant sea cucumbers, little snails, etc. My favorite are the Damselfish: they are little brown fish (about half the size of your palm), kind of plain looking, but they are so feisty. They defend the coral heads that are covered in algae (their food source) very aggressively, staring you down and darting at you to keep you away...I've been butted many times by an angry damselfish (but of course it doesn't hurt that much).
After Temae, we headed over to Champion, the "Costco" of the island. Normally we go to Are's, a tiny supermarket with about four aisles and only half a wall of produce (thankfully the local Lycee d'Agriculture ships us baskets of papaya, lettuce, pineapple, and bananas). Champion, on the other hand, must have at least ten or twelve aisles -- what luxury. The food selection is better, but they also have a lot of random things there, including clothing, bags, snorkel gear, and guitars! I bought myself a lovely little guitar for F 2500 (about $30) so that several of us can practice guitar at the same time (it's fun, in the evening there's three or four of us sitting around in the living room playing). After the Champion adventure, we headed back just in time for Tahitian dance lessons. This time some Tahitian girls were there as well, and they taught some of us Tahitian words (most of which I've forgotten). Everyone is soooo friendly here, even the little kids!
Tuesday was another busy but interesting day. One thing that's nice about the Gump Station is how involved it is in the community. Berkeley has a partnership with a new group that works on providing environmentally friendly housing for low income people. The houses are designed in a traditional manner (on stilts, which provides good aeration, etc.), which allows cultural preservation as well as makes the houses more green by cutting back on energy required for cooling. The students from Berkeley were invited to attend this very important ribbon cutting ceremony (held on Gump Station property), which was also attended by the mayor of Moorea, a representative of the president, and other prominent people from French Polynesia. There were speeches in Tahitian and in French, and they then had everyone present, even us menial students, sign some blueprints of the houses, which were then ceremoniously put underground in a block of cement. So we are now part of Tahitian history :)
Tuesday evening, after our dance lessons, we were invited up to Professor George Roderick's hut for pizza. After dinner we had a discussion about life after college...it was pretty informative, and the basic things I retained from it are:
1. After college is the best time to take time off and do all those crazy things you've always wanted to do...such as travel the world. I think I have part of that covered already.
2. It's all about connections! Apparently we have a great advantage with this class, since we got to know on a more personal basis quite a few professors and graduate students who probably know a lot of the people involved in similar research, etc. all over the country.
It was an interesting discussion...I still don't know what I want to do with my life, but definitely gave food for thought! Apparently scientific journalism is a pretty cool career though...hmmm...
Wednesday was spent working on some stuff around here and making eggplant parmesan for 22 people (actually turned out all right!). Thursday I headed out with a buddy to Afareitu, a site I'll be sampling on, and swam around for an hour trying to identify corals...it was actually not as bad as I thought, but I just need to practice some more and figure out how to hold my underwater key, pencil, camera, and waterproof-paper-and-clipboard all at the same time while battling waves.
We then had a 2.5 hour dance lesson...it's funny, the dance teacher speaks English but still prefers having me translate everything for the group. Same for Sam the drummer, who keeps screaming AAAAAALLLLEEEEX every few minutes to have me translate lyrics, instructions, etc...it's kind of fun. We're also learning a song in Tahitian that goes along with our dance. Apparently we are the only class that's ever gotten so involved with the community! After dinner David Hembry, one of our GSIs (graduate student instructor) gave a beginner's French lesson. I got to be his assistant, which was a lot of fun!
This morning I met up with George to discuss my project, and then a bunch of us headed over to the CRIOBE station, a French research station, to check out their library. Now the plan is to come up with a schedule for the rest of the five weeks here...nooooo so little time left!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Blowin' in the wind.
The last few days have been fairly uneventful (at least compared to the last few weeks). We had another draft of our project proposal due Saturday, so everyone was busy working on that. We had another dance lesson on Friday, which was great: we learned a rapid dance and another slower one that looks more like Hawaiian hula. We're all starting to get better at it, but my legs and hips were definitely sore afterwards! Sam, covered in traditional Polynesian tattoos (little tidbit: the word "tattoo" is actually a Tahitian word, "tatu"), and his band keep the beat with singing, drums, and ukelele. We're going to have two hour long dance lessons four days a week until October 31st, which is the day of our big performance. The dance teacher and the rowers actually had a tense argument debating who gets us in the afternoons, since the rowers can't row without us, but at the same time, we are performing for a bunch of Tahitians in three weeks, and no one wants us to look bad. So we'll see what happens with that...
Friday night was another volleyball game, which Maria's team unfortunately lost (but they were playing against the number 1 team in Moorea). Saturday, after turning in our proposals, I went for a bike ride to Maharepa (a mid-sized "town") with Ryan and Annie to check out some shops and get some money out of the ATM. This is probably one of the nicest places to go for a bike ride: you ride along the edge of the island, with gorgeous turquoise water on one side and green peaks on the other. We then played some volleyball, and some French researchers from the CRIOBE station came by for dinner (we made a good old American meal: chili and potatoes). It's so strange, in a few weeks I went from feeling like a student to feeling like an actual scientist, hanging out with other scientists and talking about research, etc. (and lots of other random stuff).
This morning seven of us got up at 7:00 to go to the local church service, which Prof Vince Resh told us was amazing. We arrived right at 8:00, worried we'd be late, only to discover that the service actually starts at 10:00. So we wandered home and went back a couple hours later. The service ended up being ok: there was some Tahitian singing, which was cool, but besides that it was just a normal church service. Lucky for me, I could actually understand what was going on (the service was in French), so I got to hear all about the importance of marriage and the commitment of adultery...oh joy. The rest of the day (our only day off) was spent swimming, running, and playing volleyball...it's always nice to be outdoors on Sundays.
That's about all that's been going on here. The weather has been pretty crazy: it's been raining a whole lot more than normal, and the wind has been insane: there are enormous gusts that whistle and during the night, cause the curtains to billow up and hit my bed (and me in it). We basically always have a little hurricane in our room, since there's no glass on most of our windows and thus no way of preventing it. I definitely need to get used to sleeping through the storm, as the wind doesn't seem to be dying anytime soon. I actually got hit by a flying chair yesterday as I was eating my lunch (and have a cut on my finger as proof).
I made another discovery: in Tahitian French, there is no "vous"! Everyone just uses "tu," which is really nice...but it's definitely weird going up to well respected, elderly people and saying "tu" to them. That'll definitely take some getting used to.
Pete Oboyoski, a friendly entomologist at the Gump Station, got us a fifteen dollar guitar at Champion (the local Walmart/supermarket). Elliot, Ryan, and I made it our mission to learn how to play guitar by the end of this trip. It's interesting how being in the middle of nowhere (or just a rural island) leaves you with so much more time to sit around and learn such things.
In other news, one of our students has malaria! There's no malaria-carrying mosquitos here in Moorea, so he actually got it when he was in Indonesia this summer doing research. He's fine, although he's been shuttling back and forth to the emergency room. Definitely an interesting disease though: he gets really severe fevers on a 48 hour cycle, so he'll be fine one day, really sick the next, then fine, etc. He's on medication and will back in shape in no time (hopefully).
So our class is apparently one of many firsts: first stonefish injury, first tsunami warning, and first case of malaria (and first case on the island at all in 10 years)...it's definitely been interesting!
Friday night was another volleyball game, which Maria's team unfortunately lost (but they were playing against the number 1 team in Moorea). Saturday, after turning in our proposals, I went for a bike ride to Maharepa (a mid-sized "town") with Ryan and Annie to check out some shops and get some money out of the ATM. This is probably one of the nicest places to go for a bike ride: you ride along the edge of the island, with gorgeous turquoise water on one side and green peaks on the other. We then played some volleyball, and some French researchers from the CRIOBE station came by for dinner (we made a good old American meal: chili and potatoes). It's so strange, in a few weeks I went from feeling like a student to feeling like an actual scientist, hanging out with other scientists and talking about research, etc. (and lots of other random stuff).
This morning seven of us got up at 7:00 to go to the local church service, which Prof Vince Resh told us was amazing. We arrived right at 8:00, worried we'd be late, only to discover that the service actually starts at 10:00. So we wandered home and went back a couple hours later. The service ended up being ok: there was some Tahitian singing, which was cool, but besides that it was just a normal church service. Lucky for me, I could actually understand what was going on (the service was in French), so I got to hear all about the importance of marriage and the commitment of adultery...oh joy. The rest of the day (our only day off) was spent swimming, running, and playing volleyball...it's always nice to be outdoors on Sundays.
That's about all that's been going on here. The weather has been pretty crazy: it's been raining a whole lot more than normal, and the wind has been insane: there are enormous gusts that whistle and during the night, cause the curtains to billow up and hit my bed (and me in it). We basically always have a little hurricane in our room, since there's no glass on most of our windows and thus no way of preventing it. I definitely need to get used to sleeping through the storm, as the wind doesn't seem to be dying anytime soon. I actually got hit by a flying chair yesterday as I was eating my lunch (and have a cut on my finger as proof).
I made another discovery: in Tahitian French, there is no "vous"! Everyone just uses "tu," which is really nice...but it's definitely weird going up to well respected, elderly people and saying "tu" to them. That'll definitely take some getting used to.
Pete Oboyoski, a friendly entomologist at the Gump Station, got us a fifteen dollar guitar at Champion (the local Walmart/supermarket). Elliot, Ryan, and I made it our mission to learn how to play guitar by the end of this trip. It's interesting how being in the middle of nowhere (or just a rural island) leaves you with so much more time to sit around and learn such things.
In other news, one of our students has malaria! There's no malaria-carrying mosquitos here in Moorea, so he actually got it when he was in Indonesia this summer doing research. He's fine, although he's been shuttling back and forth to the emergency room. Definitely an interesting disease though: he gets really severe fevers on a 48 hour cycle, so he'll be fine one day, really sick the next, then fine, etc. He's on medication and will back in shape in no time (hopefully).
So our class is apparently one of many firsts: first stonefish injury, first tsunami warning, and first case of malaria (and first case on the island at all in 10 years)...it's definitely been interesting!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Volleyball and Tahitian dancing...oh yeah, and some work too.
We are definitely doing a great job of integrating with the community...or they're doing a really good job of including us.
Maria, one of our students, played volleyball for Cal, and was thus recruited to play on the local women's team here (they practice on our front lawn). So last night was the game between Maria's team and Irma's team. Irma is the woman who cleans the dorms...she can be pretty fierce, which definitely showed throughout the game. It ended up being a ton of fun: the game took place in the school gym of Papetoai, a village on Moorea, and we were the only non-locals there. Children ran around everywhere, tossing balls around with us during the breaks, and the locals were selling lamb heart on sticks. Some of our class painted their bodies with the letters in G-O M-A-R-I-A and would occasionally rearrange to I-R-M-A to make sure we still got clean sheets. Maria's team ended up smashing Irma's team, so hopefully Irma won't hold too much of a grudge against her.
Today was Brent's last day, so we made a farewell brunch to thank him for all his help, good humor, and fatherliness. Pat is leaving on Friday, and then we'll have George Roderick, another professor, for a few weeks. Besides that I worked all day, and then at 4:00 pm, we were summoned to our front lawn for Tahitian dance lessons! It was so much fun, the woman taught us how to tie pareos around our waist as skirts, and then we learned the three parts of a dance. It was actually pretty hard -- our thighs are going to be really sore tomorrow from keeping our knees bent for so long! It was great though, a little band played guitar, ukelele, and drums, and we actually got a little better with time.
And now for the best part: Hinano just came in and announced that we are invited to perform!!! Those of us who are interested will have the option of practicing Tahitian dancing every day and performing at the Opening Ceremony of the Atattia Center, a Polynesian culture center on our property! Apparently we'll even learn how to make the skirts from Te leaves and everything! So that's pretty exciting :)
Besides that, work on projects is going well. I spent the last two days trying to learn all the different species of coral that I will be identifying for my project, quite a difficult task. I had a meeting with Brent this morning and he is super excited about what I want to do, so that's reassuring. It's definitely nice to hear some encouraging words when it feels like we're advancing blindly with no one telling us exactly what to do.
All right, dinner time! And then an evening lecture on Moorea's insects.
Maria, one of our students, played volleyball for Cal, and was thus recruited to play on the local women's team here (they practice on our front lawn). So last night was the game between Maria's team and Irma's team. Irma is the woman who cleans the dorms...she can be pretty fierce, which definitely showed throughout the game. It ended up being a ton of fun: the game took place in the school gym of Papetoai, a village on Moorea, and we were the only non-locals there. Children ran around everywhere, tossing balls around with us during the breaks, and the locals were selling lamb heart on sticks. Some of our class painted their bodies with the letters in G-O M-A-R-I-A and would occasionally rearrange to I-R-M-A to make sure we still got clean sheets. Maria's team ended up smashing Irma's team, so hopefully Irma won't hold too much of a grudge against her.
Today was Brent's last day, so we made a farewell brunch to thank him for all his help, good humor, and fatherliness. Pat is leaving on Friday, and then we'll have George Roderick, another professor, for a few weeks. Besides that I worked all day, and then at 4:00 pm, we were summoned to our front lawn for Tahitian dance lessons! It was so much fun, the woman taught us how to tie pareos around our waist as skirts, and then we learned the three parts of a dance. It was actually pretty hard -- our thighs are going to be really sore tomorrow from keeping our knees bent for so long! It was great though, a little band played guitar, ukelele, and drums, and we actually got a little better with time.
And now for the best part: Hinano just came in and announced that we are invited to perform!!! Those of us who are interested will have the option of practicing Tahitian dancing every day and performing at the Opening Ceremony of the Atattia Center, a Polynesian culture center on our property! Apparently we'll even learn how to make the skirts from Te leaves and everything! So that's pretty exciting :)
Besides that, work on projects is going well. I spent the last two days trying to learn all the different species of coral that I will be identifying for my project, quite a difficult task. I had a meeting with Brent this morning and he is super excited about what I want to do, so that's reassuring. It's definitely nice to hear some encouraging words when it feels like we're advancing blindly with no one telling us exactly what to do.
All right, dinner time! And then an evening lecture on Moorea's insects.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
