Getting settled

Much has happened since my last post. Can't say that there's a most notable for each has had it's great moments.

Up in the marine center we've been having some strange behavior from our animals. A lot of them have decided that now is a good time to reproduce so we've been explaining the miracle of life marine style to the scouts for the last few weeks. It's really awkward actually to have to explain to a scout how actually that limpet isn't peeing, it's really releasing sperm. It's especially great when the kid has no idea what sperm is. Then we just tell them it's like spit. Yeah.

Also my house is finished with the remodeling which is awesome. We have new paint, kitchen, and floor tiling throughout. Makes it really nice to have a place that is once again liveable and not a construction zone. For awhile we were worried about breathing lead paint dust that was coming off the cuboards. And then there was the sticky floor they had to leave before tiling it up. But then again, it's great to have a house provided and it's really nice so I don't mind at all.

Tonight I finally got checked out to drive the boats, a process which has taken the last 5 weeks to complete. There are several checks that you have to get, like making night runs, turning on the boat properly, understanding the tinks with the boat in terms of getting it ready to go. While I was proficient in all those other things, it was the docking that I had yet to accomplish. To pass the docking challenge you have to successfully dock 4 out of 6 tries. And obviously they aren't going to pass you if you slam into the dock at all. For the past week or so I've been taking every opportunity I could get to practice my docking which involved driving in big circles around the bay and docking over and over again.

Well finally tonight I took my docking challenge and passed! I'm so happy about it it's a nice feeling of accomplishment to think that when I first got here I was actually afraid of driving the boats and now I'm getting quite steady with them.

Just a note, I've been keeping a picture website where I'm posting the different photos from being out here. Here's the address: http://picasaweb.google.com/esther.eder Also I'm putting a permanent link on the site so have a look!

What can I say...

I get around urchins and all I want to do is to eat them. However, my staff does a good job of making sure that doesn't happen.... normally.

Week one: Owned.

Well, obviously I am no longer sitting in the airport, actually right now I'm sitting in my office in the marine science center, taking a break from our pre-inspection inventory. Super fun. Actually it's nice because it's helping me get a really solid idea of what we actually have in the center as opposed to being completely clueless.

I've now been on the island for over a week and I must say that I'm having a fantastic time. During the week I teach an oceanography merit badge class to three periods of students, this week our grand total of students exceeds 50 kids in one class. Last week we had 75 during one period. Major pain. But despite the challenges of the getting the attention of 75 middle school age boys I'm still having a blast teaching and all that good stuff. The only thing is that we spend a majority of our time inside. I wish that there was a way that I could get these kids out and about since we have such a great resource at our fingertips. That's something I'm going to be working on in the next couple of weeks.

I finally moved into my house out here and it's so cute! I'm living with a couple of guys right now and they're super cool which makes the transition really easy. My room is kind of seperate from the rest of the house and I have my own bathroom so that makes it extra nice. I'm finally getting the last of my stuff packed away and out of the boxes that it was shipped down here in. When the clerk saw how many packages I had one day he said, "Esther, are you shipping your entire life down here or what??" He didn't know that I'm moving out here. But that's ok.

The weather has been great. Hotter than I'm used to in Oregon but that's ok. The nights are really cool though so it makes sleeping really easy. I asked one of the directors the other day what they do out here when it rains during the summer and he said that it doesn't rain during the summer. That really they only have 3 months of rain during the year.........it was shocking. I mean, I wasn't expecting that. Every morning I wake up and think that the early morning sky is going to drizzle a little bit on us. I thought I'd never say this, but I could do with a good summer shower. Getting a bit dusty. I miss that fresh rain smell too. Such a beautiful smell....

To close this blog I thought I would leave you all with a photo of me working. Yes, diving is a huge part of my job and I'm lucky enough to be able to do it here in the kelp forests which are so amazing. Just look up some pictures online and you'll see for yourself. Plus, I have the coolest job in the world if it means that I get to dive almost everyday.