month one was pretty cool

month one here in the TCI is done and yeah, i'll admit it: the island life is the good life. although in the spirit of full disclosure, as i write this, my back is excessively sunburnt (shh sorry mom) as a result of four hours spent in a bikini in the field yesterday in which ummm i didn't feel the need to put on sunscreen. additionally, i have about twenty-two mosquito bites along my legs and arms, despite my mosquito net and potentially toxic amounts of bug spray. yesterday night i took my third shower (did i mention i've been here a month?) so my hair feels weirdly like it's not glued together with grease and salt-water, and hold up! i actually shaved my legs so all 32 of my classmates should brace themselves for me ordering them to feel my smooth calves for the next two days. 

despite some very minor discomfort, this month has been a living dream. i've been pretty lax in writing, so for the sake of speed (i'm currently supposed to be researching a genus of algae, oops procrastination followed me from the US) i'm compiling a list of the most awesome things that have happened to me in the first month. so here it is.

the 10 most awesome things in 30 days in the TCI:

1. going turtling. dude, there's nothing quite as cool as speeding across the dark water underneath a massive night sky, unless it's diving in that dark water with only a tiny beam of light to illuminate the whole wide ocean around you, or else it's chasing a turtle and almost catching him (the lil dude was too fast for me though, and honestly, my puny lungs can't compare with his freaking respiratory skills - he can hold his breath for up to 7 hours! i don't think i can do anything for 7 hours, except maybe sleep). anyway, it may have been fortuitous that he was the one that got away, because when we got back to the boat and got to hold the turtle someone else caught, it was get swoll or go home. apparently shells are heavy or something? so if i would have caught one, i probably would have drowned trying to bring it back to the boat. i'm pretty good at the dead-man's-float, but those guys are heavy! and there's no freaking way i would have let go of that turtle for anything, so there i go. what a way to die though, plus i probs would have had a sick phrase on my headstone like "she did it for the data" or something equally impressive. as it is, i lucked out and was the one who got to release the turtle we actually caught, and despite him repeatedly slapping me with his flippers (he stopped when i called him pretty, damn i know how to handle the boys), i guess i was kinda attached because i tried to go over the side of the boat with him…aka grace and balance overtook me again. mishaps and all, it was crazy chill and i can't wait to repeat the experience. 
2. seeing sunrises. don't ask me how, and dad don't say "i told you so," but since being here i've started to become a morning person. though this does have downsides, one being that after 8:30 each night i'm a useless yawning machine, seeing the sun rise every morning is a treat and a half. i also really like getting up early and just having some time to sit outside, drink my tea, and study or….okay, go on facebook. despite my bad habits, waking up before most everyone else is peaceful, and who knows, it might even carry over for one or two days after i leave. 
3. getting the water almost every day. i love bio and the courses here are pretty stimulating, but the classroom pales pretty quickly when compared with paddling around in the tropical water. i've nicknamed the water color "just-see-if-you-can-study-when-i'm-waving-at-you-like-this." so far, the answer is "yeahhhh, no." i've always loved swimming in the ocean, but who knows how i'm gonna go back to swimming through ice in the pnw. for now, not getting hypothermia is pretty enjoyable. 
4. going sharking. as a kid, when i went to the aquarium with my mom, the lemon sharks were my favorite, and this trivial attraction must indicate some sort of crazy fate that i have to morph into the shark-whisperer or something. i couldn't even explain why, but touching a shark and getting to look at it that up-close is pretty enthralling, and something else i could probably do for at least 7ish hours.
5. seeing eagle rays for the first time and feeling my heart just crumple. i didn't know it could do that…..is that what love is?! shoot, maybe i should procure a ring. it is rather hard to get down on one knee underwater though, but i'd do it for any one of those beautiful creatures.  
6. getting to know my fellow sfs students. i've very much enjoyed meeting a lot of people in my program that seem very similar to me in their passions and goals (basically that means they're pretty freaking cool), who are from all over the US. since we currently have a modest 1:11 ratio of guys to girls (yes i did the math), it almost feels like a nice lil throwback to all-girls school. though some people may be having trouble adjusting, i would say i'm fairly familiar with having personal conversations at loud volume, peppering people with questions about their man-friends, and of course the requisite being half-dressed at least 21 hours of the day. ah forest ridge, you taught me well.
7. stargazing. i mean, what is there to say about passing time gazing at the infinite galaxies stretched out before us?
8. learning a bunch of phrases that are now firmly rooted in my colloquial speech. i always hoped studying abroad would help me learn a new language, i just also hoped i'd be able to still speak english. unfortunately, this seems not to be the case, as a number of seemingly nonsensical phrases swim their way into almost all of my conversations. for example, the saying: "she gone." this wonderful phrase can be used in virtually every situation - i.e. "where's kaity?" or "that fish swam away" or "all the salad has been eaten!" she gone. no matter the situation, this phrase must be said with a heavy southern accent (i don't make the rules), making it even more difficult to understand. another classic is "you do you." this also can be applied to everything ever, and despite its overuse, is oddly heartening when someone says it while looking deeply into your eyes. you do you. 
9. dancing. almost everyone who knows me at school knows that i love dancing and have no shame when it comes to my spastic excuse for it. unfortunately, there have been scant opportunities for it here until last saturday. we were celebrating two of my friends' birthdays, and what better way to celebrate another year in the life than the re-opening of "baller's," the solitary dance club on the island? i certainly had a lot of fun looking like an electrocuted spider.
10. trying to freaking discern my life goals. alright, this last one has given me a lot of grief over the years. i have a lot of pretty varied interests and when you combine this with my chronic indecisiveness, deciding on what to eat for dinner doesn't really happen, much less what to do with the rest of my life. however (cheesy alert: you should probs stop reading if you are allergic to cliches) being here, in a radically new environment, has inexplicably given me a little larger of a window into what i want. included in this is the presence of new experiences. this one was a lil of a shocker for me, because i'm definitely a routine person, and usually keep myself firmly nested in the safety of schedule. however, going out in the field and seeing new things almost every day has made the more adventurous and excitable side of me accessible. i mean, i may gulp saltwater through my snorkel like a giddy schoolgirl every time we see a particularly attractive megafauna (think octopus, porcupine-fish, or turtle just to name a few), i don't mind not being too cool for school. studying at a field station has also alerted me to the more nitty-gritty details (literally, not a lot of showers in the field) of being a researcher outside of the lab, and the fact that i may be interested in that for at least a few years after i graduate. i think i can deal with the limited showers, and bugs, and sunburns, especially if it means i get to be a giddy fool coughing up seawater.