Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! I know that mine has been great this year. The Saturday before Christmas was the party with my Dad's side of the family. Then on Sunday, I celebrated with my Mom's side of the family. We even took the entire family to see the Christmas lights at lake lanier in one of The Leisure Time buses. I had a great time and got some really nice presents, including a trip to the Keys to get my advanced dive certification. I am going to enjoy my time at home with my family and friends and look forward to a Happy New Year. Happy Holidays, I love ya'll!

End of Fall Semester

I know it has been ages since my last post, but this semester has been so busy. I have been working hard to keep up with all of my challenging classes (O. Chem, Genetics, Physics, and Civ 1) and I have been working at the Brevard zoo. I still love living in Florida but I look forward to taking a break and going home for Christmas. I have exams next week and then I am off to Tampa before flying home to GA. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday.

Back to School

I know I have not added an update in a while but it has taken me some time to settle in and adjust to being back at school. I have to say that the trip back to the mainland was extremely long. I ended up with a total travel time of 13 hours and I did not get any sleep during the trip. After I finally landed in Tampa, Dad picked me and Kristine up and we stayed with him for the day. It was wonderful to eat good food and relax after the long trip. The next day, Kristine and I woke up early and drove to campus to check in. After we got to our room, we began the long process of moving everything in and unpacking all of our stuff. We could not have done it without all of the help from our amazing friends and especially Kate's parents! That night we went out to dinner before falling asleep from exhaustion. I was completely exhausted and jet lagged for the next couple of days. Now I am completely settled and I am loving it. It is so nice to live in an apartment style dorm with a kitchen and living room!

Classes started with an interesting turn of events. I am sure most of you heard about tropical storm Fay, but I experienced it. Classes were cancelled for most of the day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and all day Thursday. The storm stopped over Melbourne and we got nothing but rain and winds for 3 days. Everything was flooded and one of the bridges on campus collapsed. Most of my time during all of this was spent watching movies with friends. Now classes have started again and I already have homework and a presentation to work on.

On another note, I found a work study position at the Brevard zoo. I had an interview with the curator of animals a couple of days ago and I start work next Friday. I will be working as a keeper aide in all areas of the zoo. I am very excited about this job and I only hope it will be a wonderful experience that I can learn from.

I hope everyone is doing well. I look forward to Mom and David visiting next weekend, but I don't know when I will be back in Georgia. I will try to continue the blog throughout the school year but I can not guarantee I will have new updates very often. For now I am all pau!

I am down to the final days here in Hawaii and I have to say that I am ready to get back to Florida. I spent my final day off with Kristine and a future intern driving around the island and watching the sunset on the west side. It was so beautiful and the perfect way to say aloha. I have had a great time here but I am so excited to get back to school and visit my friends.

It is bittersweet to leave because I am going to miss the dolphins and all of the wonderful people I have worked with everyday. I feel like we are just getting to become close to them and now we have to say goodbye. Tonight is the aloha party which will give us a chance to say goodbye to all of the people we have worked with this summer. I have learned so much and really changed as a person from this internship. I will never forget this experience and I am so lucky that I have had this opportunity. I could not have done this without everyone's help and support so I want to thank all of you. I look forward to seeing everyone when I get back to the mainland. I love you guys!

Hi! So much has happened since my last post, but I am tired so I will try to sum it all up. Three weeks ago on my day off, I went to North Shore with one of my roommates. It was a 3 hour bus ride to get there but it was still fun. It was raining so we just walked around and looked at all of the shops. I had Mexican food for lunch and it was amazing. Then we walked to a place called Matsumotos. They have the best shave ice there...so good.

Two weeks ago on my day off, I went with 2 of my roommates to the movies. We saw Mama Mia and I thought it was funny and entertaining. It was definitely a lighthearted movie that made me laugh. Then we went grocery shopping and took the bus home.

On my birthday, I went to work and didn't really do anything special. After work I had a piece of cake and went to bed early. The day after my birthday, however, was amazing. Kristine gave me the best birthday present of snorkeling with spinner dolphins! We got up early and drove to the west side of the island where we got on a boat to see the dolphins. There were spinner dolphins everywhere and they were constantly jumping out of the water. When we were snorkeling with them, they were so close that I could have touched them. We could also hear all of the noises they were making under the water. It was so amazing. Then we snorkeled with green sea turtles and tropical fish. It was such a great day! I only wish I had brought an underwater camera.

Last weekend I went surfing with one of the trainers (Amy Perry) and 3 other interns. It was the first time any of us have ever been surfing and it was so much fun. Amy was so patient with us, because we had no idea what we were doing. Surfing is exhausting, but I was so proud of myself because I actually managed to stand up once. I was so sore the next day but it was worth it.

When it comes to work, I have been doing the same things. I can't believe it is almost over. I did take my phase 2 test a couple of days ago and I passed. That just means that I can learn other things and become more involved in the training of the animals. I finally have a couple of pictures and I will try to take even more in the upcoming weeks. I want to have plenty of pictures to look back on. I love and miss you all and I will keep you updated with what I am doing these last few weeks.

Hi everyone! I am sorry I have not added a new update lately but I have not had any internet for the past four days. I don't have too much news, just everyday work. One of the most exciting things that happened in the past week was... I got to swim with penguins! One of the trainers from the Hawaiian Ocean Theater just told me and two other interns to grab masks and follow her. We had no idea what we were going to do but when we got there, the trainers told us to jump in the water and they put the penguins in the water with us. It was so much fun and a once in a lifetime chance!

I also got to spend a lot of time working with the animals this week. One day I was the only intern at work and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I had a ton of cleaning to do but I also got a ton of animal time that day. At the end of the day, one of my favorite trainers was helping me clean coolers and once we finished cleaning she told me to grab a life jacket and meet her at pool 3. Because I cleaned all day I got to do a training session with Bugs and Buster. The two dolphins needed practice working together, so I got to do a double dorsal tow and two double foot pushes. So much fun!

This week I have also done an interaction with Kai (one of our pacific bottlenose dolphins). I love getting the chance to get in the water and work with the dolphins. I feel like I am learning a ton about training and working in this field. I will never forget this but I am ready to get home. I miss everyone and can't wait to see you all soon.

Another amazing week has gone by and I am still loving it. I can't believe that I only have 5 more weeks until I am back at school. This summer has just flown by!

Last weekend I had 3 days off from work and it was nice to catch up on some sleep! On Monday night, my roommates and I went to dinner in Waikiki. Then Tuesday we went to the Polynesian Cultural center. It was so beautiful there and the place was huge. We walked around to all of the different areas of the park and each area represented a different island. There were shows and activities going on everywhere. Then we went to the luau where we enjoyed the food and listened to all of the singers and watched the dancers during dinner. After that, we saw the night show. It was amazing! There were different dances and songs from each of the islands. There were even people walking across fire. It was a very entertaining show! I was so tired though because we didn't get home until midnight (after riding the bus for 3 hours) and lately I am used to going to sleep at 8 or 9.

On Sunday I just relaxed and enjoyed my day off. I bought some groceries and then went to the beach for a little while. On Monday I went scuba diving!! I went with 2 of my roommates to the west side of the island for a day of scuba diving. We dove with a diving shop in Kailua and we all had a great time. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. I did 2 dives where we toured the reef and just enjoyed watching all of the fish. It was very different from Florida because the coral here is hard coral, but it is still beautiful. The highlight of the dive was seeing a turtle that swam right by me! I was tired at the end of the day but it was worth it! I did take some pictures with an underwater camera so I am going to try to get them developed this weekend. I hope some of the pictures came out ok.

Work has also been extremely fun this week! I am still cleaning a lot but every day it seems like I get to spend more and more time with the animals. Yesterday in particular was the best day so far! I got to work with Kermie (the wholphin) with her primary trainer (Amy). I got to do all sorts of husbandry behaviors and I had 30 minutes just to play with her! I even got to ask for her high rise ( one of her new behaviors where she jumps out of the water and touches a ball with the tip of her rostrum). Later that day I did interactions with Keimakani and Kamoana (our 2 Pacific bottlenose dolphins). I even got a belly ride from Kei! After that I was in a program with Buster (one of our blind dolphins) and one of the other trainers (Jesse). Because Buster is blind, all of the signals for his behaviors are tactile. For the first time I got to ask him for one of his behaviors. Then at the end of the day (after all of the cleaning was done) my boss, Scotty, told me to grab a life jacket because we were going to swim with the dolphins. I got to do a double foot push with Maui and Buster and a belly ride with Maui. It was a great day! The end of today was fun too, because I got to do another double foot push with Maui and Buster and another belly ride with Maui! I love swimming with the dolphins everyday!

This is random but I even saw a celebrity today! When I went to lunch, I saw the man who is the boss in The Closer, the owner of the newspaper in Spiderman, and the dad in Juno. I couldn't believe it.

Well that's all I have for now. I will try to take my camera to work from now on and maybe get some pictures of me with the dolphins. I love you guys!

It has been such a long time since my last post that I have so many new things to say but I will try to keep it short. I have taken and passed my phase one test, which means that I am able to move forward and do more things with the dolphins. I have been able to give the dolphins SD's (hand signals) for specific behaviors and I have continued to feed and gain more experience while stationing the dolphins. All of the interns and I have also been able to participate in programs. We wear a lifejacket and stay in the water with the groups while observing and helping the trainers if they need us. I have also had more opportunities to assist with dolphin training session and mock programs. The two mock sessions that I have participated in were with our two Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Kamoana and Keimakani). These were both really fun and cool because guests are not allowed to interact with these dolphins yet. With Keimakani I even got to do a belly ride. I love spending time in the water with the dolphins! Yesterday, I even got to do a double foot push with Kekaimalu (the wholphin) and Naia. It was amazing!

I have also done more with the Sea Lions. I am now cleared to feed each Sea Lion group by myself and I can feed with guests. I still do a ton of cleaning but I love my job!

Probably the funniest thing that has happened occurred during one of my penguin lectures. Before I explain what happened I have to give a little background. One of the penguins (AJ) loves people and whenever someone is in the habitat she runs over to check them out. Hina is AJ's partner and she gets very jealous of the fact that AJ likes people. So in the middle of my lecture, AJ runs over to me and just looks at me. Then Hina runs up and bites my ankle until it starts bleeding. I could just picture that in her mind she is thinking 'take that'. This entire time I am still giving my lecture and luckily none of the guests said anything. I just moved to a new location and quickly finished my lecture.

On my days off, I have also been able to do more sightseeing. Last week I went horseback riding and it was absolutely beautiful. The ocean was on one side and the mountains were on the other. I had a great time! This week I am planning on going to the Polynesian Culture Center and on July 7th I have a reservation to go scuba diving! I will update you later with details on those fun outings! I love and miss you all.

Hi!

I know it has not been a week since my last post but I have a few updates for everyone. On Monday, my roommates and I went to Pearl Harbor. It was amazing to see something that is so important to our history. I did not know what to expect and I did not realize that the USS Arizona is still under the water in the place where it sunk. I was so glad I had a chance to see something on the island.

Other than that it has just been more working. I have just been cleared to give my penguin lecture to the park guests! This also means that I am now allowed to feed and station dolphins. Stationing a dolphin basically means that the dolphin is sitting calmly in front of you and focusing on you. I am also permitted to do a hand target with the dolphins. This is simply placing your flattened palm against the dolphins rostrum (the tip of their mouth). I am so excited to start feeding the dolphins, especially because it is going to allow me to become more involved with the dolphin training sessions. I will be directly supervised at all times in case there is a problem and the trainer needs to step in. I hope this will really help me understand more of the training and reasons behind why certain things are done.

I have also been moving forward with feeding the California sea lions. They are so cute and feeding them is one of the highlights of my day. I can give guests the briefing about the sea lion feeding pool but I still can not work the guests while they are feeding. Before I can work with guests who are feeding the sea lions I have to be able to feed each sea lion group on my own. There are 3 different sea lion groups. Today I feed the 3rd group of sea lions by myself at 9:30 and 10:30. This group includes Palanehe (female), Hanapa'a (male), and Pohaku (male). The hardest part about feeding all 3 at the same time is making sure that they sit in their spots and focus on me. Hanapa'a is dominant so he tends to try and steal Palanehe's fish. It was fun though and hopefully I will be cleared to feed all of the sea lion groups soon.

I guess those are all of the updates I have for now. I have a lot of studying to do because I will be taking an exam within the next week or so. I hope everyone is doing well!

All of the other interns and I are starting to settle into our routines at the park. There are always coolers to clean, but if we have time we like to watch the training sessions with the dolphins. I have now been cleared to operate the sound for the show and give the guests a sea lion briefing. I have been practicing my penguin lecture with the trainers and I soon as I get cleared to do that, I will be able to feed the dolphins! Not much has happened since my last post, so I don't have much to update everyone. I am at work most of the time and I tend to sleep a lot on my days off. Last night I fell asleep at 7:00pm! It is hard to wake up for fish prep at 4:30am but once I step into the fish house the cold air wakes me up. I did get to see a movie recently and it was a nice change from everyday work. I saw The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian. I loved the movie and I got to spend the day with friends. I have the day off tomorrow and my roommates and I are planning going out to see something around the island. I have so many things I want to see but I haven't had a chance to do much sightseeing. Most of the times I have days off I am in the house by myself and it's no fun to be a tourist by yourself. The bus transportation also limits where and when I can go somewhere but hopefully I will have some opportunities to sight see. It is so beautiful here and I want to take it all in. I love and miss you all. Thanks Gran and Pop for all of your letters. I love reading them!

Another week at the park

Hi!
I have finished another week of work at the park. The week was full of scrubbing coolers, learning how to control the sound for the show, observing feedings and training sessions. I have washed and scrubbed more than I have ever done in my life. These dolphins are constantly eating which means I have to try to keep up with the cleaning. It may sound boring, but the other interns and I try to make it more interesting by singing to the park music while we do it. I have also watched the sea lion feedings and on Wednesday I got to start feeding them! They are so cute and I finally have all of their names memorized. The winter group of interns just finished their last day, so now we are on our own. I am memorizing the speech about Humbolt penguins, and the speech about the sea lion feeding pool. I also have to get cleared to do the sound and gating for the show. There is a lot of stuff to memorize! We also had our first class about the fish house and our first class about training. We were given a lot of information and we will have exams at the end of each month to make sure we are understanding the material. I also had my first day of fish prep this week. I had to wake up at 4:45 am so that I could catch the bus and get to the park at 6:00 am. After putting on many layers of clothes and waterproof pants and a jacket, we signed in and began to sort fish. It was freezing in the fish house and even with tons of layers of clothes, I was still freezing. They had an i-pod in the fish house which made the process go by a little faster. After sorting fish for about 2 and a half hours, we cleaned out the fish house and broke for breakfast. After that, the buckets and tables all have to be scrubbed and rinsed. Fish prep ends around 10:30 or 11:00 and on your fish prep days, you get to go home at 2:30. I have been really busy and exhausted every day but I still love it.

Hello everyone!
Sorry I have not added a new post before now, but I have been so tired after work that I have gone to bed early everyday.
This week is my first week of work! Monday and Tueday were the orientation days. I listened to different lectures given by the trainers about fish prep, husbandry, animal behavior, sanitation, and other information that I will need to know for the internship.Today was my second day of actual work and I am already exhausted. I have been shadowing a current intern to learn the basic schedule of the day and it is crazy! I have been moving fish coolers and cleaning more than I have ever cleaned in my life! Right now all of the interns are just learning how everything runs. There are 3 phases to the internship and there are certain things that I have to know to pass each phase. Then if I think I am prepared, I have to take a test in order to move on to the next phase. Each phase should take about a month to pass, so I will still be in phase one for a while. The longer and harder I work, the more I will get to do so I have been trying to stay upbeat and constantly working. The atmosphere at the park is great and everyone is so will to help explain things. I know that this experience is going to really help me understand the field and hopefully increase my chances of getting a job somewhere. It is really cool to watch the training sessions, and today I got to stand in the shallows while they recorded the weights of the dolphins and the wholphin! I will give another update once I have had more work days. Bye.

Oahu

Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to add another post. I am in Oahu now in the house I will be living in for the next 3 months. My plane landed in Oahu on Thursday (May 15th) around 5pm. My landlord picked me up at the airport along with one of my roommates. We stopped to get some groceries and then we went to the house. The house is small with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. There is no air conditioning, so we have to rely on the fans to keep us cool. It has been extremely hot here the past couple of days, due to the "vog" from the volcano on the big island. It should clear up when the trade winds come back and then it should cool down a little. The day after I got here, I went to see Kristine at her house. She is renting a room with another intern out of some fanily's house. She thinks it is really akward because the family is living in the house with all of the renters. That day we walked to downtown Kailua with some of the other interns to eat breakfast. It took forever to get there but we made it. Then Kristine came back to my house with me. We took a tour of my nieghborhood and went to the beach to take pictures. That night one of the people in my neighborhoood invited us over for a bbq. The food was amazing! The next day, my roommate (Crystal) and I went to the beach for about an hour. The water looks so blue and clean. After that, we had lunch and took a bus to Kailua to meet up with some of the other interns. We all went downtown for pizza and ice cream. Then I came back home and meet my other 2 roommates that had just gotten here earlier that day. Today I am going to go to the grocery store with my roommates and then take the bus to Sea Life Park. I start work tomorrow! I will probably be extremely busy and tired this week but I will try to give everyone an update. Aloha

Maui!

I am finally in Hawaii! I arrived in Maui yesterday afternoon (May 13). The flight was long and boring but it was worth it. Elizabethe's (my cousin) best friend (Catherine) picked Kristine and I up from the airport. After fitting a ton of luggage into her car, we stopped to get a sandwich and ate at a bird sanctuary. Then we went to Catherine's house to drop off our bags and rest for a few minutes. We spent the rest of the day driving through the mountains and taking pictures. The scenery was so beautiful and the sunset was amazing to see. Everything just looks like a postcard. Today (Wednesday 14th) we drove up the road to Hana. The entire way, we took pictures and admired the landscape. The best part of the day was swimming in a pool next to a waterfall. The water was freezing but it was worth it just to swim there and stand under the waterfall. Then we drove back to Catherine's house to rest before dinner. With the time change and all of the sightseeing, I am exhausted. Then Catherine and her husband, Jeffrey, took Kristine and I out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was really good but it filled me up really quickly. Now I am just tired and ready to sleep. I have taken lots of pictures that I am editing. I will try to post some pictures soon!
P.S. My computer has not automatically adjusted to the time change so the date at the top of the post is not correct. I am 6 hours behind eastern time.

Beginning of Summer

I have just finished my Freshman year at Florida Tech and I am getting ready to spend my summer in Hawaii. I have a marine mammal training internship at Sea Life Park in Oahu and I will use this blog to post all of my summer experiences. I can not wait to start living my dream of working with marine mammals. I will try to update this page as often as I can with my new daily experiences. I am leaving for Hawaii on May 13th!