Feb 24: Maldives

Hey All!

So for the past 5 days I have been in a little place called paradise. Better known as the tropical islands of the Maldives, which are off the western coast of India and Sri Lanka. There are more than 120 islands that make up the Maldives, some of which are not inhabited. These islands are made from corals and are surrounded by gorgeous bright blue water. Picture a beach paradise with palm trees and that's the Maldives. We are staying in the capital city/island of Male (Maul- ee) where there is virtually no beach. It is mainly used to conduct business and serve as a port for the fishermen. Fishing and tourism are the two main industries here in the Maldives. But we have been getting off the island by boat and visiting other islands for snorkeling and scuba diving.

We have seen many interesting species of fish including box fish, more triggerfish, etc. Yesterday, we saw a 6-foot white tip reef shark while snorkeling, which was amazing. It was just circling beneath us in and out of this little cave in the coral. I really wanted to see a shark and we did! We also saw turtles, moral eels, octopus, spotted eagle rays, and these huge Napoleon fish. The Napoleon fish are so big I thought that it was two fish just one lying on top of the other, and I kept asking Denny what were those fish that were lying on top of one another? He just looked at me like I was nuts! But anyways, they are 2 meters long and about a half meter tall ...They are huge green fish with a big bump on their head. My mask must have been fogging up because I could have sworn they were two different fish. But they were so neat.

So the others have been doing a lot of scuba diving, which I am really bummed that I couldn't go (I blew my ear drum and couldn't complete the course at Hiram). Because every time they come up from a dive they are so giddy with excitement about what they saw. Steven Shaak on our trip has an underwater digital camera though, so I guess I get to scuba vicariously through him. :) We have been having class a lot here, and have started a new book for our interdisciplinary course "Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist". I guess you can't complain too much about having class in a 90 degree paradise now can you?

I guess that's all she wrote for the Maldives, except for if you ever get the chance to come…do it! It is so gorgeous here it blows my mind (but very expensive and high class so that's a bummer).

I hope February has been kind to everyone. I heard this is a pretty bad winter for Ohio, so I hope you are all staying safe and warm.Take Care!

Peace,

Megan

PS -Tomorrow we leave for Dubai and we are only there a few days then we are off to Cairo, Egypt for only a few days. So you may only get one email from me at the end of those two places. I will try my best though to get emails out in each.