In Hawaii. Next Stop: Thailand

Hey to all!

I am currently in Honolulu in a hotel. We are leaving tomorrow morning for Thailand! A 22 hour flight.. Eeek! We spent mostly all of our time on the island of Maui, in the city of Kihei. We stayed in condos that we directly across from the beach. We spent most of our mornings at class in Denny's condo, and then the afternoons snorkeling. We snorkeled three times already and I am definitely sharpening my snorkeling skills. We've seen many reef fish including triggerfish, trumpet fish, butterfly fish, and tang. We've also seen sea turtles and eels.

Apparently, those humpbacks we saw up in Alaska have also decided to make the journey to the warmer waters of Hawaii. The humpbacks head south in the winter to breed and birth their young,so we were in Hawaii during the whale season. There are about 10,000 humpbacks in the coastal waters of Hawaii where they are protected. As we were snorkeling one day at Black Rock Beach we saw 3-4 humbacks breach(jump out of the water) just about 200 yards off shore. Just like in the Pacific Life commercials :) Lots of people in the group got greats pics, howevere I was not one of them. We also went on a whale watch in which we saw sooo many whales, too many to count. And we also saw some bottle-nose dolphins.

On our free day in Maui I layed on the beach all morning and then ran on the beach with Leah. We got super sunburned. I guess my Ohio skin was not ready for Hawaii. So now I am peeling ridiculously and putting on a ton of sunscreen. (Don't worry Grandma Yoho).

Also on Maui we did a 12 mile hike down into the center of a dormant volcano called Haleakala (Holly-awk-a-la). It felt like we were on a different planet when we were in there, just picture Mars but black. The hike took 6 hours and the last hour and a half was straight uphill via switchbacks, and my calves felt like rocks the next day. (FYI Vball girls- I still have my traps though) The volcano was freezing at the top when we started and when we finished like 40 degrees!!

I have also gotten to jump off some cliffs while in Hawaii, which was soo much fun. At Black Rock I got to swim out to the rocks, climb to the top, and jump off with the native Hawaiians. (Some natives are nice, others hate tourists). We've been doing a lot of class time in Hawaii in preparation for Thailand and India in which we will not be in the same place for more than a few days at a time. All is going well so far, but the true test will come in the next few weeks as we will experience new culture and new food!

Thanks so much for responding to my emails, it really makes my day to hear from all of you at home :) Sorry if I do not respond to everyone personally, I am trying but internet access is a pain in the butt to get. I miss and love you all dearly! I will write when I can..

Next stop = Thailand

Peace,

Megan

Oh yea, and you can look at some of my Alaska pictures at this website:

http://5259.photobucket.com/albums/hh316/biometrip/

Alaska

Greetings from Alaska!!!
Well.. not really Alaska. I am in Seattle in a hotel lobby right now. There was no internet access in Alaska, that I could find, I am sure there is some :) So we are in Seattle for an overnight layover. Tomorrow we are heading out to Maui.. it's okay.. you can be jealous. I don't know how often I will be able to send out emails, but I will try and fill you all in on what I am doing every chance I get. And feel free to forward this email to anyone I forgot.

Alaska was beautiful.. cold.. but beautiful. We stayed in a real log cabin located right on the bay, Pacific Ocean, for those of you who are geographically challenged. And I mean with in about 30ft from the ocean. We stayed at a place called the Shrine of Saint Therese, a little Catholic thing, so I tried not to be too disrespectful. Haha! We saw so much wildlife I was really surprised that anything could stand to be that cold. We saw humpback whales from our living room windows coming up to feed, they are truely amazing creatures.I could watch their tales breech out of the water all day. We also saw some harbor seals, sea lions, and yes, a ton of bald eagles!!!But the bald eagle, our country's bird, is a scavenger. Sort of ironic huh?

We visited the Mendelhall Glacier, right in Juneau and got to walk right up to it across a not-so-safe frozen lake. After returning from this trip Park Services in formed us that at any moment a piece of the ice face of the glacier could cleave off and shatter the ice covering the lake, and we would have been floating. (Sorry Mom for that detail, but I am safe that's all that matters) The glacier is currently melting as well as retreating a foot a day, so it won't be there much longer. The theme of our biology course is the Effects of Global Warming on each of the Biomes we visit. So for all you nay-sayers about global warming, rent an Inconvenient Truth, and I will have pics and details first hand when I come home.. and expect to here about it :) It's been a lot of snow and icy paths in Alaska, almost everyone has taken a spill on the ice. The mountain ranges are unreal, and they are everywhere you turn in Alaska. We also got to go out once in Juneau and I actually drank dark beer, which was a first for me. And apparently in Juneau you can bring your dog with you to the bar, so there were like a ton of dogs in the bars. Which was different, but I am sure that's not going to be the only interesting experience in bars that I will be having over the course of this trip.

Well that's all I have for now. I will try my best to update you all and send a few post cards, feel free to keep me updated on your lives as well! I will be thinking about and missing you all. Take Care!

Peace,
Megan