Anti-Food Waste/Zucchini Overload

A few weeks ago, my co-workers and I were working at Dogwood Farms in New Jersey and we came across an entire box of zucchini. The farmers we were helping gave us the entire box for free because it wasn’t “sell-able”, which I always knew was a problem in the food industry, but I had never wanted to come to come face to face with this overwhelming issue. Seeing the waste in real life was a whole different story. The other interns and I took the zucchini back to our cottages and split it up. Now, some of us like veggies more than others, so I ended up with a much larger share than I originally anticipated.

The amount of this squash that we had was overwhelming at first, but then some of us got creative-like me! I used this zucchini to my advantage; I barely make $15 a day and groceries can be quite a financial burden (especially with a brand new Prius to finish paying off), so I started incorporating zucchini into every meal. So, I thought that I would share some of my favorite zucchini recipes that I tried out on here in case anyone else LOVES zucchini or happens to be stuck with an entire box-full of zucchini in the near future.

Crustless Zucchini Quiche
http://atreatsaffair.com/crustless-zucchini-quiche-recipe/
What is great about this recipe is that it only needs 4 ingredients! I also was able to substitute the ingredients with lactose for lactose-free substitutes. I used lactose-free milk and daiya cheese and it turned out just fine 🙂

No-noodle Zucchini Lasagna
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/172958/no-noodle-zucchini-lasagna/
I was able to make this successfully without a mandolin, but I also had gigantic (I kid you not) zucchini squashes. In addition, I substituted the beef for Italian chicken sausage and it was still tasty. Still sticking to being flexitarian, not pescatarian or vegetarian.

Zucchini Bread
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6698/moms-zucchini-bread/
I would have used my grandmother’s recipe instead, but I am a fool and did not bring it. Still, this recipe that I found on the internet worked really well. I still have a loaf in my freezer and shredded up the leftover zucchini and froze it so that I can make several more loaves in the future.

So, overall I made 1 large lasagna, 3 quiches, 2 loaves of banana bread, and some of the zucchini I simply sauteed and paired with salmon. All of this and I STILL have shredded, leftover zucchini in the freezer to make more bread in the future. Being resourceful pays off. I already had most of the ingredients in the pantry or fridge, which was very convenient. I say, go befriend a farmer and take their “ugly” fruits and vegetables off of their hands.

Family and cancelled Firefly Festivals

Fireflies at Duke Farms

I had both the best AND worst weekend ever. Why, you may ask? Firefly Festival, the nighttime festival that I have been working on for the past two months, was cancelled both Friday and Saturday due to unfavorable weather. My family (mom, grandma, and sister) flew across the country to attend this unique event at Duke Farms, but the thunderstorms and tremendous rain prevented this. It was really upsetting that my family did not get to experience what I worked so hard on, but it was also really nice that it got cancelled so that I could spend more time with them! So, it was definitely bittersweet.

My mom, grandma, and sister flew in Friday and had planned on attending Firefly Festival on Saturday. Friday night they got in around dinner time so I was able to go to a local restaurant, Alfonso’s, with them that serves incredible New Jersey pizza. My grandmother enjoyed it immensely; I got salmon and nibbled on some of Isabel’s pizza because the people I work with are obsessed with Alfonso’s and I have had more pizza while working here than I have in the past three years. When I asked my grandma if she enjoyed her pizza she grinned and said, “yes, there’s just nothing like it!”

The next day my family and I toured the property together. It was really nice to be a tourist in my own backyard! I had never taken a ride on the tram before and I was able to truly soak in the beauty of the landscape. I read all of the informational signs around the buildings and was able to tell my family fun facts that I have picked up from co-workers about certain areas. I ALSO stopped and saw the Great Falls running for more than two minutes, which is crazy. Walking around with them made me realize how much I take this place for granted. Once the weather is nicer I certainly must walk around more. On Saturday I didn’t have to go to work until 3pm, which was nice. It was an overcast day, but it was perfect for walking around the expansive farm. The festival was cancelled again on Saturday night, which was unfortunate, but there ended up being a lot of rain and lightning. Having the festival cancelled also meant that I would not be getting the free pizza that was promised for volunteers, so I went out to dinner with my family instead! We went to Wolfgang’s on Main Street in Somerville. It was so fancy that their salad was literally a slice of a tomato and a slice of an onion. When the waiter served the salad to my mom and grandmother, we all chuckled. We certainly did not belong as such a high-scale restaurant. I also didn’t get carded and drank some marvelous wine from California.

My supervisor was kind enough to let me have Sunday off so that my family and I could spend more time together. I already had Monday off, so getting Sunday off as well allowed for two days filled of family fun! Sunday we went into the city. We took the train from Somerville Station to New York Penn Station, which was very pleasant. I really like train rides and hope to take the train more often when I go back to California. Once in New York City, we made our way to Times Square and caught the Big Bus Tour to the stop nearest to the 9/11 memorial. It was really crazy being at ground zero. I remember being in second grade and seeing the teachers crying and being overwhelmed and confused and scared. It was a tragic day, but the memorial was so beautiful and peaceful. I am really glad that I had the chance to see it. We then got lost and found the most AMAZING place to stop for lunch: P.J. Clarke’s on the Hudson. I had the TASTIEST organic turkey burger. I am drooling just thinking about it. We then headed over to the Minskoff Theatre to see The Lion King. It was one of the most magical things that I have ever had the chance to see and I am so glad that I got to experience it with some of my favorite people (but sadly without my dad)! We found a cute place called Pick-A-Bagel for dinner so Izzy and I could get a delicious NY bagel with lox. Afterwards, I found a cute coffee shop and had lattes with my grandma before we headed back to the train station. I, of course, had a wonderful double-dirty lavender latte. I am pretty predictable.

Sunday was spent first at DCH Brunswick Toyota, then in Nutley. I am going to omit the terrible description of my experience at DCH Brunswick Toyota for my own sake; I wish not to relive it. But, we drove to Nutley in my new car!!! My car, who has yet to be named, is so nice that I am almost too scared to drive it. It is so precious and it makes my heart happy to know how great my gas mileage is. I got a PRIUS V THREE and I am so happy with it. It is like my volvo Sheila, but way more eco-friendly and is a 2016 instead of a 1998. I will be broke for the next five years, but at least I will be “practicing what I preach.”

We spent the day tracking down my grandmother’s old houses and it was really fun seeing her face light up as she recalled neighbors and fond (and not so fond) memories at each house. I have never seen more charming houses. The houses here on the east coast have far more character than any houses I have seen in California. I wish I could pick one up and transplant it to the west coast. We visited my great, great-grandmother and grandfather at the cemetery, leaving them some fake flowers to brighten up the area and to show all visitors that the Chapins are loved! We saw my grandmother’s middle school and high school and got to hear really lovely stories. We ended the night at a tasty place called Luna Wood Fire Tavern.  Afterwards, we headed back to central Jersey and, unfortunately, said our goodbyes. Luckily I left my purse in my mom’s rental car so she and Isabel had to say goodbye to me TWICE.

My family honestly could not have come at a better time. Also, Firefly Festival was rescheduled! It is now happening this upcoming Friday (July 15th) and is supposed to be chaotic, with approximately 3,000 people expected. Time to get to work! I have had several obstacles to overcome the last two months and having my family come reminded me how much I am loved and how much there is to look forward to upon my return to California.

I love New Jersey, the lush vegetation, the people, and the pizza, but I am really excited to come home in September.

Sedge Island

I guess work can’t be too bad when your supervisor requires you to go on a two day trip to Sedge Island. Being forced to kayak, play in the mud, and catch clams is really quite terrible. Just kidding, of course! Look at how beautiful the sunrise was! Although there were certainly a lot of fun and games, there was a lot of learning involved as well. We learned a lot about marine conservation and various aspects of the the Sedge Island ecosystem. We discussed a lot of ongoing environmental issues and we were even brave enough to talk about the upcoming election and how that may affect environmental issues in the United States.

We spent time discussing how to be better educators and how to explain complex, scientific ideas to people who are not a part of the scientific community. It was really helpful and we truly had a lot of fun with the staff and interns on the island.

We also got to see a lot of diamondback terrapins laying their eggs around the island. The other interns and I got to help count and measure the eggs because there was a student staying on the island who is conducting research on female terrapins. Katie, shown to my left, is studying these beautiful creatures in order to determine whether they can sense the salinity of the soil that they are laying their eggs in. I look forward to reading about what she ends up discovering!

We spent one of the nights on the island clamming, which I had never done before. I ended up catching 19 clams, but we ended up throwing some of them back. We cooked the clams and made a nice garlic and butter sauce and ate them over pasta for dinner. It was really awesome being able to eat food that you caught yourself. I also learned how to fish the next morning, although I did not manage to catch anything (and it was catch-and-release anyway). It was great learning new skills while soaking up some much needed sun! Now, who is going to go fishing with me back in California?

Sedge was a great experience and I am lucky to have had the chance to explore such a neat place. Although it is nice to have a place to shower back at the farm, I wish I was still kayaking around and catching clams. A few days before we left for Sedge, I finally snapped a photo of the baby fox I have been stalking, which I had mentioned in my previous blog post. Isn’t it adorable?

I have been spending my free time cross-stiching, reading, and procrastinating on studying for the much-dreaded GRE. I’m just trying to keep busy, especially since my cottage-mate is never here and I have a lot of time to myself. I will post a photo of my cross-stich project once I am a bit further a long. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

 

Graduation? Real world? AmeriCorps? WordPress?

So, I kind of graduated from college?! Weird. The last few months of college absolutely flew by and…. it was surprisingly easy. I managed to get 100% on my last three final exams of undergrad while working 20+ hours a week to save up for a new car. I’d say that is a pretty good way to wrap up my time at California Lutheran University! Good thing I was already planning to get a new car, because my 1998 Volvo (named Sheila) refused to pass SMOG after I got home and she is headed to the dump any day now. Yeah, it would be silly to invest in $1600 worth of repairs on a car that isn’t even currently worth that much.

The only downside of the chaos that was graduation is the fact that I feel like I didn’t actually get to say goodbye to my roommates, other than Christina (only because she had to go to Ventura with me to meet up with her friend Erick before they flew to Jordan for an incredible adventure, which I have very much enjoyed stalking on social media!). We were all so focused on packing up our lives into tiny boxes with very little time to do so between final exams, working, cap decorating, and packing. Luckily, two of my roommates will be living in Simi, so I will surely see them once I am home. I had so many wonderful family members, neighbors, and friends come to the graduation ceremony and to the celebratory lunch at my house. I am so grateful to have such a supportive family along with a wonderful community back home.

I  am about two weeks into my internship in New Jersey and all is well. Well, except for the bugs. Apparently I came during one of the worst tick seasons yet. I have found seven on me/around me so far; two of these were on my pillow as I was trying to go to sleep. It is slightly terrifying, but I am trying to keep my cool. I have probably texted

My backyard

my mom about a million times saying “If I get lyme disease and die, I love you” or complaining about the six or seven mosquito bites on my FACE. Some of the other interns and I went hiking for two hours at Lord Stirling Park, which hosted a plethora of mosquitoes. This was likely due to the fact that it was basically a swamp and it was ninety degrees outside. Why did we think this was a good idea? I will never know. Anyhow, I am an Environmental Education Intern here and I have a wonderful housing arrangement. I have my own room in a cottage and ride my bike or walk to work (biking takes 15 minutes, walking takes about 35 minutes). It is certainly a great workout and we are all really active here, even on our days off. When the weather does not cooperate we will sometimes ride the golf cart to work, but those days aren’t as fun.

We work most weekends since that is when people come to the farm to ride their bikes and explore the meadows, but we get random week days off to make up for it. I spend my days off riding my bike, reading, watching nature documentaries (Jumbo Wild and Virunga so far), studying for the GRE, and deciding what in the world I am going to do with my degree/life. Soon all of the wildflowers will be in bloom and it will be perfect weather for fireflies. I saw my first firefly ever the other day and was so excited and the other interns, who have all grown up on the east coast, thought I was a freak. Whatever, it was cool. I can’t wait until the meadows are full of them. We are currently preparing our educational tables for Firefly Festival, which is apparently a huge success here at Duke Farms.

The wildlife here is incredible. I have seen two baby foxes, but didn’t have my Nikon either time. I have been trying to stalk them, but that hasn’t worked out yet.  The birds here are stunning and I am attempting to become a “birder. I am also working on my plant identification skills, since this is an important skill that is being lost in the natural sciences. I am hoping this will give me an advantage over other job and graduate school applicants, but it is also entertaining and plants are neat. I am already planning out a native plant garden for my parent’s house and am going to use the skills I obtain while helping on the local farms to develop a wonderful vegetable garden in Ventura as well; watch out mom and dad! My supervisor signed me up for a really cool workshop with Will Allen from Growing Power this weekend covering topics such as composting/vermiculture, micro-green production, mycoscaping, aquaponics, and much more. I am so excited and I am sure I will have much more to share throughout my New Jersey journey, especially once I sneak a picture of that baby fox.

 

 

Bad at Blogging

Some of my flatmates. Missing Eli, Sariah, and Meredith

……But, I’m back in the U.S.A.! Wow. Sorry for leaving you all hanging. Thailand was a truly incredible experience and the 4-day Bangkok to Chiang Mai Adventure Tour through STA Travel was so great. Once I get my goPro compilation video completed for Thailand I will look back at my journal and do a complete blog post on my experiences in Thailand. I have been so busy, it is insane. After getting back from Thailand I had 36 hours to do laundry and pack up my entire life in Perth, Western Australia so that I could say goodbye to my friends and flatmates and head to Sydney to reunite with my family. I had a wonderful “Goodbye Brunch” at my absolute favorite breakie place in WA called Breaks. Meredith, my flatmate from Texas, couldn’t make the brunch because she was on a plane flying back from New Zealand, but she was luckily able to join Eli in taking me to the airport.

Hello from the Rose Family!

I had to check three bags in just to get to Sydney because my carry-on was far too heavy. I guess I collected too much during my time in Australia. I met my family in Sydney after running on two hours of sleep and we had two fun-filled weeks. Our vacation together was really incredible. If you want to get a great less-than-four-minute overview of our trip, watch my goPro compilation video on Facebook that I put together! It was so great to see my family once again and introduce them to Australia’s culture. One of my favorite parts was Cairns because not only did we get to see parts of the Great Barrier Reef, but it was the only warm place we traveled to! Sydney was rainy, Auckland was chilly, and Queenstown was full of snow. It was all really great, but it is good to be back in the United States.

After a week I am almost unpacked and moved back into my old room. I have been sleeping in the guest bedroom, which is really nice…but I really need to get rid of old stuff and get organized and situated back in my own room. I was supposed to be living in Thousand Oaks this summer taking Human Physiology at Cal Lutheran, but things change and there are certainly perks to living in Ventura with my family. I get to organize my life and prepare to step out into the real world next summer in the comfort of my own home. I get to walk my dogs and take care of my garden. I get to train by the beach for my next race and I get to blog outside with a jumbo cup of coffee. I get to pick avocados and lemons with Kalani on her property and satisfy my avocado addiction. I don’t have to pay rent just yet and I can save money for fun events, like seeing Lindsey Stirling at the Santa Barbara Bowl with Devin in August! I was able to spend my 4th of July with my favorite people. My poor mama was sick, but I had such a great time with my dad downtown at the street fair and we split a lovely lunch at Grapes and Hops while enjoying sangria and mimosas. I was able to watch the fireworks with my best friend, her grandparents, and my boyfriend. All of these things might have turned out differently if I were living somewhere else; even though Thousand Oaks is a short distance away, these activities would not have been as convenient.

This summer is going to be great. I may not have been able to get a hostessing job anywhere at all, but at least I have 5 wonderful kids to nanny for and I have plenty of time to better myself and enjoy life. I have time to see Sierra Smith and dance our problems away at our silly little Zumba class and I have time to spend my evenings at the studio cycling class with Briana and Kalani.

After four busy and exciting months in Perth, I was not looking forward to coming home to boring ol’ Ventura once again, but it’s not all that bad. Looking on the bright side of life is great and I look forward to the experiences that are in store for me this summer. Goodbye for now, Perth.

First stop Malaysia

Next stop Thailand. Our layover is almost over and the beginning of our adventure is so close! It has been a long day of travel. Ilanah missed our flight and is joining us tomorrow and Hayley decided not to come after checking in. ‘Tis life. You think you have things all figured out and planned and then nothing happens as expected!

Didn’t bring my laptop on this trip. Looks like you will have to wait until next Saturday for a new Thailand blog post. Please pray for safe flights and safe travels for my group! Thanks heaps.

Ningaloo Reef Experience

Hello! This evening I returned from my 8 day trip exploring the Ningaloo Reef and the creatures on it. We worked with the Department of Parks and Wildlife once again and assisted an honors student with her project on the giant clam. The field work consisted of waking up at 5am every day to be on the road by 6am so that we could survey clams at low tide without being tossed around by the waves. We used haphazard sampling and threw a quadrat around 25  times at each site and counted how many clams and sea urchins we found all together. Everything was great and the weather was beautiful. The water was warm and we had a lot of time to explore and see the unique megafauna around the reef.

Prior to sampling and determining giant clam abundances within the Ningaloo Marine Park, we spent two days in Coral Bay. Normally, CIEE students and our director Paul drive up to Coral Bay and Exmouth which takes 2 or 3 days. Instead, with only three people in our program, we flew up, saved money, and had extra time to snorkel and enjoy the area of Western Australia where the desert meets the ocean. In Coral Bay we swam with manta rays. We saw TONS of them barrel rolling. They were so close that I could have touched them (but of course I didn’t since they are wild animals). There was also the opportunity to swim with a tiger shark, but I wasn’t quite brave enough for that. I also went on a sunset ATV tour which got my adrenaline pumping. I got going up to 57 kilometers per hour while watching the sun set upon the beach. It was more fun than I expected….maybe Devin will teach me how to ride a motorbike once I get home.

Sampling clams was a lot of fun, but it was a totally different experience than working with woylies. We just counted the clams and measured how long they were. As the tide rolled in, this meant using our snorkel, flipping upside down in the water, and trying not to float away while trying to get a precise measurement. It was hard at times especially in deep water. I ended up wearing my rain paints in the water to try to get some extra protection from the bugs. There were sand flies and mosquitoes eating me alive every second! I think these bug bites are going to take quite a while to heal. There was also one day of sampling where we saw a small animal moving on the beach looking quite confused. It turned out to be a baby green turtle walking away from the beach instead of towards it. Paul, Eric, and I took a moment to appreciate the beautiful baby sea turtle and took some candid shots before releasing it and watching it happily swim away into the ocean. Normally, you aren’t supposed to handle sea turtles, but if we had left the juvenile there any longer a bird or feral cat would have easily swooped it up and eaten it.

The CIEE group stayed at a placed called Yardie Station. We were surrounded by red dirt and tons of fossils of sea life from millions of years ago. I found some awesome pieces of coral and am hoping to give one to my Paleontology professor when I return to California Lutheran University in the fall. Eric, Paul, and I went on evening walks to try and get some pictures of kangaroo and to see what fossils we could find. We ran into a lot of kangaroo skeletons along the way. Slightly gross, kind of interesting…It was an adventure.

The last day of surveying, Paul, Eric, and I had to go to a site by ourselves. We really just wanted to get it over with, so we might have been secretly praying that we wouldn’t find any clams so it would go quickly. When we got there, the bugs attacked me. Eric said he looked at me and thought that he was looking at my hair, but it was moving. I was covered in a thick layer of mosquitos.  I threw myself into the water to try to get some relief but I really couldn’t. I was being eaten alive. Paul and Eric got a good laugh out of it, but I could feel each and every bite. At the end of surveying, we all made a run for the car. Paul and Eric recommended that I leave my snorkel mask on and cover my mouth, cheeks, and lower face with my rashie (rashguard). I proceeded to do so and sprinted towards the car looking absolutely ridiculous. I had a swarm of bugs surrounding me and my goggles started to fog up so I couldn’t see where I was going. I was the last to reach the car and Paul pulled out of the sand dunes as if we were in an Indiana Jones movie. It was insane, but being eaten alive by bugs makes you do insane things. Eric and I both wish that we had used our goPro cameras to film the ridiculous series of events. My nickname of the trip was “spotty” because my arms legs, back, neck, and face were spotted with bug bites. There are many photos of me drinking cider, watching the sunset, or even just sitting and chatting with my shirt or rashie pulled over half of my face. No matter how much bug spray I used, nothing could save me.

The last full day that we had near Exmouth, Eric and I decided to go swimming with Whale Sharks. It was a full day tour and the crew and skipper were so fantastic. The water was warm and they provided us with so much information about the gigantic and graceful animals that we had the opportunity to swim with. We went for a morning snorkel to make sure that all of our gear worked just fine. By this point, I had been snorkeling so much that nothing was really new and exciting, but it was still beautiful. Then we were off to find whale sharks. The boat was in communication with a plane overhead that let us know where whale sharks were surfacing. Over the course of the day we swam with two whale sharks and were in the water 5 times. I was group one, so after the guide jumped in we were the next group. “Go go go go!” was our cue to get in the water as quietly and quickly as possible to swim towards the gentle giant. We situated ourselves so that it would swim right past us and we got a really great view. As soon as the whale started to pass us we had to turn and kick as fast as humanly possible in order to keep up with it. It was a really great day because we also saw a humpback whale

and cruised along side of it for a while. We also saw a tiger shark and a dugong. I can’t really explain how cool the day was, so I guess you are just going to have to come to the beautiful World Heritage Site that is the Ningaloo Reef and see for yourself.

We cooked dinner for each other every night and had cocktail hour at 6pm every night drinking beer and cider and talking about music, movies, life, futures, dreams, etc. It was a really fun experience. It is sad to think that is was my last time traveling with this group of people. Now it is time for me to do heaps of laundry, eat the remaining food in my flat, and crush these 2 papers, 1 presentation, 2 final exams, and class blog so I can enjoy Thailand and my family’s arrival to the land down under.

Thank you for being such loyal blog followers throughout my semester here. I am sad that it is coming to an end.

Bali Break

Hello! Today is my first day back after a lovely 4 days and 5 nights in Indonesia! I still am technically on study break until Sunday night, but I have to be at the airport at 3:30am on Monday to fly to Exmouth so that I can do research on the giant clam at Ningaloo Reef. Although I am sad that my time in Bali was very short, I was able to see and do so much and enjoy myself after turning in my 7,000 word, 32-page research paper on the woylie.

Last Friday we flew to Denpasar airport and made our way to the hotel. We traveled with only cary-ons which made life so much easier once we landed at the airport. It was Rp. 95,000 to get from the airport to our hotel, The 101 Bali Legian. This is the equivalent of about $8 and split between four people it was great. When going to the taxi, a bag-boy grabbed my friend’s duffelbag from her; she had never been traveling before and didn’t realize that he would expect her to pay him for his help. This turned into an argument once we loaded into the taxi and he left without any tip. It was quite an awkward first exchange in Bali, but although Bali is cheap…nothing is free!

$30 a night split between two people, wifi, continental breakfast…it was great!

The 101 Bali Legian was extremely nice. We had to have our bags scanned before we entered the hotel and had to pass through a metal detector machine. Our hotel had a STARBUCKS inside of it. I was shocked! There are no Starbucks in Western Australia and only a few on the East Coast, so I was not expecting to see Starbucks in Indonesia. I didn’t get coffee or order anything there for the first few days because I was really skeptical about the water. We found our rooms, settled in, and got to bed around 2am. We needed sleep because the next morning we were being picked up at 8am for Bali Adventure Tours.

So much fun getting splashed in the front

Despite how tired we were on Saturday, we had a full day ahead of us. The tour we booked took us white water rafting on the Ayung River in Ubud, transfered us to a large buffet, and then brought us to the Elephant Safari Park where we rode elephants and go to take endless pictures with them! White water rafting was extremely fun. The water was warm and after seeing some Aussies on another raft jump in and swim I debated doing it myself. I was already soaking wet, but I ended up not having the chance. It was exciting and great exercise. Being constantly splashed with water, getting stuck on large rocks, and seeing numerous waterfalls along the way was excellent. Afterwards we went to our lockers back at the tour’s headquarters and got changed for lunch and the elephant tour.

The buffet was excellent and we helped ourselves to many Balinese dishes.The Elephant Safari Park was a lot of fun. We had to wait an extra hour because it was an extremely busy day for them with over 400 people coming through. We got to ride the elephant and take endless pictures with them. I love elephants and, from this picture to the right, it looks like they love me, too!

Day number two we ended up finding a private driver that took us around for 8 hours. The cost of this was only Rp. 600,000, about $50 U.S. dollars. We went to see handmade silver and gold jewelry and went to a town full of painters. We saw a local temple and explored around Ubud. At the end of the day we got to go to the Sacred Monkey Forest. I got some monkeys to hop onto my shoulder by holding their snack, sweet potato, near me. They were pretty friendly, but also very tricky. Nina left her hand sanitizer in the outside pocket of her backpack. She accidentally put her backpack on the ground and a monkey ran away with it. I tried to get it back but the monkey sort of hissed at me and showed me its sharp, scary teeth. It unscrewed the top of the hand sanitizer and began to drink it. I kept trying to get the hand sanitizer back, but it was too late. Needless to say, there is now one dead monkey in the Sacred Monkey Forest because of this experience. I was really sad that I couldn’t prevent it. We also went to a spice and coffee plantation and sampled many different types of tea. This is also where I tried Luwak coffee; this is when they collect the coffee beans from the poop of mongoose and then sanitize and brew them. It was quite an interesting experience. I was really hesitant to try it at first, but Meredith and Chloe ordered some and I figured that I might as well…”when in Rome”, right?

The third day we had a LONG tour of the Northern part of the island. We went to Bedugul & Singaraja. We spent many hours in a very sketchy bus that I didn’t think would make it up some of the hills. My favorite part of the day was the Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, the temple on the lake. Bedugul was beautiful and it was much cooler and less humid than Legian. We took many photos, saw the wedding outfits of a Hindu couple that was being wed, and explored the gardens. I am really lucky to have had such a great group of CIEE girls to travel with.

The last day of my trip, Tuesday, we hired our private driver again. His name was Ketut. He took us to an area where we could do watersports. We ended up going to turtle island and parasailing. I almost didn’t have the courage to do parasailing, but it was approximately $20 U.S. dollars so I figured it was a deal and I had to do it. We then had a nice and relaxing beach day. Meredith and I were little fish and went swimming in the clean and clear waters of Dreamland Beach and Padang Padang Beach while the other girls sunbathed. I cannot believe that some people will travel all the way to Bali and then not go in the water at the nice beaches! It really blows my mind. Dreamland beach was beautiful, but the waves were huge and one took Meredith and I under the water for a long period of time. I lost my fake Ray Ban sunglasses that I had bargained really hard for the previous night. Padang Padang Beach was my favorite. I drank coconut water and then stayed in the water until I absolutely had to get out. Padang Padang Beach was apparently used in the movie Eat Pray Love; now I feel like I must go watch the movie!

Our last stop was at Uluwatu temple where, again, there were tricky monkeys. We saw the sun set and then left to grab some dinner in Legian before Nina and I left the next morning. Uluwatu was really beautiful. It is situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was an excellent last night in Bali and this is a trip I will never forget.

Que Sera, Sera. Whatever Will Be, Will Be.

Sea glass hunting at Bathers Beach to take a break from the library

I have almost survived my massive paper. It is due tomorrow night, May 7th, and I am currently at 6,725 words with 33 pages including all of the lovely graphs and figures that I have constructed after spending days of my life sorting through a really sloppy database. The title of my blog is based on my current mood; I have come to realize that no matter what grade I receive on this assignment…I AM IN AUSTRALIA for Pete’s sake. I thought that I should update the blog so that you all know that I am alive and doing (somewhat) well. I unfortunately have gotten really sick within the last week due to a bad cold going around combined with my lovely insomnia, which I hoped had gone away forever. Five out of the eight people in my flat are sick. I really miss Nyquil and medicine that I recognize. I should have packed some with me! But aside from being sick some interesting things have happened. For instance, this past Monday I began my Marine Biology and Ecology course. My long research paper is my last assignment for my Conservation Biology course aside from the final exam and the course blog that I have been keeping. Marine Biology has been interesting so far. Today we went to AQWA, The Aquarium of Western Australia. It was really exciting to see all of the beautiful animals up close. It makes me really excited for all of the species that I will see in two weeks when I fly to Ningaloo Reef for research on the giant clam.

Go West Coast Eagles!

This past weekend I also attended a professional footy game! Footy is the Australian Football League (AFL). We cheered for West Coast Eagles, the team from Perth. They played the Giants, a young team from Sydney, and beat them by over 70 points. I must say, it wasn’t a very interesting or competitive game, but it was still heaps of fun to see the locals passionately supporting their home team and cheering them on. As I have said before, I much prefer AFL to NFL. Australian Football is constantly going with no interruptions for substitutions or injuries. The medics run onto the field and address players as needed and subs just happen. The game flows and there is really never a dull moment (well, except when your team is ahead by 70 points).  Plus, I like how in AFL they “drop-kick” the ball like in soccer. If you haven’t seen the game played I really recommend checking it out on youtube.

For those of you that don’t already know from older blog posts, I am headed to Indonesia this Friday! What a great few days it will be exploring a new land. I will be spending my time in Bali. The first day we will be going whitewater rafting and riding elephants. I am so excited I might cry! Then on Sunday we have a free day. I am hoping to collect some sea glass, spend time at the markets, and surf at some point. Monday we will be taking a full day tour of Bedugul and Singaraja. Tuesday we have left open so that if there is something that sounds appealing we have the time for it. We are thinking of going to the monkey temples and finding a good place to catch the sunset. I look forward to

1) turning in this darn assignment
2) sharing my photos and experiences from Bali with you once I return

Now, I am off to the 24-hour section of the library again. Eric and I were both at the library until the wee hours of the morning. I left at 2am but apparently he managed to work until 5:30am. I am hoping that I will not be spending as much time there tonight. Best!