Day 89 – Taco Day

Nov 24th

Following global studies and psych of food, I took a much-needed 3 hour nap. As soon as I woke up Julie solemnly turned to me and said, “You slept through taco day!” I was devastated. Regardless, I headed to the pool bar to grab a veggie burger, do some reading and chat with Brian and Sara. We watched the sun set and relaxed in the warm breeze that was floating across the deck. Sara and I then found the perfect oasis for studying: Becca and Britney’s room while they are not there. Fortunately, they tend to leave their door open, so we just crashed on their beds. Since none of the stuff in there is ours, there are really no distractions. Of course, Becca and Britney thought it was hilarious when they walked in on us studying without them there.

Notice in Dean’s Memo:
“Water sports in Hawaii may be postponed due to box jellies. These animals are related to, but different from jellyfish and are among the most toxic animals anywhere. Over 5,000 human deaths have been attributed to them. Unlike jellyfish, which are planktonic (unable to swim against a current), box jellies are active swimmers and hunters. Also unlike jellyfish, box jellies have rudimentary eyes that can not only discriminate between light and dark, some can also see images. But how the images/information is processed is a mystery in this animal that doesn’t have a central nervous system. Both jellyfish and box jellies have toxin they inject after stinging cells fire on contact. If you have the bad fortune to come in contact with either, wash off the area with vinegar even before removing the tentacles from your skin. A bottle of vinegar may save your life.”

Open Mic Night
Dan, Sara, Goldie and I made our way to the Union for some ‘Open Mic Night’ entertainment (and a break from work) hosted by the one-and-only Bobby. (Picture: a New-York-accent, smack-talking guy hosting.) Some of the acts were absolutely amazing. Michelle, a girl I had met on the ship, blew me away with her soulful, jazzy piano solo. Linda (remember the solo interpretive dance from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’?) sang her own song about Thanksgiving, which was actually really good. Some were absolutely horrible, but I’ll leave them nameless. I have to admit some of them were absolutely hilarious despite being shamelessly embarrassing.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was watching our own version of ‘Explorer Idol’ (bc some people were absolutely, blow-me-away amazing… and others just embarrassed themselves)! My “low” was finding out we might not be able to swim in Hawaii because of killer box jellies.