I'm Staying!

My internship ended two weeks ago, and I was really getting worried about my future unemployment. I've been looking for jobs, but of the few jobs that were available most of them required me to have at least my masters. I don't have my masters. Sure, I'd like to get it in the future, but I'm also not quite ready to go back to school. Plus, I haven't decided what I'd like to get my masters in. Biology is broad, so there are a lot of options on masters programs and I'm not prepared to make that kind of decision right now.

Anyways, I was moping around camp trying to forget that in 10 days I was going to be unemployed and probably have to return to my job in retail when I got offered a year long instructor position. Basically, I do the same teaching stuff that I've been able to do since I finished my training, but now I get paid better for it. I also don't have to go through that busy training session again.

I'm definitely excited about staying, and a few of the people that were interns with me this past season are staying on to work for another season or two. Hopefully, it will be a great year.



Since I've been bad about putting pictures on here, these are some of my favorite pics from this past season:

1. We got stuck at the bar because the cops shut off our road so they could search for some crazy guy.

2. We were out for someone's birthday. I have no idea why Jen is pretending to sleep in this pic, but it's amazing.

3. I told that security guy that it was Scottie's birthday so she could dance on stage. It was not her birthday. That's her in the pink.

4. Out for Fantasy Fest. Jen and I were Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Danielle was some kind of cowgirl.

5. The Christmas party. Yes, Pete and I always take retarded pictures. These are not the only two.

6. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do.

Fantasy Fest

When I first went away to college, I realized that Halloween is an excuse to dress as ridiculous or as slutty as one would like to. The best part is, no one calls you a whore, unless that's what you're dressed up as, of course.

Now that I'm in the Keys, I find that Halloween weekend is turned into Halloween week, and it's called Fantasy Fest. Fantasy Fest is an excuse for men and women between the ages of 18 and 98 to not wear clothes at all and somehow call it a costume. Mostly the people who attend are between the ages of 50 and 70. Body painting is also a big deal at Fantasy Fest.

Several people were painted as Avatars this year. I saw an older woman that had a crab body painted on her stomach and it's stalk eyes were painted onto her sagging breasts. Pretty classy, if you ask me.

What was I dressed up as you might wonder....
Tinker Bell one night and a ninja turtle (Raphael) the next.

ScienceFun!

In case I ever complain about my job, please remind me of the amazing week I had last week...

First, I went skin diving at Marker 2 and saw a bunch of hogfish, grouper, snapper, and porgies and queen angelfish and cowfish. Plus I collected some pretty amazing echinoderms like a verigated sea urchin and a sea biscuit.

Then the next day I went skin diving at Looe Key and I saw a nine foot nurse shark!! It was just hanging out on the bottom under a ledge. I was basically laying on the sand on the bottom so I could see the whole thing. It was huge, but I found out they get up to 14 feet. So then I'm super excited about all the different types of coral, and the blue tangs and some baby blue tangs (these are yellow. We have no yellow tangs in the Atlantic, so if you've seen one, you are wrong. It's a juvenile blue tang.) and a bunch of parrot fish, when I start swimming back to the boat and see something even sweeter: a goliath grouper! I'm all excited, pointing it out to my snorkel buddy, when I turn around and see two even bigger ones swimming behind me.  The biggest one was at least 350 lbs. It was pretty much the highlight of my life.

A few nights after that, a key deer doe came up to me and nudged me with her nose while I was sitting on the picnic tables eating Special K cereal. She left when she realized I wasn't feeding her though. I think she's the same one that waits for me between the banana trees when I'm trying to walk to the bathroom at night. She's so sneaky...

To summarize: My job is amazing.

Changes

I've only been here for 4 weeks, but I've already dramatically changed some important details of my life.

Things I no longer do:

• Blowdry my hair
• Wear makeup
• Shave my legs when I know I'll be in a bathing suit
• Eat fast food
• Stalk people on Facebook. Yes, I mean you.

New things I worry about:

• Key Deer that hide in between banana tress waiting to scare me
• Having intense tan lines from my sunglasses
• Trying to catch a shark
• The new random bruises all over my legs
• My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume for Fantasy Fest
• Getting fat because I don't do hot yoga anymore

Things I still do:

• Eat Special K Vanilla Almond like it's my job
• Obsess about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows coming out next month

I hope everyone else is enjoying the weather cooling down. I'm not! It looks like I'm going to need to buy a wetsuit pretty soon.

Reunion!

Last weekend was the 45 year anniversary of the camp that we've been getting ready for. It turned out really well! I met a lot of people that were campers at the camp and/or were instructors at the camp in the past. I met a professional cave diver who's diving in caves in China next month and a world-famous diver from Russia.

In the time I've been down here I've given up doing anything that has to do with my looks. Now obviously, I still bathe and brush my hair and teeth and all of that, but I haven't touched a hair dryer since I've been down here and only thrice have I actually put on make-up. So on the Saturday of the reunion when we had to "dress to impress," it was a shock to see everyone looking so nice. It's hard to imagine seeing people all dressed up that you've only ever seen in bathing suits and t-shirts.

Those are my roommates, from left to right :Scottie, me, Jen, and Christine. That's Jill in the back being a creeper.

First Week

Here is my beautiful dorm that I'm living in. I'm the one on the upper left corner. By the way, there is no air conditioning...

And here's the inside. In case you think it probably looks small in the picture, it doesn't! That's just the size it is. Plus, you can't see it in this picture, but there is a door that looks like it would be a closet, but actually it's just a door leading into another room that will have campers staying in it.

In the picture below, you'll see my black car in front of a small building. That's my bathroom! I have to walk outside to get to my bathroom. There's a couple indoor showers and then some outside ones that can be used while wearing a bathing suit in case the inside ones are full. Did I mention I am only allowed one soapy shower a day?

And as everyone who I've talked to knows, I have to wake up and be at swim conditioning at 7:00 am. Here's the lovely canal where I swim:

It's kind of weird swimming laps and seeing fish swimming underneath you. There's also a baracuda that hangs out under the dock, but I haven't seen it yet, thankfully.

I know it's been short, but I only have limited time on the internet since we don't have it on the camp. Basically the only thing I've been doing since I've seen all of you is lifeguarding training and boating lessons. As of today I am officially a lifeguard! So let me know if you need CPR or anything, because I'm a professional.

New!

I'm hoping you will all be able to follow along on the weeks when I can't talk to everyone. I'm sure interning will not be glamorous at all, but maybe I'll have a few good stories to share.