Reporting to you here, live from the post (week 5) - By: Cindyjo Keomani Boungnavath

Keith from the South Beach Annex
(don't mess with him, he comes equipped)

Szia, everyone!

WATCH OUT, KEITH WILL GET YA!
...or not, he's not very scary

This week's latest UPDATE! Thanks for tuning in once again into my weekly thoughts- It was a fun and successful week as we had an Exchange Day where the other COSEE interns that work at OIMB (Oregon Institute of Marine Biology) came to visit us here at Hatfield, HMSC, visited a friend's tuna boat that he captains, stopped at Cook's Chasm (home to Thor's Well) and got my first piece of mail from back home!

Firstly, with the Exchange Day, it was quite eventful as we finally met the three other interns: Peter, Jezzi, and Leyia that'd we've only heard about but not yet interacted with. It was a great time meeting and greeting one another as we toured the campus here at HMSC, talked about our interests and work in the lab/field over delicious Thai Food, acquainted the team of COSEE interns and some of the directors of the program what I did for field work at Otter Rock, one of the designated areas for a Marine Reserve, and lastly ended with a splendid meal of hotdogs, burgers, and chips at the home of Ithung Cheung (which by the way overlooks Agate Beach and captures all its beauty, with of course, the comfort of a "burgerdog" (half burger half hotdog between two open slices of hotdog buns with ALL the fixings) in my hands. It was a glorious sight with the accompanying smell of grilled meats.

SB Annex

Don't be surprised to what you find...you were warned

under-water camera used on dives

On the road

CAUTION: Driver possesses too much happy-
is dangerous to a passenger with her rockin' lip syncing/singing

Watch out, here we come (on our way to Otter Rock)

Beach adventures

finger "points" (again, purposeful pun) out carving in cave

A couple days after that, I met a tuna fisherman that had just docked the New(port)² (wink, nudge, and a smile in hopes of joke being understood, eh.....eh?) from one of his trips where he spent nine days out fishing. We chatted about work and realized how both intermingle and work cooperatively as a system. I later asked if he could let me see what the boat looked and ran like. He agreed. I asked a few of my friends to come along so they could experience it as well, and man was it just like we imagined. It was a rough and tough kind of boat, but it was fun to see him go through each one of his navigational devices, maps, gps, defroster, anchor, etc. and he disclosed some of his sweet catch spots that he hits when on his trips. It was a blast to meet a captain of a tuna boat and in the near future hope to help with ones' trips!

Tuna boat

tuna boat out and about

after over a week out fishing, the boat can now rest
steadily at the dock

That Saturday, I also had to do some field-work at Cape Perpetua, and all those times that I've driven up and down HWY 101, I've only thought about stopping at Thor's Well, however that never really manifested until 7/26. It's amazing how many hidden beauties exist at the bottom of your nose, those that you never really take the time to acknowledge and appreciate. It was spectacular and couldn't believe that that was what I was passing up just because of how I allowed time to dictate my next move. I've learned since then...I hope.

Thor's Well

snapshot of Thor's Well, seen at Cape Perpetua, OR

And lastly, however still exciting- I received my first piece of mail from a loved one! I got a letter with some sweet words, lovely attempted drawings, a very much needed Minion watch, and pictures.

As this next week approaches and as I fall into each day, I look forward to our, the interns here at HMSC, trip to OIMB to see life through their eyes there. I, also, secretly am excited to experience the cafeteria-style breakfast, lunch, and dinner there at OIMB. We, here at HMSC, have to prepare our own meals and wipe our areas clean (no complaints here, just description) whereas at OIMB they are provided meals...an aspect of which I haven't decided if ours is a curse of blessing, but nonetheless a great time! But hey, that's just a secret jubilation I have (insert giddiness).

Mahalo~