Giggle Time

February 1^st 2013 (12:45 P.M.)

           Last night I ended up going out with the other interns but was back early enough to not break curfew. I only had a couple drinks. I did dominate in a little beer pong though. It’s good to know the game is worldwide and that I can display my superior skills internationally. There was a going away barbecue for the interns leaving with plenty of beer and food and it was actually a great time. I have only been at the program for a couple hours but that definitely qualifies me to participate. Supposedly there is a welcome barbecue tonight for all the new interns so I’m getting the best of both worlds.
         
                 Of the entire group of interns, only one was remaining for additional months and since she had work early in the morning as well, I just made sure she let me know when she was leaving the bar so I could catch the same taxi. Our hotel provides a free shuttle throughout the town, but I’m not quite sure as to how the whole process works. I’m sure I will pick everything up shortly but until then, I will just watch and learn.

                 This morning, my first assignment was called Land Dolphin. The assignment was to travel to one of the six designated sites and periodically check for dolphin migrations from the land. It was me, another intern and a field specialist. We would document things like weather, visibility, wave sizes, etc. and check for any dolphins in the area using binoculars. It was an easy first assignment. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dolphins. I felt as though I was on the Cape May Whale Watching boat. I thought I did see a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but could not be sure. It was only a couple of hours.
This afternoon I will be working in the aquarium with baby benthic sharks. Also, we need an octopus for one of the tanks so we will be going in the water to catch one. I guess it’s easier than I think because I’ve lived on the water my whole life and never caught an octopus. I am in South Africa though. I’m really excited to work with the sharks. I talked to the interns and they said the aquarium is awesome. I love fish tanks so they have no idea how excited I am. I try to avoid giggling fairly often when talking to them about what I’m going to be doing.

                I asked about some of the upcoming weekend trips and this is just a small amount of what I’m going to be doing.

-          Cage diving with Great White Sharks

-          Open water scuba diving with blue sharks and black tip reef sharks (Dad this is the shark we caught off the cove in Brigantine)

-          Bungee jumping

-          Free diving courses (this is amazing because I can use all the help I can get holding my breath)

-          Trips to Cape Town, South Africa

-          Sport Fishing

-          Mountain Climbing

                Insert giggling now.