Write me a love song?

Dear Ocean,

I'll be seeing you in a few minutes... today is spring break, and let me tell you it has been amazing so far. Yesterday Xenia and I, in our latest tradition, layed on a blanket in the "quad" for a few hours, attracting a funny crowd. Niko, Joshua, Armando, Jared, Andres, and a few others joined us for at least part of the time to enjoy the beauty of the day. Yassine also joined us (by request) and serenaded us with love songs as we dreamed about the world. After everyone else left, he played a very appropriate "just the two of us" and some great "somewhere over the rainbow" before we decided to waste away the rest of the day by the pool.

Today I was dared to wear my wetsuit to Evans Dining hall, which I did. And then dared Yassine to write me a love song. I don't care if it's a dare, he's still going to do it.

love,
whitney!

Squirrel Slapping

So my friend Chris started this game called squirrel slapping, and the object of the game is to ... slap a squirrel. I've never succeeded, but apparently he's a pro, and actually got one on video:
http://cnagel90.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/you-know-those-things-have-rabies/

I'm not sure if I approve, but it's pretty dang funny.

Quiet Morning

Dear Ocean,

I think that if we could have pets in our dorm room, and if I was more responsible, and if I had friends who supported my decisions, I would go back to the flea market right now and buy this puppy. Look how tiny she is! And then I would adopt a kitten from the Sarah McLaughlin commercials because they just rip at my heart. Yesterday I was watching Boondock Saints with Jonathan and Karan, and had Jonathan not changed the channel when that commercial came on, I probably would have started crying.

Family will be here next week! FUN! I'm going to make a really fun schedule of all the things we can do here and all the people to meet them. I hope they like it here. Anyways, I'm thinking about joining a spanish choir at a church nearby, but I can't decide if it is too far of a bike ride (google says 4.7 miles) for a Thursday night. Plus, I can't speak or sing spanish well. Good adventure, right?

See you soon!

love,

whitney!

Because Hotspots Don't Need Luck

Dear Ocean,
I had my first big test about you today. It went pretty well (I hope!), but I couldn't really remember why hydrothermal vents are so hot... it really puzzled me! This morning I showed up to help with the water exchange, which I've probably done half a dozen times this year. Holly overslept and I was the only one there to greet John and his water truck, and it was really a reflection of how much I've grown this year. I didn't skip a beat and took charge and filled up the tanks myself, started all my siphons on the first try without getting a mouthful of water (see this). I'm basically a pro, and I'm loving my home here. I think if the Link building had dorm rooms, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
Keep staying awesome,
love,
whitney!

Valentine's Day 2009: Single and Ready to Mingle

"Need a last minute date for Valentine's Day?" said the flyer for speed dating. Ok, I admit it, I was really excited to go. I dragged probably 4-6 of my guy friends to come along and be buffers for any awkward situations (who am I kidding, speed dating is supposed to be awkward). I met the most typical FIT guys you could imagine, made tons of awkward small talk, and most importantly, got an email the next day saying that Armando was interested in dating me. Yesss.

Friday night we pulled it together and crammed into a car to go to Samba Room (in orlando) for some latin dancing. And if that wasn't enough, we stopped at Denny's on the way back to refuel and decided that Valentine's Day needed to be amazing. So Xerxes, Sheree, and I changed and got our bikes to go to, of course, the beach! Xerxes greeted Sheree and I with roses, gush, and we sang love songs all the way up and down the causeway at 5am. Once at the beach, we danced and pranced for an hour or so before jumping in and enjoying the sunrise. The beach gave me a gift of some cool new sunglasses too! We even got to half crash a Valentine's day sunrise beach wedding (barf), but it was really sweet. The ride back was uncomfortable cold and wet, but the experience was something to remember to say the least. And of course, no experience could end without some good quality Evans breakfast.

Upon return (10am?) I was too wired on coffee to sleep, so instead I passed out by the pool for a couple hours and then took a power nap in my room for a couple hours. Who needs sleep? I missed my rides to the beach that afternoon, and was just about to be really sad and angry and settle for watching chic flicks all night when Joshua showed up. He wanted to go out for ice cream, so I put on a pink sparkly dress and we had a night out on the town. We walked to downtown Melbourne (wooO! party!!), ate at this cute little Mexican restaurant and had a thoroughly enjoyable Valentine's Day "date".

Unfortunately I missed an opportunity to go to Orlando with my friend Adam, which would have been super fun, but sleep had been calling my name for too long. So now, on this rainy Sunday, I plan on studying studying studying for my Oceanography and Biology exams. And possibly going to the flea market, or some more sketchy garage sales to find a table for my seatless chairs.

Dancing Blog, day 1

This Monday I went to bake cookies at Xerxes' for my lab meeting (they were a hit! Sugar cookies in the shapes of Dinoflagellates and planktons and other oceanography shapes), and we ended up learning a couple new moves from a salsa dancing dvd. We are going to start a blog, or a youtube channel, or something... because we like to think we're amazing, because we are.

Best Birthday [Away From Home] Ever!

7:42am "Whitney! Wake up! Happy Birthday, but GET OUT OF BED! You can't miss chemistry!"
Thanks to Wiley I did not miss chemistry. I made it through chemistry, didn't wear shoes to biology(...details later), and then ran back to my dorm to go out to breakfast with a few of my favorite people. Xenia, Jess, Phil, Wiley (all native english speakers) and I went to Denny's to have a nice big breakfast with real eggs and coffee.
11:57ish, we got back to 4th floor, and after I was thoroughly distracted by the "Need a last minute date for Valentines day? Come to speed dating on Feb 10th!" sign, I went to my room ... and ... it was completely decked out with birthday shazzamness. Thanks to my mother who sent Xenia a package of birthday. And then after basking in the glory of my day, I changed into an appropriate outfit for my birthday (no, not jeans and a black shirt meggin'), and pranced around campus proclaiming my day of birth.
2:00ish Lunch with Armando, Joshua, and Ernesto(sp?)... to be followed by skype chat with the woman who gave me life (gross) and then.... cake party at Armando's because Gabe made me a cake (explosion of the heart!).
5:00 Nap Time.
6:00 Latin dance class!
7:30 No birthday at FIT would be complete without eating at least one meal at Evans Dining Hall. I also got my ab workout done by laughter when Rhadames(sp?) fell in love with Cody.
10:15 Arrived at Sheree's place to go dancing at the Days Inn
11:00 Almost had a heart attack. I should never lie. Ever. I'm just an honest person, and it is not in my nature to pretend I am Turkish, born in 1983, and that my last name is Kefoglu.
2:00 Pita pit/beach stop on the way back. No birthday would be complete without eating falafels and touching the ocean.
4-5am I think I collapsed from exhaustion in the lobby and my dear friends apparently carried me back to my room.

Can I get a woop woop?

Alberto Has Great Ideas

My new answer to the commonly asked question of "Why are you a vegetarian?" is, "Because I hate plants."

Friday Nights as an Oceanographer: Part Two

So Friday I helped Holly with her barnacle stuff, before finishing my chemistry homework (yuck.). I've learned so many skills this weekend that I hope will come in handy someday. For instance, I'm pretty good at taking apart muscles and scraping out their guts, along with dissecting barnacles, and filtering water. Apparently I can also fake for a Venezuelan if I just keep my mouth shut! And that's right ladies and gentleman, you're looking at the new latin dance teacher for next year. Xerxes and I are taking over! ... kind of intimidating, I better go study up on youtube.
I also jumped in the pool in my wetsuit this weekend, had a crazy dance party with too many latin boys, had a biology lab on Saturday morning, and went to bed early on Saturday night (I know, I'm lame).

love,
Mia (my new spanish name that Armando gave me)

I'm such a scientist.

this is what part of the lab looked like this week... so cool! Barnacles are in all of the jars, with different concentrations of brevatoxin.