Day 7, June 9

I woke at six am to the lovely sounds of roosters and the warm sea breeze. That is a lovely way to start the day. My spot on the couch turned out to be an ideal spot. Everyone roused themselves and began to get ready to face the day. We sat to breakfast outside and I can’t help but enjoy the sense of comradery that has already formed within the group. We had some time before the first scheduled event of the day so Courtney and I took a walk down to the beach. As we walked there were hundreds and hundreds of tiny blue jellyfish washed ashore. The looked like little bubbles dotting the sand. The ocean is so majestic but it contains some of the strangest creatures you could imagine. The locals are all so friendly and waved as we passed by. On the return trip we managed to pass our turn and ended up waking an extra half mile or so, but it wasn’t an unpleasant way to spend a morning at all.

We were then joined my Dr. Hunt and the other professors for a lecture on the history and archaeology of Hawai’i. I was very excited to hear it since my knowledge of the subject is little to none. He spoke of how the islands were populated which was completely fascinating. Dr. Hunt and Dr. Lipo work together to study just this topic and it was great to hear their theories and compare them to common belief. I found their explanations to make perfect sense. It’s good to see people who aren’t afraid to defy common belief in order to learn the truth. I was also able to learn quite a bit about the agricultural practices of the pre-contact populations which will be extremely useful in the next week with identifying associated archeological feat-res in the field.

We all scrambled to grab a quick lunch before loading up the vans to get a first real look at kualoa ranch. The owner of the ranch met us out front of the main building and we loaded onto one of their tour busses. They give regular tours and offer ATV and horseback riding for the tourists. He was extremely friendly and seemed genuinely interested in our work. The valley is even more impressive up close than afar. You can really tell just how large these mountains are and the ridiculous slope that they have. He pointed out many interesting features including stream locations, historic foundations, caves, charcoal caves, and much more, He was able to also give accounts of family lore which might prove helpful. We passed all sorts of movie props from films such as Jurassic park, lost, and Godzilla. A one point when we left the bus to look in the woods at a set of features we were immediately swarmed by sounds of mosquitos. I do not exaggerate. I have never seen so many at once. Everyone began swatting and spraying bug spray furiously. Eventually most of us were forced to retreat to the relive safety of the clearing. My legs, arms, and back were covered in dozens itchy welts. I don’t know why I always attract them and react so severely. Compared to some I got of quite easy. One of the boys had almost fifty bites covering his arms and legs. After that little adventure we stopped by an exhibit on the movies filmed on the ranch.

We then returned back to our barn and began work on our data dictionaries. Jessica and I collaborated and eventually cam e