Anyway, I wanted to write a litte bit about the blame game. It seems like it is so easy to constantly blame others for what is going on; the program, the racism. the destruction of the environment--it seems like sometimes the world is out to disappoint you.I haven't noticed myself feeling this way, but I first noticed this when my roommate was talking to me a lot about things that have been going on with him throughout the program, and how he could identify the root cause of many, if not all the problems he was experiencing. It was really interesting to hear him attribute one problem after another to people in the program, or to broader groups of people like "the Europeans" for their negative effects of tourism on the environments of Bonaire. Throughout the conversation, I kept on thinking to myself how easy it was to simply blame one group of people for a multifaceted problem; for example, a small problem with our program might stem from a problem with students, administration, and perhaps even headquarters. And to blame it on, say, just the interns would simply be a misrepresentation and perhaps a misunderstanding of the problem at its core. In addition, selecting a single group of people to blame for the extent of such a large problem (in the case of "the Europeans") is, in itself, a little racist and stereotypical. To assert umbrella statements such as these is again, misrepresenting the population and casting a negative light upon those which may not deserve it. Even though it may be true to some degree, it can't just be the Europeans that is to blame for all of the negative effects of tourism and lifestyle on this island. Just some random thoughts. I know there's more up in my head but I am falling asleep as I write this, so it will probably come out incomprehensible :/
Time for some updates. Unfortunately, I have not been very active taking pictures so there are no pictures for these few days.
On Sunday, I woke up, spent some time updating the blog and my dental supplements, then went out to snorkel for a little bit on the Hamlet reef. We are actually situated pretty well on a reef system--there are some amazing reefs right on the shores of Hamlet, which provide a great place to snorkel and see TONS of fish. Especially in the summer months when all the juvenile fish are in the shallower waters to spend time growing and developing before moving out to the deeper reefs. As per usual, I got to see many, many fish and free dive to get a closer look. Again, I wish I had a gopro so that I could take pictures and post them, but no such luck. Also, the visibility was pretty bad in the water--residual effects of the upwelling, I guess. There was a high particle load in the water, meaning pretty low visibiity. But that didn't prevent me from seeing a barracuda hanging out near the reef by itself. It was just sitting near some mooring rope, and I stuck around to see it turn around, pause, then swim into deeper, murkier waters. I didn't follow it for fear of being attacked, but if the water visibility was clearer I definitely would have gone a little further out. It was pretty cool! After snorkeling I came back and got back to work, trying to catch up on dental application materials and working through some readings for the night. Pretty boring night I must say, but necessary to get things done for class.
Today, we had class at 11:30 which meant the morning was free. I did work (always seem to be doing work...) before heading to the research station for class for a short lecture on bioluminescence. Bioluminescence, if you don't know, is when organisms light themselves up. Like a firefly, except underwater. It's something that I have wanted to see all my life, but have not had the opportunity to do so. All the students are going on a bioluminescence dive tomorrow to see ostracod bioluminescence, but unfortunately, because I can only snorkel, I won't be deep enough in the water to see it very clearly. What a shame. Maybe one day...After lunch we had another lecture for most of the afternoon, after which I came back and relaxed at the apartment, conversing with friends and having a good time.
(An idea of what bioluminescence looks like. The picture is overexposed, but the basic idea is there)
We have a full day of class and field work tomorrow, so I am ready to go to bed...
A new adventure awaits.
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