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Bon Voyage!

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Here I am back home from acquiring more necessary items for this long awaited adventure. I purchased a brightly colored bandana from the craft store Michaels, to tie onto my upgraded luggage from Costco. In hopes that, it will not be confused with other checked baggage or get lost at the airport. Oddly enough, this bandana strategy has washed away my biggest worry. In any case, I’m overwhelmed with joy because in less then 24 hours I’ll be hopping on a plane to London! I’ll get to share this experience with 14 other awesome students who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the last few weeks. I find myself constantly looking at the forecast in London and repacking. Some of you might have guessed that I’m a novice international traveler, and you would be right. This is going to be my first time traveling abroad and I’m ecstatic! 

  

(The above picture is from a few days ago when Bri, Amber, Monique and I met at the Camarillo Public Library to work on our group presentation due in London.)

Leading up to this has been an emotional roller coaster. The anxiety of waiting to hear who was chosen for Dr. Jenkins’ Intercultural and Design class was almost the death of me. Fortunately, the odds were in my favor and I made the cut. This summer Dr. J. has enlighten us on the six periods of architecture, dating back thousands of years. I now have a greater appreciation for everything that a building entails. Even more, he prepped us on London’s drastically different transit system. I cannot wait to explore the city! Incidentally, I have been dominating in the mobile app game called Trivia Crack. “What is the tallest building in the world?” Obviously, it’s the Burj Khalifa in Dubia! #humblebrag. Needless to say, five days in London is a brilliant way to end summer school. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to embrace London’s culture and architectural beauty! 

Sidenote: I am excited to go to Saint Paul’s Cathedral while in London. #blessed 

Xoxo A

Culture and Marine Life

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As we take off in a couple of hours, I look forward to immersing myself in another culture. I have traveled throughout Europe and spent time in high school studying a few European cultures. Being in a culture is vastly different from reading and learning about them at home. Last semester, I took the Issues […]

Gardenia taitensis

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Gardenia taitensis or Tiare Maori is the national flower of the Cook Islands. This flower was introduced to the Cook Islands from Western Polynesia. The flower grows on shrubs that can reach four meters in height and is white with five to nine petals. In Novemeber, there is a week long Tiare Flower Festival where […]

Water Temperature

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We will be monitoring the temperature across the lagoon while in Aitutaki with Hobo Dataloggers. We will be deploying them in PVC cages build from off-the-shelf plumbing materials.

Pass Those Pigs

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The classic marine ecology pastime of Pass the Pigs is about to rear its swiney head in our Cooks 2015.  Many a scientist has wiled away the hours at an airport terminal or lounge on an Antarctic ice breaker passing through the roaring 40s either the help of small rubberized pig dice. The rules are […]

Destination London

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We are a little more than twenty four hours away from leaving the country and I am forcing myself to keep my excitement contained. I have dreamed of traveling since I was in high school, living my experiences through friends and my favorite characters in literature. I can not help but be excited to create my own memories. Expanding my cultural knowledge and experiencing architecture outside of the United States are only two of a million reasons I am beyond appreciative to have this opportunity.

I had the chance of going to Germany with another Channel Islands professor last year, but it wasn’t the time for me to have that opportunity. I am truly excited that this is the time for me to travel. It is especially exciting to know how much architecture, culture and history I will be exposed to in the following week. Expanding my knowledge and exposure to more of the world is a dream that I am happy will come true with a guide and several of my peers to experience this with.

My anticipation to get there and explore the city for myself and with my fellow classmates  is making the wait so difficult to be patient. I can truly say that this will be my first but certainly not my last experience of a lifetime. I can’t wait to see what this trip has in store and the learning experiences that London has waiting for me. I am truly happy and excited to see how this trip will help shape my outlook as a future educator and overall person.

Satellite Phone

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We have just activated our Satellite phone for a one-month account (not to exceed 75 minutes).  This is way too expensive for routine communication but will be a key part of our emergency response should we need such communication. To use the Sat phone: Extend antennae fully. Power up device in an obstruction-free area. To […]

>100 million LAX travelers a year by 2040

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Wow!   A really interesting projection of the number of air travelers through SoCal airports over the next 20 years just came out via a South California Association of Governments planning committee.  The LA Times has a story on this just as we are about to head out through the new International Terminal tomorrow for […]

Pinch me, I must be dreaming

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someone please pinch me so I know this is really happening! I’ve dreamed about traveling all over the world for as long as I could remember, but my first destination was always London, England. I would beg my mom when o was younger to “please ship me off to England! Just for a day!” I’ve always been so captured by the history, and the culture there. That’s why almost 24 hours till departure I’m sitting here thinking this must be a dream. 

At one point I had given up on traveling to England while at school, I’d look at the requirements, how much it costed, and how long id be gone for and settled with the idea that I’d just have to wait and go when I’m rich basically. But then this gem of an opportunity came along giving me the chance to truly live out one of my dreams while studying communication and design. I think it’s extreamly exciting to actually get to see some of the buildings we’ve been studying in person. I think I’m most excited to see Stonehenge, and visit Oxford university. I’ve learned so much about different styles of architecture ranging from gothic to modern styles that just seeing them in person will feel unreal.

My emotions are so mixed up right now I’m excited, nervous, anxious but most of all grateful. Grateful to my parents for encouraging me to even apply, grateful for the support of friends, family and staff members at CI and grateful to Dr. J for giving me this opportunity. 

I’ve never been outside the country so I know this experience will be pretty different for me but I’m so ready to take on all the interesting adventures that come my way. It truly is crazy how things come into your life when you least expect it I truly thought I wouldn’t make it into the class but here I am! I don’t think I’ll fully accept this being real till I’m on my way to LAX and my mom finally tells me to quit asking people to pinch me! 

-Ciara(: 

Preparing for the long road ahead

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The above picture is “Bri, Adriana, me (amber) & Moniquee!” We all met at the Camarillo library in order to prepare for our group project on Hyde Park. Somewhere between trying to find Albert’s hall, the Diana Memorial Fountain and printing maps; it finally hit me that in 4 days I was going to be on a 12 hour flight to London! Realizing that I still have not even finished packing. I can never seem to stop checking the weather to see what I may need to pack. The forecast does call for rain. 

I have never traveled abroad before and seriously can not wait. I’m so excited that I can hardly even sleep and when I finally do go to sleep I can not stop dreaming about being in London. Finally being given the opportunity to experience everything that I have learned in class with a new eye and appreciation.
One important thing that this class has taught me is to always be aware of my surroundings. Now I find myself driving in my car and looking at buildings noticing the simplest architectural details. Such as doric columns, wrought iron work, pointed arches and stained glass windows. These details begin to paint a picture or tell a story of what the architect/designer is trying to establish within the buildings’ environment. But now I get to experience some of the worlds oldest historical buildings that actually define a period in architectural history, as well as, learn how these buildings shape peoples life’s! 

But as the big day approaches I won’t believe it’s really happening until I hear “everyone please fasten your seat belts and I feel the plane finally taking off”, destination London, England. 

-Amber Ramirez