Teachers on the Big Island

Our Project ISLE teachers arrived on Tuesday June 7th, so we are now in our fourth day of Project ISLE. My original plan to post every day has (obviously) not worked out like I wanted, but here are a few things that have happened over the past few days.

First, check out this amazing sunrise I saw the morning of the 7th a few hours before the teachers arrived

Our first activity was a hike to the steam vents in Volcano National Park. We have SUCH a GREAT group of teachers here!
Our first full day began with a Hawaiian cultural experience with students from a local Hula school. They taught us the significance of leis and lei-making, what the movements in Hula mean, and the meaning of the whole process to the Hawaiian culture (NOT just a dance!) We then made our own leis. Check out mine below. The leis worn on the head are supposed to be parallel to the Earth to signify that we are not higher than or lower than the Earth, but a part of it.

The Big Island also has some amazing Astronomical research facilities. Here is my major professor and I at a planetarium show.

Lastly, the coolest thing we've seen has been the LAVA! There are no active lava flows at this time, but here you can see the lava from a deep lava lake reflecting off the ash and steam of the Halemau'ma'u Crater.