Since my last post, I have had lots of time to both travel and see friends before they leave for university. I went to Hawaii for a few weeks to do fieldwork for the University of California at Berkeley. Because my research team, composed of a couple grad students, a professor, and myself, were always in the mountains (which are ranked as the wettest places in the world), it wasn’t the typical tropical version of Hawaii that most people think of. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much climbing, as the volcanic mountains are fairly crumbly. When I returned home and began to climb at Berkeley Ironworks again, all of my friends noticed that I was decked out in Five Ten apparel and gear. Luckily, Five Ten is highly praised and well respected, so I only receive positive comments. And actually, I have begun to notice more and more people in the Bay Area wearing Five Ten shoes and claiming they’re their favorite. Recently, I just traveled to Scotland to play bagpipes at my cousin’s wedding. As a result of some delays and cancellations at the airport, we finally arrived after having started over two days before. The wedding was great, and the bagpiping (which is a big deal for Scottish weddings) went very well as well. Just yesterday, I went to EICA: Ratho, where youth worlds was held the year before last (as well as where I trained for speed climbing for worlds in Austria last year), and I met some people on the British national climbing team, which was really cool. I’ve been there a few times before, but every time it’s breathtaking how large the facility is. I’m excited to do more outdoor climbing near the coast next week. This Friday, the opening ceremonies for the Olympics begin, and I look forward to seeing some cousins performing for the event. Only several more years until climbing will probably be included as well.