Second Life's A Beach

     I decided to check out one of the beaches because what sounds better right now than white sand beaches and clear blue water? I went to the Oahu Vacation Resort for my anthropological observation. When I first got there, one Female avatar, Ruth, was relaxing on one of the loungers by the water, so I walked up to her and sat on the nearby lounger. She initiated the conversation, as I’m sure I looked clueless, sitting there in my full skirt and sweater. She gifted me a swimsuit because I had no clue where to find one or how to put it on. Ruth also explained how to interact a bit more with people, explaining how there are these things called pose balls at certain locations that allow you to dance, or as you can see in my screenshot with the fire, toast your toes. The pose balls come in pairs, so you can do the action with another person, such as dance together or cuddle on a lounger. I was interested to learn about this because I had been wondering how people were able to coordinate their movements when I had seen them at other locations that I visited briefly.

    Ruth signed off before I remembered to take a screenshot, but I explored after she left and took some pictures of the island. I sat and enjoyed the sunset and a fire for a bit (which is where I saw the pose balls for the first time). I explored these little huts and was shocked that as soon as I flew into one, a message popped up on my screen that said I could be there for two minutes before I would be ejected. The huts were for rent only and I could only be in them if I went to the hostess and rented the cabin. I flew around a bit more and saw a larger hut so I flew into that, thinking it was like a guest center or something, and when I entered that building, a notification popped up that an intruder alarm was sounding. I was surprised what a panic that threw me in, even though I was in a virtual world and it was not like the police were actually going to show up at my door.

     The last thing I did before signing off for the night was ride the orca! I was curious if that was acceptable so I clicked on the orca and “sit here” was an option so I decided to sit down. Once I was on the orca, I was notified that I could steer the orca in any direction, make him do tricks, or even make him go under water!