Is it me?

My room is cursed. I mentioned yesterday that my former roommate, Tara, returned home. Well, after Tara left, Erica moved in. Erica is from LA – she’s really nice – great roommate. Well, yesterday afternoon, she started to feel sick. Long story short, she flew back home today. So, now I am two for two for getting rid of roommates. We’ve joked that I just want a room to myself and/or that this has turned into Survivor and we’re just waiting to see who can stay here the longest. It’s too bad…Erica was really fun to have around.

Oh well, Research team down two… we managed to get in a good amount of work today. We all woke up to a downpour of rain – and they told us it hardly ever rains in the Bahamas. Apparently, when it rains, it pours. And there was mention of a tropical storm heading this way a few days ago. Luckily, it wore off in a reasonable amount of time, and we were on our way. Today’s sites were not what I would categorize as beautiful. They were stinky and salty. That’s about all I can say. But, we managed to snorkel in them anyway. We did water quality tests and took sediment and algae samples. We measured elevation of the coast. I almost swam into a barracuda, a crab, and a goat’s skull. The excitement never ends.

We’ve been having meetings each night after dinner. So far, I have learned about fish identification, water quality testing, and an overview of the work that we are doing in the Bahamas. (That our leader has been working on for about 30 years) I will be completely honest…Science is not really my thing. There have been many moments so far that have left me utterly bored out of my mind. But I try to remind myself that this is all an important part of the process and if it weren’t for the people who have the patience to do this sort of thing…well, I’m just glad I don’t have to do this full time.

I've been trying to get some good pictures, but honestly, I don't think I've gotten many good ones so far. Here's two of the research assistants from the University of Miami - Tamika and Alan with me in the back of the truck that we run around the island in.
And this is me doing water quality testing - no need to make fun of my very uneven and sad looking tan...I know, I know...
And this is me recording the elevation changes along the coast. See, I'm working...

And lastly, this is me and Erica yesterday snorkeling under the bat cave.

More to come soon! I look forward to all your witty comments...hint, hint...