Good times with Mom!

This spaceship-looking thing was my plane that I took on Thursday from Miami to Tampa. There were just ten of us on this flight and it was a little scary looking, but the flight actually turned out to be really smooth and easy. Mom and I were happy to find out that my flight was actually leaving two hours earlier than scheduled, making for a very short layover in Miami and a two hour longer visit for Mom and me. She picked me up around 10 am on Thursday and we had quite the full day. We went out for breakfast and then went to Color Me Mine, to do some pottery painting. We walked around a cute area called Hyde Park, which has lots of nice little shops - did some shopping and found a great wine bar to eat. (Unfortunately, I'm still on antibiotics, so no wine for me...) It was scrumptious nonetheless. That night, Mom and I enjoyed some game time. We're both big fans of playing all kinds of games, so we had a little marathon o games.

On Friday, I enjoyed sleeping in, so we got a bit of a late start... but we headed out around noon to get some cherry limeade from Sonic (yeahhh!!!!) and then to Lettuce Lake Park - a very interesting park that had a lot of wetlands, cypress trees, some alligators, turtles, fish, birds, etc. I was wishing I could take my students there on a field trip...I could have almost had another Earthwatch expedition right there. After we walked around the park for awhile, we headed out to Madeira Beach for lunch. There was a crazy thunder and lightening storm along the way, so it took while, but finally we got to John's Pass, a boardwalk area there with shops and restaurants, and it was really nice. After our yummy lunch there, we walked around a bit and then Mom challenged me to a game of Putt-Putt. : ) Of course, I was game, so off we went. It was actually a really nice little course, with real live alligators and everything. : )

Now, it's Saturday and I am taking off back to LA in a few hours...it has been a great two weeks, but I think it is time to get back to reality. Until my next adventure...

Good-bye Long Island...

So, the girls and I just cleaned out our apartment. We have about an hour before we head over to the Deadman's Cay airport to check-in for our flight to Nassau. I have been feeling SO much better for the last 24 hours - I wish I could go out and do some research now! Oh well...it was a good trip overall, despite the missing luggage, missed flight, and throat and ear infections...I really did learn a lot and got a chance to enjoy some more of this world's beautiful natural wonders.

One of my roommates, Wendy, teaches fourth grade in LA and she is posting a travel blog on the LA Times website. She actually mentioned me in her first blog (although she spelled my last name wrong, I'll forgive her) and it's pretty informative (moreso than I have been here!) - so check it out...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thehomeroom/2008/07/wendy-gorton-a.html

Here are a couple last pictures for ya...I'll try to update a lot more to shutterfly once I get to FL or CA.

Here's me yesterday, back at Dean's Blue Hole. It was such a beautiful day. Everybody else got to cliff jump down into the hole, but I wasn't allowed to get my head wet, so I was just lazy in the shallows. : )
Here's an octopus that one of the girls found in a conch shell in the water. I got a cool video of him coming out of the shell, going back in and coming out again. It takes too long to load, but I can share that later. : )

So that about wraps it up for now - hope everyone is having a great summer! Sorry my blog wasn't too exciting at times...wasn't quite feeling my same witty self. : )

I'm alive!

Oops...apparently I made a couple people worry with my last blog. Don't worry, I'm not going to die on this island. I went to the doctor today and he told me I have an ear and throat infection, so he gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way. I am not able to snorkel anymore, which is a bummer, especially after everyone came out of the ocean today saying that it was the best snorkeling all week. But, at least I should be close to normal by the time I get to Florida to visit my mom. Tomorrow is our last day of field work, so I'll be sure to try to wrap up the trip in a blog or two to come. Here's a couple more pictures for ya...

This is "The Bar" that was created by the team while waiting for the okay to get in the water. It's amazing how creative a bunch of teachers can be with random beach trash and some extra time(and how they manage to tie in alcohol so easily).

This is a picture of Blaise and Wendy, identifying fish underwater today (while I was sitting on the beach).
And me, in the back of our truck today, trying to not let my hat fly off my head. (And Eric)

Delbert just walked by with a bag of fish

Next time I'll have to get a picture of him. That was cute. He has about four teeth and he was showing me the half dozen fish that he was going to put in his freezer. I was actually able to identify two of them. Apparently most men are lacking quite a few teeth on this island for some reason. Lack of dentists? I may be trying out the island doctor tomorrow...my throat started hurting about 4 days ago and it's gotten worse each day - and symptoms have been adding onto it, like earache, sore lymph nodes, headache, feverish, nausea, light-headed-ness,...fun stuff. I opted out of the snorkeling this morning and watched everybody from up above on the pretty limestone rocks. We came back to the apt and they all left a little while ago to head out to another site and I decided to stay and give my body a break. It's never fun being sick, but it's especially not fun on such a deserted island. Nothing is open today. But we're going to try to find me a doctor tomorrow. Wish me luck...

Here are some shots from the last few days...
This is me, very excited to be at a beautiful beach again. I have had enough of stinky, dirty, swampy water.


This is the whole gang, at the same beach - we called this site "Down by the Sea House"
That down there is called a seine. We all worked together to drag that out in the water, while some people splashed around in the water to get the fish to move toward it, and then it was dragged out so we could see what fish we could get. We did it three times (it's a lot of work) and we saw two tiny fish. Not a good site for this apparently...
This is me at Dean's Blue Hole. It's about 660 feet deep. And I learned how blue holes were formed last night...I can share that bit of knowledge with you later.

This is our PI (Primary Investigator) Dr. Kathleen Sullivan Sealy and her daughter Natasha. They live in Nassau, and Natasha just came out to join us for a few days of the trip. We went to a plaiting demonstration, which is very popular on Long Island.
We're gettin our culture on.
And this is where we are staying - Room 3 at the villa. Not bad at all...just have to learn to ignore the roosters and to avoid the ants by putting EVERYTHING in the fridge. And situate yourself in front of a fan whenever possible. Which is what I need to go do now...

Oh my, Delbert just came by again and talked my ear off for about fifteen minutes. The Bahamian accent is much harder to understand with only 4 teeth...

Happy Bahamian Independence Day!

Have to keep this short..it's about time to go, but here is a picture of a few of us at the Independence Day celebration that turned out to be a three hour religious service that I totally feel asleep during. (Hey, it was late) Will write more soon!

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...

Yeah for the nice lady on the island with wi-fi!

Here I am, on Long Island, in the Bahamas, sitting on the porch of the only woman within miles who has wi-fi. I'm shocked we actually have this opportunity. This island has only had electricity for 12 years. And the water turns off every night from 9pm to 5am. (and whenever else it feels like it)

But, alas, I am here and I am excited. Here's the little journal entry I typed up on word last night, before I knew I could get to the internet...

7/7/08

Luckily they serve Bahama Mama samples in the baggage claim of the Nassau Airport, otherwise those three hours spent waiting for my bag that never came would have been totally for nothing.

Yup, that’s true. My bag never showed up. I missed my flight from Nassau to Deadman’s Cay and I had to board another flight to the right island, but the wrong airport. Luckily there was another misplaced volunteer that I was connected with when I contacted Earthwatch to let them know about my little problem. So, we commiserated together and caught our 2:00 flight to Stella Maris. It’s the only airport that uses its landing strip for cars, as well as airplanes. It was awesome. I saw the landing strip from high in the sky and thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we landed there?” Yes, we did. And when Eric and I arrived, there were two Earthwatch staff members there to pick us up. So, the four of us traveled the hour to the apartments where we are staying. I must say, the accommodations are nicer than I had expected. We have four apartments – there are four of us staying in ours – two girls in each room. We have a full kitchen, bathroom with a decent shower (we do take navy showers, however), a TV with cable, and AC in our bedrooms. I feel a bit spoiled. I don’t even have cable at home. I’m supposed to be “roughin it”. ☺ There is our Research Leader, five research assistants and there were nine volunteers, including myself. However, my roommate, Tara, from Chicago didn’t quite understand what she was getting into. After a day and a half of crying, she left today on the only flight out of here to Nassau. She was a little concerned during the orientation when our leader told us that if anything happened to us we would have to be flown to Nassau. And that we need to make sure if anything happens, that it happens during the day, because there are no flights at night. She also made a comment about having a new dog, a new car, and a new house at home and that she would much rather be there, instead of risking her life here. This is not for everyone, I suppose.

So, today we got to get out into the field and do our first bit of research. We started out at Dean’s Blue Hole for a swim and snorkel test. I passed! Okay, so everyone “passed” – it wasn’t too hard, but I was happy that I was able to not look like too much of a fool on Day 1. I still hadn’t gotten my bag by this morning, so I was wearing another girl’s swimsuit, using someone else’s mask and snorkel and someone else’s hat and shorts. Everyone has been really great in letting me borrow anything I needed. My first swim out in the water was beautiful – the water is so clear and just the perfect temperature. But it was my second swim on the Atlantic side of the island that was really exciting. I saw a barracuda and two huge stingrays, among many other fish. I was also getting much more comfortable with the snorkel – I’m already thinking ahead to my future snorkeling trips in LA…let’s go, guys!!

After the snorkeling, we did some plant and algae surveying (actually more interesting than it sounds!) and had some lunch. We eventually made it back to our apartments and a few of us ran out for errands – one of which was to pick up my bag that finally decided to join me! Yeah!!! I was so excited – I really thought I would never see my things again…

So, I am really enjoying myself so far. I continue to be amazed by the fact that I am here for free. I am also getting some great tips for more free adventures from my fellow teachers here (we’re all teachers). Very cool! More to come soon...

Okay - that's it for yesterday. Today was another fun-filled day. Snorkeled for about 3 hours, swam around a blue hole in a cave with bats flying above us and shrimp swimming below us, went to a museum to learn about this little tiny island, strained some sediment (woohoo!!), almost got eaten by a blue crab, and discovered that a half gallon of ice cream costs $11.50 in the Bahamas.

Tomorrow begins the celebration of 35 years of Bahamian Independence, so hopefully I'll take part in some festivities that I can share with you all.

I believe I am getting eaten alive by mosquitoes right now...so until next time...

Thanks for reading, guys! : )