The sun just set here and we are taking off for the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As we left the port of Iquique, we tossed coins into the ocean to ask Neptune for his blessing! The moon rose above the mountains and that was a nice treat as we left land. 33 more days without it... Today, I helped strap down boxes and instruments before we set sail. I never knew how much set-up was involved with a cruise! There is so much to be done to not only set up for experiments, but also for making sure things don't go flying. Today, I just felt like I needed one more trip to town before we left.
I went with Kendra and a crew member Katie. We left at 4:00, and ate empanadas for dinner (mmmm)!! And walked around the cute little central plaza. Our boat will not return to Iquique, so it was a good chance to walk around a bit and see the old buildings and central square. However, Laila's bf is flying in here so we may come back down here to meet up with him before traveling. I'm not really sure about that situation yet.... I'm almost on track with what I need to do on the cruise; basically I'm measuring chlorophyll concentrations in seawater. Fairly simple stuff; I did the same thing with carotenoids this summer (similar pigment receptors in microbes) - so it's kinda cool I get to do something similar here. I'm also helping out with deck operations and whatever other project needs some assistance. I'll be learning a lot! :)
The boat is REALLY rocking, so I'm pretty glad I took a bonine before we left. Probably should have taken something stronger. It's getting pretty late, so I might hit the hay and try sleeping as we move. From what I've heard, it gets pretty noisy where we are sleeping, so earplugs might be a necessity.
Hope you all are doing well!
P.S. Shout out to my sister who scored 19 points the other night, tying her personal best, and bringing her recent 3 game average to 16.7 ppg!!! Keep it up, Nad Nad! And good luck tonight vs. ThunderRidge!!
hopefully your nausea will wear off soon as your body gets used to the rocking motion. i was better after about 3 days. my room was noisy every night at 2am when they deployed and retrieved a giant net directly above my room on the deck. never got used to it, but learned not to be scared! who is your roommate? i did lots of chl measurements too, hope it's going well so far.
ReplyDeletemiss you! jenna