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My first instinct (ridiculously) was to find his e-mail somehow and send him an e-mail saying "Hi, My name is Rhea and I went to all your Obertone concerts for 4 years at Oberlin. I just heard your song Twilight Serenade on Pandora and I just wanted to congratulate you on making it as a songwriter. I've always thought you had a really beautiful voice, and it makes me happy that you are still singing." Of course, I can't do this. I couldn't talk to the guy for 4 years and now 6 years later I want to send him an e-mail? I'm not that girl. I don't know what would come of such an e-mail, or what I even would want to come of such an e-mail. I guess maybe it would make him feel good, and that would be something. But also it might make him feel slightly stalked, and that would be bad. Probably, I wont do anything.
- Mood:
surprised - Music:Benny and the Jets- Elton John
But, I'm not a complete failure at sun protection. I am now an avid hat advocate (thanks also to my mother's often-irritating insistence that I wear a hat as a child) and so I haven't been sunburned on my face in a long time. I am also a huge proponent of sunglasses. And I do wear sunscreen, but it's just not enough of a barrier, and I can't ever seem to get it on evenly. Now that I'm trying to maintain my pale Irish skin, I can't seem to do it. Grrrr.
- Mood:
sunburned
1. Submit this paper to Nature
2. Finish counting all the Relict channel slides
3. Eat at:
Hapa
Khow Thai
Lucielles
Noodles & Co
Glacier ice cream
Boulder Cafe
Spicy Pickle (even though they changed their pricing which makes me unhappy)
4. Go to Rocky Mountain National Park
5. Go camping
6. Go to trivia to Connor O'Neils and at Fado's
7. Go for hikes with Roscoe
8. Have Saturday lunch with my parents
9. Go to the farmers market
10. Karaoke at the Outback Saloon
11. Go dancing in Denver
12. Go to the Boulder Outdoor Cinema Theatre
I guess it's not a crazy long list, but I actually have less than a month that I'm going to be here, so we'll see if I can get it all done. Other people who want to do these things are welcome to call me!: )
- Location:Boulder, CO
- Mood:
thoughtful
Basically, every living thing is in constant pursuit of ways to stimulate their neural reward centers, at least on the proximate level. When we eat a good meal, when we exercise, when we have sex, when we figure something out, when we feel like we look attractive, when we do well on a project or give a good presentation, all of these actions send hormones to our brain cells that say "you are happy!" And it's clear on an ultimate level why we should feel good after performing these behaviors, since many of them directly influence our ability to live and pass on our genes. It's easy to imagine that organisms back in evolutionary history which didn't get the neural reward from eating would be more likely to die before reproducing, which of course leaves fewer organisms with that trait in the next generation. Same goes for sex; the more the organism is rewarded for reproducing, the more likely it is to try harder to reproduce. If we are rewarded for looking attractive to the opposite sex, we are more likely to put effort into doing that and therefore more likely to actually attract them for procreation. This is also true for raising offspring. If offspring are more likely to survive with larger amounts of parental investment, it benefits the parent to receive a neural reward from investing in their offspring.
However, organisms can get carried away in their pursuit of triggering reward centers, to the point where it actually hinders their fitness. Owning pets is an obvious example of this. People enjoy raising and caring for pets because it is similar behavior to raising and caring for offspring (which is evolutionarily beneficial to enjoy). However, having pets does not help get your genes into the next generation, on the contrary it takes resources AWAY from offspring. But more people have pets now than children because it's a way to trigger that reward center that is easier than actually having children. Drugs and alcohol are another example of ways our reward triggers can actually work against us. In that case we ingest chemicals which cheat our system and make us feel rewarded, even if there was no behavioral trigger. Through classical conditioning, the behavior of taking in the chemicals becomes the behavioral trigger.
There are also behaviors which are rewarding only in a social setting. These are things which relate to our ability to be part of a group. That's why people feel good when other people approve of them, because we are social mammals in the end and intra-group approval means that we can continue to garner the benefits of the group. People are driven to succeed at work, to interact with friends and colleagues, and to participate in group activities because these actions trigger a reward in the sociality center. And these can also be overdone. For instance, we feel good when we're able to help a lost stranger find where they're going. Why? Because it triggers our sociality reward center, even though this person isn't part of our group and really we just wasted resources helping them. And people are variable in the strength of the sociality reward, which is why some people are "nicer" than others. Same with voting, or giving money to charity. This behavior is counter to fitness in every possible way, but we do it because it makes us feel good. Sure, it's beneficial to the group as a whole, but group selection doesn't work because only individuals can pass on their genes. And that's where recognition comes into play. When people do things that benefit the group be cost them individually, they are generally very communicative about it. And that can help them be more accepted in the group, which does have benefits. Thus, sociality is a pathway to alturism.
I keep writing these journal entries about behavioral ecology. If only I could redirect my efforts to writing PAPERS on behavioral ecology, I would be a lot farther along in my plan for this semester. Ah well.
- Location:apartment
- Mood: thoughtful
- Music:passing afternoon-Iron and Wine
Obviously this person is allowed to smoke in their own home. Even if they aren't actually allowed to smoke inside, if they go outside to smoke it will STILL be right below our front door and the smell will still come into our apartment. On the other hand; it hardly seems fair for us to be unwillingly exposed to the smell of cigarettes for the next 9 and a half months. So, what can be done? Do we just have to deal with it, and try to cover up the smell with candles and air fresheners? Should I go downstairs and ask them to close their vents or something when they smoke? Should I talk to the resident manager about it? I really have no idea. It's not like it's so awful I want to move out, but it does make our apartment somewhat less pleasant to be in and that makes me sad. I've never had this problem before in an apartment, but maybe I just coincidentally never lived above someone who smoked. It's not something we could have known before we moved in either, since it smelled more like construction than anything when we came to look at it (they were in the process of fixing the kitchen and putting in the carpets). So, yeah. I'm at a loss. Any suggestions?
- Mood: annoyed
- Music:the shepherd's dog- Iron and Wine
I know I've said some unkind things about the South. Or, if I haven't said them, I've definitely thought them. Particularly regarding the scenery. The summers here are miserable, fall is half-hearted and drab, and winter consists of a few rainstorms and a lot of cloudy, dank days. But Spring almost makes up for all that. It is just fantastic. I'm used to the frantic, frenzied colors of dry mountain springs, where it's like someone shoots off a gun and boom! you've got a short time to get your pollen out there before all the water dries up and there's no hope of reproducing this year. So everything blooms at once, for a week or so, and then we just watch as the colors fade to beige in the dry sunshine of summer. Here, spring takes its time, strolling languorously through the color wheel at a lazy, relaxed pace. I was so disappointed when the magnolia trees only bloomed for a week or so last month, thinking foolishly that that would be all of spring. Oh No. There are so many angiosperms down here, it seems like every tree is a different vibrant shade of gorgeousness. Azalea, wisteria, magnolia, cherry, and this beautiful tree with so many huge white flowers, you can hardly see the leaves. And it goes on and on. I've been meaning to write this entry for about a month, and the flowers have not faded in that time. It's so beautiful!!!! I really should go take pictures of them all, before they do finally cease their brilliant display and succumb to the boiling temperatures of summer. Speaking of boiling temperatures, we've had several days above 80 already this year, it's hard to remember what April is like in more Northern latitudes. Colder, I guess. I'll be missing that in another month or so, no doubt about that.
Anyway, yay spring, It was nice for my family as well, and we had a lot of fun on Hilton Head. For all the criticism of controlled resort-living, it is pretty darn relaxing. We had a fun day in Savannah too. The grad-organized speaker also went well, though we did look a bit discombobulated since we sent incorrect directions to the party (my fault) and printed the wrong date on the publicity signs for the talk (not my fault). But it all worked out. Now it's just work work work work until I get out of here. I have 90 or so lab reports to grade in the next week, I am NOT looking forward to that! Especially since I really need to start my second chapter! But I am getting paid to teach, so I have to do it. Blah.
- Mood:
frazzled - Music:classical
The next day we took a boat tour out on the swamp, where we saw alligators, a turtle, some birds and lots of cypress trees. The swamp had burned last year, so a lot of the evidence of that was still visible. Apparently it was an extensive fire (hooray, decades of fire suppression!), but it wasn't nearly as bad as the yellowstone fires in terms of devastation. After our boat tour, we rented a motorboat and sped up to one of the swamp islands where there had once been civilization, the last incarnation being a cypress mill. Before the mill, there was a family that lived alone on the island for over 50 years. We saw the resident lunch-stealing fox (though he didn't get our lunches), as well as more birds and gators. It's a beautiful area, I really enjoyed visiting. There are a lot of bugs, however, so many that quite a few suicide-bombed into the pot of water I was boiling for mac and cheese. We ate it anyway (after all, they've been boiled), but I can't imagine how awful it is in peak summer!!!
Our next destination was Cumberland Island National Seashore, which is only accessible by ferry. Since we didn't want to rush out of the swamp, we spent the first night in St Marys, the town from which the ferry to Cumberland Island leaves. It's a quaint little town, but it was colder than it had been inland so we had a low-key night. The next morning we made it out to the island, which is a very interesting place. There are really photogenic ruins of a mansion built by Andrew Carnegie's brother, nice coastal swamp area and 16 miles of very pretty beaches, as well as wild horses and turkeys roaming around at random. You can camp on the island, but there's no food or anything available so you've got to bring it all with you. The camping would have been fun, but at the same time it was nice to sleep in a bed after a day of walking around the island. It was just warm enough that you didn't wish for more clothing, but not enough to inspire swimming in the ocean, so we just sat on the beach and then took the ferry back. That night we had dinner at the "latin american cuisine" restaurant which was recommended in the tourist magazine in our hotel. To the disgrace of the rest of Latin America, the menu was entirely standard Mexican fare, and far from extensive. Also, the food was decidedly bland, which coming from me is quite a criticism. The most interesting event of the evening was the concurrence of our dinner with a meeting of the Golf Cart Association. Apparently there had been some incidents with police officers and golf carts (a popular way to move around the quaint little town of St. Marys), and the golf cart association wanted to address them in a meeting. We were somewhat conspicuous as non-golf-cart owners, seeing as we were a good 20-40 years younger than most of the attendees, and had no pleasantries to share with the waitstaff or other members. One particularly fussy old lady golf cart owner had arrived early for the meeting, then sent back her meal, and then told her waiter when she offered waiting for the others in the bar area that "she didn't want to be around a bunch of drunkards". We absconded the meeting as soon as we'd paid, in fear of being roped into some sort of golf-cart association ruckus. We noticed a number of golf carts parked outside the restaurant as we left.
After that we went to the Seagle Saloon, where a sassy bartender yelled at us for our drink orders and ID's. It must be her trademark, because it wouldn't hold up long in a tourist town unless she became famous for it. It was here that we met a retired couple who had been traveling around the country in an RV since October. They'd left Seattle and had just gone where the wind blew them since, hiking and kayaking and camping all across the nation. They were the most active retired people I'd ever met. It was just such a contradiction from the people we'd just left, arguing about golf carts in St. Marys.
Anyway, the next day we drove up to George L. Smith State Park, stopping on the way to visit the Howyvfl-Broadfield plantation, where 5 generations of a single family had lived up until 1973, when it became a state historic site. The house was somewhat of a disappointment since the main house had burned down sometime in the distant past, but it was still nice to see the grounds and hear the history. George L. Smith was more swampland, but we'd decided on a cabin instead of camping. This turned out to be fortuitous, because there was a huge rainstorm that flooded the swamp our first night there. The next day we hiked and took a paddleboat out onto the lake. It's a pretty place, and only 40 minutes from Statesboro.
Anyway, now we are back, and it's time to get back to work on my thesis. It was nice to just not even think about it for a full 5 days. I've squandered today in getting resettled, and then my sister arrives tomorrow, preceding the rest of my family by two days. They're here for the week, and then the graduate-student-sponsored speaker is arriving and I'm on the social committee for taking care of him. It's gonna be crazy. Relaxing vacation time is over, but boy did I need it!
- Mood:
relaxed - Music:whose gonna ride your wild horses-U2
Anyway, reminiscing aside; we've had some fun times here in the Boro. Yesterday was international Women's Day, so my friend Sara had people over for a low-country boil. Food and company were both excellent. Tonight there's a professor party which should be fun Next Friday is the official start of spring break with the Savannah St. Patty's Day celebration, and then after that E and I head off for our tour of GA state parks. Then my family comes to visit for their spring break, and then March is over! And then it's April, which means I have a month and a half til my thesis defense! And then a month 'til I go back to CO. And after that I don't have to do anything except get a job and apply to PhD programs. Haha.
Anyway, I should get back to work so I can do all those things;) Five years.
- Mood:
rushed - Music:wildflowers-Tom Petty
Anyway, I was "elected" social coordinator for the Biology Organization of Graduate Students for this semester (I say elected in quotes because I basically invented the position and then volunteered for it), which means that I am in charge of organizing grad social activities. We had our kick-off happy hour on Friday at Kbob Kellys, the place in town which has the highest number of beers on tap (14) including a cider which made me very excited. I'm happy to say it was a raging success. At least 20 people came, and we must've gone through 10 pitchers of beer and a dozen bowls of fries. The fry supply was seemingly neverending, to the point where I don't think any of us will want to eat a french fry for at least a week. But despite the overabundance of fried potatoes, it was still a great time.
After happy hour a sub-set of us moved on to 80's night at a coffeehouse here in Statesboro. At that point we were all on the tipsy side, and perfectly primed to bouncing around to 80's music for a few hours. That was also a lot of fun, it reminded me of the good old days at the Sco when Dave was running 80's night and we'd all dance ourselves silly. Some people on Friday went all out and had really wonderful costumes. Jen came dressed as a Ninja Turtle (Raphael?) which was awesome. There was also a plethora of side-ponytails, leggings, clashing colors and off-the-shoulder sweatshirts. It was so great to get to dance again! There's no where that we can really go dancing in this town, and Savannah is such a drive to do after hours of dancing. Luckily, my friend Melanie lives in Savannah and said we're welcome to stay anytime, which was awesome. We also found out that Melanie and her husband love karaoke and know a good place in Savannah for it, so we've got a plan to go do that with them sometime soon.
After dancing the night away, we came home and slept in til 10:30 on Saturday, which was fabulous! I love sleeping in. I managed to get nothing done all day Saturday except attempt to make baby booties for my friend Tina's new daughter. They didn't work out so well (the pattern I had was unreasonably difficult), but I struggled through one which I swear will be too small for a baby of any age. I found a new pattern and now I have one made from that, but I think that'll be too big. Oh well, rather too big than too small since she's only going to get bigger. Now I'm tempted to make the other bootie for each set, and then give her all four. One set for now, and one for later.
We had a dinner party on Saturday for our friends Colleen and Sara, which was also a fabulous time. We only have a tiny table, so our dinner-party guest list is limited to 2 people, which is kinda sad. Still, dinner was yummy, and then we played killer bunnies and Loot until they went home.
Eric started up a biking club among biking grad students on Friday at happy hour, and their first meeting was yesterday morning. It was a frigid 40 degrees outside, plus killer windchill, so it was cold ride for the four of them, but they seemed to have fun anyway. Afterwards we all went and had "brunch" (at 1:30pm) at Steve and Marisa's house. Then I finished the first bigger bootie and tried to do a little work before my exercise class, without much success. That has been the downside of this super-fun weekend; I have lost all my work ethic momentum. I was really productive last week (I sent a draft of my first chapter to my adviser) and then it just all went to shit since Friday. I'm hoping to work all day today and make that up, but we'll see. Also, Jen's having us over for Lasagna tonight, so that should be fun.
As an interesting side note; a surprising number of us GSU bio students are Colorado expats. I guess it's only Eric and I, Steve and Marisa (Marisa got her masters at CSU in math) and Jen who lived in Louisville for a few years. Anyway, we all seem to get along really well and hang out quite a bit. They were the three people besides E who went biking yesterday, and we saw them on Friday also. It's nice to feel like we've really got a social group here, though it makes me kinda sad since now we're leaving after this summer. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts.
And now, it's time for working!
- Mood: happy
- Music:classical
It was great to see Dave in SF as well. He wants to get "the whole gang" together for the Oberlin 5-year reunion this May, which would be fabulous if we could pull it off. Right now the immediate future falls into two time frames: Before Defense and After Defense. Since the reunion falls in the second category, I could theoretically go. If I knew that Ian and Dave and Carrie and Sean and Mikka and many notable others (Drew, Bettina, Chris, Kelly, Andrew among them) would be there, I would really try hard to go. But I don't have time to organize it, and I'm worried no one does; ergo it wont happen. We'll see.
Anyway, I loved being in Boulder. It was snowy the entire time I was home, which is almost certainly all the snow I'll get for the rest of the year. I can't wait to go back next fall. Of course, I can't wait for anything that happens in the After Defense time frame. I predict that Before Defense will be like last semester, but worse. I just have to grit my teeth and get through it, plug out a reasonable thesis by May and then survive June and July in Georgia. Right now even that sounds nice, though probably the languid existence of only teaching and editing will bore me after a few weeks. But I have to make it to then, regardless. Ei.
Okay, I'm signing off probably until After Defense. I wish everyone the best!!!!
- Mood:determined
This summation will be brief but overall my response to it is mixed; it was both very powerful and compelling while also being almost sickeningly one-sided. The USA is the undeniable hero of the story, our shining, handsome protagonist who persevered through terrible hardship to defeat the evil enemy. War is awful and devastating for all who endure it, but ultimately necessary and entirely justified given what was at stake. We were The Good Guys, and almost everything we did was worth doing. The documentary did touch on the Japanese internment camps and the rampant racism against African Americans during and after the war, but these were separated from the actual fighting. Only one brief segment mentioned the brutality of US soldiers towards the opposition. Casualty lists always had US numbers last, even if they were significantly fewer than those of Japanese or German. "Our boys" always were in the right, always dying for something worth fighting for. The Germans and the Japanese were hated, and deserved to be so. It was a classic pitting of Us against Them, and left a bad taste in my mouth. The most glaring example of this myopic perspective was the treatment of dropping of the atomic bombs. There were no questions raised about whether this had been the right course; clearly it was. It ended the war, and saved hundreds of thousands of American lives. There was no discussion of how a diplomatic course of action might have accomplished the same goal, with the added benefit of saving at least a quarter million Japanese. Having been to the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, this simplification disgusted me.
Still, if you chose to wholeheartedly accept the proposed perspective, it was very powerfully done. The personal stories were eloquent and moving, and covered multiple American backgrounds. But I just can't simply accept it at that level. It lacked international depth.
- Mood:
tired - Music:America- Norah Jones
One downside of my new computer is that now I have no money. Kein Geld. No Dinero. I'm living paycheck to paycheck, and if Eric didn't have his very nice scholarship with which to buy groceries, it would have come down to: buy a computer or eat something more expensive than ramen for the next month. And my computer was 150$ off the price online.I now fully understand the meaning of "poor grad student". It's sad, a year ago I had 4000 dollars saved up. Where did it all go? And I've been gainfully employed the entire time!!! Sure, I make like 12,000/yr, but it's a job. Actually, it's less, considering I made 460$/month in Africa, but all my food and expenses were paid for. I hate all those beginning of semester expenses. Boo.
Anyway, new computer. No money. Lots and lots of work. Kidney infection. Adorable cats. Great friends and family. Great boyfriend. That's my life: )
- Music:anytime-my morning jacket
My last 2 weeks in S.A. traveling around with Emma were wonderfully fun. We saw lots of great beaches, beautiful mountains, interesting culture, had lots of great conversations, and If I hadn't fallen and torn a ligament in my right ankle on the first day of our trip, it would have been utterly perfect. We almost ran out of gas twice in our tiny (and by tiny I mean half the size of the smallest car you can imagine) Fiat, Emma argued her way out of a speeding ticket, driving always took almost an hour more than we'd planned for due to potholes, stray goats/children, and getting lost, but on the whole it was a wonderful trip and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sprained ankle and all. I was just thinking today how glad I was that I'd decided to trust that Emma really would come see me out in Africa. It was only a little less than a year ago when I made that decision largely on faith, but like most choices I've made that way, it worked out wonderfully. And now she is off on her own enjoying Africa, and I am back here.
A few anecdotes: I cried a little when I saw Arabella and Zeus (the last calf born while I was there) for the last time, knowing that the next time I saw him again (if I did) he wouldn't be a calf anymore, and just knowing that I was leaving my elephants, that now they wouldn't be mine anymore.
The day I flew out of S. A, I was more sick than I can remember being in my life. I threw up 5 times in 7 hours. The first time was in the morning before we left for the airport, which was strange but I thought it was just something minor. Then I threw up in the drain next to the rental car return (maybe half an hour later) and I realized that I was pretty sick, with 25 hours of travel ahead of me. If I'd had a choice, I wouldn't have done anything but lie in bed, but I had a plane ticket and dammit I was going to use it. At least I don't get airsick though, once I was on the planes I slept like a rock. It was just all the standing in line to get on the planes, and walking around airports. I actually had Delta get me a wheelchair for the Jo'Burg airport, since (as everyone knows who's been there) it's huge and poorly organized and kind of sickening even if you're in the peak of health. The worst was throwing up in the isle of the plane from P.E to Jo'Burg, but fortunately it was just water since everything else was already gone from my stomach. In the end, it was a powerade that I bought during my 4 hour layover in Jo'burg that saved me. Yay rehydration.
On the plus side: feeling really wretched for 25 hours is a great way to avoid jet-lag. When I finally landed in Denver, my system was so ravaged it would have accepted any schedule I dictated without question.
I had about two weeks in Boulder, which was simply not enough time. I wanted to relax and do all the Boulder things I'd been missing for 6 months, but it came down to either/or. Consequently, my time in Boulder felt a bit frantic. This was compounded by the fact that I spent one of my weekends in Madison attending Adria's wedding. That was lots of fun also, Madison is a wonderful city.
The drive to Georgia with the three cats was awful. Remember last year how I said that flying with three cats from CO to GA was the worst thing ever? That was a lie. Driving with three cats from CO to GA is the worst thing ever. In the summer. With no air conditioning.I hope to never do that again. The one nice thing was E and I got to see Carrie and Steve in KC, even though our cats stayed with one of Carrie's teacher friends and consequently got fleas from her cats. Boo, fleas.
So, now we are back in Statesboro, with all the humidity and heat one could have nightmares about, and the semester is already 3 weeks in! I have a lot to do this year. Like, write a thesis. And then defend it. Plus take some classes and teach some others. Boy oh boy. Eric has a lot to do also, so we should be busy bees.
My main concern at the moment is that my computer is on the fritz, which is largely why this has taken me so long to write. It no longer recognizes that it's running on AC power, and right now it's at the repair shop, but they say the outlook is grim. The connections on the motherboard have all been re-soldered, but it's still not getting power anywhere else in the computer. This probably means I need a new computer, and I'll have half an hour or so to transfer everything. BOOOOO.
So, that's me. maybe someday I'll post the rest of my pictures.
- Mood: rushed
- Music:smoke-ben folds five
6/24/07
I know it’s been ages since I’ve written anything about life here, mostly because I haven’t been doing anything worth writing down. I feel like my relationships here are transient at best and blatantly superficial at worst, but this past week has been more fun than I’ve had in a long, long time. This is mostly due to the fact that people from my pre-Africa life have arrived here. My mom and sister were here from Monday to Friday and I had lots of fun with them, and then Jordie arrived on Thursday night and it’s basically been a party ever since. On Friday night we all went out to the OE and drank and danced to the same songs they play every night we’re there (honestly, I don’t know how they stand it!) but it’s always a sure sign for us to leave when they start repeating songs they’ve already played earlier in the evening. This time, instead of heading home at 11:30 when they did that, the whole group of us headed over to the Polo Club, which is a newish bar in the area. None of us had ever been there before, and it was full of people who sometimes come to the OE plus a whole bunch more. It had been an interesting evening since Charlene and Nick had broken up earlier in the week (but they still have 5 weeks here together which has got to be torture for them, not to mention for everyone who has to be around them) and Monique and Mark broke up at the OE when she got mad about him not paying attention to her. She’s very high-maintenance, so I can’t really blame him, and then she proceeded to pout the whole night until we got to the Polo Club and Altheo started totally hitting on her, and ended up taking her home. Anyway, long story short (too late) Jordie went about her guy-meeting ways and we ended up meeting Justin Bean who is the son of the guy who owns Scotia safaris, and he invited us to come on a game drive with him. I didn’t think it would really happen, but he called Jordie on Saturday and this afternoon the four of us (Jordie, Elizabeth, Nicole and I) went on the most amazing game drive ever, and all for free. I took a million pictures, but highlights include seeing impala, lions, giraffe, rhino, hearing the black wildebeest funny call, and watching Justin try to catch a spring hare on the way back from dinner. Dinner itself was amazing; really good home-cooked food at this lodge in the middle of the bush that was like a survivor set. It was just incredible. It was SO AMAZING. We rode up on the top of his truck so we had this wonderful view of the beautiful beautiful area, it was just incredible. It’s so much more open than Addo, which is probably not how the area is supposed to be, but it’s more how people think of
6/29/07
I can’t believe I’m leaving Addo in two days. This last week has been amazingly fun; on Monday I drove into PE w/ Robyn and Tasha and Charlene to drop Anna off at the airport and pick up my poster. Tuesday we practiced the fecal plating for progesterone, and worked out some of the kinks, and then after dinner the four of us sat around talking about sex and boys and having girl time which I’d really been missing. Wednesday was Monique’s going-away party, which was good fun and good food, and then we watched some Sex In The City (amazingly, the only episodes I haven’t seen) until way too late. Today Jordie Nicole Elizabeth and I went to the beach in
Anyway, I can’t believe I’m leaving. I can’t believe I’ll only see my elephants one more time, possibly forever (though probably not). But I am looking forward to coming home to my much ached-for cats (both human and feline) and to some semblance of a more normal life. But
7/3/07
I am here in PE attending the SCB conference and hanging out with Jordie, Emma, and a bunch of other wonderful science nerds. The conference is moderately disorganized and a bit hectic (to use the South African word) but the talks are really amazing because there are so many really valuable applications for this research. It’s CONSERVATION, after all, so all of the talks are about how we can use biology to manage parks and populations and ecosystems better. For instance, today there was a talk about using DNA to track poached ivory to its source (and thus *hopefully* catch the poachers), and yesterday there was a talk about how two populations of dolphins (but the same species) display hugely different association patterns and how conservation should address discrepancies in behavior between populations. Anyway, it’s got me very inspired.
My last days in Addo were very fun. I got totally sloshed on Friday night at the OE (after all, it was a party partially in my honor) and danced until I couldn’t stand any longer. Tasha and I kept doing yummy shots and Justin and Jo (the bartenders) were back from their vacation so they kept the alcohol flowing. Then on Saturday we went to Wildfest, which was basically your South African county fair. IT was kinda a disappointment because we missed Marcel’s dance troupe, we missed the shit-spitting contest, and there wasn’t any rugby. We did meet up with Justin (Scotia Justin) and eat greasy fair food, and then we all went back to the polo club for free wine. We didn’t stay out too late because we wanted to get down to PE the next day, but it was still a fun night. In the end we only ended up leaving an hour later than we wanted the next morning, which is impressive since we all still had to pack and clean and things like that. Unfortunately, the market was closed because it was raining when we got down ehre, and then we just sorta ran around setting things up for the conference until we dropped Nicole off at the airport. Emma came in around 10, and we stayed up late chatting so I’m running on minimal sleep. Then the conference started yesterday and it’s been all conservation science all the time ever since. My poster went pretty well, except I got star-struck by one of the huge elephant people and just felt like an idiot talking to him. But there are a lot of posters and he seems like a really nice guy so hopefully he doesn’t think I’m a total idiot.
Anyway, there’s one more day of the conference before Emma and I head off for our
Speaking of Cheetah-head, the beachfront area of PE always makes me think of him, since we spent so much time here together. I get to see him very soon!!!!! I’m soo excited!!!
- Location:SCB internet cafe
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:elephant girl
Eric and I had a fabulous trip in
After the museum, we wandered around Long Street, which is the street with the highest concentration of backpackers in the city. We ate lunch at Mama Africa, which reminded me of SAS since Amber and Emily (or was it Steve and Adam? anyway, someone I met on the ship) mentioned to Carrie and I that they had eaten there while in CT. It was great, I had an ostrich kabob. I’m a great fan of ostrich and kudu, but South Africans in general eat way too much meat for my diet. I’m much more of a grain and veggies girl. Still, when the meat is so good, it’s hard to turn down.
That evening we went to the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, which is where Carrie and I spent a lot of our time in CT when we were there. I love the waterfront, it’s just so beautiful I should add that
On Wednesday we hiked up
On Thursday we went to
On Friday we left
On Saturday we did a tour of the wineries recommended in our Rough Guide. We’d thought about doing a pre-arranged tour, but they’re expensive and we had the rental car so we might as well put it to good use. It was a good decision, since the wineries we chose were all really nice. The first one (Rustenberg) was small and quaint, and they had these awesome tasting glasses where the wine went into the stem of the glass, so you could actually roll it along the bar instead of swirling it to get it properly oxygenated. My favorite winery however was the
On Sunday we had to say goodbye to Stellenbosch as we made our way back towards P.E. We drove along what’s known as “The Garden Route”, which is this really beautiful tract of the N2 along the coast, dotted with cute little beach towns. We decided to stay in one of these towns called Mossel Bay, in a backpacker which was actually an old train parked literally on the beach. It’s called the Santos Train, and while it sounds really cool, in actuality train compartments are TEEENY and the beds in them are even smaller. I hardly slept at all because every time I fell asleep I’d wake with a jolt because I was falling out of the bed. Eric and I are not very large people, so I can’t imagine how someone Ian’s size could sleep there, let alone how other couples who stay there manage. I guess they mean it when they say “single” beds. Still, it was cool to hear the ocean outside the window.
The only remarkable things about the remaining two days of our drive back were the beach in Wilderness, MonkeyLand, and watching Eric throw himself off a bridge. The town of
I can’t believe that was almost a month ago now, and now I’m getting ready for our next big Africa vacation to
- Mood:
anxious - Music:arcade noises from the internet cafe
Enjoy!
my flickr name is Rmme44, in case anyone forgot.
- Location:South Africa
- Mood:frantic
- Location:home
- Mood: excited/terrified
