I apologize for not updating the blog, but I haven't been able to connect to the internet the past few days. Pictures load really slowly, but I will add them as I have time.
We began our day by packing up and moving our things from the Stream House to the lab while we waited on rooms to be readied in the main building. This will make it easier for the ladies to clean our rooms and such, since they don’t have to travel along the road. After we cleaned out the empty aquarium, we rode over to the Rosalie River and collected some larger snails from an area just upstream of the estuary. Already they moved about the buckets quicker. There were lots of egg pods on the rocks as well. We were about to explore a gravel road to the left of the river mouth when we got up to some truly dangerous parts. We would have needed a Jeep with four-wheel drive and great traction to get up that road. It looked like they were in the process of construction because it did have cement on the sides. However, we had a terrific opportunity for pictures of the Atlantic Ocean.
When we returned back to the station lab, we sorted the new snails into size groups and perfected our painting technique on yesterday’s group. Using three larger tubes, we set out to race the snails 20 centimeters before and after snail polish, measuring and weighing each snail. A few snails did great and got to their destination in under 3 minutes once we added a trail of water for them to follow down the tube. A good many of the snails decided to turn back early and go the other way, so we just had to keep track of where they had been for a total of 20 centimeters. Still, a stubborn few refused to move at all in the tubes. We simply wrote “NM” for no movement if they hadn’t done anything after about 5 minutes. It was a very long process and took us until lunch time to complete the experiment on 15 medium sized snails. The snails in the other containers, where we had counted out 15 or 30 of them, liked to crawl on top of each other and out to explore the table. We were constantly returning them back to their respective lids or petri dishes. The itty-bitty ones, no bigger than a hungry tick, did not venture out quite as much, but we typically had a lid on their dish anyway.
After lunch, we painted most of yesterday’s snails with four different colors; pink, blue, green, and yellow. We took them back down to the Checkhall River mouth and returned them by color-coating at 10 meter intervals getting further away from the freshwater. We will check tomorrow morning to see what sort of progress they have made. While we were down that way, we went to pick up our handmade sandals. Diane and Roger wanted postcards to send back to the States, and I went by the bank. On the way back to the car, we found one of the last available copies of our textbook, The Dominica Story, and got some ice cream. I had orange and amaretto (two different flavors, not a mixture of them).
Apparently the locals think something strange about me; I’m not sure of whether it is good or bad. Roger and Kala were telling me that an older lady kept watching me as we went down the street, and got her friend’s attention, too. I’m not sure what caught their attention. They proposed that perhaps I looked like an actress to them, but I wonder if they thought my blonde hair meant I was bad news. Prof. Hains told us a story about how the people in Turkey have statues and paintings of a blue eye. When he asked about it, everyone was reluctant to say anything. His friend told him that was the evil eye, because all of Turkey’s conquerors had blues eyes and the paintings are supposed to keep these evil eyed people from attacking them again. A few days ago at the Rosalie River, a man asked me if I was Russian. I have heard that question several times now. When people hear me called Izzy, they immediately think I am French.
Once we got back to the station, our rooms were ready so we moved our belongings. Now the ladies’ room had six single beds, each with a mosquito net canopy. Diane felt that we are like princesses. We had a large bathroom with a bidet toilet (and a regular one). I instinctively thought it was a urinal without a backing on it. It had a water faucet like a sink and all, but I don’t plan on using it. We also have our own private staircase and veranda. Roger’s room had a doorway that connects to ours, so he could wake us up in the morning. He had a double bed, a bathroom with an extra doorway (which was locked), and his own private staircase as well. Although we haven’t seen Dr. Hains’ room, we assume he picked the best for himself. And we know for sure he had a soaking tub. I’m not sure I would want to soak in the water here; there are plenty of other things to do. But it is good for his hurt back from his fall a few days ago when he slid on a boulder at the hot springs.
I am going to have to start telling the chef to fix me less food. I think I am gaining my Freshman 15 now; and I was so happy before that I hadn’t gained it this year. It is fine when we have been hiking all day, but today we did very little strenuous activity so I have no reason to eat so much. While it is all delicious (I have even come to appreciate beans some more), I must ask for smaller portions tomorrow. By the way, we had goat meat tonight.
We began our day by packing up and moving our things from the Stream House to the lab while we waited on rooms to be readied in the main building. This will make it easier for the ladies to clean our rooms and such, since they don’t have to travel along the road. After we cleaned out the empty aquarium, we rode over to the Rosalie River and collected some larger snails from an area just upstream of the estuary. Already they moved about the buckets quicker. There were lots of egg pods on the rocks as well. We were about to explore a gravel road to the left of the river mouth when we got up to some truly dangerous parts. We would have needed a Jeep with four-wheel drive and great traction to get up that road. It looked like they were in the process of construction because it did have cement on the sides. However, we had a terrific opportunity for pictures of the Atlantic Ocean.
When we returned back to the station lab, we sorted the new snails into size groups and perfected our painting technique on yesterday’s group. Using three larger tubes, we set out to race the snails 20 centimeters before and after snail polish, measuring and weighing each snail. A few snails did great and got to their destination in under 3 minutes once we added a trail of water for them to follow down the tube. A good many of the snails decided to turn back early and go the other way, so we just had to keep track of where they had been for a total of 20 centimeters. Still, a stubborn few refused to move at all in the tubes. We simply wrote “NM” for no movement if they hadn’t done anything after about 5 minutes. It was a very long process and took us until lunch time to complete the experiment on 15 medium sized snails. The snails in the other containers, where we had counted out 15 or 30 of them, liked to crawl on top of each other and out to explore the table. We were constantly returning them back to their respective lids or petri dishes. The itty-bitty ones, no bigger than a hungry tick, did not venture out quite as much, but we typically had a lid on their dish anyway.
After lunch, we painted most of yesterday’s snails with four different colors; pink, blue, green, and yellow. We took them back down to the Checkhall River mouth and returned them by color-coating at 10 meter intervals getting further away from the freshwater. We will check tomorrow morning to see what sort of progress they have made. While we were down that way, we went to pick up our handmade sandals. Diane and Roger wanted postcards to send back to the States, and I went by the bank. On the way back to the car, we found one of the last available copies of our textbook, The Dominica Story, and got some ice cream. I had orange and amaretto (two different flavors, not a mixture of them).
Apparently the locals think something strange about me; I’m not sure of whether it is good or bad. Roger and Kala were telling me that an older lady kept watching me as we went down the street, and got her friend’s attention, too. I’m not sure what caught their attention. They proposed that perhaps I looked like an actress to them, but I wonder if they thought my blonde hair meant I was bad news. Prof. Hains told us a story about how the people in Turkey have statues and paintings of a blue eye. When he asked about it, everyone was reluctant to say anything. His friend told him that was the evil eye, because all of Turkey’s conquerors had blues eyes and the paintings are supposed to keep these evil eyed people from attacking them again. A few days ago at the Rosalie River, a man asked me if I was Russian. I have heard that question several times now. When people hear me called Izzy, they immediately think I am French.
Once we got back to the station, our rooms were ready so we moved our belongings. Now the ladies’ room had six single beds, each with a mosquito net canopy. Diane felt that we are like princesses. We had a large bathroom with a bidet toilet (and a regular one). I instinctively thought it was a urinal without a backing on it. It had a water faucet like a sink and all, but I don’t plan on using it. We also have our own private staircase and veranda. Roger’s room had a doorway that connects to ours, so he could wake us up in the morning. He had a double bed, a bathroom with an extra doorway (which was locked), and his own private staircase as well. Although we haven’t seen Dr. Hains’ room, we assume he picked the best for himself. And we know for sure he had a soaking tub. I’m not sure I would want to soak in the water here; there are plenty of other things to do. But it is good for his hurt back from his fall a few days ago when he slid on a boulder at the hot springs.
I am going to have to start telling the chef to fix me less food. I think I am gaining my Freshman 15 now; and I was so happy before that I hadn’t gained it this year. It is fine when we have been hiking all day, but today we did very little strenuous activity so I have no reason to eat so much. While it is all delicious (I have even come to appreciate beans some more), I must ask for smaller portions tomorrow. By the way, we had goat meat tonight.
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