when it rains it pours in the tropics

this is a picture from one of the first days we got here. i finally figured out how to resize photos so that i can post em for you! the past couple of days have been unreal weather wise...torrential downpours, howling winds, and lightning galore.  it actually inhibited a lot of stuff that we needed to do for our experiments because cages got turned over, there was no visibility in the water column, and lightning presents a problem when youre surrounded by water. so literally have just been chillin and posting up inside the past couple of days...ive been reading the firm by john grisham (one of the hundreds of interesting novels at the station...most of them smutty romance novels with a few john grisham thrillers thrown in there.  since i last wrote, i had another free day so jackie, michelle, and i went over to the hilton to go swimming in the pool.  it was amazing....first time i actually felt clean clean since ive been here...prolly because of the chlorine and i was finally not sweating for once.  the entirety of the people surrounding the pool were all couples presumably on their honeymoon. needless to say that 3 blonde college girls that looked noticeably grimey and beaten up by the elements stuck out a little.  we started to formulate a plan...michelle speaks polish...we are all blonde...we are polish stepsisters whose parents just got married in moorea.  anytime we were approached, the plan was for michelle to speak polish. this provided laughs and fueled the creative side of our brains for a change. everything was in place until a cabana boy came up to us and asked us if we wanted chips. well duh we replied yes and in english. cover blown but we got free chips and the lil tahitian was so intent on flirting with us that he even brought us ice cold water with lime.  now let me tell you, i havent had ice water before or after that moment since arriving in moorea. it was the most amazing water to hit my lips.  after basking in the pool for a couple hours and trying to get tan on the belly side of my boday (back side is soooooo tan in comparison...think about what faces the sun when youre snorkeling and im snorkeling basically everyday), we went up to the concierge to look at like a pamphlet of stuff to do in moorea besides sit at the gump station.  the woman asked if we were staying at the hotel, and to my utter shock her co-worker behind us replies, "no, they are staying at gump." shoot. busted. guess we werent as sneaky as we thought and dangggggggg does stuff get around on this lil island.  well we went on our merry way and headed to our less luxurious quarters.  before dinner, we went were told to get "dressed up" because we were heading up the mountain to the gump house. i didnt really know what to expect. all i knew was that the director of the gump station lived up there. we hiked in the dark with flowers in our hair and dresses on (well the girls anyway) and arrived at this large rustic house perched on the mountain looking over Cook's Bay. it was beautiful. hinano (tahitian beer) was offered but i chose the local tropical juice...beer isnt my thing.  then we listened as the director ( a hunky australian named neal davies) gave us an overview of the types of studies that the gump station hosts and is involved in (BioCode, LTER, etc).  after this, my group had to give our interview for the COSEE outreach program that we are also doing (my sciencey blog).  it was sufficiently awkward being videotaped and stuff as we answered questions about our project.   i then decided to hit the hay a lil early.

there was not much on our agenda by way of our project the next day except that we needed to clean our cages...well we were lazy - i stayed in bed and read the firm and did yoga in my room - so we decided to clean them in the afternoon.  unfortunately that's when the hurricane decided to kick into high gear.  the visibility was practically zero and the inclement weather was less than inviting.  dr. fong made us go over to our site anyway and check out the viz just to be sure.  so on the way there casey and tim carried an empty crate of Hinano to exchange for a new one at the store which is 5 min further from our site (you get a discount for bringing back crate + bottles...recycling is huge here:) ).  on this excursion of walking to the site (aka the church), Tim accidently kicked a stray kitten that literally lunged at him from its hiding spot in the bushes. this was horrible, sad, and yet very funny. tim kicked a kitten.  we got to the store; they got their beer; then the reality sunk in...freaking heavy crate. well to our great fortune, the COSEE people were at the store grocery shopping so we hitched a ride with them.  Once dinner ended, i finally got a much needed "long" skype sesh with robert.  like 10 people decided to drink and play games later. for awhile i observed, but ultimately resided to grammy status and went to bed early again. i like my sleep.

yesterday began with cage cleaning bright and early. rain was still in the forecast so we needed to get this done. if you dont clean the cages, you get sediment and algae built up on the cages which could affect water flow and light distribution.  the rest of the morning was spent in the lab doing menial tasks in preparation for our lab experiment that we were hoping to start today.  however, in the afternoon dr. fong dropped a bomb on us and said that she wants us to dye our algae in situ rather than weighing in the lab so we can compare it to the field experiment. sweet. well it began pouring again in the afternoon so the dying had to be put off until today which put us a day behind schedule.  in the late afternoon, i just labeled jars for the lab experiment and hung out with tim, learning about his life back in new york. people are so interesting especially that diverse array of backgrounds that people are from....not everyone lives in a bubble in agoura and their biggest worries are getting to soccer practice and AP exams.  after dinner, our TAs presented the results of the class projects...well none of the data was significant so the experiments were basically poop. cool. haha.  makes me nervous for our experiments. our TAs have been doing experiments for basically a decade and they got insignificant data....what does that mean for us???!!!! eek.  stayed up late just chit chatting with hayley, alex, casey, and michelle :)

today was a challenging day.  we set out to start dying our algae in front of the gump station. however, like 1/3 of the way through, we realized there wasnt enough of what we needed in the area. thus, we had to go to the church and re-dye it all there.  lots of curveballs in other areas of the experiment today, too.  so much that before lunch i just wanted to curl up and cry....literaly laid in bed for an hour reading because there wasnt enough time before lunch to do what we needed to do.  so in the afternoon, casey and i set out to go place 40 dye bags at the church with the help of tim....such a savior....while natalie stayed with dr. fong to figure out how to get the sediment we needed for the lab portion.  we finished in time to get back and have a couple hours of peace before dinner. tim and i pulled up a bench onto the beach and just gazed out to sea - at the darkening sky (no sunsets here), the blue waters, the green mountains...dang im in tahiti. we talked about our relationships and loved ones...not a frequented topic when im with other people.  the mosquitos started to come out and that was our cue to get ready for dinner.  nothing could be more perfect here except the food. its awful. carbs and the occasional salad is all we get....oh and mystery meat.  since the ridiculously pathetic meal of mashed potatoes, rice, some sort of meat (which i dont touch), and salad, i have been hanging out in the lab with my brothers and jackie and michelle and journaling and talking and doing nothing :)

everything here in paradise is peachy. tomorrow holds a busy day. we are putting the whole lab experiment together followed by a gump station staff vs student volleyball match and a traditional tahitian feast put on by the people who work here. they are bringing their families and cooking a pig in the ground and everything. should be really fun. i love you all so much and i really do miss you!!!!