Thursday, June 30, 2011
BULL CAME OUTTA NOWHERE
Tuesday 28
Yvonne and I presented our powerpoint on wind energy in the morning along with all the other groups, who talked about other types of renewable energy like solar panels, biofuel, solar thermal, ocean energy, etc. That morning we could sleep in because the powerpoints didn't start until 10:30, which was lovely. At the end of the presentations, we all voted on which type would be the best to invest in. Photovoltaic energy (solar panels) won and they got $290 million to start their project. Lunch and then an entire day to work on our projects. We all worked in the classroom for a while and Greg and I finished putting all of our data together. Our results showed that there wasn't a significant difference between the two heliconia species (one native and one introduced), which was interesting. We originally hypothesized that there would be a difference. After looking at more research, we realized that just because a species is introduced into an area, doesn't mean it will necessarily be invasive. Depending on the situation, a species can pose a different degree of a threat. All the pollinators that came to the species were endemic to the island. A total of 24 hours of observation - wowee. Later that night, Rose and I watched more LOST.
Wednesday 29
We had the whole day to work on our projects and then Diana gave us a talk on how urbanization has affected marine life in the streams in a watershed close by. It was interesting to hear about her research!
TODAY
Everyone's presentations began at "9 on the dot" (psh, yeah right). It was a great to feeling to completely finish and I realized how much I learned over the last 5 weeks. I was cool learning more details about everyone else's research. The presentations finished and we had a nice lunch. After lunch the whole gang went swimming in the waterfall. I stayed back at the apartments and caught up with one of my best friends that I hadn't spoken to in a month. I had service in the back table and sat there while it rained super hard. We then went to the classroom to talk about the posters we all made. Ashley quizzed us about everyone's injuries - cuts, bruises, strains, infections, stomach bugs, rashes, jellyfish stings. It was quite amusing. Jelly, Clare, and Karissa made a count down starting at 12 days until the end.
It goes like this.
12 bugbites
11 rainy days
10 calls dropped
9 jellyfish stings
8 internet fails
7 evil iguanas
6 wipeouts
5 sun burns
4 stomach bugs
3 broken computers
2 "free" days
I don't know what the last one is yet. Despite all of our trials and tribulations, I had a great 5 weeks! I'm so grateful to have had Omar, Ashley, and Diana as my teachers and to have met everyone is the group!
After the classroom, Rose and I watched another episode of LOST. Then I did abs with the group. Then Yvonne and I went for an hour walk. We decided to turn back from our walk, when we ran into a frickin bull! It was so cool and scary. It had a bull ring too. We were worried it would begin to charge at us as it was given us a death stare.
BEACH TOMORROW and then Diana is driving me to airport on Saturday. Wow - that did not feel like 5 weeks.
Yvonne and I presented our powerpoint on wind energy in the morning along with all the other groups, who talked about other types of renewable energy like solar panels, biofuel, solar thermal, ocean energy, etc. That morning we could sleep in because the powerpoints didn't start until 10:30, which was lovely. At the end of the presentations, we all voted on which type would be the best to invest in. Photovoltaic energy (solar panels) won and they got $290 million to start their project. Lunch and then an entire day to work on our projects. We all worked in the classroom for a while and Greg and I finished putting all of our data together. Our results showed that there wasn't a significant difference between the two heliconia species (one native and one introduced), which was interesting. We originally hypothesized that there would be a difference. After looking at more research, we realized that just because a species is introduced into an area, doesn't mean it will necessarily be invasive. Depending on the situation, a species can pose a different degree of a threat. All the pollinators that came to the species were endemic to the island. A total of 24 hours of observation - wowee. Later that night, Rose and I watched more LOST.
Wednesday 29
We had the whole day to work on our projects and then Diana gave us a talk on how urbanization has affected marine life in the streams in a watershed close by. It was interesting to hear about her research!
TODAY
Everyone's presentations began at "9 on the dot" (psh, yeah right). It was a great to feeling to completely finish and I realized how much I learned over the last 5 weeks. I was cool learning more details about everyone else's research. The presentations finished and we had a nice lunch. After lunch the whole gang went swimming in the waterfall. I stayed back at the apartments and caught up with one of my best friends that I hadn't spoken to in a month. I had service in the back table and sat there while it rained super hard. We then went to the classroom to talk about the posters we all made. Ashley quizzed us about everyone's injuries - cuts, bruises, strains, infections, stomach bugs, rashes, jellyfish stings. It was quite amusing. Jelly, Clare, and Karissa made a count down starting at 12 days until the end.
It goes like this.
12 bugbites
11 rainy days
10 calls dropped
9 jellyfish stings
8 internet fails
7 evil iguanas
6 wipeouts
5 sun burns
4 stomach bugs
3 broken computers
2 "free" days
I don't know what the last one is yet. Despite all of our trials and tribulations, I had a great 5 weeks! I'm so grateful to have had Omar, Ashley, and Diana as my teachers and to have met everyone is the group!
After the classroom, Rose and I watched another episode of LOST. Then I did abs with the group. Then Yvonne and I went for an hour walk. We decided to turn back from our walk, when we ran into a frickin bull! It was so cool and scary. It had a bull ring too. We were worried it would begin to charge at us as it was given us a death stare.
BEACH TOMORROW and then Diana is driving me to airport on Saturday. Wow - that did not feel like 5 weeks.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Who stole the internets?
Yesterday, after 6 hours up on the hill with Greg, we had a nice dinner and hung out with the REUs, who are paid researchers that are also living at the field station. Guitars, harmonica, drinks, laughs, ribs - it was fun. Today, it has been storming on and off. The power has gone off a few times and we've lost the internet too. I love thunderstorms. Love em. We had a lecture this morning about industrial ecology. We talked about nutrient cycles - like water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous. Ashley talked about sustainable development opportunities here in Puerto Rico and a little about their economy. Yvonne and I were going to do a little project about wind energy, but all the internets were stolen. We had to postpone it. Nicole and I just put together a powerpoint slide about flowers here in PR - pretty flowers. We had a good lunch today and Yvonne went to the store yesterday with Nick to get chocolate :) yummy. It's weird that we only have 5 more days here. Our final projects are due Thursday. Beach friday and then Jamaica on Saturday.
WOWEE!!
WOWEE!!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Aventuras en Puerto Rico!
Friday morning, Greg and I watched pollinators for three hours at the top of the hill. That afternoon, the whole group split up and we learned about EIDs (emergent infectious diseases). My group learned about Lyme disease in Connecticut. After that, the food didn’t come and we had to rush to the bioluminescent bay, which was incredible! We walked around the park and saw the lighthouse and then we went to the bay and swirled sticks in the water to get it to light up it was pretty awesome. Our guide told us that the glowing of the dinoflagellants in the water is a form of altruism and protection against predators b/c if an animal eats them, then they start glowing and attract other predators. That was pretty cool. Yesterday, Greg and I watched pollinators in the morning and again in the afternoon - dinner, LOST, P90X, and more LOST. Today, I got to sleep in and breakfast isn't here yet, :( More pollinators and then part of our powerpoint is due. No biggy. Elegance is making ribs tonight and our beach trip for today is postponed until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Recap
So Tuesday we were in Old San Juan, which was a lot of fun. Before we left, I couldn't find my wallet and had to leave without it.
As soon as we arrived, the group split up and went separate directions. Nicole, Diana, Rose, Ashley, and I had a fabulous time. Diana is the best person to be with as she knows the city better than everyone. We went on a walking tour of Old San Juan.
El Castillo de San Felipe de Morro - It juts out into the entrance of the San Juan Bay.
Cuartel de Ballajá or Ballajá Barracks housed Spanish troops during the 1800s and later was the quarters for American soldiers after the Spanish-American War. The second floor is now a museum.
La Casa Blanca is a museum of Puerto Rico's founding family.
La Capilla del Cristo is the oldest governor's mansion in the western hemisphere and has housed 170 governors of Puerto Rico.
La Plazuela de La Rogativa is a sculpture that shows a procession of faithful catholics holding torches and crosses aloft.
Raíces Fountain is lovely too.
Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest of the San Juan Forts.
We also visited an apartment that Diana stays at sometimes in Suan Juan. I loved it!
We went to Ben and Jerry's, which is half owned by Michelle Campi, an ex-olympian gymnast, which was really cool for me.
We also met Vilma at a cute restaurant.
Back on the bus to El Verde, dinner, worked on our quizzes, and then bed.
Yesterday, which was Wednesday, we had a stat lesson in the morning and then began our field practical. Dom, Jelly, Lynn, and I explored soil infiltration. We had to propose a hypothesis, collect data, and make a powerpoint of our report in two days, which had some stressful moments. We filmed some of the process, which turned out to be very funny and we incorporated some of the footage into our slideshow. We had a BBQ last night really late, stared at the stars, watched some LOST, and then bed.
Today, we put together the powerpoint and then everyone presented with their groups.
Some people from Texas found my wallet and now its being sent to Vilma's parents house here! Yay! Too bad I already cancelled both the credit cards... Oh well. At least I don't have to get a new license.
Tomorrow is the bioluminescent bay. That'll be cool.
As soon as we arrived, the group split up and went separate directions. Nicole, Diana, Rose, Ashley, and I had a fabulous time. Diana is the best person to be with as she knows the city better than everyone. We went on a walking tour of Old San Juan.
El Castillo de San Felipe de Morro - It juts out into the entrance of the San Juan Bay.
Cuartel de Ballajá or Ballajá Barracks housed Spanish troops during the 1800s and later was the quarters for American soldiers after the Spanish-American War. The second floor is now a museum.
La Casa Blanca is a museum of Puerto Rico's founding family.
La Capilla del Cristo is the oldest governor's mansion in the western hemisphere and has housed 170 governors of Puerto Rico.
La Plazuela de La Rogativa is a sculpture that shows a procession of faithful catholics holding torches and crosses aloft.
Raíces Fountain is lovely too.
Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest of the San Juan Forts.
We also visited an apartment that Diana stays at sometimes in Suan Juan. I loved it!
We went to Ben and Jerry's, which is half owned by Michelle Campi, an ex-olympian gymnast, which was really cool for me.
We also met Vilma at a cute restaurant.
Back on the bus to El Verde, dinner, worked on our quizzes, and then bed.
Yesterday, which was Wednesday, we had a stat lesson in the morning and then began our field practical. Dom, Jelly, Lynn, and I explored soil infiltration. We had to propose a hypothesis, collect data, and make a powerpoint of our report in two days, which had some stressful moments. We filmed some of the process, which turned out to be very funny and we incorporated some of the footage into our slideshow. We had a BBQ last night really late, stared at the stars, watched some LOST, and then bed.
Today, we put together the powerpoint and then everyone presented with their groups.
Some people from Texas found my wallet and now its being sent to Vilma's parents house here! Yay! Too bad I already cancelled both the credit cards... Oh well. At least I don't have to get a new license.
Tomorrow is the bioluminescent bay. That'll be cool.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
6 Hours in Front of Heliconias
I'll write a little bit about the last couple days at Magueyes. We couldn't snorkel the second day and so everyone was not in the best of moods. We were all devastated pretty much. So instead we constructed a food web of the marine life in the morning and in the afternoon, we visited the fish museum. It was a room filled with bottles of fish that have been preserved since the 50s. It was pretty cool. The people working there were working on reorganizing it based on evolutionary order. Then we collected flora and fauna from land and made a food web based on those findings. After dinskies, made by Nick, we picked through iguana poop to see what they eat. They are strictly vegetarians. Niv and I played some hangman, which is always fun. Then we had a night out on the town - drank a little and played some pool. We got back to the island and hung out on top of the hill where there's a gazebo and a hammock. Got 5,000 bug bites. Nicole, Yvonne, and I stayed up til 4:30 that night when we had to get up at 7.
Yesterday, we literally spent the entire day on the bus, which none of us realized was going to happen. We stopped at the salt mines, checked out sea monkeys, applebees for lunch, coldstone and walmart, and then BAT CAVES! That was the coolest. Since my knee is a little messed up, Nicole, Yvonne, and Nick took turns carrying me. We finally got back to the station at 8 pm. We were driving from 8 to 8. The shower felt great and I slept so well.
Today, Greg and I started our day off at 8. We watched pollination activity from 8 to 11 am and then from 2 to 5. I slept in between the two sessions. So we recorded what species visited this flowering plant and how often they came. We will be comparing that data with an introduced flowering plant of the same species and seeing if there is any difference. It would be just embarrassing if there was no difference.
These are the two plants we are comparing.
Right now I'm icing my knee.
It's been raining off and on all day.
Yesterday, we literally spent the entire day on the bus, which none of us realized was going to happen. We stopped at the salt mines, checked out sea monkeys, applebees for lunch, coldstone and walmart, and then BAT CAVES! That was the coolest. Since my knee is a little messed up, Nicole, Yvonne, and Nick took turns carrying me. We finally got back to the station at 8 pm. We were driving from 8 to 8. The shower felt great and I slept so well.
Today, Greg and I started our day off at 8. We watched pollination activity from 8 to 11 am and then from 2 to 5. I slept in between the two sessions. So we recorded what species visited this flowering plant and how often they came. We will be comparing that data with an introduced flowering plant of the same species and seeing if there is any difference. It would be just embarrassing if there was no difference.
These are the two plants we are comparing.
Right now I'm icing my knee.
It's been raining off and on all day.
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