Gold Medal for Hannah!

In honor of the Olympics, we took Hannah out for her very first skate around the rink!





It started out with extra socks so the too-big ice skates would fit and the cutest ever pink panda helmet!





The first laps were basically me & Uncle dragging her around. When I asked if she wanted to go around for a third time or take a break with Nana & Poppop, she said "Around again!!"

After I held her up for a while, she started to stand up straight on her own!

And then it was just Hannah & Uncle!

She liked sitting "in the box" and watching the other skaters, but never for very long.

She wanted to get right back out and skate!

There were a few falls, but no tears! Just a snowy butt!

She had so much fun with Mommy, Uncle & me!

But refused our help at the end!!!

Here are some videos of her skating all by herself!

Everyone is just so proud of her!

Nephew in NYC!

It was a few weeks ago now, but it's taken me a while to upload some photos to my computer!

Nephew, my older brother and my sister in law came to visit Ry & I at our new place for the long weekend! We hung out, watched a movie, went to NYC and then carved pumpkins during football! It was lots of fun and we can't wait until they come visit again!

Here are some photos for you!

We love to ride the (staten island) ferry!

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Because it has a great view of the Statue of Liberty!!
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Nephew was sooooo excited to ride the subway ....

...then he rode it and it wasn't that exciting!
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We checked out ground zero and then made it to the Central Park Zoo before it closed!
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It was such a beautiful fall day and we had fun running in the park!
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Nephew and Uncle Ry got the same socks at the Zoo gift shop!!
Who doesn't love puffins??
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PS -- Nephew started reading Twilight!

So much going on ...

I know that my audience has been checking daily for updates about my exciting life .... and let me tell you, life has been busy!

But soon ... so very soon ... I will post about:

• 4th of July celebration in Buffalo
• Vegas, baby!!!!
• leaving the Little Town ...
• ... and moving to NJ!

So much fun in such a short amount of time!

A Virginia Visit!

Many weeks ago (before my trip to Brazil), RyGuy and I traveled down to visit BF Kimmy, my BF-in-law and their daughter Ally! We were so excited to go see them (we haven't seen them since Christmas!) and celebrate Kimmy's 28th Birthday! And it's lucky we went to visit -- they will actually be moving soon because of a new job! We are excited because they will be much closer to us, but we will miss their cute VA home!

As always, below are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Uncle Ry showing Ally how to blow some bubbles!
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Ally liked the bubbles ... but maybe the stick a bit more!
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So cute!
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We spent a great day at the pool! Ally is so cute!
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I think she had a great time! We did!
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Ally trying to play video games with Daddy & Uncle Ry!
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Happy Birthday BF Kimmy!
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Seriously, ridiculously cute!
Can't believe she is ONE already!!
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Can't wait to visit you at your new place, Miss Ally!
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Dick Dawk likes soup

The conference I went to in Brazil turned out to be really great!

Great stuff: Awesome famous keynote speaker (who likes soup a lot!); cute resort; great pool; caught up with lots of people I haven't seen in a while; lots of fun conversations with scientists; free alcohol at nearly every event; old labmate (DancingFish) gave a great talk in a little competition; Joe gave the best talk ever (on one of the papers I am first author on) and got tons of questions from super famous people; met lots of new fun grad students; got some more post doc advice; listened to lots of great science talks; was brave enough to ask questions at a few talks; only a few bug bites; had an overall great time!

Not-great stuff: Traveled at least 22 hours each way (many planes and airports and buses); my talk was on the very last day, and the stupid clicker broke and my slides went away for a while, and I looked like an idiot; pretty sure I broke my toe while walking the streets of town one drunken evening; my undergrad advisor was there and it appears that he still hates me, making all interactions totally awkward; did not know Portuguese at all!!; got yelled at twice by a semi-famous scientist's wife for being too loud at night; perhaps have swine flu (though not as bad as Joe).

I think the Great stuff list totally beats the Not-great stuff list, so I declare the Brazil trip a success!!

Here are some photos for your enjoyment!

Beautiful weather in Newark!

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Beautiful weather in Brazil!
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Real poinsettias. Not like the Christmas plants in the US!
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DancingFish finishing the FunRun!
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Joe after his 4th place finish in the Fun Run!
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View from our balcony!
(Dick Dawk stayed on the bottom floor!)
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Pool!
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Such fun!

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Umm ... yeah ...

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Cow, the goat, and his Mommy

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Attempt at a photo of Dick Dawk's crack

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Joe ... with some famous science guy???
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The Caipirinha!
(Never accidentally ask for a double!)

Leaving on a jet plane ...

I leave today for Brazil!

A week long conference in the middle of a giant South American country! I am very excited about the work and also hope to get in some time at the pool! My tan is definitely suffering with the 28 days of rain we have endured in The Little Town!

I plan to blog from the pool, so stay tuned!

This is the start of our busy, busy summer! RyGuy leaves for London this week, then we're both off to Buffalo, then Vegas!, then moving in together! Crazy good times in the next few weeks!

I'm in love with a girl ...

Ry & I had such a wonderful time this past weekend visiting little Ally in VA!! We were so excited to meet her and are so happy to have a new little "niece"! It's fun to be "Aunt" and "Uncle"!

It was great to just hang out with BF Kimmy, her hubby, Anna & Gorgeous too! We play cards, watched some olympics and even took Ally to her very first fair!! Check out the video below to see me realize one of my dreams in life -- riding a mechanical bull!!!!!!

I'm just so happy for BF Kimmy & my BF-in-law! They have the cutest daughter and she is just so happy! I can't wait to see you all again in B-lo in a few weeks!!!

Cutie Baby Ally!

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RyGuy and Ally ... Isn't the expression great?
She's all "Really??! You're letting Uncle RyGuy hold me?"
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I just wanted to take her home with us!!
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So much fun at the fair!
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Ally's enjoying her first pig races!!!
(My first pig races too!)
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So excited!! I actually rode the bull!
(Anna did too, but I figured I should only humiliate myself with a blog video!)

Can't wait to meet her!

Just another day or so until I FINALLY meet BF Baby Ally!!

Just look at this photo of her! Can you blame me for being so excited??
(and not only is she so friggin' cute, but she's also wearing the fish dress I sent her!)

Oh, and I am excited to see BF Kimmy, BF-in-law, and the newly married Anna & Gorgeous too!

YAY for super-fun, non-working weekends!!!!!!

Jamaica, Jamaica

I thought about writing you all an exciting blog entry with a daily summary of my adventures in Jamaica (just like my adventures in Bagaces, CR). However, each day can be summed up as follows:

6:45 -Wake up, apply copious amounts of SPF 45, put on wet bathing suit, long sleeve shirt and capris. Get gear ready.

7:30 -Wander to advisor's flat with Joe. Eat breakfast of dry cereal and diet coke. Proceed to boat.

8:00 -Get in water and start collecting data.

10:00 or 11:00 -Drive advisor and various other professors and/or wives and/or fiances back to shore, then return to Reef to collect more data.

1:30 -Return to shore for the day. Usually the boat trip is hurried because Joe and I are trying to avoid being electrocuted in the aluminum boat. Everyday it is raining when we return to shore.

2:00 -Spend afternoon showering, napping, watching Lost Season 1 or entering data. Occasionally are able to check email.

4:30 -Meet at advisor's flat for Beer Thirty. Drink as many Red Stripes as possible. Cook dinner for advisor, his fiance, other professor and his wife (while drinking more Red Stripe). One time, there was an explosion as the stove had broken. Fight with Joe over who gets to hide in the kitchen and wash dishes while the other is forced to converse with "grown-ups".

6:30 or 7:00 -Make excuse to head back to our dormatories.

7:00 until about midnight - Drink a lot of rum. Beat Joe at poker. Watch Lost. Drink more rum. Call my RyGuy. Laugh about advisor and his crazy fiance. Drink more rum.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

15 days in a row.

Luckily, neither Joe nor I ever woke up with a hangover, we collected lots of data and we made the best of being stuck on a fenced-in compound (gotta keep the raptors in somehow) with a crazy advisor and his crazier fiance and very little contact with the outside world! I have come to respect the power that Rum has to make everything alright!

Oh, and on a professional note, while we were down there, Joe & I found out that 2 of our manuscripts got accepted to (basically) the 2 best journals that we will ever publish in! More about that later!

Anyway, glad to be back! And looking forward to all of the rest of the adventures I have lined up for this summer!!

Obviously, it's me in a boat, on a boat, with some fish in a bottle. Obviously.
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One of our male beaugregory damselfish!
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Joe, taking data!
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I am sure I would enjoy the beauty of Jamaica more if I did not work there!

Off again

Another summer of fieldwork officially begins ...

Sigh.

8 hours of snorkeling in the tropics each day for the next 2 weeks.

I know it sounds awesome, but trust me ...

I'll give you updates when possible!!!!

Happy Summer!

Bagaces, Final Thoughts

As all of you know, I made it home from Bagaces safe and sound!

My last 18 hours in Bagaces involved a lovely dinner (the thing I will miss most about CR is the Patacones), a long poker game at my house (in which I came in SECOND PLACE again!! YAY 8,000 colones!), a few hours of fitful sleep, and a 4.5 hour bus ride across Costa Rica to the airport. After a few plane delays, I made it to the Little Town! Only 20 hours of traveling!



My first day back in the States was wonderful and a bit emotional. I slept from 3am (when I finally got home) until 1pm. Just being able to sleep without dogs barking or cocks crowing was amazing! Then I showered and put on clean clothes and cried at the joy of being clean!



I had to go to the University for a lab meeting on this first day back, and when I arrived it was a bit odd. My RyGuy is gone. I have never known this Little Town University without him. But everyone wanted to talk about how great his dissertation defense was and how they miss him and how great he is! Which is all true, but also weird, because I feel like he should be here with me! It was different when I was in CR, because the long-distance relationship didn't involve places that Ry and I had been. But the University is the place where we met and spent LOTS of time together. A bit weird, but I will surely adjust.



It's been a week since I returned back, but I am still not unpacked! It's driving my crazy, but I spent the weekend in Roch with Ry and my family and then was busy celebrating my and Joe's birthdays! Soon, order shall be restored!



Reflecting back on my time in Bagaces, I think I learned a lot about myself.



While I am able to do fieldwork and live in conditions that are less than ideal, I don't really want to. I work hard to enjoy my luxurious American lifestyle and the next time I visit a third-world country, it will be at an all-inclusive resort. And I no longer feel guilty about this. I can live in a small village in Costa Rica, where I am plagued with bug bites and scorpions and tarantulas, but why should I? Why should I do things that don't make me happy? Or don't allow me to feel safe? Or make my body break out in hives?



Bagaces wasn't all bad though. Joe and I now have something we joke about on a daily basis. And the other Gringos I met were all VERY nice and fun and intelligent and enjoyable! And my research projects turned out AMAZINGLY, which means I should get 2 publications for my 26-days of work! And seeing the fish in their natural habitat was worth all of the bad stuff. And I saw lots of amazing animals! And, finally, I have a new found love of poker, and hope to get a tournament night started here soon!



So long Bagaces! So long fishies! So happy to be home!

Bagaces Final Days

My final days doing research in Costa Rica!

Day 22
Undergrad T still has sunburn and a backache, so we spend another day in town.

Sleep in. Make some zebrafish graphs for a project I am doing with Dancing Fish. Though I can´t email them because Flash Drive has gone missing (Likely it was left at internet place and now it is gone forever).

Go to Rodeo with Prof B, Twins and T. It rains, which is apparently very weird for this time of year. Rodeo is supposed to start at 5pm (when we show up). Of course, in this town, everyone understands that when something is supposed to start at 5pm, that really means 8pm. During 3 hour wait, T gets mad because he is unable to carry on an intelligent conversation. He then refuses to talk to anyone all night.

Rodeo is interesting, like an American Rodeo. Especially liked the event that was like musical chairs on horseback.

Day 23
Finally back in the field. Get 10 samples for T´s undergrad project (that will surely not have my name on it). Also get lots of video and photos. Also see capuchins again!!

At night, spend some time at a local ¨futbol¨game (aka soccer). Don´t really know soccer rules. And no scoreboard. Very confusing.

Call the love of my life, who is actually in Buffalo visiting with all of my guy friends! Excited that he is enjoying himself in his new town!

Day 24
Last day in the field!!!!

Find more little baby, nonswimming fish and video tape the parents retrieveing them!! YAY!!!

Get 16 more samples for T´s project!

Celebrate last day by throwing out field clothes!

Find another large spider hiding under my luggage. Canadian Roommate says it is a Tarantula. Does tarantula just mean really big, hairy spider? Hope no tarantulas have found their way into my bags and travel back to the US with me and then mate with a house spider and infest the whole Little Town with killer attack spiders (yes, I have seen Arachnaphoia many, many years ago and still shudder at the thought of spiders. Especially large spiders.).

Have amazing Bagaces pizza one last time.

Day 25
My ¨dia ultimita¨.

Spend morning cleaning and packing and shopping in town for souvineers (oh, the souvineers of Bagaces). Have lunch at favorite restaurant (the Soda La Fuente). Take last shower in scorpion infested bathroom. Spend afternoon in airconditioned internet center.

Tonight, will maybe play one last game of Gringo Poker.

Tomorrow, up very early to travel 5 hours to airport, then spend all afternoon and evening in airports and on planes, to finally arrive back in the States at midnight!!!

Well, in just 18 hours I will have officially survived 26 days of field research in Costa Rica! At times I wasn´t sure if I would make it, but it looks like I just might!

Thanks for all of the comments and emails these last 4 weeks!!! You all really helped me stay sane!

After a day of getting used to cold weather and English speaking people, I will surely share more about my time here!!!

Bagaces Week 3

My third week of adventure in a small Costa Rican town!

Day 15:
Day off from field work. Go to farmacia and buy more hidrocortisona from my new pharmacy friend. Also discover they sell phone cards! Calling the love of my life has been difficult because the ladies at the grocery story will only sell me one phone card at a time. Not sure why. But I can only buy a 20-minute phone card each day. Weirdness. Wish I could ask why.

Do a bit of work on the computer and watch TV with T while Prof B & twins are at the pool.

Read and review a paper that Prof B gave to me 2 days ago. Try to give him my comments and he says he already returned his comments (way to waste my life).

New phone cards don’t work today. Darn third world countries and their unreliable international phone service.

Day 16:
Go to the field and get lots more replicates! Very good day again! Data is looking awesome!

Have horrible night sleep. Well, no sleep actually. Around 11pm, convince myself that a peeping tom/rapist/murderer is sitting on my back porch, watching me through the window. Hide in corner for 30 minutes while debating what to do. Not able to outrun anyone, decide my best option is to hide and hope that my predator gets bored and moves on to other prey. Hide in bathroom for 2.5 hours. Decide it is safe to try to go back to bed. Fall asleep with shoes on, while holding pocketknife. Canadian roommate scares the hell out of me when he returns home at 4am. Finally sleep between 6 and 8am.

Day 17:
Field day on 2 hours sleep. Miserable. Get some more data collected.

FINISH EXPERIMENT 1!!!!!!

Bug bites and rash are clearing up. Still look like leper, but less painful.

Convince myself that no one was on back porch last night. It was just the wind and the dogs and my keen imagination. Actually get some sleep.

Day 18:
No field work. Make plans to rent car and go to beach. Prof B cancels plans to rent car (for some reason he is very anti-car rental. Anti-spending any money, really).

Buy light for back porch (added security against non-existent rapist/murderer).

Do some work at home. Watch a few episodes of Gilmore Girls. Find myself talking like the Gilmore Girls.

Go to pool with Prof B, T and twins. Somehow, am convinced to go down the super-scary waterslide! Also have drinks at in-pool bar. Nothing like public pools in the States.

Day 19:
Meet at 8am at Prof B’s house (as planned). Leave for bus to beach at 9:15 (does no one else in the world appreciate efficiency as much as I do?).

Watch a few buses go by. Get on one to Liberia (closest “major” city). After hour bus ride, sit at Liberia bus station (“parada”) for 50 minutes. Get on bus to far away beaches.

After 2 hour bus ride, arrive at beach with Prof B, T and twins. Twins are whiny with hunger, so we head to an all-inclusive type resort. We sit and T is appalled by the prices on the menu (though $7 for a burger and fries is not expensive by American standards, it is by Costa Rican standards). He curses the gluttony of Americans and their propensity for vacation. Try not to get into debate (because I would win any debate against this 22-year-old). Try not to hit him.

Get to spend 1 hour at the actual beach before next bus arrives. Waves are beautiful, yet powerful. This beach is not a protective cove and gets serious waves. Prof B seems to think his kids can handle the massive waves and associated undertows. The police officer that calls me out of the water (by yelling “Baby, Baby” at me) disagrees and tells me I must remove my children from the water immediately because it is too dangerous. Try to explain that they are not my kids. His English is limited and I end up talking to someone on a walkie-talkie. Agree to remove the kids from the water. They fight with me until Prof B shows up and basically says he knows better than the people that live and work at this beach and his kids are not in harms way. Fortunately, our time is up and we have to go anyway.

After 3.5 more hours of travel on the buses, arrive back in Bagaces. Rush home (covered in sand and salt) to discover that Gringo Poker is at our place. Shower quickly and try to straighten up.

Small crowd at poker. Good for chatting and laughing with the very nice English speakers. I only buy in one time this week! After many hours, actually get Second Place at the tournament style game! This means 7,000 colones (about $14)!!! Woohoo!!!

Day 20:
Back in the field. Hike for about a mile to get to new study area.

FINISH EXPERIMENT 2!!!!!

Very glad I booked earlier flight home.




Spend evening discussing stats (Thanks Joe!) and conclusions.

Call RyGuy very late at his new place in Small City. Hard to believe that when I get back to the Little Town that he will be gone. But very excited to visit him (and my family) a few days after I return!!

Day 21:
No field. Undergrad T has hurt his back and has a sunburn, so how could we possibly work?

Spend morning discussing data and find results very interesting.

Spend early afternoon working on graphs, photos and blog!! (Benefit of poker at my place = table & chairs to do work on!!!) Lots of email to catch up on too!


So, week 3 is finally over. I only have 5 days until I travel home, and, while it hasn’t turned out badly, I am excited to be getting back home!