Procrastinating like there's no tomorrow!

Oh dear. I must confess, I enjoy cooking a little too much. I didn't do much homework last night...at all. Instead, I made a mean pasta dish, (sun-dried tomatoes, ripe tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, garlic, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, fresh basil, olive oil, and red wine vinegar) for TONIGHT'S dinner. (And the aroma caused one of my lovely housemates to blurt out, "Whatever you're making...it sure smells great!") And then after my literature class today, did I pick up my policy reader and make headway on my readings like a good girl? No. Instead, I did some dishes and put together a baby spinach, strawberry, and toasted almond salad for dinner as well. One of my complaints about Williams-Mystic: There are way too many fun ways to procrastinate with actual work. We chat, we do laundry, we do laundry and chat. We do dishes. And chat. We have to run to CVS to pick up this and that. Whilst chatting. Oh, and of course, let's not forget how we must have lunch in town. Ooh, and then there's the ice cream shop...maybe we'll just stop by for a tiny bit of ice-cream. Just a bit. And oh gosh, maybe we should stop at the grocery store, y'know, cuz we're running low on food, sort of. Being busy like this is a terrible predicament! (But I kinda like it.)

Anyway, to continue with my tales of the Pacific Northwest:

Feb 28, 2010

1945: Today was quite a long day. We crammed a lot of information in. And I suspect every day will be like this. Now I'm glad all my projects/proposals were due last week, before the trip. I want to be able to drink it all in and learn as much as possible without any worries/stress clouding my mind. I shall list out all the things we did today, along with notes about each:

-Went to Port of Seattle conference room for a lecture: For every development made, they "give back" a certain amount of land...?? Doesn't make sense to me. Also, I didn't get much from the presentation because the presenter, who was an environmental planner, stood in the back, behind the projector, while my interpreter was in the front, standing next to the powerpoint slides.

-Went on a tugboat! (Described in earlier entry)

-Pike's Marketplace: The fish throwers had several of us stand directly under the thrown fishes...I got scales on my sweatshirt, pretty funny.

Throwing fish over our heads. Photo credit goes to David!

Top from left to right: Rachel, Anna, Bottom: Elizabeth, me, Ginger

A few of us went to a Polish place for lunch, where I went to 5 years ago, still just as good as I remembered. I also tried honey lavender ice cream at a stall. It twas...interesting? Delicious? I don't really know. And even though Pike's Marketplace is touristy, I still like it a lot. There are so many interesting people. It is a great place for people watching. Plus, it does support the locals and they happen to be so friendly, even while forcing their goods on you. If I ever live here, I will definitely purchase all my fruits/veggies/flowers/what-have-you from here. I love seeing and smelling the mixture of fish, soaps, tomatoes, apples, oranges, lettuce, onions, baked goods, ice cream, fries heavily doused in vinegar, and the list goes on. Sounds like a strange concoction of smells, I know, but I am able to pick out the distinct odors and identify them in the discordant mish-mash.

-Walking Tour of Seattle with Glenn: The man sure knows how to tell stories. He told us about Ivan and Skid Row. I'll try writing about these later, much too tired now, and I ought to get ahold of someone's notes first anyhow.

Glen sharing fascinating info about the statue of Ivan on his right

-Klondike Gold Rush National Park Exhibit: Very cool and a good lay-out of information. I found it concise, and straight to the point. People were spurred into action with the "final frontier" and hoped to strike it rich. Most people failed. Or died. I had a fascination with the gold rush period as a kid, so this certainly fed my former interest. I did remember a lot, which was lovely.

-Fishermen's Terminal: There were so many boats here...trawlers, gill netters. Most head off to Alaska in search of salmon in mid-March. We also saw the Fishermen's Memorial. It was sobering. A hushed silence fell upon our group as we read the names of all who had died trying to fish in Alaska's treacherous waters. Flowers and written sentiments were placed around it. It just made me think about how we romanticize sea life, how people view it as the great escape from responsibilities. Yet, people die for it. We don't think much about that. Between 2001 and 2009, about 70 men lost their lives. Even boys younger than me. It's incredibly sad. I left, feeling disheartened. How do their parents feel? Their lovers? Losing a loved one at sea...swallowed up by a cold, unfeeling beast, never to be seen or heard from again. No remains. It is truly the "deadliest catch."

This one in particular made me sad. Perhaps because it is so recent?

-Burke Museum: This was at the University of Seattle. It was a fantastic, small museum, summarizing much information you might find at the Museum of Natural History in D.C., (in which you could spend a month and still not have read or seen everything). We had pizza and a lecture from a W-M alum of S97. He has accomplished SO much and is now the Executive Director of the Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board. I thought he was a much better speaker than the first. He raised many interesting thoughts about saving the salmon, including how they have evolved to human impact. If we try to restore the rivers to what they used to be, will that actually harm them? They have changed their way of life around our dams. Would it really help if we were to remove them? Could they evolve back to the way they used to be? Or is the old migration pattern still embedded in their instinct? We really don't know.

We met some other alums as well. It is wonderful to meet others who have graduated from this program. It's fascinating seeing how W-M has impacted their lives; in some, W-M has made a small impact, but still in notable ways, while in others, the impact is life-altering. No matter, W-M makes a mark on everyone. I have absolutely no doubt that it will make one on me as well. I'm already feeling it, actually. I am feeling fresh inspiration and I want to do so much with my life now!

March 1, 2010

0750:

Seattle

Big windows everywhere

like they're trying

to drink up the sun,

overlooking a sprung up city

emerging out of the hills,

born of men who thought

they could move mountains.

But far off behind a veil of

clouds, we can see the rim

of craggy mountains touch

the sky, and then there is

Mount Ranier, a shock of

hardened lava, which sends

a thrill through the heart,

a constant reminder that

nature still has dominion

over sky, land, and the sea.

PNW Adventures-Part One of Many

Well, that was quite a trip. I've spent the past 3 days, simply vegetating. So, forgive me for the late update on the PACIFIC NORTHWEST! Land that I love.

We barely slept, going to places where I probably could have spent an entire day, but at which we only stayed for an hour. Imagine cramming 5 or 6 places like that in one day. Whew, quite overwhelming. As Rich would say, I had a lot of spaghetti thrown at me. The tomato sauce splattered all over me, covering me with insight, and a few strands managed to collect in my hair, facts I will remember always. (I might have missed out on the meatballs...semi-vegetarian, you know?)

I would do it all over again if I could though. It was definitely worth the lack of Mr. Sandman visitations. I shall share some entries from my journal, just as I did when I shared about my experience with the Cramer. So, here goes!

Feb 27, 2010

1240: "Meditation and water are wedded forever and ever." -Melville

"Old, eternally dislocated and hungry, hugger/ of Earth that I am, I love it all. I love/ The breezy wide-openess of Northwest" -Al Young, "Leaving Home for Home"

Mmm. I love reading about places we are going to...it gives us something to connect with as we see all the sights. And this time around, I have seen some of the sights mentioned in the reader, (a packet compiled by Rich), already, such as Puget Sound, Mount Ranier, Mount St. Helens, and Seattle, so I was able to clearly picture the sights, sounds, smells the authors share. Reading their accounts of the Pacific Northwest's beauty made me deeply regret not keeping a journal whilst traveling. I long to look back at my memories and gaze through the eyes of a sheltered 15-year old backpacking the seemingly rugged and wild west. The experience made such an impression on me, that I can still picture some scenery as I had just seen them yesterday. I'll never forget how we walked through a meadow filled with millions of purple and white wildflowers. And if you looked up, you'd see the bluish top of Mount Ranier covered in snow, a sharp contrast to the lazy summer day we ambled along, filled with fat, buzzing bees.

Why did I not keep a record?! I don't think I took the experience for granted. It just didn't occur to me to write things down, I suppose. This time, I am returning to the PNW with a different lens. It will be purely educational, which is exciting, since I now get to learn more about the land that I touched, breathed, and fell in love with. I still yearn for the mountains with clear streams and pine-needled paths. (I'm starting to notice pattern here...I keep getting homesick for places that aren't even my home, like the Cramer!)

I think for most of my life, I am destined to be a wanderer. My home is the world itself. Each natural place I explore marks a permanent stamp on my heart forever, and no matter where I am or doing after that, I can feel the cells of my body creeping back toward that land, feeling the pull of invisible strings. I think the loudest cry of all is emitted from the Pacific Northwest. By embarking on this field seminar, I feel as if I am returning home. Oh Puget Sound! How I miss thee! The high mountains and volcanoes course through my blood, as do the waters of the Pacific. Older, and a bit wiser, I know now to record my experience not only to memory, but to the written word. I shall try my best.

We are about to land in Seattle! (Just passed over Lake Washington.)

Feb 28, 2010

1235: We just finished an hour and a half ride on the Crowley, a tugboat. It was quite interesting seeing the differences in make between that boat and the Cramer. The engine room was HUGE, and so hot (749 degrees F). I was even offered ear plugs. I declined, for obvious reasons, and turned off my cochlear implant/hearing aid. It was so loud, I was vibrating from sheer volume.

View from the Crowley, donning our hardhats and PFDs

Tugboats, same design as the Crowley

And from the boat, we saw container ships, loading tons of different colored containers on top of each other. The ships are so large, they can stack up entire trucks on top of each other. One danger though, is crates falling off. We had to keep our eye out for containers during bow watch while in FL, due to a recent spill...otherwise, it would have been Titanic all over again!

The magnitude of HOW MUCH "stuff"...STUFF gets imported and exported on each ship and how far everything travels boggles my mind. We are a world of instantaneous, non-ending appetites. This world has no room for instant gratification. At all hours, of every day, materials, goods, foods, are moving from one place to the next. It shakes me how we are always going going going.

Oh, and I saw a ship intended for carrying grain. It was next to a grain warehouse which holds the gain up to its ceilings and large tubes release the grain onto the baot. The boat sinks past the red painted on the bottom. If it's too heavy, it'll go beyond that mark. No one wants that to happen though because the grain would soak and would expand, ruining it. And they don't even put the grain in barrels or containers of any kind...it just fills up the entire deck. Crazy!

From this side of the continent, most items are exported to Asia; from the East coast, to Europe, and Rich thinks Africa may receive our cargo from the South.

Pacific Northwest Bound!

So, I went to bed around 3 last night, after finishing my policy proposal and readings, woof, it was certainly tough getting up at 8. I've been so tired lately, that I kinda forgot we're going to...the PACIFIC NORTHWEST TOMORROW!!! It's just starting to hit me, and I have so much packing to do, and we'll be leaving at 5am. Which means, in order to get 8 hours of sleep, I need to be in bed in about in hour. Is this doable? Probably not.

But...here's the schedule for the next 10 days! (Courtesy of Jim's syllabus)

Feb 27:

"We travel from Mystic to Seattle today, arriving in the early afternoon. We head first to the top of the Seattle Space Needle for the "Big Picture," and then check into the College Inn. Dinner will be on your own tonight, with various spots to choose from in the University District."

Feb 28:

"We start out with a talk on how the shores of Puget Sound, particularly the Seattle waterfront area, have changed since the 19^th century, and then we’re off on a tug boat trip to see Seattle from a water view and to motor through the Port of Seattle container docks. After lunch, we’ll walk through the history of old maritime Seattle, and then visit Fishermen's Terminal, before heading for dinner at the Burke Museum, and an after-dinner talk by Alex Conley S90 on salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest."

March 1:

Seattle to Tacoma Container Ship terminal and thence to Portlant, OR

March 2:

"Today we’re up bright and sparky to head east up to the Columbia River Gorge and to Bonneville Dam. Then we turn west for the Pacific Ocean, pausing to bond with Multnomah Falls, arriving by late afternoon in Astoria, at the mouth of the grand Columbia River. Tonight we’re hosted by the good folks at the spectacular Columbia River Maritime Museum."

March 3:

"Up again to greet the dawn and, after one more stop in the Museum, off to Cape Disappointment in the State of Washington for our first view of the Pacific Ocean, followed by going back to Oregon and a visit to the salmon raising net pens in Astoria. Then we head south along the Oregon coast, with a lunch-time stop at Cannon Beach, nationally famous in the world of marine policy for the case of Thornton v. Hay. We make several stops thereafter as we head south to our overnight in Newport on Yaquina Bay."

March 4:

"In the morning, we’re at the Oregon Aquarium. In the afternoon, we’ll stop briefly at Sea Lion Caves to examine an aspect of public marine tourism, And then, depending upon weather and time, we may stop at the Oregon coast dunes. Tonight we are at the University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB)."

March 5:

"This morning, we head for the tidepools of Cape Arago for an exploration of the rocky intertidal zone. After lunch, we visit the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of only 5 such reserves on the Pacific coast."

March 6:

"This morning you'll have * free time * to relax and explore the area, before we reconvene to begin heading north to Portland, and then back home overnight to Mystic."

That's it! It'll be quite an adventure. I won't have internet...again. But! I will have a cellphone. I will only be able to check it when we are at a hotel though.

Have a wonderful 10 days, everyone! I am so excited to go back to the PNW! Puget Sound is one of my favorite places in the world.

XOXO

Fish Larvae are Special, apparently.

Last night, as Elizabeth watched, Jessica and I officially went crazy. We were able to register poor Elizabeth's fear for our sanity. We were so stressed and jittery, that we were laughing hysterically over everything whilst making popcorn on the stove. Somehow, we ended up pretending we were squirrels and ate our popcorn like acorns. I cannot help but wonder if we'll end up at a mental institution by the end of the semester.

I feel like it's final exams week...ALL the time. I get the same high from adrenaline rush though, and everyone is stressed together, so it's all okay. I sometimes feel like I'm wayyy behind on my work, but then after talking with several other people, I find out pretty quickly that we are all on the same page, more or less.

I have finally decided on my semester long project for Oceanography! I'll be working with Jessica on fish larval studies! Whoo whoo! We were so tired though. This is the title we came up with for our project at 3am this morning: "Early Spring Fish Larvae Special Variation in the Mystic River and Estuary." We couldn't stop laughing over what a horrible title our cloudy minds fashioned after writing our proposal...special...(as in variation among species), except it looked so silly. Special? As in, super fantastic fish larvae?? Cuz, you know, that's the only kind we plan to look at. Common fish larvae just won't do.

We fixed it though, never fear! After straining to think of a good title in such a tired state, we finally came up with: "Variation of Fish Larvae Species in the Mystic River and Estuary During the Early Spring." Yeah, 15 words long, and it's not even a full sentence. Kind of ridiculous, but that's how it goes.

Well, I just finished my Oceanography class, and I feel bad that I wasn't able to fully concentrate. Diane is so sweet and is so excited to share her knowledge with us, but well, the proposal kind of took up all my energy last night. I am going to nap now.

Good night! Er...morning!

Cramer Video! Hooray!

Hello, all!

Ben sent me a video of a message I wanted to send you all while on the ship. Mostly, I wanted to show off my hot rain-gear, (so in season right now)...haha, just kidding! I thought it would be neat to capture the storm and how tumultuous everything was.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hhpti8

Click on that link and download the video at the very bottom. (I believe there's an arrow pointing to it.)

If you can't hear what I'm saying, and if you can't understand sign language, I'm saying the following:

"Hello, friends and family! As you can see, I'm on the ship right now. It's very windy, rainy. It's a lot of fun! Feels like an amusement park ride. Um. I'm really enjoying it, a little bit seasick sometimes, but other than that, it's fine. I hope everyone's doing well! Love you!"

Just thought I'd share. :)

Busy as a bee!

My goodness. The past week/weekend has been incredibly busy. I don't even remember the last time I was this busy. Smith actually seems quite lax compared to all the activities/work we do during this program. I'm not complaining though...I thrive on being busy. And I love how we're all busy and stressed out together. We all take the same classes and are working on similar projects. We can empathize with one another, which allows us to try helping each other out and we feel more inclined to lend an ear to another who needs it.

Oh, for those of you who do not know: I am now a professional blogger! Sort of. One of the work study jobs was "admissions blogger," I applied for it, since I thought it would be great getting paid to do what I already do for free. Lo and behold! I'm going to start up that job soon. I'm guessing I'll focus on this blog and then pull out excerpts that they'd like for prospective students to read(?) We'll see! I just hope I won't have to write two different things at once, since this blog consumes a lot of my time. Or perhaps I'll direct you to the other blog. Hm.

So right, this past week has been crazy, CRAZY, I tells you! Some highlights: Going to the Mystic Aquarium on a school "night." (okay, 5pm, but still!) We get to go in for free with our Mystic badges! (Usually costs $26 for an adult.) It was so awesome, we saw Stellar Sea Lions, (yes, that's not just an adjective, that's what they're actually called...took me a minute to figure that out myself), beluga whales, and penguins! GAH! EVERY ANIMAL WAS SO CUTE! I wanted to hug the sea lions' blubbery fat, and just take one home and raise it as my baby, but well, my logical side intervened and made me realize the harrowing aspects of sea lionnapping.

Jessica and I might run there sometime and walk around it, and run back. It seems like the perfect exercise. We've also been running everyday outside this week, which has been fantastic. We're so good for each other...she provides the speed. I provide the endurance. We're good running buddies. My legs are killing me though. And I hope we can figure out some better running places soon since we keep getting stopped due to traffic when crossing streets.

What else did I do this week? So much. Ummm. Another lab in the marshes! That was excellent. I might base my semester-long oceanography project on it. We also went to Connecticut College where we got our IDs so we can use the gym and have access to social events there. Oh, but we Williams-Mystic people are silly. We made faces for our ID cards. Here's mine:

Yeah, the card is reversed, since I used my mac cam to show this to you, but eh. You get the idea.

We also went to a drag ball last night at the college. It twas fun indeedy. How can you not have fun whilst dancing and dressed in a tie and a snazzy vest?

Anyway, I must fly! Another house is hosting a potluck dinner. We're all bringing dishes from our respective houses. Oh, and I hosted the first ASL cookies/tea/coffee/hot chocolate event at Carr House! It was excellent. We sat in our living room, joking around, enjoying the food and drinks, playing some ASL games.

I'm having a great time.

The Work Begins...

I should be reading the six cases for Policy class on Friday. I should be starting the novel, "Searoad", for Lit class. Or perhaps I should be reading some of my Oceanography text book. Instead, I am sitting at my computer, blogging, and drinking a peppermint hot chocolate. I'm terrible!

Mary, Jessica, and I tried going out for some folk music on Monday night. We quickly discovered that Mystic doesn't really have very many young people, other than us and most of the Williams-Mystic staff. Rather, it has many men over the age of 40. Eep. I walked into the bar, inquiring about the music, (which they said was actually a lot later), and realized there were at least 10 pairs of eyes on me. We got out quickly and went back home, only to have another guy honk his horn at us. Oy. It's a nightmare being so attractive sometimes. Kidding! Kidding!

Anyhoo, we had a lab yesterday, and when I initially saw it listed on our weekly schedule, I groaned, envisioning us standing around a lab, with test tubes, crunching out and calculating a ton of dull, dry numbers. However, I was pleasantly surprised, of course. (I keep forgetting how this is not an ordinary academic institution.) Instead, our lab was this: We were taken to Weekapaug Point, RI where we observed the rocky intertidal zone. It was cold, but beautiful. The water was calm and brushing up against the headlands. Rocks were scattered everywhere, along with a plentiful amount of seaweed. Jim pointed out three different types of snails. First, there's Common Periwinkle, which is the largest of the Littorinas. On our worksheet, it was listed as an omnivore, but Jim said it was an herbivore. When I inquired about the possible mix-up, he said it WAS an herbivore, but sometimes accidentally eats barnacles. Isn't that funny? It's kind of like accidentally eating a fly in your soup. "Waiter, waiter! There's a barnacle in my algae!"

Then there's Rock Winkle and Kelp Winkle. Both are herbivores as well. We also found Asian crabs, which are not native and is the most populous crab in New England. They are found from Maine to North Carolina, but are very rare in the Chesapeake Bay. (I asked.) But I do think I saw a few over the summer.

We also saw worms, (who contain all the organs you could need in a space the size of the head of a pin), and sea squirts, (who are our highly-evolved cousins, even though they look like dots and colonize together in orange or clear clumps, believe it or not). They both live on bottoms of rock in water so they will not dry out.

I'm shocked I can remember so much, but this is truly a hands-on environment. Instead of discussing theory alone, we go out and actually touch what we learn about. This is the way learning ought to be. I love this...wading through water on a chilly winter day, rummaging through seaweed and sea life!