Failed Field Work & Celebratory Chicken

Greetings and Salutations! We are officially at the halfway point of being in San Sal: the pasty-white Lutes now look slightly neapolitan (accounting for our new tans and sunburns). We can’t believe how fast this trip has gone by, but are thankful we only have 2 more meatloaf dinners ahead. Breakfast today consisted of pancakes, oatmeal, and bacon, which some of us chose to smother in peanut butter, syrup, (or the correct choice, both). Afterwards, we got our things together and met up at the lab to begin collecting data for our presentations and final proposals. 

With one group walking across the street for their collecting, the rest of us headed to Graham’s Harbor, excited to begin our field work. With our weighted meter tapes, PVC slates, and fins in hand- we dove in. Unfortunately however, the trip did not go as planned. Due to extremely poor visibility (brought on so lovingly by the weekend swells), no one was able to conduct any visual surveying of our Harbor location. We headed back, slightly disappointed we couldn’t undergo data collection. Our moods lifted when we were reminded of what we had in store for lunch.

Some of us lined up 30 minutes early to be the first in line for lunch. Our favorite meal of the week was here: chicken sandwiches, peaches, potato salad and some veggie wraps. It sure isn’t as good as Chick-fil-a but we’ll take what we can get. Mike assigned the big #9 in figure analyses, and most of the afternoon was spent on the beach writing, reading, and listening to Taylor Swift. 

As the afternoon sun went away, we showered and got cleaned up for dinner. Today we had another favorite: pot roast! For sides we had broccoli, rice, curry, and salad. There was even some leftover spaghetti which we all enjoyed. Dessert was white cake with chocolate frosting - and a spoonful of peanut butter just for fun. Even though we got in line 20 minutes before dinner, there was still a bit of a line, but it called for a good photo-op!

We met Mike for class at 7, where it was kept short as all the only thing on the to-do list was to discuss yesterday’s figure-analysis. We did however talk about our American-food cravings like Chipotle and Crumbl Cookie (if you’re reading this Mom, feel free to send some crumbl-cash). We also got some to share some of our highs and lows. The most notable highs of the day included: “the chicken sandwich”, “finishing Helena’s crazy book”, and “overcoming my shark anxiety.” A couple days ago, we began a book-swap to keep busy. However, we’re all STEM majors, and practically read at the speed of light - so new content is running thin! 

We are headed out to the Short Stop Bar again tonight: some of us to drink and play Uno, and others of us to hit up the Snack-Shop next door to get a full box of cereal for daytime snacks. Tomorrow, we hope to hit up Graham’s Harbor again and attempt to get in some more data collection. See y’all tomorrow! 

Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll,

Helena and Jordan