February 18th, 2023

Hey it’s Ruby from the JR Academy and I am a sophomore from Illinois State University pursuing a B.S. in geology! I am a part of this fabulous academic trip from Heraklion, Greece to Tarragona, Spain.

I woke up bright and early at 6:00 a.m. and took my usual COVID test before breakfast. They always have a wide variety of savory hot food but today I chose a comforting bowl of cereal and a water. After breakfast we learned about the different types of Nano fossils such as foraminifers, diatoms, radiolarians and autotrophs. We then went up to the lab, sifted through a chunk of core and found Nano fossils, minerals and microscopic grains in our lab. I haven’t learned about the micropaleontology yet but this was a great introduction to the subject and I really enjoy them now.

Afterwards, we had some downtime and I decided to start writing postcards to my family. The JOIDES Resolution had some for sale so I had to buy… 6 cards for a dollar?! Amazing I couldn’t resist it. While I was outside, some of my peers spotted a baby swordfish that was leaping out of the water so I also got to witness its reflective scales against the sun. I went in for lunch after and the galley was serving lamb medallions and a Filipino curry with rice. I really appreciate that they serve a Filipino dish for the workers who are also Filipino. Philip and I also destroyed some lamb with the mint jelly. After the most fulfilling meal I’ve had on this ship, we all went to the conference room to learn about some crew members and their jobs. There was an Australian who worked on the drilling deck, a technician from the U.S. who worked in the paleomagnetism lab, and a Filipino who worked as the second mate of the ship.

After this talk Mike, a NASA Photographer, told us that we would be making a video for the JR to spread knowledge to others about the ship. We all had lines to memorize and we all did our part so I’d expect to see a fun video coming out soon… Around 17:00 (5:00 p.m.) we all ate dinner and for dessert, they had lava cakes! Warm ooey gooey chocolate cake with pistachio ice-cream 🙂 We ate these and went outside to catch the sunset. Now I sit here at the computer writing this journal entry about my unique experience through the JR Academy.

I’m expecting a good night with a little star gazing and Orion action. I have gotten used to the ship rocking me to sleep every night and it is some of the best rest I have gotten so far.

Trippin Pipe forever,

Ruby Garey