Dear World,

I don’t feel like writing much today … but I do feel like posting pictures. So here is a picture show from my most favorite day so far….Last Sunday.

I think the root of joy came from the Sun. We had a very sunny afternoon – the first completely sunny afternoon in a long time. It’s always quite bright outside, but not often do the clouds break. So I made sure to make some time to sit out and enjoy the sun. I found that the best place to sit is behind the bridge – that way I am protected from the wind. The picture above is me soaking up the sun rays.

We also got great recovery on Sunday!! Here is a picture of one of the cores going through a digital scanner – which takes a picture of the core and that way we have a picture of the core as it looked fresh out of the ground.

I also love Sunday because Sunday is BBQ day. I love BBQ day. Not only are there the burgers, chicken, and ribs, but there are also red grapes and apple crisp!! Here is a picture of the Mess Hall where I eat everyday. I actually took this picture at my lunch time, which is 5am!! (due to my midnight to noon shift). I save Sunday as my gym free day because I normally eat so much that I can’t move.

Sunday I also got a lot of work done. I still haven’t taken any samples for microbiology, but I have started to help the Organic Geochemist with a biomarker study. Biomarkers are fossilized remains of bacteria and plants. Luckily I do biomarker studies at the School of Mines, so I already knew many of the techniques. Here is a picture of our set up. We are using a column here to separate the different types of biomarkers. Fun huh?

And then I head of the bed at about 4pm. Here is my room. I’m on the top bunk. Most of my stuff is in the right locker. Also on the right is my life jacket and safety suit. Pretty snazy right? The coolest part is that there is someone here to make my bed everyday! and when i put my laundry outside the door at night, it returns folded and clean within a few hours.

We actually finished our site today (yay! way to go us) and know we are heading closer to the continent. I’m looking forward to seeing penguins and getting samples. We hope to only see ice bergs from a distance,  Wish me Luck!

 AND! Video report week three is out! Watch it! www.youtube.com/user/OceanLeadership