Stephanie Nica Salido's blog
July 6, 2008
So far this expedition has been quite an experience! Mann who would of known leaving home would have been so hard? Its definitely a extreme culture shock, but so far I've been learning from every single experience.
Well this is all about how my life got switched upside down...haha.... yesterday I left my dearest California for the wide open New Mexico. I was extremely nervous, like I literally broke into tears when I departed from my parents and boyfriend. When I arrived to the Phoenix airport my flight was delayed 45 minutes. Benjamin was also going on the same flight, but unfortunately I was unable to spot him before hand on the count of I didn't know who he was. But he did have a cool hat.
Benjamin and I were greeted by Aimee, Scott, and Don as well as the rest of the group at the airport. All of us had appetites and growling stomachs so we ate at the Mexican restaurant, ordinary food to me, but new to others. Small talk was made, tennis championships were watched, and hunger was defeated! Then All 8 plus Scott piled into the van and began our winded road trip up to Fenton Hill. We Briefly explored the facilities, saw some crickets, and then jumped right back in the van to Los Alamos. About half of the van fell asleep, including Erica and myself ( I woke up when I realized my head was resting on Kelsey's shoulder). I woke up enough to gaze as we passed through the state. The sight from the van was amazing! There were so many trees and just a natural awe of the landscape.
When we got to the hotel, it turns out that Erica and I were rooming together. We were able to wake up after sleeping in the van, and watched Beverly Hills Cop. Man Hugh Hefner looks so young in that movie!! But anyway we joined 4 others+ Scott to some Sonic Burger. I think they have 2 in California, but they're relatively new to me. Its all about In-N-Out baby!
The rest of the night was spent relaxing and watching the tube. My homesickness was a little relieved when I was able to talk to my parents and boyfriend.
July 7, 2008
We started off the morning at 7:15 when the went to the Los Alamos National Laboratory to get our badges. After that long "badge-hater" and visitor pass experience, I've actually come out learning to play Rummy and Egytian Rat Screw. We went to breakfast where Ryan couldn't pronounce "Huevos Rancheros" but yet was daring enough to try it. Our mealtime tables have been infested with many talks of well...mostly theatre... It turns out that a lot of us are involved in it someway or another.
Anywhooo we also went to the Canyon Complex (where I'm writing this lovely journal now) and discovered Stellarium. It's totally rad! Don then came in and showed us how to set up a telescope. Its a looongg process. Aimee referred today is like drinking from a fire hose....I agree.
We then went to eat some delicious Chinese Food , and walked over to the Bradbury Science Museum. I love that place! I was fascinated the moment I walked in. We then watched a movie on the history of Los Alamos and the building of the atomic bombs...with catchy "tension building music".
June 8, 2008
July 9, 2008
Well after I wrote that previous blog, we went for a walking tour around town. We went to Ashley Pond....Pond... I think. Then we had dinner at some fancy restaurant called the Central Avenue Grill, but wasn't really great. I blame it on Chris because it was his birthday...and right in the middle of the dinner, I started to feel really homesick. To add on to my horrible feelings, I spilled my water on the table and I think some of it got on to him...because it was his birthday and all. Back at the hotel we played cards and watched The Matrix. It was totally cheesy.
On Tuesday we woke up to some McDonalds breakfast and a nice geology tour lead by Carol Hogsett. She took us up through the Jemez Mountains and taught us about the formation and history of the land. She showed us Pumice rocks which are totally awesome because they float. We also went to Soda Dam where we tested out our floating rocks. We were then expected to attend a Lecture by Didier Saumon at the Bradbury Science Museum. I ended up taking some notes, but in actuality they were more like doodles.
We weren't able to observe, sadly enough, due to poor weather conditions. Instead, we ended up heading to White Rock to vandalize the city's rock. No...we're not criminals! It was legal, I swear! We also learned that neither of us are good artists. So after the mischievous act, we conjugated into Kelsey & Charlotte's room for some good ol' You Tube.
Today I think we're in for some more lectures and lessons, and possible nighttime observations. I heard that there is going to be flood warnings and thunderstorms tonight, though.
Although the agenda part of this blog is basically complete for the current time, I would just like to say that so far being here has really opened my eyes to the beauty of nature. Every sight is breath taking; even the storms put me in awe. I have really learned to appreciate the culture and nature because I don't get a lot of it from where I come from.
July 10, 2008
I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by everything we're supposed to know. Since I didn't know anything about astronomy before I'm being hit with everything at once. Considering we had a lot of learning to do yesterday and a lot today, I'm hoping to at least understand a lecture fully before I leave. Our lectures yesterday were given by Cathy Plesko and Chris Fryer at the Canyon Complex. They explained our solar system and the life and death of stars. But our learning wasn't complete until we attended the Bradbury Science Museum to hear a discussion on gamma ray bursts given by Gabe Rockefeller. I actually started to feel less hopeless during his lecture because he covered some of the material that we had previously learned. After, we had dinner at Subway and headed for the lodge to hear a band called High Strung. It was a nice relax type of thing, but personally not my style. So then, Charlotte, Kelsey, and I walked back to our hotel to prepare for our ride up to Fenton Hill.
Last night was also our first late night observation. Unfortunately, the sky was cloudy so the stars and Jupiter started to play a hide and seek with us. Kelsey, Charlotte, Ryan, and I were put into a team to set up and align our telescope which we named Sylvia with the Jenkey Eyepiece. In order to look at Jupiter we had to align the telescope to 2 stars before the telescope could focus on Jupiter. We first aligned to Vega, but it was disrupted by the clouds. After waiting for some time to pass, we decided to align Arcturius and Polaris. Our team basically kicked butt! We were able to have the telescope find Jupiter with no problems. Looking at Jupiter was amazing...totally awe inspiring. It's one thing to look at pictures of it, but a totally different thing when you actually see it yourself. Our job was to draw and estimate the distances of the moons around Jupiter. Kelsey did a wonderful illustration for us all. When the clouds covered Jupiter again, Kelsey, Charlotte and I were able to sit down and talk. I'm actually really greatfull to have people to talk to about other things than astrophysics and other totally obnoxiousness...we need a break every now and then!
We called the night early because we gave up hope on the weather, so we headed back to the hotel only to find the sky had cleared up only 10 minutes after we left. But going back was really nice; I will never take a hot shower for granted again.
.....Later
So today was pretty much of a review for most people, but more like a "oh now i get it" day for myself. We had 2 lectures at the Canyon Complex with Aimee and Chris. They were easier to understand because Aimee's was more like a history lesson, and Chris's was more like a math lesson. Well the math was pretty difficult, but I pretty much understand the concept....for once! We also got to see the bookstore...the one day I forget my wallet at the hotel!
July 11, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
July 12, 2008
Yesterday was my 17th Birthday!! But it didn't really feel like it because were in a van basically the whole day, but I had phone calls and texts to remind me. We piled into the van around 8 and drove for about 3 hours to get to Socorro to eat and another 1 1/2 to get to the VLA. Kelsey, Charlotte, and I were kept busy watching Don Juan Demarco. The weather wasn't on our side either. The whole day was overcast and we weren't to go inside a Radio Telescope because of lightning warnings. Grrr. But we did get to see about all 27 telescopes closely aligned with each other.
So then we acquired back into the van after the tour for dinner. We drove another grueling 4 hours to Santa Fe where we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We decided to try out our chem skills to spice up our plain guacamole. And after my poke war with Brianna, a very large sombrero was placed upon my head and everybody sang happy birthday. A candle was even put into my cheesecake! For the regular meal I had Chicken Fajitas. Man, I feel like I'm going to be full forever with all of the food they're shoving into us...
So then we drove back to the hotel I had some free time before bed. I went over to Kelsey and Charlotte's room to watch "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on Kelsey's MacBook. We watched the first and second episode, and got pretty hooked. So the show was just a teensy cheesy, but sure does make a great cliche storyline. We wanted to hug Amy (from the show) because she looked sad and she was pregnant, but we also wanted to slap that one drummer guy because he's a jerk, and we wanted to tell everyone that she was pregnant just to get the anticipation out of us...yeah...we got really into it. Even though we had to piece the episodes together, it was totally worth it.Thankkkkk youuuu for illegal broadcasting YouTube!! And it was also nice to be comforted by others like me. Thank you Kelsey and Charlotte =]
Well my birthday ended with a call from my boyfriend who was excited after playing a show....that I wish I could of gone to.. =[ But nevertheless I was excited to hear from.
July 13, 2008
July 14, 2008
After I blogged on Saturday, we played operation with some old computers that Gabe brought in. He taught us the parts and purpose of each piece. But as simple minded as I am, I just liked taking everything apart. =] We also started to do a little bit of coding where we connected ourselves to Gabe's computer and sent messages and learned to teach the computer how to do commands. Somehow we're going to have to use the coding to make equations based on our observations and we have until Friday to find out. Well anywho, after leaving the Canyon Complex, we went over to Don's beautiful house for some quesadillas and to watch Contact, which some of it is filmed at the VLA. We were like "I was there!" and it was pretty cool, even though there weren't good aliens. But are any alien movies good movies? But anyway Brianna also drew some pictures for me and it basically made my day. They're so cute! One of the persons she drew looked like a barbeque. But thats about it for our exciting Saturday.
We journeyed to Santa Fe on Sunday. First, we visited the Georgia O'Keffe museum where her works were collaborated with Ansel Adams's photography. Although many of the other Earthwatch kids didn't seem to like her artwork, I realized that a simple picture is more complex than it seems. Then we walked to the Plaza and split up there. Charlotte, Kelsey, and I first went to the Indians set up their blankets and sold their jewelry and other crafts. They had some really pretty things, but not really worth the price. I ended up just buying a $15 ring while Charlotte and Kelsey bought necklaces. We also bought ice cream and explored some of the other sights and shops. We met up again and piled into the van and drove to a garden that had a bunch of statue art.
For dinner Scott took us to his house, where we met his girlfriend Francesca and his three dogs plus Bunny. We played pool for a bit, but after I lost our game I decided to keep away. They have so many humming birds! All they did was buzz around the feeders. We then ate some pasta and watched Legally Blonde and Bridezillas where this chick totally freaked out and ripped her wedding veil. We then were drawn to a childhood pastime....Legends of the Hidden Temple! Man the green monkeys couldn't get their act together.
We decided to chance observing last night, despite the overhead clouds. But instead of driving all the way out to Fenton Hill, we were invited to observe at Aimee and Chris's house. It was a lot easier on us there because we were able to spot Jupiter out right away and get 2 sketches in. We didn't even have to stay out overly late.
July 15, 2008
Well we spent most of the day yesterday here at the Canyon Complex, doing computer coding far beyond my understanding. I ended up frustrating the heck outta myself and ended up just sitting and watching everybody else for about 3 hours. At least I wasn't the only one; Kelsey and Charlotte engaged in a game of catch with Chris's stress ball. Were all very ancy and just wanted to go back to the hotel. We did take a break for lunch at the local Vietnamese restaurant, although. Later we joined Amiee and Chris at the local pizza parlor. After dinner, we went back to the hotel to ready ourselves for the observation, but as soon as we were all in the van, Scott decided to call it off because of lightning sightings.
This morning we ate doughnuts and headed off to Bandelier to do some hiking. The atmosphere really gets to you when you climb up 4 ladders! Poor Kelsey twisted her ankle when we were coming down the alcove. We walked the rest of the path back to the van and went back to Los Alamos for lunch at Subway.
So now we're back at the Canyon Complex, doing some more coding but kinda more of an inverse. We were given a graft and expected to make the same graph using terminal and grace using the coordinates of the orbit on the graph. Me and Chris just finished. Yup we kicked butt. Once we're done here, we're headed back to the Bradbury Museum for another lecture.
July 16, 2008
Yesterday the lecture was about Galaxies and it was given by Steven Diehl, who's from Germany. After the lecture we went to the Hill Diner (again!). Kelsey and I just had to order Chili Cheese Fries after not ordering them the previous 2 times. They were the best Chili Cheese Fries ever! But it turns out that after eating so much fries, I was full by the time my actual dinner came. But I ended eating it anyway. Erica and I were suppose to share a mint cupcake, but our stomachs wouldn't permit it.
After dinner we had a couple hours to spare, especially because we didn't know if were were going to be observing or not. It was raining when we left the diner, so we had to wait for the call of our chaperones. During the wait, I called my parents and wrote out a couple of post cards. I also was able to put a movie and America's Best Dance Crew in before we got the call...
The clouds were passing over Fenton Hill and wouldn't keep us from making our observations. So we got ready and jumped in the van and off we went to Fenton Hill. It was already pretty late, and we got there around 12. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it through the night because I fell asleep on the way up. But as soon as we set up the telescope and got to work I ended up being fine. We aligned the telescope relatively fast after waiting for the clouds to pass and got to work on our observations. We checked back on Jupiter every 30 minutes. During the mean time, we kept ourself busy with talking, reading, and making popcorn.
We called it a night after our last observation at 3:00, and headed back to the hotel where I took a hot shower and fell fast asleep.
July 17, 2008
Yesterday we woke up late and ate at El Parasol for lunch. Then we went to the Canyon school to work on our presentation...which needs to be given tomorrow! Well we tried to put all of our data together and put it all in terminal to make a graph, but we really need more data. Also, the Durfee Foundation guy (Daniel) gave us a visit to see how the expedition was going along.
We headed over to the Bradbury museum after to hear a talk from John Pretz about Cosmic Rays and the means of an building HAWC in Mexico to detect cosmic rays and gamma rays. And then ate dinner with him afterwards at De Colores.
We then went back to the hotel, for some rest before going up to Fenton Hill. Unfortunately a storm from southern New Mexico had moved up towards us and sent us rain and lightning. I was in Charlotte and Kelsey's room (which faces the hills) when lightning struck just about 20 times. We were still hoping the storm would pass as Scott kept on stretching the time until 11 when they had made their final decision not to take us up.
Kelsey, Charlotte, and I indulged ourself in the third episode of 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager' where Amy's sister finds out she's pregnant...dun dun dun! Next week we're going to have to watch it all alone at home. *Tear* We made hot chocolate and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before Erica and I headed back to the room. I talked to my boyfriend and fell asleep.
July 18, 2008
July 19, 2008
Ahh!! Final blog!!!
Well the last couple of days were spent basically working on our presentation. The whole thing came together very nicely, and I'm surprised about how good we actually worked together. Charlotte and I covered the history part of our presentation. I had Galileo and Newton and his laws. I had some pretty awesome demos involving rolling chairs. Unfortunately, only five other people besides the the people we've been working with showed up. It was still a pretty good experience overall. Working together to draw the huge Jupiter was totally rad. Listening to music was fun, too...except for the band at the ski lodge..I was just too tired to listen.
Today we woke up and headed to Fenton Hill for our radio broadcast. It was actually a lot cooler than I expected to be. We did have to work a little hard to put up the antenna, but as soon as we got other people's frequency it was quite exciting. Before being forced to shut down because of lightning, we talked to quite a few people, including a guy from Central California! Kelsey also was able to reach somebody from Missouri who knew were Mexico was. So after being shut down, we went to the main building and made ourself some sandwiches.
After leaving Fenton Hill, for the last time, we journeyed to Chris and Aimee's house to plan out our Greek dinner. After deciding on a couple of dips, spinach pie, meatballs, and an assortment of other foods, we headed to the store to do some shopping! But first we made a quick stop at a department store for some last time souvenirs. We were given $60 for spending money! Awesomeness! And then we headed to Smith's to pick up the groceries.
When we got back to Chris and Aimee's we got strait to work. Charlotte and I teamed up to make a cucumber dip and a tomato sauce. We also indulged ourself in various School House Rock jingles. The dinner turned out to be delicious! After dinner I was having some good conversation with Aimee and Chris's daughter Brianna. She gave me a tour of her and Daniel's rooms, which both have a cubby hide out. While the others were watching Galaxy Quest, I was watching Brianna swing and talking about Horton Hears a Who.
And now that brings me here, back to the Canyon Complex one last time, writing my last blog. I would like to thank Scott for being kind enough to put up with us these last 2 weeks, even though it sounds like an impossible task he did it. I would also like to thank Chris and Aimee for taking us in and being so kind to us. Thanks to Don, for also having patients with us and showing us some really neat stuff. And I shouldn't forget to thank Gabe, Cathy, Vic, and John for joining along and enlightening us some some interesting conversation. I've had a wonderful time here in Los Alamos and I will certainly not forget everything I've learned.
And to the fellow Earthwatch students, I will totally miss you all and I hope we keep in touch through email or facebook or whatever. I love ya all!! =]
byee byee.