Who am I and Why am I writing this...

*Well, I have no earthly idea where to start so I guess I'll start by telling whomever is reading this page that my name is Mariana Rodriguez and I live in the beautiful city of Branson Missouri. I am one of 8 lucky students chosen by the Earthwatch Student Challenge Awards Program to partake in the expedition entitled "Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics" and this web-site is intended to help people understand how this expedition influenced me and my outlook on Astrophysics and science in general. I guess I should tell you a little about myself so you can see how this has influenced me personally. First and foremost, one should know that not every student involved in this program has a strong force linking him to science; therefore, this allows students from every possible background to be exposed to science...and in Galen's words "Demystify the preconceived idea that science is a ministry--only reserved for a select few..." I am very actively involved in my school through activities such as tennis, band, National Honor Society, Student Council, Academic Bowl, Medical Explorers, etc. I could keep on going, but I think you get the idea that the people here are not your stereotypical nerd--I mean, sure we are here because we are dedicated, but our interests include more than just simply Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
When I heard that I was chosen to partake in an expedition I was ecstatic; however, once I found out that I would be dealing with "Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics" I was a little intimidated...ok...I was terrified! The closest thing to physics that I had been exposed to was through the classic Monty Python movie "In Search of the Holy Grail..." by finding out *in a really bad British accent* "that in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times each second", and therefore it cannot carry a coconut! But now I would be dealing with top scientists, experts in their field--and I was scared that everyone on the team would think I was a complete idiot! As you will see (through this web-journal) is that the title "Doctor" was shunned by Galen from day one, and no matter how dumb of a question I would ask everyone would be very kind in helping me understand. I have a problem with putting my feelings into words, so trying to put this AWEsome experience on to paper is actually quite a difficult task to do for me but I will try my best to show how this experience has touched my life. So enter, all ye who are brave, into the mind and soul of Miss Mariana Rodriguez as she explores the magic of "Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics..."

Day 1:

Terrified, but filled with anticipation, I waved good-bye to my parents and begun my amateur career as an astronomer, (of course I didn't know it yet). Crazy ideas started flying through my mind, and panic hit me, just as the small jet-plane I was on took off towards St. Louis. I was terrified that I wouldn't understand the research or that everyone there would be...well how should I put this...on the "dorky" side. I know I know--that's a bad conclusion to draw, but what was I supposed to expect when all I knew of these people was that they do stuff like collect rocks and half of them are geniuses that go to all math and science schools. I was also supposed to meet two of the other Earthwatch students in the St. Louis Airport and the only thing I had to identify them was the pictures sent to me by Dee Robins, the person that organizes the entire Earthwatch Student Challenge Award Program. Kristen seemed to be a nice enough girl and the boy we're supposed to meet appeared to be this short albino boy named Adam. Oh, how I hoped and prayed to have something in common with someone-ANYONE-because if I didn't, I could (and probably would) go insane! After 45 minutes of deep breathing, I was finally able to control myself and stop the butterflies in my stomach from moving. Cool and collected, (ha! sure I was cool and collected) I stepped out of the plane and went in search of my second departure gate where I would soon meet two of my fellow "colleagues" for the next two weeks. As I sat down in the waiting area, I caught a smiling face looking back at me and I soon realized this had to be Kristen. A blanket of relief came upon me-she was (or at least appeared to be) "normal"! Woo-hoo!! After a quick introduction, we both got ready to board the airplane, while we kept our eyes out for Adam. Then, out of nowhere, a tall funny looking guy with a huge guitar approached us. Adam?! No, it couldn't possibly be...but it was. And so, our Earthwatch expedition as a team had begun.
The plane ride was good for the most part, despite Kristen's outburst of panic as the plane took off and landed. The three of us got to know each other, and shared how we all had expected to meet the stereotypical "nerds" with pocket-protectors intact. Once we landed in Albuquerque, Kristen, Adam and myself were greeted by the smiling faces of Galen and Andie and soon we were to meet the rest of the group. Panic once again tried to overtake me, but as I got to know everyone there (at least by first name) my fear slowly melted away. Sure there was a little bit of tension as we walked through the streets of Old Town Albuquerque, but by the time we got to eat, jokes and laughter with an occasional question towards Galen about the project filled the dinner table. After dinner we headed up towards Hot Dry Rock also known as Fenton Hill-the place that would become our home away from home, away from the big white government van, for the next two weeks! Galen gave all of us a brief introduction to Fenton Hill, MILAGRO, REACT, "The Pad", and the control room; however, must of us were tired and cranky so we went back to the hotel to unpack, call our families, bond with our team members and roommates, and pretend to study for the GET (General Employee Training) test we needed to take the next day.

Day 2:
Ahh, day two of this wonderful expedition...where to start... I guess I'll start at the beginning..."a very fine place to start..." We woke up bright and early (most of us anyway--right Andie and Kristen?) because we had to promptly leave to take the test at 8:00 a.m. We rushed to the test center to take one of the simplest open book tests I have ever taken in the history of this planet, where all of us passed with flying colors. I guess according to Government procedure we needed to take this test since we would be here for longer than a week; on the bright side we would also be getting real badges with our pictures and everything on them. After the test, we went to get our badges but nobody's paperwork was ready but mine (ahh...the advantages of being a foreigner and having government officials think you're going to steal government secrets!). This caused us to do a lot of waiting around but we used this time effectively by socializing and looking at the pictures in each other's wallets. Oh yea, we also told very funny jokes such as:

Hee hee hee...funny huh?! Anyway, I'm sure most of you reading this are wondering where is the science stuff that I'm supposed to be learning. Well, hold your horses...I'm getting there! Once everyone was able to get their badges we left for the Bradburry Museum where we were taken on a tour by an incredibly intelligent man who also showed us a real human brain named "Tom". The museum was filled with lots of fun stuff to do and see ranging from the Human Genome Project to the first steps taken by the United States government towards the Nuclear Bomb during WWII.
After our museum experience, we went to Canyon School-I guess you could call it our "official meeting place". After doing some necessary E-mail checks, beginning the first stages of our web-site, and grabbing something to eat, we all headed out back to the museum where Galen gave a wonderful speech on Fenton Hill and the plans of making it a world class observatory. He also introduced the 8 crazy kids he would be stuck with for the next two weeks (yes....that would be us...) and we were forced to go up in front of the people and tell a little about ourselves. 
We then went back to Canyon School were Don taught us all there was to know about CCD cameras. It was quite fascinating (that is after it was explained to me for like the 40th time), but I can't believe how much work has to be done to get a good picture...and if you're wanting a color picture it's even MORE work. While Jim messed with the CCD camera and I observed, across the room Galen began giving this incredibly interesting lecture on the expansion of the universe. Most of the stuff he said went WAY over my head, but the little I did understand kept me thinking for the rest of the night until we went back to our hotel room to sleep.

Day 3:
 

Another day in Los Alamos, and another Day filled with learning. Despite the fact that it was cloudy and on the verge of raining, we still took a geology hike to learn a little more about the area. First of all we visited Valle Grande, the site of the third largest "caldera". Our tour lady told us about all the different rock forms that are found and then took us to find some pumice. It's amazing how amused 8 high school students can get over the fact that a rock has holes and can float in water. Then, we climbed several mountains and searched for fossils and about got killed by large boulders that ...um... "accidentally" fell from the ridge above us. The people responsible for almost ending Donna's life shall remain nameless-right Nate, Adam, and Jim? Anyway, I once again faced death after we climbed up this huge hill to see an actual cave that the Natives of the area had once lived in. Instead of doing the intelligent thing and following the path, I decided to follow Jim down the other side of the mountain-BAD IDEA!! It is not a good thing to see the highway right beneath you as you climb, I mean scoot, down a mountain-especially if you are afraid of heights. It's not like I'm terrified of heights, it's more like I'm terrified of falling. I guess that I've had that stupid dream about falling off of a cliff one too many times and it has finally got to me. 
After the hike we grabbed some food and headed to Fenton Hill to host the first annual "Public Tour of Milagro and Fenton Hill"; however, thanks to the rain it was canceled. I was totally disappointed and discouraged that it kept raining and we still had not had an observing night. Even though I was still pretty ignorant about this whole astronomy thing I was still itching to go out and "see" (hee hee) what we could find. On the bright side, I was able to get to know some of my teammates and UGS's better since we were stuck together in a very, very, very small trailer for about 4 hours. Someone once said "It is good to let a little sunshine out as well as in..." and I think that is what we did that night. I was able to catch a small glimpse into the hearts of the people around me. Sure, maybe the only thing we talked about was what books we would recommend, or some other idea of ours, but slowly I came to realize that the world is much more different than my small hometown of Branson Missouri-and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most of my childhood has been spent in a small town, secluded from a big chunk of the world, and now I had the chance to seize and learn about life outside of my small town. Even though we all waited patiently for the rain to go away, we finally gave up and hoped the next day would be a much "brighter" day.

Day 4:
 
 

After being in Los Alamos for 4 days, homesickness slightly struck me but I wasn't really sure why. Maybe I was not used to all the "newness"-I mean I loved being around all these people that are soo much more different than what I am used to being around, but I think the whole not being to observe at night thing had pushed my "high spunky energy" down. I have to say thought, that I was excited about the fact that today was a lecture filled day-ahh...did I just say that?! (I mean what kind of freak looks forward to lectures!) No but seriously, I was hoping day four would give me a better understanding into all this astronomy and physics stuff. I was under the impression that most likely 95% of the information will go way over my head, but I was still excited about it.
The first lecture given to us dealt with Milagro and Cosmic Ray Physics. At last! I actually understood much of the stuff he was talking about. This whole time Galen and others have been talking about Cerenkov Radiation and I have simply been nodding my head, oblivious of what in the world they were talking about. But today I saw the light! Ok...so it wasn't "THE light" you know the one that you're supposed to see right before you die (thank goodness), but I was actually able to understand how and why Milagro works. Ahh! I was totally elated with the fact that I actually understood how it works and this gave me hope that I was not a COMPLETE idiot and that maybe I won't do so horribly bad in physics next year. Below is a page from the notes explaining basic stuff about Milagro and how it works:
The next speaker, Julie, talked about TeV astronomy; however, unlike the first lecture, much of what she said did go WAY over my head. I understood the basic idea of how a galaxy is created and the proof behind "AGN Unification". Pretty complicated stuff....at least complicated in my pretty simple mind. Despite that a lot of what Julie had to say I didn't completely understand, I still found her lecture incredibly fascinating and thought provoking. Apparently I wasn't the only one infatuated by the theories that she explained, and Galen asked us why we thought that the only light that reaches the earth is visible light, and how this concept if switched to Gamma Rays would have changed evolution. We also discussed how "life", as we view it, might be in different forms that we don't necessarily view as life forms. Sure, it's a very farfetched idea....but an interesting one at that. That's what I love about this place, that I'm surrounded that people like to think of new and interesting things; they are not intimidated by going against what's "orthodox" (if you will) in their field. I loved how Galen asked us questions and instead of giving us a right/wrong answer he let us come up with our own conclusions why. I wish teaching in our schools was more like this--I think kids would get so much more out of learning. Sure, anyone can memorize formulas, but the stuff we are doing here actually stimulates your gray matter and makes you want to think. By far, this has been my most favorite day yet; maybe it's because I love to think (once someone accused me of thinking too much!), but I think it has to do with the fact that I was able to get different perspectives to ideas and I honestly think that is what a being a scientist is all about.
After the lectures, Galen took us to eat to this place called "7189 *something* Grill". Despite that I had been homesick the morning before, I was now completely happy that I was in Los Alamos. We all drew stuff ranging from aliens, to lizards, to our favorite quotes, to killer space turnips while the rest of us engaged in pretty stimulating conversation such as the obstacles a left handed person has to endure in order to fit into a right handed world!
After dinner, we went to the Science Museum and we learned about the Aurora Borealis and what causes them. I've always been fascinated by pictures of this bright lights, but it was even more fascinating learning about the solar winds interaction with the earth's electromagnetic field and how this interaction causes them. The bright, neon color pictures Geoff had of the Aurora reminded me of a picture our band director once told us to paint in our minds. He was trying to tell us to imagine a warm sea of colors, twisting and turning-and then violently metamorphosing into a cool blanket of foam. Even though this exercise was meant to give us a mental picture of how to change the mood of the piece we were working on at the time, I can now see that the composer could have very likely been talking about the Aurora through the music. I know, maybe that's stretching it a little, but I like to think that something as important to me as music could have been used to explain all these great phenomena that I had been learning about over the last couple of days.
We went back to Canyon School, where we were supposed to work on this silly web-site thing, but the network was down. Since it was raining outside we couldn't go to Fenton and observe so instead we got stuck watching this very...um how should I put this....amusing video on the sun. After many games of speed solitaire and minesweeper the team finally gave up and headed back to the hotel. There we all watched The Parent Trap in Kristen and Andie's room where we prepared for our future observation nights by staying up until 3:30 am.

Day 5:
 
 

"Oh how hard it is to be an Earthwatch student," I sarcastically giggled under my breath as I rolled out of bed at eleven in the morning. Since our first lecture didn't start until two, I decided to spend some quality time on the phone with my mother that morning. There are two things you never deprive a girl of--#1: shopping, #2: bonding time with her best friend (in this case she would be my mom); and since I hadn't really talked to my mom since I had gotten to Los Alamos, that morning I made sure to tell her everything I possibly could until I had to leave for our lecture.
This lecture was given to Galen about Galaxies and Cosmology. In my opinion, one of the coolest concepts he introduced was the reasons why the sky is dark. The answer seems to lie behind the idea that our universe is expanding as well as the idea that our universe had to have a definite beginning since dark is the line of sight that encounters the beginning of time. I find it fascinating to think that every time I look up at the sky I am looking WAY back into time-back to the beginning of the universe. And this my friends, brings me to probably one of the biggest questions I constantly asked myself throughout the trip-I found myself, day after day, tying to connect my scientific knowledge stored in my brain to my spiritual knowledge that is stored deep within my heart and soul. Even though in the past I've gone through a lot of uncertainty about my faith in my God, I thought I had finally overcome that obstacle in my beliefs. Ironically enough, despite the fact that my faith was being tested every time I woke up in the morning, I went to bed with a million questions but woke up feeling assured that eventually one day they would be answered. It would have been easy for me to totally accept everything or totally ignore all that I was learning, especially since this was the first time in my life that I hadn't been in "The Bible Belt!" I was surrounded by people whose ideas differed much from mine, however, I was totally open to hear and try to see things in their perspective and hopefully make me grow stronger and wiser. I came to realize that science and my faith didn't have to conflict-actually now that I think about it, they work pretty well together. But that's enough philosophy-or at least my philosophy-for now!
The next lecture in the agenda was about interstellar medium. Even though big chunks of the lecture went (once again) way over my head, I was still infatuated by the idea that all the molecules in my body were, at one time, found within a star. Isn't that crazy...to think that this interstellar medium eventually makes up people?! I mean it makes sense if you really think about it, but still the very first time you think about it kinda takes you by surprise. Just as the lectures came to a close and we were ready to go to dinner to "De Colores", (a Mexican restaurant with um...GREAT music...) it began to rain. Ahh! I was so frustrated because we were all hoping to go up to Fenton Hill and observe that night. Despite the disappointment, Galen tried to reassure us that we would get a chance to observe--eventually!
When we left the restaurant, the weather was still not cooperating, but we still headed back to Canyon School to learn a little bit more about the ROTSE project. We all went in to the classroom a little disappointed because of the rain; however, when Jim and Rick "took the stage" we forgot all about it and began listening closely to their funny anecdotes and demonstrations about the ROTSE I and ROTSE II project. I think they were the perfect example of the intensity of energy everyone we came across had. They were not only excited about ROTSE and what the project will bring to modern astrophysical research, but they were also ecstatic to share this information and try to get other people involved and excited with them. They also enlightened us with some basic knowledge about astronomy, telescopes, stars, galaxies, the magnitude scale and celestial coordinates....you know basic stuff every astronomer should know.
After the lecture the rain had come to a seize so we headed up to the ROTSE location. Finally-our first observation night after almost a week of being in Los Alamos! I have to say that it was an AWEsome experience; not only did we have to pass a security checkpoint, (you know, like the ones that you see on TV where the funny guard checks your badges and makes sure you're not world terrorists in a mission to steal plutonium) but we also got to go right by a particle accelerator. Even though the sign right by the accelerator that said something like "Don't stop or you will get hit by the beam..." made me a little nervous, as we got out of the big white government van Galen pointed out a wall of radioactive blocks about 50 feet from the telescopes and I convinced myself that radiation couldn't be all that bad right?!
Once we got to the sight, we were able to go two by two into ROTSE I and partake in our first "scientific research" of our trip. Since the night sky was still filled with clouds, the only thing Matt and I were able to do while in ROTSE was clean up a previously taken picture of M13 (AKA Hercules Globular Cluster) with the CCD camera. It was still quite an accomplishment as we subtracted and added all the needed elements and had a pretty clear final picture of M13. Since we needed to give everyone a fair chance to work with ROTSE, Matt and I then went to ROTSE II where Kristen lead the search for a celestial objects hidden behind the small blanket of clouds. As the night progressed and everyone had a chance to work in ROTSE, a heated discussion (ha...not really) took place as the team tried to determine whether or not they should try going up to "the Hill" and observe. My side lost, so we ended going back to the hotel room where once again the team "prepared" for long nights by watching Disney movies, competing in intense games of chess, and making a Kristen burrito.

Day 6:
 
 

As I opened my eyes I caught a small ray of light coming from our room window. Could it be?! And it was, finally some sunshine! My heart was set on observing that night and I hoped the day would remain clear. Our day as a group didn't begin until around 14:00 at Canyon School. At first we attempted to E-mail our families and work some on these web-journals but the network was down, therefore, we gave up on the computers and got ready for Don's speech on "An Introduction to Radio Astronomy". I have to be totally honest with the fact that I was lost for part of the speech and I didn't quite understand what in the world he was lecturing about.  However, I did understand the curves dealing with thermal and non-thermal radiation. Don also explained how the VLA and VLBA works. Again, he had to take some extra-time to re-explain most of his lecture to me, but I really appreciated the fact that he would go out of his way to help me understand. One of the most amazing things that I learned was our ability to receive radio signals from stars or planets. To think that we can listen closely to Jupiter through a radio telescope!
After Don spoke, our wonderful mentor Mary organized a little game of Jeopardy. At first we were a little hesitant about playing, but once we started there was no stopping us (from arguing about who deserved the point!). Galen was actually impressed in the amount of information we had retained, and I even amazed myself in realizing that some of the concepts that I thought I hadn't understood I actually did understand. I guess sometimes it just takes a couple of days for information to sink in and make sense!
Once we were finished in Canyon School, we went back to the hotel and got ready for our first official OBSERVING night! Yippee! Galen picked us up and took us to this spectacular place filled with cliffs and a waterfall (did I mention it was sewage?!). Overall it was a beautiful outlook point where we ate dinner and waited for the sun to set. Some of the group began climbing down the cliffs, but I decided to stay and just take in the beautiful scenery. It was awe-inspiring and I was pleased with the simple fact of absorbing all the natural beauty of the place. Once it began getting dark, we went to a big field where we set up telescopes. The sky was semi-clear but I hoped for the best. Galen was quick to show us how to focus the telescopes and then I was captured by the beauty of my first "telescope experience". I was able to see Mars and Pluto! I guess I probably sounded pretty pathetic because I was (along with Andie and Kristen) shrieking over the smallest details that we could see-ranging from the red glow of Mars to being able to see every crater on the moon!
After observing at Pajarito's Peak, Galen gave the go-ahead to Fenton Hill where our first star-filled night would continue. When we first arrived I was bouncing with enthusiasm so I immediately volunteered when Galen asked if someone wanted to align one of the telescopes in the dome. What was I thinking?! Matt and I tried to get the stupid telescope to work for like 600 hours-well, maybe I'm exaggerating just a tad-but it was still very frustrating. Matt and I finally gave up and instead drifted towards Galen's telescope where the "oohhs" and "ahhs" had already begun. Daryl and Cathy were also nice enough to let us go into REACT and see some of the neatest "M" objects. How to describe my excitement...except with the word AWESOME! I saw dozens of "M" objects and planets. As Andie, Jim, and I looked up at the sky and marveled at its beauty, Don, Tim, and Maria had been working on setting up the radio telescope. It was one thing seeing Jupiter and its moons, but it was completely incredible because we were actually able to hear radio signals from Jupiter...something I'm sure will always remain with me. It was around 4 am by then, so we started packing up so we could go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Most of the team was pretty dead tired and cold by then, but I was so incredibly excited that I was running on pure adrenaline and I thought I was like the "Energizer Bunny....keep on going and going...". who wouldn't have been excited-I was able to learn 12 constellations and identify the major stars in the summer sky; oh yea, and lets not forget about the realization that the big fuzzy thing going across the sky was not a cloud but the Milky Way. I can honestly say I don't think I've "ohhed" "ahhed" and "wowed" so much in my life (except maybe last summer, when I was checking all the cute guys that came into work). The drive "home" was quiet and I simply sat there and tried to absorb all the amazing things that had gone on that day.

Day 7:
 
 

Day seven of this incredible expedition began as a continuation of the previous night as my official "all nighter" of the trip. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 5 am and I didn't see the point to go to bed, so instead Matt and I stayed up doing laundry. We tried writing in our journals, but instead we had a very in depth conversation about life in general. I find it amazing how a few hours, days, or even weeks of interaction with someone can impact your life, but I think what each of us had to say that morning will go with us for the rest of our lives. After finishing our laundry we went up to the restaurant where I fueled up with lots and lots of coffee, (ahh...what would I do without coffee!?) and then got ready to go to church with Jim.
Donna was gracious enough to take us and pick us up from church, but when we got back to the hotel I immediately crashed and didn't wake up for about 2 hours. At about 13:45 the entire group met in front of the big white government van and we left for the party at Galen's house. It was another one of those great "bonding times" with the group, and I was also able to help Susan (Galen's wife) in the kitchen. It's amazing what you miss when you're far away from home-like washing dishes! Other than just washing dishes I also enjoyed eating dinner among Ed Fentimore because he has some great stories to tell about his scientific experiences. After dinner we went back inside and messed around with the musical instruments and had the best cake ever in the history of this planet (I'm totally serious!) After most everyone left, we watched Contact . By the time the movie ended I was starting to get a little cranky especially since I was running on about a 2 hour nap and by this time my caffeine supply from the coffee I had drunk that morning had long ran out. Once we got back to the hotel, everyone once again went to Andie and Kristen's room, but I decided that my sleep was in everyone's best interest because I can get pretty mean when I'm tired so I went to sleep.

Day 8:
 
 

Ahh, so here it is week two of this great adventure. Are you getting tired of reading yet?! =) Our day began bright and early at 8:00 am. We had an astro-archaeology tour of Tsankawi, so we went with Diane who knew most everything about the astro-archaeology of the place. What can I say except that it was a beautiful site filled with great hieroglyphics. Diane tried to explain how the ancient people used the celestial occurrences such as the summer and winter solstice and how these events affected their lives. Even though all the stuff she knew was incredibly interesting, I was more captivated by the natural beauty of the place.
After the hike, we had some free time so we went to eat at pizza. Galen then told us we had the rest of the afternoon until two free to swim or whatever, but little did he know that we had to hurry back to the hotel and go buy stuff for his surprise birthday party. After a buying all the needed things, and sprinting back in the rain to the hotel, we quickly got into the van (soaked) and headed over to the Unitarian Church where Ed Fenimore and Konstantin Borozdin were scheduled to speak on Gamma Ray Bursts and X-ray transients. I have to be totally honest by saying that I didn't understand a word they said-maybe it's because I was so sleep deprived that I couldn't concentrate and instead of trying to hear them I keep drifting off in my own dreamland.
After the lectures we were in a RUSH to get back to the room in order to get Galen's party ready. Instead though, Galen had this crazy notion that we needed to prepare to the camping trip for the next day. Sure we wanted to stick around and chit-chat, but we were already falling behind on our "party". We were finally able to get him to leave us alone and we rushed back to the hotel where my job as on of the official "cake makers" began. I'm sure it was a pretty funny sight for those that walked by and saw eight crazy high school students attempting to cook, but in the end it all worked out great. Galen arrived blindfolded and he was totally surprised to see that his party was in Donna's room. We all got to mingle, and I got a better chance to get to know EVERYONE in the group-including Cathy, Tim, Jake, Daryl, and Guthrie. I made sure to "interrogate" Daryl because for some forsaken reason I kept calling him Guthrie (which later became the big joke towards me) and I thought maybe if I remembered one of the many things he told me, I would remember his name. All else went well at the party, and as the Gisler's were leaving to go home we decided to go see Austin Powers II. The movie was pretty funny and even though I had been enjoying all the "science stuff" it was nice to have a free night and not do something science related. After the movie, we walked back to the hotel room and we did the usual Disney movie, chess, and postcard writing. The night ended a little early since we had to leave early the next day for the VLA.

Day 9:
 
 

What a day was ahead of us filled with new places, faces, and even possible death. Ahh, maybe I am over-exaggerating just a bit...but what do you expect when Adam and Jake are constantly worried about the haunta virus! We woke-up bright and early at 7:00 am. My hair was already fixed because we had been told to have no smellables on us-that included shampoo, hair gel, etc and since my hair is in Ellie's words "naturally frizzy" I was forced to put it up in braids. Even though I wasn't extremely worried about coming across a brown bear or mountain lions, I still took the precautions needed...I didn't see the point of dying over a little hair gel.
We loaded up the van and got ready for a REALLY looooong drive! Jim and I tried playing chess for a while, but after I lost for the 40th time that day, he found himself another chess partner. While most of the group spent the trip playing with the silly AB radios, I actually spent my time pondering about the many things that were running through my mind-active galactic nuclei, supernovae, UGN unification, and how much I was going to miss all the people here; I decided not to think about the lows, and instead I worked on my journal and helped harass Daryl as he peacefully slept in the other car. After reaching REI, we all lined outside the door and waited to buy the necessities: a wool hat, wool socks, and wool gloves. At first I thought it was kind of silly...I mean it was like 90 degrees already, but now that I look back upon it I'm soo grateful that I bought the things. (note: when Tim and Cathy say it's going to be cold-they mean it!)
After buying/renting all the things we needed for the camping trip we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and we were "On the road again..." But finally, after what seemed centuries inside the big white van, we began seeing the big white dishes-the VLA. Woo-hoo!

We quickly got out of the van to quickly be told to get back into the van so we could go to the first part of the tour-and what an experience that was! We had to put on hard hats and then we got to go straight up into one of the dishes. as we went up step by level the tour guide described the whole process in which the radio waves are received, transmitted, and interpreted by the computers. The best part was going right on top of the dish! Sure I was a little scared of falling, but I was still stoked to be up there. The tour guide also told us about the general set-up of the dished as well as how a scientist petitions to get time allotted from the government to use the dishes for research. It's a complicated process, but overall it seems efficient. After we went up on the dish, were we taken to the control room that looked NOTHING like the control room in Contact . As we walked through the VLA, I found myself pondering about what it would be like to be one of these scientists who came to do what they do now. I find their commitment to their work inspiring and I hope one day to be as committed to my work (whatever that may be) as they are dedicated to theirs. To think all the man hours they put in their research...
After watching a brief video on the VLA and buying a couple of postcards, we loaded the van once again to go up to Magdalena Ridge where Langmuir (a research center for lightning) is located, as well as where we would do our observations. The road was long and curvy and we went up about 10,000 feet in about 1 hour. It was probably one of the worst car rides ever- - I was getting car sick and everyone (yea...I guess that included me) was complaining.
Once we got to the top of the mountain though we were all mesmerized by the amazing view. You could see for miles and miles on end; it was like a sea of green hills and you weren't really sure where this colorful blanket began or ended. 
Once we reached Langmuir, we were taken on a tour of their facilities. I've always heard of people chasing tornadoes and storms, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a group of scientists intentionally causing lightning for research purposes. "The moral became low" as we saw clouds approaching us, so instead of setting up camp we tried to wait the storm out at Langmuir. I became a little frustrated with some of the members of our group because some wanted to go back because of the rain. My heart was set on observing and golly gee, I was going to stay up there no matter what! I was very grateful that the storm blew over, and within a couple of hours we were ready to set up our tents and sleeping bags.
As the group got all organized and cow patties were moved so we could set up our tents the skies above did not look very promising-patches of clouds kept hindering the light from the stars and I became a little discouraged. I was totally set on the idea of staying up all night and looking at the stars, but if the weather was to continue, we would never be able to collect any data. I think Galen was able to detect the team's discontent, so he gave us several assignments for us to collect data. Since we were all a little cranky, I do believe I heard several moans, but as the night progressed and the skies started clearing, enthusiasm began to move among us. At first I was a little leery of working with Galen's telescope, but once Cathy explained what we were supposed to be doing for our data collection, Jim, Nate, and I got to work on one telescope while Andie, Maria, Matt, and Kristen worked on the other one. At first, it was a little difficult focusing the telescope correctly so we could see the binaries in our eye piece, but as the night progressed Jim and I got better and better with the telescope. Even though the moon was out and the city lights of Truth and Consequences could be seen, our data collection became easier as the night went on. About 3:00 am, almost everyone had gone to sleep and the only one's left up were four UGS's (minus Jake), Jim, Kristen (even though she left shortly after), and myself looking at "M" objects. The ring nebula, globular clusters, the Andromeda Galaxy were all amazing objects but I was getting cold and what I really wanted (other than a warm blanket) was to just look up at the sky- - with no telescope attached to my eye. It was then that I was able to take in the splendor of the place. Sure it was amazing to see all those binary stars and being able to resolve them...I think my favorite was Cygnus A especially since you could see all the distinct blue and yellow colors radiating from the two different stars. However, being to see the sky, the ENTIRE sky, was a completely breath-taking experience. At first, I concentrated in trying to find the darn Hercules constellation but finally gave up on it after 20 minutes.  The camp site was quiet and all left who were awake whispered among the twinkling lights above; all of the sudden the phrase "AWESOME" echoed out of those still awake...the most amazing shooting star had gone by. It was a huge trail of green and purple light across the sky, its beauty was pretty unexplainable; I guess the best way to describe it is by saying that it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. I know, I know that's cheesy but I guess I'm pretty cheesy myself. In the meantime, Tim arduously worked on finding Saturn-it was about 4 am, and almost everyone except for Tim, Jim, and myself were up to see the beautiful sphere with it's bright ring around it. I've seen pictures of Saturn in textbooks, posters, and magazines, but nothing compared to seeing it with my own bare eyes (well...my bare eyes with a little bit of help from a telescope!) By this time, I was incredibly cold but astonishingly enough, I wasn't tired. I debated whether or not I should go to sleep, but I couldn't keep from shaking from the blustery temperatures and I thought I was going to die from hypothermia...ok so maybe I'm a little melodramatic...but I opted to go to into my warm tent instead.

Day 10:
 
 

Just as I was no longer feeling the numbness in my toes, a bright light shone upon my eyes. Urgg! It was the sun and as much as I avoided getting up, within a couple of minutes Galen was knocking on our tent door to let us know that it was time to leave. Soon, we took down the tents, ate a little breakfast, told some crazy stories about the previous night, and finally loaded up the van for our long drive back to Los Alamos. Going down the mountain was almost worse than going up, but we made it down safely. Even though most of us were incredibly tired, nobody wanted to sleep (except maybe for Jim who had stayed up all night long) so Donna turned up the radio and we "jammed" to the oldies.
Once we got back to the hotel room we all rushed to take a shower because we needed to be LANSCE site at 1:30 pm. The tour of the particle accelerator was incredible, despite the radiation exposure risk that we ran. I have to say I was pretty exhausted by this time, but I was still pretty much in awe as the tour guide spoke of the entire process of accelerating a particle. The tour was about 2 hours long, and by the time we were finished the seven of us were starving. We decided to go back to the 7189 *something* grill; the food was great but what I enjoyed most was the conversation. It was one of the few times in the entire trip (other than our late nights watching movies) that we were able to just sit and talk-sure we argued about chewing most of the time, but it was still fun.
We all went back to the hotel room, and I took a little nap so I could be coherent for the rest of the night because we were going to go observing that night. Before going up to the hill though, we had a lecture scheduled by Ed Fenimore that dealt with the flaws in the scientific method. I thought his lecture was incredible- -one of the best I have heard my entire time here. I liked how he stated that instead of treating science as a tree with different branches, that we should integrate all the fields as a "rat maze"because if we use all of them, we can come up with better solutions and answers to scientific problems. I think he also brought up a good point by saying that there's still many gaps in "the rat maze" and that sometimes instead of accepting things as fact or saying "someone else will figure it out", as scientists, we should go back and re-examine those gaps and try to find/reevaluate answers. In my opinion, trying to find the solution to an unknown is what makes science incredibly fascinating. Before I got here I thought I had no real interest in physics, my niche (if you will) was in biology, but within a couple of days physics soon became an interest of mine. This lecture helped me see how I can use all my abilities, skills, and interests as a scientist and try to piece them together later on in my life to be an asset to the scientific community.
After the lecture, we loaded up the van and headed towards the Hill. On our way up we had a deep conversation about chewing and crayons...but I won't go into that! Once we got there, Galen let us set up the telescopes and within an hour, we were ready to observe. Now that we knew what data we were all supposed to be taking, the job became a lot easier. Jim and I decided the previous night that we made a pretty decent team so we both worked on resolving binaries in Galen's 10 in MEADE. The moon that I had admired so much my very night observing now became quite a nuisance as Jim and I tried to resolve the list of binaries but we were patient in taking our data. After we had gone through the list of the binaries, Galen suggested that some of us should get some data inside REACT, so Kristen, Andie and myself joined Guthrie and Daryl inside the dome and collected data. After a while, part of the group decided to go back to the "control room" to warm up a little and wait for the moon to set. I thought about going inside, but then I realized this could be the last night that I ever get to observe- -at least in New Mexico. Instead, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back outside in my search for Hercules, Cassiopeia, and other lost constellations that I had not yet been able to identify. It's amazing how fast time goes in the night when you are being entertained by all the shimmering lights up on the black blanket of velvet (I'm attempting to be poetic...is it working? I know I know, don't quit your day job!) Before I knew it was 3 am, and we went back into REACT so we could see Jupiter and eventually Saturn. Jupiter looked pretty amazing that night. It's four moons were all lined up in a straight line to the left of it and the "big red spot" could almost be seen. Saturn was amazing as usual, but after my ten thousand "oohhs" "ahhs" and "wows", everyone was ready to pack up and go to sleep.

Day 11:
 
 

Three nights of limited sleep was finally catching up with me, so as soon as I woke up I went to the Furrs and bought a much needed Frapuchino. By the time I the caffeine started going through my body I barely had enough time to jump in the shower and head over to Canyon School where all of us would be combining our data and begin the first stages of preparing the presentation we would give in front of the "astrophysical transients working group" at LANL. We were all a little hesitant about the presentation, but we tried to make the best of it by cracking jokes and such; however, I started to become really nervous when Cathy began telling us about the "evil scientists" that would be interrogating everything we did. The rest of the team seemed to take it lightly, but I was honestly terrified-sure I have given many speeches in my high school career but NEVER had I had to speak in front of a room full of PhD's. I soon tried to put the nauseous feeling behind me and we got to work. Kristen, Jim, and I were in charge of organizing and presenting the majority of the data that we had taken at both Magdalena Ridge and Fenton Hill and it was our job to tell the scientists our personal opinion about the "seeing" conditions in both places. After working on our presentation for a while, Mary came by and asked us to help her come up with ideas in making Fenton Hill a "World Class Observatory". We all brainstormed and came up with different ways of raising money to make Fenton Hill accessible to the public and provide needed equipment (i.e. new telescopes, computers, dome, etc.) While we were brainstorming, Dee Robbins the lady in charge of the Earthwatch Student Challenge Awards Program arrived in New Mexico and immediately came to Canyon School. We then headed to the Bradbury Science Museum to listen to Bill Feldman speak about the Lunar Prospector project. Like most everything here I found his speech pretty fascinating, and the idea that there is the possibility of finding water on the moon blows my mind. I guess that's not so mind boggling if you compare it to the plans of crashing the Lunar Prospector right into the moon sometime this year! I guess it's all in the name of science, but I still think it's a pretty crazy idea. By this time we were all a little hungry, so we went to eat dinner at "De Colores" were all of us got to know Dee a little better and she got to find out a little bit more about the project and what we had done so far. Even though it was around 9:30 or so, we went back to Canyon School and being the good students that we are (hee hee) worked on our presentation until VERY VERY VERY late that night. Kristen, Jim, and myself got finished around midnight, but I waited around until Andie and Kristen finished the captions on the pictures. It was getting late so we were perfect little angels and headed back to our hotel room. That night was again filled with laughter in Andie and Kristen's room; and it was then that it actually hit me-I was really going to miss all these people. This was going to be one of our last nights staying up and watching silly Disney movies as we attempted to play chess, work on rumix cubes, or decorate our "highjacked" skateboard with pink stars and bunnies. Despite the fact that at the beginning of the trip I was terrified that I would not have anything in common with my fellow Earthwatch team members, I found myself creating a bond with them that I have with nobody else-not even my bestest friends back at home.

Day 12:
 
 

PRESENTATION DAY! The moment I woke up that morning all I could think about was the room full of crazy scientists who would be tearing us apart as we presented our data. I felt slightly unprepared since our luck with the weather prohibited us from having only two days worth of data...a day in Fenton Hill and our observation up at Magdalena Ridge. We all wanted for the presentation to go well-we wanted to show the people in the room all that we had gotten from coming to New Mexico. All of us knew in our hearts the impact this experience had upon our lives, but sometimes that is incredibly difficult to convey, especially if you feel even the slightest intimidation coming from your audience.
Despite all this, I tried to go through the wonderful breathing exercise that my health teacher taught me to calm down my nerves and I tried not to think about all the things that could go on. Instead, I focused on all that could go right. It was an early morning for us because Galen had scheduled a tour of ALEXIS as it went by the control center. It was pretty cool seeing the satellite responsible for transmitting all the data to ROTSE I and ROTSE II so they can detect gamma ray bursts. I've come to figure out that even tough all the scientists work in different areas they all have to work together for each of their individual projects to be successful. There's a definite spirit of comradeship among the astro-physics department, and in many ways I can relate this spirit to our own teamwork as Earthwatch students. These people have taught us more than the basics of astro-physics, they have taught us the reality of being a scientist. I've come to realize that being a scientist or being part of the scientific community does not mean one has to be a "lab rat". These are real people, who are incredibly passionate about their work and how it will influence others.
Anyway, after we toured the ALEXIS control room, we went to a conference room where Jake spoke to us about his involvement with the REACT project. In my opinion, this will probably be one of the best things Fenton Hill will have to offer once it gets up and running.  To think that one day any person, from anywhere can request access to REACT and the night sky through the Internet. At my school we don't have an astronomy class offered to us, but through this program it is possible for me to look at the New Mexico sky while sitting at home in front of my computer. I can only imagine all the benefits that will come from this program once REACT becomes "faster" "better" and "cheaper"; I can even see the interest in astro-physics grow in our nation's youth. Overall, Jake did an excellent job in conveying his ideas and goals for REACT.
By this time, we were all a little hungry, so we headed to the LANL cafeteria. By the time we were finished eating it was time to go listen to Todd Haines (fresh from Japan) speak to us about Neutrino Astronomy. Man, do I have lots to tell my chemistry teacher when I go back to school. To think that these tiny particles make up the missing energy during nuclear decay. I think it's a pretty cool concept how "nothing" can go into the nucleus, then it interacts in order to get something out! It seems to be a pretty complex concept and we only skimmed through the basics of it. Todd also talked about his involvement with the Neutrino detector in Japan. This detector works much like Milagro and the Cerenkov radiation concept. By the middle of his lecture, though, butterflies started moving in my stomach...I knew our presentation came next! After Todd's enlightening lecture, the team got together for some last minute changes and then the time came to present. Matt and Adam did an excellent job of introducing everyone, Nate and Andie added enthusiasm and color to the places we had gone and the things that we had seen, Maria eloquently summarized the many things that we had learned, and then it was time for Kristen, Jim and myself to present our conclusions to our audience. Even though the data appeared to state that the best site we had been to was Fenton Hill, we concluded the data to be misleading for several factors. We explained to the listeners that since we only had two days of observation it was not fair to draw conclusions based upon such limited data. As a scientist you must examine and reexamine the data before you draw conclusions. The entire team also stood up and told one thing they would change or improve upon the project, as well as what we got out of the project itself. They seemed pretty impressed by what we had to say, and believe it or not I thought the presentation went very well. After the thunders of applause (ok... I'm exaggerating again...), a sigh of relief fell upon each and every single one of us! It was finally over and now we could concentrate on captivating some last memories before it was time to go home.
We went back to the hotel room, and since we had some free time Daryl agreed to show Andie, Kristen, and myself how to skateboard. I guess we're pretty pathetic because I couldn't even get on the silly thing-but I'll eventually learn (I'm now getting "lessons" from a friend here at home). By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to go up to the Santa Fe Community College and its planetarium. I guess once you've had the real thing, the stars in the planetarium will never compare. It was still a pretty good show and I enjoyed trying to imagine that I really was out under the blanket of stars. Once we got out of the planetarium we were all starving so we went out to eat. In between cheering for our favorite basketball team, singing, and requesting flan, we all talked about our future plans-not just for the summer, but really what we planned to do or not do with our lives. Ahh...the memories...
By the time we got back to the hotel, only a few minutes elapsed before we were all in Kristen and Andie's room signing mushy things in each other's journals. Ironically enough the very first movie we watched in what came to be our "non-observing night ritual", The Parent Trap , came on and we all happily watched it. It was getting late and all the emotion and commotion of the day finally got to me so I headed back to my room, and as I was falling asleep, I pondered about all the wonderful things and people I would have missed out on had I not gotten the opportunity to come.

Day 13:
 
 

I think this day proved to be one of my biggest personal accomplishment of my endeavors- -I got over my fear of heights. We went on this wonderful hike in the Bandelier monument; this place was filled with caves and hieroglyphics of the ancient people. To get up on the caves however, you had to climb up these huge ladders. Amazingly enough I wasn't that scared and by the time I went back down the ladders I considered myself no longer "afraid of falling". Woo-hoo! It was a beautiful hike filled with great picture spots for all of us to take so we wouldn't forget (like we would anyway) any of the people we came across. It was a pretty hot day, and by the time we got back we were all pretty exhausted.
We had enough time to go back to the hotel room clean up a bit and then we went to a lecture entitled "Black Suns and Dark Times:...". I'm sure it was a great lecture, but the only thing that kept me awake was watching Daryl try to put together his rumix cube; I guess the heat really got to me. After the lecture, Donna had all the stuff packed that we needed so we could have a picnic at Fenton Lake. Once we got to Fenton Lake my sleepiness had worn off and I was ready to capture my last night of observation. I guess you would say I became a "star addict". To think only weeks before I knew nothing about the stars and now all I longed to do was to go up on The Hill and see some "M" objects and finally take some pictures with the CCD camera. In the meantime, though, I enjoyed the great company of our mentors, the five UGS's, and my fellow Earthwatch buddies.
Rain seemed to be up in the horizon, but my hopes were set on observing and miraculously enough the sky cleared up by the time we arrived at Fenton. I helped line-up both telescopes (I guess we had all become pros by now) and after a quick "Surprise birthday cake" for Nate, we got to work. We observed all the neat things on the MEADES, but what I really wanted to do was to take some pictures with REACT; at first it seemed like we would never be able to because Guthrie was having a heck of a time lining it up. It wasn't until I finally decided to join him that the telescope decided to cooperate (right Guthrie?) Here's some of the pictures of the binaries that we took:

I really wanted to say longer, but I guess everyone was tired and didn't share in my desire to drink lots of coffee and stay up all night long, so we packed up and headed back to the hotel where I spent the rest of my night doing laundry and reminiscing about the celestial objects that I had come to love.

Day 14:
 
 

So here we are, our last full day in this wonderful expedition. I guess maybe because it was my last full day with everyone that had become my "family" for the last couple of weeks I found this day to be totally remarkable. We left towards Santa Fe about one o'clock in the afternoon. The day was filled with museums, great food, going into a great cathedral with beautiful architecture and stained glass, and (the second most essential thing in a girls life)shopping; however, I don't think even the prettiest flower picture that I saw at the Georgia O'Keefee museum compared to the day I spent with those around me. I think the experience would have been just as great had we gone to, oh I don't know a sewage plant (but then again maybe not...). There was all these neat little shops with lots of little neat things to buy, and I have to admit that even though I was a little hesitant about eating pizza again the pizza shop Guthrie took us to was remarkably good. To be totally honest I really don't remember much of the things we all talked about that day . . . I recall a chessboard and Jim's gleaming smile, and for some strange reason the cereal "Raisin Bran" keeps coming to mind... =)
This perfect day ended with our attendance at the opening of Shakespeare in Santa Fe "Two Gentlemen of Verona". The play was very well done, and despite the overshadowing rain as well as my coffee withdrawals during the play, I enjoyed the play immensely. I know this, in comparison to all my other entries, is quite short; however, unlike all my other entries this day focused around our social interaction as a group and all the "inside jokes" and other funny, annoying, etc. anecdotes that we had come to form. It was our last day of getting to know each other before we had to say goodbye. . .
Once we got back to the hotel, the entire group went on our final walk around Los Alamos. Some of us then went to our rooms and packed, while others sat and reflected upon the past two weeks. I don't think any of us got more than a couple of hours of sleep, but it was time well spent.

Day 15:
 
 

DEPARTURE DAY! =( Yea, gloom did fill the air of the big white government van as we all loaded our belongings into Jake's car and then got into what had become our "vehicle of bonding". Ahh, the conversations we had in the van...crayons, wolves, prostitution...ahh the memories. But now it was time to capture all that we had learned and take it with us in our future. We had a great farewell breakfast where we all gave the UGS's, our "Mom", and our leaders-Galen and Don our thank you presents before we left.
I could go into all the mushy stuff of the day or about my flight from hell on the way back home, but I'm sure you don't want to hear it so instead I'll reflect on the positive things of the trip. I learned that you should always be open to new ideas. I learned that even if what YOU believe seems to be crazy and nobody seems to side with you, you shouldn't change your views just to please others. I've learned that the world is filled with great opportunities, people, places, things, etc. and that you shouldn't be afraid of them. I've learned that the people that I met over the last two weeks will always play an role in my life from now on. I've learned that I love astronomy and that there could be a future for me in astrophysics. Ahh, there's soo many things I've learned, but I think you get the idea that what I learned and sticks out most in my mind are not the facts and figures (even though they come in pretty helpful when I'm trying to impress my friends here at home and pretend that I'm really smart!); it is those little things that went along with the expedition that unless you were there it is an incredibly difficult thing to describe. Thank you Galen, Don, Mary, Donna, Cathy, Tim, Daryl, Guthrie, Todd, all my Earthwatch buddies, Dee, and all the other people who helped with the Earthwatch program this year. You have no idea the impact that you have had upon my life...
And so my friends, the story must now end but I hope I gave you a good insight into the life (or at least MY life) as an Earthwatch student!