Sorry for the delay! We made it back safely into Houghton at 6am on Wednesday after a long day of flights and driving. We covered over 3500 miles in under a day!
Our last weekend of field work was very hot and dry. To feed Gierke's true geologist self, we set up on survey on the side of a highway. A man came along while the survey was running to start watering his crops through a hand dug irrigation system. We patiently waited as the area we were using started filling up with intricate rows of flowing water.
Nick and Bri discovered the joys of wearing the cable backpacks (about 40 pounds - but Nick wore two) as they held running races and mastered the art of spinning!
Sunday proved to give a great end to the research. With Gierke gone, we blasted our hooligan music all the way to the survey site; spreading the joy and musical amazingness of west coast rap and Dave Matthews Band with everyone we passed. After a morning of surveys and Chinese food for lunch we set up our final SuperSting survey. The WADI team threw in the had a half a day early when they discovered that the D batteries they could buy in Ecuador were just a little bit smaller than those we use in the US, thus rendering the WADI inoperable. Consequently we all had to hang out while the survey ran. There was a lot of dancing as Vinny turned up the Regaton music that he has a slight addiction to. We played the balance game, ate yogurt from a street vendor, and kicked cow pies. A great way to spend any sunny afternoon with friends! After work, we all went back to the hotel for a game of futbol. This did not go with out incidence (maybe we're not very coordinated), but the Ferreterias came out with little to no injuries (except for Luke's humungo toe which matched Miriam's). The other team though was quite the hurting unit. Vinny was out from a toe injury I think, Teresa biffed her toe on Bri's foot, Miriam had a previously sustained big (literally) toe injury, and to top it off (and finish the game) Luke kicked the ball straight into Denise's face from about 15 feet away. After a minor amount of chaos when some unnamed person told Denise she was bleeding, it was discovered it was from her chin, not because her teeth fell out and Denise would in fact be alright. For dinner, Carla led us to a very very delicious (maybe we were deprived or it was really just that good) pizza place near our hotel!
On Monday we headed to Quito to spend the day being touristy. The cable car that travels up one of the mountains in Quito was out of commission when we went, so we settled for the view from the high up parking lot. A close second. We grabbed lunch at the mall and returned the rental car. The parking lot became a sad place after the destruction of one of Bri's juggling balls (a lime) met the end of its life from a car tire. We then headed down to the old town where we walked around and marveled at all of the amazingly beautiful churches and buildings!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
El dia de Accion De Gracias y el Viernes Negro
Day 9 (Thurs, Nov 26 - Thanksgiving Day)Thanksgiving was another day of hard work under the hot sun, but after that we were lucky enough to be taken to a small town about 50 km east of Puembo where a small resort had harnessed the awesome power of natural hotsprings to make relaxing bathing pools. We had to climb high into the mountains and steer clear of the guanta flowers, which we were severely warned against due to their hallucinogenic qualities. Regardless, the pools were exceptionally warm (check out the steam in the picture) and the river nearby exceptionally cold from the glacial meltwater.
After a couple hours at the springs, our metabolisms led us to our Ecuadorian version of Thanksgiving dinner. In place of a turkey, we experienced guanabana, a gigantic fruit that looks like a green ham that is still in the netting.
This was in fact a far better meal than those poor little Cuy we had the day before. Bri's chicken had its neck snapped only moments before she ate it! I think we can all agree that this was quizas a Thanksgiving dinner a lo bestia. There was great food, hot drink, and awesome company.
Day 10 (Fri, Nov 27 - Black Friday)
We were disappointed this morning when the luscious mora jam at our breakfast table was replaced with what we think may have been a far inferior mango jelly. Additionally, perhaps vindictively, mantequilla (butter) was stolen from the table to serve our grilled queso sanduche making in the evenings (our rooms came with a grilled cheese maker... we are told it is a common treat here).
On to field work... We kicked out 2 SuperSting and 4.5 WADI (one failed attempt) surveys. While the first surveys were running, we enjoyed a plethora of natural fruits: limon (lemon), mora (big blackberries), guava, tree tomatoes, and chirimoyas (tastes kind of like pear). The second SuperSting survey was run through an Ecuadorian man's crops (lemon trees, alfalfa, avacado trees, and cucumbers) for which the SuperSting was placed next to a large pile of chicken poo (a surprisingly excellent bug repellent/distraction).A lunch of seco de chivo (goat) and yarguarlocro (cow stomach soup with fried blood) was somewhat delightful... for most carnivorous enterprise members. It was followed by what was likely our tenth ice cream run of the trip (ice cream treats here are cheap and delicioso).
Field work ended with our return to the site of the first survey to retrieve a missing stake for the SuperSting (luckily we have a short Colombian woman to search low and hidden reaches of the survey site for us). Dinner was embellished when Nick attempted to explain to the Ecuadorian University students Andrea and Maria Fernanda what the KBC was using the word "cervezaria" (the suffix "-aria" means a shop for the word to which it is added, e.g. ferreteria, which is not a ferret store (which would be "huronaria" were it to exist) but rather a hardware store, the root word being "ferrous" or iron, as in ironworks) (Sorry for the excessive use of parentheses).
Most importantly, Gierke has agreed to a game of Thumper... should make for an exceptional Friday night.
On the ride up the termals (hot springs), we encountered a unique ecosystem and water storage system called the Paramo. Some choice pics:
Gracias!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Holy Bucket!
Day 7 (Tues, Nov 24)
The team today almost jumped the rental truck over a speed bump into the ritzy country club to a stellar survey site. Miriam would have cheered us on. Sadly, instead we surveyed up on a bluff with an epic view of the valley from the 56th electrode. This area was also notable for the giant stick bugs, a suspiciously dangerous looking spider population, and ferocious guard dogs. Call Indian Jones and tell him we got his back.
The intent ther
eafter, to conclude a climactic day, was to enjoy a relaxing evening downloading data and patting ourselves on the back. This event was cut short of its predicted conclusion due to a surprise (for us), planned (for the entirety of Ecuador) power outage due to the power shortage in the country. These are planned to conserve power during the times in which people tend to use the most power. Evedently we are such people. (To read more about the drought induced power outages check out the Latin America Herald Tribune.) This was alright by us, as we had an impromptu dinner beneath the emergency light, and bonded over Miriam and Bri's fear of ghosts. Dinner, by the way, was delicious.
eafter, to conclude a climactic day, was to enjoy a relaxing evening downloading data and patting ourselves on the back. This event was cut short of its predicted conclusion due to a surprise (for us), planned (for the entirety of Ecuador) power outage due to the power shortage in the country. These are planned to conserve power during the times in which people tend to use the most power. Evedently we are such people. (To read more about the drought induced power outages check out the Latin America Herald Tribune.) This was alright by us, as we had an impromptu dinner beneath the emergency light, and bonded over Miriam and Bri's fear of ghosts. Dinner, by the way, was delicious.Day 8 (Wed, Nov 25)
We celebrated Thanksgiving a day early with a lunch of cuy (guinea pig) and potatoes. Along with sides of avocado and granadilla (a fruit that looks like "boogers" on the inside). Muy delicioso! The guys' true carnivorous sides came out as they demolished these small animals. Luke ended up winning the staring contest with his lunch as it's head was still there, just in a crispier form.
Luke in addition to the aforementioned feat, also made a significant contribution to the ATT team today. Using his dog wrangling skills he managed to train our own guard dog to watch the electrodes and keep his ground in case if any stray kitten should wander across the path. The pup increased team moral by approximately 500% and we are now casting for out mascot (you must be cute, a dog, and not afraid of tall blonds; casting on a street corner near you!).
Being that we're super efficient at fieldwork... we finished early (at 3pm after 2 SuperSting and 5 WADI surveys) and got back with plenty of time for a rousing futbol game. Team Perro Calientes (Gierke, MaFer, Austin, Andrea, Denise) took it to Team Tigres (Miriam, Luke, Nick, Bri). Luke tried to head the ball about 45 times without success, but in the end it was Gierke's super mad soccer skills that propelled the Perro Calientes. As a side note, we discovered today that Miriam has another career option as a Latin American soccer announcer!
In (another) celebration of Thanksgiving we will head to the hot springs after work tomorrow!
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Report from the Trenches
On day seis of the Ecuador trip, we have finalamente started the official blog. As you may have waited in anticipation of such event, we apologize for the delay. You should blame Senorita Miriam for working us so gosh darn hard! :)
As a Recap - Day 1 (Wed, Nov 18)
We traveled from Houghton to Minneapolis where we would stay for the "night" before catching our flight. On the way we stopped at the Wisconsin Visitor's Interpretive Center where the group got to partake in the beauty that is Bri's Wisconsin heritage. A delicious dinner in the city and we were off to bed until 3am when we woke up to make the 3:30am shuttle to the
airport.
Day 2 (Thurs, Nov 19)
3am marked the start of this day! (Emocionarse! or Get excited as Bri would say!) Our flight left at 6am for Miami where we spent a 5 hour layover. "Yes Man" was the movie played on the first plane and we found out quick that Nick is a yes man (or at least trying to be) and he has every intent of making Miriam one too! Well yes woman...
We made it to Quito, Ecuador at about 7pm and took a taxi to our hotel where we learned that we didn't have reservations! We hiked it two blocks to a different hotel where we were greeted by a nice man with a candle because there was no electricity. After filling out registration forms by candle light and an emergency light pack the lights came back on. There have been blackouts in Quito lately due to the lack of rain.
Day 3 (Fri, Nov 20)
With a quick meeting at EMAAP-Q and some errands we were on the road to Puembo. The view along the drive was AMAZING as we took in the sharp contrasts in topography!
Nick learned that all the hardware stores (ferreterias) were not really ferret only pet stores!
Day 4 (Sat, Nov 21)
Finally on to some fieldwork! We traveled out to look at the different types of features or fractures we are goingto target with our surveys. The topography here is really amazing! The elevation changes are great and plentiful, so when we look at fractures we can learn a lot from changes in the hillside.
Our first day was comprised of 3 WADI surveys and one Supersting array. We had some difficulty with the Supersting and had to borrow our truck's battery, but we managed to get some good data! We also made a new friend, affectionately known as Little Donkey Friend, who helped Bri and Nick with a WADI survey.
Leaving with only a few mosquitos bites a piece and a bag full of avocados from a nice farmer, we headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.
Day 5 (Sun, Nov 22)
Longest day ever! :)
The group split up into two groups to do surveys on both sides of a deep ravine. Bri, Luke, Miriam, Carla, and Guillermo went out to do "adventure" WADI surveys. Adventure is the best way to describe this as they did surveys through cow pastures and a swamp, used dust masks to hike through dusty roads, and ended their WADI surveys with a hike up to the top of the a fore mentioned ravine in the heat of the afternoon sun! No geophysics enthusiasts were lost in this endeavor.
The group running the Supersting (Denise, Austin, Nick, Gierke, and Teresa) also had an exiting day as they troubleshot the Supersting and set out an infinity electrode an extra half kilometer away. They set up post under a spider infested tree in the middle of a manure filled cow pasture. Bri and Nick ran 3 more WADI surveys on this side of the ravine as the sun set and the survey finished. The team worked as rockstars picking up the Supersting cables in the dark!
A long day got longer as we got lost on the way back to the hotel without the help of our Ecuadorian counterparts. We got back late for our 8:30pm dinner, but stomachs full we finally got to call it a night!
Day 6 (Mon, Nov 23)
Miriam and Gierke headed to Quito for a day of meetings with important people? Actually no one knows. They probably drove to the hot springs and relaxed for the day as far as we know! Meanwhile... we did more surveys!
Nick was put in charge of driving the truck for the day... scary!! The smart ones of the bunch chose to ride with trusty Guillermo. Two Ecuadorian students joined us for the rest of the week, Andrea and Maria Fernanda, and only one of them had to endure that adventure!
We spent a late night downloading data and are off to bed to recharge for another eventful day!
As a Recap - Day 1 (Wed, Nov 18)
We traveled from Houghton to Minneapolis where we would stay for the "night" before catching our flight. On the way we stopped at the Wisconsin Visitor's Interpretive Center where the group got to partake in the beauty that is Bri's Wisconsin heritage. A delicious dinner in the city and we were off to bed until 3am when we woke up to make the 3:30am shuttle to the
airport.Day 2 (Thurs, Nov 19)
3am marked the start of this day! (Emocionarse! or Get excited as Bri would say!) Our flight left at 6am for Miami where we spent a 5 hour layover. "Yes Man" was the movie played on the first plane and we found out quick that Nick is a yes man (or at least trying to be) and he has every intent of making Miriam one too! Well yes woman...
We made it to Quito, Ecuador at about 7pm and took a taxi to our hotel where we learned that we didn't have reservations! We hiked it two blocks to a different hotel where we were greeted by a nice man with a candle because there was no electricity. After filling out registration forms by candle light and an emergency light pack the lights came back on. There have been blackouts in Quito lately due to the lack of rain.
Day 3 (Fri, Nov 20)
With a quick meeting at EMAAP-Q and some errands we were on the road to Puembo. The view along the drive was AMAZING as we took in the sharp contrasts in topography!
Nick learned that all the hardware stores (ferreterias) were not really ferret only pet stores!
Day 4 (Sat, Nov 21)
Finally on to some fieldwork! We traveled out to look at the different types of features or fractures we are goingto target with our surveys. The topography here is really amazing! The elevation changes are great and plentiful, so when we look at fractures we can learn a lot from changes in the hillside.
Our first day was comprised of 3 WADI surveys and one Supersting array. We had some difficulty with the Supersting and had to borrow our truck's battery, but we managed to get some good data! We also made a new friend, affectionately known as Little Donkey Friend, who helped Bri and Nick with a WADI survey.
Leaving with only a few mosquitos bites a piece and a bag full of avocados from a nice farmer, we headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.
Day 5 (Sun, Nov 22)
Longest day ever! :)
The group split up into two groups to do surveys on both sides of a deep ravine. Bri, Luke, Miriam, Carla, and Guillermo went out to do "adventure" WADI surveys. Adventure is the best way to describe this as they did surveys through cow pastures and a swamp, used dust masks to hike through dusty roads, and ended their WADI surveys with a hike up to the top of the a fore mentioned ravine in the heat of the afternoon sun! No geophysics enthusiasts were lost in this endeavor.
The group running the Supersting (Denise, Austin, Nick, Gierke, and Teresa) also had an exiting day as they troubleshot the Supersting and set out an infinity electrode an extra half kilometer away. They set up post under a spider infested tree in the middle of a manure filled cow pasture. Bri and Nick ran 3 more WADI surveys on this side of the ravine as the sun set and the survey finished. The team worked as rockstars picking up the Supersting cables in the dark!
A long day got longer as we got lost on the way back to the hotel without the help of our Ecuadorian counterparts. We got back late for our 8:30pm dinner, but stomachs full we finally got to call it a night!
Day 6 (Mon, Nov 23)
Miriam and Gierke headed to Quito for a day of meetings with important people? Actually no one knows. They probably drove to the hot springs and relaxed for the day as far as we know! Meanwhile... we did more surveys!
Nick was put in charge of driving the truck for the day... scary!! The smart ones of the bunch chose to ride with trusty Guillermo. Two Ecuadorian students joined us for the rest of the week, Andrea and Maria Fernanda, and only one of them had to endure that adventure!
We spent a late night downloading data and are off to bed to recharge for another eventful day!
First Post: lame one, by the advisor
Everyone (Austin Andrus, Brianna Drake, Luke Moilanen, Nick Nathan, and Denise Zitnik) arrived safely and on time (and with the equipment and MTU PhD Candidate Miriam Rios-Sanchez) in Quito late on Thursday, Nov. 19th. They were joined by me later that night.
Spent Friday in planning meetings with the water utility company (EMAAP-Q), getting batteries for the SuperSting, and heading to Puembo, which will be our base of operations.
Conducted resistivity and WADI surveys on Saturday and Sunday. Because of the heat, bugs, and rugged terrain, we are already pretty exhausted, and some are suffering a little from itchy bites and sunburn. The students have been taking pictures and will post some later. Although this hotel in Puembo is nice, the internet is unreliable, so don't expect much in the way of regular updates.
Our weekend work crew includes two EMAAP-Q staff (Guillermo and Teresa) and a PhD student (Clara). We grew by two students today, Andrea and Maria, both of whom are geology students at Escuela Polytecnica Nationale.
Miriam and I went to Quito today for more meetings. The crews are not back yet (4:23 pm).
Spent Friday in planning meetings with the water utility company (EMAAP-Q), getting batteries for the SuperSting, and heading to Puembo, which will be our base of operations.
Conducted resistivity and WADI surveys on Saturday and Sunday. Because of the heat, bugs, and rugged terrain, we are already pretty exhausted, and some are suffering a little from itchy bites and sunburn. The students have been taking pictures and will post some later. Although this hotel in Puembo is nice, the internet is unreliable, so don't expect much in the way of regular updates.
Our weekend work crew includes two EMAAP-Q staff (Guillermo and Teresa) and a PhD student (Clara). We grew by two students today, Andrea and Maria, both of whom are geology students at Escuela Polytecnica Nationale.
Miriam and I went to Quito today for more meetings. The crews are not back yet (4:23 pm).
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