New Skills with a Hint of Nostalgia

With the acoustic files double-checked and the humpback whale mating season winding down, my new assigned task is research to build up further educational resources for future programs at the center.  This information should become useful aids for learning about not only humpback whales, but also, the history of Puerto Rico and its people, the ecology and species diversity of the island and surrounding waters, and its geographic and climatic features. 

The object of today was to create a catalog of collected seashells.  This was only the second time that I have used a camera that is not strictly point and shoot, so I found putting setting adjustments into practice to be quite challenging, especially without knowing which buttons or dials made these changes.  The first fifty or so pictures taken by my acoustics' partner and me were either black or blinding from the flash.  We eventually became more comfortable, after lots of fiddling with the settings and downloading the user’s manual, and created clearer, identifiable pictures.

Once we had completed photo shoots with a small line up of shells, we commenced the identification process.  I found myself really appreciating the library of identification guides in the small book shelf at marine station in Ireland, since, now, there were none at our disposal.  I used a combination of Google images, websites with uncertain credibility, and scientific-based websites for cross-referencing.  Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but I feel that they don’t always capture the subtle detail necessary to make a positive id.  However, I was hard-pressed to find any sort of physical description for the majority of our specimens.

The work did bring me back to the marine station, as I remembered sitting at a lab bench in front of a microscope after a long day of surveying and hiking, trying to figure out how an alga that looked so distinctive could take an hour to identify.  It always felt so good, so rewarding, especially after that length of time, to declare with certainty that Latin name...and continue onto another specimen.  Ah, those were some good times!

In Transit

Traveling today was far less painless than I had expected it to be.  I had anticipated needing to make flawless transitions among bus, subway, and train, in order to arrive at Rockville Centre at a reasonable time.  Megabus’ stop had changed, since I last traveled from New York in October and was supposed to be farther from Penn Station, where I needed to be.  Fortunately, the bus arrived remarkably early, even with a long layover in Hartford, and I didn’t even have to navigate the subway because Penn Station just happened to be only four blocks away. 

It felt wonderful to be outside in the warm, fresh air, or as fresh as you can get in New York City, after being stuck in the congested bus for hours.  I didn’t even feel particularly anxious as I wandered Penn Station, following the signs for the Long Island Railroad.  However, I did feel a twinge of nervousness, once I had purchased my train ticket with no indication as to where I should go next.  I approached the ticket counter to inquire about where I should board, and was instead directed to the information desk at the end of the row of windows.  Throughout my trip planning with Google Maps, the only trains that ever appeared to be traveling to Rockville Centre were Babylon trains, so I was rather confused when I was directed towards a track with a train bound for a final destination of Massapequa Park, especially with a Babylon train waiting on the adjacent track.  I decided to just trust the information desk guy and boarded the Massapequa train. 

I was struck by how spacious, clean, and cool the train was in comparison to the subway.  Even the lobby of the station had been far stuffier.  But here, there was climate control and people weren’t crammed together, looking miserable.  It seemed as if it would be a pleasant enough ride.  I sat down with two gentlemen in a cluster of four seats with one bag sitting in the adjacent seat, as the overhead rack was far too near the ceiling to fit any bags.  The train’s first stop just so happened to be Rockville Centre, as we were only passing through Jamaica Station. 

I was also very grateful that my dad had insisted on me taking his cell phone with me, so that I was easily able to inform my friend which train I had made it onto and locate her once I arrived, since there were several directions, in which I could start walking.  I haven’t seen her in years, but we’ve kept in touch through e-mail, Facebook chat, and the occasional phone call.  It felt like we just picked up where we left off.  I love that feeling, when there’s no awkwardness, no need to get to know the person all over again, and instead, you just resume. 

She took me out to dinner at a Greek restaurant near the train station that she and her sister frequent quite regularly.  The waitress knows her by name and quite possibly knows what she orders by now as well.  I couldn’t figure a way to eat my lamb gyro to keep it in one piece, so I opted to use the fork and knife.  Hunger had caught up with me finally, as I’ve had little appetite over the past couple of days due to nerves, and I polished off the entire meal.  Even now, hours later, I still feel rather content. 

After dinner, we raced back to the Lakeview Public Library, where my friend works, for the knitting class that she was scheduled to teach.  A handful of women showed up, eager to continue with the past few weeks of lessons.  For most, this was the only time that they had to do anything for themselves, away from family and work.  One woman was ecstatic to have made something with her own hands, even if it was slightly deformed and holy, where she had dropped several stitches.  I didn’t remember how to cast on, so my friend started me off and I spent the evening plugging along with twenty stitches back and forth on the needles.  It was quite relaxing and I make good progress with a more professional looking knit than my first and only piece at home. 

Later, we spent our last couple of hours together chatting over tea, before heading for the airport.

International Cell Phones

For my past two internship trips, I have relied on pay phones and the generosity of employees at various business establishments, in order to stay connected with my current employer, while in transit.  This method has worked well enough; however, in considering the extent of travel that I will be undertaking in the near future, I decided that purchasing a cell phone would be a better, safer, and more convenient option. 

Unfortunately, it took me a few days to sort through the overwhelming amount of information online and the abundance of available products from which to choose.  Afterwards, I only felt slightly more confident in my choice than I did when I first started looking because I won’t know how well my chosen phone and service work until I am actually overseas.  It makes me nervous that I won’t be able to do much about a dysfunctional cell phone in the midst of my travels.  I’ll let you know how it goes, but in the meantime, this is what I’ve learned that actually helped me to arrive at a decision.

If you already have a cell phone that you use in the U.S., you might be able to use it in foreign countries as well.  However, you should check with your cell phone provider to determine if this is actually possible before you hop on that plane.  Also, there are two important factors that you need to keep in mind, when considering this option.  Firstly, just like our system of measurements, our cell phone frequency is different from that of the rest of the world, so a cell phone from a U.S. provider might be overloaded by this change.  Secondly, your phone must be “unlocked”, or capable of being opened, in order to switch out your SIM card with one that accommodates the region of the globe, to which you will be traveling.  You also might want to find out what extra charges and fees you will incur by using your cell phone outside of your service area.

For international cell phones, the two internet resources that I found most useful were the Better Business Bureau, which offers unbiased analysis and reviews of companies, and the International Cell Phone Guide, which provides a comparison of the main service providers and demonstrates how to choose the features that best fit your travel needs.  These websites were truly invaluable, as I don’t trust the sincerity of the testimonials that companies have posted from “customers” on their own websites.  These reviews are typically overly positive, and seem to lack unbiased opinions.  Instead, I did a Google search for customer reviews on specific service providers, which led me to the above-mentioned websites, as well as travel advice sites, such as Frommer’s and Trip Advisor, which I felt to be more insightful information from the experiences of real, objective customers.  However, no company is ever going to be perfect and it becomes difficult to determine which one is worth the risk.

The International Cell Phone Guide really breaks things down and explains what it calls the “five areas of differences” that will aid you in identifying the best fit.  These include rental or purchase, local or global SIM card, pre-pay or post-pay billing, call-back or direct-dial service, and SIM card only or SIM card and handset.  Each section has its own chart to compare differences, and there is also a chart and web diagram with the overall comparisons, which are visual tools that I found far more useful than all of the other written information that I had previously located. 

The only factor that this guide doesn’t delve into much is price, so you’ll have to do this on your own.  For example, a cell phone and SIM card package deal may be slightly cheaper from one provider to another for a similar coverage area, but its calling rates might be higher.  Oftentimes, this is justified by a provider’s ability to offer better quality and more reliable service to its customers compared to its competitors, but again, we don’t really know for sure until we have experienced it for ourselves, or at least are acquainted with someone who has used that provider.  Another pricing issue to watch for is whether or not you need to pay to keep your cell phone number and service active, when you’re not traveling, so be careful to read between the lines when you are seriously considering a specific provider.

I hope that this information will prove to be useful and, perhaps, make your travel planning slightly less stressful!

Contra Dancing and Other Fun in Victoria

Coincidentally, on my birthday, there was also a contra dance taking place in Victoria, which was a huge deal, as dances only occur once a month, instead of weekly like they do back home.  I have really been missing my weekly contra dancing fix.  Once, I tried tango here, but it was not worth the fifteen dollars.  The movements are very precise and in time to the music, and it seems that one needs a good grasp on the basics, before beginning to actually dance.  I had no patience for this and have not been back since.  With contra, you can just jump in, people offer guidance as you go, and it is more about having fun than getting the moves right. 

Anyways, I made a day trip of Victoria, getting dropped off in town by another intern to catch the Salt Spring Island transit over to Fulford Harbor, which was quite a bit cheaper than paying for gas.  On the crossing to Schwartz Bay in Sidney, I noticed dark fins in the distance ducking and resurfacing in the water.  After having been pointed out to me a handful of times while on Sherkin Island, I determined that they must be porpoises, and they are often about the Gulf Islands at this time of year, as are the whales. 

The express bus takes one hour to drive from Sidney to downtown Victoria, but I was in no hurry with plenty of time before the dance that evening and a three o’clock check-in time at the hostel.  I always seem to panic on public transit, since I have no idea where I am going or how a city is organized.  I do not feel like I have a good view of things and am unable to determine for myself where I am and where I need to go.  I generally prefer to walk so that I can take in everything and feel like I have more control over my travels.  However, I made it into downtown without a problem, quickly located the hostel, and then headed straight for the Polish deli/restaurant that one of the staff members had recommended to me.  It was some of the best Polish food that I have had, including beet based borscht, a thick piece of grilled kielbasa, and delicate pierogies with a variety of fillings.  I determined that I need to keep working on my own pierogies, so that maybe I can get them to taste like the restaurant’s, Cook N' Pan, which is located on Cook Street. 

I wandered around for a bit, all the way down to docks, where the ferries from the United States come in, which was loaded with tourists on holidays and weekend getaways.  I was getting tired of carrying my backpack, which I may have over packed for a single overnight, so I hiked back towards the hostel and bought a latte at Serious Coffee, which was not terribly enjoyable, as the espresso was quite bitter. 

I was glad to find that reserving beds for myself and two other interns, who would join me later, worked out because it was such a challenge trying to understand the owner on the phone with her quick and quiet speech, further complicated by a thick Asian accent.  In person, it was not much easier to understand her, but she seemed sweet and interested in my travels.  The Turtle Hostel seemed a bit quirky, but it was cozy with all of the essentials.  I have been told that it can get quite loud there with the neighbors partying, but the I was tired enough that night to not notice. 

I unloaded a bit and headed for Beacon Hill Park, which the Cook N' Pan employee had recommended.  I meandered around the ponds, observing waterfowl, people, and vegetation.  There was a wedding party doing a photoshoot by one pond and on a little stone bridge nearby.  I found one tree whose trunk gradually inclines over the pond, creating a cozy napping spot, and shielded from the walkway by some bushes.  There was another grove of large, distorted trees, which were quite enjoyable to rest on and watch the world go by. 

After exiting the park, I came upon a bookstore, and inquired about coffee shops as I checked out, since evening seemed to be closing time for several businesses.  I was referred to Habit on the corner of Blanshard and Johnson Streets for their amazing hot chocolates and mochas.  I found a little booth tucked away in the corner, where I sipped an absolutely delicious hot cocoa, complete with chocolate shavings on top of the foamy milk, and read my book. 

I decided to try walking to the dance, after I had Google mapped it again and found out that it was only half an hour walk away from the hostel.  That did not sound too bad and I figured that I could check out the neighborhood on the way to determine if it might be safe enough to walk back through that night.  I vaguely remembered a back way that Google had come up with, including lots of turns onto various streets.  I quickly became lost and asked for directions.  Coincidentally, the people who I first encountered were visiting from Philadelphia and needed to refer to the mother, who they and their children were staying with, as she was well acquainted with Victoria.  However, she did not know the street that I was looking for quite so well and brought out a map, which she lent to me, in case I became lost again. 

I located the church, at which the dance was to be held, but the parking lot looked a bit deserted.  Fortunately, as I approached the street corner, there were more cars parked along the roadside and in a lot for the community center behind the church.  I could already feel myself getting giddy with excitement.  There were only two small lines, maybe twenty or twenty-five people total.  It took a bit to relax and get back into the rhythm and flow of contra, but I was so happy to just be there and just dance!  I also discovered that I had not yet lost my spinning tolerance, after not having danced and twirled for about a month and a half, because the change is usually quick and drastic.  Although, it did probably help that many of the guys there did not engage in fancy spin tricks or lots of them.  Once some of them figured out that they could twirl me, they did, which was good fun.  I talked to some people about the contra scene back home, and after the dance, I e-mailed all of the links that I could possibly think of for dances for a guy originally from Rhode Island and interested in checking out the dance scene back home, which apparently was not as prevalent almost a decade ago.  I asked a couple of people if they knew of anyone heading into downtown, but no such luck.  On my way, all of the houses that I passed looked well maintained with manicured, green lawns, so I decided that I would be safe walking through a rich, suburban neighborhood at night.  

I was quite energized after dancing and did not fall asleep for some time, even after the long walk back to the hostel.  The other interns had gone out to some clubs, so I did not meet up with them until we all awoke the next morning.  We ate breakfast at Floyd’s Diner, which was affordable with quality ingredients and large portions.  Soon after, it was time to start catching transport back to the island for work that afternoon.  I still find it challenging to get back into work after having a day off.  It never seems like enough time to do all that I want to do, to be active, relax, and take care of household chores.  It is so nice to just do what you want with your time.