Arecibo

6/23/11

For the past two days now, we have been cleaning, counting, and weighing beans at work. There are some beautiful varieties, including canary yellow and cranberry colored beans and ones that are speckled like cows! It’s truly amazing the diversity that is out there! I love seeing the rainbow of colors and wonder why I can’t find them in the store. I mean those canary yellow beans look awesome! Like Skittles, my friend says. Unfortunately, they lose their color when you cook them. But the cranberry beans and speckled beans probably don’t.

Yesterday, after work, my friend and I went to get frappes (fruit smoothies) at Fruitera, a locally-owned Frappe “kiosk” on the main highway. Choose whatever fruits you want! Only $3.00 Delicious, and I definitely got my money’s worth. Banana strawberry pineapple. Yum.

After some shopping, she took me to see some of the sights in Rincon, including Stair Beach and El Faro, the lighthouse. My parents also arrived. They are staying near Rincon. My parents met us at the lighthouse, my friend went home, and my parents and I went to dinner. I sat in the front; my mother was tired of navigating and my dad was probably tired of her navigating. I’m sure they had an interesting car ride from San Juan, where they landed that afternoon. We tried to find this Thai restaurant, but it’s pretty well hidden, so we ended up at the Lazy Parrot, which was just fine. I had a nice glass of red wine and my mother had a mojito. There were vegetarian options on the menu and my father and I split key lime pie for dessert. All was going well. Till I thought I lost my key! Oh no! I was freaking out, really freaking out, afraid of admitting I lost it. Who would I tell? How would I tell them? Ah, no, so stressful!

Phew, found it.

Today after work we tried to see JJ Barea in the town plaza. He is from Mayaguez and plays for the Dallas Mavericks. We were told the event started at 6 PM. It was so hot and there were just too many people. Among these many people I saw a young girl that reminded me of, well, me! She was tan and had skinny legs (my parents called me chicken legs…did wonders for me self-esteem haha) and dark brown hair with a flip at the end and glasses (except my glasses were so much uglier, big pink frames reminiscent of Dr. Ruth’s). We bought some small Puerto Rican flags and waited. And waited. And waited. By 7:30 PM the band had just started and we had no idea when JJ would get there and I was getting pretty darn frustrated because no one understands the idea of personal space. Everyone, seriously, please do not invade my bubble! Anyway, we gave up and came back to the station. I was just out for a walk and saw the fireworks. I guess JJ finally showed up.

6/24/11

Some more counting and weighing of beans today. Yes!

Also, we amplified DNA with PCR and ran it on a gel. We reviewed proper pipette technique. Everyone here seems very concerned that I know the correct way to use a pipette. I remember electrophoresis from freshman year of high school. The two boys in my lab group thought agar gels were good substitutes for footballs and broke ours. Ugh, testosterone.  

My parents picked me up for the weekend today after work. Only my parents would come down to visit me during this internship. Ah my life. Ah family. I love ‘em. I especially love them in the car. Riding with them is quite entertaining, to say the least. When I’m in the car, my mother is a true backseat driver. We put her in the back partly because I’m a better navigator and partly because my dad is sick of her sound effects and commentary by the time I come into the picture.

I took my dad to La Frutera for a frappe. Pineapple and mango. Yum. Except the girl had trouble understanding my father’s order.

We dropped my bag off at the hotel – it is a nice resort, right on the beach – and continued on to dinner at a Thai restaurant way off the beaten path. The Thai restaurant has a second location in Rockaway Beach, NY. The food was delicious and I love that I can taste a variety of different wines while I’m here. An albarino from Spain. Quite lovely. And restaurants pour generously. Oh happy night. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to read any more of the nice thick plant pathology textbook.

6/25/2011

I still woke up at 10 to 6:00 AM. I wandered the hotel and read my plant pathology textbook.

My parents arose a couple hours later. We ate a leisurely breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. My mother and I wanted to sit outside; only problem was, the blackbirds are everywhere, including overhead. Sorry mom, might want to wash that dress.

After a delicious breakfast, we spent the morning at the beach. I again enjoyed the warm waters, so much better than Jersey! My father and I watched the yellow crabs dig their holes in the sand. I finished my book, Chaim Potok’s The Chosen (and can’t wait to read the sequel, The Promise…anyone have a copy they’d like to lend me?).

Then lunch at a natural foods store. We drove through the torrential downpour to get there. FreshMart is the island’s answer to Whole Foods. It’s their only natural foods store chain. The Aguadilla branch has a café as well. I was a bit disappointed by the falafel (so I will be making a trip to get falafel in Jersey when I get back if anyone would like to join me) but was so happy to find a store selling most of the things I’m used to getting at home! My mother said it reminded her of Dean’s, the natural foods store I used to work at when I was in high school. Yea, that sounds about right.

A lot of people sell things (or beg) at traffic lights. You can always get water and coconut candy and peanut M+M’s. Never plain or almond or crispy M+M’s, always peanut.  

Then down south to La Parguera. It was about an hour and a half away. That’s the only problem, really, you have to drive to a lot of different sights. On the way, we stopped at a pineapple stand (I love roadside fruit stands.) I bought a pineapple and treated my father to a coco frio. The man cut open the coconut (with a machete!!!) right there and gave it to my dad with a straw. My dad loved it. Personall, I could do without it, but I got my pineapple and I was happy. But anyway, we made it down there. It reminds me a bit of Keansburg, lots of fried food and pizza. Vendors selling tee-shirts and towels and jewelry. We walked around and got drinks before heading out on the boat to see the bioluminescent bay. At the restaurant, there was a cute little girl with her parents. The little girl wanted her own menu and wouldn’t let mommy do anything for her. She was adorable, little miss independent.

Before we embarked on the bio-bay boat trip, we were served dinner: chicken empanadas (and my mom had a couple MEdallias, the only beer made on the island). Being a vegetarian, I whipped out the bread and hummus we bought earlier at FreshMart and made myself a nice sandwich. IT was nice to have real hummus (not chunky blender hummus) for a change. The bio-bay was amazing. When you move your hands around and stir up the water, the microorganisms light up! Of course my mother did not go in the water, but my father and I did. We moved around quite a bit to stir up some light for her. I was glowing.

On the way home, we stopped at Rex Cream in Mayaguez. I tried the bizcoccho, which everyone loves, and I also liked it, but went with vanilla chocolate chip instead. My parents did not even try the corn or tamarind ice cream. I was very disappointed in them. But they liked the ice cream, and I got to show them the town plaza with all the neat statues.

6/26/2011

I wore my new knit orange hat today. It made me happy.

Today we ate breakfast in the room (darn, no pancakes) so we could get off to an early start. It is quite a long drive from Rincon to the Arecibo Observatory. But, my dad wanted to see it, and a professor from Cornell University told me it was pretty amazing, so I did not protest. I did, however, want some tea. We stopped at two bakeries on the way and no tea! Again, darn.

So, I read a bit in the plant pathology textbook (not as much as I would have liked). In the backseat, my mom read The Chosen. She reads so much more quickly than I do! I was impressed.

So, eventually, after mostly highway driving and some winding roads, we made it. We climbed up the 500 steps to the visitor center and viewing platform. There are a lot of things to read and see in the small museum there, and a lot of the physics stuff went over my head, frankly. However, I was happy to see a woman’s name. Annie Cannon, from Harvard. Read a short biography here: http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hua12001

We planned to stop at the lighthouse in Rincon on the way back to the hotel, but it started pouring when we were about 20 minutes away. So we stopped at a supermarket. And my mother went into Payless, of course. And my father got pizza at a Pizza Hut-like place. And we waited out the storm.

I, of course, had the hummus sandwich I packed in the morning.

The rain finally stopped and we went to the lighthouse. We walked around the town of Rincon, as well, and got some nice fruit at a roadside fruit stand. The town is small and there are very few shops and the art gallery was closed for a flute recital, so we came back to the hotel. It was drizzling, but we went in the ocean for a bit anyway. I’m hoping for more beach time next weekend.

Now we are off to dinner. Again to the Thai restaurant Ode to the Elephants. Delicious food and a nice wine selection. I hope I can get away with pairing a red wine with spicy Thai food.  

Organization is Key

6/20/11

Today I started work in the “bean lab.” However, we were not inside the air-conditioned laboratory today. No, we were outside, all day, harvesting beans.

The work of the bean lab centers on breeding and genetics. In the field, there is selection for phenotype, or physical appearance, and in the lab, there is selection for genotype, or genetic makeup. Some key agronomic traits include resistance to bacterial blight and to root rot. The former is, as you probably guessed, a bacterial disease. It can be transmitted through seed. The latter is a fungal disease, which, unlike many other fungal disease, does better under drought conditions.

We went to the Isabela station today to harvest beans. We here refers to three technicians, another student, and myself. I don’t know Spanish (though I can kind of pick up on key words and usually can figure out the general gist of the conversation). They are not fluent in English. The lab head is fluent in both languages, but he didn’t come with us today. I was nervous, but everyone is just so nice, as I’ve said several times already, so things went well.

The plot in Isabela has been used for beans for about 40 years now. It has never been fertilized. It was inoculated with the fungus responsible for root rot. On this plot, pretty much all the agricultural “shouldn’ts” are practiced, making for the terrible growing conditions. A variety that produces high yields in this plot must have something going for it!

On the way to Isabela, one of the technicians picked up a carrot cake in Aguada and shared it with us. Delicious. Great way to start the day. Counts as a serving of vegetables, right?

Then we harvested. We pulled the bean plants out and ran them through the thresher, making sure to keep the rows separate and leaving one buffer plant at each end of the row. When I worked at the thresher, I had to wear ear plugs, headphones, and a mask to protect my nose and mouth. It was a loud, somewhat frightening machine. Then again, a lot of big machines scare me. Remind me why I am majoring in agricultural science please?

Oh yea, I know why.

So, as I was sitting at the thresher, collecting the beans as they came out the bottom, I was amazed by the diversity of sizes and colors and the range of yields. Some varieties produced enough beans to fill the bag, others produced practically nothing. Some beans were purple, some were red, some were white with speckles. So pretty.

We wrapped up when the thunder started. We weren’t done though; there are still more beans to harvest. I spoke with the head researcher briefly after work and borrowed some books on plant breeding and bean diseases. I’m excited.

I enjoyed a walk in the rain. Yes, I did sing in the rain. However, I didn’t wear yellow rubber boots and carry an umbrella. Rather, I put on my bathing suit. Try it one day.

6/21/11

Beans. Lots and lots of beans. We counted out beans to send to researchers in other regions so they could grow and evaluate them. One project is focused on developing heat-resistant, drought-tolerant varieties. These plants are grown in Puerto Rico in the winter, when it is still hot but much drier, and in the states in the summer.

I was once again reminded of the importance of organization. The beans are stored in numbered paper lunch bags, which are in turn stored in boxes. The bags are in no particular order in these boxes. We were charged with finding the bags for selected numbers. We tried our best to organize as we went along.

Just Keep Swimmin

6/19/2011

Yesterday started off slow. I took a long walk (and found yet another bakery…there seems to be no shortage of those). I picked some starfruit – I had to climb a fence and got a few little scrapes, no big deal, I just have to remember starfruit is not worth injuring myself over, no matter how much I like it.

After lunch, I walked to the plaza, where I was to meet my friend. She was late – but it’s Puerto Rico; everyone’s a bit late, and actually she wasn’t really late, I was early. I’m always early. Anyway, I was just sitting on a park bench reading, then the downpour started. I followed some other people under the tent that happened to be set up for a concert that evening. Thank goodness! An older gentleman pulled a chair from one of the piles and offered me a seat. There I sat, with all the locals. One woman gave me a flyer about some church service happening on the 26^th. I smiled and said, “Gracia.” Here in Puerto Rico, people often drop the last letter or sound, so it’s Gracia, rather than Gracias. At least that’s what I think. I took French in high school, though, so maybe you shouldn’t listen to me.

When the downpour slowed to a drizzle, I decided to take a short walk down a side street I’d never ventured down before. I passed yet another bakery, this one seemed to specialize in flan and cupcakes. I just liked the name: “Sweet Sins.”

I met up with my friend and we went to Ponce, the second-largest city in Puerto Rico. It is a lot smaller than I expected, but when I hear city, I think NYC, so it’s really not fair. The plaza in Ponce is beautiful, with a church and the mayor’s office (of course) and a fountain with statues of lions (the “mascot” of Ponce). There’s also a red and black building that houses some historic items pertaining to the city’s firefighters, as well as a tourist info center. We wandered about the city.

We went into the produce market, only minutes before it closed. Most of the stands were actually closed, but a few vendors were still there, ready to sell. I bought some produce (we needed onions) and the man also gave me some kenepas (not sure of the spelling). This is the city’s official fruit. It is related to lychee and looks like a green kumquat. But tastes much better than a kumquat, rest assured.

We wandered some more then got ice cream. I tried the maiz, or corn, with canela (cinnamon) sprinkled on top. It was delicious! However, I had to eat it really fast so it wouldn’t melt all over my hands. (My hands still got sticky. I’m a mess with ice cream. I think if an ice cream parlor happened to be my first date with a guy that relationship wouldn’t go anywhere…) The man in the ice cream store didn’t look particularly happy and it definitely affected his work performance. He did not push the ice cream down into the cone so it just kind of sat precariously on top. Deliciously messy business.

However, I cam to learn the painful lesson that corn ice cream is perhaps not for me. Delicious, no doubt, but, let’s just say, I will eat it sparingly and leave it at that.

After ice cream, we walked back to the car to put our bags (and umbrella) away and found a ticket! So we went to the mall. I never go to the mall in my home state, the land of malls, but I end up in one in Puerto Rico. There’s some irony for you! We were lucky to see a band play some great music while we were there. Sears was hosting a fiesta for fathers.

After the mall, off to the boardwalk. There, we saw pelicans and some huge fish! The pelicans came right onto the boardwalk (the fish didn’t). A couple stores sold sardines to feed to the pelicans and fish. I’m glad my friends didn’t want to buy any. I was not about to play with sardines and tempt hungry pelicans.

From the boardwalk you can take a boat to Coffin Island. Yes, Coffin Island. Apparently it looks like a coffin. Umm, no thanks.

We stopped for pizza on the way back to Mayaguez. Honestly, I had my doubts. I mean, I’m from NJ. We have some great pizza and we’re so close to NY, also home to good pizza. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. I was also happy to see that their personal pies are smaller than those I see at home, much closer to what a personal pizza probably should be!

This morning we got an early start. We went kayaking and snorkeling in La Parquera. It was amazing. The water was blue and warm! Some families were there celebrating father’s day on their boats. One actually had a barbecue going on their little motor boat!

We passed some houses built right on top of the water. People used to have houseboats there but their government banned them because of all the pollution. So they built houses. Once these house are gone, though, they’re gone. No more building.  

I am a terrible paddler, by the way. I was in a double and when I paddled alone we got nowhere. My partner did most of the work. Sorry.

We had lunch in the town there; only the tostones were vegetarian – this is why I always travel with food.

I’m exhausted and it’s only 3:30 PM. I’ll probably turn in early.

Hope all is well.

This s*** is BANANAS!

n6/11/2011

I walked to the plaza this morning. I woke up before 6 AM. This would not have been a problem, except I got in at 3 AM. So it was a big problem. I don’t function well on little sleep. Well, I function, but not happily. I was thirsty and my stomach hurt and I had a headache. The French toast I made for breakfast did help a little bit. Cinnamon has curative properties, right? Our washing machine isn’t working. It didn’t even spin for me, but my clothes soaked in hot water a bit, so that makes them clean, I think. There is still a pool of water in the machine that didn’t drain out and I guess it’ll sit there until Monday when I can ask someone in the office and they’ll probably just come to our house, flip a switch, show us that the machine now works, and laugh all the way home.

I sat in the plaza this morning for a bit. Nice morning. Free wi-fi. Music. People walking around and sitting on park benches and reading and talking. Very calm.

We stayed in all day. Except for during the rainstorm. I put my bathing suit on and we went for a nice walk in the rain. If I knew the lyrics, I would have sung the song. I have to say that walk did wonders for my headache.

Later, we tried making mofongo. Fail. I’ll just have to buy some for lunch one day, that’s all. We fried the plantains and mashed them up and everything. It was ok, nothing stellar. We had some more of the Trumpeter Cab Sauv with dinner. Now I just have to keep myself awake for another couple hours. I really don’t want to go to bed at 7 PM, wake up at 2 AM, and completely throw off my sleeping schedule.

6/12/11

We went to the beach in Cabo Rojo today. At Baqueron there was a gay pride parade, which would have been cool to see, but we were afraid there would be too much traffic so we went to a different beach, still in Cabo Rojo, but a little farther south. It amazed me that we could just walk right onto the beach. What, no bage? No one asking me to pay? Wow, fantastic! And the water was light blue – blue! – and warm. I actually went in! not just my toes, or up to my knees, or run in, dunk my head, scream it’s freakin cold and run out. Ah, so refreshing! I loved it. And there were plenty of attractive men and men who could be attractive if only they cut off that stupid rat tail! Arg, get a new hairdresser, please!

We went to lunch at a restaurant on the beach. Unfortunately no vegetarian empanadillas. : (

We stayed till about 4. Then a quiet evening at home, resting for the workweek to come. I figured I’d gather some more interesting info for everyone. Dragonfruit!

Pitayaha, pitaya, dragonfruit, strawberry pear

Hylocereus spp. (over 25 species have been identified) and Selenecereus megalanthus (the yellow or Colombian pitaya); family Cactaceae

Species of Hylocereus and hybrids thereof have a variety of flesh and skin color combinations. The yellow pitaya (Selenecereus megalanthus) has yellow thorny skin and white, translucent flesh.

Native to tropical America with a range extending from Southern Mexico to Northern South America, dragonfruit was a popular Aztec food. At the turn of the 19^th century, the French brought it to Southeast Asia.  Currently, Nicaragua is the main producer of red flesh varieties of Hylocereus spp. in Central America, with an estimated 800-1000 HA planted.  Colombia is the leading South American producer of yellow pitaya. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a leading producer. Israel also produces and exports to the EU. Commercial growers typically propagate via cuttings. While germination rates for seeds are high, the plant is slow-growing and may not produce fruit for 6 years. The cactus is grown on a trellis system.

The large, night-blooming flowers are pollinated by moths and bats in Central America. Cross pollination and hand pollination, where pollinators are not common, can improve fruit set. Fruits mature in 35 – 50 days, depending on the cultivar and location.

Ants and aphids can damage young shoots and flower buds, and I saw evidence of this in the greenhouse at TARS.

References:

http://cesandiego.ucdavis.edu/files/63550.pdf

http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/p/pithaya.html

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/F_N-9.pdf

6/13/11

Today I worked in the chemistry lab. We prepared soil samples to be tested for phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and potassium and also weighed out samples of seeds and fruits from Mamey Sapote. This is all in an effort to determine how well the plants take up fertilizers.

Phosphorus exists as aluminum, iron, or calcium phosphate in the soil. The relative concentrations depend upon the soil pH, with aluminum and iron phosphates dominant in low pH (acid) soils, and calcium phosphate dominant in higher pH (neutral to alkaline) soils. There are a number of procedures commonly used to extract phosphorus from soil samples. We used the Bray P2 method, which is designed for soils with low pH, low cation exchange capacity, and low organic matter. In this method, the reagents are ammonium fluoride and hydrochloric acid. The acid makes phosphorus more soluble and the fluoride anion lowers the readsorption activity of aluminum.

Magnesium, calcium, and potassium are all cations, though they may be present in multiple forms in soil. We used the solvent ammonium acetate at pH 7. The ammonium acts as an exchange ion, essentially pushing the magnesium, calcium, and potassium into solution. Therefore, extractions using this reagent give the concentrations of exchangeable cations.

A group of high school students came in to tour the lab and see what we do. Of course the tour was given in Spanish. I followed with my notebook and tried to pick out key words. The lab head was a little disappointed they weren’t more interested.

We’re getting a new washing machine tomorrow! The one we had didn’t work – didn’t even spin! I was afraid we’d have to wash our clothes in the bathtub for the next 5 weeks!

I learned some new Spanish words today. So proud of myself. Labradora – washing machine. Semilla – seed. Hoja – leaf. See you’re learning with me!

Later in the week, we may test the concentrations of reducing sugars in banana pulp. I guess biochemistry is good for something! Reducing sugars include glucose and fructose. Sucrose is not a reducing sugar. They have aldehyde or ketone groups which can reduce other molecules. Aldehyde groups can be oxidized to carboxylate groups. 

I’m in the plaza. I just saw people riding horses down the street. Awesome.

6/14/2011

Today, we extracted iron, manganese, and zinc. These are all micronutrients, as are boron, chlorine, and copper. They are needed in amounts less than 0.10% of the plant’s total dry matter. We followed the Mehlich Number 1 method, which is designed for acid soils, with low cation exchange capacity and low organic matter content. This method uses hydrochloric and sulfuric acids. The filtrate (the liquid after the solids have been filtered out) will be examined using inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP) to determine the concentrations of these elements. In spectrophotometry, an element is identified by the wavelength of radiation emitted when an excited electron returns to ground state. The intensity of the radiation at this characteristic wavelength is indicative of the concentration. ICP can measure the concentrations of multiple elements simultaneously.

We also determined prepared samples for nitrogen content determination.

In the evening, I went to the Teatro Yaguez, in the town center, for a free movie screening. I didn’t know what the movie would be, but it was free and in walking distance, so why not? I was pleasantly surprised. There was also complimentary wine before the screening. I had arranged to meet up with some UPR girls at the theater. I also saw one of the researchers (and his father) and two technicians there! While I was waiting for the girls to arrive, I people-watched (this sounds better than: I watched people”). A lot of people were eating Rex Cream (yum…). Most of the people walking into the theater were quite well-dressed – I was certainly not prepared for this! Some really cute dresses…and some really, umm, clunky?, shoes. Chunky platforms that were pretty damn tall! How were these women walking around in them? I never could. If I had a choice between heels and platforms, I’d opt for the former, but apparently that is not the style here. When one of the girls arrived, I shared my observations with her. Yea, you’ll see those shoes a lot, she replied calmly. Oh gosh, how do they do it? My friend also looked very nice. I mean, the way she did her eye makeup, it really was like one of those magazine ads. Black and white eyeshadow, black inside (closer to her nose) and white outside…or was it the other way around? Doesn’t matter. She looked pretty damn good…not like that? Umm, oops…moving on. I miss when my sister would do my makeup. She’s a great makeup artist. Did my makeup for my prom – I got so many comments. Better than any professional job (and a heck of a lot cheaper). I’m pretty clueless. I just learned to put on mascara this past December.

So, onto the movies. The screening was hosted by the UPR-Mayaguez film society, or at least that’s what I was able to gather. They have a pretty strong certificate program in cinema studies.

They showed a short film first. It left me very confused – was I supposed to be happy or sad? I wasn’t sure, and I still haven’t made up my mind. However, it was very well done.

Then, the feature film. A Hindi film (with English subtitles, thank goodness!). There were plenty of funny parts, but it was also pretty depressing. Udaal was the title, I believe. This boy gets kicked out of boarding school and is sent home to live with his abusive father. He wants to be a writer, but his father wants him to be an engineer, to follow in his footsteps and work in his factory.

The movie was much longer than I expected, and it had started later, too. (My friend assured me it was normal for Puerto Ricans to be late.) I didn’t get home till quarter to 11. So late, especially since I’ve been going to bed by ten every night!

6/15/2011

I weighed more fruit and seed samples this morning – my favorite task…not! So tedious. Makes me really appreciate the work behind the large sample sizes demanded for statistical analysis and publishable research.

In the afternoon, however I wasn’t sent to that little room to weigh samples. Instead, I helped with the nitrogen determination assay. We added boric acid and indicator solution to the digested samples. In the procedure we used, nitrogen in the sample is converted to ammonium. We add sodium hydroxide to convert the ammonium to ammonia and then distill it so that the ammonia is added to the boric acid-indicator solution. We then titrate with hydrochloric acid to determine the amount of ammonia present. Using an equation, we can determine the amount of nitrogen present in the original sample.

I saw another movie that evening. The movie started early though! Wait, aren’t we in Puerto Rico? It was a documentary on the Freedom Riders. This group of people, black and white, Jew and Christian, rode buses throughout the segregationist South in the early 1960s. They hoped that, through nonviolence, they could create change and achieve equality. Eventually, after much struggle, and after suffering greatly from the violent acts of others, they did succeed. I finally learned who James R. Hoffa was. I receive a scholarship named after him from the Teamsters’ Union. He was head of that union at the time of the Freedom Rides. He spoke on behalf of the bus drivers – they did not want to drive any bus with the Freedom Riders as passengers. I was disappointed to hear that. However, I understand that it must have been quite difficult for them. These bus drivers only wanted to earn a living, to provide for their families. There was so much violence surrounding the Freedom Rides (which was part of the non-violence movement for equality!) that to drive a bus with these riders on board meant you were putting your life on the line! It was a powerful documentary. The family behind me almost ruined it. They were all chewing gum, all 5 of them! Maybe if only one was chewing gum I could’ve ignored it, but all 5! And the mother was making comments, like, Oh my gosh, and laughing (some of the riders’ stories were funny, yes) and sighing and gasping and…seriously?!? I mean, come on! This is pretty powerful stuff! I do not need your chewing and your commentary.

I didn’t stay for the second film. I didn’t want to be out past 11 PM really. I was told it was about Iraq and was a tad depressing.

6/16/11

Today we were supposed to analyze samples in the ICP for phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, and manganese. The machine was acting up. We didn’t have enough of the internal standard on hand, unfortunately. So this was delayed for next week.

I finally finished weighing all the samples, all 204 of them! Gold star please.

In the afternoon we discussed how we would be testing the dried banana pulp for sugars and starches. This is the first time we’re doing this….we’ll see how it goes!

6/17/2011

We extracted starch from dried banana and determined starch concentration. I found this very exciting – today was my favorite day in the chemistry lab, no doubt about it. We first dissolved the dried banana in DMSO and HCl. Some of the solutions were a nice bright pink. We then raised the pH to  4-5. The color changed – no more hot pink : ( I love these experiments in which colors change. I find it so exciting. I wonder what compounds in banana are responsible for color, what other compounds have been extracted and identified. I will definitely need to look this up. I’m just so curious (and I like hot pink). The chemist teased me because I asked for more scientific articles to read. What else do I have to do though, without tv or internet in the house?

In order to determine starch concentration, we had to first extract starch (see above) and then degrade it to glucose (enzymatic reaction using ATP), which can then reduce NAD to NADH (another enzymatic reaction), which can be detected at 340 nm wavelength. Today was the first time we did this assay so we had to work through some issues, such as how much starting material to use, how much do we dilute it, how long should it sit for, etc. etc.

We did find that starch content decreased as the banana aged, which we expected. We also found that the variety already in commercial production had a greater starch content than the variety the team is trying to introduce. This new variety is tolerant of sigatoca, a fungal disease of banana.

The chemist will conduct this experiment again, after making a few changes to the protocol.

I do miss the pollination work I did last summer. I loved going around to the different farms, watching the bees fly from flower to flower. I especially loved the blue-green bees – they’re freakin awesome. Yes, I am a geek.

I also miss blueberries. I don’t like raw blueberries, but I love them in oatmeal and in my father’s pancakes. My sister assured me she would freeze some extras for me. And make muffins. : ) Fantastic.

I'm also using my time here to catch up on my reading. Last week I finished The Portrait of a Lady. The ending left me wanting more - it was not very conclusive. Overall, though, I'd say it was a pretty good read. Certainly enough drama!
This week I'm reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok.
I'm also editing my autobiogrpahy, which I wrote two summers ago. How Precocious.

Those high schoolers must think I'm quite odd

6/11/2011

I walked to the plaza this morning. I woke up before 6 AM. This would not have been a problem, except I got in at 3 AM. So it was a big problem. I don’t function well on little sleep. Well, I function, but not happily. I was thirsty and my stomach hurt and I had a headache. The French toast I made for breakfast did help a little bit. Cinnamon has curative properties, right? Our washing machine isn’t working. It didn’t even spin for me, but my clothes soaked in hot water a bit, so that makes them clean, I think. There is still a pool of water in the machine that didn’t drain out and I guess it’ll sit there until Monday when I can ask someone in the office and they’ll probably just come to our house, flip a switch, show us that the machine now works, and laugh all the way home.

I sat in the plaza this morning for a bit. Nice morning. Free wi-fi. Music. People walking around and sitting on park benches and reading and talking. Very calm.

We stayed in all day. Except for during the rainstorm. I put my bathing suit on and we went for a nice walk in the rain. If I knew the lyrics, I would have sung the song. I have to say that walk did wonders for my headache.

Later, we tried making mofongo. Fail. I’ll just have to buy some for lunch one day, that’s all. We fried the plantains and mashed them up and everything. It was ok, nothing stellar. We had some more of the Trumpeter Cab Sauv with dinner. Now I just have to keep myself awake for another couple hours. I really don’t want to go to bed at 7 PM, wake up at 2 AM, and completely throw off my sleeping schedule.

6/12/11

We went to the beach in Cabo Rojo today. At Baqueron there was a gay pride parade, which would have been cool to see, but we were afraid there would be too much traffic so we went to a different beach, still in Cabo Rojo, but a little farther south. It amazed me that we could just walk right onto the beach. What, no bage? No one asking me to pay? Wow, fantastic! And the water was light blue – blue! – and warm. I actually went in! not just my toes, or up to my knees, or run in, dunk my head, scream it’s freakin cold and run out. Ah, so refreshing! I loved it. And there were plenty of attractive men and men who could be attractive if only they cut off that stupid rat tail! Arg, get a new hairdresser, please!

We went to lunch at a restaurant on the beach. Unfortunately no vegetarian empanadillas. : (

We stayed till about 4. Then a quiet evening at home, resting for the workweek to come. I figured I’d gather some more interesting info for everyone. Dragonfruit!

Pitayaha, pitaya, dragonfruit, strawberry pear

Hylocereus spp. (over 25 species have been identified) and Selenecereus megalanthus (the yellow or Colombian pitaya); family Cactaceae

Species of Hylocereus and hybrids thereof have a variety of flesh and skin color combinations. The yellow pitaya (Selenecereus megalanthus) has yellow thorny skin and white, translucent flesh.

Native to tropical America with a range extending from Southern Mexico to Northern South America, dragonfruit was a popular Aztec food. At the turn of the 19^th century, the French brought it to Southeast Asia.  Currently, Nicaragua is the main producer of red flesh varieties of Hylocereus spp. in Central America, with an estimated 800-1000 HA planted.  Colombia is the leading South American producer of yellow pitaya. In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a leading producer. Israel also produces and exports to the EU. Commercial growers typically propagate via cuttings. While germination rates for seeds are high, the plant is slow-growing and may not produce fruit for 6 years. The cactus is grown on a trellis system.

The large, night-blooming flowers are pollinated by moths and bats in Central America. Cross pollination and hand pollination, where pollinators are not common, can improve fruit set. Fruits mature in 35 – 50 days, depending on the cultivar and location.

Ants and aphids can damage young shoots and flower buds, and I saw evidence of this in the greenhouse at TARS.

References:

http://cesandiego.ucdavis.edu/files/63550.pdf

http://food.oregonstate.edu/glossary/p/pithaya.html

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/F_N-9.pdf

6/13/11

Today I worked in the chemistry lab. We prepared soil samples to be tested for phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, and potassium and also weighed out samples of seeds and fruits from Mamey Sapote. This is all in an effort to determine how well the plants take up fertilizers.

Phosphorus exists as aluminum, iron, or calcium phosphate in the soil. The relative concentrations depend upon the soil pH, with aluminum and iron phosphates dominant in low pH (acid) soils, and calcium phosphate dominant in higher pH (neutral to alkaline) soils. There are a number of procedures commonly used to extract phosphorus from soil samples. We used the Bray P2 method, which is designed for soils with low pH, low cation exchange capacity, and low organic matter. In this method, the reagents are ammonium fluoride and hydrochloric acid. The acid makes phosphorus more soluble and the fluoride anion lowers the readsorption activity of aluminum.

Magnesium, calcium, and potassium are all cations, though they may be present in multiple forms in soil. We used the solvent ammonium acetate at pH 7. The ammonium acts as an exchange ion, essentially pushing the magnesium, calcium, and potassium into solution. Therefore, extractions using this reagent give the concentrations of exchangeable cations.

A group of high school students came in to tour the lab and see what we do. Of course the tour was given in Spanish. I followed with my notebook and tried to pick out key words. The lab head was a little disappointed they weren’t more interested.

We’re getting a new washing machine tomorrow! The one we had didn’t work – didn’t even spin! I was afraid we’d have to wash our clothes in the bathtub for the next 5 weeks!

I learned some new Spanish words today. So proud of myself. Labradora – washing machine. Semilla – seed. Hoja – leaf. See you’re learning with me!

Later in the week, we may test the concentrations of reducing sugars in banana pulp. I guess biochemistry is good for something! Reducing sugars include glucose and fructose. Sucrose is not a reducing sugar. They have aldehyde or ketone groups which can reduce other molecules. Aldehyde groups can be oxidized to carboxylate groups.  

I’m in the plaza. I just saw people riding horses down the street. Awesome.

Where did my new amigo go?

6/9

Who knew counting lychee fruits could be so exciting and dangerous? A thrill-seekers dream job? Perhaps. I found a tarantula at the bottom of one of the bins. He (or she?) was just hanging out with the lychee fruit, probably ate all the other little creatures that ended up in there. Was I frightened? Duh, comes to mind. So my coworker proceeded to poke the spider with a stick. “These jump.”

Thank you for that interesting fact. “It jumps, and you’re poking it! Ah!”

I’m the only girl in the lab and the only one that does not speak Spanish. Ah, silly Jersey girl. I’m sure they all got a kick out of my anxiety. It was all in good fun. I’m ok. The spider did not bite anyone. We put it in a large graduated cylinder and proudly showed off our new pet to all our visitors.

Just before lunch break, I found a cockroach in another bin. The tarantula feasted on it. I thought I was supposed to be studying plant science! I was treated to an Animal Planet show. So Mr. (or Miss) Tarantula got their own lunch!

I am happy to report we have our hot water back. The switch in the kitchen that we thought belonged to an outside light actually controls our hot water heater. No wonder we haven’t had hot water! We turned it off Sunday night.

More dragonfruit! The cactus is so productive, the plant so vigorous. It’s truly amazing. I wonder if anyone has done any research on the compounds in the fruit. It has such a magnificent, unique color. what gives it that amazing magenta color?

I also did some grafting in the afternoon. What is grafting and what’s the point? Grafting is a method of vegetative propagation. Because the seedlings of many fruits are not identical to their parents, vegetative propagation is preferable to ensure quality and limit variability. Grafting involves putting a desirable variety onto a different rootstock. As stated, this ensures that you get the desired variety. It also brings fruit trees into production earlier. Furthermore, once can use rootstocks with desirable characteristics, such as dwarfing habit (to keep trees small and manageable) or disease resistance or drought tolerance. So what did I graft? A grapefruit-orange hybrid called chironha, breadfruit, and rambutan. There are a number of different grafting techniques. We used side veneer and T-budding. In the latter, only a bud is taken from the desired variety and inserted into the rootstock. I practiced a bit of grafting in plant propagation class last semester. I am too scared of cutting myself to be good, I think. And I am no less awkward in the tropics, I am sad to report. I hope the grafts are successful. At least here, there is less of a chance of them drying out!

After work a lot of us went over to the beach to play volleyball. I was reassured several times, by several people, that Puerto Rico has much more beautiful beaches. Please do not judge Puerto Rico’s beaches solely on your impression of those in Mayaguez…The park was constructed for the Central American games, which were held in Mayaguez last year. Across the street was the baseball stadium, where the Mayaguez Indios (?) play. Hmm…maybe we’ll see a baseball game? Someone help me, is this baseball season? I think it is, right?

You must all be wondering: did she actually play? I hate sports; I hate volleyball. Ever since sixth grade, when that girl yelled at me in gym class for missing the ball (well, pretty much since I learned how to play…but even more so after this incident). I did play. For a bit, at least. But I am easily frustrated and lost motivation and interest. It’s fine, I had a fine time socializing.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home, and, I admit, I practiced my right to purchase alcohol. A nice 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza (Argentina). Oh, I want to go back to Argentina! Great wine, at least in my humble opinion, and a great price too. I was pleasantly surprised to find such a great selection at the grocery store. I think I’ll go for a German Riesling next. I mean, a Riesling from Germany would be great! I’ve only had NJ and NY Rieslings…recommendations anyone?

6/10

Our new friend is missing! The tarantula was not in the container we left it in. It wasn’t in our boots, either. Mysterious…

I used a refractometer to test Brix of lychee fruits. A valuable skill in viticulture, too. I hope to use it again during harvest season. It’s not a very difficult task, actually. Just squeeze some juice over the light of the refractometer. Most of the lycees had brix from 15 to 25, with the majority falling around 20.

I saw the new spectrometer in the chemistry lab. It measures the concentrations of multiple elements in a solution using plasma and detecting characteristic states of excitation. Solutions of ground plant tissues (root, shoot, and leaf) are to be tested for the macro and micronutrients to determine fertilizer uptake.

After that, planting! We planted gosh knows how many breadfruit trees. TARS is the home of primary germplasm collections. However, it is not enough to have one germplasm collection – as we learned after Hurricane Andrew devastated the mango collection in Florida. So TARS has a back-up collection for mangoes and is now planting a backup collection for breadfruit (the primary collection is in Hawaii..my next stop?).

A germplasm collection is a collection of a number of varieties of one species. We want to make sure that we are preserving the genetic material of all these different varieties – some may be valued for their delicious fruits, others for disease resistance, others for pest tolerance, etc.  A germplasm collection stores all of these unique traits. Breeders can draw on specimens to develop new varieties.

So, we planted breadfruit. Pretty big trees for being so young! They were started from air layers. What is air layering? Another form of vegetative propagation. Expose the tissue beneath the bark and apply hormone to stimulate the tissue to develop roots. Surround with potting mix and wrap with plastic. We planted, as I said, gosh knows how many. Trees were 20’ apart, with 25’ between rows. It was hot! Very hot. Every once in a while we benefitted from a slight breeze. I think I should stick with planting tomatoes. I can’t handle moving the heavy trees and digging big holes (we used a backhoe, actually) and moving so much dirt! So, I think, in my case, planting tomatoes and doing labwork are more doable.

After our first week, we treated ourselves to ice cream at Rex Cream. Yum…mocha…I also tried the tamarind and key lime pie. Both pretty good, but my heart belonged to the mocha. I’ll have to try more, including the corn! I hear it’s great with cinnamon on top. And of course I will get it with sprinkles on a cone. Cones are much more sustainable than cups. Yes, that’s the reason I always get a cone. Sustainability. Some day, however, I should really take to heart how messy ice cream cones are. You think that, at my age, I’d be able to eat one without staining a shirt. Ha!

Later we went out to a bar in Cabo Rojo. We did karaoke. Of course we did songs in English, i.e. Britney Spears “You Drive me Crazy.” Towards the end of the night, though, I was getting a handle on some of the Spanish songs. Once you get the rhythm down, it’s not too difficult. It was a lovely way to end the week. We got in at 3 AM, though, and my body will no longer let me sleep later than 6AM after a week of waking up at 5. So, I was up at 5:30 AM. I am going to be so cranky later. You have been warned.

So, I tried doing some laundry. I'm not really sure how to use our washing machine, though, so,mm, that didn't go too well. I mean my clothes soaked a bit in hot soapy water and are now hanging to dry, so, mission accomplished?
Feeling antsy, I decided to go for a walk. I wandered a bit around teh TARS grounds and located the miracle berry tree. One ripe fruit! A small red berry, the miracle fruit Synsepalum dulcifium Daniell (Sapotaceae) makes sour foods taste sweet. There is a lemon in our fridge - I can't wait to try it! I also found a ripe cacao pod. I really need to locate some dark chocolate. So far all I have seen is milk. : (
I'm in the Plaza now. Music is playing. I"m in the shade. I'd say it's pretty nice. Come join me!

Isabela at Last

6/8 Field Trip to Isabela!

TARS has a site in Isabela, in the northwest part of the island. It’s about 45 minutes from Mayaguez. On the way there, we passed several malls, a town center, plenty of Walgreens and fast food joints, an air force base, and a water park. It rained lightly all morning. Thank goodness for hats and rubber boots.

At Isabela, there are papayas, bananas, lychees, rambutan, dragonfruit, mama zapote, nisporo, starfruit, longan, and attamoya.

The papayas have all been harvested. They were part of an experiment involving papaya ringspot virus.

There is a live germplasm collection of banana. Today, we collected data for an experiment with sigatoka, a fungal disease. Fungicides are quite expensive and need to be applied regularly. As such, they represent a significant cost to growers. Finding a resistance, or even tolerant, variety could save growers money and also reduce the environmental impact of banana production. There are two types of sigatoka, yellow and black; the latter causes significant damage rather rapidly. To support a growing bunch of bananas, a plant needs at least 8 healthy leaves. Involved in the trial are two banana varieties, a commercial variety and a tolerant variety. We collected the data and then did some general maintenance. Stacy used a machete! We cut the rachis just above the “false hand,” the hand farthest from the end with a small banana. Note to self: banana sap stains.

Some more information on bananas and sigatoka: http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2005/3-23-2005/banana.html

Lychees we know. I have a love-hate relationship with lychees now. So sweet and delicious. But a pain to weigh and sort and count.  At Isabela we had to cut the air layers (acodo) that were started in February.

Rambutan produces spiny red fruits that remind me of little pompoms. Not my favorite tropical fruit.

Dragonfruit (pithaya) is a member of the cactus family. The plant is trained on a trellising system. The large white flowers open in the evening – bat pollinated? The fruits are red when ripe. The flesh is magenta with black seeds. It tastes like a kiwi without the sourness. Very refreshing. Winning fruit for the day.

We had to harvest 80 lbs of mama zapote. These are large brown fruits with a red-orange flesh (when ripe). We also harvested 50 lbs of nisporo. These are an absolute pain to harvest. It’s difficult to tell when they are ripe so you have to use your fingernail to make a little nick in the skin. It should be yellow inside. The taste is somewhat reminiscent of brown sugar. I am not personally a fan, but, then again, I’ve only tried it once.

There is also carambola, or starfruit. We drove through the field picking fruits off trees. Better than any Burger King.

Lotsa Lychees

6/5: Well, I’m here in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The grounds of the Tropical Agricultural Research Station are beautiful. We are living in a cute one-story house: 3 bedrbooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, washing machine in the backyard and “dryer” (read: clothes lines) outside (underneath an overhang, of course). The station director picked us up at Mayaguez airport. We took a Cessna (a full flight = 7 passengers) from San Juan to Mayaguez. It was a little frightening, I admit, but we got a beautiful view of the island.

The station director was kind enough to give a short driving tour of the town (it is a rather small town) and university campus. He then took us to the grocery store. Prices are pretty similar to those in NJ, and so is the variety of foods, actually. I found tofu and soymilk. However, my worst fear did turn out to be true –no hummus! Ah! So I bought chick peas and used the house’s blender. It ended up a tad bit garlicky…I did, however, find pitas. Someone please explain. Also, Breyer’s was like $8. I sadly walked away. Our cashier and bagger both had the same name, according to their name tags. I found this hilarious and really wanted to ask if they found it funny, too, but they didn’t seem to want to be working  and I  worried the language barrier would get in the way of me trying to make a joke.

A bit about the TARS station. It is part of the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA and was established in 1901. Some key research areas include the genetics of sorghum and dry beans and development of new varieties; introduction, preservation, evaluation, regeneration, and distribution of tropical fruit germplasm, and evaluation and development of management systems. The station has 127 acres in Mayaguez and employs 7 full-time scientists. There are additional farms in Isabela and St. Croix.

Observations from my first walk around the grounds: There are plenty of different smells, from floral to earthy to rotting. The mango trees are loaded with fruit! Becareful, mango is related to poison ivy (as is cashew) and if you have bad reactions to poison ivy you may wanr to ask your friends to pick manoges for you. There are little lizards everywhere (including the house – I think we named him Rico but I still call him Mr. Lizard). There are also chickens on the property. I’m not sure to whom it is exactly that they belong. I saw a couple of them in the tree and wondered how they got up there. They seemed to be wondering the same thing.

I started reading the Core Pesticide manual. I can’t imagine myself spraying pesticides. I’m pretty awkward, as I’ve said numerous times. I feel like something could go terribly wrong. But certification makes one more hirable and it’s probably good for me to learn the material, so I’ll read the book and sit through the class and take the exam.  Yes, another exam. Now that GRE’s are over I have to sign up for more exams, right? So, for the fall, it’ll be pesticide certification and biology GRE’s (arg, ETS I hate you for taking my money! Hopefully, I’ll get a fellowship out of the deal? Fingers crossed).

6/6:

We had an early start today. Up at 4:45 AM. We went for a run (apparently I’m pretty good – I was able to keep up for the 10 minutes I actually ran – though I was out of breath in 5 minutes…I’m in terrible shape it seems). We met the horticulturalist at 6 AM for a day of lychee harvesting! Have you had a lychee? If so, it was probably at a Chinese buffet or from an Asian food store. They remind me of extra-sweet, extra-large grapes, but with a bumpy, raspberry-red peel. They are conducting variety trials and we helped harvest the lychees from several different trees for evaluation. (I’m at the coffee shop in the Plaza right now and they have a pretty nice playlist going…Is this Beatles or Monkees? Sorry. Anywho, it’s nice. Some guy just interrupted to ask (first in Spanish, then in very clear English) if I’d be interested in getting internet set up in my home.) Some of the apparent differences: color (from raspberry red to orange-red), fruit size, fruit shape (one was heart-shape), and yield. Because lychees need a period of cold to stimulate flowering (and, consequently, fruit production) the test sites are in the mountains. The drive was 2 hours each way. No wonder we start at 6AM! I’m not complaining though, the scenery was breathtaking, and, in some respects, particularly the vegetation, reminiscent of Costa Rica. We drove along highways and through a few small towns. There are houses anywhere – not exactly everywhere, as there is still plenty of forest and farm and open space, but anywhere, from valleys to mountaintops to the precarious slopes in between. Many of them are painted “happy colors” : pink and lilac and yellow and peach. Some of the houses are really quite beautiful. Our driver joked. “ We may need to stop by my house on the way back to Mayaguez” (indicating a beautiful light orange mansion with a circular driveway. I preferred the slightly smaller pink house next door. Hey, we could be neighbors! (In our dreams…)

We passed through Lares. The city of beautiful skies, as it was renamed by the mayor. Or, more historyically, the city of screams (?). Independence fighters led an uprising there. There has been much controversy over the name change, or so I was told. We saw chickens and dogs on the sides of (and in) the road. We saw plenty of coffee trees and banana and bamboo and orange trees. Actually, after we finished harvesting in Castanera, we dropped some fruits off with the landowner and he gave us oranges. We watched as the oranges (tons of them!) were unloaded onto a converyor belt to be washed, waxed, and sorted by size. They were all destined for local markets and therefore were not the bright orange color I’m used to seeing in NJ grocery stores.

We had lunch at a beautiful creek near the extension station. Sat on rocks. Watched the water. Watched water bugs fight over bread crumbs. We then harvested two lychee trees at this site (there wasn’t room in the bed of the truck for any more fruit. There was barely room for what we picked!) (Oh, by the way, the café is now playing some more traditional Puerto Rican music). This second site was just perfect – ideal temperature, sun was out, breeze was blowing. Ah. And plenty of lychees for all.

On the way home, I noticed a number of roadside fruit vendors and food trucks, including one selling doughtnuts and one selling fruit frappes. At one intersection, a man was selling water, plantains, and coconut candies to stopped cars. There is also an abundance of fast food and other chain restaurants, from Church’s Chicken to Burger King to Subway (all advertising proudly that they serve desayuno). There are plenty of Sears and Walgreens stores, as well as a K-Mart. One of the staff recommended trying El Meson – it’s a Puerto Rican chain that makes great sandwiches. Gas is about the same price as in NJ, but this is not clear at first glance, as it is sold by the liter in Puerto Rico. I was so confused. $0.92 would have been a steal!

We talked a bit about the music scene. Reggaeton. Daddy Yankee we all knew. I was disappointed to learn that they had not heard of Bolo Flow (I saw him in New Brunswick at the Urban Arts Festival last Sunday, or was it Monday? And got a free CD because I don’t really give a damn and dance when I like the music.) I was told he was pretty big in Puerto Rico. I’ll have to bring the CD for the car ride to Isabela (which is half as long as the trip to the lychee sites) tomorrow.

Also, quick tip, if you ever come to Puerto Rico, don’t ask for Pit USA – the department store name is pronounced Pee-too-sah.

I’m in the town plaza. It’s set up like any town center – the mayor’s office and then an open square with a fountain and status and such and the church. On a building across the street, someone painted a pirate ship – I love it; the sails are purple and the skull and crossbones are pink. Diamonds and hearts are “raining” from the light grey storm cloud. The ocean is light blue.

Ready for another early morning tomorrow!

OK, so still at the plaza, even though I can’t connect. At  least I know it’s not my laptop because the barista (barrister? It’s a guy…) can’t connect either. There’s a young man at the table next to me. I suspect he’s not from here. The books he has with him are in English. And he really does not look Puerto Rican. He’s wearing a red lifeguard shirt. However, he apparently has friends here. A guy and girl just arrived and they all are ordering coffee.  I wonder why the trees in the plaza still have Christmas lights on them (They are red, white, and green lights after all).

This breeze is wonderful. The bugs are probably going to start biting soon. I got off pretty light today. Maybe my bug spray is just superfantastic. That was one thing my AZ brother in UPR-Mayaguez kept asking – did you pack Off? Did you pack bug spray? Of course. Haha.

Darn. I can’t eavesdrop on the trio at the table next to me. I really need to learn Spanish! I heard Colombia. Maybe she’s Colombian? Neither of the guys look Hispanic. However, the island of Puerto Rico is fairly diverse in itself, a rainbow of skin tones and a variety of backgrounds. A number of different cultures have influenced the culture here.

I hope I do not offend anyone in my blogging. I am simply observing. Puerto Rico, though part of the U.S., is unique. Sure, both NJ and PR have Wendy’s and Wal-Marts and our laws and regulations are, for the most part, the same.  Puerto Ricans are US citizens after all. Yet, I found myself speaking as if Puerto Rican were a foreign country. 

OK, I really should go make dinner. I made a huge pot of rice yesterday – it better damn well last the week! We bought a huge bag of white rice at the grocery store yesterday. Thank goodness we had a ride. Carrying that home would have been terrible. I’m such a weakling. Though you should all be proud of me. I helped carry a tub full of lychee fruits today.

OK, so maybe lifeguard boy is from here as he just called over someone else he knows. It’s a reunion! Damn language barrier. I like to people watch and listen.

Signing off for now. Another early start tomorrow! Though no run. She is working with the chemist for the rest of the week. He gets in at 7, not 6, so she doesn’t have to wake up as early as I do. Do you really think I could push myself to run alone? Haha. I laugh. But maybe if I run with her the weeks we get up together I could kind of be in shape enough and continue that until the Big Chill and actually run the entire thing? Umm…I have my doubts…

6/7 Today we stayed at the station in Mayaguez. Our trip to Isabela was rained out. Instead, we sorted and counted the lychees we picked yesterday. Not all of them - there are too many! We finished over 5,000 though. We sorted them into commercial and non-commercial (small, underripe, etc) fruits and further subdivided the commercial into good and bad (brown, torn skin, etc.). We started at 6AM, took an hour break for lunch, and finished at 3PM. Just weighing and sorting and counting. The data will be used to determine the best variety/varieties for the region. Brix will also be measured. You want delicious fruits with high yields of sellable fruits. One of the varieties with a beautiful, heart-shaped, delicious fruit may not turn out to be the variety of choice, for instance, because the fruits brown quickly.

During a short morning break, I asked the secretaries if the station had a library. It did, but most of the books have since been given to UPR and the rest are completely disorganized.

"Is there anything in particular you are looking for?"

"Something on tropical fruits, to complement my work."

"Oh, I can give you a book some of our researchers wrote" (in the 1970s).

I have just begun reading this book on major and minor tropical fruits. Be prepared for fun facts.

Some more info on lychees: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/lychee.html

My Dad Has Outdone Himself

My last night at home. Of course my dad has to make a flaming dessert. It's a new family tradition.
So today we had a lovely fajita dinner complimented by an '07 Shiraz (apparently it was on sale at the liquor store). I learned that some winemakers blend viognier, a white grape, with Syrah (France)/Shiraz(Australia) in order to improve the aromatics of the wine.
I also learned today about the rums of Puerto Rico. Did you know that Puerto Rican rums must be aged in white oak for at least one year? Didn't? Well, now you do.
My dad made bananas foster for dessert. I highly recommend you try it some time. It was quite exciting (and delicious) to say the least

Memorial Move-In

My bed is so badass. My dad bought some wood and built it in the room in my last house. Then he sawed it apart so we could get it out. It sat in the minivan with my mattress and desk for a couple weeks until I could move in to my new place. He bought more wood and wood blue and nails and screws and such and reassembled and reinforced it. It's like a Frankenstein bed, all full of bolts and screws. But it didn't fall apart when we put the mattress on it and I slept on it one night. So we're in business.
Went to State Theater's Urban Arts Festival. Great music and food and vendors. The Band Called Fuse played. It'd been a while since I heard a woman with a real voice. Their female lead singer is amazing. Bolo Flow, a reggaeton artist from Puerto Rico, also performed. He was the last act. By that time, it was emptying out. But there was this one girl, a diehard fan. She clearly wanted to dance and her friends didn't. So she and I danced and got some free CD's out of it. Some middle-aged women in broad-brimmed sunhats were wiggling their hips to the music, too, as was an older couple. There were also graffiti artists who made a beautiful mural.

I finally returned my library books. They weren't due for another week but it had been killing me. Feels nice to have gotten rid of them.
At work, we cleaned the outside tanks. What should have taken 3 hours took pretty much the whole day. There were holes in the hoses and the lid was dirty and the seal was leaky and there is unrest in the Middle East. But the tanks did get clean (I had to go inside one of them - pretty warm in there).
On my way home from work, I got stuck behind a Johnny-on-the-Spot trailer. Umm. Gross?
Dinner at Pithari in Highland Park. Best baklava ever. I mean, you can actually cut it pretty easily rather than struggling to get the darn knife through the piece.