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 19th 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:
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.
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