Don’t mind the work, but I’m afraid to suffer

On Thursday night I came back from my first week in the field.  And while I was so very glad to get out of the boredom of the office, field work is HARD.  The worst part this week was the driving and the hiking.  The roads in the VCNP are very bumpy and windy so I felt at least a little nauseous most days.  And trying to keep up with three relatively tall males can be difficult at times.  This time I went out with my boss (who is extra tall) and Dan the student co-op.  When we got up there we met up with an archaeologist who had to clear our sites before we could dig.  Basically, he looked around for obsidian that looked like it had been made into a spear or something.  If he didn’t find anything in a 20 meter radius, which he usually didn’t, we were allowed to dig a meter by meter pit there.  That’s what we will be starting next week.  The nice thing about having guys around is I’m not expected to do a lot of the digging.  Dan thinks him being a guy helped him get the job, and I sort of have to agree with him.  It’s definitely helpful for a female scientist such as myself to have a guy out with her in the field.  And he’s a really great person to have around as well.  His degree program is more in the plants/horticulture area but he’s interested in everything and seems genuinely happy to be out in the field, which is always a good thing.  I’m glad he’ll be working with us for the next two summers.

Another hard part about being in the field is the food situation.  I had packed sandwiches but my attempts to keep them cold did not work out so well and I ended up having to get rid of them.  I think next time I will try cheese and crackers.  For dinner we eat in restaurants in the town where we are staying at the time.  Last time we stayed in Espanola which pretty much has New Mexican and Chinese.  The New Mexican was good but HOT and my stomach was not happy about it at all.  There were definitely a couple points when I was afraid I’d throw up all over the table/floor/parking lot.  Wouldn’t that have been a nice introduction to the field… losing my cookies in front of the boss.  Luckily I didn’t.  Needless to say, I think I’ll hold off on the green chili in subsequent weeks.

Field “work”

I went out in the field today!  And let me tell you, it was fan-tastic.  After a week and a half of straight reading, it was just what I needed.  I went out with Wayne, who is…awesome.  I couldn’t ask for a better boss.  Actually, he’s not really my boss.  He’s the boss of my boss.  So that would make him, like what, my boss squared?  I dunno.  Today we did reconnaissance, which is my favorite kind of field work.  I wish I could just do that all the time, except then I suppose no actual work would ever get done.  We went to the Valles Caldera, where I will be doing my mapping.  And I learned and saw a whole bunches of stuff.  I walked on a real live histosol (squishy!) while battling a hoarde of flies – that bite.  Saw tuff and obsidian and a whole crap-load of pumice!  And learned that ponderosa pines have three long needles and limber pines have five short needles.  The only unfortunate part was that we got rained out before making it to the actual area where I have field work.  Sad.  Oh well.  I’ll get out there soon enough.  Probably next week. 

But first… this weekend.  Will be busy.  Tomorrow night I’m going salsa dancing, Saturday I’m getting my furniture (no more sleeping on the floor for me!), and Sunday I’m going hiking.  7.8 miles.  So if I don’t show up again, it’s probably because I died.  Oh man I hope I am prepared for what I am getting myself into.

Somehow we’ll make it, ’cause that’s what we do

I suppose I should update this thing, since some stuff has happened, as is bound to occur from time to time.  And also because I now have the hookup…the internet hookup, that is.  I also have a whole 5 tv channels!  Yes!  Now all I need is some furniture, which is coming early–next weekend as a matter of fact! 

Now that I have the internet at home, I suppose I’ll be spending less time at The Flying Star, which is probably a good thing.  Except that when I was there the other night, some guy came up to me and wanted me to help him figure out how to get on a website.  And then he paid me for helping him.  Isn’t that weird?  Oh well, if people are willing to give me money, I’m most definitely willing to take it.

But Maureen, you may ask, what about the job?  Ahh, yes, the job.  The reason I came here in the first place.  Well… it’s a job.  I have to get a paycheck before I can actually do anything worth doing, so most of the time I just sit around reading things my boss gave me about soil, plants, climate and archaeology.  The archaeology stuff is actually pretty interesting.  It’s got me wondering about how societies develop.  Why is it that European society developed one way and Native American society developed another way?  Does it have to do with environment, a difference in intelligence level, or necessity?  I have noo idea. 

I could say more but I’m getting lazy and I have to get up early for work tomorrow so that will be it for now.  More later.

Albuquerque Part 1:Living in New Mexico

So.  New Mexico.  The (so called) third world state.  Interesting place.  Adobe pueblos, drug shoes on powerlines, prairie dogs, and crazy old men… Yep, that about sums it up.  Just kidding.  It’s not bad.  The mountains are…amazing, and practically in my backyard.  It rains a lot more here than it ever did in Vegas, although I’ve been told it doesn’t rain much?  I dunno. 

We drove out on Thursday.  Got here on Friday night.  And have been super busy ever since.  I looked at about 10 apartments, and was disappointed with the majority of them.  They were so small!  It was almost like it was made for miniature people.  I went into one that had the tiniest closet.  If a person any taller than me wanted to go inside, they would have to duck.  And another one had a half-sized oven that they crammed in to fit the little baby kitchen.  Fortunately, I found one that I love.  It has vaulted ceilings and a balcony with a spectacular mountain view.

The rest of my time has been spent shopping.  There is so much stuff to buy.  I’m mostly excited about my furniture.  Except I won’t get any of it until the 22nd.  Yep.  Absolutely no furniture until then.  I’m glad I have a sleeping bag at least.  So yeah, no furniture and no internet or tv either, until next weekend.  So this will be the last night I’ll get to go on the internet for a while.  What will I do?  I’m feeling deprived already.  I guess I can use it at work.  Work.  I have barely even thought about that.  And I have no idea what it will be like.  But I’ll tell you all about it, in part 2 of the Albuquerque story.