Field Work or Sally Field cries "Union!"

So a lot of exciting stuff has happened in the past couple of days!

To begin with, Shane is back, and the Braveheart is in dock, so now the fun begins! The Braveheart is a ship that sails around, bringing passengers to different islands in the Pacific, including the Pitcairn Islands. The Pitcairn Islands are worth a wikipedia search, if you have the time. Basically, there are only about 50 people who live there, and they are descendents of crew members of the Bounty. They don't do much there except “feud” in the words of one of the Braveheart crew, and about ten years ago, there was a big trial against a bunch of the men on the island where they were accused of rape of kids. Like I said, pretty interesting stuff. There is also a book about the islands and the trial, though I have been told that Pitcairn natives did not think it was completely factual. Anyways, so the Braveheart, in the time of the trial, used to bring prison guards, lawyers, judges and such to the island. They are still one of the only non-supply boats that travels there. About seven years ago, they used to transport National Geographic reporters and scientists around the Pacific too. The crew are mainly Kiwis, and they are old friends of a bunch of people here in the Station, so lots of people are excited that they are in port.

Jada and I have been collecting species from our work to bring back to Florida. We decided that when we collected 100 species than we would get to go to the Sheridan for happy hour. The Sheridan is pretty awesome; it's the sort of place that honeymooners go in Moorea, with waterfront bungalows, and overpriced items in the gift shop and such. Drinks there are really expensive, but at happy hour they are half off. We went to meet some of the French researchers from the French research station that we will be staying at later. I felt like the alcoholic American when I guzzled down my small drink in less than five minutes. Since we are over 100 species at this point, it may not be that much time before we get to go again!

Later than night, we went to the station barbecue. Right now, there are at least fifty people staying at the station, so it was quite a gathering! There were undergraduate students from Hawaii, researchers from California, MIT, us, so forth. Jada and I decided that our contribution would be macaroni and cheese. Cooking, like many other activities on the island is, in Jada's words, “MacGyver-esque.” I had to modify my recipes from cheddar to emmental, and half and half to cream and milk, mixed together. This was after I threw out a bunch of recipe ideas because we didn't have pesto, basil, rosemary, etc. I cooked two huge serving style trays full of macaroni; I've never cooked that much food for that many people. As I tend to do when I'm cooking for others, I got really stressed out about the whole thing, going crazy wanting other people to eat this humongous serving I had made. I think that in general, it was a success, though we have a plentiful portion of it left for lunch for the next few days.

In other words, our puppy has been adopted! Someone on the island decided to give her a good home. Though we are happy that she has a home, we still miss her, even if in recent days, she had grown accustomed to chewing on all of my clothes, my shoes, the sheets, and the furniture.

There is also a big fuel strike on Tahiti at this time. From what I understand, though I am probably mistaken, people are blocking the fuel from leaving Tahiti, and as such, Tahiti and all the other islands around it, like Moorea, are now living on a finite supply of gas. We are doing ok now, but soon we may run out of gas for the boats, the cars, the land rovers, and sooner or later, the electricity may go out. The ferries are already running less than they usually do. Soon planes may not be landing or leaving Tahiti's international airport. No one seems to be particularly worried right now, but we may have reason to worry soon. Anyone know any good negotiators?

Love to all,
Emily