Punta Arenas Celebrations and Boarding the LMG

Today was one full of excitement.  I caught up on some sleep, and checked out of my hotel.  This afternoon, I move on board the Laurence M. Gould until I get back to Punta Arenas at the end of the month.

I met a colleague for lunch in the main square, hoping they would have a menú del día – a 3-4-course meal at a fixed price (usually a good one).  Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday, this was not the case.  But the restaurant had a great view of the city so we stayed.  It turned out that today, in the streets, the locals were celebrating both the 200th anniversary of Punta Arenas as well as the Chilean Independence Day (September 18th).  They had a parade and some locals performed Chile’s national dance.

We had probably the best spot to watch all this, and I even got a video of the dancing.  After it was done, we enjoyed a great meal.  I had salmon with tomatoes and onions baked on top of it, which was quite good.

After we finished, we headed to the ship for orientation.  They went over the basic dock procedures and let us know that we were going to head out of Punta Arenas tomorrow morning, which is exciting. Since I had moved things into the lab yesterday, the main goal for today was to ensure everything arrived successfully and undamaged.  Next, I decided where I was going to perform each of my experiments, and started organizing the lab.  It took a while, but it was a nice way to feel settled and know that everything was there that I needed.  I also met the new MST, Skye, who will be working with Lindsey to help me with science on the ship.  Lindsey and I went down to the port again so I could weigh out my chemicals.  Now I’m only missing one thing, and it should arrive tomorrow.

After dinner on the ship and more setting up the lab, a few people decided to go into town to a bar.  I tagged along, since I wanted to go use the internet anyways.  You see – on the ship, we only have access to email specific to the ship.  It’s no fun, but internet would be very expensive if everyone got to do whatever they wanted.  I headed back to the ship soon enough, and got ready for bed.