She did request that. And I have been lazy at this blogging business, so I'm getting back into it. I hope the description pleases my mother. I'll start at the place I'm staying. I know I've described it a bit, but here I'll go into laborious detail, just for the fun of it. The main complex of cloudbridge has three buildings. The electricity comes from solar panels, the stove works on gas, and the water comes right out of a mountain stream. if we are cold at night, we can light a fire in a wood buring stove, over which we can also cook beans. (Dried beans, by the way, are very difficult to cook, and require pre-soaking for a few hours and then cooking for at least an hour. Then, they still aren't very good. ... read more

The last week has been a lot of fun. Mostly people hanging out together and having good times. Last saturday Laurie (my advisor to all that don't know) decided we needed to throw a party. We invited everyone from Punta Santiago (the other researchers) and of course, their was the undergraduates, myself, and Laurie's friends. So in all, it was a lot of people. For the party we actually got the grill to work... not the little charcoal burning grill we have been using so far, but the huge propane powered grill. It would never have come together if it weren't for Mike's deep knowledge of grilling technology (he is an undergraduate). laurie went all out and bought Kabob materials and hot dogs and burgers. I didn't use to like burgers much, but the less meat ... read more

Hello All - I'm back again. On the blog and in Puerto Rico. Things have been pretty good. The weather is mediocre, but not to hot, which makes for good monkey experiment times. Monkeys I recognize from last year are a year bigger. Its amazing how much they grow! I've finished one project and moved onto the second. Which is good because I have four things on the docket for this one month that I am here. I'm also writing a grant, and I feel that is going really well too. I "finished" it on the first, and so I have until the 14th to continue to work on it. Yeah! Things go fast though. The undergraduates I started with here are already leaving next week. Ack! And I still have to remember to plan some ... read more

Sorry I haven't written in such a very long time. I've been busy busy busy! So many things have happened! Well, since I left off, I was heading from Puno to Cuzco to start in on the motherload of archeaological sites in Peru. The ride was uneventful, and I arrived in Cuzco unscathed. Some advice for travelers though: I've learned the hard way to stick to my guns about what taxi prices should be. Anywhere in Cuzco is 3 soles, and no more. However, at the bus station, they charged me ten soles. The drivers were all in agreement over it, and everyone charged that amount... I had to accept! If I was smarter, I would have waited on the street for a different new taxi. Its difficult though because the bus station isn't supposed to ... read more

Well, I made the border crossing. I don´t seem to be able to take out money, so I hope that just a local thing and not a peru thing. I only had about 20,000 chilean pesos on me (about $40), which I exchanged. That will get me to arequipa, but after that... :) On the way in, I got to see the desert from the day time. Still good. After sleeping well last night in a room with TV (yipee!) I am feeling much better. I hope I stay that way. Mostly, I just wanted to blog to give you one silly picture I took. Enjoy! love Kelly... read more