Day 1-4

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Ok hello everyone! It's been a few days since I posted, because I had to get settled and such. But here it is, so enjoy.



Day 1: 31-01-2016

So the flight was really, really long. Not yet unbearable, but really long. The KLM people are really nice and the food is good to! I watched a couple of movies, listened to an audiobook and took some lovely pictures of the ice on the windows. The line in front of the customs was also very long, but when I finally got to the Carmabi (the research centre I am staying) the people were really friendly. We had a night-swim; there are these glowing algea around, and when you make bubbles, they glow an eerie green. SO COOL! I'll try to figure out how to make a picture of it.



Day 2: 01-02-2016

Today I made my very first tropical dive. The first thing I saw when going under was a lionfish... Very awesome. I didn't get a picture of it, but there are more of them around, so I'll have another shot later. I didn't see the shrimp I am researching (Periclimenes rathbunae), but I did see its close relative Periclimenes yucatanicus. I also failed to get a picture of it :'( I skipped the second dive that day due to ear problems.



Day 3: 02-02-2016

Still recovering from my ear problems, so no diving for me. I spent it being lazy and reading a lot. In the evening we went to see a movie.



Day 4: 03-02-2016

Well, this is today. I am writing this at around 9.30am, so I havent really done much yet. We do have a dive planned later this afternoon, in which I will participate. I am going to take a bit more time to take photo's. Erm, let me tell a bit more about how things are going here. The research station is like a big studenthouse; you have your own room (or share it with someone), you buy your own food. Sometimes you cook together for dinner, sometimes alone. The research institute is like 20m from the waters edge, so I eat breakfast while looking at a clear blue ocean, and wait for dinner looking at the sunset. So yeah, thats kind of how things go here. Wake up slowly, eat breakfast slowly, plan the day or do spontaneous things :P It is really nice once you get into the "rhythm". Today the dive will still be a test-dive, just to get used to the surroundings and tomorrow we want to try to start doing dives for research, so I will be on the lookout today for my little shrimp and its hosts.



I guess that's it for today, I will keep you posted whenever I can. I will probably write in the mornings after breakfast, since my evenings are so unpredictable. We'll see, I'll probably won't be able to update every day, perhaps I will do it once a week, or every few days. I dont know yet 😊 As always, i can be reached by skype or whatsapp or facebook. Thank you for reading and have a good day!

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