The First Week

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Thursday: We put together a Wentz scope! It required attaching and mounting it onto a random board Matt found around his office. When we were finally done, it worked! It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s better to be slow and circumspect than quick and careless. After that we researched butterfly gardens and left for the day. Yes, we spent most of the day putting together a microscope, but it was still fulfilling. We left early to get a bus pass, but we passed it and needed to get back to fixing the screen door. After a quick break and cleaning up, we went to the beach, and then Mexicalis until 10 30-

Friday: Today was an early start, as Dr. Philipp needed to leave for the airport at 8AM. That was a great opportunity to get our buss pass. We got a discount because we are students! Then we ate at Robin’s Downtown for breakfast. It was a delight – we will for sure be going back for more. When we came in, we messed with the intern login for our computer, but to no avail. We simply researched bio-swales and butterflies while we waited for the solution to that problem. We went on a field trip after lunch today! Once we got back from The Bistro, which was delicious! (Loved the vanilla chai frappe) Matt asked us if we wanted to go. Of course, we agreed. We went to the De Soto memorial today, Robinson’s preserve and the Cortez Maritime Museum. I got to try on some chain mail; it was awesome. It was heavy and cumbersome to fit on. We then were told all about De Soto’s path in his search for gold. His death is evidently a mystery! The preserve was beautiful. We climbed up this huge raised wooden platform – I think it was about 6 stories – and it was so serene. We could hear the sounds of nature. I think it was new to Matt to hear it because on the weekend the boats make too much noise. The nature sounded much like the nature in my back yard in Indiana. With that being said, everything is very different here. Gravel is seashells. Ospreys are the more common birds instead of Indiana’s chickadees. (Shannon told me she saw a cardinal (Indiana’s state bird) in St. Pete!!) Egrets are like bunnies on a lawn. The mosquitoes are tiny, and stick to you like glue. Lizards… what to compare the anoles with… Perhaps they are comparable to our… well nothing. We don’t have wildlife like this roaming around everywhere. This reminds me! We heard a crazy sound coming from a tree- it sounded very bird-attacking-bird-esque. It was a squirrel! I hope to find out what the noise was soon. The Maritime museum was a delight. Shannon and I learned lots about the boats and more about the net dilemma that the town went through. Once we were done with that it started down pouring and lightening. It was a scary sight, but it sure was getting late. Matt graciously offered to take us to Walmart and wait for us. Ordinarily, I would have thanked him and declined, but I felt desperate to be done and settled into the condo. When we went in, I tried to divide and conquer, but Shannon disagreed. It was probably for the best, since we had some of the same things on our lists. I kept running around trying to meet my goal of 20 minutes, and I may have been a bit abrasive. We were way longer than 20 minutes, and I felt horrible about making him wait. I offered dinner, but he declined – I think we should do something for him soon. We got home, put away groceries, and realized that we bought odds and ends, so we ventured back out to CVS for a couple of important things we needed. That’s much further than one would think. When we got back, we had a very late but quite satisfying dinner.

Saturday: Kayaking! We had a lot of fun on the way. One fish scare, but after a couple breathing exercises, I was ready to move on. We’ve got quite a few questions now for Matt and Jeff. After this we got lunch because we were hungry and our 20 minute bus ride home wouldn’t be for another 40 minutes. We got on the wrong bus and trekked the 3ish miles to Jimmy’s house where we obtained the bikes- the magnificent bikes. This truly has been a lucky, lucky trip. We’re being treated so well – and everyone is offering so much help. We got back, recouped and walked back out to Cortez to try to get a blender for protein shakes, a drying rack for dishes and a cutlery tray for sanitation. After that excitement, we spent quite a bit more money and had a lot more food. Dinner was great, and we didn’t even have to wait until 9 to eat – that’s getting to be a trend.

Sunday: Shannon’s mom and grandma came to meet me and to spend the day with us. Shannon’s grandma, took us to Pier 22 for brunch. Shannon and I split an omelet and Belgian waffles, so we could get our sweet and savory fix. We then went to the museum to show off how great it is. I enjoyed it a lot. We stayed for Snooty’s feeding and that was it for the day out. We came back, and went out for meal type food. I couldn’t have fathomed how difficult getting groceries were. I think, tonight, we are finally done. We have food for actual meals- not just random fruits and peanut butter and bread. It’s something else doing things for yourself. I could not even imagine what it would be like if we weren’t getting the condo for such a great deal and if Jimmy didn’t live right down the road. Oh geez, I don’t even want to think about if we weren’t working for Matt. This is truly awesome. I’m excited for tomorrow.

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