Helen roams the Earth...: novembro 2008

terça-feira, 4 de novembro de 2008

Excuse the delay.

Written today! Which means this is the end of posting old emails, and the beginning of posting actual blog entries!

Hello again.

I realize that most of you are probably living your lives feeling unfulfilled without the latest news from your friend Helen. I apologize sincerely. But the truth is, life has once again become pretty mundane.

Work is work, just another job. Of course, this job mostly entails sitting on the beach or along the riverside, waiting for fishermen, then touching lots of dead fish and taking funny pictures. But periodic fights with my boss and an overall desire for action have left me feeling unsatisfied. I've come to realize that my research is just some silly project that has been pawned off on me because they didn't know what else to do with me. Of course, I had written methods and even gotten funding for another project, but that has most unfortunately long since been forgotten.

November marks the end of data collection and the official start of data analysis. After only a couple days playing around with my data, I feel I have already analyzed most of what there is to analyze. Hopefully something productive will come out of this, but in the mean time I still have plenty of free time to play with my animals and read for fun while lazing in the hammock.

The most exciting event for me recently was the Halloween party Thiago and I had at our house. Though extremely stressful, the party was a huge success. For days we were being congratulated around town for what was surely a party to be remembered in the tiny fishing community in which we live. We rented speakers, which were promptly burned due to plugging a 110V device into a 220V socket. Luckily, that was the DJ's fault and not ours. Also luckily, we arranged some smaller speakers and continued to party. For me, the highlight of the party was the vaca atolada (stuck cow) which is a stew made of beef and manioc. We got the local restaurant owner to make it for us (the only restaurant in the neighborhood) and everybody loved it, including Vagabundo who by the end of the night had eaten so much that he couldn't even stand up. Vagabundo LOVED the party, since he is very social. Favela, my other dog (a pincher with a broken leg) did not enjoy the party as much, and spent most of the time hidden in a dark corner.

I now have only 48 days until I leave Brazil. That reality is a pretty crazy one. I do really love my town, and I generally enjoy my existence here, but I'm extremely ready to return. However, I have no real plans after New Year's. I may move to Europe (Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, or elsewhere), I may stay in Eugene, I may move to Canada, who really knows! Feel free to give suggestions.

I hope all is well with everybody at home or around the globe.

Written September 19, 2008

Hello all. It's been a long time.

Work has been busy lately. So far I've identified 7 species of sharks, 3 of which were not in the record and 4 species of sting ray, 2 of which were not already recorded. So I guess that's good. Lately I've been busy putting together power point presentations to show the fishermen my work and plead with them to bring me animal heads or let me open up the sharks. The first meeting went really well (keep in mind I spoke for like 40 minutes, entirely in Portuguese!) and we have another meeting today. The downside? I think I have bronchitis, it's hard to talk and even breathe. I really want to go back to the good ol' U.S. and see an American doctor! But I power through.

I've ended up with two dogs and SIX CATS for the time being. I really want to give the cats away, but haven't found a home for any of them yet. It's only been like 3 days, though, and I have high hopes.

It's local election time in Brazil. Unfortunately, this means that every 5 minutes somebody passes by with an annoying add blaring from their cars. Politicians pay like $400 for one day for people to do this. They also pay people to support them. Yes, they buy votes. It seems that about 30% of the population is running for some sort of office. It's really obnoxious, but for a monthly salary 10 times the minimum wage, I can see why people want an office. One of the candidates for mayor has been taken to court 17 times, moving around southern Bahia and getting elected for various offices in various cities. He's not even from Caravelas. I hate the situation, but I can only hope the other guy wins!

My boyfriend, Thiago, and I have put together a reggae band! We've played 3 shows already. He plays guitar, I sing occasionally and dance, and we have a drummer too. I want to get some other percussion instruments (like a tambourine!) so I can play along with every song. It's been really fun and now we're famous in our neighborhood and in all of Caravelas. We're like a famous couple and whenever I go out without Thiago people ask about him. Whenever Thiago goes out without me, people ask where I am.

So, Brazil is still good. Mostly my days consist of drinking various juices, eating fried manioc on the beach and reading Agatha Christie novels that my mom sends me. Yes, it's a hard life.

Love and best wishes to all,
~Helen

My life smells like dead sharks.

Written July 29, 2008

Hello all,

Since my last email, I've identified three new species of elasmobranchs (cartilaginous fishes (sharks, skates, rays)) in the area of Caravelas, Bahia, Brazil. I continue to measure rays while they're taken off the boat and sold to the distributor. I carry with me at all times a measuring tape, data sheets and my camera. At times I might just be strolling through town when I run into an unknown fisherman selling shark meat. And I'm prepared to take data! Consequently, however, every bag I own has held dirty measuring tape or data sheets with shark guts. My pens all smell like dead shark, my bags all smell, my house smells since there are several shark jaws with meat remnants outside. My freezer/refrigerator contains sharks and/or rays from time to time. There is no escaping it anymore, my entire life smells like dead sharks! I'm pretty sure that means I'm a successful biologist.

Work last week was actually pretty easy since the weather was bad. When there's bad weather, no fishermen are leaving, so I have no worries about tracking down their catches. So I had a nice break during the week and used the time to study a bit. Then the weather turned nice for the weekend, and Thiago and went with a fisherman friend to Nova Viçosa, the nearest town to the South. The crazy thing is, though the town is only 70 km away, to get there you have to travel for 5 hours by bus, or else take a boat for 4 hours through the mangrove. We opted for the boat, of course! Even Vagabundo got to come along.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02567.jpg

The boat rides were awesome, we saw the sun set and the moon rise in the mangrove on the way over:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02598.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02599.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02631.jpg

Caravelas from the river:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02586.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02587.jpg

Then we got to Nova Viçosa in time for the first night of the humpback whale festival. See, the humpback whales migrate to the area in which I live during the winter (remember, southern hemisphere's winter is the northern hemisphere's summer...) to give birth to their babies and reproduce in warmer waters. So Nova Viçosa has a party to welcome the whales, with a short cultural presentation, and mostly just bands and lots of alcohol.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02638.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02639.jpg
Giant whale vertebra:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02646.jpg

Thiago and I camped in the front yard of our friend's house, Dudu the fisherman.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02572.jpg

The next day we walked a long distance along the beach, trying to sell Thiago's art:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02537.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02526.jpg
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http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02530.jpg
What our house looks like with all these boats:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02512.jpg

Unforunately, we were unsuccessful. But the second night of the festival was better than the first, since it had the actual cultural presentation:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02650.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02651.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02657.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02658.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02665.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02670.jpg

All in all, good times were had. Then we returned to Caravelas via boat and saw the sun rise.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02681.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02683.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83/DreamingHelen/brazil%202008/DSC02689.jpg

It was actually quite a cold boat trip. But we got home safe and sound, and now things are back to normal.

Hope all is fantastic with everybody there.

Love, peace, shark guts,

~Helen

Notes about pictures

For those of you who are interested in seeing more pictures, check out my facebook profile. There are quite a few albums up and plenty of pictures to fascinate you of these travels and other life adventures.

Picture update

terça-feira, 4 de novembro de 2008

Excuse the delay.

My life smells like dead sharks.

Notes about pictures

Picture update

Helen roams the Earth...

Arquivo do blog

Quem sou eu