Leave port tomorrow!!!

So we are officially leaving the port tomorrow, which we have been ready for since last Wednesday - the boat wasn't here yet so we couldn't leave....This past weekend I we visited a museum and a spice farm. The owners of both places were related/went to college with my boss. The only thing my boss informed them about me was that I am an ice hockey goalie and know how to drink. So needless to say, they gave me a lot of booze for a very low/nonexistent price. At the spice farm, they treated us like VIPs with a special meal, playing with snakes, and sitting on elephants ( all in the pics...).

I'm uploading all my pictures now, because we are going to have very terrible internet access on the boat. In order to post to this blog I need to send them in e-mail form to Stewey (teammate in NYC) and she'll post them for me. I might be able to send out more e-mails, but still uncertain on that. I've also been given a warning not to talk/smile to the crewmen on the ship or they will get the wrong impression....So basically I just keep my head down and earphones in - great!

Still NOT on a boat....

We were supposed to board the ship on the 25th, but apparently someone more important than us needs to use the ship, so we are going to do our research on an actual fishing vessel (I'm praying every night that it won't smell like the lobster boats at Cook's corner...). We've been working 9 - 5:30 everyday at the National Institute of Oceanography, and those hours + humid heat = very tired Keebler....We've eaten at some gross restaurants, some great restaurants, and almost everything in between - I found out that it's really easy to tell the difference in quality. Hopefully, tomorrow we will have everything packed and ready to board the ship, so I can actually sleep in before my bosses take us out to explore India...I'll let you know when I get on the boat (with lots of pictures!!!)

Touch Down

So I just landed in India...15 hours later. Got to watch some fun movies on the flight and recover a little more from my adventures Wednesday night (still sore...). I left my stupid water bottle on the plane, and I'm kinda upset about it. The drive to the hotel was terrifying - he was legit a worse driver than I am (seriously!). Apparently you are supposed to drive on the left side of the road, but I've inferred from my taxi driver that that is a suggestion, because we drove allllll over the road, into incoming traffic, almost hit some dogs (which I was ready to fight the driver over), and honking at every moving object....but we got to point B, so I guess I can't complain too much! Got to the hotel and the view is amazing (I've already posted the pictures), and there's great TV on as well. We are right across the street from the National Institute of Oceanography, which is the institute we are working at before we get off the ship.