June 25-26
Yesterday I started feeling better than the past few days. I tried a trick one of the crew members suggested, which was to chew on a piece of lime and eat crackers. At first it seemed counter intuitive because of the acidic nature of limes, but the body neutralizes the acid from the lime, then the cracker absorbs it, so the stomach stops producing stomach acid. That night after, I was able to eat a big dinner and kept it down!
This morning I wasn’t feeling the greatest and ate some chicken soup for lunch. What really set me off again was when we toured the bridge. The bridge is the highest point on the ship and experiences the most movement. I was able to help out with the CTD sample collection, which made me feel like a scientist again!
Terry, Katie K., and I have decided to collaborate on an outreach project. We want to focus on what OOI is and compare that to UW’s ERIS observatory and have a specific example of an instrument, such as the sonar.
I think I’m meant to be a land-based oceanographer!
June 23-24, 2018
Yesterday was a whirlwind and I'm still just trying to get adjusted to everything and everyone. We'll be leaving port today around 10:30 so internet will be even slower. I'm kind of homesick now but I'm really happy my good friend Rachel is on this cruise with me because I think I’d have an even harder time without her. It's so cold in here, I had to sleep with 3 blankets and a sweater just to keep warm. I have a female roommate named Katie, but we have to share our bathroom with 2 boys 🙁
I had my first 4-8 am watch in the Jason control van this morning and while it was fascinating to be in there, I kept having to leave because I was getting sick. I was running the recording cameras for the ROV dives while they completed their operation. I slept all day today and I can't do my shifts anymore because being in that box makes it so much worse, so people have volunteered to cover for me. Everyone here is so nice and accommodating. I finally kept my dinner down tonight (so far, fingers crossed) It's been so frustrating because I hate feeling like this and I don't feel like I'm a part of the group and I just feel like a burden on everyone, but they all keep insisting that it's okay and that I shouldn't feel bad about it because it's just not something I can help. Everyone has been making sure I'm doing what I need to do to stay healthy. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive and accommodating group of people.