Swimming in a dark lagoon

Amy B and I decided that we wanted to go to the other side of the island to the town of Farjardo. Let's just say that it was an adventure to find the hotel. It was pouring rain, and the streets are all potholed, and there are hardly any lights, and we have no idea where we are going. We had to be at the "meeting area" by 8:45 this night, and we finally found our hotel at 8:00. We checked in, and then rushed to the meeting place. Again, after some dark unmarked roads and several twists, turns, and uturns, and pointing in opposite directions, we found the departure area for the bioluminescent bay tours. We met the coordinator, Ceasar, and he told us that the tour would start at 9:30pm. Great.

Amy B and I were starving, so we decided to eat at the only local restaurant/cafe place in the area. We thought we would be able to avoid eating yet another Puerto Rican meal here, but alas, we were hungry and we had 20 minutes to eat something for a halfway decent dinner. So we ordered a dinner, ate as quickly as possible, then met with the coordinator again at 9:30.

Our whole group was about 40 people big. There were 2 people per kayak. We signed our lives away, then received a PFD. Then waited to climb into our kayak. Neither Amy nor I had kayaked before, but they seemed perfectly ok with that. Amy was in front, and I was in back and I was supposed to follow Amy's lead. It's amazing how difficult it is to follow the leader when no one knows what exactly we're supposed to be doing.

The guides eventually got everyone into a kayak, and we headed toward the bio bay. We went through a network on mangrove trees, and ran into several on the way upriver. We also managed to crash into several kayakers who were coming back from the bio bay. The others got fairly mad at us, but we had no idea what we were doing. And Amy was getting tired. But we eventually made to the end of the river, which led to a huge body of open water. We paddled to the group that was waiting for us in the middle of the bay, and noticed that while we paddled, the splashing water lit up. The plankton were lighting up!

We got to jump into the water, which was way warm, and swim with the plankton. It was amazing because it looked as though we were glowing underwater. I wish we could have taken pcitures, but it was impossible because of the low light and the fact that we were in water. But every time we kicked our feet or moved our arms, the surface of our skin would light up, and then slowly fade. But as long as we were moving the water, the plankton would put on their lightshow. It was amazing. And the warm water made it very easy to swim around and admire this natural phenamena.

After about 20 minutes, we beached ourselves back onto the kayaks, and started to paddle back. It was easier to paddle back since we were going with the current, and the plankton lit up the way for about 5 minutes before they disappeared. Amy and I were very happy to have been able to participate in this event, and we wish we could do it every night =)

Caves and Satellites

On Sunday, 25 March 2007, my first full day in Puerto Rico, Amy and I went on a tour to the Camuy Caves and the Radio Telescope.

The visitors center had a tram that shuttled people to and from the caves with a guide. They had both spanish and english guides, and so we opted for the english guide. The tram took us down a steep hill, which we later found out was part of an ancient crater, and took us to the entrance to the Camuy Cave. What was interesting was that there was plenty of green vegetation surrounding the cave, but as soon as it got dark inside, it was only rock formations and water. Certain areas were lit up so that it would be possible for us to follow the path. The entrance of the cave system did not really foretell the expanse of the cave network. It seemed like just as we passed one rock formation, there was brand new section of the cave opened up for us. Bats also lived in this cave, and we were lucky enough to not get attacked by bats, but our noses were introduced to the smell of bat poop, and that was not pleasant at all. Not sure why you would want to live amid the smell of your own poop, but I suppose that's what bats like.

These are pictures of the caves...Amy and I didn't take any pictures because we figured that they wouldn't come out very well because of the low lighting. So we left it all up to the professionals =)


Entrance to the cave


Pathway network in the cave

The next part of our tour was go to the Arecibo radio telescope observatory. This radio telescope was featured in the movies Goldeneye and Contact. What was amazing was how big this thing was. Apparently it is as big as ten football fields and about 150ft. tall from the center to the top edge. They replace the thousands of panels once every 5 years, and it takes 1 year to go through all of them. Someone has to wear special shoes to walk around on the panels, and the laser guidance systems tell them how to align the panels. The person can't weigh more than 120lbs, or something like that. Anyway, the big antenna and dome thing rotates according to where they want to look in the atmosphere, and while we were there they were spinning that thing around for whatever reason. In any case, it was amazing to see how it was all being supported with wires attached to 3 towers. Crazy...again...Amy B and I were lame and we didn't take pictures. So here again I am relying on professional photos from the internet.



The central dome thing that rotates depending on what part of the sky they are capturing


The entire radio telescope...it's huge!

Why Puerto Rico?

I went to Puerto Rico from Saturday, 24 March 2007 to Wednesday, 28 March 2007. I flew from Portland, OR to Chicago, to San Juan, and the same way back. Why did I decide to Puerto Rico? Because Amy was there.

Amy, aka Amy B, was my college roommate. She is currently working with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and is the Education Manager. She deals with ABET accredidation, department heads, and working on how to teach engineering to students. Every year, she has a workshop/conference for Mechanical Engineering department heads. This year, this conference was in Dorado, Puerto Rico. (I know...harsh...last year it was in Beijing, China...yeah, I was there for that one too).

Anyway, a while ago, Amy B asked me to be her guest, and after thinking about it for a little bit, I decided that Puerto Rico was better than sitting in Portland during a potentially rainy March. So I booked my tickets, and joined her in Puerto Rico. The rental car and hotel room in Dorado was paid for thanks to ASME, and so I basically just had to find a way to entertain myself while Amy B worked the conference. I didn't think that would be too difficult to do. =)

Note: I was featured in an online newsletter that the ASME sends to young mechanical engineers. I was featured because I am a mechanial engineer in an atypical engineering position with Nike. It was an ok article...but I have to confess that I am not an ASME member. But they never asked me if I was, so I figure that's ok.

Maybe I need to eat more apples...

As the saying goes, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away." I have had a few recent trips to the physical therapist. I scheduled the appointments because I have been in a lot of pain when I wake up in the mornings. At first I thought it was due to the new mattress that I bought. I thought it was fine for the 1st week that I had it, but week 2 was a different story. I would wake up at 3:30 in the morning in severe back pain. The pain would be from my mid back all the way to my obliques. It was uncomfortable, and a little worrisome.

The doctor took more xrays, and here's what he said. He said, "everything still looks structurally sound." That is great news!

He said it could be that during rehab, you tend to get worse before you get better. So maybe this is my "getting worse" part, and I'll soon be well on my way to recovery. This is good news.

On the other hand, if the pain continues for several more months, him and my surgeon, Dr. Yoo, think that maybe I might have to get my rods and screws taken out. HOLD ON....did you say "take them out?" wtf?!?!??!?!?!?!?! Aren't these things holding me in place? Didn't you just say that I was structurally sound? Wouldn't taking these things out make me structurally unsound????!?!?!?!?!? He did mention that this would be a very rare scenario, and it would likely not happen. Ok....

Note: My physical therapist's name is Dr. Nels Carlson. He has a twin brother Dr. Hans Carlson. Who also is a physical therapist with OHSU. Who also specializes in spinal recovery. Interesting...

Anyway, so that is what is going on with this back of mine. It feels absolutely fine after I have been up and about for about an hour, and it feels fine when I work out. So I just need to figure out how to sleep pain free, and that has been quite challenging so far. I will update the status of the back as I get more information. Until then, I need to eat more apples...