As promised, I have a funny blog post for today. To summarize, there is a war (friendly of course) raging in the lab, and it can be summarized as Canada vs USA.
It all started the first weekend here, when I suggested we play a (friendly) game of flip cup. When deciding teams, Gen, Em, and I opted to stay together; we challenged Mel (my supervisor) to play us. She is American, and before we knew it the whole game had turned into Canada versus USA. This continued in the lab, with me poking fun at Mel and vice versa. Last Friday Mel challenged me to “face-up” (a preservation technique used on delicate cranial bones) in 8 minutes or under. I said I could do it in 7, and when I finished in under 6:30 I laughed and said “Take that, America!” The Americans have all rallied against we Canadians as a result.
For example, we were invited to a scary movie night with the Yankees via note that read “Be there or be square… EH?!” so we responded with something to the general effect of we would be there because Canadians weren’t scaredy cats and afraid to watch scary movies unlike the Americans. And so, the next morning, when we got up at 545, we opened the top door to this fine barricade constructed by the Yankees overnight:
 |
| A solid attempt by the Americans. |
To plot our revenge, we Canadians got up before the crack of dawn (5:15-ish) to walk into Chora. On the way, we made a pit stop at our favorite AM bakery (we stop at a different one for breakfast pastries than we do for dinner) and then we walked to the big concrete platform that is right on the very tip of the corner of our little bit of the island. From there, we have a 180 degree view over the ocean and its calm and quiet. From our perch, we watched the sun come up as we debated how to best dispatch of the Americans.
 |
| Post-Prank Regroup Noms. |
 |
| Sunrise over Astypalaia |
During lunch, as a temporary pseudo-rebuttal, we organized every plate of food into something which resembled something Canadian. For example, we arranged this plate of fruit into a maple leaf with “eh?!” written across the top. Now they have been lulled into a false sense of security, which buys us time for the epic prank we will pull on them Saturday night. Hoorah.
 |
| Lunch, Canada style. Kind of. We didn't have any back bacon or maple syrup. |
After school, I went for another run (I went yesterday too!). The best part about my run was that I literally ran with a herd of goats on the road for about 5 minutes! I was running along, minding my own business and listening to my ipod, when I heard a clatter of hooves, baa-ing, and the ringing of the bells they wear around their necks. I looked back and realized that I was being followed by a giant herd of goats! I guess the farmer had just let them out of their day paddock and they were running back home, which just happened to be the way I was headed. Anyway, the herd ran with me for a minute or two before they sped past me and veered off to the right down to their stable thingy.
Later on down the road, I realized I had acquired a new running buddy: a little lizard was tearing up the pavement beside me, and kept ahead of me for a good ¼ mile or so before giving up and heading for the shade. Finally, on the homestretch, a few chickens tried to keep pace with me, but they couldn’t keep up and stopped after a 25 foot dash or so.
Tonight I am headed into Chora with Em and Gen for some hot chocolate (with Baileys of course). All of a sudden I am painfully aware of how little is left of this trip, and I feel like I should make the most of it (and ingest as many calories as possible, haha.)
5 days and field school is done. 7 days and Fern is here.
Where did the time go??
No comments:
Post a Comment