May 14, 2007

Hi! It’s me again. I know it has been awhile so perhaps you forgot about my little letters. And what, you may very well ask, have I been up to for the last few months? Well, let me tell you all about it. Things have been rather “full plate” since the last time you have heard from me. I finished up winter quarter and was very relieved when I finally finished grading my last student binder from Intro to Archaeology (the course which had consumed almost all of my time since the beginning of January). I spent part of Spring Break back in Colorado and was delighted to spend time with old friends and to see some of my favorite Colorado sites. I then traveled on to Philadelphia, where I partook in an extremely productive conference (the American Association of Physical Anthropologists). I presented a paper and met with some of the leading scientists in the field to discuss my research. Really neat!

Then I returned to Santa Cruz and immediately started up Spring Quarter. As usual, the Spring Quarter is when I am beginning to burn out after a full year, but I packed in a lot of activities so I have not had a whole lot of free time. I did get to go for a delightful whale-watching kayak tour. We saw some glorious gray whales up close (within 15 feet) and we even got to smell them as they exhaled, inhaled, and dove again. If anyone asks, whale breath does NOT smell like roses. I am also taking a sailing class with Matt. This is the best way to spend a Friday morning after a long week. Get up, go to the harbor, and tootle about in a 15’ Coronado for 3 hours. Delightful! It is my hope to continue this tradition with an intermediate course next fall. I am taking several courses including the most excellent Systematic Botany of Flowering Plants. Finally I am learning what all of those interesting plants are I have seen my entire life. This is probably going to be the most useful class I have ever taken. Let’s just hope my poor brain can retain the information I am shoving into it at an alarming rate. I am also a teaching assistant for Human Functional Anatomy. Here is a course where we really get into the meat of things (please forgive my pathetic pun). I am relearning and helping others learn all of the bones, muscles, and organs that make us who we are. This is very interesting material but it is a large time sink so I have to make sure I plan around it. We have some amazing facilities at Santa Cruz so I am doing my best to really take advantage of the materials available and learn as much as I can. Since I will likely be TAing this course again next spring, it can’t hurt to immerse myself.

Other than that, I am planning my upcoming summer adventures. After finishing up the Spring Quarter, I will help with the dissection of a large, male gorilla and then I will conduct my own dissection project – a Eulemur sp. who has been patiently waiting for me in the freezer for the past year. Then, I have a bit of ‘free time’ to do whatever it is that I have fallen behind on. Come July 13th, I am off to a conference in South Africa, and then back into the field to conduct an isotopic vegetation survey at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, southwestern Madagascar. Planning this trip has been a major endeavor and I am still working on the logistics; trying to locate field supplies, and put together a solid research plan of action. Fun! I will be returning from Madagascar in August. Hopefully you will be hearing from me again then, but I won’t have a lot of time because Matt and I will be zooming off to Thailand for a much-anticipated friends’ wedding.

So, that’s what I have been up to. I am sorry that I have been out of touch for so long. I will try to not let this happen again. I also wanted to let all of you know that I have finally created a website for myself (so you can peruse my photos and letters whenever you feel like it). I invite you to check this out at your leisure. Clearly if you are reading this message, you have found my website. I have also started up my very own photo company, Agoraphotia. I have taken the liberty of using my webpage as a forum for selling photographs. So, if you are one of those people who has been interested in my photography, please check out my website and consider ordering some art. This will help me start my future photography side career (as well as my present graduate student life). I make cards and sell various-sized prints, mounted or plain. It’s all on the website so I’ll stop this gratuitous advertising now.

I hope that spring is treating you all well. It certainly is beautiful here. It was great seeing some of you in Colorado and I look forward to seeing the rest of you again at some point soon.

Until next time!

Brooke