House Tour

After a few months of hard work, we are finally done with the house. We finished most of the unpacking within the first few weeks, but we've finally put the finishing touches on and we'd thought we'd give you a tour...so come on in!

View of the living room upon entering

Living room/dining room

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Office and Library

Master bedroom

Guest Bedroom (+ 1 free cat)

Second guest bedroom

My craft room

My Office

Just a short post today. I finally got my desk completed sorted out; all my books are on the shelves and I have a temporary computer in place (I'm waiting on a brand new one). I thought I'd post a picture of my new office and the view from my chair.

Pretty sweet view!

Dakar Rally

David has always been a big fan of rallies and in particular one of the premier rally races in the world, the Dakar. The Dakar is an annual race usually starting in Paris, France and ending in Dakar, Senegal. The route traverses the deserts and rough terrain of Africa and usually lasts about two weeks. The fun part is that cars are not the only racing vehicles - quads, motorcycles, and giant "service" trucks also take part.

During one of our weekly meetings at Gemini, someone mentioned something about the Dakar passing through La Serena. Given the normal venue of the race, I thought that they were either mistaken or that their was a copycat race by the same name in South America. As it turns out I was wrong. Given the political climate and threats of terrorism in Africa the race this year was moved to South America and indeed, the drivers were planning to race outside the city in the desert and end up here after one of the stages. I found all this out on the internet and then casually called David and asked him "would you like to go to the Dakar". The reaction when I explained it to him was totally worth it.

David and I tried to find the exact locations of the rally stage itself, but not knowing the roads around town very well, it was nearly impossible. In the end, we went downtown to where the major highway into town (Ruta 5) intersects the Parque de Valdivia. We weren't the only ones with the same idea, the streets were packed!

The streets were lined with cheering onlookers

A motorcyclist pulls a stunt for the crowds

One of the few brave quad drivers in the race

As it turned out their was a giant procession of the racers into town and a good number of people turned out to wave and shout them into the city. It was really fantastic! We had an amazing afternoon cheering all the racers and got a ton of pictures. We also found where the cars were parked overnight, and although we couldn't get particularly close, managed to stand near the turnoff to the bivouac area. Many of the drivers were taking the opportunity to slow down and shake hands with the crowd out their windows.

Near the turnoff to the bivouac

Another cyclist near the bivouac

Later that night we decided to go out for a quick dinner at one of our favorite little restaurants on the beach, a small Falafel stand near El Faro, or the lighthouse. We didn't think we would run into anyone particularly famous, since it was not near the fancier restaurants. We were wrong! It turned out that the driver currently in 10th place had his car parked right off the road and was digging in to some middle eastern faire. David even wished him luck (although that apparentlly didn't work, he rolled the car the next day and had to pull out of the race).

All in all it was a pretty neat and totally unexpected day.

Christmas Day

For the first time ever, David and I are not home for Christmas. In the past, we have always been with one set of parents or the other. But this year, having just spent a few weeks with each family in August and with an observing run scheduled two days after the holiday, it was clear that we would be in La Serena for Christmas this time around.

Our dear friend Maren from Florida, who just moved to Santiago herself a few months ago, was also planning on Christmas in Chile. We asked her to come up and spend the holidays with us in La Serena. So, although we were sad that we were going to be away from home for the first time on Christmas, we were excited to have our first Christmas house guest! We decided that with Maren in town and our house decorated with the long-sought Christmas Tree, we would make Christmas dinner and invite the few people still who were also planning to be far from home on the holiday to celebrate with us.

Maren arrived at the bus station a few days before Christmas and we had a really great time showing her all around the area. Two days before the holiday, we went to Vicuna, a small mountain town East of La Serena. While there, we perused the Christmas markets and the main town square. We found a vendor selling cactus fruit, Copao and after a refreshingly convincing taste, loaded up on them at 10 for $2. David and I had an idea in mind, that, as you'll see later, worked out perfectly.

On Christmas Eve, we did a fairly spectacular and unexpected thing. After our grocery shopping, we loaded up the car with towels and blankets and headed to the beach. It was a perfect summer day and Maren and I abandoned all reason and went swimming in the Pacific Ocean despite the warnings I'd received that it was freezing cold. It wasn't actually bad at all and the water was just beautiful. I decided that if I had to be away from home for the holidays this was a pretty cool way to do it.

For dinner we planned a fairly simple and traditional meal, turkey (surprisingly hard to find, apparently not the meat of choice for Christmas dinner here), stuffing (David's parents recipe, with lovely chestnuts and homemade sausage), cooked carrots (with butter and a touch of brown sugar), salad, twice baked potatoes, and baked sliced apples.

We can't buy this type of sausage here, so David grinds the pork and seasons it himself

Yum, turkey!

Twice baked potatoes, cooked carrots, a salad, baked apples, and stuffing

Maren was a huge help in the kitchen and we ended up with a lovely meal in no time flat. However, we decided to make an interesting addition to add a touch of Chile to the mix. We took the Copao and made granitas (thanks Margaret, again!) We scooped out the fruit, added a bit of sugar, a lot of pisco, and stuck the mixture in the freezer for a while, stirring every so often to give it a slushy kind of feel. When we were done we loaded it back into the fruit shells, which we'd also frozen. Then we decorated a bit.

Copao granita - a little touch of Chile

Oh yes, we did!

We served the granitas as an apertif when everyone arrived to the house and they were really well received. The rest of dinner was a blast. As with most of my parties, I was too busy playing hostess to take any serious pictures. I think the memory of everyone enjoying Christmas dinner sitting around OUR table in OUR new home is one that probably will stay with me forever anyway.

During the day, we also had the chance to give our parents a call on Skype. Using our video cameras we were able to open gifts with both sets in "person" - which was really a gift in-and-of itself. We had a nice inter-continental toast with David's parents and watched the gift exchanges. We also got to see my brother and his wife Jackie open our present to them. As a huge surprise we'd bought them a Wii and I'd been waiting for weeks to see the looks on their faces. It was totally worth it!

The day ended up as a wonderful melding of friends and family and although I was sad that we definitely would not be getting any snow, I was happy that we managed to feel the warmth of home in Chile.

First Christmas Party in Chile

Every year for the last 6 years, David and I have thrown a massive Christmas party. Generally, we decorate the house, make a nice mix of some of our fancier dishes (including a load of cookies and cakes), and then invite everyone we know to come over and enjoy a night of eating, drinking, and conversation.

For those who know me well (which I'm guessing includes most of the people who would bother reading my blog) this party also doubles as a celebration of my birthday, which is December 17th. People probably think I am a little strange, but the present I give myself every year is this party; it gives me an excuse to make the food I love for the people I love.

Anyway, this year proved to be a little difficult. We still had some boxes lying around and I wasn't at all used to the house yet. On top of that, I found out a bit late that unlike graduate school, most people at the observatory have already left town by mid-December. So by the time I had my act together, a gigantic housewarming party was out.

Instead we decided to invite 15 or so people over to enjoy a quiet evening. I made a lavender cheesecake (which unfortunately did not come out quite right, although this did not stop it from being devoured), a chocolate torte, a load of cookies (made with the help of some friends a few days before), and an apple crumb pie. My friend Emma made fantastic chocolate covered shortbreads and my new friend, Peter, gifted me a beautiful blue bowl from Bulgaria (All are pictured above)!

Jayadev looks over the remains of the bounty

We haven't been able to find puff pastry, a staple in a few of our more fancy appetizers, so we decided to experiment with filo dough. I can already see that I am going to be an addict. I had no idea it was so easy to work with! We made fantastic artichoke & shrimp and mushroom & goat cheese stuffed filo triangles that were gone in minutes. We also made pesto and curry flavored deviled eggs (thanks Margaret!) among other things.

Our neighbors Allison, Ryan, Emma, Jayadev, Susan, Rikki, and Chris and our friends Bryan, Nicole, and Peter as well as some visitors from Australia all joined us. We had a fantastic evening and I felt fairly good about my first fiesta in Chile!

Allison finishes off her cake(s)

Bryan chats with some guests from Australia

O Christmas Tree

We had heard from several people that we should prepare ourselves for the worst with regards to the availability of live Christmas Trees in Chile. Christmas trees just don't grow in this part of the country and since it isn't that common a tradition to have live trees in the home, they are not often shipped from the South. Still we'd heard that with some luck, they could be found.

On the advice of friends, we went into the local home store (think Home Depot) and found a few spruce trees with the roots balled up. My parents had bought ball trees two or three times and I wouldn't have minded going that route if the things hadn't look like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree's retarded cousins. The best specimens were half dead already and cost $60. Meanwhile we'd seen decent looking fake trees all over La Serena. I honestly wasn't sure what to do. I'd always swore I'd never go fake - but faced with the prospect of either no tree, a dead tree, or a plastic one, I was definitely considering the unthinkable.

Then one day, while driving to meet friends for dinner, we saw a painted sign pointing to a dirt road that said (no translation necessary) "Christmas Trees" . The next Saturday, we decided to take a ride back and check it out. My hopes weren't particularly high and when we arrived at a dead end with no Christmas trees in sight, I was pretty disappointed. However, we decided to walk around a bit. To our surprise we discovered two young boys with saws guarding a small patch of trees for sale. It was a miniature "Cut your own" Christmas Tree Farm.

The trees weren't typical Christmas trees, they reminded me more of pine shrubs, like the ornamental ones found in my parents yard near the back porch. Still we gave them a look over and honestly, liked what we saw. They had the fresh pine scent we were craving, were very healthy, and looked like Christmas Trees, albeit miniature ones. We asked for the price (with a bit of dread, given the $60 price tag of the pathetic ones in the home store) and were surprised to find that they only wanted $10! This was the ticket! David and I picked the best one, the boys cut it down with a few quick strokes (for which we gave them a HUGE tip - I was in a great mood!), we loaded it into the car, and came home triumphant.

That night I set up the tree in our new house and started the task of going through my Christmas ornaments. I was a little scared as to what I might find. Fortunately very few things were broken. This was probably because I had spent half a day last January very very carefully wrapping everything. I knew we were moving, although at the time I didn't know where! Obviously the caution paid off.

So I happily decorated the tree with the best of my ornaments. So Tada! Our first Christmas Tree in Chile.

Back to Pachon

I went back up to Cerro Pachon for another training run, this time with James, another Gemini Fellow, who just also happens to be my friend and fellow UF grad. James and I have known each other for 7 years. The first time we met was on a volleyball court in Florida. The grad students in the astronomy department at UF had a picnic every year and one of the best things to do was round everyone up and play volleyball. I love the game, so it took no effort to convince me to give it a go. During one game, James was standing right next to me as I served up 13 aces in a row. From that moment on he called me Ace. In the hallway, around town, even we I came for my interview visit at Gemini, it mattered not - Ace I was.

Now, years later, James is the instrument scientist for T-ReCS here at Gemini, which is also the instrument I work on now! T-ReCS was built at the University of Florida by Dr. Charlie Telesco and many of the same engineers that worked with me on my instrument (CIRCE). It's a mid-infrared instrument. To give you some idea of what that means, our bodies glow in the Mid-IR. And when I say "glow" I'm not talking about the reflected light that lets one person see another. Instead I'm referring to the radiation that comes off our bodies, which is commonly known as HEAT. With the right camera you can "see" heat; T-ReCS has such a camera.

In space, you can look at a few things in the Mid-IR, but the most common is warm dust. Some astronomers would argue that the most important dust you can look at is that around young stars. That dust may be in the process of forming planets. So in the Mid-IR you can search for planets and solar systems in the earliest stages of life.

During this training run, I was going to work with James to (hopefully) learn more about T-ReCS. As it happened, we were splitting our nights with another team of observers using a totally different instrument. One of the members of the team was my friend Beth (from our Dieciocho adventure). So it was very nice to be up there with her and watch her work her astronomy mojo.

We ended up having good weather, but unfortunately didn't get much T-ReCS in. Still I'm getting more and more confident with the telescope and around the observatory in general. Next time I go up - I'll be on my own!

The dormitories on Pachon, our home away from home!


A comfy room in the dorms. Still the classic AURA furniture, though

The view towards the mountains from the dorm

It's amazing how little things; the view from the front of the dormitory, the wild horses roaming all around, the mountains in the background, really bring home the solitude and silence of the summit. For the first few night it can be a sanctuary - a place to run away from the constant goings-on of the world. However, for a people person like me, hanging out with only one other person for 5 days can be a bit trying! Still I've always liked observing.

Semi-wild horses roaming around the observatory grounds


The Cerro Pachon kitchen

Usually dinner is fairly good. I've had extremes on either end, though.

Looking toward the dome from the dinner table

Any dinner snafus are forgiven with a view like this