The First Few Days..

Well hi there!

I've officially been in Potsdam, New York for almost three full days. So much has happened! First of all, I'd like to clear up something: you really don't pronounce this location as "potsdem" all blurred together. You actually say "pots dam." I'm shocked, really. It's quite funny. As a matter of fact, apparently many of my pronunciations are wrong! There's a "Madrid" a little drive away, but you don't pronounce it like the city in Spain. Oh no. It's MADrid. Just like that. No joke. And that's only a few of the errors I've had! Though I will say that most people here tell me that my southern accent is not very prominent, which I consider a triumph.

I have already had the chance to canoe on the Raquette River in town; Clarkson actually has a huge boathouse with 16-20 canoes open for use. How cool is that? This is my sort of university. The river was very shallow and quite brown, but the views were quite lovely. I also got to go to the "beach" today: a sandy shore of the Raquette river. We grilled some hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers, played volleyball, swam, and took over the swings of the playground for a bit. Veggie burgers are the norm here--quite a few of the students in our group are vegetarian. They're trying to convince me to drop my meat eating habits, but it'll take more than the occasional comment to get me to bite into a green burger voluntarily.

Today I got my Clarkson student ID and met my mentor/ professor for the summer. He gave me a full tour of the lab (including a description of every instrument I might use--it was an extensive list, and it was rather intimidating! Though it does mean that I'm going to learn just as much and more than I hoped this summer!). I also got to hear more about my research, and I'll be taking my first trip on the Lavinia, our trusty research boat, onto the St. Lawrence River on Thursday. Look for a colorful post that day; it should be an adventure!

My roommates, Bianca and Teresa, are great girls to live with. They actually let me have one room to myself, so that has turned out to be quite nice. The townhouse apartment that we're in is HUGE! I would be beside myself if I had more than one suitcase full of stuff to fill it with. It's quite ironic, really!

I would love to post more, but tomorrow we are headed to the Oswegatchie river retreat for a bonding/ camping experience of wonder. We're headed out at 8 AM, so I should catch some shuteye. But not to worry--I'll catch up one of these days! Stay tuned! I hope you all are staying cool and enjoying your time in your various corners of the world.