Kiwi Mex

Fri 8 Jan 2010

It is 5:45 am and we are scheduled to be at the CDC in one hour, so I am thinking this really might be it. I think we would have already received word if we were going to be out on 24 hr delay.

My Biomechanics module wanted to get a jump on our research, which I will explain in great detail in my next post (it has to do with anchor ice, a huge source of disturbance in the <30 m subtidal system, formation on various biological surfaces), so we spent most of yesterday meeting, reading the limited literature that exists on anchor ice (including several papers by Dr. Paul Dayton, a legendary marine ecologist whose early work paved the way in both temperate and polar marine ecology), and meeting some more to discuss research ideas and plans (more on group dynamics later). By 5:00 pm we were ready for a change in scenery so we headed into Christchurch to try out the local fare....Mexican food, HUH? In New Zealand? It was NOT my idea, and I was actually advised against Mexican cuisine in New Zealand. BUT Damien and Idan, who both lived briefly in Austin a few years back, have been really missing Mexican food (no doubt!), which is unavailable in Europe, and were desperate for this sweet sweet fare, so off we went in search of beans, rice, salsa, guac, and tortillas. As shocking as this might sound, it was actually really good! The guacamole was definitely the pre-made-many-moons-ago variety -- for you avocado lovers out there, you know how fresh guac has a darker olive color? This guac was the more fluorescent green color that only a packaged guac can boast -- but even that was pretty tasty...and it was spicy (not the guac, but the salsas and veggies). The funniest part of dinner was the pitcher of margarita we ordered. We were a table of 6 and thought a pitcher was the way to go. Also, Mario from Italy had not ever had a margarita and we thought it was high time he be introduced to this beverage, so the pitcher arrives and it is the smallest pitcher we have seen. It was all I could do to not burst into laughter.


For scale, pay mind to the bottle of hot sauce. This is Mario (left) and Idan (right).

Anyhow, we ended up being out a bit late, and missed the bus, but got to have a hilarious taxi ride back to the hotel (which is near to the CDC and the airport about 15-20 min from town).

So here we go....ice bound we hope!