An Inspirational Marine Biologist

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm retiring the blog

Image
 After 11 years with this blog, I have made the decision to retire it. I want to take a stab at vlogging (video blogging) since I enjoy editing videos so much. This blog started as a way for me to have a diary of my time in New Zealand and I'm glad I had it to go back and remember what I accomplished as a wide-eyed 20 year old.  My vlogs will be available on my YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb6ZmcUcw8vZvPdfGIzNTbA Keep in touch 😊
Read more

Being a marine biologist - day 1

Image
On the 4th of July I joined the mackerel survey cruise aboard M/V Eros. It's a brand new vessel that is even nicer than G.O. Sars! However, as I found last year, most of these luxuries aren't used on the survey because we are quite tired from 12 hour work days; and the gym is the most important room when you are limited to only walking up and down a flight of stairs. The first dinner was a very Norwegian meal of raspeballer (potato and flour mixed together with some bacon), sausages and potatoes. At least the crew blasted some CCR after dinner, so that was about as "American" as it got for the 4th.  I'm working the 2-8 shift, so 2am-8am and 2pm-8pm. My shift partner's name is Stine (Justine and Stine -- cute) - and pronounced like 'steeneh', not stein. On this survey I have more responsibilities than last year. This year I can add plankton sampling to my resume. And this probably sounds weird, but the one thing that has officially made me feel like...
Read more

Smalahove

Image
Many Norwegian traditions are distinctly regional. Even recipes are variable by region to go along with dialects that can be different by town separated by just 50 kilometers. This tradition, that both Marius and I were new to trying, was from a town just about an hour and a half east of Bergen called Voss....smalahove, or half of a sheep's head that is cooked in a broth for several hours. Smalahove comes from two Norwegian words: smale = sheep, and hove = head. It is served before Christmas with potatoes, mashed rutabaga, and red cabbage. Many of my friends were telling me that the cheek is supposed to be the best part, and others were saying that they wouldn't dare eat it. So I can now say that I have done something that many other Norwegians haven't dared try. I actually really enjoyed it! It had a texture like corned beef and had a very nice flavor. Marius went as far as to try the tongue, and thought that eating the eye was a normal thing, so tried that as well...bu...
Read more