As I might have expected, my blog posts have dropped significantly since the first half of this past year (see Figure 1). That's not to say I've had no adventures in recent months. On the contrary, I've had too many, and little time to sit down and write. I might try to catch up in a backwards way, but to set the record straight, I'll try to at least summarize here.
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Team RPM: In my case, pretty much since the day I arrived in Chile, my schedule has been oriented around triathlon training with Team RPM. Basically this means:
Monday -- PM track workout *
Tuesday -- AM swim; PM indoor cycling or swim
Wednesday -- AM swim; PM track *
Thursday -- AM indoor cycling; PM swim
Friday -- AM swim; PM track (or PM rest) *
Saturday -- AM long bike ride
Sunday -- AM long bike ride, or run
(*And sometimes I throw in lunchtime Yoga at work)
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| RPM team photo |
Recicleta: Second in time spent -- but to say nothing secondary about the value of its mission -- I participate in a non-profit group called Recicleta. It was a serendipitous discovery at Lollapalooza, where I learned about their projects to recycle used bikes and "return them to the streets" for people to use. Saturday afternoons are typically for learning bike mechanics and doing tune-ups on donated bikes. Other activities have more to do with bike activism, including a visit to the La Moneda Palace (center of government) with our bikes to speak with the Secretary General about (well it wasn't really clear, but had something to do with the new constitution).
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| The Recicleteros |
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| Recicleta (along with other bike activists) visits La Moneda) |
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Disclaimer: The last few months have involved a high density of incredible travel experiences and fun adventures, for which I'm extremely grateful. Writing it all here, it even verges on excessive. But, why not take every opportunity? And each time I return to Santiago, I feel more and more like I'm "returning home".
I spend approximately 1 week per month at the ALMA observatory. If you want to know more, (sometimes) I write about my observing shifts here...
Apart from running the telescopes, we do other things like...
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| Speaking during public tours in the control room. |
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| Riding (ALMA-owned) bikes around the ALMA camp. |
June 9 - 10ish: Building a fixed gear bike
This bike finally became reality, bringing together a frame hand built by the Chilean bike artisan Nano Vera; components bought from Blue Wheel Bicycles during a visit to Charlottesville, VA, earlier in the year; and a few more parts bought on San Diego street, the mecca for bike parts in downtown Santiago. Rummaging the final pieces at the Recicleta bike workshop, along with the advice and skill of Pato, we built up the bike in a couple of days, and took it for a few spins as I became acquainted with the ultimate connection one has with a fixed-gear bicycle.
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| Testing my new bike, Julius. |
June 11: Trail Running Putaendo (not far from Santiago)
My first real trail race experience, I have been inspired from seeing my cousin Julia's photos of the races she does in Panama and Brazil where she has been living recently. Trail runs seem to be a great way to discover somewhat hidden and/or private trails, the natural beauty we might not know otherwise.
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My Team RPM (ex-)teammates followed up the race
with an extensive Chilean barbecue. |
June 15 - July 16: The great European "work tour", photos HERE
ALMA Proposal Review Meeting in Vienna, Austria
Some details about the process are here.
Early Phase of Star Formation Meeting in Ringberg Castle, Germany
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| Schloss (Castle) Ringberg, conference center for the Max Planck Society |
European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Athens, Greece
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| Beach (and swimming venue!) near the hotel, daytime ... |
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| ... and nighttime! |
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| So much cultural history to be seen. |
Visit to ESO headquarters in Garching, Germany
July 30 - August 11: Bike touring in Northern Chile
This trip, a trip of a lifetime, deserves its own post. But there are also no words that can explain the sensations and beauty of riding my bike from sea level, deep into the northern Atacama Desert, high up into the altiplano, and meeting the local people along the way. Then riding my bike back down! Check out more photos on my friend/travel-mate Eduardo's Facebook album, and some random photos I took along the way HERE.
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| We made it to the lake!! 4800 meters above sea level. |
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| A stop at the Pueblo de Mallku, with the friends we met along the way. |
August 14: Adventure Series Race, Lago Rapel (not far from Santiago)
The races in this series are done in pairs (duplas), and include various disciplines which are announced a few weeks before the race. For some time I wanted to try this out, but it took the extra support and instruction from my partner Nicole to get me signed up! This time the tasks were kayaking, trekking, and mountain biking, each including orienteering. In other words, the organizers gave us a map, and we had to find our way to as many points as possible within the time limit of 7 hours.
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| Kayaking through the dense -- and picturesque -- morning fog. |
August 17 - 24: Turno #5 at ALMA
The "high"light of this turno was going up to see the antennas (at 5000 meters above sea level), after giving an interview to a Brazilian science magazine (Polyteck) reporter.
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| Jumping for joy at 5000 meters. |
And in other news, here's a fun article.
27 August: Retiro "espiritual" Recicleta
Mostly I just liked the name. It was really a planning meeting for upcoming projects.
September 5 - 12: Turno #6 at ALMA
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| My friend (non-astronomer) Felipe and his happy fiancé, after proposing in the ALMA control room. Video here! |
September 18: Chilean Independence Day
There seem to be two typical ways to celebrate. The first is a traditional Chilean barbecue at someone's house with family and friends. The second is called a "fonda", or a large public festival at a park, generally with lots of food, drinks, and dancing.
Pato and his family made sure I experienced both -- his family even held the barbecue (also with homemade empanadas) the day before the 18th, because I was scheduled to travel in the evening of the 18th. On September 18th, Pato and I fit in a lunchtime visit to the family-friendly fonda in Parque Inés de Suárez, a short bike ride from my apartment. And then I was on a plane to the USA...
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| Typical Chilean food -- awesome Chilean company. At the fonda "Fiesta Dieciochera" in Providencia. |
September 20 - 23: Half A Decade of ALMA Meeting in Indian Wells, California, USA
September 24 - 25: ALMA Postdoc Symposium in Indian Wells, California, USA
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| Group photo of a few hundred astronomers dedicated to ALMA-related research. |
September 26 - 29: Family visit in Austin, TX, USA (!!)
Sometime in October: Embalse (Dam/Reservoir) el Yeso
There are SO many beautiful places (to bike) not far from Santiago. This is one of them.
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| My turquoise shirt matched the water. |
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| We made it to the snow. Snowballlllll fight! |
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| Mapping out a route. |
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| The "challenge" for this event was the start time at 5:00, which meant trying (and failing) to find checkpoints in the dark. |
Day 1: Chuquicamata copper mine near Calama
Day 2: Arriving to San Pedro, exploring the village, and sunset at Valle de la Luna
Day 3: Reserva Nacional los Flamencos; Laguna Tebinquiche; towns Toconao and Socaire
Day 4: Biking in Valle de la Muerte and Valle de Catarpe
Day 5: Pato visits ALMA; he returned to Santiago, and I stayed for my shift.
Photos are all here
October 31 - November 6: Turno #7 at ALMA
Not much more to say, you can check out my Instagram account (@adeleplunk) for dozens of redundant photos of my favorite sunsets seen at ALMA (among other things).
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Here's to another year in Chile -- otro año en Chile -- and many new adventures to come (that maybe I will write about).
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