first day on the job!

i have arrived! i'm now in lake havasu city, arizona and am living in my "field house". you'll notice the quotations because i don't think that i can, by any right, call this a field house. it's more like a luxiery house. i have my own room, that came with sheets, a blanket, and pillows. and the house comes with a tv in almost every room, cable, internet, a big living room/dining room/kitchen that's all open, and a swimming pool. i'll bet that this house is pretty new and it's spotlessly clean and big. wow! field houses aren't supposed to be this nice! i feel very spoiled but i suppose i'll just revel in the niceness and cleanness and wonderfulness of it all. :)

today we had a training session where we sat in a classroom at the community college and learned all about the yellow-billed cuckoos. i learned a lot and am getting more and more excited to really start the surveys. and then tomorrow we're going to go out and do a practice survey so that we can understand how it's all going to work. i've learned that i really need to get to know the plants around here. everyone else nodds and knows exactly what murrelett (the project director) is talking about when she mentions a type of tree or bush. i have not a clue, but i'll learn pretty quick. especially since i'll have to be crawling under them and around them and looking in their branches. i'll learn quick enough. so on wednesday i get to go south to the mexican border to really start surveying. me and another girl technician (amanda) and two female supervisors (diane and shannon) will go down there and work our way up the colorado river doing surveys until we get back to lake havasu city. i think we'll be about a week before we get back home to our nice and cozy "field house". i'll let you know how it goes! :)