Getting Acquainted

I am finally feeling a bit better about being here. Yesterday I went to Ocean Park to meeting my supervisors and colleges. I took a bus to Ocean Park which was pretty easy. I think it is only going to take me 10-15min to get to work every day. However, the Park is huge with 2 different areas, so it will take me awhile to familiarize myself with the park. I watched a couple of research sessions with the dolphins so I could familiarize myself with what I would be doing for the next couple of months.
I will be working with two different dolphins on two different projects. The project with the first dolphin, Ginsan, is dealing with echolocation. First we present him with PVC pipe in a certain shape. He will 'see' this shape using either echolocation or visually, depending on the test we are running. Then we will present him with two objects made of PVC, one shaped the same as the first and other shaped differently. He must then identify which shape matches the first one, again either visually or with echolocation, depending on the test. The experiments may to visual to visual, visual to echolocation, echo to echo, or echo to visual. The other project is with Angel. She must correctly identify a certain same object every time using only echolocation because a kind of blinders are put over her eyes.

I am very excited about this research. The concepts are very interesting and the experiments are rewarding to part take in. I also feel very lucky to be paid for an internship with marine mammals. Also, as part of the internship with will get to learn how to train the dolphins. While the experiments are being conducted, the dolphins are signaled by the main trainers. But Mandy and I will get some time to learn how to train them in simple behaviors.

Entrance to Ocean Park

Today I went with Mandy and walked around Causeway Bay and Wan Chi. I had to open a Hong Kong Bank account for my pay from Ocean Park so that took most of the morning. Then we got some lunch at a small traditional Hong Kong shop. Mandy is being very helpful in explaining Hong Kong culture to me. It is also very helpful to have her around since she speaks Cantonese.  We got one of the most common dishes, soup with noodles. However most of these dishes have some kind of meat in it so Mandy ordered me a noodle soup and just said 'no meat'. I also learned my first Cantonese phrase 'mh goi', which means thank you, excuse me, and pardon me. It is pretty much a courtesy term. Mandy showed me the 4 main shopping malls in Causeway Bay, two of them are called Times Square and World Trade Center, which I found kind of funny.
Later on in the day I walked around a bit more with two of the other girls staying in my hostel. We went out to get some food and walked through a small side street market.
I think the time difference is slowly working for me. Although me hard-as-a-board mattress wasn't helping to I bought a thick foam mattress pad. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight!
I still miss home. I miss my family, friends, Cayenne, regular size rooms, real shower, soft mattress, real kitchen, wahser & dryer (still haven't figured out where to do laundry), and sunshine. I know it will just take time to adjust and get into a routine.
Tomorrow Mandy and I are going to do some site seeing!
Love, Kels