New adventures in New Mexico

It's probably time for an update... Since last time I wrote was in January. Does it take such a long time to get back to normal after a thesis defence? It almost seems so.. Although, there have been webalbum updates. Those do count. Here is a list of some adventures: 

• I can't believe I didn't write about the Florida trip! This was my present to myself for being done: watching a space shuttle launch (STS 133), with my brother Daniel
• Spring in reverse: First Holland, then Sweden
• Summer in Toronto and elsewhere (with a bunch of visitors) - London, Windsor, Bruce Peninsula, Quebec, Palmyra, Girl's camp, Socorro, New York

Whether I'm actually back to normal or not, is another question, but I do have a reason to write! After a spring of trying to rest a bit, I ended up getting a job in the early summer, with a  start date of September 1st. This was good, because when you have a deadline at which you know something good is going to end (spending summer in Toronto with David), you appreciate the time so much more. 

So, the job! It's a postdoc (which is a weird sensation - I'm actually at that point in life? finally?), and the project I'll be working on is pretty awesome! Observing halo radio emission in edge-on galaxies. It's called CHANG-ES (Continuum halos in nearby galaxies - an EVLA survey). My new supervisor is the PI (principal investigator) of the project, and many astronomers from all over the world are part of the CHANG-ES consortium. 

EVLA is the keyword here - it is the newly enhanced VLA observatory (I think E stands for expanded), which is located in New Mexico. 405 hours of observation time was granted to this project, and so, here I am as well. For a year. 

Yikes!

So I'm writing from Socorro, New Mexico, a little town everyone claims to be remote and isolated. Well. I lived 6 years in Winnipeg. Isolation is a matter of perspective. And the nearest big city from here, Albuquerque, is only 1 hr and a bit away. Soon Albuquerque will host the world's biggest hot-air balloon meeting (October 1-9). YEY! (And I just visited one in St Jean sur Richelieu, in Quebec (photos to come)). Anyways, I don't think the isolation will be that much of a problem. David will come often to visit, and I will go to Toronto every now and then as well. And there are mountains. And a HUGE observatory. And loads of astronomers. And, for this size of town, it seems like they are pretty good at coming up with diverse activities. The climate!!! Finally a warm place with short winters. And the FOOD! So far I've only had Sopaipillas with green chile (completely delicious), and some local yummy stuff at a fair with a rodeo, but it's certainly very promising so far. One of my goals of this year will  be to learn the New Mexican cuisine. 

Now for some photos of the surroundings (of course today, when I go out to take pictures, the weather is grey and dull): 

The guesthouse with the courtyard in the middle. A very cute fox often hides under the planks. My room is in the corner straight ahead. The kitchen is on the left (not visible). 

Here's the cute fox! I hope I can catch a less fuzzy version at some point...  

This is a corner of the NRAO building and the view. The building is in a Y-shape (like the EVLA array) 

This is my cubicle. It's on the edge of one of the tips of the Y-shape, so I'm sitting diagonally. And I love the view (usually the weather isn't grey, like today...) 

Hard to take good photos of the rodeo in the dusk light. 

And... I just had to add this one... Awesome photo taken by Sandra, after an awesome good bye lunch just before I left.