Rachel's Going to Puerto Rico!

It's been a few weeks since I posted. For those who are looking for hockey updates, I have only played one game in the past few weeks due to not feeling well in one way or another. In that game, I scored one goal as we outscored our opponents 8-7 in regulation, then lost in the ensuing shootout. How does that happen? When the referee calls a goal he didn't see because the opponents celebrated. We know he didn't see the goal for two reasons: (1) it didn't go in so there wasn't anything to see, and (2) when we argued the goal, he said the goalie had swiped her stick behind her as if to sweep the puck out of the net, so she must have done so. (She hadn't known that the puck was under her, so she swiped behind her just in case.) He also called an offside later in the game because the opponents yelled for it. It wasn't offside because they had brought the puck into the zone, not us. The referee also missed a bunch of penalties on both sides and called an icing on them after their guy had hustled down and played the puck just before it crossed the line. It was not a good night for the referee.

On to the subject that the title of this post is about; Rachel is, in fact, going to Puerto Rico! Here's how that came about: one of Rachel's professors announced that there would be no class on Thursday, October 23, because he was going to do some research at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory at Arecibo has a very sensitive radio telescope and this professor is a radio astronomer. (In case you're wondering why the professor would do this research during classes, astronomers must apply for telescope time and take what they can get. That's an oversimplification, but it's the general idea.) You may have seen the dish of this telescope if you've ever seen the movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster; she is working at Arecibo at the very beginning of the movie.

This picture of the dish at Arecibo is from Wikimedia Commons.

Anyway, one of the students in the class asked (tongue-in-cheek) if they (the class of 5 or 6) could go. The professor said he would ask if they could get the funding. The next time he saw them, he told them they had the funding and the class was going to Arecibo as a field trip! Apparently, he had asked the department chair and the response had been something like, "Sure, we've got the money for that." So now Rachel's preparing to leave in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday the 23rd and return in the evening on Monday the 27th. She's even talking about joining some of the other students on a snorkeling expedition, which is pretty impressive given her fear of water. (She might not do it in the end, but she's planning on trying.)

That's the only real news around here, but it's pretty big and exciting news.