Vanessa's Journal

Jan. 2

Today I hiked down the mountain with the intention of trying to figure out our next step, given the advice of our colleagues in the Ecology Lab.  One of the best things that happened while I was down was that I stopped by the post office and found two letters and two packages waiting for me. There was one letter from my dad and one from my friend Jenny and the two packages were from my mom.  Getting mail is so exciting - it never gets old. The letters were holiday greeting cards and the packages were some magic hand warmers and a box of chocolates. I ate about a third of the box of chocolates in the first sitting, which is typical Vanessa. 

I got caught up with my e-mails and had a nice chat with some folks in the Ecology Lab for a little bit in the afternoon.  It was also nice to see people around town… they always like to keep informed about how things are going with me. Some of my local friends, particularly my band of women who feel obligated to serve as surrogate moms, were concerned that I looked too skinny and must be doing too much climbing in the mountains.  I told them not to worry and that I would eat more rice from here on out.