I just got off the phone with mine!  Totally made my day!

She said that she had never been away alone for this long or been away this far and that she wouldn't know how to do it.  What I didn't tell her is that when I'm here and I don't know what to do, I try to think what Becky Cator would do.  She is such a positive person and she makes things happen. 

Thanks mom!

Well!  We have certainly been keeping busy!  We have placed all of Shalu's data loggers, found An. stephensi larvae and adults, met our catchment area residents, been given tea and kisses, and much more!  Here are some pics!

It was slow going as we are trying figure out how to do this, but we completed the first 6 census forms today and started our hunt for An. stephensi! Here is project scientist Mrs. Reeta completing the first census of the entire project! 

The data loggers are launched, collection supplies have been amassed, and the census forms are printed!  Tonight Dr. Read and Dr. Thomas will join us from PSU and in the morning we will start sampling in the Georgetown field site for populations of An. stephensi.  This is the mosquito species responsible for malaria transmission. We will also be placing the data loggers that Shalu will be using in her PhD research to look at temperatures that mosquitoes might experience in ...

The first day at NIMR Chennai was productive.  Dr. Alex the head of the project at this field site was very helpful and we are all set to start creating a large mosquito colony, placing data loggers to take temperatures within and around homes, and collect some mosquitoes. 

Dr. Alex and Shalu, a graduate student on our project wielding the m...

Well after 4 hour delay in Delhi Airport, I'm checked into the hotel in Chennai.  May all my delays be places with fast internet connections and milkshakes available for purchase.  The best part was that AirIndia then played the Sound of Music as the in flight movie. It is impossible to be cranky while watching that movie.

I am traveling to Chennai today.  Dr. Gayathri and I will go to the airport together since our flights are at the same time on different airlines.  Neither of us speak Hindi (in the South where Chennai is located they speak Tamil).  The cab ride in Delhi is going to be an adventure!

Here are some more pics from the very well done GIS workshop!

What did you think was going to happen when you took mosquito biologists to standing water?

The internet connection today is not so great, but I managed to load one! More to come!

Yesterday was interesting at the workshop.  We practiced using software called ArcView that allows you to create GIS maps.  Today, we are going to go to a bird sanctuary about 30 km outside of Delhi and take our very own GPS data that we will then try to intergrate into a GIS map.  What a nice idea from the instructors!

A photo of the living room of the project apartment....it speaks for itself.... f.y.i. it rotates!