Ambling Sampling: Showers that Cleanse

Recently, I've had a couple of those cleansing showers. The ones that cause the water to turn brown from all the dust, dirt, or whatever. They require cleaning under the fingernails, and smell-checking your armpit until you've scrubbed it enough. You may have to shampoo twice to remove the salt crust from sweat or the ocean.

I love these showers.

Often, these showers follow camping trips, like the Baja Surf Trip two weekends back (previous post). That shower washed off three surf sessions, ~20 hours of driving, and two nights on the ground. I washed off sweated out alcohol and spilled hot sauce. There was a bunch of dogs at Cuatros Casas, all of whom were gross, and some of whom I petted. All of that came off in that shower, two Mondays ago.

Gorgeous and Glassy

Two Tuesdays ago, I went to sea with class to deploy my lab's Del Mar Mooring. Thankfully, the post-cruise shower only had to wash off sweat and grease; everything is clean when we put it in the water. Mooring recoveries, conversely, pick up all those same instruments after they've been fouled by all the biology in the ocean (e.g. algae, barnacles, mussels, etc.); I remain pungent from all the bio-scraping until I make it home, and take that shower.

Look at all that smelly biology on a previous mooring.
Photo Courtesy of James Broesch

My most recent cleansing shower was late Saturday night, following a day trip to an orphanage in Tijuana with Jeff. We went down with his family and Church Group to install a kitchen, fix door frames, lay gas line, and paint. We arrived earlier than the rest, allowing us to lay down a second coat on the soon-to-be installed kitchen cabinets, and even sneak away for our street tacos (news flash: Taqueria La Gloria makes their own corn tortillas!!). Upon returning, we were given the gas line job with two others. This was my first experience with anything plumbing related, but with Jeff's guidance we were able to finish.

Jeff surveying the line, Martin works at the orphanage

The shower that followed removed sweat from the Baja sun, as well as the grease, dust, and dirt the job required. It's weird to be able to wash off and return home so easily. While the line we set led to a water heater, the orphanage has no such luxury as the comfortable apartment I have made for myself.

On Sunday, I woke up late, biked some errands, and read at the beach.

Somethings Interesting:
--Sunday was also Election day for Mexico. Exit polls show a return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party after a 12 year hiatus.

--Following Zanzibar, it took me 2 full days to get home, stopping in Tanzania overnight, and again in London. The shower that followed washed off the recent sleeping on airport benches, the bender with Spike on the way home, and the pit toilet on mainland Tanzania.

--For info on the Del Mar Mooring, see my lab's website...
http://mooring.ucsd.edu/
Projects-->Del Mar