Way off topic of chickens, but thought I'd share:I concur with you on the field trip to Belize. I've always wanted to do field research, but I have three kids and a husband, and if I could get used to being away from them for a long period of time pursuing my own interests, that probably wouldn't be a good thing. I came to that conclusion pretty early on in my married-with-children period of life. There was a relatively famous case of a lady who married her high school sweetheart, had a couple boys with him, then left on a research trip... and decided to divorce the guy who paid for it, leave her kids in the dust for years (more recently came back to the States, still divorced, lives on the same street and thinks she ought to be so proud of herself for dumping the people who propped her up). I don't want to ever be like that, so I'm not going to be taking any months-long field expeditions (plus, I have rheumatoid arthritis and insane allergies to everything, so field expeditions are likely more uncomfortable than I'd like them to be anyway). And all that goes to say that I am so envious of that opportunity.I'd love a shorter-term expedition though, and if the opportunity ever showed up, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
The trip to Belize was in our pre-children years. With double incomes & no kids, I was able to take several graduate level science classes & our district offered tuition reimbursement. The program wanted to find classroom teachers to help field researchers, a university offered 3 graduate credit hours, & I used airline miles to get there. The grant paid for some of the travel /lodging expenses, so it was less expensive for me to spend a month in Belize & Guatemala than a weekend in Wisconsin. When I got back, I wrote up my reports & lesson plans. Then the bump in my graduate education also bumped me up on the pay scale. Before making the decision, I calculated in my raise and realized that I'd actually make more money by going than staying home teaching summer school.
Spouses were permitted to go, but DH hates the heat / humidity..... not mention bugs, snakes, lizards, & just nature in general. Because we decided that I was going to go, that summer he took a computer consulting job in MI near the Canadian border. The company flew him home every weekend, but it was rough. We traveled a lot in those days & he even surprised me by booking a weekend trip to Toronto. The year before that, we traveled to Kenya & England, and the summer after Belize I was applying for Project Lava. (Basically teachers going to Hawaii to learn about volcanoes. DH was willing to go with me on that one!) As I was trying to figure out my funding, I began to feel sick & discovered I was pregnant. Hiking around volcanoes just didn't seem as important, so I never went to Hawaii.
Our new life is so different. DH has his own business & I'm technically a "stay at home mom." One salary, no vacations, no sick days, & 2 kids. We never bought that big house, but instead turned our 1st & only house into a comfortable home. I don't regret any of it. (well maybe the extra pounds I have since gained.) We took advantage of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities when we were young. Sure I'd love to see the temples in Tikal or the African sunset again, but the Malaria meds were horrific with side effects. Definitely not kid friendly. I sometimes think about getting back into the classroom full time, but I really enjoy teaching classes & science camps out of my home on my own terms. I would hate only seeing my children for about an hour a day M-F, then spend all weekend catching up chores.
A brief trip to Tikal in Guatemala. Me causing grief to the leaf cutter ants. Exhaustion
African trip. Way too many stories to tell.
