Monday, August 25, 2008

A letter to my husband (who's deathly afraid I won't go out and see Winnipeg...)

so, first you need to know that i'm in Winnipeg to attend a conference. which conference you ask? why, the 10th international Coregonid Conference of course! what's a "coregonid" you ask? well, i used to know the answer to that question. two days ago, i would've said that's just a fancy name for a whitefish. but now, as an anthropologist surrounded by a bunch of hard core fisheries biologists, i've learned all kinds of big new words that make 'coregonid' seem like child's play. like 'gonad somatic' something or other, or how about 'ogliotrophicate'?

talk about a fish out of water! hee! hee! actually, it's not that bad. the fishery dudes are pretty cool and they patiently explain things when i stare at them blankly. one even gave me the compliment tonight upon learning that i'm actually an anthropologist, not a biologist, that i sounded convincing and he never would've known. i'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or not...

anyway, on to the important stuff - to satisfy my husband that i'm not JUST attending scientific talks or holing away in my hotel room under the crushing weight of the work i brought with me, here are a few Winnipeg scenes:

the bears of Winnipeg (like the cows of Chicago or the salmon of Olympia)

my fisheries biologist friends, Randy and Ken, with the only bear holding a fish (though we don't think it is a whitefish - it looks more like a spawning salmon)

this dude has something to do with the colonial Canadian government - his base says "Riel" and he's very serious about that paper in his hand.

A view of the Assiniboine River, about a 10 minute walk from my hotel and loverley, as my grandmother used to say.

on the river walk along the Assiniboine, the fisheries biologists stopped to talk to the local fishermen...i was trying to analyze the inkwork on the one on the left, but then, i'm the anthropologist.

ever wonder what a group of fisheries biologists looks like on a roof-deck pool? here it is folks - free beer and all the walleye cheeks you could eat!

and finally (because i am actually spending a lot of time in the hotel room working), the view form my room. i kind of like it.

1 comment:

arcticraig said...

Yeah! I'm so proud. Sadly I couldn't see those free beers around the pool at that distance. Are any closeups available? And what kind of beer was it?