So, much to catch up on. I seriously feel like I don’t have that much free time. Between 12-14 hour field days, and working 5-6 hours on data days, plus just hanging out, making dinner, washing dishes and having some time to myself, there just doesn’t seem to be much time left over for writing e-mails and writing on my blog. God, its like I have a real life or something! I don’t know how you people do it! But I am trying to keep y’all updated. Thank you for your love and being interested in my life!
First, vacation. We (me, Adrienne, and Anne-Sophie) had three days off at the beginning of May. We rented a car and took day trips out of the alberque. We had our ‘personal taxi driver’ Ronnie drive us to the rental car place, where he has friends that got us a good deal. Thank you Ronnie. It was a good bonding opportunity with Ronnie, and a good chance to practice my Spanish. I called him on Skype the night before to ask him if he had time to drive us into town, and I was a little nervous, as he speaks no English. I’m nervous on the phone with people I know that speak English! But, all went very well; Ronnie is good people. I'm proud of myself for making it over that milestone.
The first day it was just me and Adrienne; Anne-Sophie is trying to get a job in Indonesia, and she had an interview that day, so she had to stay at home. We went to the beach, Playa Junquial. Beautiful. Its on a bay, so there were no waves, which I enjoyed actually. Much more mellow vibe. We drank some warm beer, hung out and talked and walked along the beach, watched the sunset. So romantic. I like Adrienne. She’s kind of a tomboy and is very funny, a kind of sense of humor you get from hanging around guys your whole life. We both have a mellow outlook, and get along well. I’m glad she’s here.
First, vacation. We (me, Adrienne, and Anne-Sophie) had three days off at the beginning of May. We rented a car and took day trips out of the alberque. We had our ‘personal taxi driver’ Ronnie drive us to the rental car place, where he has friends that got us a good deal. Thank you Ronnie. It was a good bonding opportunity with Ronnie, and a good chance to practice my Spanish. I called him on Skype the night before to ask him if he had time to drive us into town, and I was a little nervous, as he speaks no English. I’m nervous on the phone with people I know that speak English! But, all went very well; Ronnie is good people. I'm proud of myself for making it over that milestone.
The first day it was just me and Adrienne; Anne-Sophie is trying to get a job in Indonesia, and she had an interview that day, so she had to stay at home. We went to the beach, Playa Junquial. Beautiful. Its on a bay, so there were no waves, which I enjoyed actually. Much more mellow vibe. We drank some warm beer, hung out and talked and walked along the beach, watched the sunset. So romantic. I like Adrienne. She’s kind of a tomboy and is very funny, a kind of sense of humor you get from hanging around guys your whole life. We both have a mellow outlook, and get along well. I’m glad she’s here.
The second day we went to a waterfall. Anne-Sophie was able to come with us. It’s the widest waterfall I’ve been to. It seemed like we were the only tourists there; a lot of groups of young people or families with picnics. A bit of the local flavor. I stayed in the water till my hands were pruny, then took a nap in the shade. After siesta we hiked the short trail to the top of the waterfall and took lots of pictures. Glamour shots. We had a good time, some much-needed time away from the forest.
The third day we just went into town, returned the car and hung out in a café. A café with a couch. So nice to have a soft, comfortable place to sit that isn’t your bed. Its funny the things you miss once you have to live without them. I didn’t bring a book with me, so I took Love In The Time of Cholera off the bookshelf. I got through 50 pages of it, and I liked it. Might have to pick it back up sometime.
I’m officially trained. The last day of field work I collected real behavioral data. Which is actually kind of stressful. I got into a nice routine of just collecting fecal samples, and doing follows as I felt like it, for practice. But now I have to collect so many follows each day (really, as many as I can) in addition to getting fecal samples. I ate my lunch while I was walking after a monkey yesterday. Oh woe is me. ;)
A few field days ago, it rained. Of course I was not expecting this and wasn’t wearing nor had any of my rain gear. The first time it rained, it just actually nice. Side note: there are cockroaches everywhere. One just ran across my computer. They fly and they bite. They are my nightmare. The good thing is that being here will most likely cure my fear and severe aversion to cockroaches… Then it stopped raining. I was soaked, my fingers were pruny, but it was good. I felt like a hard core field biologist. Then I had an intergroup encounter. At least I think that’s what happened, as I never actually saw the other social group of monkeys. All I know is there was a lot of screaming, males were running one direction, females were running in another, and the juveniles were just running. I literally almost stepped on one that was running toward the female I was trying to follow. Then it started pa-ouring. I lost the monkeys, and the rain was so loud I couldn’t hear the lost calls. I hung out and wondered around for while, with no real hope of finding anyone. So I headed home. Which I was actually kind of happy about that. Having to put the monkeys to bed and walk home in the dark and the pouring rain with a less than reliable headlamp just didn’t sound like fun. It was raining almost all the way home, and there puddles of water in my shoes. It took them like two days to dry out. Just a little preview of the wet season!
There are fireflies everywhere. For the last couple weeks, I’ve seen one here and there, and was told they are fairly rare. Then one night they were everywhere. Stars on the ground is what Anne-Sophie calls them. I love that. They’re so magical! They were all along the trails on my way home the other night. Apparently its very rare for them to show up in such large numbers. I decided I want to live somewhere for a while, or at least spend a summer, where there are fireflies. I mentioned this at dinner and Valerie pointed out that I am living somewhere where there are fireflies. Which is true, but I have a feeling they’re not going to be around for very long.
I’m officially trained. The last day of field work I collected real behavioral data. Which is actually kind of stressful. I got into a nice routine of just collecting fecal samples, and doing follows as I felt like it, for practice. But now I have to collect so many follows each day (really, as many as I can) in addition to getting fecal samples. I ate my lunch while I was walking after a monkey yesterday. Oh woe is me. ;)
A few field days ago, it rained. Of course I was not expecting this and wasn’t wearing nor had any of my rain gear. The first time it rained, it just actually nice. Side note: there are cockroaches everywhere. One just ran across my computer. They fly and they bite. They are my nightmare. The good thing is that being here will most likely cure my fear and severe aversion to cockroaches… Then it stopped raining. I was soaked, my fingers were pruny, but it was good. I felt like a hard core field biologist. Then I had an intergroup encounter. At least I think that’s what happened, as I never actually saw the other social group of monkeys. All I know is there was a lot of screaming, males were running one direction, females were running in another, and the juveniles were just running. I literally almost stepped on one that was running toward the female I was trying to follow. Then it started pa-ouring. I lost the monkeys, and the rain was so loud I couldn’t hear the lost calls. I hung out and wondered around for while, with no real hope of finding anyone. So I headed home. Which I was actually kind of happy about that. Having to put the monkeys to bed and walk home in the dark and the pouring rain with a less than reliable headlamp just didn’t sound like fun. It was raining almost all the way home, and there puddles of water in my shoes. It took them like two days to dry out. Just a little preview of the wet season!
There are fireflies everywhere. For the last couple weeks, I’ve seen one here and there, and was told they are fairly rare. Then one night they were everywhere. Stars on the ground is what Anne-Sophie calls them. I love that. They’re so magical! They were all along the trails on my way home the other night. Apparently its very rare for them to show up in such large numbers. I decided I want to live somewhere for a while, or at least spend a summer, where there are fireflies. I mentioned this at dinner and Valerie pointed out that I am living somewhere where there are fireflies. Which is true, but I have a feeling they’re not going to be around for very long.
The two new assistants are here. Tim from Liverpool. He sounds exactly like the humpbacked guy in Rocky Horror Picture Show. And Lucy, who grew up in France and now lives in England. She has the most interesting accent I think I’ve ever heard. It’s completely equal parts French and English. They both seem very nice, and I have to admit its nice to have someone on the team who knows less than me. I’m no longer the wide-eyed newbie who doesn’t know if she’ll be able to make it. Now Lucy is the wide-eyed newbie who doesn't know if she'll make it! I am now the seasoned veteran. And Gavin left today. He’s from Scotland and was working on his PhD with flowers and ants. Hello, Hello, Goodbye, Goodbye. That’s all there is, and the leaves that are green turn to brown…
