I am telling you my life revolves around unknowing uncaring unfeeling shrimp.
This is ridiculousness. Let me just share my sleep schedule from the last couple of days. On the 18th I woke up at about 11:00am and waited around all day for my shrimp to be done. They finished at 11:00pm. I was in the lab until 3:30. Then I took a shower. By that time it was 4:15 in the morning. Since breakfast was at 6:00 and I didn’t want to go to bed for two hours I decided I would just stay up. On eof the benefits of pulling and all-nighter was getting to see the sun rise. It was absolutely gorgeous. As I walked to breakfast, I stopped along the big suspension bridge that crosses the river. The fog handing over the river and enveloping the trees was breathtaking. Ok. I know that sounds like a line out of a tourist book, but it really was incredible. As I was standing there, I saw some movement in a nearby tree. It was a group of Toucans stopping to rest. I could see them pretty well from where I was one the bridge. I would have liked to have had binoculars, but it was impressive nonetheless. There must have been about 4 or 5 of them just sitting there. The whole scene was pretty moving.
Anywho, after that I headed off to breakfast until 6:30 when I returned to the cabin and slept until 12:30. I got up for lunch and was up until about 11:00 pm. I then decided to get some shut eye before I had to go check my shrimp at 3:00am. Easier said than done. I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Then once I did, I only stayed asleep for about an hour before waking up with a terrible throat ache. Luckily I had some fanta by my bed. After drinking about ½ the bottle I was ready to go back to bed until 2am when my alarm woke me up. Now, the alarm was supposed to be set for a little before 3:00 but it was set for a little before 2. I have no idea how that happened. My iPod (aka my alarm clock) was still set for Cleveland time, so it is two hours ahead. I can usually handle the subtraction, but I guess I wasn’t “firing on all cylinders” when I set it at 11. Anyway, it was only after I had walked through the jungle that I realized that it was 2am and I still had an hour left before my shrimp were ready. I decided to get some more shut-eye, so I curled up on two roll-ey chairs and tried to go to sleep. Funny side story, on the way there, I scared something in the woods next to the path. When it scurried away I was so frightened by the noise I started sprinting to the building. The noise was too loud to be a snake, too fast to be a peckerie (the disgusting smelly pig-like creatures that wander everywhere here), too big to be an iguana. Whatever it was though, I was quite rattled up, which made falling back asleep much more difficult.
When I woke up at 3 I counted shrimp until about 4:30 when I put the new batch of extracts into the dryer. Because I had the hotplate, I thought that it should only take about an hour for the samples to dry. So I went back to sleep on the chairs until 5:30. Then when I got up to check on the samples they still weren’t completely dry. I went back to sleep for 20 minutes and when I woke up they were ready. I put the shrimp in the wells and went off to breakfast at about 6:30. Then I came back to the room and simply haven’t been able to fall asleep. Strange, to say the least. Hopefully I’ll be able to go to bed at a descent hour tonight so that I can wake up bright and early at 6:00 tomorrow and catch come breakfast before counting the shrimp.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Day Twently Eight - July 18th 2010
Last night I woke up at about 2am because I thought I felt something on my chest. I grabbed it and I found it was an ant that had gotten under my shirt and was biting me. I was very angry. I squished it and put the body on top of my computer so I could take a picture of it in the morning. Then I realized that the carcass would attract other bugs, so I chucked its body across the room. It took me 30 minutes to fall back asleep because I kept imagining that there were more bugs on me. It was quite creepy to think that there were bugs that got under the covers under my clothes and crawled all over me while I slept. The only reason that I found that the ant was on me was because it bit me. It would have stayed on me all night and I wouldn’t have noticed. This morning when I woke up I thought that maybe I just dreamed the whole thing. But then I found one of its legs on top of my computer where I originally put the body. 12 hours later I still have a mark where it bit me. Quite creepy indeed.
Day Twenty Seven - July 17th 2010
Nothing much happened… I got stood up by the guy who was supposed to into the field with me. Other than that, nothing much. Rice and beans for dinner and lunch. Yum Yum.
Day Twenty Six - July 16th 2010
I got up early (at around 6:00) and went to count my shrimp. I did that and then I'm not sure what happened. The days are just all starting to blur together and I can’t really differentiate from day to day. I'm getting about ready to go home. Its time.
Anyway on my way back from lunch a lady from reception pulled me aside and said that there had been some complaints from the people below and next to us. They said that the three of us in our room came in late at night and slammed doors. Apparently we also walk up the stairs loudly. I apologized if it was me and said I would relay the message to my roommates.
Ok. So the cabin has walls made of paper thin plaster and the top of each wall is just screens. Of course you can hear everything that happens. As far as walking up the stairs go, they are made of wood and are completely hollow. Of course you can head people walking up them! It’s not like we are intentionally clomping up them, but they do make some noise… They also said that we lock the bathroom door too loudly. The bolt a piece of metal that one must slide through a metal hole on the door frame. There is going to be some noise – its metal on metal… It gets sucks and you have to wiggle it to get out. Plus, the people next door (who complained) have a 1 year old child who will scream for a ½ an hour during the middle of the night. And they are yelling at us for closing the doors…? I mean I'm sorry that my tests end at 2 in the morning, but what do you want me to do? Sleep at the lab?
Anyway, I was trying to be quieter and I would hold all of the doors so that they didn’t slam, etc. So I got back late from the lab and I was walking up the steps as quietly as possible trying not to step on any of the beetles that were crawling all over them and a bat flew into my face. Yes a bat. In the stairwell. Into my face. So I screamed. It’s a natural reflex when something flies into your face. And then I fell down the stairs. Talk about being light-footed… it was really bad.
Anyway on my way back from lunch a lady from reception pulled me aside and said that there had been some complaints from the people below and next to us. They said that the three of us in our room came in late at night and slammed doors. Apparently we also walk up the stairs loudly. I apologized if it was me and said I would relay the message to my roommates.
Ok. So the cabin has walls made of paper thin plaster and the top of each wall is just screens. Of course you can hear everything that happens. As far as walking up the stairs go, they are made of wood and are completely hollow. Of course you can head people walking up them! It’s not like we are intentionally clomping up them, but they do make some noise… They also said that we lock the bathroom door too loudly. The bolt a piece of metal that one must slide through a metal hole on the door frame. There is going to be some noise – its metal on metal… It gets sucks and you have to wiggle it to get out. Plus, the people next door (who complained) have a 1 year old child who will scream for a ½ an hour during the middle of the night. And they are yelling at us for closing the doors…? I mean I'm sorry that my tests end at 2 in the morning, but what do you want me to do? Sleep at the lab?
Anyway, I was trying to be quieter and I would hold all of the doors so that they didn’t slam, etc. So I got back late from the lab and I was walking up the steps as quietly as possible trying not to step on any of the beetles that were crawling all over them and a bat flew into my face. Yes a bat. In the stairwell. Into my face. So I screamed. It’s a natural reflex when something flies into your face. And then I fell down the stairs. Talk about being light-footed… it was really bad.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Day Twenty Five - July 15th 2010
At 6:00 it was still raining, but I decided that I really needed to get the shrimp into the wells so I put on rainboots and splashed my way through puddles to get to the lab. Sure enough the samples were dry. In the shrimp went and shortly later, off I went to breakfast. After breakfast, I wasn’t quite tired enough to go back to sleep. So I took a shower and did some more paper work. (there is a awful lot of recording and rerecording that goes on. It’s quite silly if you ask me). Anyway, I’ve just been doing that (and, of course a bit of relaxing as well :) all day. It’s been quite nice. Although I'm sure that I will sleep well tonight, after sleeping for three 2 hour intervals. On the upside though, I'm feeling much better and my throat doesn’t hurt nearly as much. Exciting stuff.
Day Twenty Four - July 14th 2010
Day14
Hmmmm. What happened yesterday? Well, I woke up feeling quite sick. My throat hurt terribly, almost as if it were dry. Which is quite impossible, as the humidity here is, o well, I would say about 135%. Anyway I was miserable all day long and couldn’t really swallow. Luckily my tests were in the nighttime so I was able to stay in bed all day and do work from there. I actually got a lot done. I input my data into the program, recorded my results, made a powerpoint, went through e-mail, and napped quite frequently. Like I said, good day. (Other than the whole being-so-sick-I-didn’t-want-to-move bit).
My tests were done at 3:45 and 4:00. I counted my shrimp, got my totals, cleaned the wells, and got the new extract in by 6:30. I was quite impressed with myself. Anyway, 6 hours from 6 put my samples as being dry by 12:00 at night. It was quite unfortunate. So I had to wait up until then. When I trekked out the lab at 12 though the samples STILL weren’t dry. That made me very angry. So I decided to come back in two hours. So I waited up until 2:00am. And I went to check again. Still not dry. My alarm went off at 4:00am but I could hear it pouring rain outside my window and thought to myself “there is no way in hell I'm getting out of bed to get totally soaked”. So I stayed in bed until 6:00.
Hmmmm. What happened yesterday? Well, I woke up feeling quite sick. My throat hurt terribly, almost as if it were dry. Which is quite impossible, as the humidity here is, o well, I would say about 135%. Anyway I was miserable all day long and couldn’t really swallow. Luckily my tests were in the nighttime so I was able to stay in bed all day and do work from there. I actually got a lot done. I input my data into the program, recorded my results, made a powerpoint, went through e-mail, and napped quite frequently. Like I said, good day. (Other than the whole being-so-sick-I-didn’t-want-to-move bit).
My tests were done at 3:45 and 4:00. I counted my shrimp, got my totals, cleaned the wells, and got the new extract in by 6:30. I was quite impressed with myself. Anyway, 6 hours from 6 put my samples as being dry by 12:00 at night. It was quite unfortunate. So I had to wait up until then. When I trekked out the lab at 12 though the samples STILL weren’t dry. That made me very angry. So I decided to come back in two hours. So I waited up until 2:00am. And I went to check again. Still not dry. My alarm went off at 4:00am but I could hear it pouring rain outside my window and thought to myself “there is no way in hell I'm getting out of bed to get totally soaked”. So I stayed in bed until 6:00.
Day Twenty Three Part B
Day 13
After dinner, two other REU (research experience for under-grads) and I went to the swamp. We didn’t really plan it, but, well, it’s a long story.
So we were all walking back from dinner because we agreed that none of us liked walking back from dinner in the dark. When we got to the suspension bridge, I stopped for a moment and looked up at the stars. I grabbed their arms and told them to just look up. With all the light pollution by my house, I rarely see so many stars. It wasn’t even a super clear night, but to me it was incredible. So we spent about 20 minutes on the bridge laughing and looking for constellations. When none of us could find the big or little dipper we resorted to making up our own constellations. I saw a cat. I named it kitty. Dennis (one of the other people there) thought it should be called tiger while Jimena was on my side and liked kitty. Anyway after standing on the bridge for almost a half an hour, the topic of bioluminescent bacteria came up. (yes, I know. well what else are three self-classified nerds going to talk about?) Anywho, there had been some students claiming they had seen some in the woods nearby. (The bioluminescence can only be seen in the complete dark, with all flashlights turned off. How they “stumbled” upon some I'm not so sure of… I know the last thing that I would want is my flashlight turned off where bursting into the cafeteria saying you found a venomous snake doesn’t turn heads.) We decided that we wanted to go to the swamp and look for some. There is a marshey-esque body of water close to the river station. I agreed to come on the condition that they would walk me back to the lab afterwards. (There was no way I was doing that river station walk by myself again if I could avoid it.) So off we headed into the “bosque” to the “cantaranas”. We didn’t get very far. They suggested that I put on some closed toed shoes (I was wearing my flip-flops and that is a “no-no” when traversing the “bosque”. So I stopped in the cabin and changed into my Toms (Toms, for those of you who don’t know, are canvas shoes that are made by a company who donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair they sell. One for one.) Anywho, they aren’t really mud-wear. Then we stopped at the Lab so the others could get their boots. I decided that I would run back to the cabin because, although my Toms have been “well loved” I didn’t want them covered in mud. Anyway I ran really fast because I thought that I was holding them up, but when I got back to the lab Jimena still wasn’t’ ready. It was nice not to be the last one back. Jimena is from here in Costa Rica and all of the Ticos (the Costa Ricans) are on “Tico-Time”. It makes me look like an early bird. I love it.
Anyway then we really headed off to the “cantaranas”. The word cantaranas in Spanish means swamp, but its origins are actually quite cute. It took me a while to make the connection, but now that I have I know that I won’t forget this word. Canta comes from the verb cantar which means to sing. Ranas is the Spanish word for frogs. Put those two together and you get the place where frogs sing. I thought it was quite lovely really. Anyway, neither my nor Jimena’s flashlight was really strong compared to the one that Dennis had, so we made him shine his beam was in front of us and then we got the stuff close by our feet. Originally it was Jimena then Dennis then me. But I kept getting freaked out by being at the back and so I made Dennis switch spots with me. After about 10 or 15 minutes of walking we arrived at the boardwalk that goes through the swamp. But it was filled with tourists. Which, inevitably meant that all of the cool frogs were long-gone. So we passed them up and kept walking. We stopped a couple of times looking for the bioluminescent bacteria but they were nowhere to be found. Right before we turned around to head home we turned off our flashlights one more time (by this time we already had the rule in place that once the flashlights were turned off no one was allowed to move lest I get confused and think them a snake). So we were all standing really still and suddenly Jimena screams LOOK LOOK LOOK scaring the rest of us quite badly. Anyway she had found some. We isolated where it was coming from and picked up a stick that was covered in it. It was SO cool. I had done transformations with it before in bio class, so I knew it existed, but to see it out in the forest on a decomposing log was just too cool. I wonder how the indigenous people explained that! Imagine seeing something glowing in the dark! How amazing.
Anyway on our way back we stopped at the cantaranas again. Unfortunately the tourists were still there but we made our way to an empty part of the bridge and looked for frogs. Now, saying we “looked” for frogs is completely misleading. There were so many there was really no looking involved. They were everywhere! We saw some really cool frogs though. The tourists were actually helpful. Jimena can speak French as well as Spanish and English and so she cozied up to the French tour guide and got him to show us two snakes. These were just babies and not poisonous, but it was still really neat. Then on our way out we saw an alligator. Well, no, it was technically a caiman. Dennis who lived in Florida was very quick to correct me of this grave mistake. It was not an alligator. It was a caiman. In fact I was informed that caiman are more closely related to crocodiles if you’re going to get picky. Apparently we were going to get picky. It was probably only about 5 feet long, but it was still quite cool. Then we walked back to the lab and I headed off to my cabina. It was quite a fun night.
After dinner, two other REU (research experience for under-grads) and I went to the swamp. We didn’t really plan it, but, well, it’s a long story.
So we were all walking back from dinner because we agreed that none of us liked walking back from dinner in the dark. When we got to the suspension bridge, I stopped for a moment and looked up at the stars. I grabbed their arms and told them to just look up. With all the light pollution by my house, I rarely see so many stars. It wasn’t even a super clear night, but to me it was incredible. So we spent about 20 minutes on the bridge laughing and looking for constellations. When none of us could find the big or little dipper we resorted to making up our own constellations. I saw a cat. I named it kitty. Dennis (one of the other people there) thought it should be called tiger while Jimena was on my side and liked kitty. Anyway after standing on the bridge for almost a half an hour, the topic of bioluminescent bacteria came up. (yes, I know. well what else are three self-classified nerds going to talk about?) Anywho, there had been some students claiming they had seen some in the woods nearby. (The bioluminescence can only be seen in the complete dark, with all flashlights turned off. How they “stumbled” upon some I'm not so sure of… I know the last thing that I would want is my flashlight turned off where bursting into the cafeteria saying you found a venomous snake doesn’t turn heads.) We decided that we wanted to go to the swamp and look for some. There is a marshey-esque body of water close to the river station. I agreed to come on the condition that they would walk me back to the lab afterwards. (There was no way I was doing that river station walk by myself again if I could avoid it.) So off we headed into the “bosque” to the “cantaranas”. We didn’t get very far. They suggested that I put on some closed toed shoes (I was wearing my flip-flops and that is a “no-no” when traversing the “bosque”. So I stopped in the cabin and changed into my Toms (Toms, for those of you who don’t know, are canvas shoes that are made by a company who donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair they sell. One for one.) Anywho, they aren’t really mud-wear. Then we stopped at the Lab so the others could get their boots. I decided that I would run back to the cabin because, although my Toms have been “well loved” I didn’t want them covered in mud. Anyway I ran really fast because I thought that I was holding them up, but when I got back to the lab Jimena still wasn’t’ ready. It was nice not to be the last one back. Jimena is from here in Costa Rica and all of the Ticos (the Costa Ricans) are on “Tico-Time”. It makes me look like an early bird. I love it.
Anyway then we really headed off to the “cantaranas”. The word cantaranas in Spanish means swamp, but its origins are actually quite cute. It took me a while to make the connection, but now that I have I know that I won’t forget this word. Canta comes from the verb cantar which means to sing. Ranas is the Spanish word for frogs. Put those two together and you get the place where frogs sing. I thought it was quite lovely really. Anyway, neither my nor Jimena’s flashlight was really strong compared to the one that Dennis had, so we made him shine his beam was in front of us and then we got the stuff close by our feet. Originally it was Jimena then Dennis then me. But I kept getting freaked out by being at the back and so I made Dennis switch spots with me. After about 10 or 15 minutes of walking we arrived at the boardwalk that goes through the swamp. But it was filled with tourists. Which, inevitably meant that all of the cool frogs were long-gone. So we passed them up and kept walking. We stopped a couple of times looking for the bioluminescent bacteria but they were nowhere to be found. Right before we turned around to head home we turned off our flashlights one more time (by this time we already had the rule in place that once the flashlights were turned off no one was allowed to move lest I get confused and think them a snake). So we were all standing really still and suddenly Jimena screams LOOK LOOK LOOK scaring the rest of us quite badly. Anyway she had found some. We isolated where it was coming from and picked up a stick that was covered in it. It was SO cool. I had done transformations with it before in bio class, so I knew it existed, but to see it out in the forest on a decomposing log was just too cool. I wonder how the indigenous people explained that! Imagine seeing something glowing in the dark! How amazing.
Anyway on our way back we stopped at the cantaranas again. Unfortunately the tourists were still there but we made our way to an empty part of the bridge and looked for frogs. Now, saying we “looked” for frogs is completely misleading. There were so many there was really no looking involved. They were everywhere! We saw some really cool frogs though. The tourists were actually helpful. Jimena can speak French as well as Spanish and English and so she cozied up to the French tour guide and got him to show us two snakes. These were just babies and not poisonous, but it was still really neat. Then on our way out we saw an alligator. Well, no, it was technically a caiman. Dennis who lived in Florida was very quick to correct me of this grave mistake. It was not an alligator. It was a caiman. In fact I was informed that caiman are more closely related to crocodiles if you’re going to get picky. Apparently we were going to get picky. It was probably only about 5 feet long, but it was still quite cool. Then we walked back to the lab and I headed off to my cabina. It was quite a fun night.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Day Twenty Three - June 13th 2010
So last night someone stole my hotplate! It was QUITE frustrating. So my samples were taking forever to dry. I thought they should evaporate in 5 hours right? so I left the lab at 1am and came back at 6 to check up on them. They were only like ½ way dry. I was pissed. So, then I ate breakfast and went back to bed. I returned at about 11. (I was thinking that I slept for waaay too long and that my samples were for sure dry and I was wasting time and I was off schedule by like 5 hours (they were supposed to start at 6am). So I get to the lab and some @*$%&#@$*(%*$& had opened up the hood. What I had been doing to create a fan was to put the lid like 7/8th of the way down and so because the hood sucks up air there was this 5 inch wind tunnel where I would put my samples. But when those inconsiderate unknowing jerks opened up the hood there was no wind tunnel and hence not much evaporation going on. So I’d lost another 5 hours. I put the hood back down and found the hotplate (it now has a nasty little note threatening anyone who moves it with a painful death – ok no not really. The note just says that the hotplate is “crucial” to my experiment and to leave a note if you borrow it, but still). It’s 1:15 here and the freaking plates are STILL not dry. So I’ve lost about 7 hours so far from my original schedule. Grrrr….
So after I did that I went to lunch and had a lovely conversation with some people about diving and cliff jumping. Then I was talking to a girl about her experiment. She’s working with these flowers that give off heat to attract beetles. Its pretty cool. Then, right as we were about to leave it started raining. Like really really hard. It was pretty much the epitome of a TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR. This is why its called the rainforest.... I was completely soaked. luckily I was doing laundry so I snagged some almost dry clothes from the dryer. Now instead of being dripping wet (literally), I'm just slightly damp. Win.
So after I did that I went to lunch and had a lovely conversation with some people about diving and cliff jumping. Then I was talking to a girl about her experiment. She’s working with these flowers that give off heat to attract beetles. Its pretty cool. Then, right as we were about to leave it started raining. Like really really hard. It was pretty much the epitome of a TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR. This is why its called the rainforest.... I was completely soaked. luckily I was doing laundry so I snagged some almost dry clothes from the dryer. Now instead of being dripping wet (literally), I'm just slightly damp. Win.
Day Nineteen - Day Twenty-two July 9th - 12th 2010
Full sentences aren’t going to happen. Sorry. It’s one in the morning and I'm waaay too tired. So here are some notes about the past couple of days.
Day 19
Yeah... I have NO idea what happened on this day.
O, right. soccer. a bunch of people from la selva, mostly ticos (ticos = costa ricans) went and rented out the turf field in town. Ok so when they said turf field i was like what? those are crazy expensive! how does a little town like puerto viejo had the money for a turf field? well its like a bowling alley or batting cage. The company puts int he money upfront for a small (when i say small i mean very small like 25 yards by 10 yards) turf field and then groups get together and rent it out. Like bowling alleys there are teams of middle aged men who are looking for a way to bond with coworkers (la selva has their own team AND their own jerseys). anyway because there were so many researchers that came along we just split into two teams and played each other. it was quite chill and you could just jump in and sub for anybody when you wanted to. towards the end it got a little more serious when some of the really good people showed up, but still, everything operates under a very different feel here. Everything is all good with no worries. its very nice.
Day 20
Got up 6 hours late. No big deal.
I was going to start my experiments early in the morning, but the volume on my iPod was turned all the way down so I wouldn’t wake up my roommates when I set the alarm. Unfortunately it also failed to wake me up. Oh well. Nothing died, I just lost 6 hours. What are you going to do?
During lunch there was the game between germany and Uruguay. I left halfway through because I knew germany would win. Uruguay put up a good fight though. I hate the germans.
Then on the way to dinner we saw a bunch of people all huddled around a tree looking at something. We figured we’d be interested in whatever they were interested in and so we wandered over to take a look. There was a huge snake in the tree! It was a bird-eating snake apparently. It had a yellow belly and a grey back and was quite cool.
Dinner was terrible. Well, that isn’t fair to say. It wasn’t any different from any other day, but that made it awful. Every day rice and beans and more rice and more beans and then some rice and maybe some starch of some other kind (potatoes or bread) with beans and then some more rice. ARG! I was so sick ok
So I realized that I really haven’t talked much about the pigs. They are everywhere! Its ridiculous. There are at least 30 of them that just roam around eating everything. They are disgusting. I don’t like them. Sometimes when its dark, they wander across the path and you almost trip over them. Not good
Day 21
Realized I got bitten a ridiculous amount yesterday while looking at the snake.
About 20 bites on one leg
Not as bad as the girl w/ 60 on one forearm. She climbs trees.
World cup!!!! SPAIN WON!!!!!! That was good. Although overtime pissed me off because I needed to get back to the lab, and I had to wait and watch the game for another 30 min. ok I didn’t have to but I wanted to.
Then it was raining. A lot. Really hard. Like a lot a lot. Like torrential downpour just got redefined.
Girl w/ ipod got stuck in storm and so as she ran she took off her shirt and wrapped the iPod in that. Then she picked up some banana leaves and wrapped it in those too. She was able to save it. But a guy w/ science equipment wasn’t as lucky. (well he wasn’t as resourceful either). His mp3 player got soaked.
Walked to dinner with a botanist who lives below me. We had a really interested discussion about the merit of ethnobotanical research. Quite cool.
Dinner was delicious! I wrote this down right after I got back from dinner (I usually take notes and then elaborate later, but now I don’t remember what it was. Apparently it was good.)
Day 22
Boring day. The days are starting to run together. My alarm was set for 7:00 but then I was like no way jose and rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up about 11:00 and then ate lunch and went to the lab. The day was spent in the lab doing college stuff and other prep work and such for the experiments.
O, then there was a HUGE spider in the bathroom at about 12:00am. That was scary.
Nothing terribly exciting.
Day 19
Yeah... I have NO idea what happened on this day.
O, right. soccer. a bunch of people from la selva, mostly ticos (ticos = costa ricans) went and rented out the turf field in town. Ok so when they said turf field i was like what? those are crazy expensive! how does a little town like puerto viejo had the money for a turf field? well its like a bowling alley or batting cage. The company puts int he money upfront for a small (when i say small i mean very small like 25 yards by 10 yards) turf field and then groups get together and rent it out. Like bowling alleys there are teams of middle aged men who are looking for a way to bond with coworkers (la selva has their own team AND their own jerseys). anyway because there were so many researchers that came along we just split into two teams and played each other. it was quite chill and you could just jump in and sub for anybody when you wanted to. towards the end it got a little more serious when some of the really good people showed up, but still, everything operates under a very different feel here. Everything is all good with no worries. its very nice.
Day 20
Got up 6 hours late. No big deal.
I was going to start my experiments early in the morning, but the volume on my iPod was turned all the way down so I wouldn’t wake up my roommates when I set the alarm. Unfortunately it also failed to wake me up. Oh well. Nothing died, I just lost 6 hours. What are you going to do?
During lunch there was the game between germany and Uruguay. I left halfway through because I knew germany would win. Uruguay put up a good fight though. I hate the germans.
Then on the way to dinner we saw a bunch of people all huddled around a tree looking at something. We figured we’d be interested in whatever they were interested in and so we wandered over to take a look. There was a huge snake in the tree! It was a bird-eating snake apparently. It had a yellow belly and a grey back and was quite cool.
Dinner was terrible. Well, that isn’t fair to say. It wasn’t any different from any other day, but that made it awful. Every day rice and beans and more rice and more beans and then some rice and maybe some starch of some other kind (potatoes or bread) with beans and then some more rice. ARG! I was so sick ok
So I realized that I really haven’t talked much about the pigs. They are everywhere! Its ridiculous. There are at least 30 of them that just roam around eating everything. They are disgusting. I don’t like them. Sometimes when its dark, they wander across the path and you almost trip over them. Not good
Day 21
Realized I got bitten a ridiculous amount yesterday while looking at the snake.
About 20 bites on one leg
Not as bad as the girl w/ 60 on one forearm. She climbs trees.
World cup!!!! SPAIN WON!!!!!! That was good. Although overtime pissed me off because I needed to get back to the lab, and I had to wait and watch the game for another 30 min. ok I didn’t have to but I wanted to.
Then it was raining. A lot. Really hard. Like a lot a lot. Like torrential downpour just got redefined.
Girl w/ ipod got stuck in storm and so as she ran she took off her shirt and wrapped the iPod in that. Then she picked up some banana leaves and wrapped it in those too. She was able to save it. But a guy w/ science equipment wasn’t as lucky. (well he wasn’t as resourceful either). His mp3 player got soaked.
Walked to dinner with a botanist who lives below me. We had a really interested discussion about the merit of ethnobotanical research. Quite cool.
Dinner was delicious! I wrote this down right after I got back from dinner (I usually take notes and then elaborate later, but now I don’t remember what it was. Apparently it was good.)
Day 22
Boring day. The days are starting to run together. My alarm was set for 7:00 but then I was like no way jose and rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up about 11:00 and then ate lunch and went to the lab. The day was spent in the lab doing college stuff and other prep work and such for the experiments.
O, then there was a HUGE spider in the bathroom at about 12:00am. That was scary.
Nothing terribly exciting.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Day Eighteen - July 8th 2010
I was determined to get up early today no matter what time I went to bed. Then this morning came around and I was like 7:00? Nawwwww so I rolled over and went back to bed. I actually got up about 930 and got to the lab at 10. It turns out it was good that I didn’t get up early because the stuff in the wells is STILL not dry. After 10 hours in the hood I'm getting a bit concerned. This means that this whole process is going to take a LOT longer than I expected. I hope I'm going to be able to finish them all in time!
Then after I got all the experiments done I input the data from the past experiments. So far, so good. I’m not totally sure yet, but it looks like the random plants definitely have a lower lc50 than the medicinal plants which is what its all about!
Then I goofed off the rest of the right and turned in early for once. It was a good day.
Then after I got all the experiments done I input the data from the past experiments. So far, so good. I’m not totally sure yet, but it looks like the random plants definitely have a lower lc50 than the medicinal plants which is what its all about!
Then I goofed off the rest of the right and turned in early for once. It was a good day.
Day Seventeen - July 7th 2010
I got my salt! I finally figured out that the shrimp need aquarium salt. The fish guy game me some, but it wasn’t going to be enough to sustain me for more than a week. I was going to have a guy from Rhode Island get it for me and then ship it here, but someone found it in San Jose! Win. So I have it now, and I know I won’t run out.
Fish guy also left. That was too bad because now I don’t have anyone to whom to ask my questions! (I'm trying really hard to not end sentences with prepositions, but that just sounds awkward. Help anyone?)
Then at lunch there was the Espana vs Germany game. WOW! How fantastic. I was rooting for Spain and they thankfully won. But, unfortunately I don’t think that both teams really played that well. Spain had like 17 attempts on goal and they just kept missing. It was terrible. And Germany wasn’t really playing that well either. It was kind of disappointing. But Spain FINALLY got a goal in the second half and won 1-0. Sunday is the final game Spain vs. Netherlands. I'm pretty excited. It should be really good.
I also thought I was going to get to sleep early. Yeah right. Basically I was being delusional, again. Getting to bed before 10? Not going to happen. So I finished counting shrimp at a little before 10 and was super duper excited because I just had to clean out the wells. But cleaning out the little wells was terrrrible. Because now I’m evaporating the ethanol and water from the wells, this crusty stuff gets caked onto the bottom of the wells. And it’s really difficult to get out. So I spent a good 3 hours cleaning wells. That was fun. I got to bed at about 1:00am.
Fish guy also left. That was too bad because now I don’t have anyone to whom to ask my questions! (I'm trying really hard to not end sentences with prepositions, but that just sounds awkward. Help anyone?)
Then at lunch there was the Espana vs Germany game. WOW! How fantastic. I was rooting for Spain and they thankfully won. But, unfortunately I don’t think that both teams really played that well. Spain had like 17 attempts on goal and they just kept missing. It was terrible. And Germany wasn’t really playing that well either. It was kind of disappointing. But Spain FINALLY got a goal in the second half and won 1-0. Sunday is the final game Spain vs. Netherlands. I'm pretty excited. It should be really good.
I also thought I was going to get to sleep early. Yeah right. Basically I was being delusional, again. Getting to bed before 10? Not going to happen. So I finished counting shrimp at a little before 10 and was super duper excited because I just had to clean out the wells. But cleaning out the little wells was terrrrible. Because now I’m evaporating the ethanol and water from the wells, this crusty stuff gets caked onto the bottom of the wells. And it’s really difficult to get out. So I spent a good 3 hours cleaning wells. That was fun. I got to bed at about 1:00am.
Day Sixteen - July 6th 2010
So, the days are starting to run together, so I don’t really remembered what happened…
Oh, today at lunch there was the game between the Netherlands and Uruguay. It was a really good game. First the Netherlands got a goal, then Uruguay matched them. Then Netherlands got two goals in a row so it was 1-3. Then in the last minute Uruguay got another goal and that brought it up to 3-2. But then that was it, and Netherlands won. I was rooting for the Netherlands (I'm not sure why) so I'm happy.
So I thought I was going to get to sleep early. I was quite excited about it. All I have to do I thought was to count two trays. That should only take about 2 hours. Right? wrong. The plant extract was so cloudy and dark and murky that I couldn’t see the shrimp in the wells. Not only was it dark, but there was stuff that dissolved in the ethanol that wouldn’t dissolve in the water that made little clumpy things that often pretended to be shrimp. So I had to take the contents of each well out, put it in a petri dish, check the well to make sure there were no shrimp there, check the pipette I used to make sure none were stuck there, then count the petri dish. Because the petri dish was so large and I didn’t have gridding or anything and I didn’t want to double count any shrimp, after counting them, I would take them out of the well. So first I looked for any dead ones. That was how I got my first number. Then I would count the live ones. This was actually easier because you could do it without the microscope (because they were swimming around they were easier to distinguish from the goop). Then I checked once more under the microscope to make sure that I didn’t miss anyone. Then I had to rinse everything out and start over. There were nine wells I had to do this for. I was not a happy camper. I didn’t get to bed until about 1230/1.
There was also this HUGE bug that came flying at me when I was at the microscope. It is the only bug that I’ve been truly frightened of. I actually screamed and half ran half tripped away. Luckily there was another girl in lab who calmed me down. It landed on the ceiling light and we weren’t tall enough to get it, so I had to live with it knowing that it could attack me at any moment. I did get a picture though and the next day we found its carcass in the microscope room. It has these ginormous pinchers that are really really large and one of the other researchers said that it does frequently bit people. So I wasn’t too far off with the running and the screaming.
Oh, today at lunch there was the game between the Netherlands and Uruguay. It was a really good game. First the Netherlands got a goal, then Uruguay matched them. Then Netherlands got two goals in a row so it was 1-3. Then in the last minute Uruguay got another goal and that brought it up to 3-2. But then that was it, and Netherlands won. I was rooting for the Netherlands (I'm not sure why) so I'm happy.
So I thought I was going to get to sleep early. I was quite excited about it. All I have to do I thought was to count two trays. That should only take about 2 hours. Right? wrong. The plant extract was so cloudy and dark and murky that I couldn’t see the shrimp in the wells. Not only was it dark, but there was stuff that dissolved in the ethanol that wouldn’t dissolve in the water that made little clumpy things that often pretended to be shrimp. So I had to take the contents of each well out, put it in a petri dish, check the well to make sure there were no shrimp there, check the pipette I used to make sure none were stuck there, then count the petri dish. Because the petri dish was so large and I didn’t have gridding or anything and I didn’t want to double count any shrimp, after counting them, I would take them out of the well. So first I looked for any dead ones. That was how I got my first number. Then I would count the live ones. This was actually easier because you could do it without the microscope (because they were swimming around they were easier to distinguish from the goop). Then I checked once more under the microscope to make sure that I didn’t miss anyone. Then I had to rinse everything out and start over. There were nine wells I had to do this for. I was not a happy camper. I didn’t get to bed until about 1230/1.
There was also this HUGE bug that came flying at me when I was at the microscope. It is the only bug that I’ve been truly frightened of. I actually screamed and half ran half tripped away. Luckily there was another girl in lab who calmed me down. It landed on the ceiling light and we weren’t tall enough to get it, so I had to live with it knowing that it could attack me at any moment. I did get a picture though and the next day we found its carcass in the microscope room. It has these ginormous pinchers that are really really large and one of the other researchers said that it does frequently bit people. So I wasn’t too far off with the running and the screaming.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Day Fifteen - July 5th 2010 Part B
I thought that this very exciting news deserved its own post.
Tonight, for the first time in recent history, La Selva did not serve any form of rice or beans (ok, we had green beans, but they don't count).
It quite exciting.
I'm off now to a lecture on plants. Should be interesting!
Tonight, for the first time in recent history, La Selva did not serve any form of rice or beans (ok, we had green beans, but they don't count).
It quite exciting.
I'm off now to a lecture on plants. Should be interesting!
Day Fifteen - July 5th 2010
Today I got up late after being in the lab until 11 last night. I did some organizational stuff in the lab, completed my progress report, and also set up some new experiments.
Then I went off to lunch. Today was rice and fish. What a wonderful, surprising change from the normal rice and beans. While at lunch I dropped my knife on the ground. Within 3 minutes there were hundreds and hundreds of ants swarming over the knife. It was ridiculous!
Then on the way back I stopped and talked to this guy who I making a movie for something or another. He had talked to the fish guy a while back and I vaguely remember him saying something about him working with high school students. Well word apparently got around that I was a high school student and now he wants to interview me or some such nonsense. So we’ll see how that goes, but I hopefully won’t have to deal with it for another week or so.
Things at the lab bench have been going well; I’ve finally started working on my actual plants. But my basic chemistry skills are seriously lacking. I need to go back to chemistry! No, seriously though, I am really starting to see how important basic chemistry is to any career in science. For example, unit conversions and dilution problem seem totally pointless but if you don’t know how to convert ppm to ppt you’re in trouble. “If you are given a 70% ethanol solution and you need to make a 50% solution with a final volume of 10ml, how many ml of ethanol should you use?” That actually happened to me. Swear to god. My life is one very large chemistry problem.
There has also been this huge miscommunication between my mentor in Indiana and me. It is really frustrating as we are both totally failing to articulate what we are saying. The result is a lot of chaos. So kids, pay attention in English too!
Hmmm let’s see what other subjects I can pull for. Mental math anyone? Super duper important. Want to know if your numbers seem reasonable? Well you’ll have to multiply 2 digit numbers in your head. Want to know how many more ml of ethanol you will need if each container has 7ml of ethanol and you need to make 60-46 more containers? Quickly now, someone is watching you waiting for the answer.
History meah... not so much here in the science world. But foreign language, oh my. Quite useful. You need to tell the taxi driver that your friends in the cab in front of you have the directions so you need to follow that car. Or you need to say... buy a candy bar (just the necessities). Knowing Spanish is oh so helpful.
Well teachers there was my pull for your subjects, hope you liked it. Seriously though, it is really cool to come here and see subjects that you may have thought have no relevancy become absolutely crucial in everyday life. Quite cool indeed.
Then I went off to lunch. Today was rice and fish. What a wonderful, surprising change from the normal rice and beans. While at lunch I dropped my knife on the ground. Within 3 minutes there were hundreds and hundreds of ants swarming over the knife. It was ridiculous!
Then on the way back I stopped and talked to this guy who I making a movie for something or another. He had talked to the fish guy a while back and I vaguely remember him saying something about him working with high school students. Well word apparently got around that I was a high school student and now he wants to interview me or some such nonsense. So we’ll see how that goes, but I hopefully won’t have to deal with it for another week or so.
Things at the lab bench have been going well; I’ve finally started working on my actual plants. But my basic chemistry skills are seriously lacking. I need to go back to chemistry! No, seriously though, I am really starting to see how important basic chemistry is to any career in science. For example, unit conversions and dilution problem seem totally pointless but if you don’t know how to convert ppm to ppt you’re in trouble. “If you are given a 70% ethanol solution and you need to make a 50% solution with a final volume of 10ml, how many ml of ethanol should you use?” That actually happened to me. Swear to god. My life is one very large chemistry problem.
There has also been this huge miscommunication between my mentor in Indiana and me. It is really frustrating as we are both totally failing to articulate what we are saying. The result is a lot of chaos. So kids, pay attention in English too!
Hmmm let’s see what other subjects I can pull for. Mental math anyone? Super duper important. Want to know if your numbers seem reasonable? Well you’ll have to multiply 2 digit numbers in your head. Want to know how many more ml of ethanol you will need if each container has 7ml of ethanol and you need to make 60-46 more containers? Quickly now, someone is watching you waiting for the answer.
History meah... not so much here in the science world. But foreign language, oh my. Quite useful. You need to tell the taxi driver that your friends in the cab in front of you have the directions so you need to follow that car. Or you need to say... buy a candy bar (just the necessities). Knowing Spanish is oh so helpful.
Well teachers there was my pull for your subjects, hope you liked it. Seriously though, it is really cool to come here and see subjects that you may have thought have no relevancy become absolutely crucial in everyday life. Quite cool indeed.
Day Fourteen - July 4th 2010
I got up early for the first time in a while and actually ate breakfast. I know, weird! Then it was off to the lab where I stayed until lunch. Then back to the lab for a while. Then at about 3:30 I finished up my work and went out to play Frisbee. Now, for those of you who don’t know, Frisbee and I don’t really get along that well with each other. But I was feeling particularly forgiving and so I gave it another chance to redeem itself. I must say it really stepped up to the challenge and I quite enjoyed myself. It was good to run around and get some exercise. Although I must say that it was ridiculously hot out and the humidity was suffocating. After about an hour I’d had enough and so I went back to the cabin, showered, and then went back to the lab for a little bit.
Dinner was nice. Beans and rice again. Although there was also some chicken to spice things up a little bit. Then it was off to the lab where I stayed until about 11:00 getting brine shrimp in wells and setting up trays.
So funny story that I forgot to post when it happened. I don’t remember now for sure when it was but I believe that it was the first night that I stayed until 2:00am. Anyway, I had just finished chopping up my plants and went out the refrigerator. I keep the leftovers and seal them up in a Ziploc bag which I then put in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. The fridge is outside in a little cage-like structure attached to the side of the building. I really hate going out there at night by myself, because even with a flashlights there are lots of dark corners where frogs can jump out at you when you’re least expecting it. But I braved the darkness and ran out to put the stuff in the fridge. My theory is that the less the amount of time spent outside in the dark the better. So, naturally, I was running. I know this increases my chances of stepping on some creature, but I get out of the dark faster. I run as fast as I can and get back to the door and throw it open. Scratch that. I tried to throw it open. But there was no throwing going on. The door was locked. “Oh no... this is bad… very very bad…” I thought to myself. I was completely stuck. There were no lights outside and I didn’t have my flashlight (the light from the lab illuminates the refrigerator room) and I didn’t have closed-toed shoes and I didn’t know that part of the building very well at all and so I didn’t know the paths and I knew that there was a guard who patrols the place 24/7 but I didn’t know where he was and it was 2 in the morning and I just wanted to get back to the river station and go to bed and I was a little bit frightened. The light from the lab illuminated about a 6 foot radius from the door, and then there was complete darkness. Utter, complete, and pure darkness. The problem with the darkness here is that it’s not just the boogie monsters that are out to get you. There are real, deadly, creatures that can kill you. I’ve been warned only about a bazillion times that I should never ever go anywhere without a flashlight. Ever. So I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to figure out what to do. Well, I could scream for the guard, but I don’t know where he was and I might just end up screaming forever and ever, I could brave the darkness and try to feel my way around the path, or well the truth was I was running out of options. Then I saw a little path that went around the back of the building. It seemed relatively illuminated and I hoped that it would lead me to another door that was unlocked. At least it would lead me to the main entrance to the lab which was better lit. So I took this tiny little path around the building. I just kind of booked it and hoped there were no snakes out to get me. Luckily the door on the other side of the building was unlocked and I was able to get back into the lab, get my stuff and go home. It was quite the adventure.
Dinner was nice. Beans and rice again. Although there was also some chicken to spice things up a little bit. Then it was off to the lab where I stayed until about 11:00 getting brine shrimp in wells and setting up trays.
So funny story that I forgot to post when it happened. I don’t remember now for sure when it was but I believe that it was the first night that I stayed until 2:00am. Anyway, I had just finished chopping up my plants and went out the refrigerator. I keep the leftovers and seal them up in a Ziploc bag which I then put in the refrigerator to keep them fresh. The fridge is outside in a little cage-like structure attached to the side of the building. I really hate going out there at night by myself, because even with a flashlights there are lots of dark corners where frogs can jump out at you when you’re least expecting it. But I braved the darkness and ran out to put the stuff in the fridge. My theory is that the less the amount of time spent outside in the dark the better. So, naturally, I was running. I know this increases my chances of stepping on some creature, but I get out of the dark faster. I run as fast as I can and get back to the door and throw it open. Scratch that. I tried to throw it open. But there was no throwing going on. The door was locked. “Oh no... this is bad… very very bad…” I thought to myself. I was completely stuck. There were no lights outside and I didn’t have my flashlight (the light from the lab illuminates the refrigerator room) and I didn’t have closed-toed shoes and I didn’t know that part of the building very well at all and so I didn’t know the paths and I knew that there was a guard who patrols the place 24/7 but I didn’t know where he was and it was 2 in the morning and I just wanted to get back to the river station and go to bed and I was a little bit frightened. The light from the lab illuminated about a 6 foot radius from the door, and then there was complete darkness. Utter, complete, and pure darkness. The problem with the darkness here is that it’s not just the boogie monsters that are out to get you. There are real, deadly, creatures that can kill you. I’ve been warned only about a bazillion times that I should never ever go anywhere without a flashlight. Ever. So I stood there for about 5 minutes trying to figure out what to do. Well, I could scream for the guard, but I don’t know where he was and I might just end up screaming forever and ever, I could brave the darkness and try to feel my way around the path, or well the truth was I was running out of options. Then I saw a little path that went around the back of the building. It seemed relatively illuminated and I hoped that it would lead me to another door that was unlocked. At least it would lead me to the main entrance to the lab which was better lit. So I took this tiny little path around the building. I just kind of booked it and hoped there were no snakes out to get me. Luckily the door on the other side of the building was unlocked and I was able to get back into the lab, get my stuff and go home. It was quite the adventure.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Day Thirteen- July 3rd 2010
Today I went to the lab in the morning for about an hour and did some secretarial work cleaning up my lab notebook and washing dishes, etc. Then, at about 11 I thought I’d check up on the Argentina vs. Germany game. To my surprise it was already over, and the Argentineans had LOST! :O They got completely creamed 4-0. It was terrible. Next, it was off to lunch (beans and rice… yum yum) where I watched a little bit of the Spain vs. Paraguay game. Great game, but I don’t think that the Spaniards were playing up to their full potential. The Paraguay players weren’t doing wonderfully, but their “clump” defense strategy worked well on the Spaniards usual passing scheme. I think that the pressure was starting to get to the Spaniards; each player thought that if they didn’t make the goal, no one else would. Consequently each player hung onto the ball for a little bit longer than they should have, and that gave the Paraguay players an opportunity to steal the ball. After lunch, I decided that I had too much work to do to be able to watch the rest of the game. So I unfortunately didn’t see the amazing goal, but I heard all about it from Univision.com where I reloaded the page every other minute to see how the game was going.
The brine shrimp had hatched when I got back from lunch so I started the long process of setting up the new experiments. These are just control experiments to test the solution that I am putting the plants in (to make sure that that isn’t what is killing them). Then I’m also doing a positive control test. Basically, I have to verify in every experiment that I don’t have super-shrimp on my hands. This is done by finding a chemical that will kill 50% of the shrimp slowly, as a toxic plant would. I am using K2Cr2O7 aka potassium dichromate an extremely poisonous chemical (muahahaha). Anyway I have to set up control-control experiments to test what the highest % of alcohol that the shrimp can live in is and what concentration of K2Cr2O7 I’ll need. So that took basically all afternoon.
Then at about 4:30 I got ready to go to a 4th/3rd of July party with all of the researchers. It was nice, but a tad awkward. C’est la vie.
The brine shrimp had hatched when I got back from lunch so I started the long process of setting up the new experiments. These are just control experiments to test the solution that I am putting the plants in (to make sure that that isn’t what is killing them). Then I’m also doing a positive control test. Basically, I have to verify in every experiment that I don’t have super-shrimp on my hands. This is done by finding a chemical that will kill 50% of the shrimp slowly, as a toxic plant would. I am using K2Cr2O7 aka potassium dichromate an extremely poisonous chemical (muahahaha). Anyway I have to set up control-control experiments to test what the highest % of alcohol that the shrimp can live in is and what concentration of K2Cr2O7 I’ll need. So that took basically all afternoon.
Then at about 4:30 I got ready to go to a 4th/3rd of July party with all of the researchers. It was nice, but a tad awkward. C’est la vie.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Pictures! 5
This is me in my field gear in front of a HUGE monkey ladder vine that we found in the woods.
Day Eleven - July 1st 2010
I got up at around 9:30 after going to bed a 10:00 and I STILL felt tired. I hope I'm not getting sick. Anywho, I met Jose at 10. We got all of our stuff together and went to Jaime’s house. Jaime is the brother of Joel (one of our guides the first time we came to Costa Rica as tourists) and cultivates medicinal plants. It was incredible. I was expecting a garden of sorts with rows and labels. Boy, was I wrong. The plants were just growing in the ground everywhere. To an untrained eye it would have looked like an overgrown pasture, but between Jaime and Joel they were able to identify almost every plant. It was incredible! Anywho we collected 14 plants. I think that might be our record. In total we have 46 out of the 60 that I need.
After walking around in the heat with pants and boots on we came back the lab and tried to straighten out the huge mess that I had made from the labels… I am labeling each of the plants with their number from my list and then with an “m” or an “r” depending on if they are medicinal or random. So that was all fine and dandy until I decided I would erase the plants from the list that I wasn’t going to be able to collect. Such a mistake. By doing this, I moved every plant up one number. Plus, some plants appeared on both lists, and oy vey what a disaster. But we figured it all and then went and ate lunch. (beans and rice again, surprise surprise).
Then I went to the cabin and worked on my lab notebook, took a nap, and updated my plant list until it was time for dinner. After dinner I worked until about 2am in the lab putting the plants that we collected that day in solution. It was quite a productive day.
O, and my brine shrimp finally survived!!!!!!!! I believe that it was the salt. They really need aquarium salt, not just plain NaCl. So I have some aquarium salt from the fish guy, and hopefully next time that they go into San Jose they can find me some…
After walking around in the heat with pants and boots on we came back the lab and tried to straighten out the huge mess that I had made from the labels… I am labeling each of the plants with their number from my list and then with an “m” or an “r” depending on if they are medicinal or random. So that was all fine and dandy until I decided I would erase the plants from the list that I wasn’t going to be able to collect. Such a mistake. By doing this, I moved every plant up one number. Plus, some plants appeared on both lists, and oy vey what a disaster. But we figured it all and then went and ate lunch. (beans and rice again, surprise surprise).
Then I went to the cabin and worked on my lab notebook, took a nap, and updated my plant list until it was time for dinner. After dinner I worked until about 2am in the lab putting the plants that we collected that day in solution. It was quite a productive day.
O, and my brine shrimp finally survived!!!!!!!! I believe that it was the salt. They really need aquarium salt, not just plain NaCl. So I have some aquarium salt from the fish guy, and hopefully next time that they go into San Jose they can find me some…
Day Ten - June 30th 2010
I got up at around 10 after being up until 2 the night before. I trudged into Jose’s office exhausted and he took one look at me and asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. I was like um… yeah! So we had coffee some strange bright yellow corn dough rings, and planed out the day.
We decided we were both exhausted and that we’d meet up after lunch to go out to the field. We walked all over the residential part of la selva and then went to the arboretum where we looked around some more. It wasn’t terribly successful, only 5 plants, but 5 is better than none!
After that I went back to the lab until dinner and checked up on my brine shrimp. About ½ of the experiments had produced viable eggs. I put the three experiments that had eggs into wells to see if they lasted for 24 hours. Then I started in on my extractions, and finished up at about 10:00.
We decided we were both exhausted and that we’d meet up after lunch to go out to the field. We walked all over the residential part of la selva and then went to the arboretum where we looked around some more. It wasn’t terribly successful, only 5 plants, but 5 is better than none!
After that I went back to the lab until dinner and checked up on my brine shrimp. About ½ of the experiments had produced viable eggs. I put the three experiments that had eggs into wells to see if they lasted for 24 hours. Then I started in on my extractions, and finished up at about 10:00.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day Nine - June 29th 2010 Part B
After dinner I went straight to the lab. I started working about 7:00. I thought, ok I only have 10 plants to put into solution, so this should take me 2 hours 3 tops. I’ll be out of here by, at the latest, 10:00. That’s not too bad. I got out of there at 2:00 AM. That is just not right.
At around 8:00, Dr. Coleman (the fish guy) came around and visited me. He just wanted to check in on the brine shrimp. I told him that they were still dying. We ended up talking about it for a while. “Why was I limited to only do one experiment at once?” he asked. “It was the aerator,” I replied, “I only have one.” “Oh” he goes, “I have a bazillion of them” (ok maybe he didn’t say bazillion, but he said whatever the old person version of that word is).
Anyway, I got new salt, new eggs, a salt and egg mixture, new water, new aerators, new container, and some more variables. He got me a bunch of stuff and left me about 30 minutes later with 5 or 6 new experiments to set up. Now, setting these up shouldn’t be too much work, right? Wrong. It took me a good three hours to set up the tubing and the covers and the salt and the eggs and the water and the containers and the lights and the plugs and arg. I started working again on the plants at about 11:30.
Then I worked from 11:30 to 2:00 on the plant solutions and trudged home exhausted.
At around 8:00, Dr. Coleman (the fish guy) came around and visited me. He just wanted to check in on the brine shrimp. I told him that they were still dying. We ended up talking about it for a while. “Why was I limited to only do one experiment at once?” he asked. “It was the aerator,” I replied, “I only have one.” “Oh” he goes, “I have a bazillion of them” (ok maybe he didn’t say bazillion, but he said whatever the old person version of that word is).
Anyway, I got new salt, new eggs, a salt and egg mixture, new water, new aerators, new container, and some more variables. He got me a bunch of stuff and left me about 30 minutes later with 5 or 6 new experiments to set up. Now, setting these up shouldn’t be too much work, right? Wrong. It took me a good three hours to set up the tubing and the covers and the salt and the eggs and the water and the containers and the lights and the plugs and arg. I started working again on the plants at about 11:30.
Then I worked from 11:30 to 2:00 on the plant solutions and trudged home exhausted.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Day Nine - June 29th 2010
Today was much more productive than the last three days have been. In the morning I went out into the field with Jose the botanist and we talked and walked and collected plants. He’s quite a nice guy and we had fun. I am really getting over my fear of bugs – it is good. Now, I can walk into a spider’s web and meah, no big deal. The first time we went to collect plants together – oy vey. I was a wreck. But I'm getting better. I believe that we collected about 10 different samples today which is great!
Then, at lunch, the professor from Sacramento State (Ron Coleman) who works with fishes and has been a great help and just a nice guy, asked if I wanted to come to the river with them and snorkel around. I was like um… sure! It’s not like I have anything else to do!
So I went with them to a river about 30 min away. It was quite fun. There were sooo many little fishes that were adorable and I absolutely loved it. It was really quite cool.
I'm off to dinner now, and then after that I plan on being in the laboratory for awhile putting the plants we collected today into solution.
Then, at lunch, the professor from Sacramento State (Ron Coleman) who works with fishes and has been a great help and just a nice guy, asked if I wanted to come to the river with them and snorkel around. I was like um… sure! It’s not like I have anything else to do!
So I went with them to a river about 30 min away. It was quite fun. There were sooo many little fishes that were adorable and I absolutely loved it. It was really quite cool.
I'm off to dinner now, and then after that I plan on being in the laboratory for awhile putting the plants we collected today into solution.
Day Eight - June 28th 2010
Yesterday wasn't terribly productive but I got some stuff done.
It was terribly hard to motivate myself to get out of bed, but once I did that, the rest of the day was much easier. I don’t really remember how the day went… but I think it was good.
I decided that simply waiting for my brine shrimp to survive was really excruciating, and so I’ve started working on a secondary project. Right now the idea is that plants that have antibacterial properties are less likely to be eaten by insects than their counterparts in the same genus. There are some kinks to work out, but basically you use this program to calculate leaf area and you watch the plant for about a week and track the amount of damage that was done. Then you compare the two groups and voila! You have you answers… at least that is how its supposed to work. We’ll see if I actually do that project.
Then, in the nighttime I went over to another professor’s office and she taught me how to use the program I’ll probably have to use. It looks pretty simple, so I think I'm good. It was also good to get a second opinion about the project. After that, I went to the lab and counted some shrimp and then came back to the room and went to bed.
It was terribly hard to motivate myself to get out of bed, but once I did that, the rest of the day was much easier. I don’t really remember how the day went… but I think it was good.
I decided that simply waiting for my brine shrimp to survive was really excruciating, and so I’ve started working on a secondary project. Right now the idea is that plants that have antibacterial properties are less likely to be eaten by insects than their counterparts in the same genus. There are some kinks to work out, but basically you use this program to calculate leaf area and you watch the plant for about a week and track the amount of damage that was done. Then you compare the two groups and voila! You have you answers… at least that is how its supposed to work. We’ll see if I actually do that project.
Then, in the nighttime I went over to another professor’s office and she taught me how to use the program I’ll probably have to use. It looks pretty simple, so I think I'm good. It was also good to get a second opinion about the project. After that, I went to the lab and counted some shrimp and then came back to the room and went to bed.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day Seven - June 27th 2010
Today has been very relaxing.
I got up late, and went to lunch which was yummy. I stayed for a little bit of the soccer game between Argentina and Mexico, but in the first 30 min Argentina already lead 2-0, so i figured it was safe to leave.
Then i trekked over to the lab to check on my brine shrimp that i had put in the day before. i thought that it may have been that the plastic container that i was hatching them in was leeching out some harmful chemicals, so i switched them to a glass beaker. So far, so good. they all seemed to survive their first 24 hours - we'll see how the next 24 go. I saw no dead shrimp at the bottom of the beaker which is a very good sign.
Then, i came back to my cabin and have been here, doing some calculations, and tidying up my lab notebook so its understandable. Its been a good day.
I got up late, and went to lunch which was yummy. I stayed for a little bit of the soccer game between Argentina and Mexico, but in the first 30 min Argentina already lead 2-0, so i figured it was safe to leave.
Then i trekked over to the lab to check on my brine shrimp that i had put in the day before. i thought that it may have been that the plastic container that i was hatching them in was leeching out some harmful chemicals, so i switched them to a glass beaker. So far, so good. they all seemed to survive their first 24 hours - we'll see how the next 24 go. I saw no dead shrimp at the bottom of the beaker which is a very good sign.
Then, i came back to my cabin and have been here, doing some calculations, and tidying up my lab notebook so its understandable. Its been a good day.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day Six - June 26th 2010
Today I stayed in bed until 8:45. It was wonderful. Then I went to the lab, got my computer and then went straight back to bed where I watched a movie. It was so very nice.
Then I headed off to lunch. And came back to bed where I lounged around till dinner.
All in all, I’d say it’s been a pretty awesome day.
Then I headed off to lunch. And came back to bed where I lounged around till dinner.
All in all, I’d say it’s been a pretty awesome day.
Day Five - June 25th 2010
I don’t really remember what happened in the morning… nothing too exciting. I went to lab and worked. O but I did see our guide from when we were here the first time. That was cool. Other than that… I counted my brine shrimp.
Around lunch time I waited for the “y” girls to finish with their leaves and we all went to lunch. It was just the three of us at a table as the other Colgate table was all full. Oh my did we have fun. It started about as a calm discussion about how extraordinarily good the pineapple was, and then morphed into a complete giggle fit over everything that went awry. Where to start. Well, first the sugar wouldn’t come out of the container. The juice here has no sugar at all, and so one must add one’s own. I had just poured myself a glass of beautiful pink stuff over ice cubes, and it was just sitting there, waiting for me, and the sugar wouldn’t come out! It shock and I jiggled and I taped and banged and I tried and tried to get it to come out. (I later realized that it is so humid here that the sugar sticks together) Finally I got really angry and shook really hard and it went EVERYWHERE. There was sugar all over the table, all over my tray, everywhere. There was a couple sitting at the table behind us, and they just thought it was the funniest thing in the world. They pointed and laughed and oh my. It was so bad. There were other incidents involving plates and meat and pineapple, but I won’t bore you with the details. But, I had fun to say the least.
After lunch, I decided that, as I didn’t have anything to do in the lab, I would watch the world cup game for a little while. I ended up watching the whole thing with a bunch of the guys that work here. It was very nice. In the middle of the game, one of the people from the front desk came up to me and told me that there was space in one of the cabins! This is very exciting news. Before I was staying in the “estacion del rio” aka the river station. The river station was fine, quite nice, with a lovely view of the river, but it was a good 5 minute walk in the jungle. Now, I’ve videoed the walk, and maybe I’ll be able to post it, but let me try to explain the sheer terror that overcame me when I had to take the walk in the dark alone. I know I’ve talked about this earlier, but I just want to reiterate it. I only had to walk in the dark by myself three or four times, but it was not pleasant. Imagine me with a flashlight that just barely illuminates the next three feet, trying to look above me (as I have been warned of spiders that descend from the leaves overhead), below my feet as to not step on another frog (they hide under leaves and then jump out at the most inconvenient times), and to both sides (to scan for venomous snakes that like to hide at the entrance to the bridges). So getting a cabin is very, very, exciting news. The director of the station also invited me to coffee with the
It was also perfect timing because I didn’t have any work I could do in the lab. So I thought, I’ll stop by the lab, grab my keys and go change cabins. Of course, when I got back to the lab I had an email from my mentor giving me a bazillion tasks to do. So now, I was FLOODED with work. I had lab stuff to do, and I had to shower, and change cabins, and go have coffee and three. There was just lots of stuff.
But I made it work and all was well. The coffee by the way, was delicious. It was strong, but not bitter, and warm but not hot yum yum yum it was delicious. Plus it gave me the extra boost I would need that nigh to stay in the lab until 12…
Anyway after finishing coffee I changed cabins, showered and went to dinner. After dinner I went to the lab, where I stayed until 12. But, I got all of the plants into solution thank god.
Around lunch time I waited for the “y” girls to finish with their leaves and we all went to lunch. It was just the three of us at a table as the other Colgate table was all full. Oh my did we have fun. It started about as a calm discussion about how extraordinarily good the pineapple was, and then morphed into a complete giggle fit over everything that went awry. Where to start. Well, first the sugar wouldn’t come out of the container. The juice here has no sugar at all, and so one must add one’s own. I had just poured myself a glass of beautiful pink stuff over ice cubes, and it was just sitting there, waiting for me, and the sugar wouldn’t come out! It shock and I jiggled and I taped and banged and I tried and tried to get it to come out. (I later realized that it is so humid here that the sugar sticks together) Finally I got really angry and shook really hard and it went EVERYWHERE. There was sugar all over the table, all over my tray, everywhere. There was a couple sitting at the table behind us, and they just thought it was the funniest thing in the world. They pointed and laughed and oh my. It was so bad. There were other incidents involving plates and meat and pineapple, but I won’t bore you with the details. But, I had fun to say the least.
After lunch, I decided that, as I didn’t have anything to do in the lab, I would watch the world cup game for a little while. I ended up watching the whole thing with a bunch of the guys that work here. It was very nice. In the middle of the game, one of the people from the front desk came up to me and told me that there was space in one of the cabins! This is very exciting news. Before I was staying in the “estacion del rio” aka the river station. The river station was fine, quite nice, with a lovely view of the river, but it was a good 5 minute walk in the jungle. Now, I’ve videoed the walk, and maybe I’ll be able to post it, but let me try to explain the sheer terror that overcame me when I had to take the walk in the dark alone. I know I’ve talked about this earlier, but I just want to reiterate it. I only had to walk in the dark by myself three or four times, but it was not pleasant. Imagine me with a flashlight that just barely illuminates the next three feet, trying to look above me (as I have been warned of spiders that descend from the leaves overhead), below my feet as to not step on another frog (they hide under leaves and then jump out at the most inconvenient times), and to both sides (to scan for venomous snakes that like to hide at the entrance to the bridges). So getting a cabin is very, very, exciting news. The director of the station also invited me to coffee with the
It was also perfect timing because I didn’t have any work I could do in the lab. So I thought, I’ll stop by the lab, grab my keys and go change cabins. Of course, when I got back to the lab I had an email from my mentor giving me a bazillion tasks to do. So now, I was FLOODED with work. I had lab stuff to do, and I had to shower, and change cabins, and go have coffee and three. There was just lots of stuff.
But I made it work and all was well. The coffee by the way, was delicious. It was strong, but not bitter, and warm but not hot yum yum yum it was delicious. Plus it gave me the extra boost I would need that nigh to stay in the lab until 12…
Anyway after finishing coffee I changed cabins, showered and went to dinner. After dinner I went to the lab, where I stayed until 12. But, I got all of the plants into solution thank god.
Day Four - June 24th 2010 (Part B)
Sorry I haven't posted in a while - everything here has been really really crazy!
Day 4 Part b
After my awkward morning encounter I went back to the lab and worked there until lunch time. On the way back from lunch a snake with a frog in its mouth ran across my path. It was green and about 2 feet long. I thought it was pretty cool so I pointed it out to the guard. Then I told a person walking by who I thought might want to take a look. He basically wet himself with excitement and sprinted off to go get his camera. The guard and I looked at each other like there’s no way he’s going to get back in time with a camera; the snake will be long gone by then. But he was pretty quick about it and the snake was still there, hidden under a leaf. He got really close to and started snapping pictures like nobody’s business. I suggested that he might move the leaf to get a better picture. No, no he muttered. I don’t want to disturb it. “Ok” I said as I walked away (I had had enough of the snake). After 3 seconds or so he sputtered after me that “the snake is just so beautiful” and he “didn’t want to interrupt this sacred process [of eating the frog]”. “Ok” I repeated, “it was just a suggestion, it’s cool,” and kept walking. It was quite an odd encounter. Then I passed by the same spot about 15 min later, and he was still there snapping away… There was also a HUGE crowd of about 15 people staring at the snake. I don’t know, it was weird. I kind of felt like it was all a lot of adieu about nothing.
Then, after that interesting encounter I finally had a chance to pick out which plants I was going to use from the HUGE database of all of the plants here in la selva. Once that was done, I went to go visit Jose, an old man who is a botanist here. He said he would be happy to help me find the plants I was looking for. I arrived at this office armed with a list of about 80 different plants. He said that he had time right then and there to go looking for plants. I was shocked but also happy that we were going to get it done right then and there. So I went off to my house to go change. Once I got to my room, I went to go put on tennis shoes instead of the flip flops I had been wearing. As I put my foot into the second shoe I saw something black and large move in there. Now, people had warned me about checking shoes before putting them on, but I was in a hurry to get back to Jose so I wouldn’t keep him waiting. Once my heart rhythm had returned to its normal rate, I took the shoe outside and threw it a good 5 feet from my door. Gathering up all of my courage, I poked at the shoe a little bit with my finger. Nothing. I kicked it even further from the room. Nothing. So I oh so cautiously picked it up and held it upside down. Finally a frog came hopping out. Oh thank goodness I thought. Only another frog. Then I was about the put the shoe back down and a SECOND one hopped out. There were two frogs. IN MY SHOE. It was quite startling. Then I heard the door shut behind me. Now, the doors here automatically lock behind you. And, of course I didn’t think about getting my key as I rushed out of the room with an infested shoe. So I had to trek ALL the way back to the dining hall where reception is and ask them for another key. It was SUCH a problem. I got the key, and returned to the house. I put on the tennis shoes and some shorts and arrived back at Jose’s office ready to go. Then he asked if I had higher shoes. Oh… right. Boots. So I walked all the way back to the house changed into pants and boots and came back, ready this time for read. All in all, I walked to the dining hall (for lunch) to the lab, to Jose’s office, to my house, to the dining hall (to get the key) to my house, to the office, to the house, to the office, and then to the parking lot past the dining hall. Now, you guys don’t know those distances, but everyone of those is a good 5-10 min walk. I was exhausted even before I got into the field.
I got into his car, and we drove for about 5 minutes to a fire station. “What?” I asked. “Why are we at a fire station?” I thought that we were going to collect plant samples in the forest…?” He replied that la sleva used to own this land, and the start of the trail was here. Before we even got down the trail we found one or two specimens. It was incredible how he could just rattle off the scientific name of any plant there. We walked for about 2 hours. As we walked we talked about all sorts of stuff. It was really cool. He told his wonderful stories about plants and about la selva and about everything. It was getting late, so we turned around. I think we collected about 17 specimens though which was incredible! Then I went to his office to label and bag all of the plants I got. After that I went dinner. Someone at dinner told me I had to go hear this lady talk. I wasn’t planning on it, as I was completely exhausted, but I went anyway. She talked about climate change. The long and short of it is that we’re basically fucked because trees are only going to speed up global warming. Then, afterwards, the professor who convinced me to go the lecture helped me figure out what is going on with shrimp. He didn’t really know, but he said do more control tests. I realized that I had to count the plates of shrimp before I could go to bed. By this time it was already about 9:00 at night and my eyelids were drooping. But I absolutely had to count the shrimp, so I sucked it up and stared through a microscope for the next two hours. (for the record it is really straining to look thought a microscope. Not only do you have focus your eyes, but for me I was squinting and trying to figure out if a brine shrimp was twitching or not. It was really difficult). I left the lab at about 11:00 I think and headed home.
The walk from the lab to my house is only about 6 or 7 minutes but it is really really scary. It is dark and spooky and the trees seem to enclose you and you never know when something is going to jump out at you and it is SO dark and the leaves look like frogs and there are poisonous snakes that can kill you. Anywho it is quite scary but I made it home alive. I brushed my teeth and crashed at about 12 o’clock.
Day 4 Part b
After my awkward morning encounter I went back to the lab and worked there until lunch time. On the way back from lunch a snake with a frog in its mouth ran across my path. It was green and about 2 feet long. I thought it was pretty cool so I pointed it out to the guard. Then I told a person walking by who I thought might want to take a look. He basically wet himself with excitement and sprinted off to go get his camera. The guard and I looked at each other like there’s no way he’s going to get back in time with a camera; the snake will be long gone by then. But he was pretty quick about it and the snake was still there, hidden under a leaf. He got really close to and started snapping pictures like nobody’s business. I suggested that he might move the leaf to get a better picture. No, no he muttered. I don’t want to disturb it. “Ok” I said as I walked away (I had had enough of the snake). After 3 seconds or so he sputtered after me that “the snake is just so beautiful” and he “didn’t want to interrupt this sacred process [of eating the frog]”. “Ok” I repeated, “it was just a suggestion, it’s cool,” and kept walking. It was quite an odd encounter. Then I passed by the same spot about 15 min later, and he was still there snapping away… There was also a HUGE crowd of about 15 people staring at the snake. I don’t know, it was weird. I kind of felt like it was all a lot of adieu about nothing.
Then, after that interesting encounter I finally had a chance to pick out which plants I was going to use from the HUGE database of all of the plants here in la selva. Once that was done, I went to go visit Jose, an old man who is a botanist here. He said he would be happy to help me find the plants I was looking for. I arrived at this office armed with a list of about 80 different plants. He said that he had time right then and there to go looking for plants. I was shocked but also happy that we were going to get it done right then and there. So I went off to my house to go change. Once I got to my room, I went to go put on tennis shoes instead of the flip flops I had been wearing. As I put my foot into the second shoe I saw something black and large move in there. Now, people had warned me about checking shoes before putting them on, but I was in a hurry to get back to Jose so I wouldn’t keep him waiting. Once my heart rhythm had returned to its normal rate, I took the shoe outside and threw it a good 5 feet from my door. Gathering up all of my courage, I poked at the shoe a little bit with my finger. Nothing. I kicked it even further from the room. Nothing. So I oh so cautiously picked it up and held it upside down. Finally a frog came hopping out. Oh thank goodness I thought. Only another frog. Then I was about the put the shoe back down and a SECOND one hopped out. There were two frogs. IN MY SHOE. It was quite startling. Then I heard the door shut behind me. Now, the doors here automatically lock behind you. And, of course I didn’t think about getting my key as I rushed out of the room with an infested shoe. So I had to trek ALL the way back to the dining hall where reception is and ask them for another key. It was SUCH a problem. I got the key, and returned to the house. I put on the tennis shoes and some shorts and arrived back at Jose’s office ready to go. Then he asked if I had higher shoes. Oh… right. Boots. So I walked all the way back to the house changed into pants and boots and came back, ready this time for read. All in all, I walked to the dining hall (for lunch) to the lab, to Jose’s office, to my house, to the dining hall (to get the key) to my house, to the office, to the house, to the office, and then to the parking lot past the dining hall. Now, you guys don’t know those distances, but everyone of those is a good 5-10 min walk. I was exhausted even before I got into the field.
I got into his car, and we drove for about 5 minutes to a fire station. “What?” I asked. “Why are we at a fire station?” I thought that we were going to collect plant samples in the forest…?” He replied that la sleva used to own this land, and the start of the trail was here. Before we even got down the trail we found one or two specimens. It was incredible how he could just rattle off the scientific name of any plant there. We walked for about 2 hours. As we walked we talked about all sorts of stuff. It was really cool. He told his wonderful stories about plants and about la selva and about everything. It was getting late, so we turned around. I think we collected about 17 specimens though which was incredible! Then I went to his office to label and bag all of the plants I got. After that I went dinner. Someone at dinner told me I had to go hear this lady talk. I wasn’t planning on it, as I was completely exhausted, but I went anyway. She talked about climate change. The long and short of it is that we’re basically fucked because trees are only going to speed up global warming. Then, afterwards, the professor who convinced me to go the lecture helped me figure out what is going on with shrimp. He didn’t really know, but he said do more control tests. I realized that I had to count the plates of shrimp before I could go to bed. By this time it was already about 9:00 at night and my eyelids were drooping. But I absolutely had to count the shrimp, so I sucked it up and stared through a microscope for the next two hours. (for the record it is really straining to look thought a microscope. Not only do you have focus your eyes, but for me I was squinting and trying to figure out if a brine shrimp was twitching or not. It was really difficult). I left the lab at about 11:00 I think and headed home.
The walk from the lab to my house is only about 6 or 7 minutes but it is really really scary. It is dark and spooky and the trees seem to enclose you and you never know when something is going to jump out at you and it is SO dark and the leaves look like frogs and there are poisonous snakes that can kill you. Anywho it is quite scary but I made it home alive. I brushed my teeth and crashed at about 12 o’clock.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Science Update
So I’ve had a request for more science stuff. So here’s an update.
Yesterday I started a control experiment that subjected the shrimp to different mixtures of ethanol and h20. The ethanol and the water were meant to simulate the solution that I will soak the plants in, to make sure that the solution wasn’t killing them. So I put the shrimp in the wells at about 11:30. Then I came back after lunch and they were all dead. It was a very large problem. There were also many dead at the bottom of the hatchery. Maybe they just didn’t have enough salt. So I dumped out the hatchery and started again, this time with a 25000 ppm solution instead of 10000ppm. I also thought maybe the ethanol was killing them. So, before I dumped out the old solution I put some brine shrimp into two culture holes to see if they died in the 10000 ppm ASW (ASW = artificial salt water).
Today I got in the lab and counted the dead in the two ASW-only wells. 32 in one and 18 in the other. That is bad. That means that it wasn’t just the ethanol killing them, but something about the ASW. I hope to run two more experiments today as well as start collecting my actual plant samples. First I will test with new shrimp three different concentration of ethanol as well as three different concentrations of methanol. I will also test my positive control substance (postassium dichromate k2cr2o7) to see what concentration of that I will need.
Yesterday I started a control experiment that subjected the shrimp to different mixtures of ethanol and h20. The ethanol and the water were meant to simulate the solution that I will soak the plants in, to make sure that the solution wasn’t killing them. So I put the shrimp in the wells at about 11:30. Then I came back after lunch and they were all dead. It was a very large problem. There were also many dead at the bottom of the hatchery. Maybe they just didn’t have enough salt. So I dumped out the hatchery and started again, this time with a 25000 ppm solution instead of 10000ppm. I also thought maybe the ethanol was killing them. So, before I dumped out the old solution I put some brine shrimp into two culture holes to see if they died in the 10000 ppm ASW (ASW = artificial salt water).
Today I got in the lab and counted the dead in the two ASW-only wells. 32 in one and 18 in the other. That is bad. That means that it wasn’t just the ethanol killing them, but something about the ASW. I hope to run two more experiments today as well as start collecting my actual plant samples. First I will test with new shrimp three different concentration of ethanol as well as three different concentrations of methanol. I will also test my positive control substance (postassium dichromate k2cr2o7) to see what concentration of that I will need.
Day Four - June 24th 2010 (Part A)
Why didn’t my alarm go off? I most definitely set it! Wait… did I? Well even if I didn’t, it should still go off. It’s still right at the head of the bed. I should have heard it. Oh… maybe it’s because I'm using my iPod as an alarm… and my iPod is in my backpack…
This was the basic thought process when I woke up this morning 30 minutes late. Breakfast ends at 7:30 and I got up at 7:08. It was a problem. I scrambled and got out of the room at 7:25. I hurried to breakfast and got in the line at just about 7:29. Thankfully, no one here really seems to care about time and so the line was still open at 7:45 when I left.
I looked around for a place to sit, and saw a guy sitting by himself reading a book. Oh, well, I’ll be nice and go sit by him, I thought. Bad idea. I asked in English if I could sit there and he replied that yes I could. He asked if I was a student here. He almost seemed to stutter, but not quite. I couldn’t quite place my finger on what exactly was off about him. Anyway I replied that yes I was a student. We talked a little bit about this place and what we were each doing here. It turns out he wasn’t a lonely researcher with no friends, in fact he was a tourist from Austria, whose English was well let’s just say it was a “developing skill”. Anyway I struggled through the conversation, trying to shovel my food down as quickly as possible. It was a quite awkward. See, this is what I get for trying to be nice. An awkward breakfast that leaves you with a mixture of pity and the same feeling you get when you discover that the cute little mice you just picked up was in fact a rat.
This was the basic thought process when I woke up this morning 30 minutes late. Breakfast ends at 7:30 and I got up at 7:08. It was a problem. I scrambled and got out of the room at 7:25. I hurried to breakfast and got in the line at just about 7:29. Thankfully, no one here really seems to care about time and so the line was still open at 7:45 when I left.
I looked around for a place to sit, and saw a guy sitting by himself reading a book. Oh, well, I’ll be nice and go sit by him, I thought. Bad idea. I asked in English if I could sit there and he replied that yes I could. He asked if I was a student here. He almost seemed to stutter, but not quite. I couldn’t quite place my finger on what exactly was off about him. Anyway I replied that yes I was a student. We talked a little bit about this place and what we were each doing here. It turns out he wasn’t a lonely researcher with no friends, in fact he was a tourist from Austria, whose English was well let’s just say it was a “developing skill”. Anyway I struggled through the conversation, trying to shovel my food down as quickly as possible. It was a quite awkward. See, this is what I get for trying to be nice. An awkward breakfast that leaves you with a mixture of pity and the same feeling you get when you discover that the cute little mice you just picked up was in fact a rat.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Pictures! 4
A nice little gift I found on my lab bench this morning...
Mommy monkey and baby monkey
mommy and baby again
just mommy
mommy and baby (baby's kind of hiding, but you can see him if you look hard. it's like where's waldo)
Pictures! 3
Monkeys! These were the monkeys that i saw in the tree outside the lab
A weird turkey-esque bird outside in a tree
A HUGE egg someone found outside.
Pictures! 2
A cute little lizard I found on the path
A picture showing how high the water was the day after the flooding
A funny sign by the suspension bridge
THE suspension bridge
The Safety Zone? No one really knows what it is for... There are various theories. In case of a terrorist attack? High ground for flooding? A place for important people to meet in case of an emergency? A place for everyone to meet in case of an emergency? A place protecting animals? Protecting a special species of plants? Can you go there if you are being chased? is it like a permanent "home base"? We all have our own theories...
Pictures!
A bug a swished... i may have gotten its guts on the floor...
a weird looking spider i found on my bed.
two pictures of the toad i found in my room
A failed attempt to capture a picture of a cute little lizard i found
Day Three – June 23, 2010 (Part A)
This morning, I woke up relatively rested, got ready and went down to breakfast. They had beans and rice, again. Good thing I don’t mind having the same thing every day! On the way to the lab I found a tiny little poison dart frog in the woods. It was so cute!
Then I met with a professor who is here with a bunch of other students from Colgate University. He has lived here for about 5 years and knows a bunch about medicinal plants and just this place in general. He gave me the names of a bunch of people who I can talk to, and advice on how to collect the plants. It was wonderful.
Then I got to the lab and my brine shrimp had hatched! This is very exciting news because I can now start some experiments. I really couldn’t do anything until they had hatched and I didn’t think that they would be ready until about 1:30 today.
At about 10:00 I was bent over my lab counting brine shrimp when the aforementioned professor came over to my bench and asked if I wanted to see some howler monkeys “up close and personal”. I said sure and went outside. There was a troop of them right outside the lab! One of them had a baby; it was SO cute. I took some pictures and I’ll try to upload then if I can figure out how.
There has also been an infestation of little ants. They are crawling all over my lab bench and are quite annoying. It’s not so much that they are harmful, just that they are a constant distraction.
I also finally got my computer fixed! Now I can use my wifi instead of being confined to the room with all of the scales…
When I got back from lunch I checked on my brine shrimp, who I had put in about an two hours before, and THEY WERE ALL DEAD. They weren’t supposed to be dead… it is a quite a problem. So I’ve started a new batch and we’ll see how they do.
Then I was sitting at my computer looking up plants, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a bullet ant coming towards me. Now, normal ants I am fine with. But the pain people experience when they are bitten by one of these guys has been compared with child birth. So I jumped out of my chair, grabbed my shoe and smacked it repeatedly. It was pretty satisfying.
Then I met with a professor who is here with a bunch of other students from Colgate University. He has lived here for about 5 years and knows a bunch about medicinal plants and just this place in general. He gave me the names of a bunch of people who I can talk to, and advice on how to collect the plants. It was wonderful.
Then I got to the lab and my brine shrimp had hatched! This is very exciting news because I can now start some experiments. I really couldn’t do anything until they had hatched and I didn’t think that they would be ready until about 1:30 today.
At about 10:00 I was bent over my lab counting brine shrimp when the aforementioned professor came over to my bench and asked if I wanted to see some howler monkeys “up close and personal”. I said sure and went outside. There was a troop of them right outside the lab! One of them had a baby; it was SO cute. I took some pictures and I’ll try to upload then if I can figure out how.
There has also been an infestation of little ants. They are crawling all over my lab bench and are quite annoying. It’s not so much that they are harmful, just that they are a constant distraction.
I also finally got my computer fixed! Now I can use my wifi instead of being confined to the room with all of the scales…
When I got back from lunch I checked on my brine shrimp, who I had put in about an two hours before, and THEY WERE ALL DEAD. They weren’t supposed to be dead… it is a quite a problem. So I’ve started a new batch and we’ll see how they do.
Then I was sitting at my computer looking up plants, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a bullet ant coming towards me. Now, normal ants I am fine with. But the pain people experience when they are bitten by one of these guys has been compared with child birth. So I jumped out of my chair, grabbed my shoe and smacked it repeatedly. It was pretty satisfying.
Day Three - June 22nd 2010 (Part B - My Day)
Today was fairly normal compared to last night. I woke up at about 6:45, and went to breakfast. Breakfast was “casados” which is beans and rice and some eggs. Then I went to the lab and started working. My wireless internet is still not working, which means that if I want to be online, I have to plug in to the box. The box is in the room with all of the scales, so I’m confined in here if I want to be online.
I also had to move back from my temporary home to my room by the river. This doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but I basically had to lug a 50lb suitcase for ½ a mile. That is bad enough, but the pavement here is hard to drag the suitcase on, and there are huge leaves that kept getting tangled in the wheels. O and one of the wheels is broken. So it doesn’t spin anymore. After that exhausting adventure I took a shower and went back to the lab.
I worked most of the day and got my brine shrimp into the hatchery but 1:30 which means that tomorrow I’ll be able to start doing experiments with them. I was also able to talk over skype with a bunch of people which was really nice. One of the people I talked to was my mentor who was really helpful and straightened out a bunch of issues for me.
Then, when it was time I went off to dinner. Now, going to dinner doesn’t sound like that big of an adventure. But, it was. First of all, it was POURING. It had been raining for a good hour and I kept waiting and waiting for it to die down. The rain on the roof was so loud that the people I was chatting with on the internet could hear it through the crappy microphone on my computer. Oh yeah, and the power kept going out. So it would become pitch dark for about 2 or 3 seconds and then it would come back on. So, I went outside armed with an umbrella and a rain coat. The only problem was that I was wearing my toms. Now, if you’re not familiar with Toms, they are a brand of shoes that helps children bla bla bla. You can look them up online. They are pretty cool. Anyway, they are basically a rubber sole and cloth. They were completely soaked in about 3 seconds. Another issue was trying to hold my flashlight AND the umbrella. I'm a pretty uncoordinated person and to try to fend off the occasional bug and hold both of those things was just a disaster. Also, it was completely dark. Like pitch black. And I’ve been warned about the descending spider over one’s head, so I'm trying to swing the flashlight up, down, and side to side. All of a sudden something on the ground catches my eye. It’s a frog. Yes. A frog. And a large frog at that. It was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk just staring back at me. If I would have stepped two inches farther I think I would have squished it. I hop over it and keep going, now alert for living animals under my feet. Then I see a flash of lighting that lights up the whole sky. Ok I know that people always say that but I mean to tell you that it completely lit up everything as if it were daylight. Immediately afterwards I head CRASH BA BOOM BOOM BOOM. I didn’t even have a chance to remember to count between lightning and thunder to figure out how far away it stuck. That is how close it was. Now, kind of worried about crossing over a huge metal suspension bridge that is clearly the tallest thing around, I keep walking. Luckily I make it to the cafeteria unharmed.
Then on the way back I was swinging my flashlight as I was crossing the big suspension bridge and my eye caught something on the overhead wire. IT WAS A SLOTH. I couldn’t tell if it was two-toed or three-toed, but it was certainly a sloth. I came up about a foot away from it and shined my flashlight on it. I guess it didn’t like the light in its eyes because it turned its head away. I stood there for a couple minutes awestruck. Unfortunately I hadn’t brought my camera because of the rain, but it was so cool. Something I noticed about it though, was that it had bugs all over it. In its fur, on its tale, on its face. It was quite icky. And those bugs were starting to become attracted to my flashlight and were flying towards me. When the sloth’s moths started to fly towards me was when I decided I’d seen enough. I walked the rest of the way home without incident.
I went to bed really early (about 8:30) because I was just so exhausted.
I also had to move back from my temporary home to my room by the river. This doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but I basically had to lug a 50lb suitcase for ½ a mile. That is bad enough, but the pavement here is hard to drag the suitcase on, and there are huge leaves that kept getting tangled in the wheels. O and one of the wheels is broken. So it doesn’t spin anymore. After that exhausting adventure I took a shower and went back to the lab.
I worked most of the day and got my brine shrimp into the hatchery but 1:30 which means that tomorrow I’ll be able to start doing experiments with them. I was also able to talk over skype with a bunch of people which was really nice. One of the people I talked to was my mentor who was really helpful and straightened out a bunch of issues for me.
Then, when it was time I went off to dinner. Now, going to dinner doesn’t sound like that big of an adventure. But, it was. First of all, it was POURING. It had been raining for a good hour and I kept waiting and waiting for it to die down. The rain on the roof was so loud that the people I was chatting with on the internet could hear it through the crappy microphone on my computer. Oh yeah, and the power kept going out. So it would become pitch dark for about 2 or 3 seconds and then it would come back on. So, I went outside armed with an umbrella and a rain coat. The only problem was that I was wearing my toms. Now, if you’re not familiar with Toms, they are a brand of shoes that helps children bla bla bla. You can look them up online. They are pretty cool. Anyway, they are basically a rubber sole and cloth. They were completely soaked in about 3 seconds. Another issue was trying to hold my flashlight AND the umbrella. I'm a pretty uncoordinated person and to try to fend off the occasional bug and hold both of those things was just a disaster. Also, it was completely dark. Like pitch black. And I’ve been warned about the descending spider over one’s head, so I'm trying to swing the flashlight up, down, and side to side. All of a sudden something on the ground catches my eye. It’s a frog. Yes. A frog. And a large frog at that. It was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk just staring back at me. If I would have stepped two inches farther I think I would have squished it. I hop over it and keep going, now alert for living animals under my feet. Then I see a flash of lighting that lights up the whole sky. Ok I know that people always say that but I mean to tell you that it completely lit up everything as if it were daylight. Immediately afterwards I head CRASH BA BOOM BOOM BOOM. I didn’t even have a chance to remember to count between lightning and thunder to figure out how far away it stuck. That is how close it was. Now, kind of worried about crossing over a huge metal suspension bridge that is clearly the tallest thing around, I keep walking. Luckily I make it to the cafeteria unharmed.
Then on the way back I was swinging my flashlight as I was crossing the big suspension bridge and my eye caught something on the overhead wire. IT WAS A SLOTH. I couldn’t tell if it was two-toed or three-toed, but it was certainly a sloth. I came up about a foot away from it and shined my flashlight on it. I guess it didn’t like the light in its eyes because it turned its head away. I stood there for a couple minutes awestruck. Unfortunately I hadn’t brought my camera because of the rain, but it was so cool. Something I noticed about it though, was that it had bugs all over it. In its fur, on its tale, on its face. It was quite icky. And those bugs were starting to become attracted to my flashlight and were flying towards me. When the sloth’s moths started to fly towards me was when I decided I’d seen enough. I walked the rest of the way home without incident.
I went to bed really early (about 8:30) because I was just so exhausted.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Day Two –June 22nd 2010 (Part A – The Evacuation)
Utterly exhausted after being awake and traveling for 20 hours, I fell asleep at about 10:00. My roommate was still not back, but I figured that she would come in eventually.
Then, at 12:30, I heard pounding at the door and a bunch of commotion outside. My roommate (who had returned to the room and was sleeping) got up and answered the door.
An old man who apparently knew her said, “Ok this is it. You know what’s happening. Get your stuff. You have 3 minutes.”
When she closed the door I asked, “umm… hold on. I don’t know what is happening. What is going on?”
She replied that the water was only about a meter below the bridge and they didn’t want us to get stuck. So we had to move out. She said that as I hadn’t really upacked, I could just take my suitcase and all of my valuables. As we waited outside our room for more directions, I heard someone say that we would be sleeping in the cafeteria. Well, I thought, at least we’ll be indoors. Thankfully though, when we got to the cafeteria, someone directed us to some empty cabins. There, a man with a walkie-talkie was putting people into rooms. He put me in a room with one young guy and one really old guy. O well, I said… I guess they aren’t separating by gender. But, it wasn’t really that awkward, as no one knew what was going on, and by this time it was 1am and we were all exhausted.
I collapsed on a bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
Then, at 12:30, I heard pounding at the door and a bunch of commotion outside. My roommate (who had returned to the room and was sleeping) got up and answered the door.
An old man who apparently knew her said, “Ok this is it. You know what’s happening. Get your stuff. You have 3 minutes.”
When she closed the door I asked, “umm… hold on. I don’t know what is happening. What is going on?”
She replied that the water was only about a meter below the bridge and they didn’t want us to get stuck. So we had to move out. She said that as I hadn’t really upacked, I could just take my suitcase and all of my valuables. As we waited outside our room for more directions, I heard someone say that we would be sleeping in the cafeteria. Well, I thought, at least we’ll be indoors. Thankfully though, when we got to the cafeteria, someone directed us to some empty cabins. There, a man with a walkie-talkie was putting people into rooms. He put me in a room with one young guy and one really old guy. O well, I said… I guess they aren’t separating by gender. But, it wasn’t really that awkward, as no one knew what was going on, and by this time it was 1am and we were all exhausted.
I collapsed on a bed and fell into a fitful sleep.
About My Project
For those of you who don't know, I am here at La Selva biological research station in Puerto Viejo, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica for 5 weeks (from June 21st to July 23rd).
If you're curious, here is what i am doing:
With thousands of medicinal plants already identified, and the number continuing to rise every day, ethnobotanical research is coming more and more to the forefront of the minds of many. Researchers, who are trying to search though the multitude of plants attempting to identify biologically active plants before they disappear from this world forever, need methods to narrow their search. As we lose more and more precious rainforest every day, the need for ways to accelerate this process is immediate. In addition to the fast rate that the plants and their habitats are disappearing, the culture and knowledge of native people is just as rapidly vanishing. Oral traditions that hold the knowledge of thousands of years of trial and error are vanishing forever. It is crucial to protect not only the plants that have such important powers, but also the traditions that hold secrets locked in its leaves. Surprisingly, there exists a great lack of research about the use of ethnobotanical consultation and by how much it increases the probability of finding biological activity.
The main objective of this research is to determine if plants plant chosen though ethnobotanical consultation have a higher probability of having a greater amount of biological activity than plants chosen at random. A secondary objective is also the discovery of the biological activity in previously untested plants. By comparing the level of biological activity in a group of plants selected through ethnobotanical consultation with a group that was chosen at random, I hope to determine if one can increase the probability that the plant will have medicinal qualities by using this kind of consultation. By measuring the lethal concentration of plant extract necessary to kill one half of the test specimens (LC50) one can find the level of biological activity in the plant easily. A Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) will be performed on the plants from the two groups, and the results compared. From this assay the LC50 and, subsequently, the level of biological activity will be calculated and compared across the two groups. If plants that have been previously untested have notably low LC50s, that may prompt more research to be done.
If you're curious, here is what i am doing:
With thousands of medicinal plants already identified, and the number continuing to rise every day, ethnobotanical research is coming more and more to the forefront of the minds of many. Researchers, who are trying to search though the multitude of plants attempting to identify biologically active plants before they disappear from this world forever, need methods to narrow their search. As we lose more and more precious rainforest every day, the need for ways to accelerate this process is immediate. In addition to the fast rate that the plants and their habitats are disappearing, the culture and knowledge of native people is just as rapidly vanishing. Oral traditions that hold the knowledge of thousands of years of trial and error are vanishing forever. It is crucial to protect not only the plants that have such important powers, but also the traditions that hold secrets locked in its leaves. Surprisingly, there exists a great lack of research about the use of ethnobotanical consultation and by how much it increases the probability of finding biological activity.
The main objective of this research is to determine if plants plant chosen though ethnobotanical consultation have a higher probability of having a greater amount of biological activity than plants chosen at random. A secondary objective is also the discovery of the biological activity in previously untested plants. By comparing the level of biological activity in a group of plants selected through ethnobotanical consultation with a group that was chosen at random, I hope to determine if one can increase the probability that the plant will have medicinal qualities by using this kind of consultation. By measuring the lethal concentration of plant extract necessary to kill one half of the test specimens (LC50) one can find the level of biological activity in the plant easily. A Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA) will be performed on the plants from the two groups, and the results compared. From this assay the LC50 and, subsequently, the level of biological activity will be calculated and compared across the two groups. If plants that have been previously untested have notably low LC50s, that may prompt more research to be done.
Day One - June 21st 2010
When I arrived at the Costa Rican, I had no idea where to go. I kind of turned around in circles a couple of times, and then followed some other people. First we went throught immigration. Very uneventful, thank goodness! Then I got my bag, which was a little nerve wracking. It wasn’t coming out onto the conveyor belt. I waited and waited and waited. Finally if emerged from the tunnel and we went through customs. I went outside and looked for the taxi driver that was supposed to take me to La Selva. I saw the sign taped to the window with my name on it and met the driver. He was very nice, and we talked about accents and learning languages for most of the 2 hour ride. Some of the time he listened to the world cup. Apparently Spain won over Honduras. Which is a good or bad thing, depending on who you talk to. Towards the end of the trip, he confessed that he thought that I would be a professor from the university of Georgia. He assumed a professor, because students usually come in groups, and I guess that bus company gets a lot of people from the University of Georgia.
When we arrived at la selva, the guard didn’t have my name on the list of people and almost didn’t let us into the park. I just assumed that it was a mistake. I got reception and it turns out that I was registered for June 26- July 23 not June 21- July 23… So I was like well… I'm here… so what do you want me to do? Eventually the guy at the front desk figured it all out, and said that it was OK. He said that my room was kind of a long way off in the woods, so I might want to talk to people at the lab before trecking to the room. He sent me to go talk to bernal (the lab manager). Bernal was very nice, and showed me the lab and all the buildings etc. I have my own lab bench plus locked cabinets to keep everything in! The labs are much better than I expected, and I'm looking forward to working in them.
Then he showed me to the rooms. They are forever away! To get there you have to go over two bridges, up like 8 elephant stairs etc. Finally after lugging a 50lb suitcase for about ¼ of a mile, I got to me room. I really didn’t know what to do about my roommate. I felt kind of bad, as she didn’t know that I would be coming, and I felt like I was invading her space. As of 9 o’clock I still hadn’t met her… So I just put my suitcase down in a corner. She had already taken the safe box and my key didn’t work on that lock, so I just left my stuff in my backpack and kept carrying it around. Then I went back to reception to talk to Carmen Ramos about getting a cabin (rooms for researchers here for more than a month). She said that it probably won’t happen, but I'm on the list. Then I went to talk to Ronald Vargas, the director of the station because I still didn’t have a permit number. Which was a problem. So he emailed Francisco Campos again to see what the status is.
*side note* it is SO humid here. You step outside the air conditioning, and instantly start sweating. Its intense.
Then I went back to the lab to see if my computer’s wifi was working. I had been having troubles with the wireless back at home and hoped those problems would go away when I got here. They didn’t. But while struggling to get my wireless to work I met Victoria and two other girls from Colgate. I forget their names, but they both start with y. Then I left, and went to talk to Bernal about my wifi situation. But when I knocked on the door the other lab guy told me that Bernal had gone home for the night. SO I explained that my wireless wasn’t working, and was looking for a hardwire way to connect. He got me an Ethernet cable but the only place to plug in was in the room with all of the scales. Then it was 6 and people started going to dinner. So I heard the colgate girls leaving and I asked if I could go with them, as it had suddenly gotten dark and I didn’t have a flashlight. (plus, I was feeling pretty disoriented as it was dark and I wanted some company on the long walk to the cafeteria).
As we walked out of the building, the girls had to put on their big boots. They started shaking them out. They saw the puzzled look on my face and said that they were doing that so nothing would crawl into their boots and they would stick their foot down in there. It was pretty smart, but at the same time, it was kind of a wake-up call that there are bugs. Lots of bugs. And not just big scary-looking bugs. The actually scary kind that can kill you. The colgate girls were very nice, and we talked all the way to the cafeteria. The cafeteria is on the other side of the big bridge over the big river. That bridge is one of those suspended ones, and it wobbles. A lot. It was quite frightening.
Anyway we made it to the cafeteria and there was a big table of people from colgate. As we went through the line I was trying to figure out who I would sit with in the cafeteria. There are a surprising number of people here. I would say that there were around 50 or so at dinner. But the girls suck with me and showed me through the line and stuff. And how to get water and ice. Then they asked if I wanted to set with them at their table.
Dinner was pretty good. Some brown stuff and some mashed potatoes. There was also rice pudding which was delicious. I was quiet for almost the whole meal, as were the girls I was with. Then towards the end some people started to ask who I was. And then I explained. It is kind of cool to have everyone be like wait… you’re here by yourself? And you’re still in high school? Then one of the colgate professors asked me what I was studying and so I told her. (I’ve gotten pretty good at the whole spheal as ive said it so many times).
Then I walked back with the two “y” girls as I still didn’t have a flashlight and the treck from the cafeteria to the house is quite a long one. On the way they told me tips like I should swing the flashlight up and down so that i don’t run into spiders. They told me stories about bullet ants being inside their bug netting. About venomous snakes and howler monkeys. About poisonous frogs, and about the difference between the flying cockroaches and the just-abnormally-large ones. It was lovely. They helped me find my room and showed me the taranuala’s nest right outside my door. They also spotted a second lock-box that I could use, so I didn’t have to carry everything around with me. Then they showed me the bathrooms, which were surprisingly nice.
I went back to my room, and tried to unpack. Well I didn’t really unpack. I more reorganized so I could live out of my suitcase as there aren’t drawers or anything to put my stuff in and I didn’t want to take up too much space.
Then I saw out of the corner of my eye in the corner of the room, what looked like a toad. I squinted more closely and yes. It was a toad. In. my. room. I was OK with a couple of spiders in my room, but a toad? Really? Not ok. It was in the corner and I didn’t know how to get him out. Eventually I did, but it took some smart maneuvering. Then I saw a weird looking bug on my bed. Kind of like a large large fly. So I squished it. Then I squished it again. And I got its guts all over the floor. Oops.
Then I went to go shower. The two showers that I knew of were already taken, and so I sat on a nearby couch and waited. Then a guy came by and went into his room. On the way out he said that there was another bathroom that I could use. The sign said that it was for women and men, but it was all guys. Oh well I said and I walked in. these bathrooms were not nearly as nice as the other ones. They were kind of sketchy. But I was so hot and exhausted that I didn’t care. Same with hot water. I was so hot I didn’t care my shower was cold. I got in and out of the shower as fast as I could, brushed my teeth and then came back to the cabin.
Finally after being awake for 20 hours, I got to go to sleep.
When we arrived at la selva, the guard didn’t have my name on the list of people and almost didn’t let us into the park. I just assumed that it was a mistake. I got reception and it turns out that I was registered for June 26- July 23 not June 21- July 23… So I was like well… I'm here… so what do you want me to do? Eventually the guy at the front desk figured it all out, and said that it was OK. He said that my room was kind of a long way off in the woods, so I might want to talk to people at the lab before trecking to the room. He sent me to go talk to bernal (the lab manager). Bernal was very nice, and showed me the lab and all the buildings etc. I have my own lab bench plus locked cabinets to keep everything in! The labs are much better than I expected, and I'm looking forward to working in them.
Then he showed me to the rooms. They are forever away! To get there you have to go over two bridges, up like 8 elephant stairs etc. Finally after lugging a 50lb suitcase for about ¼ of a mile, I got to me room. I really didn’t know what to do about my roommate. I felt kind of bad, as she didn’t know that I would be coming, and I felt like I was invading her space. As of 9 o’clock I still hadn’t met her… So I just put my suitcase down in a corner. She had already taken the safe box and my key didn’t work on that lock, so I just left my stuff in my backpack and kept carrying it around. Then I went back to reception to talk to Carmen Ramos about getting a cabin (rooms for researchers here for more than a month). She said that it probably won’t happen, but I'm on the list. Then I went to talk to Ronald Vargas, the director of the station because I still didn’t have a permit number. Which was a problem. So he emailed Francisco Campos again to see what the status is.
*side note* it is SO humid here. You step outside the air conditioning, and instantly start sweating. Its intense.
Then I went back to the lab to see if my computer’s wifi was working. I had been having troubles with the wireless back at home and hoped those problems would go away when I got here. They didn’t. But while struggling to get my wireless to work I met Victoria and two other girls from Colgate. I forget their names, but they both start with y. Then I left, and went to talk to Bernal about my wifi situation. But when I knocked on the door the other lab guy told me that Bernal had gone home for the night. SO I explained that my wireless wasn’t working, and was looking for a hardwire way to connect. He got me an Ethernet cable but the only place to plug in was in the room with all of the scales. Then it was 6 and people started going to dinner. So I heard the colgate girls leaving and I asked if I could go with them, as it had suddenly gotten dark and I didn’t have a flashlight. (plus, I was feeling pretty disoriented as it was dark and I wanted some company on the long walk to the cafeteria).
As we walked out of the building, the girls had to put on their big boots. They started shaking them out. They saw the puzzled look on my face and said that they were doing that so nothing would crawl into their boots and they would stick their foot down in there. It was pretty smart, but at the same time, it was kind of a wake-up call that there are bugs. Lots of bugs. And not just big scary-looking bugs. The actually scary kind that can kill you. The colgate girls were very nice, and we talked all the way to the cafeteria. The cafeteria is on the other side of the big bridge over the big river. That bridge is one of those suspended ones, and it wobbles. A lot. It was quite frightening.
Anyway we made it to the cafeteria and there was a big table of people from colgate. As we went through the line I was trying to figure out who I would sit with in the cafeteria. There are a surprising number of people here. I would say that there were around 50 or so at dinner. But the girls suck with me and showed me through the line and stuff. And how to get water and ice. Then they asked if I wanted to set with them at their table.
Dinner was pretty good. Some brown stuff and some mashed potatoes. There was also rice pudding which was delicious. I was quiet for almost the whole meal, as were the girls I was with. Then towards the end some people started to ask who I was. And then I explained. It is kind of cool to have everyone be like wait… you’re here by yourself? And you’re still in high school? Then one of the colgate professors asked me what I was studying and so I told her. (I’ve gotten pretty good at the whole spheal as ive said it so many times).
Then I walked back with the two “y” girls as I still didn’t have a flashlight and the treck from the cafeteria to the house is quite a long one. On the way they told me tips like I should swing the flashlight up and down so that i don’t run into spiders. They told me stories about bullet ants being inside their bug netting. About venomous snakes and howler monkeys. About poisonous frogs, and about the difference between the flying cockroaches and the just-abnormally-large ones. It was lovely. They helped me find my room and showed me the taranuala’s nest right outside my door. They also spotted a second lock-box that I could use, so I didn’t have to carry everything around with me. Then they showed me the bathrooms, which were surprisingly nice.
I went back to my room, and tried to unpack. Well I didn’t really unpack. I more reorganized so I could live out of my suitcase as there aren’t drawers or anything to put my stuff in and I didn’t want to take up too much space.
Then I saw out of the corner of my eye in the corner of the room, what looked like a toad. I squinted more closely and yes. It was a toad. In. my. room. I was OK with a couple of spiders in my room, but a toad? Really? Not ok. It was in the corner and I didn’t know how to get him out. Eventually I did, but it took some smart maneuvering. Then I saw a weird looking bug on my bed. Kind of like a large large fly. So I squished it. Then I squished it again. And I got its guts all over the floor. Oops.
Then I went to go shower. The two showers that I knew of were already taken, and so I sat on a nearby couch and waited. Then a guy came by and went into his room. On the way out he said that there was another bathroom that I could use. The sign said that it was for women and men, but it was all guys. Oh well I said and I walked in. these bathrooms were not nearly as nice as the other ones. They were kind of sketchy. But I was so hot and exhausted that I didn’t care. Same with hot water. I was so hot I didn’t care my shower was cold. I got in and out of the shower as fast as I could, brushed my teeth and then came back to the cabin.
Finally after being awake for 20 hours, I got to go to sleep.
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