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.
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