Humedo

What a day…I woke up Thursday morning in cool Connecticut and 32 hours later I’m in the rain forest running on no sleep. I spent Thursday running around for last minute things and trying to fit enough stuff for 89 days in the tropics into two bags. And I couldn’t just go to bed and waste away my last night in the country…especially when 1999 champion Rip Hamilton squares off against 2004 champion Ben Gordon.

Watched the game…had buffalo popcorn chicken & cookies…an eventful trip to Dunkin Donuts…watched Scrubs…left for the airport

Flew into Atlanta with Dr. Chazdon, and after an hour layover headed for San José, Costa Rica. Started reading The Making of a Surgeon, a book from 1970 about residency. Read ESPN The Magazine. Tried to sleep, never happened.

Landed in San José, went through Migración and customs. Met up with a couple other researchers…squeezed four of us into a Toyota bus made for 28. A wild adventure through the streets of greater San José, saw some shantytowns, lots of cars, places to fix cars, places to buy cars, places to rent cars.

Then we entered Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo, which had a tollbooth guarded by a guy with a shotgun. Saw lots of dramatic cliffs and landslides, cloud forests. After about a 60-70 minute drive we got to Estación Biológica La Selva, my home for the next 89 days.

Got checked in, hauled my gear over the coolest footbridge ever and reached River Station, my residential area. At this point the term “WET Tropical Rain Forest” really stuck. Dripping in sweat, it took a solid 5 minutes to decipher the lock to the room, which is kind of what I imagine living in North Campus is like. Check out the pictures for the room and the view from the porch (Actually, you'll have to wait a few for the pictures, left the cord back at river station)

Now there’s stuff all over the place and it calls for some organization, but first, my first dinner in Costa Rica.

BP