Felt like a piece of meat out in the field today, mad flies. Including these gold ones with beady green eyes that love to bite. At one point I had two chilling on my shoulder and I looked over. It was a deep stare; they were looking like they were ready to bite. Then, SLAP! It was a total two-fer, knocked them both down dizzy.
In addition to this fly problem I also kept on pissing off this big 1.5 inch spider by walking into his web. Basically he was pissed and I felt bad, but it was a solid web, so no damage was sustained. In other exciting news we finished 1.5 hectares today out of my total workload of 3 hectares. Pretty killer accomplishment, especially so since it cam 4 days ahead of schedule.
Out in the field until 3:00pm yesterday, back around lab around 3:35pm. Cleaned up, entered data, took a ‘Forrest Gump + coffee’ coffee break. Carried that right up until dinner. My Yankees are taking a serious beating on this road trip, just going to have to cheer more. After dinner, I finished all the data entry I had to do and went straight to bed because I still find myself yawning every morning in the field.
So being four days ahead of schedule and being half done, of course calls for a vacation. Leaving tomorrow afternoon on the 1:30pm, finding a cheap place to stay in San Jose, goofing around Friday, then who knows. It’d be a crime to plan more than two days ahead of time. Definitely choosing a place with internet, so don’t expect a lack of blogging.
Going to go to some toy stores and find a kickball, crayons, and wiffleball stuff. Summer will kick butt after that. That’s all I’m going to say for now, gotta crazy 24 hours ahead of me. Hasta!
BP
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Lleno
Nothing like a good full day to feel back in the groove after two days without my trees. Amazingly reassuring to wake up to good weather and eggs! Checked the effectiveness of my treasure hunt (100% success). Also received a sweet thank you message on the computer to greet me. Got on my turtle of a bike a few after 8:00 in a nice sunny drizzle. Once both Tinny & I got to the plot, we tore it up. Twenty trees in the first hour, then a half hour waiting out the rain. Reached our today-goal of 74 (I think) by 2:05pm with minimal problems or anything. Felt like going for the half hour trip back again but the legs just weren’t too fresh today (no more rainy days!!!).
Post-field stuff then spent an hour or so throwing around the squidgie (no relation to the cheese) (ca. Philmont 2006) with Tom (Grad at MSU) & Kelsey (Assistant on frog project) on the muddy soccer field. Got some dirt worked into the Salomons and worked up a schvitz. My hair was already being perfect today, so I didn’t bother to shower at this point.
Killed an hour before dinner in the office, eating an omelet sandwich, playing with batteries, normal stuff. Missed having a coffee break today, definitely seems to have an effect on my energy stock, yet I’m still going strong at 9:30pm today. For dinner, had what could only be described as if you put eggs and ketchup on top it would be the perfect breakfast (nothing treasure hunt worthy this time).
Check some scores after food and then went to a lecture by Chip (Grad from UGA) about streams, stream ecology, and biogeochemistry. That about sums it up, I’m a couple days behind on data entry. Looks like the whole team (Amanda (to Panama), Debra, Tinny, & Me (???)) will be out of here for a few days beginning Thursday. More news tomorrow, perhaps.
Regarding the picture comments. I’ve been doing this thing called work, so not too many pics have been snapped. And, yes the camera does have a boo boo, but it is operational. Tomorrow I’ll get on the picture thing, maybe, ha.
Karen & I have brainstormed a celebration for the 4th which doesn’t really celebrate Independence, just our culture. Ideally it will include kickball, wiffle ball home run derby, apple pie, and sparklers (materials for this is a good reason to hop into the city Thursday) (along with jeans, dang I miss jeans) (and the inspiration continues with today’s picture of chicken and real cheese on a bagel).
Good night all! (maybe I can make a post where there are more words in parentheses than paragraphs)
BP
Monday, June 25, 2007
Problemas
In two words, rough morning. So there’s this thing, go out batting and get nice and wet and cold too. Get back to the cabina, shower, but still have that little chill. Throw on a fleece and snooze the night away. Since I’m so warm and cozy, the morning bite of cold doesn’t wake me up on time. Slept until 7:10am and then franticly began my rough morning.
This, my 45th day at La Selva, I have only missed breakfast a total of one times. All 43 of those other breakfasts had some form of eggs, today, however only had loads of fried squeedgie cheese. Squeedgie cheese, you ask, I answer, you don’t really want to know. So there’s the first dinger to the routine morning.
Didn’t see Tinny over there so got ready and headed to the office, oh, yea, meanwhile it starts pouring. Hi wet season. Tinny left me a note saying that she took off at 7:35am, time now = 7:50am. And of course the point where I was about to call off the field day for the crappy weather that showed no signs of stopping.
Rushed to prep the data book and switch the backpack (which is getting some serious wear down here, finally it will stick out from the rest of the North Facers on campus) from bat stuff to tree stuff (tree stuff is way cooler by the way). All this is intermixed with the bikes being locked and one of us over the weekend losing the key.
Took a pretty solid chunk of time to sort through that when Jeanette (Bosques assistant) offered her bike for me to go find Tinny in the rain and for real call it off (still pouring). Biked away like a bear was chasing fresh salmon in my pack (what a bad simile). Found Tinny out at SJ 1200 or so, and that was that. Came back to the lab looking just like I do after a full day out there, so, of course, I showered (and ate an omelet sandwich, can’t break routine).
Got to a little bit of data entry and thought before being swept away on a three-hour coffee break with team baby trees (including lunch). This has to be the most I’ve ever talked about my pre-noon activities, too bad they weren’t too exciting. Lunch got followed by some office/porching/laundry-ness.
Also watched last night’s episode of Entourage with Debra, seriously haven’t laughed that much in the longest time. Too bad some of my favorite quotes wouldn’t pass the PG rating we maintain here at the blog. Amanda & Debra shot off for off-site batting, I kicked some data’s butt. I always feel so behind my work, even though I’m not, such a school feeling.
Tinny got in some bike practice before dinner, I decided a rainy day off definitely called for some Monday night baseball. Panicked slightly when I lost ESPN, all good in the end, got to watch a 13 inning thriller at Shea. Karen dropped in after dinner. Kelsey, Tom, & Isabel were having a special pasta dinner in the lounge. They had left over food, and I got served a full plate of alfredo on the couch. Now there’s something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
This post is actually going up Tuesday, but don’t tell anybody, extra innings just took the fight out of me. Backing it up just a little bit, we had quesadillas for dinner (with peccary!!!). I live with a simple theory that people should not miss out on quesadillas, so I smuggled two back for the faithful batters.
Being my creative self, I couldn’t just leave quesadillas for them to eat, that’d be way too easy. Decided to play the treasure hunt card; used a different joke about bats on each landmark. The hunt led to the fridge where I left the yummy goodness. That made me feel pretty good about myself after a tumultuous (for the tropics) day. Bedzies (good old zees).
BP
This, my 45th day at La Selva, I have only missed breakfast a total of one times. All 43 of those other breakfasts had some form of eggs, today, however only had loads of fried squeedgie cheese. Squeedgie cheese, you ask, I answer, you don’t really want to know. So there’s the first dinger to the routine morning.
Didn’t see Tinny over there so got ready and headed to the office, oh, yea, meanwhile it starts pouring. Hi wet season. Tinny left me a note saying that she took off at 7:35am, time now = 7:50am. And of course the point where I was about to call off the field day for the crappy weather that showed no signs of stopping.
Rushed to prep the data book and switch the backpack (which is getting some serious wear down here, finally it will stick out from the rest of the North Facers on campus) from bat stuff to tree stuff (tree stuff is way cooler by the way). All this is intermixed with the bikes being locked and one of us over the weekend losing the key.
Took a pretty solid chunk of time to sort through that when Jeanette (Bosques assistant) offered her bike for me to go find Tinny in the rain and for real call it off (still pouring). Biked away like a bear was chasing fresh salmon in my pack (what a bad simile). Found Tinny out at SJ 1200 or so, and that was that. Came back to the lab looking just like I do after a full day out there, so, of course, I showered (and ate an omelet sandwich, can’t break routine).
Got to a little bit of data entry and thought before being swept away on a three-hour coffee break with team baby trees (including lunch). This has to be the most I’ve ever talked about my pre-noon activities, too bad they weren’t too exciting. Lunch got followed by some office/porching/laundry-ness.
Also watched last night’s episode of Entourage with Debra, seriously haven’t laughed that much in the longest time. Too bad some of my favorite quotes wouldn’t pass the PG rating we maintain here at the blog. Amanda & Debra shot off for off-site batting, I kicked some data’s butt. I always feel so behind my work, even though I’m not, such a school feeling.
Tinny got in some bike practice before dinner, I decided a rainy day off definitely called for some Monday night baseball. Panicked slightly when I lost ESPN, all good in the end, got to watch a 13 inning thriller at Shea. Karen dropped in after dinner. Kelsey, Tom, & Isabel were having a special pasta dinner in the lounge. They had left over food, and I got served a full plate of alfredo on the couch. Now there’s something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
This post is actually going up Tuesday, but don’t tell anybody, extra innings just took the fight out of me. Backing it up just a little bit, we had quesadillas for dinner (with peccary!!!). I live with a simple theory that people should not miss out on quesadillas, so I smuggled two back for the faithful batters.
Being my creative self, I couldn’t just leave quesadillas for them to eat, that’d be way too easy. Decided to play the treasure hunt card; used a different joke about bats on each landmark. The hunt led to the fridge where I left the yummy goodness. That made me feel pretty good about myself after a tumultuous (for the tropics) day. Bedzies (good old zees).
BP
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Musculo
Free day, which definitely called for reading and lots of coffee. Slept in to about 8:00am and hopped over to the comedor after cleaning up. Made some killer iced coffees for myself and enjoyed the wonderful weather on the outdoor couches. Amanda rolled up a couple hours later and I walked out to the guard station for an errand.
She was also meeting this dude at the highway at 10:00am and brought me along as her muscle (made me feel all tough and stuff, haha). Guy never showed. Walked on back to the comedor and continued the coffee break right up until lunch. We had these awesome freshly fried tortilla chips with a rice concoction, yum.
A quote from the way back to the station: Amanda (as we are about to jump over a runoff ditch-thingy): “I need to start jumping over more of these things so I get braver.”
Spent the early part of the afternoon chilling in and around the office with Debra & Amanda. Got myself all ready to head off to Lindero Sur for batting tonight. Rain or shine this time, unfortunately, rain. And everybody knows that cats don’t like to come out in the rain, so no super exciting sightings tonight.
Had a couple of solid slip and falls on the trips there and back. Including one as I was hiking along thinking about how I only take spills on fairly easy sections of trail and not the more difficult ones (Smack!). More puddle-hopping that actually hiking on the way back, amazing bike ride back in the dark; only fell off the pavement twice.
Got greeted at the office by the news that my Yankees lost again and Beckett out dueled Peavy (would have loved to see that one). All in all a really great day, including a nice nap under my jacket during the heaviest of the rains. Oh, good news, we did catch two bats, which is actually two more than they caught the last time at that plot. At 10:00pm is was coming down pretty good and Amanda made the call to pack up. Got to bed at 12:30pm. Hasta.
BP
She was also meeting this dude at the highway at 10:00am and brought me along as her muscle (made me feel all tough and stuff, haha). Guy never showed. Walked on back to the comedor and continued the coffee break right up until lunch. We had these awesome freshly fried tortilla chips with a rice concoction, yum.
A quote from the way back to the station: Amanda (as we are about to jump over a runoff ditch-thingy): “I need to start jumping over more of these things so I get braver.”
Spent the early part of the afternoon chilling in and around the office with Debra & Amanda. Got myself all ready to head off to Lindero Sur for batting tonight. Rain or shine this time, unfortunately, rain. And everybody knows that cats don’t like to come out in the rain, so no super exciting sightings tonight.
Had a couple of solid slip and falls on the trips there and back. Including one as I was hiking along thinking about how I only take spills on fairly easy sections of trail and not the more difficult ones (Smack!). More puddle-hopping that actually hiking on the way back, amazing bike ride back in the dark; only fell off the pavement twice.
Got greeted at the office by the news that my Yankees lost again and Beckett out dueled Peavy (would have loved to see that one). All in all a really great day, including a nice nap under my jacket during the heaviest of the rains. Oh, good news, we did catch two bats, which is actually two more than they caught the last time at that plot. At 10:00pm is was coming down pretty good and Amanda made the call to pack up. Got to bed at 12:30pm. Hasta.
BP
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Cerro
Just realized I’m getting over the hump here; been here six weeks, one day and ideally will only stay another six weeks. It really feels like quite a long time and this alternate summer is beginning to grow on me. Lately I’ve savored routine and that keeps me going through most days.
Funny enough, all I tend to write about these days is routine. After an amazing sleep, from which I didn’t wake until 7:00am, I was chilled by the pitter patter of rain on the roof. It seems that nothing gets me more down these days than rain. This might turn into an issue considering it is the rainforest.
My walk over to breakfast, of course, contained the period of heaviest rain and I got a little damp. All in all today was a great day; everything fell into place quite well. Tinny expressed her desire for the rain to continue, I duly shunned that desire. Cleared on up around 8:00am and that got us started on a wonderful field day.
Probably started work some time before 10:00am with a light load of 57 trees on the top part of the hill. Starting to notice the effect of microtopography on the canopy structure. Trees on hillsides are not as tall as the trees in the lowest parts. They just don’t need to be since the hill gives them so much height. Dr. Chazdon is also interested in this effect so that’s pretty sweet.
Enough science tidbit for one day. With six trees to go, the batteries in the rangefinder bit the dust. Left the plot at 1:35pm and made it back to the station at 2:05pm, quite solid for a muddy mile hike and 3.8km bike ride. Got harassed by team baby trees for a little while and settled down for an omelet sandwich. Realized today, that I might be getting sick of eggs, ouch.
First good coffee break in a long time. I made my best coffees yet; threw in a little extra love this time. Tinny joined us a short while later and we got to wish exotic meats man Steve a farewell as he left for Little Rock (nice name for a city). The average coolness of researchers at La Selva just took a serious plunge, good thing I’m sticking around.
Yanks lost a nail-biter in the 13th do my despair. Karen made brownies with sprinkles this afternoon, which nicely coincided with ice-cream-for-dessert night at the comedor. Smushing a nice soft brownie into liquidy ice cream was quite a treat. Way to go Karen. Did some table-hopping to talk with some more cool kids. Forgot to drink coffee again, bad Ben bad.
Threw on kicks and pants and hit the mean streets of PV with Debra & Amanda for some Saturday night cultural exposure. Met some pretty interesting people, saw some familiar faces, all in all a decent outing. Didn’t get to bed until after 3:00am, time to start sleeping more. Tomorrow will hopefully include lots of coffee and batting in cat country (finally!, maybe, sort of weather dependent). 19-5/6 years tomorrow, whoopideedooda!
BP
Funny enough, all I tend to write about these days is routine. After an amazing sleep, from which I didn’t wake until 7:00am, I was chilled by the pitter patter of rain on the roof. It seems that nothing gets me more down these days than rain. This might turn into an issue considering it is the rainforest.
My walk over to breakfast, of course, contained the period of heaviest rain and I got a little damp. All in all today was a great day; everything fell into place quite well. Tinny expressed her desire for the rain to continue, I duly shunned that desire. Cleared on up around 8:00am and that got us started on a wonderful field day.
Probably started work some time before 10:00am with a light load of 57 trees on the top part of the hill. Starting to notice the effect of microtopography on the canopy structure. Trees on hillsides are not as tall as the trees in the lowest parts. They just don’t need to be since the hill gives them so much height. Dr. Chazdon is also interested in this effect so that’s pretty sweet.
Enough science tidbit for one day. With six trees to go, the batteries in the rangefinder bit the dust. Left the plot at 1:35pm and made it back to the station at 2:05pm, quite solid for a muddy mile hike and 3.8km bike ride. Got harassed by team baby trees for a little while and settled down for an omelet sandwich. Realized today, that I might be getting sick of eggs, ouch.
First good coffee break in a long time. I made my best coffees yet; threw in a little extra love this time. Tinny joined us a short while later and we got to wish exotic meats man Steve a farewell as he left for Little Rock (nice name for a city). The average coolness of researchers at La Selva just took a serious plunge, good thing I’m sticking around.
Yanks lost a nail-biter in the 13th do my despair. Karen made brownies with sprinkles this afternoon, which nicely coincided with ice-cream-for-dessert night at the comedor. Smushing a nice soft brownie into liquidy ice cream was quite a treat. Way to go Karen. Did some table-hopping to talk with some more cool kids. Forgot to drink coffee again, bad Ben bad.
Threw on kicks and pants and hit the mean streets of PV with Debra & Amanda for some Saturday night cultural exposure. Met some pretty interesting people, saw some familiar faces, all in all a decent outing. Didn’t get to bed until after 3:00am, time to start sleeping more. Tomorrow will hopefully include lots of coffee and batting in cat country (finally!, maybe, sort of weather dependent). 19-5/6 years tomorrow, whoopideedooda!
BP
Friday, June 22, 2007
Cansado
After hitting the hay at 2:00am or so after batting last night, got up at 6:30 to go hit the field. Lack of sleep combined with a sober coffee day had me deep in the yawnzies. Got started on measurements in Lindero Sur, our youngest forest plot at the back of the property.
By 2:30pm Tinny and I finished a little less than 70 trees on a rough hillside that begins the plot, good thing it looks a lot flatter for the rest of it. I saw a little snake that didn’t look too happy to see me, and some baby frogs. Tinny saw a little black cat scamper through the woods. Hopped on my horse on the way back to supposedly do “data entry.” Upon arriving back, I was dragged across the bridge in my field stench and moistness to watch a bunch of 25-year-olds destroy a piñata, good times.
Really didn’t have the energy for typing numbers for a half hour so I joined some other lazy folks on the porch, chatted it up, read some book. Had an eventful dinner with grumpy German bat dude who has it out for Amanda. Solid conversation revolving around themed bars in Berlin (Germany).
Enjoyed some office chill time and dropped some laundry. By 9:10pm I was 100% ready for bed than remembered my stupid laundry that was keeping me awake. At 9:40pm I rushed over to the machines, threw it all in a bag, carried it over to the cabina and passed out. Boring boring boring post, I know, might try to kick it up a notch in the coming weeks so I don’t lose readers (what a tragedy that would be).
Pledged that I will get back to drinking coffee tomorrow and lined up another solid field day in cat country. Amanda leaves Thursday for a mini-vacation to Panama City, Tinny also goes to San Jose later this week for some visa business. Got to pack in as much field work as possible these days. Hasta luego.
BP
By 2:30pm Tinny and I finished a little less than 70 trees on a rough hillside that begins the plot, good thing it looks a lot flatter for the rest of it. I saw a little snake that didn’t look too happy to see me, and some baby frogs. Tinny saw a little black cat scamper through the woods. Hopped on my horse on the way back to supposedly do “data entry.” Upon arriving back, I was dragged across the bridge in my field stench and moistness to watch a bunch of 25-year-olds destroy a piñata, good times.
Really didn’t have the energy for typing numbers for a half hour so I joined some other lazy folks on the porch, chatted it up, read some book. Had an eventful dinner with grumpy German bat dude who has it out for Amanda. Solid conversation revolving around themed bars in Berlin (Germany).
Enjoyed some office chill time and dropped some laundry. By 9:10pm I was 100% ready for bed than remembered my stupid laundry that was keeping me awake. At 9:40pm I rushed over to the machines, threw it all in a bag, carried it over to the cabina and passed out. Boring boring boring post, I know, might try to kick it up a notch in the coming weeks so I don’t lose readers (what a tragedy that would be).
Pledged that I will get back to drinking coffee tomorrow and lined up another solid field day in cat country. Amanda leaves Thursday for a mini-vacation to Panama City, Tinny also goes to San Jose later this week for some visa business. Got to pack in as much field work as possible these days. Hasta luego.
BP
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Termino
Done! With one hectare anyway, I’ve been dying to finish up all week and it finally happened today, only one day ahead of time. Jumping right into the next plot tomorrow morning. Experienced our first bicycle crisis that involved me renting a bike and a blown tube 2k out. Somehow we’ll make do.
Finished rechecking 45 trees today, found 6 or 7 that needed to be done for the first time including a freshly dead one (yay!, mortality). Hopped out of the plot for the last time in a while around 1:10pm and got back to the lab by 1:29pm, the real commute starts tomorrow. Hurried up the cleansing process to make the 2:00pm coffee break.
Sat through a ferocious rain storm at the comedor and slurped down 4 coffees. Chops made the call to forego Lindero Sur for tonight due to sketch weather, probably a good call. Instead I convinced myself it’d be a good idea just to tag along to the Finca el Bejuco to bat. Began with a scrumptious omelet sandwich and a solid 90 minutes of sitting in the rain.
Got the nets opened and caught a whopping two bats before 10:00pm when we packed things up. To make up for the dull night of batting I broke a dead tree and fell smack on the ground and got bitten up by some angry ants. Fell about 3-4 more times on the way back to the car. Saw a paca on last leg of our drive back. That’s gonna be a night y’all.
BP
Finished rechecking 45 trees today, found 6 or 7 that needed to be done for the first time including a freshly dead one (yay!, mortality). Hopped out of the plot for the last time in a while around 1:10pm and got back to the lab by 1:29pm, the real commute starts tomorrow. Hurried up the cleansing process to make the 2:00pm coffee break.
Sat through a ferocious rain storm at the comedor and slurped down 4 coffees. Chops made the call to forego Lindero Sur for tonight due to sketch weather, probably a good call. Instead I convinced myself it’d be a good idea just to tag along to the Finca el Bejuco to bat. Began with a scrumptious omelet sandwich and a solid 90 minutes of sitting in the rain.
Got the nets opened and caught a whopping two bats before 10:00pm when we packed things up. To make up for the dull night of batting I broke a dead tree and fell smack on the ground and got bitten up by some angry ants. Fell about 3-4 more times on the way back to the car. Saw a paca on last leg of our drive back. That’s gonna be a night y’all.
BP
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Cancelar
Not really in a super blogging mood today, stinking rain’s got me down. Got up supercharged and ready to roll, got delayed 20 minutes or so for the rain early on. I have an undying yearning to get out of this plot ASAP and it’s killing me. On top of just finishing data collection I have about a dozen little issues to think about.
In conclusion, working for yourself is rough, try it some time. Slow going in LEP again, mainly due to tracking down trees only to find that they couldn’t be harder. Getting through it nonetheless. 45 left to go tomorrow, 5 more to find and measure for the first time. Praying I don’t have to go back out and measure coordinates of inclined crowns (=major pain in the behind).
To continue with rain just eating away at my core, the forest got really dark at 1:00pm and the wind kicked up, so I made the safety first call and called it a day, short of our goal. At this point I was quite bummed, but still looking forward to batting in cat country tonight. Showered up and changed a tire tube to the girls’ enjoyment.
Then, it poured for about two hours and Amanda called off batting for the day. Not too often you have a day where all you want to do is work as much as possible and then it goes down the drain. Sorry for being so peeved. I’ll get over it soon enough though, I have high hopes for tomorrow. Ideally it will bring the end of LEP and batting with cats (postponed, not really cancelled).
Okay, funny time. Since batting was off, we went to watch a nice sloppy soccer game. Some time in the middle the ball gets launch over some huge shrubby things and they bring in a new ball. Meanwhile there’s this guy (Gustavo) pacing around hoping to get subbed in. With maybe 10 minutes to go, Gustavo starts climbing into the woods in the direction the ball went. All I could think was that someone told Gustavo, “Gus, if you go find the ball, we’ll let you play.”
Watched the Sox lay it on the Braves after dinner. Just finished up some data entry and I really need some solid sleep and to keep telling myself that tomorrow will kick butt. Go Yankees!, they need it right now.
BP
In conclusion, working for yourself is rough, try it some time. Slow going in LEP again, mainly due to tracking down trees only to find that they couldn’t be harder. Getting through it nonetheless. 45 left to go tomorrow, 5 more to find and measure for the first time. Praying I don’t have to go back out and measure coordinates of inclined crowns (=major pain in the behind).
To continue with rain just eating away at my core, the forest got really dark at 1:00pm and the wind kicked up, so I made the safety first call and called it a day, short of our goal. At this point I was quite bummed, but still looking forward to batting in cat country tonight. Showered up and changed a tire tube to the girls’ enjoyment.
Then, it poured for about two hours and Amanda called off batting for the day. Not too often you have a day where all you want to do is work as much as possible and then it goes down the drain. Sorry for being so peeved. I’ll get over it soon enough though, I have high hopes for tomorrow. Ideally it will bring the end of LEP and batting with cats (postponed, not really cancelled).
Okay, funny time. Since batting was off, we went to watch a nice sloppy soccer game. Some time in the middle the ball gets launch over some huge shrubby things and they bring in a new ball. Meanwhile there’s this guy (Gustavo) pacing around hoping to get subbed in. With maybe 10 minutes to go, Gustavo starts climbing into the woods in the direction the ball went. All I could think was that someone told Gustavo, “Gus, if you go find the ball, we’ll let you play.”
Watched the Sox lay it on the Braves after dinner. Just finished up some data entry and I really need some solid sleep and to keep telling myself that tomorrow will kick butt. Go Yankees!, they need it right now.
BP
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Busca
Beautiful morning in so many respects. First off, getting out of LEP is quickly becoming a reality as rechecking is moving along swimmingly. A wonderful breeze kept up for most of the work day, a rarity out in the forest. And since I was measuring some of the hardest trees in the plot a little wind makes crowns a lot more distinguishable.
Only downside was that our schedule of trees were scattered around and a good deal of time was spent tracking them down. This limited our productivity to 53 trees today, more tomorrow. Had a nice super hot shower and my hair is in the best condition (softest and bounciest) it’s been in over the last couple of weeks. I talk about my hair too much, uh?
Amazing omelet sandwich (omelet, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, & ketchup) for lupper, soon after I was pulled out of the office for a coffee break. Tried a couple of new coffee construction techniques, exciting stuff going down here. Quicker coffee break than usual, Debra & Amanda bounced to go bat at Selva Verde.
Tinny did some cycling practice on her own, I chilled in the office for a few, put off some work for after dinner. My eyes are currently killing me from staring at really involved data tables. Worth it though, because I often found differences under 20cm from trees I measured today and a month ago (been here a while, damn). When the differences were large, they typically corrected the anomaly we were trying to correct, more of that tomorrow, hopefully.
In the world of Debra, she’s located the “prison” were the doomed tadpoles are going to be kept. A Free Willy-esque liberation is already in the works, news on that soon. A day of La Selva Olympics is in the planning stage for Sunday, some awesome events on tap including a four-legged race (yup, three people).
Need the sleep tonight, nice little 18 hour day tomorrow. Super intense trees in the morning and then batting out at the back of the property with the dynamic duo. But seriously, screw bats, I’m going for the cats! Might want to expect a Thursday morning posting…peace.
BP
Only downside was that our schedule of trees were scattered around and a good deal of time was spent tracking them down. This limited our productivity to 53 trees today, more tomorrow. Had a nice super hot shower and my hair is in the best condition (softest and bounciest) it’s been in over the last couple of weeks. I talk about my hair too much, uh?
Amazing omelet sandwich (omelet, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, & ketchup) for lupper, soon after I was pulled out of the office for a coffee break. Tried a couple of new coffee construction techniques, exciting stuff going down here. Quicker coffee break than usual, Debra & Amanda bounced to go bat at Selva Verde.
Tinny did some cycling practice on her own, I chilled in the office for a few, put off some work for after dinner. My eyes are currently killing me from staring at really involved data tables. Worth it though, because I often found differences under 20cm from trees I measured today and a month ago (been here a while, damn). When the differences were large, they typically corrected the anomaly we were trying to correct, more of that tomorrow, hopefully.
In the world of Debra, she’s located the “prison” were the doomed tadpoles are going to be kept. A Free Willy-esque liberation is already in the works, news on that soon. A day of La Selva Olympics is in the planning stage for Sunday, some awesome events on tap including a four-legged race (yup, three people).
Need the sleep tonight, nice little 18 hour day tomorrow. Super intense trees in the morning and then batting out at the back of the property with the dynamic duo. But seriously, screw bats, I’m going for the cats! Might want to expect a Thursday morning posting…peace.
BP
Monday, June 18, 2007
Dilatoria
Opened my eyes all grumpy this morning at the rain. Two full days without going in the field really hurts, and it hurts more when it’s raining the morning you’re ready to go. Laid in bed for about an hour and the rain seemed to stop. From breakfast on, we operated on a rain delay schedule, but luckily lined up an easy day of work today; 19 short little trees scattered around the plot that needed to get done.
Back to the lab around 11:30am and got the grillz shined and hair bounced. After lunch, hit the ground running with some office work. Emailed Dr. Chazdon, entered data, did lots of thinking and writing of the thoughts. Got everything ready for the next two day when we’ll go to LEP and do another set of blind measurements on trees that fall outside of acceptable limits (currently a loss of 8% or more or a gain of 50% or more over 6 years).
Dropped some laundry, toiled with the office playlist, and listened to lots of Country (to Wanchope’s enjoyment). Pried away from my work at 2:30 to participate in afternoon coffee break (always an excellent time). My to go coffee still can’t make it back to the lab, must learn self control.
Expected to do some bike riding lessons today, didn’t happen, Team Chops thinks that Tinny should practice on her own, so I might retire from my tough love methods. My coffee cup has a puma on it, not a blue cat with a pink bowtie, just to clarify. Folded some laundry, savored my clean packtowl.
Worked right up until the Sox game and got in 4 innings before dinner. Coco Crisp (laughing out loud). Lead’s down to eight games and the league’s greatest home run hitter is heading to the mountains tomorrow (i.e. it’s ON). Made a fun sign in MS Word and got my data book ready to go with 72 trees for tomorrow, we’re going to rock it out.
Plant ID class-thing tomorrow at 2:00pm if I’m back in time, that would be really helpful out there. Wednesday is one more day of measurements in LEP. Wednesday night involves catching bats in cat country (maybe we should catch cats just for fun). Somebody once said what happens in Costa Rica stays in Costa Rica, actually it just gets blogged about and plastered all over the internet. Hasta mañana.
BP
Back to the lab around 11:30am and got the grillz shined and hair bounced. After lunch, hit the ground running with some office work. Emailed Dr. Chazdon, entered data, did lots of thinking and writing of the thoughts. Got everything ready for the next two day when we’ll go to LEP and do another set of blind measurements on trees that fall outside of acceptable limits (currently a loss of 8% or more or a gain of 50% or more over 6 years).
Dropped some laundry, toiled with the office playlist, and listened to lots of Country (to Wanchope’s enjoyment). Pried away from my work at 2:30 to participate in afternoon coffee break (always an excellent time). My to go coffee still can’t make it back to the lab, must learn self control.
Expected to do some bike riding lessons today, didn’t happen, Team Chops thinks that Tinny should practice on her own, so I might retire from my tough love methods. My coffee cup has a puma on it, not a blue cat with a pink bowtie, just to clarify. Folded some laundry, savored my clean packtowl.
Worked right up until the Sox game and got in 4 innings before dinner. Coco Crisp (laughing out loud). Lead’s down to eight games and the league’s greatest home run hitter is heading to the mountains tomorrow (i.e. it’s ON). Made a fun sign in MS Word and got my data book ready to go with 72 trees for tomorrow, we’re going to rock it out.
Plant ID class-thing tomorrow at 2:00pm if I’m back in time, that would be really helpful out there. Wednesday is one more day of measurements in LEP. Wednesday night involves catching bats in cat country (maybe we should catch cats just for fun). Somebody once said what happens in Costa Rica stays in Costa Rica, actually it just gets blogged about and plastered all over the internet. Hasta mañana.
BP
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Mayonesa
Slept for a real solid 4 hours and woke up to a nice yolky egg. Super quiet morning around the office/lab. Got to concentrate on reading End of Poverty for the first time in a while, enjoyed fine weather on the porch. The rest of the team got up later and we kicked off the morning with a short bike lesson.
Ate lunch inside, that was weird. Everybody was feeling really lazy, Debra & I watched a couple of episodes of Entourage (gobbles of giggles). Debra feels that she was a man born in a woman’s body, although I disagree, she’s more of a one-of-a-kind girl. Resumed highly spirited (at least on my part) bike lessons up and down the first part of the STR.
Coffee break at 3:00pm. Got to show off our fly cups to the coolest researcher in all of tropical biology, Steve (of course) (Steve of exotic meats and willing parasitic host). Attempted to get Tinny to cycle off into the sunset, although the sun went down and we developed about 3 new bad habits for fixing this week.
Along with constantly singing the one line she knows in the Mayonesa song, Debra spent most of her day crying about tadpoles and pesticides. One of the REUs is on a mission to murder 900 tadpoles and Debra “Dirt Major” Hausladen is going to save the day and talk to some of the higher ups to stop the genocide (frog-o-cide?). I wish her luck.
Very interesting dinner entrée. So imagine combining a stuffed-shell-type-noodle, that chicken from chimis and flautas, and tomato paste. Everyone really enjoyed this exotic new taste. Baseball time! Missed A-Rod’s two run shot (27) in the first, but the rerun sufficed. 8 2/3, 10k for the Taiwanese sensation. Also had a nice little group of fellow fans, that’s a first. Until tomorrow…
BP
Ate lunch inside, that was weird. Everybody was feeling really lazy, Debra & I watched a couple of episodes of Entourage (gobbles of giggles). Debra feels that she was a man born in a woman’s body, although I disagree, she’s more of a one-of-a-kind girl. Resumed highly spirited (at least on my part) bike lessons up and down the first part of the STR.
Coffee break at 3:00pm. Got to show off our fly cups to the coolest researcher in all of tropical biology, Steve (of course) (Steve of exotic meats and willing parasitic host). Attempted to get Tinny to cycle off into the sunset, although the sun went down and we developed about 3 new bad habits for fixing this week.
Along with constantly singing the one line she knows in the Mayonesa song, Debra spent most of her day crying about tadpoles and pesticides. One of the REUs is on a mission to murder 900 tadpoles and Debra “Dirt Major” Hausladen is going to save the day and talk to some of the higher ups to stop the genocide (frog-o-cide?). I wish her luck.
Very interesting dinner entrée. So imagine combining a stuffed-shell-type-noodle, that chicken from chimis and flautas, and tomato paste. Everyone really enjoyed this exotic new taste. Baseball time! Missed A-Rod’s two run shot (27) in the first, but the rerun sufficed. 8 2/3, 10k for the Taiwanese sensation. Also had a nice little group of fellow fans, that’s a first. Until tomorrow…
BP
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Libre
No field today, oh well. After breakfast went to the REU Proposal Symposium where the 12 REU students gave presentations about the projects they’ll be doing for the rest of the summer. That was pretty entertaining and summed up before lunch.
After lunch entered data and attempted to watch the Sox/Giants game, but, of course, LA/LA was given precedent in Latin America (?). Who makes these decisions anyway? Discouraged, I joined Debra and Amanda across the way as they tried to repair some holes in the bat nets. Ended up averaging about one per hour and did a lot more sitting around than sewing.
Took this annoying keyboard holder thing off the second desk in our office with the shiny new adjustable wrench. Accomplishments are excellent. Was looking forward to doing some bike riding lessons with Tinny, but she was not lacking excuses. Debated watching the US Open, but decided I couldn’t justify that in the nice weather we were having.
Time flew by and then it was time to go out to dinner (Amanda, Debra, Tinny, Danielle & I). Taxied on over to the Ara Ambigua lodge. I attempted to tell entertaining stories and be my entertaining self, but who knows? Had some crispy platanos and sea bass. After dinner we played a round of pool. Went to sit outside and my camera got a little LCD boo boo. That was depressing, but she still snaps the pictures, so no worries.
Walked out to the main road and grabbed some sketch taxi up the street to a bar called Los Portones. Later on ended up going back toward La Selva at another place called La Y Griega. Hitched a ride back with these Tico brothers and hit the hay hard some time before two. Maybe not the most solid post ever.
At least I remembered an excellent play from breakfast this morning for everyone’s entertainment. Amanda, Debra & I are sitting outside a little before 8:00am and a big ole tour group roles up and is chilling near the comedor…
Jefe-looking lady from tour group (to the group): So you guys work here? (group nods) So where you all from?
Amanda (with gusto): The University of Connecticut (some other stuff), I’m in the first year of my Ph.D.…
Jefe Lady (giddy): Oh! You’re so young!
(Group giggles)
Amanda (superiority complex settling in): Actually I’m ten years older than these guys
Jefe Lady: Well then they must be like 12 (more giggles)
Me (bored from not talking in a little while) (to Amanda): The pigtails take off at least five years
Well, it was funny in the moment, talk to you tomorrow.
BP
After lunch entered data and attempted to watch the Sox/Giants game, but, of course, LA/LA was given precedent in Latin America (?). Who makes these decisions anyway? Discouraged, I joined Debra and Amanda across the way as they tried to repair some holes in the bat nets. Ended up averaging about one per hour and did a lot more sitting around than sewing.
Took this annoying keyboard holder thing off the second desk in our office with the shiny new adjustable wrench. Accomplishments are excellent. Was looking forward to doing some bike riding lessons with Tinny, but she was not lacking excuses. Debated watching the US Open, but decided I couldn’t justify that in the nice weather we were having.
Time flew by and then it was time to go out to dinner (Amanda, Debra, Tinny, Danielle & I). Taxied on over to the Ara Ambigua lodge. I attempted to tell entertaining stories and be my entertaining self, but who knows? Had some crispy platanos and sea bass. After dinner we played a round of pool. Went to sit outside and my camera got a little LCD boo boo. That was depressing, but she still snaps the pictures, so no worries.
Walked out to the main road and grabbed some sketch taxi up the street to a bar called Los Portones. Later on ended up going back toward La Selva at another place called La Y Griega. Hitched a ride back with these Tico brothers and hit the hay hard some time before two. Maybe not the most solid post ever.
At least I remembered an excellent play from breakfast this morning for everyone’s entertainment. Amanda, Debra & I are sitting outside a little before 8:00am and a big ole tour group roles up and is chilling near the comedor…
Jefe-looking lady from tour group (to the group): So you guys work here? (group nods) So where you all from?
Amanda (with gusto): The University of Connecticut (some other stuff), I’m in the first year of my Ph.D.…
Jefe Lady (giddy): Oh! You’re so young!
(Group giggles)
Amanda (superiority complex settling in): Actually I’m ten years older than these guys
Jefe Lady: Well then they must be like 12 (more giggles)
Me (bored from not talking in a little while) (to Amanda): The pigtails take off at least five years
Well, it was funny in the moment, talk to you tomorrow.
BP
Friday, June 15, 2007
Cien
Finished the first run through the first hectare this morning. Awesome to be out at subplot 100 and measure the last tree, got me all excited. Better yet, we’re two field days ahead and should be done with re-checking Wednesday or Thursday. Only had about 35 trees to do this morning, so I was back to the station shortly after noon.
Didn’t have too much to do, rather the motivation to do too much so Debra and I broke out the Squidgie (thanks Philmont) and tossed it around for a while. Only had to pull it off a roof twice and a tree once. And with any lazy afternoon, a coffee break was in order. As usual, I ended up making the majority of the coffees (kind of like pretending that I work in some fancy coffee shop that only uses cups 5-year-olds would have).
Mid-coffee break, Debra, Amanda & I met a new friend who arrived today. Lauren’s a senior at UNH (the New Hampshire one) and from Connecticut. So you know what that means…two baseball fans now turned into three baseball fans. 5:00pm called for bike riding lessons, so we picked Tinny up at the cabinas.
Soon enough we had about 10 researchers and a security assisting with the bike riding. Around 5:45pm I believe it was the most exciting thing to see on the station. A little before dinner I snuck away to the lounge to watch the Rocket pitch a few with Karen. Finished the game after dinner, tough to get a loss with 2 ER and 8 K through six, but the bats just weren’t doing it.
Played in the office after the devastating loss, then hopped over to Pablo’s going away party back at the lounge. Uber-tiredness and super-yawnzies were already with me at 10:00pm and I hit the hay a little after midnight. Tomorrow’s got a lot on tap, look forward to a solid post. ¡Hasta!
BP
Didn’t have too much to do, rather the motivation to do too much so Debra and I broke out the Squidgie (thanks Philmont) and tossed it around for a while. Only had to pull it off a roof twice and a tree once. And with any lazy afternoon, a coffee break was in order. As usual, I ended up making the majority of the coffees (kind of like pretending that I work in some fancy coffee shop that only uses cups 5-year-olds would have).
Mid-coffee break, Debra, Amanda & I met a new friend who arrived today. Lauren’s a senior at UNH (the New Hampshire one) and from Connecticut. So you know what that means…two baseball fans now turned into three baseball fans. 5:00pm called for bike riding lessons, so we picked Tinny up at the cabinas.
Soon enough we had about 10 researchers and a security assisting with the bike riding. Around 5:45pm I believe it was the most exciting thing to see on the station. A little before dinner I snuck away to the lounge to watch the Rocket pitch a few with Karen. Finished the game after dinner, tough to get a loss with 2 ER and 8 K through six, but the bats just weren’t doing it.
Played in the office after the devastating loss, then hopped over to Pablo’s going away party back at the lounge. Uber-tiredness and super-yawnzies were already with me at 10:00pm and I hit the hay a little after midnight. Tomorrow’s got a lot on tap, look forward to a solid post. ¡Hasta!
BP
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Bandera
Flag Day, eh? Of all the traditional holidays, greeting card company holidays and government holidays, Flag Day doesn’t seem to fit in. It could so be easily absorbed into the 4th. Anyway, that was the first thing I thought this morning, right along side, “dang, I used a lot of Robitussin last night.”
And, yes, the sickness continues. These week days are beginning to settle into a groove, which is excellent for me, and less exciting for all you regular readers. Got started in the field a little later so that Tinny could move on up to the cabinas. 55 trees, out by 1:45pm. I swear about two more busloads of people joined us today, this jungle is packed.
Met up with the other half Team Wanchope after my shower. Debra goofed around on my computer for what seemed like forever trying to use Skype. Finally got that to work by 3:30pm. Afternoon coffee break time. Enjoyed our portable iced-greatness with the futbol game down at the field.
Intense game. Saw the girls off to Juan Enriques, and played around the lab until dinner. This might be the most boring day to write about ever. Gotta say the highlight of my day was Debra’s story about breaking her tooth in Las Vegas, it’s a long one. I could go on and on about how excited I am about the winning streak, but let’s face it I’ll just be a little happier if the Yanks win each day.
Attempted to bring a coffee back with me to the office, it didn’t make it. Really need to get some solid sleep tonight, the last two have been brutal. Activities for tomorrow include some bike tube changing, bike riding lessons, and afternoon coffee break. Maybe I’ll just copy/paste day to day.
Topping the week off with the sixth straight day in the field and looking to finish the first run through the plot. Finished subplot 94/100 today. I’m very excited to start working in our next plot, Lindero Sur, because of the mile or so hike every morning. I enjoy being in the forest working more and more every morning. Quite convinced I want to come back.
(forgot to use parentheses the whole post, so here you go).
BP
And, yes, the sickness continues. These week days are beginning to settle into a groove, which is excellent for me, and less exciting for all you regular readers. Got started in the field a little later so that Tinny could move on up to the cabinas. 55 trees, out by 1:45pm. I swear about two more busloads of people joined us today, this jungle is packed.
Met up with the other half Team Wanchope after my shower. Debra goofed around on my computer for what seemed like forever trying to use Skype. Finally got that to work by 3:30pm. Afternoon coffee break time. Enjoyed our portable iced-greatness with the futbol game down at the field.
Intense game. Saw the girls off to Juan Enriques, and played around the lab until dinner. This might be the most boring day to write about ever. Gotta say the highlight of my day was Debra’s story about breaking her tooth in Las Vegas, it’s a long one. I could go on and on about how excited I am about the winning streak, but let’s face it I’ll just be a little happier if the Yanks win each day.
Attempted to bring a coffee back with me to the office, it didn’t make it. Really need to get some solid sleep tonight, the last two have been brutal. Activities for tomorrow include some bike tube changing, bike riding lessons, and afternoon coffee break. Maybe I’ll just copy/paste day to day.
Topping the week off with the sixth straight day in the field and looking to finish the first run through the plot. Finished subplot 94/100 today. I’m very excited to start working in our next plot, Lindero Sur, because of the mile or so hike every morning. I enjoy being in the forest working more and more every morning. Quite convinced I want to come back.
(forgot to use parentheses the whole post, so here you go).
BP
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Beisbol
Rough morning, excellent rest of the day. Rolled myself out of bed and walked over to breakfast half asleep, had a tough time sleeping with the stuffy nose. Refused to let my complaints and malady hurt the efficiency, pushed myself the whole way. On top of the old nose (which went from stuffy to runny then back to stuffy in the field) I was sneezing about every 3 minutes (which seemed to entertain Tinny). Had recurring heartburn and forgot my packtowl. Through all that, I had to work in some thick vegetation, the kind of vegetation that calls for a machete (bad eco-hippy, bad). Now I’m done complaining for a good month. We measured a respectable 65 trees. Spent the whole day looking forward to the Yanks game tonight.
Back at the station at 1:30pm, showered, shaved the beastly beard (nice and smooth now). Enjoyed an omelet/lettuce/tomato/ketchup sandwich over some ESPN.com (so choice). From there, it was time for afternoon coffee, the best activity ever. Even better today since we got to break in the new cups.
Tinny graced us with her presence and I was able to snap this amazing picture (L to R, Debra, Amanda, Tinny) (yes, they really do laugh that much when I tell jokes). Drinking coffee out of a straw is definitely on my list of top three consumptions (Wings is probably on that list too). Did the comedor thing until 3:30pm and change. Carried a coffee back over the bridge with me, awesome.
Was good and entered data, listened to a podcast (trying to get into them as a strategy to stop listening to the same 5 pop songs). Through all that, the afternoon zipped by with minimal down time. 5:15pm – Yankees/Diamondbacks. Giddy with excitement of course. Karen joined me in the lounge for the pre-dinner part of the game. Saw A-Rod hit his 25th, I might have screamed a little too loud, but what the hell.
Dinner barbacoa-style, corn-on-the-cob, various chorizos. Debra & Tinny got upgraded to cabina 5D, the one I lived in for about 15 minutes. Got the whole team on the cool side now. 101 trees left to finish the first run through the plot, exciting stuff. Finished watching the Yanks’ eighth straight after eating, and that’s going to be it for now.
Got an email today about EMS Buckland Hills hiring part-time employees. That hurt. And hey, if you're interested go grab an application, then hook me up with some cheap gear for giving the heads up. Week’s lining up with two more field days, out Saturday night, Yankees/Mets Sunday night. Can’t really beat that, I’m psyched. Going to try and annihilate this nasopharyngeal stuffiness.
BP
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Afuera
Can’t imagine I ever settled for a job indoors. Every morning in the forest is absolutely wonderful. Just standing there and listening to all the birds and mammals and bugs is definitely one thing I’ll miss about La Selva (good thing I'm trying to come back). Around 11:00am we had a little rain scare, but luckily got to finish out our third straight field day.
Plot was busy today; as Tinny and I banged out 66 trees, Amanda, Debra, Susan and Tommy (from Jones, Oklahoma) mapped seedlings. Finished up at 12:50pm, very good time. I need to put air in the bike tires and I miss my bike (every time I feel like grabbing air on a bump in the trail or just winging it down some dirt path).
It’s nice to be back to writing my own blog, although I, and hope you, found yesterday entertaining. Talked to my parents/family on the old Skype for a while today. They’re convinced I’m a good writer, so I plan to write the Great American Novel (that’s the title too) at the age of 47, then I’ll be really stingy about the movie rights since everyone will love my book so much.
Talking about writing and reading and books and movies makes me think about Harry Potter. I sort of gave up after reading the Goblet of Fire. Should have considered finishing up 5, 6, and 7 (soon) down here. Maybe in the in between time after trees and before school. My course load is going to be quite a contrast to my summer; tropical succession ecology to chemistry, chemistry, physics, physics, & math (ha).
So remember the 80-90 cm Boa? Saw about a 2 meter one today about five yards from my bed, just outside the cabina. It was big, juicy, and tasty looking; certainly ideal for a petting zoo, although customs probably won’t agree. Umbrella (ella ella ey ey ey) is stuck in my head. Time to look into hot new summer country.
Yummy, Yankees/Mets is on Sunday night. The three ((out of dozens) (?!)) of us who find subway series entertaining should have a blast. I wonder if over-usage of parentheses will hurt my forthcoming novel (it will probably be the “in” thing to do then) (along with blogging every chapter, ha). Good thing the NBA Finals isn’t exciting anymore; otherwise I’d miss watching it more. Right now all I miss is Tim Duncan’s facial expressions (that’s old school, son).
Pops informed me that the application for campus parking permits came in the mail. That doesn’t make me miss the vibrator (sarcastic quip). I have this killer idea for my culminating research project. Once I’m sure nobody’s done it (and once it has a killer title) I’ll share. My mind has been going from groundbreaking research idea to Umbrella (ella ella) all…day…long…
Not blogging for four days (Re: yesterday) was bull, and turns out the picture promise is too. My bad. I must commit myself to enter data every day, as opposed to letting 450 numbers sit and wait in the notebook. Spent the afternoon with that and laundry. Seriously considering shaving pretty soon, realized I’m not the sprawling facial hair type, like some.
Having candy, and a tapestry, in the office is quite nice. Removing and washing my dirty clothes also has helped to eliminate some of the stench. Just some residual backpack smellies now. Overslept this morning, felt pretty bad about that, so early bird (me) gets the worm (huevos, hur hur hur) tomorrow.
Just realized I could blow my entire summer stipend the first week of school by seeing Kenny in Hartford and going to the Yanks/Sox midweek series each night in Boston. Let’s not. Got Cynthia (GIS Manager) turned on to the iced coffee at dinner tonight. Karen baked brownies today, yum. Brownies and pizza. Had some aftertaste later, but the food was good.
Amanda & Debra (Debra’s getting rabies today, she won’t be too much fun anymore) are at Finca el Bejuco batting, Tinny’s quietly avoiding bike lessons like the plague. Less than 200 trees to go in LEP (three solid field days and we’ll be donezies two days ahead of time). That last batch of data looked really good, so I’m generally psyched.
The longevity of this entry makes up for the brevity of yesterday (those are cool words to use in a sentence some time, try it). I’ve been trying to print this article on wood density for three days, but every time I try the printer is out of paper (a hindrance since the paper tray is locked). Reading computer screens is bad for the specs; seriously, print my blog (then recycle the paper!).
You know microgreens (e.g. broccoli sprouts)? I want a microforest to like keep in my room, basically a terrarium, but microforest sounds way better. Ad on ESPN.com: “we are all witnesses” (pic of Lebron) (subtitle left out: to the beginning of Lebron’s Dan Marino career) (wish I could still say Peyton, shoot). That’s only going to get picked up by a fraction of you (sorry) but you can’t predict where the old stream of consciousness will run.
That’s quite enough for one entry, wish I had a play to share with you right now. Keeping my ears open tomorrow, and maybe my shutter (of the camera, eh?).
BP
Plot was busy today; as Tinny and I banged out 66 trees, Amanda, Debra, Susan and Tommy (from Jones, Oklahoma) mapped seedlings. Finished up at 12:50pm, very good time. I need to put air in the bike tires and I miss my bike (every time I feel like grabbing air on a bump in the trail or just winging it down some dirt path).
It’s nice to be back to writing my own blog, although I, and hope you, found yesterday entertaining. Talked to my parents/family on the old Skype for a while today. They’re convinced I’m a good writer, so I plan to write the Great American Novel (that’s the title too) at the age of 47, then I’ll be really stingy about the movie rights since everyone will love my book so much.
Talking about writing and reading and books and movies makes me think about Harry Potter. I sort of gave up after reading the Goblet of Fire. Should have considered finishing up 5, 6, and 7 (soon) down here. Maybe in the in between time after trees and before school. My course load is going to be quite a contrast to my summer; tropical succession ecology to chemistry, chemistry, physics, physics, & math (ha).
So remember the 80-90 cm Boa? Saw about a 2 meter one today about five yards from my bed, just outside the cabina. It was big, juicy, and tasty looking; certainly ideal for a petting zoo, although customs probably won’t agree. Umbrella (ella ella ey ey ey) is stuck in my head. Time to look into hot new summer country.
Yummy, Yankees/Mets is on Sunday night. The three ((out of dozens) (?!)) of us who find subway series entertaining should have a blast. I wonder if over-usage of parentheses will hurt my forthcoming novel (it will probably be the “in” thing to do then) (along with blogging every chapter, ha). Good thing the NBA Finals isn’t exciting anymore; otherwise I’d miss watching it more. Right now all I miss is Tim Duncan’s facial expressions (that’s old school, son).
Pops informed me that the application for campus parking permits came in the mail. That doesn’t make me miss the vibrator (sarcastic quip). I have this killer idea for my culminating research project. Once I’m sure nobody’s done it (and once it has a killer title) I’ll share. My mind has been going from groundbreaking research idea to Umbrella (ella ella) all…day…long…
Not blogging for four days (Re: yesterday) was bull, and turns out the picture promise is too. My bad. I must commit myself to enter data every day, as opposed to letting 450 numbers sit and wait in the notebook. Spent the afternoon with that and laundry. Seriously considering shaving pretty soon, realized I’m not the sprawling facial hair type, like some.
Having candy, and a tapestry, in the office is quite nice. Removing and washing my dirty clothes also has helped to eliminate some of the stench. Just some residual backpack smellies now. Overslept this morning, felt pretty bad about that, so early bird (me) gets the worm (huevos, hur hur hur) tomorrow.
Just realized I could blow my entire summer stipend the first week of school by seeing Kenny in Hartford and going to the Yanks/Sox midweek series each night in Boston. Let’s not. Got Cynthia (GIS Manager) turned on to the iced coffee at dinner tonight. Karen baked brownies today, yum. Brownies and pizza. Had some aftertaste later, but the food was good.
Amanda & Debra (Debra’s getting rabies today, she won’t be too much fun anymore) are at Finca el Bejuco batting, Tinny’s quietly avoiding bike lessons like the plague. Less than 200 trees to go in LEP (three solid field days and we’ll be donezies two days ahead of time). That last batch of data looked really good, so I’m generally psyched.
The longevity of this entry makes up for the brevity of yesterday (those are cool words to use in a sentence some time, try it). I’ve been trying to print this article on wood density for three days, but every time I try the printer is out of paper (a hindrance since the paper tray is locked). Reading computer screens is bad for the specs; seriously, print my blog (then recycle the paper!).
You know microgreens (e.g. broccoli sprouts)? I want a microforest to like keep in my room, basically a terrarium, but microforest sounds way better. Ad on ESPN.com: “we are all witnesses” (pic of Lebron) (subtitle left out: to the beginning of Lebron’s Dan Marino career) (wish I could still say Peyton, shoot). That’s only going to get picked up by a fraction of you (sorry) but you can’t predict where the old stream of consciousness will run.
That’s quite enough for one entry, wish I had a play to share with you right now. Keeping my ears open tomorrow, and maybe my shutter (of the camera, eh?).
BP
Monday, June 11, 2007
Pato
Set a new record for trees this morning, 62. Also got done in pretty good time, out of the plot by one. Clutch, baby, clutch. Then made bouncy hair, putzed around the office, made the trip to the comedor with wanchops and d-unit. Did the coffee ritual. Lazed around until dinner. We have decided the bridge zapps too much energy. Hung out with the tinnster. We’re hoping she’ll bless us with her presence during the lit hours so we can continue the intensive biking instruction.
Met some new people today. Basically a whole lot of nothing and four more days of nothing to come. Won’t bother to blog about it.
Wanchops citified herself and ventured into town for the evening. Good thing she’s the one in charge, because she’s not too good at following orders. Was instructed to bring back a blender, preferably one that shaves, not crushes, ice, a golf cart, margarita glasses, candy, coffee coolers, straws, and I of course stressed the need for the pink girly umbrella ella ellas. She only managed to finagle the coffee coolers and confites. But at the end of the day she’s still the chops because the coolers have capped straws and cats, ducks, and doggies. We’re going to be the envy of la selva at breakfast tomorrow.
Debra decided to flex her artistic guns and rose above the call of duty with a beautiful tapestry. It was intended as a candy hammock, but we decided that it needed to be more prominently displayed, and gave it a honored-below-(my)eye-level spot. Picture tomorrow….
Peace, Bristahllllll…
Guest blogger Debra “designated hitter” Hausladen
Met some new people today. Basically a whole lot of nothing and four more days of nothing to come. Won’t bother to blog about it.
Wanchops citified herself and ventured into town for the evening. Good thing she’s the one in charge, because she’s not too good at following orders. Was instructed to bring back a blender, preferably one that shaves, not crushes, ice, a golf cart, margarita glasses, candy, coffee coolers, straws, and I of course stressed the need for the pink girly umbrella ella ellas. She only managed to finagle the coffee coolers and confites. But at the end of the day she’s still the chops because the coolers have capped straws and cats, ducks, and doggies. We’re going to be the envy of la selva at breakfast tomorrow.
Debra decided to flex her artistic guns and rose above the call of duty with a beautiful tapestry. It was intended as a candy hammock, but we decided that it needed to be more prominently displayed, and gave it a honored-below-(my)eye-level spot. Picture tomorrow….
Peace, Bristahllllll…
Guest blogger Debra “designated hitter” Hausladen
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Comedor
A long slow day with plenty of goofing around. Started it off a lot earlier than most everyone else. Took off for LEP with Tinny & Dr. Chazdon some time around 8:00am. Some of the best morning weather of my entire stay. Got really excited seeing really tall crowns really well. Biked down to the end of STR before going into the plot. Great plantation and open areas out there. Saw a 80-90 centimeter Boa on the trail on the way into LEP.
Three people working in the field was really efficient; Dr. Chazdon hunted down all the trees and Tinny caught up with the reflector. Interesting areas of the plot. Leaf cutter ant devastation, lots of pentaclethra seedlings, less canopy palms. Measured 32 trees in roughly two hours, called it a day and biked on back for lunch.
After lunch, set up a meeting with Dr. Chazdon to go over fun research stuff. That went excellent as do most meetings with Dr. Chazdon. Talked about current research issues, and more interestingly future projects for University Scholar. Maybe something with wood density (drilling holes in trees, yay!) and specific leaf area. Looking for something pretty cool with some more fieldwork…
Finished that meeting up sometime before 3:00pm and porched it. Debated going into town, debated fixing our bikes, debated walking in the rain. Put off decisions and finally decided on some ice cream and iced coffee. Paid a whopping 500 colones for a “Choco Bigger;” not in the same league as the Eskimo Churchill (still craving, no PV trip today).
Hung out with Debra at the dining hall for the two hours or so before dinner. Had dinner with the great Connecticut contingent. Soon to dwindle with Dr. Chazdon on her way out tomorrow morning and Pablo leaving later this week.
Whole bunch of nothing after dinner. Sat on the porch for a little while. Six in a row for the Yankees, postseason settling into the crosshairs, finally. I haven’t watched a drop of sports in six days, that’s taxing on the brain. A few people went floating down the river and saw a big croc. I’m going to start leading a night expedition called “Big Game: Cats & Crocs.” Hopefully Discovery Channel will pick it up.
A closing quote: “I’m Tommy Jones from Jones, Oklahoma; I go to Oklahoma City University.” –Debra’s new speedy REU seedling buddy Tommy Jones (boy’s got nice style).
BP
Three people working in the field was really efficient; Dr. Chazdon hunted down all the trees and Tinny caught up with the reflector. Interesting areas of the plot. Leaf cutter ant devastation, lots of pentaclethra seedlings, less canopy palms. Measured 32 trees in roughly two hours, called it a day and biked on back for lunch.
After lunch, set up a meeting with Dr. Chazdon to go over fun research stuff. That went excellent as do most meetings with Dr. Chazdon. Talked about current research issues, and more interestingly future projects for University Scholar. Maybe something with wood density (drilling holes in trees, yay!) and specific leaf area. Looking for something pretty cool with some more fieldwork…
Finished that meeting up sometime before 3:00pm and porched it. Debated going into town, debated fixing our bikes, debated walking in the rain. Put off decisions and finally decided on some ice cream and iced coffee. Paid a whopping 500 colones for a “Choco Bigger;” not in the same league as the Eskimo Churchill (still craving, no PV trip today).
Hung out with Debra at the dining hall for the two hours or so before dinner. Had dinner with the great Connecticut contingent. Soon to dwindle with Dr. Chazdon on her way out tomorrow morning and Pablo leaving later this week.
Whole bunch of nothing after dinner. Sat on the porch for a little while. Six in a row for the Yankees, postseason settling into the crosshairs, finally. I haven’t watched a drop of sports in six days, that’s taxing on the brain. A few people went floating down the river and saw a big croc. I’m going to start leading a night expedition called “Big Game: Cats & Crocs.” Hopefully Discovery Channel will pick it up.
A closing quote: “I’m Tommy Jones from Jones, Oklahoma; I go to Oklahoma City University.” –Debra’s new speedy REU seedling buddy Tommy Jones (boy’s got nice style).
BP
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Estación
Unnecessarily long day around the station, definitely missed being out in the field after four straight. Tinny has an ankle and the REU mentor symposium was today so fieldwork was pushed back. Squeezed in about 5-5.5 hours of sleep and still got to breakfast before most.
Brushed the old teeth and scooted over to the visitor’s center for the start of the symposium. It’s always exciting to learn about other people’s research. 11 or 12 mentors gave 20-25 minute talks from about 8:30am until 3:00pm. Coffee and snack break too. It rained three separate times today.
After lunch Debra, Amanda & Dr. Chazdon went to LEP to start the seedling-mapping project. Spaced out for a little while after the symposium, gathered myself and hit the porch. Did a minute amount of reading; Amanda, Danielle & Susan decided to write a reggaeton song…
During my spacing out, I tried to think of one moment that put me where I am right now, in CR and life-wise. Tenth grade biology, Ms. Vetrano. Sitting in class one day we were talking about cellular respiration. When Ms. Vetrano started to explain the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation I remember being completely consumed and fascinated. From there I became a stellar bio student and then, y’know, one thing leads to another. I’m always amazed by the singular moments and conversations that will stick with me forever, and that they all have some reason behind them. Crazy stuff.
Spent some time reading about the great Roger Clemens comeback and the Yanks’ fifth straight after dinner. On the note of sports news, Tennessee?!?! You don’t bow out of a rivalry after winning three straight and the match-up being voted the best in all of women’s sports. Depressing news from the big CT.
Around 8:30pm went over the REU Student/Mentor Mixer (bad name, REU Throwdown would have been more successful). Chit-chatted for a few hours with a few people. Pretty low key; exotic meats man Steve is a really good dancer…quickly becoming my idol for his knowledge of ants, dancing, and, of course, exotic meats.
Tomorrow is chock-full of activities. First, time in the field doing some heights with Dr. Chazdon and Tinny. Lunch. Meeting with Dr. Chazdon about all the questions I’ve been saving for three weeks. Then, hopefully, to town for Tico futbol and Eskimo Churchills. Good stuff. Maybe game two of the Finals will be on, maybe. Peace.
BP
Brushed the old teeth and scooted over to the visitor’s center for the start of the symposium. It’s always exciting to learn about other people’s research. 11 or 12 mentors gave 20-25 minute talks from about 8:30am until 3:00pm. Coffee and snack break too. It rained three separate times today.
After lunch Debra, Amanda & Dr. Chazdon went to LEP to start the seedling-mapping project. Spaced out for a little while after the symposium, gathered myself and hit the porch. Did a minute amount of reading; Amanda, Danielle & Susan decided to write a reggaeton song…
During my spacing out, I tried to think of one moment that put me where I am right now, in CR and life-wise. Tenth grade biology, Ms. Vetrano. Sitting in class one day we were talking about cellular respiration. When Ms. Vetrano started to explain the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation I remember being completely consumed and fascinated. From there I became a stellar bio student and then, y’know, one thing leads to another. I’m always amazed by the singular moments and conversations that will stick with me forever, and that they all have some reason behind them. Crazy stuff.
Spent some time reading about the great Roger Clemens comeback and the Yanks’ fifth straight after dinner. On the note of sports news, Tennessee?!?! You don’t bow out of a rivalry after winning three straight and the match-up being voted the best in all of women’s sports. Depressing news from the big CT.
Around 8:30pm went over the REU Student/Mentor Mixer (bad name, REU Throwdown would have been more successful). Chit-chatted for a few hours with a few people. Pretty low key; exotic meats man Steve is a really good dancer…quickly becoming my idol for his knowledge of ants, dancing, and, of course, exotic meats.
Tomorrow is chock-full of activities. First, time in the field doing some heights with Dr. Chazdon and Tinny. Lunch. Meeting with Dr. Chazdon about all the questions I’ve been saving for three weeks. Then, hopefully, to town for Tico futbol and Eskimo Churchills. Good stuff. Maybe game two of the Finals will be on, maybe. Peace.
BP
Friday, June 8, 2007
Gatos
These days are getting awfully long and these blog entries might be getting awfully short. Started off the day a little late. Had a really solid sleep from about 10:30pm to 7:00am. Breakfast is becoming more and more of an enjoyable experience. Delayed start to fieldwork.
Work went well, a little slow at time due to logistics of the areas we were working in, nice cool weather. Saw a little bitty snake, wasn’t too scared. Closed up shop a little before two and biked on back. Found Amanda & Debra on the porch, took a shower.
Decided to join the two of them batting off-site at Selva Verde. Supercharged on 3 cups of iced coffee and that wonderful night of sleep I was ready to go. Had a great drive in the Samurai, once Amanda got it started. Very puddle-y, rocky roads. A bridge that was mad sketch and a cow field.
Slippery hike in. Carried poles up the big hill most of the way in exchange for shotgun. No bats successfully caught for a couple of hours. Entertained myself by listening for big cats and flicking things at Debra in the dark. No big cats, one annoyed Debra.
Bats came out late including one that the girls thought was cute but I thought it was kind of a sissy with little white stripes and a yellow chin. A really big bat chewed a really big hole in one of the nets, never saw it. Heard some substantial footprints early in the night, other obscure sounds, and no notable sightings.
Didn’t leave the site until about 11:30pm. Great ride back in the Suzuki. Took on some dinners the girls had saved and drank more coffee for energy to walk back over to the lab. Dropped the ole bag (currently suffering from a general stank and minor Tabasco spill) in the office and got over to bed real quick.
Mis amigos at the other blog have released a press statement I feel needs to be publicly made available: "We are fully qualified in the caretaking of these animals, Casey's dad had an associates degree in veterinary medicine. PETA is busy trying to get Uggs banned from schools in California. " Worth a little giggle. Until tomorrow…
BP
Work went well, a little slow at time due to logistics of the areas we were working in, nice cool weather. Saw a little bitty snake, wasn’t too scared. Closed up shop a little before two and biked on back. Found Amanda & Debra on the porch, took a shower.
Decided to join the two of them batting off-site at Selva Verde. Supercharged on 3 cups of iced coffee and that wonderful night of sleep I was ready to go. Had a great drive in the Samurai, once Amanda got it started. Very puddle-y, rocky roads. A bridge that was mad sketch and a cow field.
Slippery hike in. Carried poles up the big hill most of the way in exchange for shotgun. No bats successfully caught for a couple of hours. Entertained myself by listening for big cats and flicking things at Debra in the dark. No big cats, one annoyed Debra.
Bats came out late including one that the girls thought was cute but I thought it was kind of a sissy with little white stripes and a yellow chin. A really big bat chewed a really big hole in one of the nets, never saw it. Heard some substantial footprints early in the night, other obscure sounds, and no notable sightings.
Didn’t leave the site until about 11:30pm. Great ride back in the Suzuki. Took on some dinners the girls had saved and drank more coffee for energy to walk back over to the lab. Dropped the ole bag (currently suffering from a general stank and minor Tabasco spill) in the office and got over to bed real quick.
Mis amigos at the other blog have released a press statement I feel needs to be publicly made available: "We are fully qualified in the caretaking of these animals, Casey's dad had an associates degree in veterinary medicine. PETA is busy trying to get Uggs banned from schools in California. " Worth a little giggle. Until tomorrow…
BP
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Hojas
In the rain forest, you have to rake leaves all year. It’s 8:27 in the jungle and I’ve realized a severe lack of coffee in my diet has led to a brutal tiredness (results in a lack-luster post). Got my fill at breakfast, but did field lunches so no coffee there. Opted out of it at dinner due to tray space restrictions. Mad sleepzies.
Definitely getting into the swing of things, getting real busy too. First full field day since last Thursday when Amanda & I rocked out 57 trees. Solid day in the forest, cloudy, but no rain. Around 11:30am, we started to have ugly battery issues, real long story. Ended up trading Amanda four rechargables for four Energizer AA’s since they’re essentially the only battery that will fit the rangefinder. Isn’t battery size standardized for a reason?
Looked forward to my field lunch, yum. After lunch kept rubbing those positive and negative ends together to suck out all the juice and meet our goal. We’d be nowhere without goals. At 1:00pm the batteries croaked, but not after doing around 50 trees. Biked back to the lab and caught up with Debra and Amanda on the porch.
Swapped boots for slides, conditioner-ized my hair, now it’s quite soft and bouncy – just how I like it. Worked on various things through my afternoon. Finally got a vacancy in the washer to do a load of laundry. Mmm…soft, bouncy hair and soft, bouncy clothes. Forget all that tomorrow morning in the field.
Had a 4:00pm snack in the form of a ham sandwich. The yawnzies set in around now, couldn’t bear to look at spreadsheets anymore. Off to the porch. Did more conversing than reading. Dr. Chazdon got in this afternoon and swung by the lab shortly before dinner. Gave her the skinny on what’s up.
Meatloaf burger. Spent most of the day looking forward to watching game one of the NBA Finals and assumed it would be patched through on our ESPNs since it’s kind of a big deal. Hopped over to the lounge after 7:00pm and found that and MLS game and a Mexican baseball game were taking precedent. Super bummer.
One of those, well, I guess I’ll go back to work moments. And I did, unenthusiastically. Bed is calling. Couple more field days, easy-going Sunday, then right back at it. Four weeks down tomorrow, wow. Good deal.
BP
Definitely getting into the swing of things, getting real busy too. First full field day since last Thursday when Amanda & I rocked out 57 trees. Solid day in the forest, cloudy, but no rain. Around 11:30am, we started to have ugly battery issues, real long story. Ended up trading Amanda four rechargables for four Energizer AA’s since they’re essentially the only battery that will fit the rangefinder. Isn’t battery size standardized for a reason?
Looked forward to my field lunch, yum. After lunch kept rubbing those positive and negative ends together to suck out all the juice and meet our goal. We’d be nowhere without goals. At 1:00pm the batteries croaked, but not after doing around 50 trees. Biked back to the lab and caught up with Debra and Amanda on the porch.
Swapped boots for slides, conditioner-ized my hair, now it’s quite soft and bouncy – just how I like it. Worked on various things through my afternoon. Finally got a vacancy in the washer to do a load of laundry. Mmm…soft, bouncy hair and soft, bouncy clothes. Forget all that tomorrow morning in the field.
Had a 4:00pm snack in the form of a ham sandwich. The yawnzies set in around now, couldn’t bear to look at spreadsheets anymore. Off to the porch. Did more conversing than reading. Dr. Chazdon got in this afternoon and swung by the lab shortly before dinner. Gave her the skinny on what’s up.
Meatloaf burger. Spent most of the day looking forward to watching game one of the NBA Finals and assumed it would be patched through on our ESPNs since it’s kind of a big deal. Hopped over to the lounge after 7:00pm and found that and MLS game and a Mexican baseball game were taking precedent. Super bummer.
One of those, well, I guess I’ll go back to work moments. And I did, unenthusiastically. Bed is calling. Couple more field days, easy-going Sunday, then right back at it. Four weeks down tomorrow, wow. Good deal.
BP
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Café
Time for shorter blog entries, getting into the swing of things like whoa so these days will be repetitive. Got a roommate yesterday as opposed to the old date of June 18, but no big. His name is Joel, which in Spanish is pronounced like “hoy-el.” Almost as cool as Ben-ha-meen.Tinny volunteered to walk out to LEP early since bike lessons are still in progress. We had all the crappy project bikes sent over to the shop to get fixed last week, leading us to rent bikes for two bucks a day over the weekend. The bikes came back yesterday and today with all sorts of new gizmos. I first hopped on one of the green ones and that went to shit real quick and has ugly chain issues to be dealt with tomorrow.
With that soldier out of commission I grabbed the Trek. A couple km down the trail, realized that the shop replaced a couple of Shimano shifters with some Tico pieces. The cables were all off, and everything sounded crappy the whole way to LEP. Kicked off with some solid tree measuring. Got about 25-30 done before Tinny ran into a big ole bullet ant nest, got bit once and we called it a day from there.
Biked back to the lab in a respectful 11 minutes, and dropped the soggy backpack in the office where we’re developing a nice wet, moldy fragrance. Quick shower, quick dry. Had fun lunch conversation about piper and bat’s on tape. Frantic hypothesis digging after lunch, made wicked cool graphs. My favorite graph showed that trees that died over a two-year period either became more shaded or stayed the same, and never became less shaded.
Then came the highlight of my day. Joined Debra on the porch to read, which turned into Debra snoozing away in the hammock and hence being really untalkative. She also wanted to swing on the hammock that made a really annoying sound, not fit for learning about how to cut the world’s poverty in half.
Frisbee rumors shot through the lab, but turned into a circle of people throwing in the rain. Debra suggested iced coffee, and I’m always game for that. The Tico umbrella from Pague Menos lost its virginity and Debra broke hers, luckily I saved it. Dinner.
So our table went from 3 to way over capacity in no time, when fun conversations took off. (Bad sentence). Soon enough we dwindled back to four and Susan, as conversation petered out, brought up some crazy scientific untestable hypothesis that groups have lulls every twenty minutes or so as a leftover evolutionary tactic to check for predators. Only at La Selva…
Back to lab. Showed a lot of pictures of a lot a things to a lot of people for a long time. Watched some South Park, got my gigglies going. The picture we just took (Debra & I) And that’s that. Before you leave, a play from dinner:
Karen (super friendly Harvard junior): What’s this? (to Katie) (pointing at a stringy white mass)
Katie (certified yoga instructor): Oh that’s yucca. When it grows it looks like marijuana.
Steve (exotic meats man): Yea, but it’s a totally different green, you can probably tell from the air.
Susan: Yea, yucca from the Agavaceae family…(another La Selva-ism)
BP
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Ocupado
Well, definitely felt busy for real today. Great feeling, speeds this tropical life up a little bit. Special shout-out to Danster today, Happy 18th bro! (we’re only a year part for like 11 weeks, not cool, jk) And onto my day, I guess.As expected, I did wake up today, followed by breakfast (if you had a dollar for everytime I’ve recorded my awakening and breaking of the fast, you might have as many dollars as days I’ve been here) (if that last parentheses makes you stop reading the blog, I understand). So from now on I think early morning activities will become more of an assumption, rather than an integral item for my report.
Since Tinny’s still a student at Ben Plourde’s Cycling School (top notch) the four of us walked out to LEP; Tinny & I for measuring heights, Amanda & Debra to carry 20 bat poles out. Got bored walking, so figured out how fast I could walk along at a good clip. It came down to 1.67 m/s or like a mile in 16 minutes. Got to the plot and got my toys all set up.
Today served as both some data collection and I guess an “orientation” to my whole dealio out there for Tinny. Planned to be back for lunch so only got about 2 hours of work in. That led to packing up around 11:20, meeting Amanda & Debra back out at the Sendero LEP. Had a “fun” hike back…I’ll leave it at that.
Lunch = banging, dinner = banging, the ole GI tract = happy (conciseness). Started to get the yawnzies in early afternoon and that definitely called for the porch. Got some solid reading done in End of Poverty; I’m learning so many cool things about world economies. There was a pretty-well advertised movie presentation at 3:00pm today, as I mentioned yesterday.
After accounting for Tico time, Debra & I spent about 10 minutes locating the movie people, 10 minutes sitting, waiting, wishing (Re: Jack Johnson), 5 minutes talking to Amanda, and an instant deciding that iced coffee & futbol would be time better spent than the movie. Nice long sentence there. Obviously followed by iced coffee & futbol.
Amanda & Debra left to bat at the Juan Enriques secondary forest plot right next to Finca El Bejuco where Amanda and I batted on Sunday night. I returned to the lab and resumed my duties as expert instructor of bike riding to Tinny. Spent a half hour with that, then made pretty graphs (a favorite activity).
Again, dinner was good. Afterwards did an intense search for papers that I want/need to read. Found too many of course, a couple about modeling (like computer modeling) forest dynamics, which I might work into my U. Scholar proposal in the fall. I’m in to deep academically and research-ly (?), but I’m ok with that.
The office door was looking boring so I made a sign. It says, “Come Home Wanchope.” Fly sign, I’d say. Now didn’t that day seem busy? Tomorrow Tinny & I will run the same gamut of events, and I’ll be going mad making hypotheses before Dr. Chazdon gets in on Thursday. Solid week shaping up in the jungle.
Yes, we continue with San Jose pictures since I took lots of nice pictures and they shouldn’t go to waste and I haven’t touched the camera in a few days. Change will come soon, no worries. Getting late in the rain forest, time for bed soon, reading too. Peace.
BP
Monday, June 4, 2007
Comienzo
Well, it’s the beginning of a new phase here at La Selva. High season, and high quality data collection. Place is filling up like crazy, the dining hall had the hustle and bustle of South this evening. Not to mention, this blog is becoming a hefty chore, but still enjoyable, of course.After batting it was good to feel back into the swing of things. Breakfast was great, great to be back here with everybody and looking forward to so much. Internet has gone south which contributes to my focus and annoyances. After breakfast went over my finances for the weekend.
Looks like a spent less than I thought I did, which is reassuring. Hopefully I dodge some 2% fees this time. Moved on to some data entry and actually got a couple hypotheses down with some back up graphs. That went really well until I accidentally forgot to save the spreadsheet I was working in. Luckily I had most of the numbers in my notebook and resurrection went smoothly.
Around 10:00am the Wellesley interns arrived. Got to meet Debra and Tinny, both of who are pretty cool cats. The four of us, Amanda included, chatted on the porch for a while, and then went to lunch. Here the density of people on station really started to sink in; it used to be such a manageable size.
After lunch, and lots of iced coffee (very hot day indeed), Amanda shot into town to run some errands. The three of us then went back to the lab to start Cycling 101, so we could get Tinny on the fast track to competitive biking, or maybe just 3.8km down the STR every day. Either or…
Big ole t-storm thundered in around 1:20 so we hopped inside. Introduced the girls to my project the best I could (=not awesome). They went to have a little orientation of sorts while I continued on my quest for hypotheses. Dr. Chazdon gets in Thursday morning, so I need to have lots of good questions.
Later on around 3:00pm Pablo (grad student from our lab) got in for a 10 day stay at La Selva. He’s leading a workshop on forest management later this week. We did some more bike training later which went pretty well. Improvement is obvious, and she’ll be biking along in no time. Great to have a student with a positive attitude, unlike some little brothers (coughsamuelcough).
All was good, watched a couple inning of Yanks/Chisox before dinner and caught the rest afterwards. Had great dinner conversation about Wanchope, the expatriate (love him or hate him) (Barry Bonds, anybody?) Selección Nacional player here in CR. Debra and Tinny stopped by for the end of another great Yankees loss. Dragged myself back to the lab for blogging of course.
Oh, and we got an office today for the four of us. Pretty solid little place, great for leaving stuff to dry, leaving stuff in general. My cabina room has turned into any room I’ve ever had after a successful trip, ¡un disastre! Tomorrow Tinny & I will hike out to LEP and do some work, Debra & Amanda will be doing seedlings.
Some special movie production tomorrow, psyched for that, might not be as good as Piratas del Caribe though. Picture from Bagelmen’s in San Pedro of Amanda, Danielle & I. Enough for now…¡hasta mañana!
BP
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Fin
The end of a great weekend had to come at some point. At least we got to take it easy this morning. Rose around 8:00am and went to breakfast then packed up, paid the bill (about $40 for both nights for me), and went down to the Musmanni (Tico Dunkin) for a cup of coffee (a $0.75 cup of coffee). After that grabbed a taxi to the center of town. Went to some junk stores and Amanda found some useful items for her project. This one store also had breathable, one size fits all du-rags for $1.50, what a deal, no? Dropped into the Correo Central to mail a few postcards. Took a little stroll down Avenida 2 before hailing a taxi for the bus terminal. Got bus tickets, Fanta, plantain chips and drove away to Puerto Viejo.
About a 2 hour trip back, went by pretty quick. Took the bus into town since we realized forgetting to put in for field dinners. Went to the Super Sarapiqui, a.k.a. “mercado chino” for some foodstuffs. Grabbed tortillas, ham, cheese and some Tabasco. One more taxi ride back to La Selva and our journey had ended.
We decided that on Sundays we should go into town in watch the kids’ soccer games and drink Eskimo Churchills to stay in touch with the Tico culture. Solid plan. Back at the station, cooled off for a little and did a little computer for a while. Followed that with some porch, started on that Newsweek.
Got my stuff ready for the field and took an iced coffee break. Got in the silver bullet (our project’s Suzuki Samurai from like the late 80’s). A twenty minute drive over to Finca el Bejuco where we have two secondary forest plots set up relatively close to the road. That meant a short trek in, very suited for the end of a fun weekend.
Once the nets were set up, we enjoyed our unconventional field dinners and waited for some bats. Got one early on and processed him through. Waited another hour and caught two big bats, one which got away before we could measure it. Biters, they were.
Drove on back to the station around 9:00pm and indulged in some La Selva pizza, which we had put aside for us. Had my pizza with some iced coffee and went back to the lab for some internet and blogging. Caught A-Rod’s game winner on ESPN Gamecast, pretty sweet picking up a game in the East.
I’m gonna call it a night here pretty soon. The Wellesley assistants arrive tomorrow morning and I have some data things I put off until this week. Good slow day to get back into the groove. Going to the field tonight was a great way to jump right back in. Picture today is from my initial excitement of seeing a Quiznasty in Costa Rica. Talk to y’all tomorrow.
BP
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Futbol
Yesterday was way too long for any blog, but of course there’s a lot to talk about, more so today. I got all excited when I saw the Quiznasty yesterday, but today I saw at least 5 more, so I guess Ticos like perfectly toasted, artisan crafted sandwiches. We woke up sometime before eight and engorged ourselves in the included buffet breakfast with omelets made-to-order.
Did some efficient plan making and took off for the Coca Cola bus terminal to catch a ride to Escazú, the Greenwich of Costa Rica. Our first and only stop in Escazú after driving by Mercedes dealers and quaint strip malls was the Multiplaza. This mall, was without a doubt, nicer and more expensive than any mall I’ve ever been to.
All the major clothing brands from the states had their own stores here, a Puma store, a Lacoste store, a Tommy Hilfiger store. The top 1% of Ticos know how to stay in style. Since we really didn’t have the wallets to buy anything there is was time to go to San Pedro, the college (Universidad de Costa Rica) town east of the city.
We bused back to San Jose and took a taxi through some crazy traffic to Bagelmen’s. A great college atmosphere with a Panera-esque menu. Specialty coffee drinks, bagel sandwiches, salads. I had a bagel with grilled chicken and a big ole piece of cheddar on a warm everything bagel. ¡Qué rico!
At Bagelmen’s we check the La Nación (biggest newspaper) for movie times. Decided to catch the 12:40 Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the San Pedro mall (good-looking gringo girl center). Waited in a long line as 12:40 went by to get tickets. Luckily they’re as nuts about previews as we are in the States so we didn’t miss a thing. Constant Spanish translation as subtitles brought me back to high school Spanish.
At times sitting in the theater I had more of those, there’s no way I’m not home right now moments. The movie was long, but well worth the $3. By the time we got out it was 3:40 and we decided to power shop. I went over to a Foot Locker-type place called Extremos to get a soccer jersey for tonight. Spent too much money, but it’s a sweet jersey.
Used the ATM and we hopped in a taxi back to the hotel after dropping Danielle at the grocery store. We changed quickly and hopped a taxi up to the Tibás McDonalds (where they have a sandwich called the McRiffica) to meet up with Stefan. Before five the three of us, Amanda, Stefan, and I where on our way to the Taxco, a local Mexican chain. We had a few drinks and I got flautas, yummy.
From there we went 4-5 blocks to go join in the pregame crowds. Did some street vendor shopping, I got a nice big Costa Rican flag. Got into the stadium just before the game was starting and pretty much stood the whole time since the general admission seating was ugly, and we were closer.
Very spirited crowd. Around the 30th minute Costa Rica scored off a corner kick and went up 1-0. The game was dominated by the Ticos, with the Chileans only taking 8 or 9 shots on goal. Sometime halfway through the second half they scored again with a solid high shot left of the goal. Crowd went nuts.
After the game got some Pizza Hut stuffed crust, yum. Tame crowds afterwards, almost no chants, on the verge of disappointing. Went back the hotel and went to sleep shortly thereafter. I think that’s about at succinct as it’s going to get, plus we have to get going for La Selva soon. Back to the real world…haha.
BP
Friday, June 1, 2007
Ciudad
Ah, what an escape. Stores and restaurants and coffee shops. The big bad city of San Jose, Costa Rica. With a city limits population of 350,000 and a metropolitan population of about one million, it’s roughly the size of Hartford. A manageable size you might say. Really quite excellent to escape the station and turn off the science button, makes me feel very content.So, my day, a long one at best, already 11:20pm here. Rose very early at 5:30am and tried to think of the things I might need to take to San Jose. Once that was done, got to the dining hall as they were opening to eat. Picked up our field lunches, which came in handy today. Walked a kilometer out to the highway to rendezvous with a San Jose-bound bus.
About an hour 45 minutes to the city, about a $2.60 fare, quite a bargain considering the bus was comfy. Once in the city, Amanda, Danielle and I, we began by tending to our most pressing errands. For Danielle, a trip to the MINAE (equivalent to US Dept. of Interior), for Amanda & I, a trip to the computer shop and tickets for tomorrow’s game.
At this point I was very discouraged, unanimated, and tired among other things. Had a convenient bus trip up to the suburb of Tibás where Estadio Ricardo Saprissa is located. A line was beginning to form in front of a lone ticket window and as the line grew the scalper population did as well. All the scalpers seemed to have an endless supply of tickets they were trying to offload. Only saw one lady bite in the 30 minutes we waited.
Ended up buying three tickets in general admission in the “sombra” or covered section of the stadium, since rain is inevitable. Little less than $10 for each ticket. After that took a bus back to the center of San Jose and a taxi to the hotel (Hotel Aranjuez). Taxis are very affordable never more than $3 for reasonable trips across town. Dropped our bags and trekked to lunch.
The girls decided to eat at Vishnu, a local vegetarian chain (oh well). I had what they called a Cool Sándwich (sic) with French fries. Sucked it up and ate some fake ham made from soy, but the roll was very delicious along with the condiments. Following lunch we toured some of the more central streets.
Worked in some shopping. First a super discount place where I got a fresh umbrella that I expect to last for about three weeks. Here’s where the Visa troubles start. I try to swipe for the $5 umbrella and am told that there’s insufficient funds. That being highly unlikely since I have a line of credit, is was confused and just paid in Colones. After that onto a department store, expensive video games, lots of Legos.
Went into the Correo Central, the mecca of Costa Rican mail and bought twenty stamps. Paid with cash and then realized I needed more cash so I went to a nearby Banco de Costa Rica ATM. I asked for 40,000 colones, didn’t forget my PIN either. Then it gave me some vague message about being unable to process my transaction. Ay…so I decided to try again. One of the menus asked for Colones or dolares, so this time I chose dolares and asked for $80. To my disappointing surprise this Tico machine spit out four Jacksons. Hmph!
Stopped at the Baja Beach Club bar for a beer. Next on the to-do’s was to find a bookstore I read about in the guidebook called 7th Street Books. Via it’s name and description, English language books where the focus. It was oddly comfortable to stand in the bookstore and look at a couple walls of familiar authors and titles. Hit up non-fiction because that’s been my pace lately.
Ended up purchasing A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, same author as Walk in the Woods. More on that after I finish End of Poverty. In addition to the book, got this week’s Newsweek and some postcards. At this point I was quite timid about using my card again but of course here it worked with no problems.
Okay…marathon post. Walked back to the hotel for a siesta. Took advantage of free wireless to goof around. Met a guy from Glastonbury who was born in Costa Rica and was vacationing for a week or so. I was rocking my Spring Weekend T and UConn ‘ball sticker on the Mac, so this guy was like “Hey…UConn…” Prideful me jumped right in.
Then the biggest surprise of the day; Yanks/Sox! In the room! Caught a couple innings before 7:00 or so. Saw my boys go up by three then Wang throw it all away. Still don’t know the final score, I’ll check soon.
Took a ninety cent taxi ride over to the Clarion Hotel (same chain as the Bristol one) to meet up with Amanda’s friend Stefan who is in town for his job. I became the de facto restaurant picker since we went veggie for lunch. Decided to go with the Lonely Planet’s author’s choice for top end with a local restaurant called Bakea.
¡Qué rico! Just a really superb dinner/conversation/environment. For a very loud city, a nice quiet corner a block or so from the Clarion. I could go on and on, but we’ll keep it simple stupid. Had some choice appetizers, started on the house red wine. Exquisitely decorated with an entire room to us. The restaurant itself is a transformed vintage house. I ordered the tuna, although tempted by “wild meats” which might have included peccary, who knows.
The entire ambience of this place would have me feeling like $30-40 entrees in the States but here it was more like $10-20. Best tuna steak I’ve ever had; from the Pacific coast, alongside sesame scented veggies and drizzled with a chocolaty, caramely sauce (pictured). All very good. Spent about three hours in our private room chatting it up, getting to know each other.
The yawnzies began to set in and we swung Stefan back by the Clarion, he’s also joining us for the futbol game tomorrow. A taxi back to the hotel and that’s where I leave you, clock just struck midnight.
I found a Quiznos (or more affectionately, the Quiznasty) on la Avenida Central, pictures forthcoming in the week. All sorts of stuff went down, and a full plate for tomorrow, I can’t wait. Vacation, 9 weeks of work, 3 weeks of summer, 16 weeks of fall semester. That’s how it looks. Postcard requests are good through tomorrow night. Talk to you after the soccer riot.
BP
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