What I am going to eat when I return to America

My wish list:
chocolate chip cookies                                       chipotle                         
chocolate crinkle cookies                                  puppy chow
nachos                                                                    diet coke
french fries (McDonald’s and Wendy’s)       funfetti cupcakes
tiramisu                                                                  bagels with cream cheese
key lime cheesecake                                            mashed potatoes
ice cream, any flavor will do                             potato soup
thai food                                                                 rice krispie treats
chocolate milkshake                                          peanut butter + banana sandwiches
Applejacks, Pops                                                 pumpkin muffies
cold milk                                                                hot chocolate
 

A look at my last week.  Not very entertaining, but hectic…

Monday – Saturday: Independent Project (Immuological Priming in Mantids!)
Saturday noon: Finish stats.  Now have approximately 24 hours to write paper
Sunday morning: Independent Project Symposium (aka powerpoints)
Wednesday: Two final exams
Thursday: Plant exam. Insect Exam.  Get independent project paper back for rewrites.
Friday: Paper due at night.

Which brings us to Saturday, tomorrow, where we LEAVE Palo Verde!  We are going to some random national park/hotel to “vacation”, since they seem to think that I have not spent enough time in forested jungle this trip.  Then on Tuesday, it is off to dear sweet America.   I miss you so much, beautiful America.  I have a layover in Atlanta, and I plan on immediately getting McDonald’s and using a cell phone.  And just standing and enjoying being back. This was quite the interesting semester, and I am probably somewhat lucky that I am coming with only two new scars.  It was certainly the unconventional semester I was looking for, and I have done things I never imagined that I would (and will likely never do again).

For the last time, Pura Vida.

Smokey the Bear Does Not Live in Central America

Back to civilization!  (ish).  The internet is exceedingly slow so it looks like pictures are off the table for the moment.  Not only does Palo Verde lack proper internet, but also hot water (again); it does however have an abundance of heat, humidity, and mosquitos. This is a good last image, Costa Rica.  The station is absolutely beautiful, however.  It abuts a very large marsh that has been internationally recognized for its importance as a nesting site for aquatic and migratory birds.  And here my last three weeks will be spent.  

Where I last left you, we were heading into Monteverde, with only our backpacks and two weeks worth of things.  Here we had an hour and a half hike in the dark to the station.  And while COLD with frigid water, this was one of our best sites.  It had a perfect view of the Arenal volcano, and on clear nights we could see the lava rolling down its sides.  It was here we removed another (and hopefully my last!) bot fly.  I am now tied with the program record for the most bot flies in one semester, an honor I accept mostly for good story material and of course jungle cred. The hike out was not so favorite, lasting over two hours due to its incline of straight up and the fact we all had to carry our extremely heavy backbacks.  It was like throwing things out of a sinking ship before we left, people deciding that they didn’t really NEED four shirts or a towel.  

After that, we headed for Nicaragua. To summarize this part of the trip: Step 1 – arrive at station.  Step 2 - station burns down.  Step 3 – leave early.

In case that piques your curiosity, originally we get to Nicaragua and I’m thinking its not going to be so bad – sure, the water isn’t potable and we are a 30 minute boat ride even from receiving cell phone service, but the station was really cute and the tables had tablecloths. (Tablecloths!) However, the second night there I wake up at midnight to my professor’s voice, I run outside and imagine my shock to see that the building is on FIRE.  The FIRE is in all caps because it was absolutely huge, the flames a story higher than the roof of the building.  It was over the kitchen and dining hall and hadn’t yet spread to the part of the building that had our rooms.  I run back in the room, wake the roomies, and soon all of us students are running out to a field.  As we are running out, the station’s workers are running toward the fire (my professor also had to wake them).  We are then able to try and save our stuff, so we all run back to the rooms and just start throwing everything into bags.   We run out and sleep on mattresses on the floor of the home of the station’s owner.

Good news is that we all saved all of our things, minus two of my socks.  The fire destroyed the dining hall, kitchen, and one room which I suppose can be seen as somewhat good news since it was eventually brought under control.

Also good news is that we got to return to San Jose and have a free day to recoop, and thus I got to see the James Bond movie and take a hot shower.  And both of those were much waited for.

Now we’re at Palo Verde, with only a faculty led project, an independent project, a plant exam, two finals, and an insect identification left between me and home! 22 days.  I wish you all less eventful adventures than I have been having, miss you!

The Parents Storm Costa Rica

So this last week my parents came down to get a little taste of Costa Rica.  And in summary, the week was fabulous.  They liked the abundance of rice and beans, my dad enjoyed the complete lack of traffic laws, and both (of course) thought that the country was beautiful.

 Luscious food pictures:  Jessica 1, Sarah 50

We also had the pleasure of seeing a large amount of wildlife, including that fatally venomous beautie of a green side-striped palm viper.  I think that my parents were both impressed with the danger factor of my jungle living (so there you have it, its impressive).  

  

Also, cute primate punt back to you, Sarah.

  

Lastly, the parents indulged me with a horseback ride on the beach.  It was awesome, though I’ll admit my legs still hurt two days later.

 

I begged them to take me back in a suitcase but unfortunately I no longer fit. Only 5 more weeks left in Costa Rica, the next two of which will be spent with no internet so this is the last of me for a while.  Also no hot water, so I may be suffering.  AND no election results!  If I don’t find out I will go crazy.  But I hope all of you enjoy the next two weeks, OBAMA ‘08!

Pirates of the Caribbean: the Purple Bike Gang

This, my friends, is called the Caribbean.

Last week, the day post bot-fly surgery (described graphically in the post below), we headed out to the Caribbean coast to this very small town called Cahuita, famous for its beautiful beaches (white and black sand!) and its lovely national park.  We had been told you could rent bikes and ride along a trail in the national park next to the beach, so we did (they were purple and glorious and at least 20 years old).  And it was gorgeous, next to the beach but in the trees; we saw a monkey!  However, due to the intensity of this rainy season the soil had sunk and we were forced to navigate a barrage of roots in the trail.  

We also managed to find the absolute cutest hostel.  Yes, maybe the rooms were hot and had bugs.  But it was right next to the beach – literally immediately outside of the door.  And they had a number of glorious hammocks right next to the beach, perfect for hours of enjoyment.  It was the perfect beach weekend.

My parents are coming tomorrow!  For a week in dear Costa Rica.  I’m really looking forward to it. We’re going to the beach, a national park, and to an active volcano.  And they are going to get to love some rice and beans.  Wish them luck, and hope my Spanish gets us through the week.

Pura Vida.

The Revenge of the Bot Fly

    If squeamish, skip this post.  Wait for the post on my Caribbean beach weekend that is forthcoming.  This is also long, with my apologies, but the details are just so juicy.

   First things first: the BOT FLY.  Two weeks ago, I ask my professor are these bites bot flies?  You remember, I was worried.  And he says, don’t look like it.  However, on Thursday I’m sitting in a cafe, studying for what turned out to be an incredibly brutal 4+ hour biology/environment exam on friday, when the bite on the back of my shoulder starts bleeding.  And I mean profusely.  I reach back because my back itches and discover to my surprise and slight panic that blood has literally soaked through my shirt in numerous places.  The next day I ask my professor, can you look again?  So he rubs some vaseline on the bites, the idea being that with the air hole blocked the larva will have to poke out of my arm to breathe.  And it was absolutely DISGUSTING (all caps disgusting) because after about 30 minutes I look down and there is this little white worm thing poking in and out of a hole in my arm.  I was incredibly close to puking.  This is all during my two midterms, remember, and all in all slightly distracting.  

    It turns out that you can’t just grab them when they poke out with the vaseline because they are too swift. The home remedy is to duct tape a chunk of meat to the bites overnight and they will bore their way out and get stuck to the duct tape.  If you want to see this, there are some great videos on youtube. This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23eimVLAQ2c   is a pretty good representation, though imagine it on my arm and not on some rando’s hairy back.  

    Of course it’s not that simple.  I think I also have one on my head, and the technical difficulties of attaching a piece of meat to my head cause my professor to recommend I see a doctor (yes, feel free to laugh at the image of me with a filet duct taped to my skull; my class certainly enjoyed it).  He says, if you’re already going for the bite on your head, just have the doctors remove them all.  He recommends a hospital.  I go.  A friend joins me, with the promises of a few more friends to come in a bit and bring a camera so they can record the action.

    Challenge number one is its a Costa Rican hospital and all in Spanish.  However (thank you last few weeks of Spanish class) I find my way to the ER, check in, and get the prelim blood pressure/temp/etc tests. I’m actually fairly proud of this, and being in a foreign hospital was a bit exciting.  This was the first of many firsts on the day.  The doctor does speak English, which turns out to be a good thing in the end.  It turns out my little flies wouldn’t leave my arm far enough for them to grab them and pull them out because they were too small.  The doctor says, we have to cut them out.  I panic.  And thus begins Operation: Razorblade.

    I am led to another room.  I lay down.  I see a lot of sharp and nasty instruments laying about, though to my pleasure they were all in little sterile packets.  Turns out those rumors of Costa Rica having a good health system are true. Another plus for them: they saw me within 10 minutes.  Last time I was at the Duke ER, I waited over 5 hours.  Unfortunately, this means that the kids with the camera do not show up in time to see my operation.  Or fortunately, because there was blood everywhere and the pictures may have been disturbing.  If you don’t believe me, type in “bot fly” in google images and enjoy.  May have been nice mementos though.  Regardless.

     The doctor then injects my first bite, on the front of my shoulder, with some anesthetic.  I am not looking.  He then cuts a little bit and begins squeezing hoping to pop it out.  It is not cooperating, and the doctor is amusing me by cursing at it profusely in Spanish.  He cuts a little more.  Turns out he cuts the fly in pieces, and thus is forced to squeeze more to insure all the pieces come out.  and SURPRISE!  There are TWO bot flies in that bite!  To be certain, he grabs a little curved tweezer and digs around a bit.  This doesn’t hurt, because of my sweet anesthetic, but I can feel him pulling at my skin and am slightly disturbed.  Apparently it looked brutal, because the friend with me made comments along the lines of “Oh God” and “what in the world is he doing?”  He gets it out and shows the nurse, who gets excited and shows my friend, saying “look at the little hairs!”  This is because there are small spikes in a ring around the little white worm that it used to scratch the inside of my skin so it can eat.  I can think of few things more disturbing for me than that image.  My friend asks if we can take the flies home in a bag, but the doctor doesn’t oblige.  I get a stitch (another first).

    Bite #1 is over.  Bite #2 is the one on my head.  Same drill: he injects anesthetic into the bite, which feels very odd since its on my skull and its like having a cold spread all across the bone.  Makes a cut.  This one pops out pretty easily, though bringing with it a small chunk of hair.  Another stitch.

    Bite #3 is on the back of my shoulder, meaning I have to roll over.  After he cuts the bite on my shoulder, I can feel the blood running in little rivers down my arm.  This one he is forced to enlarge the cut twice, one time a little outside of the range of anesthetic.  I feel like nails at this point; sign me up as the next terminator or something.  He gets this last bot fly out.  This one is particularly disgusting, because its about the size of a pea and just very visible.  This cut warrants three stitches.  

    Then its over, and I am just waiting for someone to come clean me up.  I’m laughing at the sight I must look.  There was blood covering my shoulder with little flecks down my arm, and my hair was matted down on the side and (my poor golden hair!) a pinkish color.  The man nurse said I looked “punk.”  In summary, I had four bot flies which was one short of my program’s record.  I remain fearful because the doctor said there could be more in the bites that are still growing, but at least its unlikely.  Please everyone cross your fingers for my sanity.

   Again apologies for the lack of photographic evidence; here are my stitches in as good of quality as my camera could manage.

 

Pura Vida!

Belleza

                  = love, artwork

Es mantequilla

Beginning of EXTREME San Jose: 4 hours of whitewater rafting, Class I-IV. No more need be said.  

Here is my little room and a picture of my beautiful kitchen.  The girl is Hilary, one of the three people in my class (she is sitting, by the way, in the classroom; its a little small)

Learning (slowly and painfully due to a lack of rhythm) how to salsa and merengue.  Spanish is improving, also slowly.  My favorite idiom may be “Es mantequilla” which literally translates to “it’s butter.”  However, it means something along the “Doesn’t count” (for example, my teacher has two potential boyfriends.  However one lives in Germany–es mantequilla).  In other news, San Jose itself is great, although I would take my chances against poisonous snakes and wild animals over people with guns.  Being in a city where I have to worry about being mugged is so stressful.  

Hope you all are surviving the meltdown of our financial system and of Sarah Palin’s credibility.  Look out for some good SNL.  Pura vida!

How I met Jackie Chan, and my return to civilization

1.  Arrival in San Jose, being the only German.
     So I’m in San Jose! My host family is great.  It is a couple with a 9 year old daughter and a 4 month old puppy!  They are so incredibly welcoming, though I have found that almost everyone-from taxi drivers to tour guides-is extremely hospitable.  The house is very brightly colored and very classy.  I have my own room and own bathroom, and I dont know what to do with such large amounts of personal space.  Additionally, I have the internet and – this is the big one – hot water!  Oh thank you, San Jose.  Yesterday my host momma brought me a hamburger and french fries.  I know, some of you will think that is gross (sarah!) but it had such a magnificent factor.  It was almost In-and-Out good, though I lack perspective since I haven’t had anything like french fries for over a month.  But thats when I really knew we would be getting along well.  And it made up for the fact that they drink PEPSI (ew).  Almost a deal breaker!  The other saving grace is that soda is made differently down here – they use something other than corn syrup.  So at least it doesn’t taste like American Pepsi, aka sewage.

    Last night they invited me to the birthday party of their nephew.  There were something like forty people there, from the elderly to a bunch of screaming kids. Again, they were all very friendly and pretended that I spoke decent Spanish (that is a stretch).  I, of course, was the only one with naturally German-wheat blonde hair (and one of the few in all of Costa Rica; I’ve never felt so conspicuous before) and thus was a real novelty for the kids.  They immediately zoned in on the “gringa,” which apparently is not considered an insult here but is their way to describe Americans.  They wanted to see if I could speak Spanish — what is this?  That is your hair-teeth-chair-purse-eyes-ears.  Lucky for me they were asking intro vocab, or it may have been a different story.  Then they wanted to hear everything in English, and a few wanted to try out the English they were learning in school.  What is your name?  It was incredibly cute.  One of them told me my voice sounded like Lindsay Lohan (compliment?).  And – since everyone in America knows each other – were interested to see if I knew, of all people, Jackie Chan (I don’t).  

    The grandmother of my host momma asked me what my last name was. I say, Lutkenhaus.  My host momma turns around upon hearing the word and is is like, what?  And I say, oh that’s my last name.  She responds, that is difficult!

2.  My adventure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints:
    So this morning my host momma asks if I want to go to church.  Me, not having anything to do and wanting to get out into Costa Rica, say sure.  Since the country is 90% Catholic, I don’t bother to ask what type of service it is, I just borrow some nice clothes (I have to explain I don’t have any heels because I have been tramping about in the jungle) and go.  We get there, sit down, actually next to three English-speakers who were very nice to me.  And then…SURPRISE!  Its Mormon!  And even better, it is their biannual conference so the service was broadcast live from Utah for 2 and a half hours.  It was in Spanish, so I only understood about half of it, but it was interesting at least (1/2 an hour was devoted to the story of the persecution of Jose Smith).  Do I go back?

3.  Cheerios
    San Jose is a somewhat large city – more than 2 million people.  They have everything we have back in America, except Chipotle, to my utter resignation.  My host momma asked what I wanted for breakfast, and presented me with Cheerios.  Her daughter, Raquel, has more Disney princess stuff than I do (almost).  Classes start tomorrow.  Its a return to high school, Spanish from 9-3.  At least my Spanish should get better quickly!  The best part is that after class they offer cultural lessons, like cooking and dancing.  So I’m pretty much going to be cultured by the time I come back, I may even have manners.  Be prepared.

    Our election news is everywhere.  I haven’t broached the subject with my host family, but I get the feeling the W is not too popular down here.  Which is great, because Obama is up to 65 on intrade.com.  Kansas still predicted as over 90% McCain though. Its interesting how knowledgeable they all are about the US, though I suppose it isn’t really surprising.  Everyone asks me what state I’m from, and seem to have a basic idea of where Kansas is.  A lot of my friends at school don’t have a basic of idea of where Kansas is (I’ll give you a hint: it was not a part of the Confederacy). You know who you are.  

    I feel more connected now that I’m back in an actual town.  I may even get my nose pierced (that is for you Mom and Dad – reaction? haha if I can’t guess already).  But it all makes me miss everyone back home! Enjoy your visits with Joe Biden at the Home Depot.

Invasion of the Bot Fly

   So I wish I could regale you all with amazing stories of the forest.  However, the last week and a half have involved me doing this experiment and then literally sitting in the classroom typing this paper, which by itself involved four straight days of labor.  Here is a copy of my paper, because I know you all have just been dying to read it.  Or not, but it did take a lot of work so here it is world!  ip-draft-2

    In other news, I believe that I have a bot fly.  Which are things that in America, horses get.  The description is delightful:  these flies lay an egg under skin.  It hatches and eats your blood or something; when it gets hungry, it flaps these wings and scratches the inside of your skin which makes you bleed.  This scratching, by the way, stings.  The stinging in my arm is why I am suspecting a bot fly invasion.  
I know mom, you definitely warned me.  To get it out, you can duct tape either a cap of vaseline or a piece of meat over the bite and the fly will come out.  Or of course you can let it fully develop and it will burst out naturally, but those things can get to to a half inch long and I do not approve of allowing something that large to eat its way out of my arm.  

    I’m in San Jose now!  We had oral placement exams for Spanish school, and mine was less articulate than Sarah Palin during a Katie Couric interview.  I’m nervous to meet my host family, especially since communication is going to be touch and go.  Wish me luck.
I don’t know if my host fam has internet, but the school does so I’ll be in contact.

A shout out to all my 3rd grades watching this for extra credit!

Thomas Jefferson

   So our Nephila project is complete!  What an intense week – initial presentations and discussions were monday, data collection was tuesday-friday, saturday was preparing for the symposium which was sunday, and the paper is due today (Monday) (in six hours).  And I am finally finished, though it was a bit reminiscent of pulling teeth.  Mostly because we are expected to know a great deal about past experiments and related literature, but we’ve had such a short amount of time to learn them that it has been like a complete brain overload.  I dream of Nephilas or spiders close to every night.  

    A few pictures of our favorite spiders.  As we spent about thirty minutes a day watching each one, we became quite aquainted with each.  The one with the numerous items in its web is Thomas Jefferson, named after my fav. president because he was the first spider of mine who actually did something right.  And there’s even some action shots!  Which we were basically required to have for our presentations, but regardless now you all know how I look when I do work. 

    On another note, we have turned as a group to a ping pong obsession.  And I’m actually not bad, surprisingly.  However, I need to learn how to spin the ball.  So if you can explain, please do.  I have a reputation to forge out of the fires of battle.  

    Pura Vida!