Do you believe I’m in a rainforest now?

Let me share with you an extremely entertaining encounter I had the other day:
       Whitney (another girl in the program) – “Hey Jessica your hair looks really nice!  What did you do to it?”
       Me – “I brushed it”
So apparently it does make a difference.  Who knew?

Here is Iguana, one of the few places we visit that my orientation packet did not describe as “rustic:”

 

little white bats “tenting”   
(our version more intense) , and a few more jungle friends

                   

         

    this is Eduardo, one of our resident howlers

and my favorite, our eyelash viper.          

these are really rare, so it was amazing we got to see one.  (and yes, I am too close to it taking this picture). The one disappointment is that it is tiny, not even a foot long (and its an adult).  I was expected something massive, like the movie Anaconda.  But I suppose the fact that nature made this snake bright yellow is sufficient.  Plus note the skin around its eyes, it has formed a protruding structure (and hence the name “eyelash viper”)

 My independent project starts tomorrow, and that is a photo of our model organism (a stock photo, my camera definitely wont focus that sharply).  These spiders incorporate dead insects and plant material into their webs, and we are attempting to test one hypothesis as to why they do so (the odor of decaying organic matter attracts more prey).  So its eight hours in the field watching these guys for the next five days.  Wish me sanity (and results!)  
                                                                                              

I made an error in an earlier post, Sarah’s blog from Thailand is actually:  lutkie.wordpress.com.  She already has some pictures up, and it looks amazing! The bustle of such busy cities is so very far from where I am.  Plus she is staying for the moment in a quasi-resort on the beach, so I suppose thats a bit different as well.   Different in a very, very good way.

I hear Obama is back on top in the polls, great job America!  Keep up the good work, I’ll be thinking of all of you! Pura vida

Call me Steve Erwin

    When I put pictures up of this site, I can’t imagine someone’s heart not melting.  The other day we saw the most darling little white bats hanging upside down in a tent they made out of leaves.  Today’s cute animal alert was twofold: tiny baby peccaries (which look much like furry pigs but smell – literally – like the BO of an unshowered football team after a game) and a troop of howler monkeys.  The howlers were incredibly darling, and the family included two little babies alternatively trying to swing on the branches and riding on their mothers’ backs.  The monkeys were so entertaining, their facial expressions look just like people.  And they definitely were showboating for the large crowd that eventually gathered, staying right around the bridge and swinging down so that they were at eye level.  I wish that I had a prehensile tail, they seem so incredibly useful.

   Where this cute overload is occurring, La Selva, is one of the most famous tropical biological research sites in the world.   Our first site, Las Cruces, was a botantical garden and important for ecological research, while the second site was a study in sustainable development.  La Selva feels like a stereotypical rainforest, and it is fantastic.  Picture the rainforest in tourist pictures, and thats where I am.  There is water dripping at all hours when hiking through the forest, and animals are everywhere – not just the monkeys and peccaries, but poison dart frogs and lizards and birds.  Unfortunately, I’ve only seen one snake, and it wasn’t colorful OR poisonous.  I did however swim in the river with the caymen downstream.  It turns out it was a caymen, even though a passing security guard tried to convince us it was a crocodile and we should vacate the water; of course we neglected to do so.  Ironically, our professor received a call from the La Selva staff telling her we were in the water with the caymen – and making sure we knew not to “stress” it! By splashing too close. At least they were worried about protecting the right organisms?

    Our first full day here (the day of the crocodile swim) was Costa Rica’s Independence Day.  We were given the day off to go to the nearest town and watch the morning parades, where every school in the area is represented by a marching band of sorts (its all drums with an occasional xylophone).  The amazing part was  how good all of the kids were; even children looking younger than 8 were playing those drums better than I do playing Rock Band (if you don’t understand this metaphor, you are missing out on a video game revolution).  But regardless, they were very impressive musically, and many were dressed in traditional Costa Rican dress.  We also had the opportunity to purchase ice cream and other food, which was much welcome – masterful scientists this site may have, but not masterful (or even decent) chefs.  A trade that I am willing to make.   

    Tomorrow we visit the Dole banana plantation, and the next few days are devoted to faculty led research projects (of mysterious content).  After that is time for our first independent project (EVERYBODY PANIC!).  I need to approve my project with my teacher, but the idea my partner and I have now focuses on the Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila), a spider who spins a web with a tensile strength, by diameter, stronger than steel.  Though we would be questioning a few unique features of its web rather than jumping on the profit train and attempting to construct a bulletproof vest out of the thread (a project which, by the way, is actually being undertaken).  Wish me luck.  Me and AIG.  

Pura vida!