Things

Things I'm getting used to:
- not throwing toilet paper into the toilet (I guess they have a very basic sewage system but it's so hard to remember after 21 years of doing it a different way)
- taking cold showers (but it's good for the environment!)
- strange, unidentifiable bug bites that I hope aren't fatal
- stray dogs EVERYWHERE
- being woken up by bizarre animal noises: donkeys braying, parakeets, etc.

Things I could get used to:
- frequent monkey sightings
- cafe da tarde (a late afternoon coffee/tea break that very often involves a delicious cake)
- fresh juice at every meal
- local tropical fruit
- local organic food --yesterday I walked by a squash hanging from a vine in the insitute's garden and later that night, I ate it!
- daily hikes
- living next to a body of water

Speaking of water, apparently you're not supposed to drink it from the tap here, although all of the people in the community do and I can literally see the source from my bedroom window. Because our US immune systems aren't used to it, a few people have gotten sick and I have a sinking suspicion that I'm next--I haven't been drinking it but I've been using it to brush my teeth and I'm feeling some rumbling...cross your fingers for my gastrointestinal system!

Today was a lot of class, including two field experiments, one in which we learned how to use our compasses for some very basic orienteering and one in which, using stakes and string, we plotted eight meters of forest into two meter squares and then collected every single plant species we could find. Interesting in theory but incredibly tedious. That said, it did give me an idea for my individual project: I think I'm going to study medicinal herbs, mushrooms, or fruit that grow in this area of the rainforest (I think the latter includes persimmons and passion fruit, which I've been eating a lot of). I haven't narrowed it down yet but will do so as the week progresses and I develop a detailed proposal with the help of the TAs.

Interesting fact: less than 10% of the original Atlantic Forest remains today. That's a lot of decimation, and as you might suspect, it's mostly the result of destructive economic activity. But I think it's too easy to villanize the human species; as my sage father always says: everything's 20/20 in hindsight. I'm fascinated by the seemingly inherent conflict between human progression and survival methods and continued biodiversity. Of course it's not inherent, and there's a way to get around it by thinking outside the box a little, but it's really only recently occurred to anyone even try. (Hence, conservation biology.)

Everyone is looking forward to Thursday, the evening of our first "social," whatever that means, planned by the "social coordinator." Regardless of what we do, we're promised beer and it's been one of the most popular topics of conversation for the past few days (followed closely by Miley Cyrus, natch). Saturday should be even more exciting; we get to leave the site to go out in the closest town, which I think is about an hour away. It will be nice to wear something other than "field clothes," which are about as flattering as they sound.

Well, once again I have an enormous amount of assigned reading, so I'd better get to it. I'm sure that in a month or two I will start to get homesick, but right now I feel just really, really happy to be here. It's amazing how much your surroundings affect your mental state and at the moment I'm very grateful for the radical change of scenery. Plus, the food is GREAT. Have I mentioned that?

P.S. I took none of these photos--except the one of Miley Cyrus.