Closing Time

So ends the final of my five weeks here at IPE in Nazare Paulista, Brazil! It's been awhile since I last wrote so I'll start with tales of the week before this past one. It was a good one--at some point I managed to partly overcome the stir-craziness I nearly succumbed to and feel again pretty delighted to be here. Others did not quite get to that point; several times heard someone refer to this place as a prison. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess; if this is prison, I can't imagine what paradise looks like.

Academically, the focus of that week was, as per usual, our individual projects, but also conservation medicine, and our "field practicals." The unit on conservation medicine entailed us casually breaking into groups of five to research and then create a PowerPoint presentation about a disease that affects both human and animals. My group did the Nipah virus, which affects pigs and humans, while the others explored malaria, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease (did anyone else not now that the latter gets its name from the Connecticut Lymes? I always thought it was just a coincidence). Very interesting to look at, for a change, ways the environment can affect people, rather than vice versa.

The field practicals were the closest we got to a test during SEE-U, I suppose, as it was timed and graded independently of our other coursework. It, like most of our projects here, entailed we 20 being divided into four groups of five but then, left largely to our own devices, each group had to design an experiment having to do with human effects on the Atlantic Forest, conduct it, and present it in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation--one of many we've done since we got here, but this one for a grade. My group--consisting of me, Darcy, Ethan, Aylesse, and Chaim--decided to look at--what else--forest fragments.

Specifically, we wanted to examine the insect biodiversity of forest fragments. We looked at two fragments--one fairly large, one very small--and for each, using those lovely aspirators and beat sheets I blogged about earlier, measured the ratio of insect biodiversity at the edge to the insect biodiversity of the interior. Our hypothesis was that the difference between edge and interior would be more pronounced in the large fragment than in the small fragment. It turned out to be wrong, but, crafty scientists that we are, we came up with several likely sources of error, which I won't go into here, lest I drive those of you still awake to completely close your fluttering eyelids.

All in all, the activity was pretty fun--less stressful or nerve wracking than we thought it might be--and it's neat that, after just four weeks, we were all fairly comfortable designing, conducting, and presenting a[n almost] professional-quality science experiment in a very short period of time. That said, for me, pairing the words science and experiment immediately conjures images of seventh grade--perhaps the antithesis of professional, although JoJoKin and I did take first place in the citywide fair that year (suck on that, Jessie B).

The weekend was a lot of fun as well. The theme of Thursday's social was "Dress Like Your Roommate," which ended up being hilarious--we hadn't realized how distinctly everyone dressed. I kept seeing Olivia, wearing my field clothes, out of the corner of my eye and wondering for a split second how I was looking at myself without a mirror. I also wondered what I was thinking when I composed that particular outfit, which I've repeated many times on this trip.On Saturday, we went back to Busca Vida, the cachaçaria (like a brewery but where they make cachaça instead) we went to the first weekend. Right now in Brazil people are celebrating Festa Junina, so there was a band performing and many people were dressed like hicks--I still haven't figured out exactly why, though someone described it to me as a "country festival."

The band was OK, the caipirinhas were GREAT--I ordered mine with mango, lime, and chili pepper. I wanted a whole pepper but the bartender was skeptical so I had to work up to it--he put just a tip in my first one and when I came back for another, he used the remainder. Sweet, bitter, spicy--I can still taste the magic. Speaking of magic drinks, I have also come to adore Guarana soda, which is an extremely popular drink in Brazil. Indescribable flavor (I seriously can't think of words, but I'll try harder the next time I drink it) that I know I will crave and probably have a hard time finding in the States. Oh well--shouldn't be drinking soda anyway!

I spent the rest of the weekend and into this past week finishing up my field work. This consisted of, on several days, being chauffeured by sweet Eduardo (who actually goes by Eduardinho, or "Little Eduardo--"he's pretty short) to various forest fragments to test abiotic conditions. Eduardinho's car cracks me up--mostly because it reminds me of a certain, white-with-red-plush-interior, smoke-infused Honda Accord (?) in whose back seat I passed so many delightful hours as a child, driving up and down Whalley Avenue.

These last days of field work were much more enjoyable than the first, because I was accompanied by Ze, one of our trusty field assistants, and boy, can he wield a machete. It came in most handy, surprisingly, not in slicing through vines but rather in scaring away a pack of scary, scary dogs that were unchained and lunging at us from the end of someone's driveway. Even so, I was glad to be done with the actual experiment part of my project--I love nature and all, but I don't think I'm quite cut out for field research.

Monday morning was spent learning about conservation conflict resolution management (what a jargon-y mouthful), and on Monday afternoon we engaged in a simulation. I played the role of a developer who wanted to build golf courses and planned communities alongside a river, and had to haggle with the local government, a mining company, some Native Americans, the water company, a river protection society, etc. It was kind of fun but at times incredibly frustrating, and tensions rose very high. Made me think a lot about New Haven and my parents, who are a local politician and a member of the zoning board, respectively--don't know if I could do what they do.

By Tuesday I had completed my field work, and went to work analyzing my data. In brief, my project centered on a pair of comparisons: a comparison of forest-edge and forest-interior and a comparison of forest-road edge and forest-reservoir edge. The abiotic factors I compared were: air temperature, air humidity, soil moisture, sunlight, and wind. When I plugged my data into statistical tests on Microsoft Excel, I found that none of these factors differed significantly from forest edge to forest interior, and that two of them did differ significantly from forest-road edge to forest-reservoir interior. The implication of this is that not all forest edges (which are results of forest fragmentation, a huge problem in Brazil) are the same--this could be an important piece of information in regards to reforestation. By late Wednesday night, fueled by Guarana soda and some of the cheesiest, greasiest pizza I've ever had, I had translated my findings into a PowerPoint presentation. If anyone besides my mother would like to see it, let me know and I'll CC you on the e-mail.

And then, yesterday, for the grand finale, we organized a "conference" in which each student had 15 minutes with which to present their project and field questions. I was really impressed by my fellow students' work; every project seemed scientifically sound and professional, and it was really interesting to see which aspects of the Atlantic Forest and conservation people had lighted upon. Many, like me, chose an abiotic angle, but others looked at animals (Titi monkeys, warblers), insects, and even people (Olivia, armed with her flawless Portuguese, chose something sociological).

Last night we began the celebration of our accomplishments by attending a Festa Junina party, at a campus similar to IPE, about 20 minutes away. There was a bonfire, and treats (popcorn, hotdogs, cake, mulled wine, cachaca boiled with ginger and cloves), and dancing, and even a mock wedding, which is a Festa Junina tradition. It was a lot of fun, but I drank too much cheap, incredibly sweet red wine (from a jug) which left me today with a pretty bad headache, and I somehow burned a small hole (sparks from the fire?) in my Patagonia fleece. I also smoked part of a cigar, which was delicious.

Tonight, at IPE, we're having our own Festa Junina party. The kitchen staff has been working hard all day, preparing food (I saw a tray of candied apples, and a pot of hot dogs, and someone was husking corn), setting up a bonfire, and stringing flags. Not sure who, if anyone, will be getting "married," but Juliana has just informed me that there will be a capoeira show, which should be great. I saw a little capoeira in Paraty and was totally enthralled and left wanting more. Capoeira, should you not care/have time to click on that hyperlink, is a Brazilian blend of martial art, game, and dance.

Tomorrow, to Sao Paulo, where I'll spend a week--the first few days with a new friend, Whitney, the last with good ol' Tamar. After that, to Olivia's grandmother's farm, which is in Itatiaia, about halfway between Sao Paulo and Rio, for the weekend. Then a week in Rio, followed by a weekend in Angra, which is back towards Sao Paulo, visiting one of Olivia's many, many aunts (her mother is one of 13). That Sunday I'll spend the night near the Sao Paulo airport and in the morning, fly to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, for a week alone--more on this in the next post. On the 21st I fly into Buenos Aires! I really can't wait--I miss New York already, and Jessica Cohen says that it's the only city she's been to that rivals it.

I'm excited for future adventures, but a little sad to end this one. Like anything else, it's had its ups and downs, but overall, it has been a truly fantastic experience. I learned an incredible amount (half a semester's worth in just five weeks!)--about the environment, about conservation, about the scientific method, about other people, about myself, about how much I still don't know, about all of those things. I met some wonderful people, ate pounds and pounds of delicious food, spent time in a part of Brazil that I never would have otherwise (this place is decidedly not a tourist destination).

In accordance with the HGBG guide-to-style, I will end this post, and SEE-U, with a pair of lists.

Things I Will Miss

- the food (duh), specifically: cafe da tarde (equivalent of English teatime--every culture should have some version of this), the unlimited supply of fruit (persimmons, and passion fruits and mangoes, oh my), the fresh, flavorful vegetables, and a particular, rather sweet dish involving chickpeas, squash, and pureed pumpkin
- the IPE campus (turns out that one of the founders of IPE was a interior designer before she was a conservationist, which explains why this place is so aesthetically pleasing)
- the delightful, capable IPE staff, who slaved over hot stoves and made our beds and managed to smile sweetly all the while
- Nazare Paulista, the beautiful, peaceful area that IPE calls home
- the sunsets over the reservoir -- truly spectacular and it KILLS me that these pictures dilute the colors so much
- Tim, Kaitlin, Fernando, and Juliana (who has possibly the best laugh of anyone I've ever met), who are some of the most excellent, patient educators I've been lucky enough to study under. Thank you, sincerely.
- Chato, IPE's resident mutt, who accompanied me on so many of my trips to the field and who has an old soul (SUCH good dog; if I could take him home with me, I would)
- the Atlantic Forest wildlife, particularly the butterflies, and the birds: this might just be the beginning of a lifelong passion for ornithology--I just bought a t-shirt with a hummingbird on it from the IPE gift shop

Things I Regret

- that I didn't see more wildlife -- Though others claim to see them everywhere, somehow I only caught one glimpse of monkeys! I'd also have liked to spy on an armadillo, another sloth or two, more birds, etc. I wish parakeets moved slower and flew lower.
- that I didn't learn a bit more about humans in Nazare -- I would love to have spent more time getting familiar with the culture and daily life here
- that I sometimes didn't conduct myself according to the standard of maturity I try to maintain
- that I didn't get a massage from David, the neighborhood masseuse who they say works magic
- that I don't speak Portuguese
- that I never made it kayaking
- that I can't eat Brazil, both literally and figuratively

As a final note: HELP SAVE THE ATLANTIC FOREST, by sending a donation or buying a t-shirt. There are many, many reasons why you should do this (the very future of the planet partly depends on it) but I'll offer the most cursory and superficial: this place is cool. And as the world slowly transforms into one giant, uncool strip mall, it's up to you and me to help preserve what cool remains.

Tchau! Obrigada!

More pictures coming soon to my Picasa page.