2019 Costa Rica International Research Experience

Today was our presentation day for our projects. We woke up early and watched the sunrise above the valley around 5:30. It was quite beautiful.   We continued practicing and wrapped up our minor details for presentations before showing them to the rest of the groups. At 13:15 hours, we started to give our presentations. Leslie and I were the second to last group to go, so we had time to fix minor errors. I felt that I did poorly but others said it was good. I also felt our presentation was shorter than the others, maybe it was. But I wasnt told. I did however inform the others about the desiometer and it is used to measure canopy cover. Overall, I am relieved that the presentations are through, a but sad that our journey here is coming to a close. We are leaving tomorrow. But I did get to watch the sunset over the valley once. So it was worth it. After dinner, Juan took a few of us hunting for frogs, toads, and scorpions and we were able to find all which we were looking for.  S

Today, Leslie, Rachel and I came up with our game plan for our presentation. We had time to come up for practice before we had our going away party with the Emberá and Ngöbe indigenous folks that helped us with our studies. After lunch we finished our poster and then Celestino, a leader of the Ngöbe tribe gave us a power point presentation. Lucilla then finished teaching us how to make thread out of the leaf fibers we harvested earlier last week. After which, we had our party with them. There they told us more of their culture such as a couple songs, a few personal stories. We then had a few of us give them some of our knowledge. I was unable to upload this post on the 17th due to a new group arriving that have been disconnecting us from the internet as well as keep us up until 1 am.

Where to begin...... Well, it's good that I decided to talk to the project coordinator about my health, as for the past 4 nights I've been coughing up a lung. I got up at 6 am and started the day like every other day and went to the dining hall. Couldnt enjoy most of the meal, except watermelon as did not cause much pain when consumed. Scott, the leader of this internship program brought me to the hospital roughly around 11 am. Was bit of a wild goose chase as we had to go to 10 different windows just to get a diagnosis. It was quite hilarious while we were there. Everyone who had to read off my name usually paused for a few moments trying to figure out what was my first name. Scott told them that I had 4 first names to just settle the confusion. After we waited for 3 hours in order for me to get a shot in the rear, went and had Crepes for lunch. After lunch, we continued our little escapade as I needed to get an Xray. While getting it taken, the radiologist asked Scott whi

Well today was our only free day to explore the town of San Vito. It was quaint and very vibrant with colour and culture. Many of the places we stopped at to rest had many empty glasses, remnants from the festival they locals had the night prior. We stopped at this Pizza joint and ordered something that was familiar to us. To those who are reading this and find it weird to have a pizza joint in Costa Rica, the town of San Vito was founded by Italians in 1952. Waltzing around the area for a few hours, taking in the scenery and being immersed with the culture. Our last stop was at a Crepe cafe. Deb, the mentor who was with us ordered this banana crepe which was divine, and I ordered a regular cup of joe. The coffee here is on a completely different level. It was at a reasonable price too, only $1.40.  Getting back to the Garden, I started to fall ill again, and drifted in and out of a few naps. Hopefully the medicine does the trick and I'm refreshed tomorrow.

Saturday, December 14th,  Where do I begin? Last night I was not feeling my best, and was up most of the night with a bad cough. I eventually got up at 6, and went to the dining hall to talk to Scott (Lead coordinator for the program). Evidently I did not have to look as everyone I walked past told him I looked deathly ill. Scott said he would go to San Vito, the closest town and buy medicine. I then crawled back into bed after a long journey back to Wilson House. I slept for 3 hours and woke up in a dead sweat. Feeling rejuvenated, I took a much needed shower and joined my group in the lower portion of the Botanical Station. I missed out on catching 3 of the new 6 species, but we have the perfect sample size now. We stayed in the butterfly garden again to find anything we cpuldve potentially missed, but the weather turned sour. We returned to the lab to brainstorm and collaborate, but had to leave early as Scott wanted to show one of the local indigenous groups, the Emberá how t

Friday, December 13th. Today was remarkable, yet not in my favor. First off is my sleep schedule from work has followed me here. This is the second day where I all have been up since 4:00 AM. The sunrises here are mesmerizing, but not as such when it comes to the fog rolling through the valley when breakfast arrives. After breakfast, Rachel and I went to the forest along with Deb Anderson, Alwin, and Jacob through the Rio Java Trail and a good portion through the Water Trail.  As our paths diverged, Rachel and I collected roughly 5 more specimen of which neither of us had laid eyes upon. Although neither of us have seen any of the species, Rachel being the expert that she is was a le to deduce the family on which they belonged too. I however still am barely a novice. We left the forest around 11:30 and had lunch at noon. It was great for sure, but I certainly do feel under the weather, so I was unable to consume the usual amount of which I have intake inhaling. After lunch, we we