A long day, a longer day, and a wonderful rain forest :)

I'm going to preface this blog with the statement that I know that I took TIPR from my South Africa trip's TIA. However, I introduced it as such when I first got here, and it has already been said about 30 times, so I'm sticking to it. Perhaps as I move along in this experience I might change it, but it has thus far been a defining factor of my short time here.

The trip began with a tearful goodbye to Chris, and with my deciding that I needed to stay up the whole night before my 3:30am bus trip to Milwaukee. In retrospect, not necessarily my smartest move. However, I did get a chance to read through my South Africa blog, and I realized that I wanted to write a more in depth and eloquent description of my time here. The blog was a great reminder of the wonderful time that I had in ZA, but it definitely didn't sound that way. So, this is my second chance to convey to everyone who reads this the truly amazing time that I am having abroad.

At 3:30am, my wonderful mother trekked me to the park n ride, and I hopped on a bus to Milwaukee. From the bus I lugged my 110+ pounds of crap to the ticket counter, and donated 80 of it to the checked baggage fund. I then hiked to security, which was a surprisingly long line, considering they had closed two of the security lanes. You would think that when the line extends practically to the lobby, they would find it useful to employ the 6 extra workers just standing around to open the other lanes. After getting my guitar case checked  (not surprising, I had stashed a blanket and umbrella in with the guitar and 6 books and some cereal in the book pocket), I got on a plane to Atlanta. Upon landing at Atlanta, I walked onto my next plane and took off shortly after for the Rich Port!

We touched down on time to a mist and cloud covered Puerto Rico. I suppose I should have expected it, as that was what I was told PR looks like most of the summertime, but I still had this fairy tale image in my head from when I came here two years ago of beautiful blue skies and sunshine. Not that the island isn't gorgeous under cloud cover. Even from above, you can see that the green spans for miles, and even the cities have this picturesque history about them that is just breath taking. I went to grab my luggage at baggage claim, and found that it was soaking wet. Ah well, TIPR. Upon going out to the Area de Reunion (I have got to learn how to do Spanish accents on my keyboard...), I met up with 3 of my 4 co-volunteers, as well as our leader, Chris. We talked for a while, as we needed to wait for Mark Baumgarter (why do I use his full name? We have two Mark B's on this trip :P). When he got there, we signed a couple of papers in Spanish, realized that we could have been signing our souls away unknowingly, and headed off to the University to deposit them. Everything here is truly beautiful. It makes me remember why I was so anxious to come back. Yes, there is poverty, and yes there are areas of low income and it is visually distinguishable. But it doesn't matter, because the culture is there, the environment is there, and everyone just seems generally happy. Will I keep the rose colored glasses? Get back to me in a few weeks, I'm still completely smitten :)

After leaving the university (also beautiful), we headed off in the direction of the forest and a fruit stand. There were a few on the side of the road, so we pulled over and I picked out some perfect mangoes. I cannot even wait, but they aren't ripe yet....oh well. Then we went to the grocery store, just to fill Frances with even MORE weight (We named the van Frances...no, it was not my idea :P). The store was filled with food very similar to the US, which I guess I could have expected, being that PR is a territory of the US. Still, it was interesting to see the differences; for example, we don't usually stock entire walls of rice and beans. After getting groceries, it was time to take the scenic drive up into the rain forest to the station where we are going to spend the next 3 months.

The station is VERY secluded, but in a good way. It's in a very floral area of the forest, surrounded by huge trees and gorgeous flowers. There are apartments just down the road, but the 5 of us are staying in the dorm area, along with about 10000 other people. Except really. It's crowded, and it's only going to get more crowded. I'm interested to see how the kitchen is going to work, but that is a bridge we will cross soon enough. Rachel and I are together in a room that is about the size of my Lewis dorm room, and there will soon be 7 people sleeping in there. We are sharing a bathroom with the guys next door, but so far there haven't been any issues. If what Rachel and I have worked out is correct, we each get one drawer and one shelf for our stuff, which has proven to be more than plenty. We then went over a few more logistical things, and then all turned in for the night pretty early, as we were all totally wiped. I could get used to this :)

THE NEXT DAY (this is a long post, feel free to go grab a snack and read this later :P)

Rachel and I woke up at 745, luckily 15 minutes BEFORE and not after our first meeting. We'll be more careful from here on :P. We hurried to get ready and get over to the conference room, as today began our first day of orientation. It started slowly, with some paperwork that needed to get done and some rules and regulation talks. All very self explanatory things, but I'm glad we went over them. You never know what is expected of you in a new place, and Chris is doing a wonderful job getting us settled in. After the paperwork, we took a longer tour of the station, discussing each of the rooms and their function, as well as a little bit of the history of this place. We walked the whole campus, and talked about a few more rules and guidelines for living here. We were then turned loose to read over our 33 PAGE PROTOCOL. Oh my goodness. It is so specific, I don't think I'll ever be able to not know what to do in a strange situation. But, this is the 5th time they've run it, and so they do have it down to a science (lawl). So from 10 to 1, we were able to relax and read it over slowly.

At 1, we met with Chris, Alejandro (a grad student/technician who will be helping on our project) and Jill (another director of the project) to discuss the protocol more in depth. We started with discussing the plot, which is a 16 ha plot just off our campus and extending deeper into the rain forest. There are a lot of specific details to the protocol that I won't go into now, but suffice it to say they will come up later, and I'll be sure to mention their importance. At 4 we had to adjourn, as there is a weekly seminar for the REU program on Wednesdays at 4. This week the topic was benthic ecology, which is the study of the bottoms of lakes, rivers, and marine ecosystems. It was really fascinating, as it brings light to a whole environment that is overlooked by so many, including myself. They play such an important role, and yet it is so easy to forget they even exist. I was hoping that I would continue to learn while I was here, and it looks like I have gotten my wish, in more ways than one :)

After the lecture, the 5 of us decided to go on a hike to try and find some Puerto Rico parrots. They are among the 10 rarest bird species in the world, so we were really hopeful. There is a parrot sanctuary right down the road from us though, so that is why we though we had a chance :). On our way out, Alejandro alerted us to look for a waterfall that we wouldn't want to miss, so we made that a goal of ours as well. The hike to the waterfall was almost entirely uphill. We are on a mountain, so I should have expected it, and yet it still took all of us by surprise. It was muted by the luscious greenery that surrounded us, and by the sounds of the coqui serenading us as we walked (coqui are little frogs that make this loud "co-KEE" noise, and they are all over the island). We talked about our lives in the real world, and made jokes and just tried to get to know each other better. It took us about 75 minutes to get to the waterfall (again, all up hill), and Alejandro was right. The waterfall had created this serene pool in a totally secluded area of the forest, and from the pool the water cascaded down the rest of the forest to another waterfall that we had seen on the way up. It was incredible. The water was so clear and cool, and the sky had finally opened up to blue. I cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon/evening.

Once we had had our fill of the waterfall (not literally, of course), we set off back to camp. It was a much shorter walk going down hill, but by the time we got back we were all beat. I still managed to cook cous cous with a mushroom/tomato/cheese salsa for dinner, but it took some effort :P And now we have the rest of the night to do as we please!

I know this has been long, but bear with me. I just want to give you an introduction to the 4 other volunteers who are here with me this summer, so when I reference their names you know who I'm talking about!

Ed: Went to Rutgers, from New Jersey, is completely in love with PR and never wants to leave.
Rachel: Went to Tufts (we knew each other prior to the program), from Seattle, and is desperate to have me go running with her. But I am a lazy person, and she captained crew, so I think she might be a mite disappointed in me...
Mark Baran: Went to Cornell, from New York, and has thus far been pretty quiet. Really nice guy, though.
Mark Baumgarter: Went to UW Stout, from the Eau Claire area (I know, two Wisconsinites!), and really likes photography.

There is obviously more to come on these guys, but for right now that's a short introduction. They are all really nice and friendly, and we are all getting along very well. I'll end here for now, and I'll try to keep this updated as regularly as I can! Enjoy (if you got this far)!