A word from the wise

Never announce out loud that you are having a round of really good luck. If you do, subsequently:

*You will fall on your butt. In a puddle. On rocks.
*You will make ramen, and then decide it looks better on your feet.
*You will choke on tea. Serves you right for drinking tea.
*You will spend hours working on data, only to have it expire into the abyss that is the intertubes, never to be found again.
*You will spill juice all over your computer, thus frying it and preventing it from ever working correctly again. And thus branding yourself a true moron.
*You will wash your laundry, only to find that your laundry didn't actually get washed and troll-washer just made a free dollar.
*You will go on a trip, and get a blow-out in the newest tire on the truck.
*You will be on the same trip, and your driver will get pulled over by a cop who is out of his car, and give him a speeding ticket during the only stretch he was not speeding.
*You, being deathly afraid of heights, will be faced with a 15-foot jump into rushing water, only to slip and fall, almost falling off of the edge. In a stroke of good luck, you will save yourself with your feet and had about 6 inches before the edge.
*You will still need to jump off the 15-foot drop, as it is the only way to get down. Safe travels. Hope you don't land on your back....ohhhh, good attempt. 7.2.
*You will realize that in saving your life, you have sprained your wrist. Or you're just a weinie, and can't handle pain. Either way, enjoy sporting a wrist wrap for the next week.
*Also, suddenly rain. Only during fieldwork, though.

These accounts are likely to be encountered within the next few days after said "lucky" statement. Prepare yourself. You will need:

*Spare food
*Spare computer
*Spare arm
*Ace bandage
*Indelible funds
*A hug

Community living

For those of you who have never lived in a place where at least 20 of you are vying for kitchen space, dorm space, communal space, and, to be completely honest, sometimes personal space....you are missing out.

The mornings here at El Verde are among the most beautiful I have groggily stared at through my half closed lids. The sun doesn't hit above the trees until about 8 or 9, so at 7 when we get up for work, the light is still dim enough to be pleasant and welcoming before turning scorchingly hot and bright. Luckily, for that part of the day we are in the dark forest. Those of us who leave for work at 8 mingle in the kitchen and on the porch at 7ish, and eat our breakfast or make our lunch in the tiniest space possible so as not to impede on the other 100 people around. While it sounds uncomfortable and frustrating, it actually becomes somewhat routine and reliable, and really not uncomfortable at all. You can remember who gets up when, and who you need to dance around to get to the door or the fridge. It's a dance, and as everyone knows, we are all just dancing through life (yeah, I hate myself too).

It is also an interesting blend of people here, to say the least. As an example, I give you last night, which was la Noche de San Juan, a night where Puerto Ricans go to the beach at midnight and jump into the ocean backwards. Of course, we all wanted to go. So the REU students and the census gang (us), along with a couple of other El Verdeans piled into a few cars and drove down into Luquillo to hang out and relax before jumping into the sea. During our waiting room time, we had conversations ranging from the philosophical to the geographical to the emotional and to the down right hilarious. Everyone spins their own web, and it is truly inspiring to see what everyone has to say about things you may have thought common place. Plus, who doesn't like jokes?

As a perfect example of our ingenuity, what did we do on Wednesday night? We made an Apples to Apples: El Verde game. That's right. We made one. And then spent the better part of two hours playing it. This way, we could put in whatever nouns and adjectives we wanted, such as alarm clocks, turtles, Bear Gryllz; elegant, ostentatious, and floppy. I may not have won, but I think that may be the most fun I have ever had playing Apples to Apples. And those of you who know me know I love Apples to Apples. Enough said.

In short, life here is unique. We make our living working in the forest, and then come back to our little jungle oasis to have conversations about work or play (mostly work....we're nerdy). I find myself more drawn to the people here every day, and I hope that the atmosphere that surrounds this place has reached you guys a little. There is something very welcoming about this little remote station, and I hope that I have become a part of that inviting force. Or will soon come to be.

So many beaches, so little time :)

So, this weekend began with a massive excursion to the same waterfall that I mentioned last Wednesday. The one by the parrot reserve? Still no parrots, but this week we had about 10-12 people make a clown car out of Alejandro's truck and hike it all the way back. I realized I never put up pictures of it last time, so here is the beautiful yet secluded "watering hole."

 Quite quaint, don't you think? The rapids are really mild, so it makes for a nice place to sit and swim around. Also, the pool is quite deep and infested with shrimp :P Not the worst infestation I've ever heard of. Mostly the annoyance with the shrimp is they'll nip at your legs if you're in the same place too long, which isn't really an issue for this group. Lots of climbing, lots of swimming, little shrimp action. That pool ends in a more rapid set of...rapids...good choice in wording right 'cher. That heads itself down into a very steep waterfall, and a glorious view out over the forest and into the oceanic wonderland.

This week we spent a little more time at the pool, just hanging around and chatting. It was a Friday, after all, so we were all ready to kick back and relax a bit after a long work week. If this is the way we plan on relaxing on Friday nights, I could definitely get used to it. For a better view of this place, and us actually in it, take a look at the video Ed posted on my facebook page!

The next picture was not found on google. It was not doctored. This was taken with my phone, and all beauty that emanates is complete natural and was even better in person.

Seriously?! Every beach here is so pristine, with palms lining the shores of sandy beaches and crystal clear blue waters. The water was so warm as well, with no pointy things on the bottom and lots of sand to run through my toes. It was heavenly, especially after the rain we had been experiencing at the station. 

 See? Truly amazing. While we were here, we also found and rescued a leopard printed sea slug that had washed ashore, ate fresh coconut that we got ourselves out of one of the palms, and some of us even practiced our slack-lining. Beyond all of these excursions, we mostly sat and enjoyed our day of resting on a beach in the hot sun, cool breeze, and salty ocean water with friends galore and plenty of food (including the coconut) to spare.

After the beach, Morgan took us for a treat--smoothies! Since she used to live here, she knew about a kiosk that sells the most spectacular smoothies we have ever tasted. So sweet, so thick, so creamy, and so so delicious. Rachel and I followed Morgan's advice to get the mixed fruit smoothie, which contained strawberry, pineapple, banana, maraschino cherry, guava, mango, papaya, dragon fruit...probably other things as well, but mostly what it contained was fantastic flavor. Rocio got a coconut one, and honestly I'm not sure who made the better decision. Hers was so clean and coconutty....that is definitely what I'm getting next time. But, the mixed was a good choice as well. For sure. Here's the proof!

 

L to R: Morgan, Rocio, Rachel, and that random sweaty Jewish girl who keeps jumping in these pictures. Get outta there!

As for Sunday? Well, what's better than a lazy day interspersed with games like crosswords and Taboo with friends? I tell you, life here is rough :) And Monday brings our first full work week! See you guys again soon!

A regular work week and a new beginning

This post begins my story time, rather than my laundry list of daily activities. We are starting normal field work not, and thus my daily routine is going to be the same for the next three months. So far, I'm really enjoying it. We work in teams of three, with two measuring and identifying trees and one data recorder. For my team, I record data while Tuber and Alejandro measure trees and yell info back to me. It's a very efficient system, and as Tuber can tell you, more efficient than other systems we tried :P We have thus far been making it through a little more than a quadrat (20m x 20m) per day, which is the goal that Chris and Jill had in mind for us! Success!

However, because our days have started to become a routine, I'm going to use this blog more as a descriptor of our not-so-usual goings on. For example, on Wednesday we had a few more arrivals into our room. The chronosequence people showed up, adding two more bodies to our room--Rocio from Maine, and Kathy from Hawaii. We also welcomed Morgan, who has been to the field station many times before. She used to live here in Puerto Rico, though now resides in Montana. She is back doing some last minute data for her lab, and is only here for the next few days. As I get to know her more and more, this fact makes me sadder and sadder. She is such and asset for all of us to have here, as her personality keeps us grounded and her experience on the island is vast and wholly beneficial. I am getting to know her really well, and it makes me sad that she is only here until this coming Thursday. Sadness. More stories involving Morgan to come, I'm sure.

As for the weather here on the island? On Thursday, we literally got rained out of the forest. We were working on our census when we started to feel some drops. Being hardy people, we obviously continued working, thinking nothing of it. Over the next few hours, some amount of water only slightly shy of the entire Atlantic ocean poured down on us in batches of 5-10 minutes of varying severity. One round was sprinkling, one round was literally a bucket being overturned, and another was a shower head with the pressure turned all the way up. And why did we finally decide to call it a day? Not because we were soaking wet (which we were); not because we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us because of all of the water falling (which it was); not because of the worry that we were going to slip and die on the walk back because of all of the water flowing (which I didn't quite do, but I did obtain a quality bruise on my butt). Nope. We turned in because we COULDN'T HEAR EACH OTHER OVER THE RAIN. We were four feet apart, yelling "THE DBH IS 55." "6?!" NO, 55." "9?!?" NO!!!!!!!"

The hilarious thing? El Yunque doesn't get enough rain to qualify it as a rain forest. It qualifies only as a "wet" forest. And after last Thursday, I can only respond to that in one way--Yes. It most definitely does qualify as a "wet" forest.

On top of the Chronosequence people arriving, we on the tree census had quite the realization. We had all thought we were quite the lovely bunch of coconuts when we arrived. Oh no. This truly is a motley crew. First you have Rocio, who is a very happy outdoorsy girl and is absolutely gung-ho on us going salsa dancing. Then you have Anna, who wore the shortest shorts I have ever seen to walk around in the rain forest (excuse me...WET forest). Next there's Brian, a tall black guy with the thickest dreads and beard I have ever seen in my life. Finally, there's Kathy, who is in her 40's and from Hawaii. All seem super excited to be here, but good lord did we all get a nice giggle watching that pack walk through the forest.

Life around the station is really quite busy, to be honest. With all these people around, there is always something to do, and always someone to talk to. Personally, I find balancing it to be much easier than I would have expected. It's amazing how well we are all getting along, and how enjoyable the whole experience here is turning out to be. I can start a conversation with anyone here and find myself really exploring a whole new friendship that I never knew would blossom. It really is a magical place here, and I'm discovering more about the botanical, the social, and the spiritual every day. To be here is a very unique experience, and I hope that you who are reading this area getting at least a little bit of a sense as to what life here is like. If anything, that is the goal of my blog.

For tonight, I'll end with a picture of a Coqui--a frog that inhabits this island, and really is their national icon. This little guy, thought maybe not always in sight, is ALWAYS able to be heard at night. I got a chance to snag a picture of one last night, so here you go!

For a frame of reference, Here is how big they are--the size of not quite half of my finger. Also, if you want to hear what they sound like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-YKkyadflo

Pictures, finally!

Okie dokie! So here are a few shots from the station where we're staying. It actually looks a lot like the pictures on their website, but it takes a little getting used to when you actually live here :P Also, these are slightly out of order. I'm cool. Next time I'll be more on top of it.

This is the front of the dorms and the kitchen. The area to the right is the kitchen, and the two buildings on the left are dorms. I'm staying in the very back corner. I bet you can guess how good the cell phone service is here :P

This is the room in which Rachel and I are staying. It's pretty nice right now, but soon we're going to be sharing it with 5 other people. 7 people living in this little room. Tiny tiny tiny.

 This is the other half of the station, where the labs, offices and storage rooms are. Inside here is our conference room, which is always air conditioned. A little break from the environment in order to keep all machines working in tip top condition. And I definitely can't complain :)

 Here is said conference room. The computers are for anyone's use, and there are usually at least 2 or 3 people in here. Kind of like everyone's office, where everyone's interested in what's going on.

 This is us in the field. From left to right--Random jewish kid, Rachel, Mark Baran, Ed, Jill our Scottish/Northern English professor (who kind of looks like a mix between Maria Terres and my history professor from ZA Lara), and Tuber. This is what we've been doing for the last few days. IDing trees. We are pros at it now, you don't even KNOW!!

 This is an awesome picture. Also, the one on the left is Alejandro, the grad student/researcher who is going to be helping us with our tree census, and has been taking us on tours of the island. On the right is Ed, basking in the awesome.

 This is a shot of the bay near Old San Juan. This city is so beautiful at sunset, I could stay here for months and not get enough of the beautiful colors and sounds.

 Again, the Paseo de la Princesa which is a walk around the outer wall of the city. Posing for the picture are Alejandro and Rachel.

 So beautiful. I can't get enough.

 It just looks so picturesque, doesn't it? I wish we could go walking in this city every weekend. Ugh. It makes me so happy to be here.

 ...And now we're back at the station. Like I said, I'll work on the ordering of pictures soon :P This is our storage area. Again, soon to be shared by 5 more people, but for now Rachel and I are doing a good job of being frugal (we each have one shelf and one drawer; there are more shelves by the other set of beds)

 This is the little courtyard that lives in the middle of all of the dorm areas. There's a hammock in the back, truly completing the relaxed island jungle look to the area. Usually there's at least one person sitting in one of the chairs or sleeping in the hammock, either doing some work just hanging out. We really are a little community here, and get along as such.

And to wrap it all up, this is one of our two kitchens. There is a stove and oven in the back, a deep freeze under the window, and a monstrous fridge to the side that you can see. This is typical of the amount of people in the kitchen at any given point...we like to eat :)

So, there you have it. A small tour of my life up to this point. I'll keep posting pictures as they come, and eventually I'll make a facebook album of them as well. So enjoy, and I'll see you again sometime this week!

The weather here is in the dictionary under "hilarious"

I have recently learned to appreciate something I have never thought about before--working car windows. In Seth's car, none of the windows will move. Luckily, one of them is permanently down so we get a little airflow, but holy bujesus. Never again will I take this for granted.

We started this weekend right by heading down to the beach in Old San Juan. Rachel, Mark, Tuber and I all crammed into Seth's car and headed on the long journey into the city. About a half hour into the trip we were all so sweaty that we absolutely had to pull over for BK milkshakes :) However, a word to the wise--a blackout shake from BK is not a shake at all. It is in fact a "coke float". If you knew this, understand that I do not eat at fast food places very often, and I am a n00b.

Back in the car! This time, however, we weren't too hot. We were still wet though--we got caught in a torrential downpour. Remember that window that wouldn't go up? Yeah....lots of water. At one point, a car passed us and threw a wave of pavement water in through the window. At least we weren't roasting anymore!

Once at the beach, we set up shop in the shade of some beautiful palm trees and then took a dip in the ocean. The water was beautiful, as was the weather (finally). We swam in the clear blue water for a while, and then made our way to a rock outcrop a little ways away. Before we got there, Seth had warned us to be careful for sea urchins, which we hadn't really listened to. Luckily, we had listened to him enough to check these rocks. Holy crap. SO MANY URCHINS. There were some that were the size of a big basketball. And slippery rocks surrounding them? Double trouble! It took me 10 minutes to walk 15 feet. Upon reaching the end of the outcrop, I stepped onto the pointiest rocks I have ever set foot on. Even high tailing it couldn't get me out of there fast enough, as I couldn't move without stepping on slippery rocks, sea urchins or pointy sand rock. I finally made it out of there with only one bloody injury on my toe and no crunched sea urchins. Success...?

After braving the urchin rocks, I took a snooze on the sand and talked with Alejandro, Seth, Tuber and Mark (Rachel was off exploring the grassy area near there). While we were sitting, a group of locals grabbed Tuber's lunchbox to root through it. I didn't understand why, until Tuber got up to get it back and started asking where his iPhone was. Yeah. They took it. Tuber kept asking them to give it back, and they kept telling him that they didn't speak English. When Alejandro came over, they told him to get Tuber away as they were a group not to mess with. Then some cops came by, and the group threw the iPhone away so that the cops wouldn't find it when they were searched. Tuber went to check for it, but they threw it into the ocean. Good bye iPhone. Never to be found again. Luckily, Tuber is an unphasable guy. He took the whole thing really well, and we were able to continue with our day. He is such a trooper. I really admire people who are able to not let things like this get to them. Maybe he'll give me lessons :P

After that whole fiasco, we were off to Old San Juan for some touristy things. We started off by walking along the Paseo de La Princesa, which winds along the old wall of the city. It is such a pretty walk, especially around sunset. We also grabbed a couple of glasses of orange juice, because it was being sold along the way. I love this place; it sells juice on its walkways :) We then made our way to some other historical areas of the city, with Alejandro as our guide. There is a totem pole made from old pottery to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of the island. Next we were off to the Fort San Felipe del Morro, one of two forts around the area. This one has a beautiful big lawn surrounding the enormous fort, which really looks like a historical piece of this area. We sat there for a while, watching people fly kites and chatting about previous groups that had done this tree survey. It was really nice to just be out in the city, enjoying ourselves away from the station for once.

We made our way to the other fort to just see it from the outside, as the sun had already gone down. I had seen this fort the last time I was in OSJ, and it was definitely a less grand fort than San Felipe. I have picked a favorite :) Then we went to a brewery for dinner, and ventured off to the police station to try and file a police report for Tuber. Didn't work. They offered to file some paperwork if they thought it would benefit him in getting a new phone, but he didn't think so. So, we ended up just heading home, getting home around midnight. All in all, a good day. Topped off by hilarious sun burns. All over our backs :P

And Sunday? Groceries. And sleeping. ...thats about it. Yup. Ohh, brownie nuggets for dessert! (South Africa road trip friends, you know what I'm talking about :P)

And I promise, pictures tomorrow! I have a couple more to take, and then I'll put some up.

I am also going to find a new emoticon....sometime...  

WHY IS MY INTERNET IN SPANISH

But seriously. I hope that this will help me learn some Spanish, but at some point I would just like to understand what I'm clicking on :P

Today we ran to the kitchen when we got up to check if the fridge was still broken. Yup.

We had our first day at the actual plot, but not before learning even more plant ID's. So far we are doing alright, and Jill is very impressed with our progress :) I think she's being nice. I'm definitely trying hard, and slowly but surely I'm getting past the point where they all look like tall brown things will littler green things on them! Sad, huh?

Once we made it to the entrance to the plot, we started on a trek through the plot itself. The plot is about 500m North to South, and we walked the entire length. Along the way we learned more plant IDs, getting our total to about 55 or 60 by the end of the day. Once at the end of the plot, we snaked our way around to a pit that was dug a little outside of the plot for the purpose of carbon analysis. The perfect place for a lunch! We ate and discussed what we could do on our first weekend. We then headed back, and what had taken us 4 1/2 hours to get to the top of the plot took us about a half hour. Jill had so much to tell us about the trees, we hadn't even noticed how long it had taken us to get there. The walk back wasn't so bad, just a little muddy and slippery. That might take some getting used to, but I think I'll be ok. Thank god I brought my hiking boots!

After we got back, we had a quick break and then started looking at samples of leaves that Alejandro and Chris had brought back for us to identify. More practice! This part I really enjoyed, as it's right up my alley--puzzles :) We all sat around a picnic table and used our ID sheets to identify the branch samples in front of us. And we succeeded! 54 samples, and only 4 wrong ones! 3 of them we didn't know yet (tricksy hobbitsess...) and one was a dried leaf that we should have looked at more carefully. Success!

And our first real trip to urbanization was today! We went as a group to a bar in Luquillo, where Chris lives. We had dinner, and some people has some drinks. I myself lucked out with DELICIOUS pineapple juice, which is always amazing. Also, fish tacos are something I could definitely get used to. Delectable! After dinner, Tuber, Ed, Rachel, Seth (another grad student), Alejandro and I walked down by the kiosks on the beach, poking our heads in every so often to see if we could get down to the beach. Finally there was one open, and there was sand between my toes once more. The water here is crystal clear, even in the nighttime. We walked and talked along the shore, and dipped our feet in. The water was lukewarm and wonderful, and just what I needed after a long day of work. We then headed back, ready for the weekend to really start tomorrow.

PS, we also bottomed-out Seth's car on the hill up to the station. We're fat.

PPS, sorry these two posts aren't as eloquent as the first, I am half asleep right now and have practically no idea what I'm writing :P

PPPS, hi :)