"I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH YOU"

It’s been a little while, but here is my last entry for a week. We’re leaving tomorrow morning to go to Cuerici (A.K.A. Cerro de la Muerta [Hill of the Dead]) for 6 days. No internet/phone, so don’t be afraid if you can’t get in touch with me. I’m all right.

Here’s a blurb about it from our orientation materials:

“Cuerici is located at an altitude of 2,900 meters near Cerro de la Muerte in the Talamanca Mountain Range of Costa Rica. This small farm and biological station includes about 200 hectares of primary forest bordering the Rio Macho Forest Reserve and Chirripo National Park. Both of these protected areas mark the northwestern edge of La Amistad Conservation Area. Ancient, tall oaks dominate the forest at this altitude (primarily Quercus costarricenses and Q. copeyensis). Some of these trees are estimated to be nearly 1,000 years old. Near Cerro de la Muerte, at 3,200 meters, the trees give way to high-altitude paramo, a unique tropical ecosystem specially adapted to temperatures that fluctuate rapidly between warm, sunny days and nights below freezing. Páramo is dominated by shrub land where drainage is adequate and by bogs where drainage is poor. The station at Cuerici is a large, rustic cabin complete with a large fireplace for roasting marshmallows and a wood burning stove to keep visitors warm during the exceptionally chilly nights. The surrounding oak forests, which were heavily exploited for charcoal, are an important habitat for the resplendent quetzal. The region produces organic blackberry, much of which is exported to the United States.”

Anyway, here are some words about the past few days.

On the 5th we went on a hike past the Río Java to take our first field observations. It´s pretty odd, actually, to just sit somewhere for thirty minutes and write what is happening to all of your senses. You should try it sometime: get some paper, go to a park or the woods or even your backyard, sit down. And look around you. I bet you ten thousand colones that you’ll see, hear, and smell things that you’ve never noticed before. (I double dare you).

While hiking on the trail, we came across the largest ant colony I’ve ever seen. See the picture below. It’s no optical illusion—that tall guy is tall.



On the way back, the unexpected (yet slightly expected) happened. About five of us were lagging behind (me because of my picture-taking addiction, the others because they are a little slow, of course) and ran into a friendly little bug on the trail. And by friendly little bug, I mean huge ass tarantula. Big spider. Everyone was sticking their foot out to see if it would crawl on it. However, it decided that my foot was the best choice (and I hadn’t even stuck it out yet), and embarked on a ridiculously fast journey—a straight shot to the groin. So, naturally, I took pictures. Here it is on my leg:


And here it is after I picked it up and it started crawling up my arm. At this point, I handed it off to one of the Costa Rican students, Andres. After he tried to kiss it (jokingly, of course), it reared up in defense (meaning that it wasn’t happy and you should get ready for some fang action) and we put him on the nearest tree.



(You should have seen Darby’s reaction when I told her.)

On the 6th, we hopped in the cars and drove a few kilometers to the Gamboa farm. We were learning/experiencing the effects of forest fragmentation and island biogeography. Basically, when people cut down patches of forest, it changes the microclimate and biodiversity along the edges and greatly affects the species living in the remaining “fragments.” I won’t go into too much detail, but basically, what happens in the resulting “edge effects” are carried deeper and deeper into the fragment until the whole mini-ecosystem is affected greatly. So I don’t bore you, I’ll leave the rest to my old friend Wikipedia.

(I thought these leaves were cool.)

(Our Costa Rican professor Mau (Mauricio), looking qué suave.)

We’ve watched two videos on fair trade coffee. Coffee is the second highest traded commodity besides oil, and that’s something that I bet no one reading this knew. OK, someone might have. Anyways, the point was that buying fair trade assures that the farmers get a fair price for their coffee crop. It's an important thing--companies like Starbucks, Folgers, etc., are buying coffee at ridiculously low prices and selling it for ridiculously high prices. E.g., you can make about 35 cups of coffee out of about a pound of coffee. Big companies that don't do fair trade buy coffee at world market price at, let's say, a dollar a pound. Then Starbucks sells a (cheap) cup of coffee for $2. That's 35 cups per pound, at $2 a cup. The farmer got $1 per pound, and can rarely afford to send his kids to school. Now think about the $6 cups of coffee they sell. Just think about it.

One of the farmers participating in fair trade in the video we watched has a farm in Agua Buena, a town about 10 min from here. His name is Roberto Jimenez, and he's one of the coolest guys ever. He grows café arabica (as opposed to robusta, the lesser quality one with more caffeine and bitterness), bananas, plantains, sugarcane, mangoes, and more on his "finca" (farm).

(Drying coffee)

(Greenhouse)

(An ancient, still functioning/used sugar cane press. Used to be cranked by 2 oxen, now he just does it with the hand crank.)

(He also has a couple of pigs and cows)

(Roberto holding some fresh beans. He works hard and knows his shit. True.)

He's part of a fair trade co-op that produces sustainable and, apparently, really good coffee. He uses his bananas and other trees to shade his coffee plants; he's doing it the right way, and uses about 80% less pesticides than other farmers. What he does use is organic and he makes himself. His finca resembles more of a rainforest than your average farm, and he's trying to do his work in an ecologically friendly mindset. He uses natural fences and erosion control and provides homes to many a bird, which non-shade grown coffee plantations do not. He was obviously very interested in and had his heart set on helping the environment and protecting the lands instead of making a dime (literally). Inspiring.

You can even buy it online and they'll pack some up (according to your grind/roast specifications) and mail it to you. And you're supporting the coffee growers instead of the corporations. You pay a few cents more per cup and increase the quality of life of countless individuals instead of fattening the coffers of a bunch of CEOs somewhere. Cool? I think so.


On to other news: here's Mike (one of the funniest kids on the trip) up in a huge strangler fig.







And here are a couple from a night walk:

(under the leaf of a Heliconiaceae)

Lastly, I finished my insect identifying, and got a 100% on my plant test. Woo! I guessed on four, too. I also finished my statistics homework. For future references, I hate statistics.

A couple of birds (chestnut mandibled toucan and a blue crowned mat mat, respectively), and an agouti about 15 feet away from me!

See you after Cuerici!


(By the way, coffee is a member of the Rubiaceae family. Trivia.)

Too Many Possible Titles, So I Chose This One

So Las Cruces is pretty mazing, and I’m behind on many things already, including (but not limited to) readings, blog entries, knowing scientific terms for things I have no reason to know already, and, of course, sleep.

On Thursday, we toured the gardens with Rodolfo (Rodo), one of the important people here (not sure of his title, exactly). He is quite the character, and is pretty funny: “Questons? Comments? Regrets?” The garden has species from all over the world. I can’t really explain it without pictures, I guess.

We split into two groups that day, and half went on the garden walk and half went to the neighboring town of San Vito to buy snake boots (5700 colónes, or about $11) and various other supplies. The boots aren’t that comfortable, and they are the hottest, sweatiest footwear I’ve ever had. Plus, they don’t protect you against the big snakes, only the little ones that you don’t see, which is what your regular shoes could do. Kind of silly.

A few of us went on a night walk in the garden that night. The bugs and sounds and smells (and temperature, of course) are all very different when the sun is sleeping.

So far we’ve had various lectures on Costa Rican history and politics, one on coffee, various plant, fruit, and insect taxonomy/morphology (blegh), and about biological vs. statistical hypotheses. Oh yeah—and one on “Dangerous and Annoying Creatures," such as this one (sorry, Darby):

I’m already feeling pretty behind, because many/most of the kids in the group have definitely had taxonomy classes before. Did I know what the hell a Bromeliaceae was before I got here? No. But most of them did; apparently it’s the family that pineapple belongs to. Most of them are epiphytes, pineapple being a terrestrial exception. Yep, didn’t know what an epiphyte was either. Nor did I know what Cyclanthaceae, Moraceae, Marantaceae, Melastomataceae, Heliconiaceae, Rutaceae, Rubiaceae, Passifloraceae, Piperaceae, or Zingiberaceae were. I still don’t know, actually. Those are just plant families, much less the other terms for parts or insects, which are even harder. Ha. The Costa Rican students definitely know way more than any of us, though. They learn the scientific names in school like nobody’s business. This is going to be tricky. I wish my teachers had emphasized scientific names, but they definitely haven't

The next morning we took the jungle trail to the Rio Java, which is mostly a creek in the dry season, to observe the layers of the forest (canopy, undergrowth, etc., etc.).

See the snake boots in action!

Last night we had our fruit “lab,” which was basically just a feeding frenzy on local fruits (and vegetables). Some were gross, some were good, some I just couldn’t make myself try, such as Noni.

But speaking of fruits, I’ve found the answer to the fruit/vegetable conflict regarding our familiar tomato. In 1883, the U.S. government declared tariffs on all vegetables. This list included the tomato. However, a farmer in Florida challenged this, saying his tomatoes were in fact fruits, not vegetables. The Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes were indeed vegetables, because they were usually served with the meal, and not with dessert. What kind of bogus answer is that? Tomatoes are in fact fruit, since they are the seed-bearing part of the plant.

Also, oranges (and lemons and limes) are technically berries, each little ball on a blackberry is itself a fruit (it’s called an aggregate fruit), and each little diamond-shaped thing on the side of a pineapple was one flower—pineapples are called “multiple” fruits. Each one of a strawberry’s seeds is in fact a fruit, and the rest of the fleshy material is simply an enlarged receptacle; the seeds are individual achenes. Squash and cucumbers are also fruits (they are the ovaries, containing the seeds used for reproduction), but we classify them as vegetables because we’re silly. Any part of the rest of the plant should really be called the vegetable part. Look up the definition of a vegetable on different websites, and you’ll get different answers everywhere.

Yep. Bet you didn’t know.

Today is a free day. I went to breakfast at 6:30, then came back and slept until ten. It was quite glorious. Some people went into San Vito, some went on a hike, and I decided to stay here and participate in academia. Boo.

A shout out to those back home who still don't have power: that really sucks. It's warm here. I'll enjoy it for you.

San José y Las Cruces: Días Uno y Dos

So I'm currently at the Las Cruces Biological Station in southeastern Costa Rica, almost precisely 2.53 miles from the Panamanian border. (see image below, which you'll probably have to click on to enlarge). Let's start from two days ago.


I made it to XNA and got on my flight with about 10-15 minutes to spare (after they had to take out half of my camera equipment and re-scan my backpack) and slept through the hour-long, drinkless flight to Dallas/FTW.

During my (theoretically) ~6 hour layover, I took another nap, ate a too-expensive burger and onion rings, and walked around the airport a lot. I also spent $6 for a day-pass for the internet, which ended up not letting me log in about 30 minutes before my flight actually started boarding.

The plane took off at about 8, when it should have done so at 6:10. Apparently it was late from Steamboat Springs, and then they had to take EVERY SINGLE PIECE of luggage off of the plane until they found two certain pieces they were looking for due to a security threat. Lame. Therefore, I arrived in San José after midnight instead of at 10:05. Migración and Aduanas (immigration and customs) were easy, I exchanged some money, and flawlessly evaded the numerous taxi offers. Three students were picked up at that time, and we were driven to our hotel. Everyone was asleep, of course, as it was about 1 a.m., and I had to use my well-forgotten Spanish to persuade the guy on duty at the hotel that yes, we were in fact students with the big group and that he should show us the list of names so we could find what room we were in.


Fast forward to the next morning, where we had some gallo pinto (basically, black beans and rice and some cilantro), fruit (pineapple and papaya), toast, eggs, and juice at about 7 a.m. ¡Qué sabrosa!

Then began orientation at the OTS/OET office (OTS=Organization for Tropical Studies; OET= Organización para Estudios Tropicales). General ice breaker/syllabus/schedule/paperwork stuff that I don't need to go into.

Then lunch and back to the hotel. Most of us lounged by the pool for a while (two hours=already a little sunburned), then I took a shower and almost took a nap. Dinner that night at a restaurant with excellent food (chicken fajitas, but quite different from the mexican variety). The tortillas here (you get two with fajitas, and there isn't a sizzling sizzler plate thing) are smaller than a DVD. It was all most excellent. As we were leaving, I ran into Harriet! A friend from high school who I knew was in Costa Rica (doing research at one of the next stations we go to) and leaving the next morning, and did not expect to run into). It was a nice surprise.



That night was the real icebreaker--about 10 of us walked about a kilometer and bought beer at a convenience store. Haha. There are three Costa Ricans on the program, and I'm glad one of them came with us. It was nice to sit around the pool and chat for a couple of hours with absolutely nothing to do. The imperial beer of Costa Rica isn't bad.
That was the extent of my exploration of San José.

This morning, after getting up at 6:30, eating at 7, and leaving at 8, we embarked on the 8 hour bus ride to Las Cruces. It was a really nice bus, and of course the views were glorious. Stopped at a pineapple plantation along the way, stopped for lunch (arroz de pollo, black beans, and pico de gallo), and then made it to Las Cruces by around 4.

There were tons of hummingbirds at one of our pit stops.

Scott, Gabe, and I went on a short hike (about 1.5 hours) to el Rio Java (a creek in the dry season, basically). I haven't seen a single mosquito, but I bet that will change at some point.

Las Cruces doubles as the Wilson Botanical Garden. There are literally thousands of species of plants and animals here, and many of the plants have been brought in from all over the world. In a word, it's pretty impressive.

Tonight we had a mini-intro to Las Cruces. Tomorrow we're exploring the garden and going into the closest town, San Pedro (which is twice as far as the Panamanian border, as the crow flies) to get snake boots and various other supplies. Bed time.

Here are pictures.





(I am in the middle of the fucking rainforest. Yes, I said fucking, and I mean it. No excuses, no regrets.)