We make it home, got our stuff back, got our professor back, and have started paying off the credit card debts we racked up there.
Yesterday we had our final presentation in Ag hall for about 20 grad students. I had hoped for a larger audience, but the relief from finally being OVER was so great that it doesn't matter.
I know I'll rope my friends and family into watching my slide show over and over any how.
Thank you very much for reading and keeping up with us on this great trip.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
So, funny story...
First day back in South Dakota, and there is a snow storm on the way. What the heck? I thought it was almost April outside. Sheesh.
Any how once we touched down in Houston, TX (shudder), we had only 45 minutes to get through customs and on to our next plane to Minneapolis, MN. We had to wait in line behind about 200 other people just to get our passports checked. We get split up in lines to get our carry on stuff X rayed. After we left customs, we only had 15 minutes to get to our gate... on the other side of the huge Houston (shudder) airport.
I didn't even put my shoes back on. I just ran sock-footed across food courts, over moving sidewalks, and dodging slow moving people. I also didn't put on my belt... so I had to carry my tickets and passport in my mouth, my shoes in my right hand, and hold my pants up with my left. Remember I have a 30 pound back pack on at this point.
We were chasing after Kara, who is a marathon runner and moved like some kind of sick machine, I could hardly keep up! We got to a bus that was going to take us to the side of the airport with our little plane to the mid west, with about 7 minutes to go. Could that bus be any slower? It was agonizing! What torture! Hayley narrowly made the bus, she power walked while Gab, Kara, and I ran. My shirt was soaked and I looked like I had taken a shower (apparently I'm a sweater, and not the kind you wear when it's cold.) I'm pretty sure we terrified the other bus riders. Four big sweaty South Dakota girls huffing and puffing and sweating and fretting all over the place with huge turtle shell backpacks and death grips on passports and tickets and wild rolling eyes. I'm sure I looked like a monster. The bus took off without Dr. J or Caitilin, and we were pretty worried!
The bus stops in front of a gate to get into the airport and run back around to the correct gate for us to board, and we have 3 minutes to spare. We were off again with the running. (I did have shoes on at that point, I tied them while on the bus) We made it to the gate and I felt like I won the lottery. We found our seats. They were pleather. I stuck to them like a bug on a windshield. Hot sweaty sticky itchy. I hate Pleather now. It is inappropriate at all times.
Caitlin and Dr J never showed up!
They closed the gates and pulled away. Kara checked her phone and Dr J hadn't called. The guy next to me said the next flight to MN was at 6 pm, the time we were scheduled to be in SD. Those poor guys!
Its ok, if it makes everyone feel like things were more equal, all of our luggage got held up in Houston too... My phone, house key and car keys were in my suitcase. DOH!
Any how once we touched down in Houston, TX (shudder), we had only 45 minutes to get through customs and on to our next plane to Minneapolis, MN. We had to wait in line behind about 200 other people just to get our passports checked. We get split up in lines to get our carry on stuff X rayed. After we left customs, we only had 15 minutes to get to our gate... on the other side of the huge Houston (shudder) airport.
I didn't even put my shoes back on. I just ran sock-footed across food courts, over moving sidewalks, and dodging slow moving people. I also didn't put on my belt... so I had to carry my tickets and passport in my mouth, my shoes in my right hand, and hold my pants up with my left. Remember I have a 30 pound back pack on at this point.
We were chasing after Kara, who is a marathon runner and moved like some kind of sick machine, I could hardly keep up! We got to a bus that was going to take us to the side of the airport with our little plane to the mid west, with about 7 minutes to go. Could that bus be any slower? It was agonizing! What torture! Hayley narrowly made the bus, she power walked while Gab, Kara, and I ran. My shirt was soaked and I looked like I had taken a shower (apparently I'm a sweater, and not the kind you wear when it's cold.) I'm pretty sure we terrified the other bus riders. Four big sweaty South Dakota girls huffing and puffing and sweating and fretting all over the place with huge turtle shell backpacks and death grips on passports and tickets and wild rolling eyes. I'm sure I looked like a monster. The bus took off without Dr. J or Caitilin, and we were pretty worried!
The bus stops in front of a gate to get into the airport and run back around to the correct gate for us to board, and we have 3 minutes to spare. We were off again with the running. (I did have shoes on at that point, I tied them while on the bus) We made it to the gate and I felt like I won the lottery. We found our seats. They were pleather. I stuck to them like a bug on a windshield. Hot sweaty sticky itchy. I hate Pleather now. It is inappropriate at all times.
Caitlin and Dr J never showed up!
They closed the gates and pulled away. Kara checked her phone and Dr J hadn't called. The guy next to me said the next flight to MN was at 6 pm, the time we were scheduled to be in SD. Those poor guys!
Its ok, if it makes everyone feel like things were more equal, all of our luggage got held up in Houston too... My phone, house key and car keys were in my suitcase. DOH!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
San Jose
¿What´s it like you ask?
For me, the best comparison is its kind of like New York, but much shorter. The buildings are obviously shorter, and yes, even the people come up shorter than my 5 feet and 6 inches. A few guys are taller than me, but nearly everyone falls under 5 foot 4 for some reason. It makes me feel like a gigantic American. Not only do I stick out because of my Norwegian complexion , I´m also slightly taller than your average Jane/Joe. I did however notice that many many people here also have an obesity problem, as the US does, but are not at all worried about hiding it. People, and when I say people I mean ladies, here like to paint their tops on and maybe even let that belly button catch a little sun and air out. No belly button rings here though.
However,
there is a large amount of youth, and when I say youth I mean people under 25, that have their lips pierced. There is actually a pretty big population of punks here, kind of like the skaters of early 2001. Little does San Jose know that they are BEHIND in the times. The cool thing in the states now is Geek Chic. Men dressing in button up shirts untucked and sweater vests over designer jeans and nice shoes with wide rimmed glasses. I could open a shop here and make millions. (That's a funny joke because here, the colone is the currency. Two American dollars is 1000 colones, but they say one mil instead of one thousand. See how funny?)
I got a great hammock that I´m excited about and much to the chagrin of my father, I will make him hang it on our back porch. Don´t worry mom, it´s the kind that even you won´t be able to fall out of!
In San Jose, people are not as worried about being clean. There is tons of litter almost everywhere, and anywhere a man wants to go to the bathroom, he does. Like when a Tico, and when I say Tico I mean Costa Rican, stepped right off the bus in front of Caitlin and I and shoved past us to the corner of a building. You just don´t get that kind of treatment in the U.S. often...
On 95% of the billboards, and on 95% of all the television here, the advertisements are full of American looking blond European descent folks. Almost all of their TV shows are shows from the US just dubbed into Espanol. I can´t really imagine growing up in a country that is 1/3 the size of South Dakota where almost all entertainment and adds are from someone speaking a foreign language and dubbed into English. Its an odd concept.
See you tomorrow America!
Love,
Caroline
For me, the best comparison is its kind of like New York, but much shorter. The buildings are obviously shorter, and yes, even the people come up shorter than my 5 feet and 6 inches. A few guys are taller than me, but nearly everyone falls under 5 foot 4 for some reason. It makes me feel like a gigantic American. Not only do I stick out because of my Norwegian complexion , I´m also slightly taller than your average Jane/Joe. I did however notice that many many people here also have an obesity problem, as the US does, but are not at all worried about hiding it. People, and when I say people I mean ladies, here like to paint their tops on and maybe even let that belly button catch a little sun and air out. No belly button rings here though.
However,
there is a large amount of youth, and when I say youth I mean people under 25, that have their lips pierced. There is actually a pretty big population of punks here, kind of like the skaters of early 2001. Little does San Jose know that they are BEHIND in the times. The cool thing in the states now is Geek Chic. Men dressing in button up shirts untucked and sweater vests over designer jeans and nice shoes with wide rimmed glasses. I could open a shop here and make millions. (That's a funny joke because here, the colone is the currency. Two American dollars is 1000 colones, but they say one mil instead of one thousand. See how funny?)
I got a great hammock that I´m excited about and much to the chagrin of my father, I will make him hang it on our back porch. Don´t worry mom, it´s the kind that even you won´t be able to fall out of!
In San Jose, people are not as worried about being clean. There is tons of litter almost everywhere, and anywhere a man wants to go to the bathroom, he does. Like when a Tico, and when I say Tico I mean Costa Rican, stepped right off the bus in front of Caitlin and I and shoved past us to the corner of a building. You just don´t get that kind of treatment in the U.S. often...
On 95% of the billboards, and on 95% of all the television here, the advertisements are full of American looking blond European descent folks. Almost all of their TV shows are shows from the US just dubbed into Espanol. I can´t really imagine growing up in a country that is 1/3 the size of South Dakota where almost all entertainment and adds are from someone speaking a foreign language and dubbed into English. Its an odd concept.
See you tomorrow America!
Love,
Caroline
Monte Verde and San José
Hola,
It has been a while since we have blogged. The internet at Monte Verde was very spotty, so it was hard to get onto a computer. Monte Verde is a beautiful area. It is home to a cloud forest, which, I think, is my favorite habitat type. The trees are covered in moss, with a few other epiphites attached. Also, the weather is much cooler, and it is misty all the time. Another thing abouy MV, it is windy here! It reminds me of a mild April day back in South Dakota.
We struggled to capture bees in the mountains, so we walked down and steep hill (about 1 mile) to Monte Verde the town. We then headed out to a City forest area. We had some luck capturing bees, but I had fun ID birds. I got to see a three waddled bell bird(see picture...the female sounds like a high pitched bell....the male like a low pitched car horn....HWAK), a sweet woodpecker, and an antbird.
The hike back to the station was long, and uphill. Caroline and I went for a jog down it the night before, and my legs were tired!!!!! (Nothing like low oxygen and a steep gradient to make your leg muscles feel great!!) Later that day, we hiked down again to look at the local Co-op and other shops....and then back up!
Yesterday, we rode in the car for a while, and went to INBIO. This organization has been working on cataloging all of the species of plants, insects, fungus, etc. They have quite the collection. We got to look through some of the beetle and butterfly collection...THERE ARE A LOT OF BUGS!!! It was really cool to see though. We could not get into the herbarium (sorry Dr. Larson), but we did get to explore the park. The INBIOparque has replanted native forest in the middle of the city. This park is a cross between a garden and a zoo. There were little exhibits and signs along the way, identifying different species. We got to play in a small butterfly garden, look for fish in the aquarium, look at frogs, see a lot of iguanas, and look into the agricultural crops of the area, including goats, chickens, cows, and a pot bellied pig.
While, that is a summary of our activities in the past few days...We will see you all soon!
OH! I officially hate biting bugs! I do not know what bit me, but man does it itch!!!!
Today we get to hang out in San José. It should be a blast!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
It's been a while...
But we didn't forget you!
We just didn't have very good wireless.
Here is a video (for your viewing pleasure) of what we did on the way from La Selva to Monteverde. We feel it is important to keep you informed. (For posterity.)
We'll be home Sunday!
Caroline
We just didn't have very good wireless.
Here is a video (for your viewing pleasure) of what we did on the way from La Selva to Monteverde. We feel it is important to keep you informed. (For posterity.)
We'll be home Sunday!
Caroline
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
our ears are getting pointy
We arrived in Monteverde last night but unfortunately the internet has been a bit iffy, so you may not hear from us that much through Friday.
Yesterday we stopped at a station that is set up to attract hummingbirds. This was really cool because the feeders were hung all along the side of an open building and attracted many species of hummingbirds. The difference between size, shape, and colors was amazing. There was also a tame parakeet, which developed a grudge against Hayley for some reason, but it liked me...at least it didn´t bite me. Finally, a tarantula for you: old, tame, in a cage. I held it just for you, even if it was so old it barely moved.
Vulcan Poas was a bit of a disappointment for us. As it turned out a giant cloud decided to plant itself on and in the volcano. So we did get to stand on the edge of the crater, but we couldn´t see anything because of the thick cloud.
Our driver, Faustio, made us chan (spelling?). This is also called ´toad eggs´. It is a drink made with seeds that have a sort of mucus property. Effectively, we got to drink delicious seed snot.
Monteverde is absolutely gorgeous. It is indeed a cloud forest. Frustratingly enough, euglossine bees do not enjoy this area during this part of the year, so our study at this station may be entirely fruitless.
I´ll have lots to tell you when I get back!
Yesterday we stopped at a station that is set up to attract hummingbirds. This was really cool because the feeders were hung all along the side of an open building and attracted many species of hummingbirds. The difference between size, shape, and colors was amazing. There was also a tame parakeet, which developed a grudge against Hayley for some reason, but it liked me...at least it didn´t bite me. Finally, a tarantula for you: old, tame, in a cage. I held it just for you, even if it was so old it barely moved.
Vulcan Poas was a bit of a disappointment for us. As it turned out a giant cloud decided to plant itself on and in the volcano. So we did get to stand on the edge of the crater, but we couldn´t see anything because of the thick cloud.
Our driver, Faustio, made us chan (spelling?). This is also called ´toad eggs´. It is a drink made with seeds that have a sort of mucus property. Effectively, we got to drink delicious seed snot.
Monteverde is absolutely gorgeous. It is indeed a cloud forest. Frustratingly enough, euglossine bees do not enjoy this area during this part of the year, so our study at this station may be entirely fruitless.
I´ll have lots to tell you when I get back!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
What we want
Gab and I discussed it, and we'd like to be at home with the TV for a few days.
Enough of this paradise.
Sincerely,
C A R O L I N E
Enough of this paradise.
Sincerely,
C A R O L I N E
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