Epiphytes, Slacklining, Chalk Drawings

Friday was our last day at Parque National Metropolitano.  Simone, Lukas, and I had four transects to do, and were so motivated that we powered through three before lunch.  I know this doesn't sound all that exciting, but from my perspective, it was the equivalent of moving a mountain or better.  (During the third transect, I found a black scorpion hiding out on a tree trunk; awesome and creepy.)  We had a fabulous lunch break with Blair and Ryan, talking about what we were like as small children, which devolved into our usual pastime of throwing tiny rocks at each other - target practice.  Then we finished the final transect - so far we've done 24 total transects.  12 more to go!

A side note: PNM is an interesting study site because there are many people who visit the park daily.  This meant folks would often happen upon us as we were traipsing through the jungle and they'd want to know what we were up to.  There were three particularly fun interactions from Friday.  We met a couple from Canada (accent and everything!) who had been staying in Panama for a month.  The husband was a biologist himself, so had a lot to contribute when we told him what we were studying.  He actually pretty much stated the hypotheses we were testing.  It was impressive.  Simone and I met a super chill, tattooed Christian missionary originally from California (which we could guess even before he told us).  He knew nothing about biology but was still very interested to hear about our studies.  Not sure how much he understood, but hey, at least he tried.  We also met a family from somewhere in the southern US who noticed our pants-tucked-into-the-socks situation.  They wanted to know "what we knew that they didn't", and then proceeded to grilled us about all the perilous critters from which we were trying to protect ourselves.  They seemed to leave more in fear than anything else.  Whoops...

Panama City through a gap in the forest

My partners in crime (or biological research) 

Spot the Cayman (small crocodile-like reptile).  Hint: it's brown and in the water

When we got back to the schoolhouse, it was time for a break from work.  Simone had brought a slackline with her, so we decided  to set it up.  It took me about an hour just to figure out how to stand up on the line - it takes a lot of balance, a skill I though I had, but now am not so sure.  I've gotten to the point that I can walk two steps before flailing and (not so) gracefully falling off.  By the end of these three months, I plan on being able to do all of this.  Not really...

Simone being a pro

Lukas finding new ways to slackline

 Saturday was another of our scheduled work days, so I spent some quality time with journal articles about epiphytes.  After lunch (and skyping with my awesome friends from Princeton!!) Blair, Nikki, Kelsey, and I decided we needed a change of scenery, so we headed up to the resort.  We sat in the open air lobby/bar, pretended like we were staying at the hotel, drank pina coladas, and got some quality work done.  It really felt like being on vacation, except for the work part.

The girls and the delicious drinks

Later Saturday night, a bunch of people headed into Panama City to go dancing.  Sadly, I decided to stay behind because I'm trying my best to not fall behind on work.  It was rough, but I'd say ultimately a good decision.  I've managed to get a good chunk of my research report written, so hopefully next week when our papers and presentations are due I won't be quite as crazy. Yipee.
Also, in my study breaks, I produced Edward the chill sloth and Stan the hungry tucan.  Quality chalk art right there.

So adorable.  Lukas and Professor Yves match

Edward the chill sloth

Stan the hungry toucan (can't spell toucan)

Today, it's more work in the morning, and then we're off to Panama City for some sightseeing and shopping in the afternoon.  Looking forward to it!
Until next time.

P.S. Please enjoy this picture of a real toucan.