San Jose Airport, Costa Rica
apparently I'm leaving Costa Rica, but it still hasn't quite registered, even as i sit here in the airport. i know i'll probably be back, but with no definite plans for returning.... i love traveling, but i hate leaving. now that i finally have some time just to myself, i'll try to sum up the past two months.
In hind sight, i should have been forewarned by the ominous beginnings of my trip back to La Selva, that this time around would be nothing short of...interesting.
two days before i planned to fly out of SFO i realized i was actually leaving one day earlier. some last minute packing and panic ensued, coupled with choice words directed at my laptop, which still refused to function properly despite its newly replaced screen, hard drive, and cd-dvd drive; and a 2 hour 'discussion' with HP customer service. my red-eye flight routed through San Salvador and delivered me at SJO without my baggage. the duffel bag filled almost entirely with 62 lbs of plastic ziplock bags that i was bringing for another researcher luckily arrived safely, but my pack containing ALL my field clothes and gear never made it out of SFO. after spending 2 hours in the baggage claim filing reports, i headed off to La Selva with a consolation CD case containing one-size-fits-all mesh socks, eye mask, mouth wash and toothbrush. thank you TACA. my pack arrived a day later, but missing my leatherman, one i had gotten replaced for a worker, all my camera accessories, my flahslight, batteries tweesers and....all my field socks. not just field socks, but la-selva-swamp-brown-field socks that i had used all last season. who steels field socks?! apparently TACA is not responsible potential weapons or electonics that have been stolen from baggage. i WAS pleasantly surprised when i arrived at La Selva, and ran into a number of returning researchers I had been good friends with the previous trip.
and then the rain began and lasted for the next 5 days. the river rose along the color maker past code green, then code yellow, and finally started creeping through code red. the river station was evacuated. the soccer field not only flooded, but had small debris flowing across it. the forest was closed by the directors until further notice. and i walked out to the bridge one afternoon with a few other researchers to watch trees that had been uprooted come crashing down the river. La Selva turned into an island itself when the road to the station from the highway flooded and you had to take a boat to cross onto the property. the "emergency committee" stationed a boat at the base of the stone bridge, in case we got cut off from reception and the comedor.
the "emergency committee?" they're just a few guys from reception, a few naturalists, the OTS driver, the taller manager, and the computer specialist all wearing white hard hats with chin straps and reflective tape reading "emergencias". and little reflective vests. in addition to evacuating the river station, "code yellow" cues the procession of hats with chin straps.
it continued to rain throughout the night, i woke up at 3 am, excited and expecting to see my rubber boots floating around beneath my cabina. i thought for sure i would be riding across the river in a boat to eat breakfast, but was sorely disappointed the following morning. the water was receding, i didnt even get my feet wet. rats...
We did have another flood scare a few weeks later, but it didnt do any damage, and the forest was only temporarily closed. Then my 'general malaise' returned, but I have since figured out the cause... My research got off to a bit of a slow start and hit a few hitches along the way. my professor arrived and we decided to double my work load, that i was now trying to complete with half the amount of time I initially planned for. Mau strained his back and was out of comission for a week. poor guy! having to work for 2 women might have been a bit too much for anyone to handle. i got to learn how to do gas exchange measurements for all my plants. unfortunately the added work meant i was STILL collecting data up until the taxi arrived to take me to the airport to return to SFO. and it wasnt all bad: for each minor miss-hap i encountered, i had equal number of great, positive experiences. getting to know the workers a lot better, salsa dancing and beers, running into my friends carlos and katja, soccer and volleyball tournaments, river rafting with the parents, and lastly going to the Caribbean with an old friend from high school and two of his friends from NY.
apparently I'm leaving Costa Rica, but it still hasn't quite registered, even as i sit here in the airport. i know i'll probably be back, but with no definite plans for returning.... i love traveling, but i hate leaving. now that i finally have some time just to myself, i'll try to sum up the past two months.
In hind sight, i should have been forewarned by the ominous beginnings of my trip back to La Selva, that this time around would be nothing short of...interesting.
two days before i planned to fly out of SFO i realized i was actually leaving one day earlier. some last minute packing and panic ensued, coupled with choice words directed at my laptop, which still refused to function properly despite its newly replaced screen, hard drive, and cd-dvd drive; and a 2 hour 'discussion' with HP customer service. my red-eye flight routed through San Salvador and delivered me at SJO without my baggage. the duffel bag filled almost entirely with 62 lbs of plastic ziplock bags that i was bringing for another researcher luckily arrived safely, but my pack containing ALL my field clothes and gear never made it out of SFO. after spending 2 hours in the baggage claim filing reports, i headed off to La Selva with a consolation CD case containing one-size-fits-all mesh socks, eye mask, mouth wash and toothbrush. thank you TACA. my pack arrived a day later, but missing my leatherman, one i had gotten replaced for a worker, all my camera accessories, my flahslight, batteries tweesers and....all my field socks. not just field socks, but la-selva-swamp-brown-field socks that i had used all last season. who steels field socks?! apparently TACA is not responsible potential weapons or electonics that have been stolen from baggage. i WAS pleasantly surprised when i arrived at La Selva, and ran into a number of returning researchers I had been good friends with the previous trip.
and then the rain began and lasted for the next 5 days. the river rose along the color maker past code green, then code yellow, and finally started creeping through code red. the river station was evacuated. the soccer field not only flooded, but had small debris flowing across it. the forest was closed by the directors until further notice. and i walked out to the bridge one afternoon with a few other researchers to watch trees that had been uprooted come crashing down the river. La Selva turned into an island itself when the road to the station from the highway flooded and you had to take a boat to cross onto the property. the "emergency committee" stationed a boat at the base of the stone bridge, in case we got cut off from reception and the comedor.
the "emergency committee?" they're just a few guys from reception, a few naturalists, the OTS driver, the taller manager, and the computer specialist all wearing white hard hats with chin straps and reflective tape reading "emergencias". and little reflective vests. in addition to evacuating the river station, "code yellow" cues the procession of hats with chin straps.
it continued to rain throughout the night, i woke up at 3 am, excited and expecting to see my rubber boots floating around beneath my cabina. i thought for sure i would be riding across the river in a boat to eat breakfast, but was sorely disappointed the following morning. the water was receding, i didnt even get my feet wet. rats...
We did have another flood scare a few weeks later, but it didnt do any damage, and the forest was only temporarily closed. Then my 'general malaise' returned, but I have since figured out the cause... My research got off to a bit of a slow start and hit a few hitches along the way. my professor arrived and we decided to double my work load, that i was now trying to complete with half the amount of time I initially planned for. Mau strained his back and was out of comission for a week. poor guy! having to work for 2 women might have been a bit too much for anyone to handle. i got to learn how to do gas exchange measurements for all my plants. unfortunately the added work meant i was STILL collecting data up until the taxi arrived to take me to the airport to return to SFO. and it wasnt all bad: for each minor miss-hap i encountered, i had equal number of great, positive experiences. getting to know the workers a lot better, salsa dancing and beers, running into my friends carlos and katja, soccer and volleyball tournaments, river rafting with the parents, and lastly going to the Caribbean with an old friend from high school and two of his friends from NY.
posted by erin at 1:09 PM
2 comments
