A lot has happened since I last updated! First of all, I got a roommate! I don’t think I mentioned my room set up before, but in my room there is one set of bunk beds, a dresser type thing (more just like shelves for clothes) a desk, and the bathroom (with a shower) is right next door. So I got my roommate a few days ago (I think Wednesday night?) and she is awesome! Her name is Jessica, she is from Quebec and French is her first language and English is her second, and she knows very little Spanish. She is 22 and looks a lot like me! Since she’s been here, I’ve had tourists come up to me and ask me if that was me they saw taking pictures in the rainforest (my camera is broke, so obviously not lol) confusing her for me!
Anyway, now I have a partner in crime and can actually do things! We did the chocolate tour and the bat tour (because volunteers get to do the tours for free!) the day after she arrived and it was fun! I saw a weevil (an adorable insect) on the chocolate tour and learned how a fungus is threatening the cocoa fruits. On the bat tour I got to pet a bat! They are so cute! Then, the next night, I was eating by myself because Jessica was cooking her own food, so this group of overzealous tourists adopted me and invited me to eat with them (some of them were the ones who mistook me for Jessica) and so when Jessica walked by, they roped her in to our tables too.
Later that night Jessica and I went on our own night hike by ourselves because the “official” tour-guide lead one was full. On our hike we saw sooo many cool things! We saw a giant tarantula (about the size of my palm) on a tree trunk, we saw a katydid that was camouflaged like a leaf, but he was on a pole trying to camouflage and it wasn’t working out for him. Sorry Katydid, but last time I checked, poles don’t have leaves. Right above him, on a tree was a stick bug! Then we saw a juvenile pit viper (yes, they are poisonous), along with several different types of spiders and frogs. We also saw scorpions on some trees thanks to one of the German researchers, Vito! Apparently scorpions have something in their skin that glows green when under a UV light, and Vito knew this, and had a UV light on him, so we got to see these tiny scorpions that we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise! We have also seen a few basilisks running around here too! (no, not the things from Harry Potter, Google them if you don't know what they are, because they are cool!!)
The next day we walked to the little town nearby to check it out and get supplies. I was on a mission to find a hammock, but I forgot to look up the word in Spanish (assuming it would be the same, or close enough so people would know what I’m trying to say). The word in Spanish is “maca”, close enough people! But alas, no one understood me, and I didn’t find any. So we came back and since it was so hot out, we went looking for a place to swim in the Sarapiqui River, but we didn’t find a safe place to swim. Then, around dinner time, Jessica and I went to the little party at Todd’s house, the kid I mentioned before, with some of the other students from Ball state. I guess it was his host mothers’ birthday, and that is what they were celebrating. So I got to meet a whole bunch of Costa Ricans, and made some new friends, it was fun. Then, when Jessica and I got back, one of the German researchers, Simon, had found a very pretty type of glass frog that apparently he had been looking for for years, so he showed us because it wasn’t very far away. I hope it is still hanging out there when I get my camera! I want a picture!
So, it is now Sunday and I don’t have anything planned. I might go for a hike later or something, not sure yet. But, that is all I had to update, and I will post again soon!
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