4/16/2010

Time to start data collection! We had a bit of a late start, getting into the field around 9. We set up four trap nets in the savannah, and then four nets on the golf course in the staff camp. While we were setting up, we also swept for butterflies in the area. Once, we were looking around for the road, and our game guard kept leading us around in circles. We kept asking him to take us to the road, and when we finally came out on the road, we were almost 150 meters down the road from where we entered the bush. We also may have almost encountered a leopard. After we were done with setup, Melissa took us to the store to get treats . We had a little time off in the early afternoon, and then we went back out at 3 to collect our nets and what was in them. Luckily, it looks like we’ll get a lot of data, because we had a lot of butterflies in our nets. When we came back, I entered data and started labeling my pictures, as I’m on data duty for this project. This is going to be my life for the next few days, I fear. When the other groups got back, we found out that one of the game guards had to shoot, because there was a leopard in their site that wouldn’t leave. It came up to 5 meters away from Don. What’s with all of the leopards?!

4/15/2010

We started out the day with our presentations. The academics like our project, so we basically have the go ahead to start working on it. We went to the store right after to get bananas to mush for bait (fermented bananas and brown sugar is the recipe), and then came back to talk with Melissa. We figured out little things with our project, making sure we understood our goals and motivations. After lunch, we took a walk around the staff camp to decide on some plots for our urban portion of our project, and then went to the internet. This evening was spent planning some more, working out the finer details and logistics of the next few days.

4/14/2010

Today we started making decisions about IPs. We took a game drive to look at some potential sites. On the way, we were driving on a tar road, and I looked to the side. Right there, right next to where we were going to drive, a leopard was standing. I loudly and excitedly alerted everyone, we stopped for pictures, and then felt really proud of myself for the rest of the day :P. I ended up in a project working with butterfly diversity as affected by anthropogenic change with Nikki and Evan. I also went to register for classes today. I am taking Biostats, Population and Community Ecology, Environment and Technology, and Physics 1. The rest of the day was spent making a game plan for the next week or so, and making sure we knew what we would need as supplies. We also had to pull together a presentation of our project idea for tomorrow morning to make sure the professors like it.

4/13/2010

Leaving on a jet plane! We got up SO EARLY. We were flying on the plane at 630 AM, and then on a bus at 9. We were in transit basically all day. There were a few stops along the way for food and breaks, but really we just kept on trucking. Once we got back to Skukuza, we settled into our new home, the vet camp. This place is outside the camp fences, ie basically inside the park itself. There are wild animals roaming around any time of day; we heard hyaenas outside the camp tonight. Scary! Tonight we had a meeting to talk about the next few days, as we have our second independent project to do. Everyone is going to sleep like a baby tonight, that’s for sure.

4/12/2010

Like I said, up early. 530. I worked on that, and then handed it off to Evan when I had a spare second. At 7, when we were supposed to have all of our bags outside and ready, the loud room was still asleep. Whhaaa. Got them up, and we only left a little later than planned. The drive was nice and leisurely, stopping to look at birds, get coffee, and take pictures. We finally got to Cape Town around 12, and settled back into the backpackers (ha). Once that was all done, we went to a chinese restaurant on Kloof Street for lunch. SO GOOD. I didn’t think that South African Chinese would be anything to remember, but BOY was I wrong. After that, we went to Ska, a hippy shop on Long Street, to spend tons and tons of money. And spend we did. After that, we went to a jewelry shop to pick up some earrings. Turns out that underneath the store, there is a whole market. I ended getting two pairs of earrings under there for the same price that I would have paid for one up top. We then went to a bookstore, and found little copies of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Amazing. Then we headed back to the backpackers to use internet and chill for a bit, and then went to dinner at the burger place we went to the first time we were here. Again, delicious. We even all got dessert! Hannah then took us to see her friend who is on a different program and living in cape town, and then we all settled in for the night in front of our computers. Well, some of us went out. I did not. I just stayed up stupidly late, as we are getting up at 3:30 tomorrow. Woo.

4/11/2010

I was right. It burns. Got up and started working on my paper. By the end, I just hated it so much that I had to turn it in just to be over and done with it. After I was done with my paper, I took a nap, and then started packing to leave de hoop (sniff). It feels like we just got here, even though its been almost two weeks. We also had to pack up the TA’s, since they have to drive back to Skukuza with almost all of our stuff. After that, Hannah, Lindsay and I talked to Laurence about IP ideas, and then Hannah and I went on a hike up to a cave. The rest of the night was spent packing, as I have to get up early tomorrow to do work for our FFP.

4/10/2010

Again with the writing! I watched some documentaries on LBM, and then continued with my paper. I worked really efficiently, and by 11 I had a basically complete rough draft. I talked to David, and he loved my idea and thought that I had everything I needed in the paper. Woo! I spent most of the afternoon watching Avatar, and then working on the draft a little more that night. These posts seem so short, but really, its because nothing really happens on these days anymore. OH! I went for a run with Hannah today. And we did some abs sets. That’s going to burn tomorrow…
PS, for those of you who were wondering, I am officially staying back 4 more days to drive around South Africa with a few friends. Plane ticket = changed. $ = expensive. WOO! Can’t wait.

4/9/2010

Today started our consolidation days for history and culture. We had two lectures in the morning about plants, herbivory and life history strategies. Afterwards, we started working on our projects. It seems really easy to work on a paper over three days, since we just wrote a similar length paper in 9 hours. I’ve been taking my time, and it still seems like everything is just getting done so fast. Not much to report, as we’ve just been doing research, outlining and writing. Hannah and I watched Nick and Norah’s Extremely Long Movie Title, and it is actually super funny and cute. I’ll concede.

4/8/2010

DAY OFF!! Finally. We went on a wild excursion through southern South Africa. It started with a flat tire on the quantum, and then a drive into town. We got there, and went to a computer shop to use the internet. Aaaaand I know what I’m doing this summer now. I am going to be at Tufts, participating in the REU. WOOO!! So excited. More info as it comes. After the internet, we went down to the grocery store to meet up and go to the store. Then it was off to the beach! We had a great time, running through waves, lying on the sand, making human pyramids, changing flat tires again…wonderful. After the beach, it was “time for lunch,” better known as 2:30. Lunch took forever, as it was not lunchtime, and we are a huge group of people. Last stop was the southernmost point in Africa, called Cape L’Agulhas. Ok, I lied. Two more stops to grocery stores to pick up food for Evan T to make dinner. It was AMAZING. Bread, pasta, marinara and cheese sauce, vegetables…wonderful. Such a good day.

4/7/2010

Today was the conservation debates. I was pro zoo, along with Elizabeth and Andrew. We were up against Hannah, Derek and Lily. It was interesting arguing against Lily, as her dad is the principle administrator of the Cincinnati Zoo, and she is definitely not against zoos. The other debates were focused on: conservation as a human right, or as a luxury; GMOs as a good or bad thing; ecosystem services as a good or bad thing. After the debates, we had a huge rejoicing session, as most of us had been buried in articles for the past few days, and were a little loopy. We then went for a walk through the fynbos, where Laurence talked to us about the population dynamics of the area. Then, after dinner, Hannah, Lindsay and I made brownies. DELICIOUS. There was a party after, and people were loud long into the night.

4/6/2010

Today we had to write our science and society paper. It went more smoothly than I thought it would; I ended up writing 6 ½ pages single spaced, including bibliography and picture. Long papers just don’t phase me anymore. We all had a nice 1 hour breather after the 9 hours of writing, and then started working again on our debate that is due tomorrow. Woo. So much stuff.

4/5/2010

Umm…see the boring part of yesterday.

4/4/2010

EASTER!! We were “woken up” by Melissa jumping and screaming in our room that the easter bunny had come (we were all already awake). We ran outside and hunted for marshmallow eggs, as well as bigger prizes for lucky people. There were 4 boxes of dark chocolate Ferrero Rochers, and 3 big boxes of regular Ferrero Rochers. Guess who got a big box. This guy  After the hunt, it was just another day of reading and note-taking. We found out yesterday that we have another assignment due on the 6th, so that’s coming up quickly and is something I have to work for….and there really isn’t anything else interesting I’ve done today. Just studying.

4/3/2010

Today was FFP analysis for those who had FFPs these past few days. This means that I didn’t have anything to do except for work, and who wants to do that. I spent most of the day reading articles for the four different things we have due in the next week and a half. Evan T made lunch today, and it was delicious. I already knew he liked to cook, but I didn’t know he could ACTUALLY cook :P Aaaaaaaand then the rest of the day I studied and took notes. It’s a hard knock life.

4/2/2010

Today was my day for dung. We didn’t leave, as they had everything they needed already there. We worked on sexing the beetles, then measuring them. After we had measured them all, we entered in more data from the weighers. We then watched dung beetles on dung, which was extremely boring. They didn’t do anything. Apparently, it was very unusual for that to happen. After that, we washed all of the materials, and then went to the beach for lunch. When we came back, we had two lectures, and then got back our ecology exams, which is our first grade we’ve received. I got an A-! Then I spent the rest of the evening hanging around and deciding whether or not I want to stay for an extra couple days to go see a wild dog reserve. More to come.

4/1/2010

I realized I forgot to tell you guys what happened when I went to the dentist. They said they thought that I had a tooth parasite living underneath my wisdom tooth. Cool, huh? They think I got it from eating raw seafood in Cape Town (I’m a bad jew), and they gave me some pills to help kill it.
APRIL FOOLS! (Doesn’t translate as well over a blog and 2 weeks late) This is the joke that I played on the group, and I fooled SO MANY PEOPLE. I was so proud of myself 
For real though, today was my day to go out for marine. We drove about 45 minutes to get to the beach, and then donned our wet suits to go run biodiversity surveys in the tide pools. I was helping with the actual experiment, and so was looking for 6 different taxa (well, technically 7) – sea stars, sea cucumbers (which we replaced sea stars with), fish, abalone, sea urchins, whelks and crabs. I caught 4 fish using just a jar and a lid. Go me. After we had caught the sea critters, we put them in jars with ambient and de-oxygenated water to see their respiration changes. Then we headed back for a late lunch, more work on our FFP, and a lecture.

3/31/2010

Today started the FFPs 7 and 8 – marine and dung beetles. We each go out 2 days (one marine, one dung), and then have one day off. Today was my day off. I spent the morning working on data analysis for our FFP, and really didn’t get anywhere. We have a lot of data, and none of it correlates at all. Grr. After lunch, I went into town with Melissa to see a dentist, because my jaw was hurting. While in town, we also went to a café so Melissa could do some emailing, and I read a book for my history and culture project. We had a lecture when we got back, and then we spent the evening working on our FFP again. Can’t wait to turn that in.

3/30/2010

Today we left Cape Town  but we’ll be back! We packed up and left around 9, and drove along the coast for a nice scenic tour. The weather was not terribly conducive to this, however, and it rained the entire drive. We got a chance to stop at Laurence’s mother’s house, and they had cats. I know, I’m obsessed. We stopped for lunch at a strip mall with a grocery store, so a lot of us just got simple things like bread and cheese for lunch. We finally got to the De Hoop Nature Reserve around 4 or 5, and then hung around until dinner. It is very cold here, and none of us really have anything warm. Of course, by really cold, I mean it was about 60. After dinner, people worked on homework and just relaxed. I worked on the FFP draft that is due on Friday.

3/29/2010

Today was our last day in Cape Town  We started off pretty early with Hannah, Elizabeth and I taking a very expensive taxi out into Noordhoek to ride horses on the beach. We got there for our 9:00 booking, and got excited for the ride ahead. I haven’t ridden in a while (well, hadn’t), so I was a little bit nervous. We got our horses (mine was Maestro, Hannah’s was Cognac, and Elizabeth’s was Habana), and set out on the trail. It was 5 of us, including the three of us, our guide, and some dude who just likes to ride, apparently. It was a 2 hour ride, and it was a gorgeous day to go. I wish I had given her my camera, the beach was amazing. We trotted and cantered a little bit, although Maestro was gung ho on beating everyone else to the finish. We walked a beautiful fynbos trail back to the stables, and then dismounted after a few pictures. We took another expensive cab ride back, and ate leftovers for lunch.
After a relaxing afternoon of music loading, we set off for Robben Island as a group. We took a ferry there, which was about a half hour. Once there, we loaded onto busses to get to the actual prison, where we were taken around by one of the inmates from the time of use. We went to see Nelson Mandela’s cell, as well as many of the other cells with very intriguing stories inside. We went inside one of the communal cells to look around, and also talk about life as it differed between coloreds, Indians and Africans. We then took a boat tour of the island, stopping at a few choice locations. I kicked myself for most of this section, as I had forgotten to switch my camera battery before we left, and it died soon after the prison tour. Luckily I got pictures of everything in there. After the island tour, we made a quick run through the gift shop, and then headed back to the harbor on the ferry. A bunch of us went to dinner at the Ocean Basket again (more oysters for me!!), and then headed back for one last night at the backpackers. Here ends my blog for the next two weeks, so I will see you all again in the middle of April!

3/28/2010

Today, we actually had a schedule (weird). We left at 8 to start our trip to cape point, and stopped very shortly in for coffee and snacks. We first went to Laurence’s house, which I am moving into. It is right on the beach, surrounded by mountains. We then went to another beach to have a lecture on the fynbos. Laurence is back now, which is really nice. I love the way he lectures. We moved around a bit in the quantums, looking for different areas to talk about. Then we went to Cape Point, which is a very beautiful area in the very south of ZA, though not the southernmost point. We then went to the beach, and swam and surfed. Well, tried to surf. The waves were so big, they would just knock me right over. Then we went to a penguin reserve, and looked around a bit at the African penguins. They are called jackass penguins because they sound like donkeys when they make noise. I’ll see if I can post a video later. We then went to a bar in the area for dinner, and headed back for the rest of the night.

3/27/2010

We started out the day by shaving Benjy’s beard :P We tried to go for the pencil thin beard to make him look super sketchy, but it didn’t really translate. Oh well. After, we ended up going (again) to the Green market square. I stopped in a book store to pick up something for my project, and when we came out, we ran into Elizabeth and Jay on their way to the same place. We went over there and spent a few hours walking around and shopping. We went to Nando’s for lunch, then came back and did a turn around to go to the train station. We then went to a rugby game, Western Province versus an Argentinean team. We won, of course. Hannah had a great time talking to one of the players, the one who plays her position. For dinner, we all went to a thai place that took over 1 ½ hours to bring us our food. Frustrating. Bed!

3/26/2010

Today was Table Mountain day. A lot of people had already gone, so Hannah and I decided to go just the two of us. We left around 1130, and started up the mountain. The total hike took us about 1:45, but it felt like years. We kept turning around to see how far we were, feel good for a second, and then turning back around to see how much further we needed to go. Ahhhh. We finally got to the top, after seeing a mountain goat and dassies, and it was 100% covered in fog. Woo. We walked around for a while, and got to the tourist area for a late lunch. When we went into the cable car, we could finally see down, and got some great pictures. We got back around 4, and watched a movie with some people. For dinner, Hannah and I ordered pizzas from the backpackers, and then got ready to go hang out at Nick’s digs for the night.

3/25/2010

We started out this morning by going to Green Street Market. Well, sort of. We tried to go to Green street market, and got very lost. Everyone we asked didn’t know where it was, which was confusing, since we had seen it yesterday. Finally, after we had walked through almost the entirety of company gardens near parliament, we ran into a security guard who told us that it was actually called Green Market Square, and that’s why no one knew what we were talking about. Also, we had walked about 6 blocks in the wrong direction. So, we finally got there after a very quick and lazy cab ride, and walked around. It was a bartering place, so we tried to get our prices as low as possible. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. We came home around 11 to get our food money, and then went back out for lunch. The place we wanted to go wasn’t open until noon, so we walked up long street to look in the shops. For lunch, we had seafood, and I obviously had oysters 
When we got back, people had gone to climb Table Mountain, and we were thinking about going to Signal hill for dinner, so we just hung out for a couple of hours. Some people napped, and I worked with my computer. When everyone got back, I wasn’t really in the mood for cheese and crackers on a mountain, so a bunch of us went to pasta with the intent of getting extra for lunch tomorrow. When we got back, everyone got dressed up to go out, as it was Stevie and Evan’s birthday at midnight. We tried to go to a dance club, but it was a very long walk, and not everyone had the right shoes (silly, I know). We finally ended up at a club called Zula, and we had a ton of fun. There was live music and dancing, and people were great to be around. Good night, and Happy Birthday Stevie and Evan!

3/24/2010

We started out by going to a shopping area in Claremont called Cavendish square. There were both store stores and little cultural stalls. A few people got things, but mostly it was just time to look around and hang out. We got lunch while out, and then headed back to the backpackers. Hannah, Lindsay and I watched a little bit of The Land Before Time, and then we went to the beach with Bryant and Benjy. We had a ton of fun, even though it was FREEZING. Upon coming back, we went to a bar to grab a drink with the rest of the group, and then we went to dinner. We also went out to cruise Long street, which is the main bar and tourist street later that night.

3/23/2010

We flew today! Leaving time was 8, and we rolled right on time. We drove to the airport, and had plenty of time before our 12 departure. We had fun just hanging out, though. Once we got through the gate, we were able to walk around and get some food and snacks. We sat in mostly alphabetical order on the plane, and I was on a window (yusss). The flight was about 2 hours, so not so bad. We got to Cape Town around 2, and gathered ourselves to meet with our driver to the backpackers we were staying at. We took the second shift, and so had to hang out for a while. Once we got there, I was in one of the large dorms. We set up/chose beds, and then rallied the troops to go walk along the waterfront. Cape Town is a lot like Boston; very much a harbor city, and very close together. We walked around for a while, stopping to get drinks wherever looked good. We also listened to a performing group for a while. For dinner, we ate at a pub on the harbor, and then went to a grocery store to get some breakfast and snack food. Once back at the backpackers, we all used internet, and some people went out. I stayed in and tried to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for the next 6 days.

3/22/2010

Another full day in Joburg. Well, sort of. We left around 9, and headed straight to the Cradle of Mankind, where hominid fossils are dug up on a regular basis. We went to Maropeng, which is a touristy spot explaining the history of man and paleontology. We went through the museum, then had lunch in the shop area. After, we headed out to the outskirts of Joburg to go to the Voertrekkersmonument, a huge, ugly building dedicated to the Great Trek of the Boers in the 1830s (I think). It was an interesting look at Afrikaans history, and also at White South African pride. There is a guest book, and a lot of people sign it with things like “Stay Strong!” “You are the TRUE South Africans” and so on and so forth. A little wrong, if you ask me. We then headed back to finish our cartoon projects and present them. Nick, Eric and I did a multi-dimensional analysis of the Showerhead usage in Zapiro’s Zuma cartoons. This makes more sense if you’ve been living in South Africa for a few months. After 3 hours of presentations, we had pizza, then auctioned off cutting peoples beards. All proceeds went to the social committee, and Lindsay, Hannah, Elizabeth and I bought Jay and Benjy. So excited. On a bad note, Benjy left his door unlocked during the afternoon with his computer on his bed, and it was stolen. They also stole his computer bag with all three of his passports in it. Lock your doors, kids.

3/21/2010

Hooooo boy. So last night, there was a bar fight that happened with some of the people who stayed out later. Long story short, Bryant got too drunk, bumped the wrong Afrikaaner, got punched in the face, Colin went into help, got punched in the eye and lip, and then Kevin dragged them both out of there. There was also an incident with Andrew and Nick that I’m not too sure of the details on. Bryant’s nose is broken, and Colin has a major black eye and fat lip. They are beautiful this morning. Moving on.
In waiting for Bryant to get back from the hospital, we had to delay our leaving time by a couple of hours. We left at about 1030, and made our way to Johannesburg. Our first stop was Soweto, which stands for South West Township, and is where a lot of black south Africans lived during Aparteid. We went to the Hector Pieterson museum while there, which is about the School strike of 1976. The museum is dedicated to the first boy to lose his life. This was supposed to be a peaceful protest of children, but the police opened fire on them early on “for protection”. This was also a major turning point in the anti-Aparteid movement. After this, we grabbed lunch at a buffet place nearby, and then headed to the Aparteid museum. After that, we went to Nick’s house to look around, then to dinner in Joburg. After dinner, we stopped for a drink at Cool Runnings, and then headed back, as it was almost 11.

3/20/2010

Today we were up and packed by 6 so we could leave and drive to Pretoria. We drove in the GDVs for about an hour and a half to get outside of Ha Makuya, where we met Shaddy and the Quantums (vans). By the time we got there, everyone was completely covered in dirt and dust. I wiped off so much from my face that I could have started my own garden. Once in the Quantums, life felt like a luxurious ride once again. Pretoria is about 7 hours from Ha Makuya, but the drive was fun and not stressful. We stopped for a snack at a mall (we pack lunch on these days, but always stop and buy lunch as well. I’m totally confused), and then again at a gas station for actual lunch. Finally, around 5 or so, we showed up at our backpackers in Pretoria. We waited outside for a while before meeting with David to get our room keys. We also then found out that there was no power, and thus no internet. Fantastic. Luckily, it was just a basic power outage, and it ended up turning on later that night. Hannah, Elizabeth, Lindsay and I all roomed together in the far house with a few other people. After we chose our rooms, we went and had dinner by candle light, something we’ve sort of become accustomed to. A bunch of us went out to a pub after dinner, and had a blast just hanging out. I went back with an early group, and called home to let them know I was alive 

3/19/2010

I started feeling better today. We had breakfast SO LATE (9), and then got to work. Well, some of us. It was technically a day off, so some people went on a long walk while others of us stayed behind to get stuff done. That sounded snarky, but its true :P. When the people from the walk got back, our mopane FFP got together to do some work. I also called chris, as it was out anniversary  sickeningly adorable, I know. But, I love him. We then did more work on our project, though not much as the generator was off, and my battery lasts about 1 hour without a power cord. We then had to pack while it was still sunny out, and then we all relaxed in the evening. Some of us had ordered things from venda women in the village, and a few things came today. Most of mine didn’t come, but it will later. We also got a briefing on the next few days in the cities, and what to expect, as well as what will be expected of us. Bed!

3/18/2010

I woke up this morning feeling way more miserable than the day before. They have decided that we must have had some of the river water, and gotten ecoli from it. Woo. I tried to do work, and basically couldn’t even sit up. I took a nap, and that helped a bit. We had a lot of work to do that day, so I wanted to rest up and be ready for that. Around lunchtime, Graeme decided that they should test me for malaria (oh yes. That bad). First, they couldn’t get me to bleed. Then, once they got my blood, it was way too thin to even run the test. Finally, they got enough to run the test. It dried out before the test was finished. I’m a wreck. But, I don’t have malaria (we think). I took a pill, and started to feel better by the end of the day. We had dinner, and then watched some FFP presentations, then listened to some traditional venda music. People had a party tonight, but I obviously didn’t go. Sleep for me!

3/17/2010

Still didn’t feel well today. I decided to stay back from the field, as it was supposed to be a long day, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it. I wasn’t alone, though. Elizabeth wasn’t feeling well either (she was sick yesterday too), and Melissa spent the day pretty much puking her guts out. FUN. I did more work on my projects that were coming up, and tried to relax some. The group that went out today didn’t get back until dinnertime, so I was glad that I didn’t go to the field. Since today was saint patty’s day, a few people were partying and having a good time. I sat in for a bit (not drinking of course, I was still sick), and then went to bed.

3/16/2010

I woke up feeling terrible today. Very bad stomach cramps. Murh. Luckily, I didn’t have to go into the field today, so I tried to be relaxed and sitting for as long as I could. We had to work on understanding our maps today, which was a little bit of a project for Hannah and me, since we didn’t do any work on it (too busy with housework). We also got a chance to do a little work on some of our other billion projects that are due in de hoop, although not nearly as much as I would have liked. This pretty much took up the afternoon. I napped after that, then ate a tiny bit for dinner and went to bed.

3/15/2010

Today we started our 6th FFP on Baobabs. We drove for an hour to get to a small reserve, then had a lecture from our guest academic Sarah Venter. She also gave us some of her cosmetic oil from Baobab seeds which will soon be used in high end cosmetics (oooo). Then we went into the field to take surveys of Baobabs: fruit counts, flower counts, aborted flower counts, disease percentage and amount of bark stripped. We did this for 6 trees all together, and then had lunch and split into three groups. Each group did another 6 trees, and then we met to go back. We stopped at the store quickly, and then headed back to camp. This afternoon I took a nap, and it was wonderful. We had a relaxing night, minus me having a meeting with David for my History and Culture paper. It went well, and I have a lot of good ideas.

3/14/2010

Soooooo last night I felt a pinch in my back. I bolted upright, because I was convinced it was a scorpion. I felt it crawl over my hand, and just stay there. Hannah screamed at the boys to get up, and Benjy leaped out of bed, almost fell over, and turned on the light. I look at my hand to see a praying mantis that extended from my finger tip to my wrist. Thank god it wasn’t a scorpion, but holy God was I scared for a second. I didn’t sleep very well the rest of the night, as right before we had gone to sleep, Benjy had so comfortingly said that scorpions like to crawl underneath you because its warm and sting you afterwards. Thanks Benj.
Today was our last day in the village  After breakfast and washing, we went to visit the chief of the village. He was a very smart man, and very nice. We came back and waited to be picked up. While we were waiting, we watched the women re-dung the floors. It’s a very interesting process; they make designs in the dung while smearing it, so when it dries it looks unique. They do this about once a week or so, and it’s a long process. Around 10, everyone got there to pick us up, and we said our good-byes. Mpo gave each of us a broom that she had made, and I now have to find a way to get that home intact. We went to the store quickly, and then drove on to our next destination.
We are staying for the next few days at the camp site that Tshulu trust owns. It’s a beautiful area, and I’m very excited to be here. We are living in tents (6 to a tent), and there is a main area to eat at and have lecture if needed. We went down to the river to swim for a bit before lunch, and then came back. We had a meeting to de-brief about the homestays that lasted about 3 hours, and then we had the night to ourselves. We can’t do much electronic work here, as the only power is through a generator, and it uses petrol to run. So, instead of working, we all went down to hang out at some rapids up the river. It is beautiful here, have I mentioned that? We came back, had dinner, and then I just relaxed for the rest of the night, as I was still exhausted from the homestay. Movie for me!

3/13/2010

Quick side note – We got named yesterday, and I forgot to write about it. Jay was Lufuno, which was love, Benji was Takarandi, which was happy, Hannah was Mudzizo, which was questions, and I was Funzo, which was education. I don’t know why.
Turns out there was a scorpion in our hut last night. A big one. Avery poisonous one. TIA. We started out the day very similarly to yesterday, eating breakfast and washing our faces. Then we went to the store to buy a chicken to cook. We brought it back by holding the wings, and then let it run around the house area until we were ready to kill it. Then we went and collected wood. All of the kids went, including a 15-year-old girl named Delicious. She is my idol. She is only about 5 feet tall, and is as strong as a body builder. She was hacking away at the log so accurately that it looked like a machine. Hannah tried to chop wood (rather successfully, I might add) while I hung back, afraid of chopping my foot off in the process. When we had gathered enough, we tied it into bunches and brought it back. Lara came right as we were carrying it back, and was so proud of us 
**DISCLAIMER: DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE FAINT OF HEART AND/OR STOMACH**
When we got back, it was time to prepare the chicken. The first thing that happened was Cynthia (Mpo’s sister) teased the chicken by holding a knife to its neck in the middle of the house. Hannah and I were sure that she was just going to kill it right there. Luckily she didn’t, but then she brought it over to the side of the house and had us watch the process. They collected the blood in a basin to use later. It was definitely an experience watching her slaughter the chicken. Woof. After it was dead, she poured boiling water over it, and then cracked off all of the talons and de-skinned the feet. Then off came the feathers. Hannah and I helped with this part, as it wasn’t technically challenging or physically difficult. It was kind of gross though :P. Once it had been de-feathered, Mpo cut it into pieces like you would find in the market. She separated the intestines out, as they were going to be cooked as well, but in a separate dish. We then threw all of the meat parts (including the “walkie talkies,” or head and feet) into a pot to cook together. While waiting, Mpo had Hannah cut up the liver into little pieces and had me mush mealie meal into the congealed blood; later, Hannah had to mush the liver INTO the blood. Mmmmm. We cooked the intestines in a separate pot with the blood and liver, and also a bean leaf dish. When we were all done, the chicken (whom we had named “Dinner”) looked delicious, the intestines smelled good but looked weird, and the leaf dish was glue. That was the only leaf dish that I just couldn’t eat because of the texture. The boys finally came back, and we ate Dinner for lunch.
In the afternoon, we accidentally took a nap, and then were dressed in traditional Venda apparel. We had a photoshoot, and then went to play games and dance with the little kids and women. We played extreme jacks (which I suck at), and then danced our little hearts out. The kids kept teaching us things, and then laughing at us when we couldn’t do them very well. Ah well. We decided to name our dog Kevin, as it was a girl, made funny noises, and fell asleep with her tongue in the dirt, ala Kevin vega. For dinner, we didn’t really have to help much O.o so we watched and waited for them to ask us to do something. We actually had a chance to talk with the boys! For dinner, we had another leaf dish and fish. The fish smelled TERRIBLE, but tasted alright, kind of like butter. After dinner, our treat was coke (ick), and then we sat around talking for a while before completely PTFOing.

3/12/2010

By ourselves, we got up at 6. The family, who had stayed up way past us the night before, was already up doing household work (collecting water, sweeping, etc). We all got up and dressed and went outside. Everyone got a chance to sweep, but that is where the equalities ended. We talked to the family after breakfast (VERY sweet coffee and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) about their resource usage and wealth status. This family consisted of two 30-year-old parents and two kids, a 12-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl. They lived completely off of child grants, as neither parent worked, though the dad did odd jobs for friends sometimes. All food that could be collected they collected, and they relied on the generosity of friends for that which they couldn’t afford. They own a stereo and very broken down tv (not sure if it even works or not), but not a stove or fridge.
After we talked to the family, we started doing the housework. We washed dishes, cooked, cleaned, prepared more food, and made pap (which sort of falls in with cooking, but its so hard!). For lunch today, we had a pumpkin leaf dish and mopane worms. The worms were alright; a little mushy, and tasted mostly like chicken. Not the greatest. After lunch we played some games with the kids (jump rope for girls, soccer for boys), then learned some venda words, not that I remember any of them. Then we went to the river to swim for a bit, and also to the bore hole (an artesian pump that just flows onto the ground all the time) to collect water. I have now carried water on my head, although I wouldn’t say I did it well. We got back, and were told that we needed to go collect wood. When we asked our host mother, though, she said it was too hot and we would go later. So we relaxed in the hut for a while, feeling a little strange that we weren’t doing any work. We then went to play with the kids, and learned a bunch of their games. They all seemed like games I had played when I was a kid, except for EXTREME. There was extreme monkey in the middle, extreme duck duck goose, extreme blob tag, extreme London bridge, and extreme spud. Hannah and I played these games while Jay and Benjy played soccer with the older boys. We then cooked dinner (MORE PAP), which was a potato and tomato dish. It was extremely delicious. Probably going to make it again sometime soon. Our treat tonight was orange soda and corn. The corn tasted like feed corn made out of glue. It was gross. But, I didn’t want to be rude, so I just made a big deal out of it, and ate most of it.

3/11/2010

First day of homestays! We didn’t have to leave so early this morning, as we weren’t due in the villages until after 230. We took a nice game drive through the park, and then leisurely made our way there. Once in Ha-Makuya, we divided into our six groups. I was with Jay, Hannah and Benjy. We got to go to a village called mulokowabane (I am positive I spelled that wrong), along with one other group. We were split up, so we didn’t see them the entire time. Our host mother was about 30, but at first glance I could have sworn she was no older than we. They were all whooping and hollering as we pulled up, and they seemed really excited to have us there. They had made us lunch, so the first thing we did was learn about proper meal etiquette. The girls serve, and then bow to the men. It’s a very sub-female system. First meal? How about some locusts? They taste like popcorn. Then we went and sat outside, talking with the adults, learning the greetings, playing games with the children, dancing…no one was ever not doing anything. We then made dinner, which consisted of pap (pronounced pup) and a bean leaf dish. Hannah and I helped make it, and let me tell you this; pap is hard to make. You have to work so hard to mix it, and neither of us really had the guns. These women, however, were just whipping it about like it was milk. When we finally got done (it took us forever to make the pap), it was dark, and so we ate inside with the lights on. For a treat (two treats, actually), after dinner they gave us watermelon and some sprite. We finally went to bed around 10, and then had to write our field notes of the day on the resources the family uses.

3/10/2010

Today was a big day. We had lectures all morning to talk about our homestays and the villages we would be staying in. we also met our guides, who would be translating everything we needed for us in the three days. I hadn’t thought about that part before—silly, right? These people speak Venda, and most of them, especially the elder ones, don’t speak English at all. After lunch, we did a practice social experiment for what we will be doing in the village. It’s called a social map—people in the village draw what they think their village looks like, and talk about everyone’s status. After that, a bunch of us went to play soccer with some of the University of Chicago students who had just shown up today, even though really not many came. We ate dinner with them as well, and then we had a party tonight for Andrew’s birthday. In the end, there were a couple of cool U of C students, but most of them were kind of tools. I’ll tell people about the one girl not from U of C later.

3/9/2010

I went on the game drive this morning, even though I barely slept last night. SO WORTH IT. We saw a male lion just walking along the road. We followed him for such a long time, then passed him so we could take pictures of his face. So amazing. AHH. Then a bunch of us went to the restaurant for breakfast. I tried to do some reading down by the pool, but that ended up being more social than reading. Ah well. Right before lunch, Elizabeth and I decided to power nap. When I woke up at 110, she was still out. I tried to wake her up, but she didn’t even budge. It was really funny. Maybe you had to be there.
After lunch, I did some laundry and read a little. I also counted some eggs for our FFP. Very easy, very mindless. Hannah and I watched some family guy (we’ve been watching a lot of tv lately, not sure why), and then we went to dinner. At dinner, we decided who would be living with whom at the homestays, and also picked a new SRC – Lindsay, Elizabeth and Evan T. We also heard about the REU; I unfortunately now have no reason to stay for the world cup >.< Grr. Oh well. Better luck next time…

3/8/2010

Should have gone on the game drive >.< they saw a huge pride of lions. Grah. Today was a consolidation day, which meant we were allowed to do what we needed to for our up and coming projects. It basically meant we all had pretty relaxing days. I spent mine sort of reading, sort of relaxing, sort of stealing peoples iTunes. In the morning, I went on a bird drive with Graeme and a bunch of other people. It was really fun, and really informative. I can maybe sort of bird now?
After lunch, I went through lindsay’s and andrew’s libraries to get more music. Then I spent another hour deleting the stuff that I couldn’t play from protection problems. A bunch of people then watched big fish, pausing for dinner, and then dance party! I partook tonight, as I had a lot of pent up energy from…eh, who knows. Fun though!

3/7/2010

Gah exam! We got the prompt at 8, and had until 5 to write a comprehensive exam (3-4 page single spaced paper). It wasn’t so bad; I took frequent study breaks, and just tried to work steadily for the entire time. Elizabeth and I locked ourselves in our room, just working straight until lunch, and then straight until 5. After, we decided to play soccer to relieve the stress. I played, though didn’t run a lot, as my leg is still really bruised. I decided to take an easy night tonight, as I was exhausted from the past few days, and I just wanted to sleep. I was thinking about the game drive, but decided to give it a pass. A lot of people partied. Lame.

3/6/2010

Second note to self: DON’T PLAY SOCCER WHEN YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE OPEN BLOOD VESSELS IN YOUR LEG. I woke up to a bruise the size of Alaska on the back of my leg today. Nice…not. I went out with the birders this morning. We took surveys at all of their sites, and I tried to work on my bird call recognition. When we got back, I tried to do a little bit of reading, but ended up falling asleep. Around 1030, Hannah and I worked on reading the Kruger Experience, which we need to have read by tomorrow. Lunch, and then cleaning out the GDVs. After that, it was soil analysis, followed by team Mopani meeting, followed by picture analysis of the eggs (making sure we’ll be able to count the number of eggs in each batch). Everyone went to bed pretty early, because tomorrow its exam day!

3/5/2010

This was my last day in the field for Mopani. We went out at 9, and had a little bit of a setback when we had to stop at some old sites to get some data. We only managed to get two sites done, but that’s alright. We should be able to get over 10 total plots, which will be great data. I hurt myself pretty good today, as I slipped out of the tree and caught my leg on a ripped branch. I didn’t break anything, but it scraped the back of my leg nicely. It’ll be fine. When we got back, we did some organizing of pictures (that took FOREVER), and then a bunch of us went to play soccer. Note to self: next time wear sneakers. We also had our first Jenneca lecture tonight, about hominids. Very interesting.

3/4/2010

Another day of Mopani-ing. Today it was really rainy in the morning, so I was nervous going out. Luckily, it wasn’t too wet, and we got a lot done. We dug at two sites, and searched for eggs and caterpillars at four. I didn’t injure myself too badly climbing any trees (yesterday I scraped up my ankle pretty good), and we got a lot accomplished. In the afternoon, we tested all of the soil for its type and recorded our data. After that, it was a nice relaxing evening with some reading of articles, cartoon X-MEN and sleep. Sorry this is so short, not a terribly exciting day :/

3/3/2010

We started work on our FFP today. There are two running simultaneously again; we are afternoon, and people are going birding in the morning. This morning the four of us (Colin, Lindsay, Evan G and me) sat down with Alan (correction: Dax sat in for Evan, as he was out birding), and we made a game plan for the next few days. No one has done any work on mopani worms before, so we are creating a possible new procedure for assessing the population of an outbreak area. Its complicated to put down into just a little blurb, so if you want to know more about it, we can talk when I get back. We finally got going to the field around 1030, taking some of those not on the actual project with us.
In the field, we dug for pupas in the ground, as well as looked for eggs and larvae in the trees. Mopane worms are actually caterpillars that morph into a rather large moth. We set up 20 m by 20 m plots, dug 5 1 m by 1 m by 40 cm holes and searched for the eggs in all of the Mopani trees. It took a while, but with each site it got faster and faster. We did one before lunch, and another one and a half after lunch. After that, we came back for the rest of the evening to relax and study for our exam on Sunday.

3/2/2010

I woke up early this morning to do more editing on the IP. We got together at 730, and didn’t finish until 4:58. It was 2 ¼ hours on the intro, 1 hour on the methods, 1 hour on the results, 1 1/2 hours for lunch, 1 ½ hours for discussion, and 1 ¼ hours for everything else at the end. Long. Ass. Day. We made it through, though, and it feels really good to be done. I made a pep move by bringing everyone chocolate after lunch. At 5, we went back to play more soccer. This time, there was a ladies game and a main game. There were girls in the main game, but the ladies game was only girls. Hannah and I started over there, and then Lily, Rachael and Stevie came over later. It was so fun; about 20 minutes in, it started POURING. It took me a very long time to figure out who was on my team, or which side I was even playing towards. Some of the girls spoke English, but it wasn’t terribly good. I felt bad, as I didn’t know what language they were speaking, and didn’t want to be rude and assume they spoke Shangaan. I’ll have to ask. I ended up scoring a lot, so that always feels good . After the game, we had an epic mud fight on the main field, followed by a very dirty car ride and a lot of people jumping in the pool with clothes on. After dinner, we had a short meeting and lecture about the 3rd and 4th FFPs that are being started tomorrow.

3/1/2010

This morning, we left at 530 for the drive. Nothing special; lots of birds, a few elephants (cool, but fairly common here), and a really old buffalo who looked like he wanted to charge us. After, we waited for our IP comments until 1130 (Laurence was totally swamped). Once we got them, we each took some time to read and digest them. After lunch, we started working on editing the sections. It was back to Colin and me editing the intro. At 430, we left to go to soccer. We thought we would be playing a variety of ages; turns out we were playing the organized Punda Maria team. It was very fun; I was second string (thank god), and got to play a while in the second half. We ended up winning 2-1. During the game, there were about 200 little kids running around us and laughing and playing. We then headed back to eat dinner and keep working on our IPs.

2/28/2010

This morning, we all got up really early to leave by 630. We drove for an hour or so (getting mock charged by an elephant on the way) up to Thulamele, which is a burial site for an ancient civilization that was here long before colonization. We talked about the rituals performed in order to elect, decide, and just live. This whole lecture took place on the top of a very large plateau, with cliffs overlooking a great deal of the northern park. At one point, we were looking at a part of the wall, and we could sit on the edge of a 300 foot high wall. I, of course, sat on the very edge and threw rocks over (this probably isn’t helping for those of you who think I’m going to totally mangle myself while here). At the end of the lesson, we had a short meditation session to just clear our minds of all stress and to just reflect on this past month.
Lunch was a picnic by the Limpopo river. While there, we saw about 20 golden orb spiders, as well as a medium sized snake. We then drove to Crooks Corner, which is the bank of the Limpopo river where South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe meet. I have now seen Moz and Zim. After that, we went on a little bit of an extended bird drive, and then came back. We had a little bit of a night off, as Laurence hadn’t finished our IP comments, which was nice, as I had to get up early for a game drive tomorrow.

2/27/2010

Well, to finish last night, we got back from the internet around 5, and then we packed and ate dinner and went to bed. Nothing too special. Lots of chaos in packing land.
This morning, we got up at 4:45 to finish packing and have everything outside by 5. Then we loaded all of the suitcases that weren’t going with us, as well as the ones that were. Luckily, we were done right on time, and got out of there by 6. I opted to drive with Alan, and it was the best decision I have made in a really long time. He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. We talked about everything, from sympatric speciation to Britney Spears. The drive was almost 12 hours long, and we enjoyed ourselves the whole way. While going up there, we saw almost the entire big five; buffalo, rhino, elephant (TONS), and leopard. Everyone else saw a lion but us. We had left the lunch restaurant late because Alan had to foot the bill, and the lion was gone by the time we got there. BOOOOO. But, we got a sweet picture on the Tropic of Capricorn.
We got to Punda Maria, our next location, at around 5 pm. It is a beautiful little site, with a pool and a bird hide right in camp. We each are two to a little chalet, which is basically a hotel room with a fridge and bathroom. I’m rooming with Elizabeth again . There is also a little shop on site, and a restaurant. The kitchen/common room area is unfortunately absent, so we are cooking and eating in a little outdoor cooking thing, and eating wherever we can find a spot to sit. Everyone is just storing food in their fridges, and we have cheese, yogurt, breakfast stuff, and the butters (peanut and animal). After dinner, a bunch of us went down to check out the hide, and then to bed, because tomorrow we leave by 630.
Highlights of the day:
- Leopard sighting (it walked right in front of one of the GDV’s)
- Alan identifying butterflies after seeing them for less than a second
- Alan’s bright blue flip flops
- The elephant femur
- Babalala in general
- Jackaranda
- Life’s greatest hits

Elephants!

2/26/2010

So, I normally write these at night before I go to bed (or early the next morning if I forgot the night before), but since this is the last time I’ll have internet for a few weeks (most likely until the 20th of March, we’ll see if that’s accurate or not), I decided to write one in the afternoon. Today was a day off, and it’s been pretty hectic. I tried to do laundry before we left for a game drive, but apparently a working washer just wasn’t an easy enough task. Anywho, we drove to a little tourist area in the very south of the park, and we had “pancakes”, or as I like to call them, “pancrepes”, because they are basically crepes. It was really nice, and it was a fun drive. We saw an entire herd of buffalo (there were probably about 150), as well as a lot of birds and some bull elephants. Then we came back, and I ran errands. We met to talk about getting out of here tomorrow, as we aren’t going to be back until April, and we can only have 20 kg of luggage on the plane. That brings us to now. This is why I write them at night :P I’ll see you all in March!

2/25/2010

We started out the day with a very relaxing morning of studying for stats. The exam was at 10, but people all got up at 7 ish for breakfast. Then people napped, studied, did laundry, or just played peggle until it was time for the exam. We were able to take it in pairs, with all of our notes, and able to ask questions. They weren’t trying to hurt us. It was a good exam, but very long. Melissa thought it was only going to take us an hour and a half or so to do it; the first people finished at around 12:15, maybe 12:30. Rachael and I finally turned ours in at 1. Then lunch, and Dax had bought us juice things 
After lunch, we all relaxed and did what we needed to in preparation for a day off and leaving on Saturday. I organized my stuff, as we are flying to Cape Town, and there is a 20 kg (45 lb) weight limit on all of your checked luggage. So, I’m leaving a lot of stuff behind. I brought too much anyways, and I don’t think I’ll miss it. Then I used the internet (got to video with Chris, oh boy!), and off to sundowners. Our shoes made a miraculous reappearance today in Dax’s room, but I think he was framed. We also had a get together at the train pub (a pub constructed from a train parked at the station, with platforms and open air sections) tonight in honor of our day off tomorrow.

2/24/2010

Again with the stats lectures. We started at 8 with an assessment of data we had already done for our IP’s, and used it as an exercise to better understand diversity indices. Then we talked a little more about such tests as chi-square and goodness-of-fit, and why we use them. After that, we had a little break in which to talk about our debates, and divide into teams. I am debating the ethics of zoos, and I am for them. In real life, I wouldn’t go as far as that, but that is another story. After that, we went to the store for a t-shirt and ice cream run. Too much money spent. Plus, it always feels like a lot more than it actually is, as the rand is so much “lower” than the dollar. Refresher: R7.6 = $1.
After lunch we went right back at stats again. It’s getting rough to keep plugging away with what seems like a fruitless proposition, but it’s almost over; we have an exam tomorrow. Oh boy! We did an experiment comparing leg length and jump distance. The data were screwy, but it’s ok. Life goes on. After that was over, I worked on my applications a little bit more. If someone knows someone who needs a research intern for the summer, who do you tell them to call? THIS GUY. I would love a research job this summer, and I’m getting less and less hopeful as time goes on. It’s rough. We then played soccer (barefoot. Someone stole one shoe from each pair we weren’t wearing yesterday during lecture), and it was really fun. I’m getting better, and more in shape. Hurray! Dinner, meeting, post! Word of the day: good-bye = salakacha.

2/23/2010

Another day of excruciatingly long lectures. We started out with a lecture on the theories behing managing the park. I think that a lot of it went over my head, mostly because I am not big on philosophy. Then we had a lecture on research in the park, as well as the joining of the Kruger park and the Limpopo park in Mozambique, and if this could spread into Zimbabwe as well. These lectures were long and hard to pay attention to, mostly because the speaker had an extremely quiet voice and a thick Afrikaans accent. Last lecture of the morning was Melissa talking about stats. THAT was a disaster, not to any fault of hers. We just were not getting it (me included), and we spent a half an hour trying to get all on the same page. Finally we just decided to go to lunch and try again later. I had ice cream for dessert 
After lunch, we had a returning lecturer come and talk to us about the different resources of the park, such as antelope and water relocation. She is a very interesting and engaging speaker, but she has SUCH a thick accent. Then it was back to stats. Hooray. We worked more with normal distributions, then moved onto the different types of tests. Alan talked a little about the differences between certain tests, and then released us for the day. We came back to camp, and then a bunch of us went to use the internet. It was there that I first found out about Gunnar. He’s going to be OK, and I won’t talk about it here, but to make a long story short, I know now how to rally people towards a sad person’s cause. I am now going to watch chicken run to make myself feel good. Word of the day: my friend = monamoamina.

2/22/2010

We had lectures up the wazoo today. To make it easier on the people lecturing us, we relocated to a more central location in the park. The room was so air conditioned it felt like it was snowing. Just like home. We first had a lecture on the veterinary life in Kruger, which doesn’t really have anything to do with treating animals. Most of what they do is relocate animals to other areas of the country or private buyers. This lecture was interesting, but something about the methods just didn’t sit well with me. After that, we had a lecture on GIS and its practical application. Almost this entire lecture went completely over my head, as well as everyone else’s. The graphs were pretty, though.
In the afternoon, we had a lecture on plant defenses given by Laurence. We talked about the research that had been done on herbivory as a negative influence on plant communities, and how almost all of it has been based in the tropics, such as costa rica. Then the FFP’s were presented by the groups who were doing the analysis, though they didn’t really have anything yet to talk about. That evening was spent mostly just relaxing and trying to sort out everything we had left to do, like our insect collections (due in April). Words of the day: banana = banana, grapes = grapis.

2/21/2010

In the morning, we had our final FFP lecture on plant defenses. It was very interesting; basically the entire time, the lecturer was trying to convince us that no one can study ecology anywhere else but Africa. Hmm. I saw his point, but still. After lecture, a bunch of us went down to the student office to use internet, and I submitted an application. Fingers crossed, this one will go through. Or just one of them, it doesn’t really matter which. I’d like to do any of these that I’m applying for. After lunch, we all relaxed for a while, as well as working on our Goldsworthy photo project. Mine is purty .
Tonight was my night to go out on bats. We left at 5, and by 545 we had found a herd. This was frustrating, as the whole point of the project was to find bats around elephants, as the theory is that the elephants “flush,” or disturb insects, which attracts bats. 545 is way too early for bats to be outside. We waited around the herd for as long as we could. During this time, Jeremy, our instructor found an acacia tree. Acacias have thorns. He decided we should all pierce our ears with acacia thorns. WTF. A couple of people did (not me, thanks). Very weird. Finally, when it got to be time to record for bats, the elephants got to be too far away. So, we moved on. After driving for about a half hour, we would stop and take a reading, whether or not there was an elephant. This happened more often than not; elephants are hard to find at night. While driving, we almost ran over a bird, which made a daring escape into the GDV, hitting Hannah in the face with its wing. Finally we found an elephant, took recordings, and then drove around for a while to wait for the elephant to leave, to record again for a control. We were driving when suddenly we drove through a massive spider web. We all laughed, until we realized the spider (about the size of a small toad) was still in the GDV. Then we laughed harder, except for Hannah, who had to get it out. Then we went back, took more recordings, and went home. Words of the day: Apple = apula; orange = lamula.

2/20/2010

Today it was my day to go out into the bush for the plants FFP. We started out the day with a lecture on bats, talking about the various projects that can be done with the population dynamics. After that, we prepared and jumped into the GDV to go to the next two plant sites. It was a really long drive (1 ½ hours either way), and I was glad for my iPod. On the way, we stopped to pick up some elephant dung (I’m not sure what the purpose was, but there’s always a reason), and we also got some dung beetles for our collection. When we got to the site, we walked around taking branches from the trees, identifying them as we went. We also were collecting any millipedes we saw for a dung beetle trap (in the Cape, dung beetles are carnivorous. Kind of a misnomer). After we were done, we drove to the next site. We didn’t get out, however, as the plant crew already had too much data to deal with. We then went back to camp, and analyzed the branches we had collected. Afterwards, I worked with my group on our cartoon analysis. We are taking a political cartoon about south African politics and discussing the history behind it. This evening, we didn’t really have a lot planned, so Evan performed a magic show for the instructors. Hilarity ensued.

2/19/2010

Today we started our first FFPs. It started off with two lectures introducing us to bats and plant defenses, as well as what the projects would actually be. Everyone has been assigned a project, and everyone else doesn’t have to participate the whole time because of this. I am not on either of these, and didn’t have to go into the field at all today. As you already know, I posted ALL my blogs up to today, as well as a ton of other internet stuff, like internship applications. I then tried to do laundry. Bad choice. I had to get coins, which was an ordeal. Then, when I went to use the machines, one worked, then the other one didn’t. I had already put detergent in. Awesome. I went and used the other set of machines, which worked. It was a lot of extra walking. Then I mailed stuff, and started work on my cartoon project. After lunch, I collected my laundry and took a nap. Then it was soccer, dinner, and helping the plant FFP with their collections. Word of the day: excuse me = sorry/nikarelle.

2/18/2010

We were all so tired this morning. But, we got up early to go whitewater rafting on the Sabie River. It was amazing; we paddled down the river in inflatable rafts through rapids, as well as body boarding down a few. Lots of fun, lots of great pictures. After, we went to lunch at a pizza place. It was wonderful to have pizza, although it wasn’t terribly good. I also had a milkshake. Very American. When we came back, it was our day off, so lots of people just slept or did random things. I read and ran errands. Around 6, people were setting up bat nets by the pool, as we are starting our first and second FFPs tomorrow (Faculty Field projects, bats and plant defenses). We hung around the pool and chatted, then had dinner and watched the lion king. On a wall. TIA. Word of the day: tired = garella.

2/17/2010

Last day of IP! We started off the day with a game drive, on which we saw a black rhino (EXTREMELY RARE TO SEE) as well as ungodly amounts of baboons. It was so amazing. Then, we sat down to work, thinking that we could finish up in the morning and have the afternoon to just relax. Boy were we wrong. It took us the entire morning (9-12) to edit our introduction. It was a long, grueling process of disagreement and misunderstandings, and by the end, we were all very frustrated. After lunch, we got right down to it, working hard to crank out the methods, results and discussion, as well as acknowledgements, literature cited and an abstract. We finished just in time, turning in a full draft at 4:45, 15 minutes shy of the deadline. That night we had a party, of which the theme was “dress your friend.” I dressed colin as a pervasaurus rex (story if you ask), and I got dressed as an 80’s tramp, complete with gawdy make-up and humongous hair.

2/16/2010

More data analysis this morning. We got up for breakfast at 7, as we had a lecture at 8. It was from a woman who works closely with the national park, although I’m not exactly sure what she does. She had a lot of information, but I didn’t know exactly what her focus was. We talked about the park as a whole, including recent changes and things that don’t work. After that, it was back to the old grind. We worked on getting a good analysis of our data for a while, and then divided the introduction and discussion between the four of us to get it done more quickly. Lunch was mac n cheese, although they put peppers in it. Not sure I agree.
After lunch, we continued to work on our introduction (Colin and me). It was a slow process, as working with two people can be. Around 330, we finally got to a good stopping point, and took a nice long swim. Before soccer, we tried to get a start on our results section, but didn’t get very far. Soccer was not as impressive on my part today, but it was still really fun. It feels good to just get really worked up and tired…clears your mind. I came back and worked a little more on the methods section before dinner. We then got together and pieced together some of the last pieces of the results, then set up a preliminary draft. To reward ourselves, we all walked down to the river to just lie out under the stars. And now I have to go to sleep, because I have to be up by 5:10 to go on a 5:25 game drive.

2/15/10

We started data analysis this morning, after sleeping in til 730. Ha. Sleeping in. Breakfast was delicious (eggs, toast, bacon for those who eat it). We had a major clean up session, where everyone helped us put traps back together, as we had over 90. Then it was time to get down to business. It was a really long day of data crunching and dirt smushing. In the end, we didn’t really get anywhere, and have to keep working on it tomorrow. Ugh. In the afternoon, we played a game of soccer, which was really fun. I scored a goal! Yay me! Then we had dinner and a meeting, and worked more on our assignment. Today’s post is so not exciting. Neither was today. Word of the day: Soccer = Bolo

2/14/10

Valentines Day!
Today started out rough. We all woke up this morning in a dripping sweat, as the AC had turned off with the power outage. There was a major storm going on, and the air was just 100% saturated. The birders couldn’t even go out until it stopped raining. We ended up leaving late (630), and heading to our sites to see if we could even walk around. Right when we were arriving on site, a huge buffalo crossed the road. Buffalo are dangerous, but not if properly watched. So we quickly took down our site and moved on. All of the sites needed to come down today, as it was our last day of data collection. We took down the 8 we were supposed to, and then had to go out and take down one of the other sites as well, as they had gotten run off by elephants. TIA (this is Africa. I’ll use this a lot). It was a long morning, but on the bright side, we’re done with field work for a little bit.
Upon returning, we started taking apart the traps and cleaning them. There were 150 traps in all, and each had to be de-wired, opened, soaked, scrubbed, dried, and then put back together. We are currently at the drying phase. It took us most of the afternoon to do this, but it wasn’t hard work. Just time consuming. We also had a fair bit of time to relax, as we needed to wait for the traps to soak. At around 530, I decided to go to the main camp to call chris, as it was valentines day and I miss him terribly. However, upon returning, I realized everyone had gone to sundowners. Today we were reading the valentines that everyone had written for each other. I was very sad, as I had written a song that I wanted to sing, and I was going to miss all of the fun. Luckily, Laurence was nice enough to come back to get me. I am currently thinking of a way to pay him back. Chocolate is my current plan of action.
The valentines gig was very cute and funny. Everyone had drawn a name at random, and then written them a valentine. I had Lindsay, and I had written her a song. She read the “poem,” and then I announced myself and that it was a song, and sang it for her while also playing guitar. Some of the valentines were very clever, some were cute, some were totally obscure—all were fun. We did it in chunks, one at the lake, one in the dining room. After dinner, we finished the valentines and everyone just relaxed for the rest of the night. Word of the day (an appropriate addition): I love you = Zakooranza

2/13/10

Finished the big 5 today.
It was another 530 morning. I cannot wait to be able to sleep in until 7, as awful as that sounds. We were getting ready to go when Colin notices that his shoes weren’t fitting well. Turns out the bite on his ankle had swelled up so much that his foot was almost twice its normal size. Because we need to be able to run when told, they told him to stay behind today. So I did the collections by myself, which wasn’t so bad. We caught 3 pygmy mice (one was a recapture), and a fat mouse. We came back to camp, and identified the fat mouse. Then it was hang out time until 1130, when we had a lecture on insect orders. It was so stuffy in that room, all I wanted to do was go to sleep. It was bad. After that, I took a quick half hour nap before lunch.
After lunch, I worked on my valentine (more to come). Since Colin was still gimpy, he asked Nick to accompany my to the field for the afternoon, as rebaiting and taking foliage percentages is much more of a two person thing. On the way to the field, we were driving and talking to alan’s son when Stevie yelled “RHINO!” Me, thinking that it would be far away, turned to the side and yelled “where?” Nick then pointed straight in front of the car. It was literally a meter and a half away. A humongous male white rhino. Holy god. It was gigantic. I luckily got a really good shot of it, and have one picture to document the event. Then we rebaited the sites, and came back.
The rest of the night was a little eventful. In the morning, we had caught a puff adder and a Mozambican spitting cobra (a baby). We released the adder, but we had kept the cobra in a terrarium for people to look at. Then, during dinner, Elizabeth TA announced that this snake was now loose. These snakes are ungodly poisonous. Luckily (again), the snake had just hidden right below the terrarium, and Dax put it in a sealed bucket. Phew. Now I am off to a small party, for god knows why. Word of the day: tihuway = wood

2/12/10

Today I saw a lion.
We started out by getting up at 530 again to be in the field by 6. This morning, however, we caught a couple of animals in the traps. At site 15, we caught a gerbil, and at site 12 we caught a mouse. There were some shrews in the herp traps at site 13 as well. We also saw a herd of elephants (I have lived up to the name of this blog many times over, hoorah!), as well as many many baboons, impala and hippos. Upon coming back, we ID’d the mouse, and started working on organizing our data. We briskly swam in the pool, and then had an excellent lunch of sammiches. I napped after lunch, because I was not feeling well at all.
When I got up, we had to go back out into the field. So hot. It was about 104oF today, and about 95% humidity. Blurgh. On our way to the first site, there were a bunch of tourists pulled over on the side of the road. When we asked them what they were looking at, they said a male lion was lying under one of the bushes. Lions have been my favorite animal since I was about 6 years old. Just ask my mother. I He was beautiful. He was older, as his mane was very broad and dark. I tried so hard to get a picture, but there was a stupid bush in the way. So, I have a few pictures of a pretty bush with a lion shaped shadow in the background. Grr. The first few sites were miserable, they were so hot. We had to return a shrew and a mouse, but the shrew got loose through a 3 mm hole in the bag, and the mouse died from the heat. So sad. We were very upset. We had named him Willard. A memorial was held.
After dinner, we had a lecture on the burning of the savanna. Fire here is actually a very useful tool in the regulation and germination of the plants, as there are so many fires a year just naturally. It has been decided that humans are a natural fire starter, although I’m not sure how much I agree with that sentiment. Another time, I guess. After that, we talked about our projects, and then I played a little guitar (remembered 2 songs!), and finally bed. Words of the day: hand = voko; hands = mavoko

2/11/2010

It was a very long day today, and only the first of many. I got up at 530 to start checking traps by 6. We went through 8 of the 15 sites, and none of the traps had anything. There were a few shrews in the herp traps, but those aren’t rodents. So, empty handed, we returned to camp. Well, not exactly empty handed—we saw a leopard on the way back. It was very hidden in the bush, but we saw it nonetheless. We ID’d the shrews that we brought back, although even Graeme said he didn’t know what one of them was. So, we might be sending it in for identification. People hung around until about 1230, when lunch was served. After lunch we had an introduction to our insect collection, which is to be done only at Skukuza. My group is in charge of collecting many Neuroptera, which is the family antlions are in. Antlions are very hard to distinguish from dragonflies/damselflies once in flight, but when they land it’s easier. So woo. There are about 20 billion dragon/damselflies around. Not as many Neuroptera.
After the lecture, I FINALLY checked my email, after 2 weeks. Only 100 emails, which isn’t bad, and really none of them were pertinent. I may put up an announcement saying that I’ll be out of email contact when I go to the next two sites, but for now I’m fine. We don’t have internet here yet; due to unforeseen circumstances, the internet is down for the next few days. Grr. There is an internet café in “town” though, so I can do basic things. Nothing major yet, so by the time you read this post, I will have the other internet up and running :P
In the afternoon, we went back out to rebait the traps. I went to the other 7 sites this time, and I’m glad I did. This area is GORGEOUS. There sites were so much prettier than the ones I’ve been going to. While out, we saw baboons, kudu, a herd of hippos and ANOTHER leopard. This time we saw its head (last time it was only a back shot). I have pictures. After we were done, we went to sundowners at the lake. It was Dax’s birthday, and a couple of people had picked up a gift (rum shots in a bag and a wind up snake). We sang, and then came back for dinner, meeting, and bed. Word of the day: Head = Hloko

2/10/2010

This morning we started our work on our first independent project. It started at 630 with breakfast, then into the field to set up our research sites. Graeme had already set up 11 sites, so between the 26 of us, we only had four left to do. It was early in the morning, and already it was getting so hot. We were all sweating buckets before 10 AM. Blugh. We each set up two sites, and then came back to camp. I was in Graeme’s truck, so we got to check out one more site before coming back. When we did come back, a bunch of us went into “town”, where we checked out the store. Lots of goodies. Then we looked at the river, where we watched a hippo bobbing up and down in the water. Just a normal day here at Kruger.
After lunch, I went off by myself (don’t worry, it is totally safe in the tourist camp during the day) so that I could mail a postcard and exchange some money. I ran into a nice couple from the states, and we chatted about why we were all here in the park. After money getting, I went back to town, running into Lindsay and Colin getting some sweet icey things. I of course got one as well. We were waiting for them to melt when some Afrikaner comes up to us and tells Colin to sit on the ice “for fertility.” Totally seriously. We all just died laughing.
That afternoon, we went back into the field to set up the rest of the traps and put bait in them. The rodent bait was a mixture of peanut butter and oats (although we are going to add honey to it tomorrow), and we stuck it up in the corner of the traps. We had to keep it away from the other students though, because it was delicious and we only had so much. The afternoon was much longer than the morning, as we had to set up a lot of traps, and we were baiting 8 sites (setting up 4). Once done, we had sun-downers at lake panic, and talked about our miserably hot days. It was Alan’s son’s birthday today, so we all stood up in the middle of dinner and sang happy birthday. After dinner, we talked about the next day, and had a good laugh at the silly things we are going to have to do to the mice to document their capture. Bed early-ish tonight, as we have to be leaving for the field by 6 tomorrow morning. Good lord. Words of the day: Yes = Ina; No = Uh-uh

2/9/2010

Today was moving day! We got up at 5 to be ready at 530, and then grabbed a quick breakfast so we could be on the road by 7. Once on the road, it was a beautiful drive to our next stop, Kruger National Park. Along the way, we saw some beautiful scenery, including amazing roads winding through the mountains (along which driving was a little scary, but mostly exciting ), but also very shocking images of desolate areas and impoverished towns. I saw people living in lean-tos, a shoddily made church surrounded by huts, and very malnourished children running around. Mostly it was fine, and the villages looked stable and happy, but it was very unnerving, as I am not used to anything of this nature, and feel very 1st world.
After driving for about 5 hours, we stopped for lunch. We had stopped earlier, gotten snacks, and also eaten our sandwiches that we had made. By this time it was noon, and we were stopping for a tourist/pancake break. We walked around the area, looking at the various trinkets and shawls, and also enjoying the wonderful weather. After a while, we decided to stop and get the pancakes that encompassed the second half of the stop. Laura and I shared a Amarula Chocolate Mousse “pancake,” which actually turned out to be crepes. Delicious. Then it was back to the vans, and off to Kruger!
This park is just gorgeous. We saw, within the first hour, an elephant, about 30 impala, about 6 warthogs, and a group of vervet monkeys. The warthogs and impala walk through the staff camp as they please, and the monkeys were in the tourist camp where we are staying. We are allowed in the staff area any time we want, as we are technically staff, but we have to walk in threes if we are leaving the tourist area. It’s just less safe. We first went through a safety lecture, as it is much more dangerous in this park than the reserve. Among the dangerous animals are lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos (white and black), buffalo and hippos. There are also cheetahs and hyenas, but those are not animals we really have to worry about. Cool, huh?
After the lecture, we set up in the bunks. The dorms are 2 rooms, each with a ton of beds, but enough for each person to have two. So, one bed for sleeping, one for stuff. Which is good, because I NEED A STUFF BED. Or at least a place to store stuff. It got bad last time. Once set up, almost everyone went over to the soccer field for an intense first game of soccer. It was so fun. I even bested Graeme, who is a machine, to get the ball, take it up, pass outside to someone who then scored. My life is complete. I almost died after that one though; I am completely out of shape. During the whole game, there were two warthogs just munching on the grass around the field. They were funny, because their necks aren’t long enough to reach the ground, so they have to get on their elbows to eat the grass. They looked so funny. There were also two kids just running through the pitch, riding their bikes around. The entire game included all the students minus eric, evan g, Stevie and lily, and then all the TAs and lecturers (minus Alan who was reuniting with his family, who lives in Skukuza year round).
Ok, I know this one is long, but bear with me. The last thing that happened tonight was a nice dinner (although I forgot to get my word! I’ll make up for it tomorrow), followed by some personal time to get organized and shower, as well as to call home and let people know we were alive. Some people haven’t called since we got here, which is almost 2 weeks ago. We then had a meeting about tomorrow’s field work and the schedule, and then drew names for our valentine’s day shindig. Should be fun . We are separated into early bed room and late bed room. I smartly chose the early bed room so that if I want to go to bed early, I can, and then if I don’t want to go to bed until X o’clock, I can just come in quietly later. I don’t have to worry about people being up until all hours of the night, thank GOD. We have some girls and some boys, which is kind of nice. People aren’t sharing beds, but it’s just nice to have that sort of small community. We’re all still getting along fine, which is great since we have to live together for the next 3 months :P. Thanks for reading!

2/8/2010

It was a long day in the lecture hall today. It started with trying to install Statistica on all of our computers, which was complete chaos, followed by a statistics lecture on the ANOVA test. That lasted from 8 until 1045. At 1115, we had a lecture on the management and ethics of elephant populations, and where we are now. That lasted until 1. At 2, we had a lecture on parametric versus nonparametric tests, though I still don’t really know the difference. After that, we went on a quick walk to look at herbs, then came back for an introduction to our first independent projects, which lasted until 5. I got my first choice (small mammals), which was nice after getting my fourth choice for our faculty field project (insect communities).
After lectures, we had to pack up books (I’m one of the “librarians,” and that’s one of my duties). Unfortunately there were some missing, but it shouldn’t be a big deal. When we were done, we ran to the buckies so that we could go on our last game drive in Nylsvley. We got in Alan’s, and were off! He drove through the puddles fast again  and no one started bleeding! Yay! We just drove around for a while, looking for things, when we saw a giraffe. Alan then pulled over the bucky, and suggested that we get out and see if we could get closer to it. We walked slowly up to it, and saw another one on our way over. We followed them for a while (as we got too close, they would run away), and then we veered off to look for other things. While we were out there, we saw the giraffes, a warthog, a jackal, about 30 birds all in one area, and 4 zebras with a colt. Amazing. I have now been 100 feet away from two giraffes in the wild. I can’t even explain the feeling. Then we came back and packed. Tomorrow we leave at 630 in the morning. Woo for internet so you can actually read these! (You guys are probably going to think I’m crazy for writing like I’m talking to you day by day when I post these all at once, but I have been writing this every night just for your reading pleasure) Word of the day: The food is nice = Shakooja kananzayga.

2/7/2010

Today was another day of lectures. We started outside, discussing the theories behind ecosystems biology and why there is so much confusion behind anything we try to do to conserve. It was an interesting discussion, but it really shows that no subject is free from philosophy. Damn. After that, we had a statistics workshop, going over both basic and advanced biostatistics. We then did a project with Smarties, which if anyone has had European candy, knows that these are crappy M&Ms. Well, not crappy, just different. After this, we had lunch, and then a nice long break until 3. We had a writing workshop, talking both about the mechanics and the philosophy of writing, and then we were done. It was so hot and sticky out, everyone was falling asleep. Even the lecturers :P
That afternoon, we just relaxed in the hut. I brought out my guitar, and a bunch of people just plunked around on it while the rest of us just read. We then went to dinner, and got ready for our walks. Some of us went hunting for chameleons, and the others went frogging. While on our chameleon walk, we saw a pregnant female, and took TONS of pictures. We also saw a few spiders, and a type of tree frog. Then it was time to clean my room. Blah. 2 days til Skukuza!

2/6/2010

Last day of history and culture. An entire class in 3 days. Beat that, Tufts. We started out by talking about the short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” a Hemingway short story taking place in Africa. After that, we did a workshop on District 9, and I learned so many of the linkages between apartheid and this movie. There was a whole problem with the Nigerian references as well that I had no idea of, which I will talk to you about in person if you’re ever curious. After that was our last history lesson, dealing with the pop culture (called Y Kulture), we were done with the class…pretty much forever.
After the class, we tried to do some surgery on Bryant’s foot. He had gotten a thorn stuck in it, and then the tip broke off. Me being the person I am, I found it fascinating. A bunch of us tried to get the thorn out, but none of us were successful. In the end, we bandaged it back up in hopes that we could get a salve that would suck the thorn closer to the surface. After lunch, we came back to talk about our cartoon presentations, and then we turned in our excel projects and got to work reading the crazy amounts of papers we have due for tomorrow.
At 4, a few of us went down the road to this little store, not knowing what to expect. I had not experienced true rural Africa until this point. There was a rusted ford truck in the grass, a mule-drawn cart in the road, and the building was smaller than my bedroom. Inside was an assortment of candies and sodas, as well as toiletries and beer. I got two little chocolate bars and a bag of chips, and it was delicious. The whole thing cost me R9,50, which translates into about $1.25. Weeeeeeee. It was delicious. Then as we were sitting, one of the guys sitting on the porch came up and asked if we would pay him to take a picture of us. No one but Kirst and I understood what he was asking, so we had to be the bad guys and say no thanks. Then we went back to camp, and meditated (I love it here). Dinner was my first SA barbeque, which they call a bry (not sure how its spelled), and dessert was ice cream. Bed!

2/5/2010

Day two of monstrously large amounts of history lectures. We started out by talking about the time period between the “end of apartheid” up until the 1990s, which was a very depressing time for South Africa. I don’t want to go into it, but look it up if you feel like being horrified and depressed. We then talked about media and protest, mostly through the methods of music. Protest songs, national anthems, the like. After the morning lectures, we spent a couple hours taking a plant identifying walk, looking at trees and talking about the different characteristics of each. Then we put our knowledge to use, as we had a pile of branches and we had 20 minutes to separate them into what we deemed to be correct groupings. Not as fun as it sounds.
After lunch, we went back into the classroom to talk about more history. It was still a rough time for the area, and it made it even harder to know that while this all was going on, the man who was lecturing us, David, was a very strong activist. He knew many of the men who were tortured and killed, yet was able to talk about them like they were pieces of history. He met the man who killed Steve Biko. Don’t be fooled, David was an activist against apartheid, and is very much an open minded, wonderful man. It’s just very hard to have that much emotion and connection to something that devastating and recent. It makes it that much harder to learn about the tragedies.
The last lecture of the day was a photograph workshop, looking at and analyzing the works of South African photographers. It was a nice light way to end the afternoon, although I didn’t feel too uplifted for the rest of the evening. I cheered myself up with some singing, and then Hannah and I worked on our excel project for the night. Wish us good luck on a good grade! For the next couple of days, we are minus a few lecturers, as one of the cooks who used to work for OTS passed a week ago, and they are at his funeral. The cooks are gone too, so I had to get all of my shangaan in before they left. 3 days till Skukuza and you can actually read this! Words of the next few days: How are you? = ponjahne; I’m fine = neekohne/nefookeeley;

2/4/2010

Well, last night was bad sleep, for those who were wondering. My legs are red, and look like I took some sort of torture device to them. And they itch. Guess who wore pants all day. This guy.
Today started the three day long adventure of the History of South Africa. We started out with a lecture from Dax, which as it sounds was highly entertaining. Then we met our two new lecturers, David and Lara, both south African. They talked about the beginnings of Apartheid and what built up to it. We were in the classroom from 8 until 1220, and then from 2 until 520. It was long. Afterwards, a lot of people went back down to the hide, but I wanted to stay back and relax. As it turns out, an hour and a half goes by much faster than you think it would. Sooner than I knew it, all the buckys were pouring back in, and I had no more time for work or to relax. Hannah and I worked a little on our excel write up, and then went to dinner.
After dinner, we watched District 9, as the theme of the movie is very much an echo of the apartheid movement, though with aliens. Later, I realized I had a new text from chris, and spent the next 20 minutes agonizing over the fact that I had no way to contact him, as I can’t text out, I have no minutes, and neither does anyone else. Rargh. So, I know that this is a little late, but I wrote it as soon as I got the text: I’m sorry I didn’t message you back, it was nothing malicious, just a lack of capability. I love you! Word of the day: The food smells delicious = Shakooja shaynooella kachoozayja.

2/3/2010

We had a “day off” today! It started at 8, when people who were up for breakfast were talking too loud and woke me up. We had a really good breakfast (although they had no turkey bacon, and I was sad), and then just sat around chatting about the party the night before. At 10 we did yoga, and oh my god was it hard. Lots of core muscles I don’t have being put to use in ways I never would have even thought of. It felt good and awful at the same time.
After lunch, we went on a walk with Graeme, who is crazy. We knew that we would be walking through water, and that it would possibly be higher than our waists. What we didn’t know is that the water would also contain grass blades that would destroy our legs worse than if we took knives to them. Ok, not really, but they hut a lot. Everyone was just covered in slices. After the razor blade water, we walked from 2 until 630, trekking through areas of the vley that we had never seen, and were really off the beaten path. While there, we saw many birds, lots of dung beetles, a brown water snake (yes, I saw the first snake of the trip, all hail me), and a cloud of giraffe. Who were mating. Lawl. We also saw a hamerkop nest, which are interesting because they have two parts—one for their eggs, and one for a snake. I’m not exactly sure why.
At the end of the walk, we met up with everyone who didn’t go, and did “sundowners,” which is where people gather, drink beer, and watch the sun go down. Pretty self explanatory. It was nice, but those of us who had gone on the walk just wanted to go lie down and soak our legs. We finally went back to camp, and all over could be heard the screams of people washing their sore, cut legs. After dinner, I was lucky enough to take part in a euchre game, and even more so, as we won. Then I watched some magic tricks performed by Evan G, and then we watched V for Vendetta. I am going to sleep either SO well or SO poorly tonight. Words of the day: Eggs = Madanza, Good food = Shakooja Sakacha (ch = glottal)

2/2/2010

Today was a massive day. It started with a little bit of classroom work, then we went into the reserve to catch insects and to talk about the biodiversity of the area. As it turns out, the most diverse group of animals in any area is always the insects. For every one large animal, there are at least 1000 insects. We used nets and sheets and ran around the park like maniacs for a half hour, grabbing every insect we could find. After we had collected for a while, we identified the insects up to their order. For those not in the know, the scientific naming of animals goes from domain to kingdom to phylum to class to order to family to genus to species. We are Homo sapiens, which is our genus and species names. After identifying the insects (not bugs, bugs is a much more specific term), we took samples from a new area of the reserve, and repeated the process. On the way, our teacher decided to be a rough rider and drove the bucky super fast through a bunch of puddles. It would have been really fun and awesome if in the process, Kevin hadn’t hit his head on the roof of the bucky, causing his head to split open and bleed profusely. He got stitches. We all laughed.
After we got back, we had a bit of a break before lunch. Then we spent the entire afternoon working on our first assignment—an assessment of the sustainable harvesting rate of rhinos in the Hluhluwe Umfolozi reserve. My homework is awesome. We worked on developing a way to assess the growth rate of these rhino populations, and then to see how many rhinos can be safely harvested before the population has the possibility of going extinct. So, for all of you students who are turning in math assignments and writing boring papers, neener neener neener. It was hard, but Hannah and I mastered it. Plus, it didn’t hurt that when things got rough, Laurence cheered us up with “sweeties,” or south african candy 
That night, we had our first party, and it was a shit show. I won’t go into details, save to say that I was happy that I was not really drinking, as there were way too many people to take care of as it was. Lots of beer pong, lots of lady gaga, and lots of fun. Words of the day: Me=Mina, food = Shakooja

2/1/2010

Ran again this morning. Almost died. Fun. We had a lecture packed day today, and really didn’t have any field work at all. In the morning, it was a conservation lecture, and the first time we heard from Melissa. Then we had a short lecture from Laurence about savanna ecology, and what to look for in terms of differences. The rest of our time in the classroom was devoted to learning tricks and tips on excel. The beginning was silly, as I know a lot of short cuts already, but the end was very helpful in terms of biostatistics. The weather, however, was NOT conducive to being outside, as it was ungodly hot. Even the south Africans thought it was hot, and Laurence offered to postpone our lecture to a cooler part of the day. We declined, being the hearty people that we are, and then finished the class in agony.
After class, we were hanging out, when we realized everyone was going to go swimming. I rushed to put on my swimsuit, and jumped in the bucky. We went back to the same bird hide and just mucked about in the overflow from the river. An epic mud fight broke out, as can be proven by a shot to the face and one in the ear that I received. Tonight, we elected our student committee, and showered all the mud off. Word of the day (and yesterday): Day = Seeku, Night = Vuseeku.

1/31/2010

This morning was not easy. There was a 5:30 bird drive, and I decided to go on that. We saw a wildebeest on our way out, as well as many beautiful birds. Upon coming back, we had breakfast and a 5-minute lecture before going out into the field to create hypotheses for fake experiments. While out in the field, we saw orb web spiders, kite spiders, massive termite hills and the bone of some animal yet to be determined. After we came back from the field, we presented our hypotheses, as well as a proposition for an experiment that will never be run. We then had two more short lectures, as well as a long break after lunch. Around 530, Hannah and I decided to go for a walk through the park, meeting up with Kevin on the way. We walked almost all the way to the bird hide we had been going to for the past 3 days, seeing along the way: a water buck, a steenbok, a lilac-breasted roller, and a scorpion, as well as a beautiful sunset. That night, we heard the story of how Alan, our ecology lecturer, came to be in south Africa from Zimbabwe. It was a very interesting story, and it really told me a lot about the conflict there that I had never thought about.

1/30/2010

This morning started my run cycle. I am trying to do a run as often as I can, every day if I can get up the motivation. It was brutal. After, we had a guest lecturer, who happened to be Laurence’s dad. We talked a lot about science and what it meant to us, as well as the scientific method. After, we went into the field to take observations on the area. It’s been getting hotter and hotter, as it is summer here, and there is a lot of humidity. Coming back, we reported on what we observed, and listened to what others had seen. That night, a bird hide drive was organized, but I had seen the hide yesterday, and decided to take a personal day. I played some guitar with Derek, who is very very good. Then I reorganized my suitcase, and went to dinner. Word of the day: Hello = Avooshayn

1/29/2010

Today started out with breakfast at 8, followed by a lecture at 9. Well, not so much a lecture as an introduction to what we would be doing for the next few months. Yes, months. It’s starting to hit me as well. I have 5 lecturers and 3 TA’s. I haven’t met two of the lecturers, which means that out of the 6 I do know, 4 are south African, and the other two are American, and just happen to be girls. There’s Laurence, who is the program director; Alan, who is a field biologist and entomologist, teaching our ecology class (and also isn’t truly south African, as he is from Zimbabwe); Melissa, who teaches our conservation course and is from new jersey; Jenneca, who went on this trip a few years back, and is very interested in primates; Graeme, who has spent his whole life in the savanna and never wears shoes; and Dax, who is a herpetologist and also went on this program a few years back.
This afternoon we went on our first game drive/bird hide. A game drive is when you jump in the back of a pickup, or “bucky” as the south Africans call it. We then drive around the park, looking for birds and big game. A bird hide is a little hut in the wild where you can go look for rare (or common) birds. We spent a few hours out driving around, stopping whenever we saw something cool. Since it’s the rainy season here, there are tons of puddles everywhere, and the river by the reserve is flooded. So far I have seen giraffe, zebra, roan, duiker, and ostrich, as well as numerous birds. After the drive, we came back for dinner. I have decided that I want to learn a new word or phrase every day in Shangaan (our cooks speak it, and are very friendly), and I started today. Today my word was Thank you, which is N’kome.