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.