Worm dropped me off this morning, and saying my byes, it became real. I'm off on my own. It's a good feeling, rather exhilarating because it's my first ever solo trip. The airbus that took me from Charlotte to San Juan was half full so I got to stretch out & check out the aerial views arriving on the island from a window seat. It was beautiful, blue green waters, bays that from above seemed small, all outlined in bright sandy beaches. My flight was late but I followed my directions, waited for my ride.
While waiting, I met a student, Peter, from Asheville who was heading to a remote island (can't remember the name..) to do GIS/mapping work for the summer. Initially startled by his approach, I realized that we were both two kids, who looked lost, out of place, and ready for a day in the jungle. There must have been something obvious about my get up and demeanor that said to him, "yeah, we're kind of in the same boat here". That was short lived, he went to get lunch and then Alonso (the program director) arrived.
He took me to the University of Puerto Rico and dropped me off with one of the mentors, Keysa. Keysa is a sweet girl. She took me to her apartment where we talked a little bit about many different topics; REU life, academia, Puerto Rican & US culture. We were awaiting the arrival of another student. We picked up the last student, Emily, from the airport and headed to the grocery store for some snacks for the next day. The highlight of the day was just after that, Keysa took Emily and I to the el verde BBQ where we had a delicious dinner at this local dive. It was dark and had been raining off and on when we arrived. The el verde BBQ sits at the base of the mountain that is home to the field station. We walked up to the counter, which was covered but outdoors, there was music blaring and women dancing. She ordered us all a whole chicken to split, it was great. The cashier/butcher/bartender/chef took a machete and a pair of tongs and with a few heavy blows to the whole chicken on a cutting board, chopped it up into a few finger friendly pieces. Her machete was intimidating, I mean- a bread knife would have sufficed. So there was the crispy, greasy skinned and delicious chicken plus 3 side dishes I am not familiar with. One was yucca, and it was sort of like the consistency of dense mashed potatoes. The next was some sort of a ball, made from fried chopped plantains, onions, spices and pork fat. The third was a sort of sweet potato only, it was yellow, not orange and less stringy than a classic sweet potato. This was my favorite side dish. Sides were served with a great garlic oil for added flavor. We walked around the back to a little patio with stone tables and chairs. It began to pour the rain. It was dark by this time and we began up the mountain..
A twenty minute drive and we were finally at the field station at 9 pm! The forest looked so different but it was dark and stormy out. I found my bunk (bottom bunk, woo!) and got situated. I'm writing this from my phone, without service and will post it tomorrow. Today is Monday the 3rd. I am fixing to go to bed, lights are out and doors are open (screens in tact). It's hot and humid and the rain has been pouring off and on every twenty minutes or so. I hear lots of insects, frogs, crickets and other unidentified creatures. I've always enjoyed the sounds of nature, so getting used to this will be no problem. Night, B
 |
| My desk this morning in front of our kitchen. |
 |
| Kaci, this one is for you :) |
No comments:
Post a Comment