February Extravaganza

Hello everyone-

Sorry I haven't written for a while, but I have been busy with that thing that I came down here for...what was it again? Ah yes, my PhD research. But I'll try to summarize the highlights of February in one hodge podge post.

Soccer/Futbol

I joined a womens soccer team in Bagaces. For those of you that have played with me before on intramural teams at UC Davis you will recall that I am very bad at soccer. Luckily, on this team, no one is very good so I don't stand out too much. The team was just formed this month as a way for all of us to improve our soccer skills. It is half gringa and half tica so it is a good mix. We meet every Tuesday night at the local indoor gymnasium which we rent for 2 hours. I'm sure you're thinking "Wait, Whitney is in the field hiking up and down cliffs for 12+ hours and then she comes home and plays soccer for 2 hours? What, is she insane?" And the answer to that is "yes". Actually, it has been a great mental and physical break for me. It is good to get out of the house, meet some new people, and get a real cardio workout. And who knows...I might even try to break into the men's basketball team in Bagaces!

Experiment Fiascos

For the most part, my experiments have been going well. But there have been some problems. For example, during one experiment my focal juvenile had alarmed at my boa model (along with several other individuals) and then an old male, Pablo, arrived. He walked right up to the model, stared at it, and then pulled its tail! This caused one of the old females in the group, Ripley, to run toward him and the model alarming furiously. Obviously, Pablo was not afraid of my model. I'm not sure if he thought it was just a dead snake or not a snake at all, but his lack of fear and show of bravado was amazing.

During a recent experiment, I had my snake model set up and covered as usual while waiting for my focal individual to approach. One juvenile saw my cover and started to snake alarm. Now keep in mind that none of the actual snake model was showing. This means that the juvenile had somehow learned to associate my cover with the snake model itself. Which meant that I had to change the cover so that the juvenile wouldn't be primed to alarm at the model before it was even seen. Ah the joys of field work!

On the other hand, some of the monkeys have been extremely convinced by and excited about my snake models. Two days ago, my focal infant was alarming at a model when the alpha male appeared and began to alarm intensely at the model. This caused the infant to vocally and open mouth (teeth showing) threaten the model while looking constantly between the male and the model. Later the male left the area of the model only to return with another infant on his back at which point he began to alarm and threaten the snake model once again. This might indicate that the male is "teaching" the infant how to alarm at a dangerous predator. Very cool!

Valentine's Day

The night before my day off just happened to fall on Valentine's Day this year. We went to the local "dance club" which is basically a covered dance floor and bar surrounded by lots of open ground with plastic tables and chairs. For V Day they had decked out the place with red and white balloons and decorations stating "Te amo". It felt just like a high school dance. They had a live band which was nice for a change and lots of families were there instead of the usual young crowd. It was an interesting experience :)

Fiesta!

In Bagaces, there are usually several fiestas a year. This month there was a fiesta to celebrate some saint that noone really knew much about, but we were all excited to have something happening in town. Most fiestas in Bagaces involve a bull ring, dancing, and drinking. This time, instead of using the normal bull ring on one side of town, they had created a makeshift wooden one on the other side of town. Upon entering the area of the fiesta, you could see 1) a small bar, 2) a small place serving food, 3) a bouncy castle, 4) a closed dancing area, 4) a mechanical bull, and 5) the bull ring. Bull riding in Bagaces is not exactly what you would imagine from watching rodeos in the U.S. or bullfights in Spain. Basically, a bunch of drunk men mill around in the bull ring waiting for the bull and rider to appear. Then the gate opens and the rider comes out on the bull which bucks a few times trying to throw the rider off. At which point the drunk men run around and try to entice the bull to chase them so them can run away from it and then jump up on the side wall of the bull ring at the last minute to avoid being trampled or gored. Although I did see one guy get trampled slightly when I was in Costa Rica a long time ago, the bulls I saw this month were muy tranquilo and had no interest in bucking off their rider or chasing the drunk men around. And that's how we party in Bagaces!

And last, but not least...more photos!!!

Tropical dry rainforest

a) A boa that the monkeys found
b) Two juveniles practicing their parenting skills

a) A cool lizard

b) The forest

Elmo

The tarantula that lives in my house