The Field

From my sister:

So I've had two days in the field!!!

The monkeys are awesome!!! They're really cute, really funny, and they're really interesting to watch. It does make for a very long, challenging day though. I'm dripping sweat the whole time and we are crashing through spiky plants and following monkeys up rocky hills and cliffs for 13 HOURS!!!!!!!!! I'm covered in mosquito bites. And I was actually attacked my Acacia ants today. You've probably read about them in a biology class; they are always used as examples of symbiosis. They live on this tree, called an acacia, that is EVERYWHERE here. As soon as anything touches any part of the tree, the ants swarm it and bite. So naturally, today, I had just climbed up this rocky cliff while doing a "monkey follow", and I'm all relieved I made it up alive. So I'm standing there catching my breath. After a few minutes, I notice my head itches, so I swat a branch away. It's an acacia. Acacia ants all in my hair! Bites all over my head and hands. I'm actually sorta glad it happened though, because I was really scared of those things, but now I know what to expect. It could have been/could be worse. There are plenty of other insects with worse stings and bites all over the place here.

Also, at another point today, I was standing atop a cliff watching the monkeys, and suddenly they all started FREAKING out, bouncing and shaking branches and screaming. Predator warning calls. It's so cool to watch; it's super intense. But then I got instantly fearful because we couldn't see what had prompted this behavior from our spot on the cliff... and one of my peers says, "Oh, maybe its the jaguar." So I'm thinking, "Oh great. The jaguar that killed the previous alpha male last week is now lurking and I'm going to die on my second day." Never did see what it was though, thankfully. The howler monkeys nearby were freaking out too so it must have been something fairly dangerous.

Regardless, or perhaps partly because of instances like this, our days are really awesome and I'm extremely happy I'm here. The forest is beautiful, even though it is difficult to navigate through during this time of year. The monkeys are fascinating. I've learned a few of them now, and can do "follows" on them to collect data. One of them has a tiny little baby named Pixie. We think we may have seen a penis on Pixie today actually. It is difficult to distinguish gender when they are so young. Sucks if it's a male, because he's stuck with the name "Pixie".

You had asked what software we use. Odd line of questioning. I don't know what programs are used yet. I learn tomorrow. We collect it all on handheld computers called PSIONs. The data is later dumped into the computer and copied to an external hard drive we call "The Brain".

Ok, I'm going to bed... Exhausted. Such an amazing, but long, last 2 days. My feet and shoulders are killing me. Hopefully my next day out I'll be better adjusted to it all.