rebeccmeister | Bites, bites, and more bites...

I should apologize for not updating yesterday. Judging by the enormous quantity of comments, you have all been waiting on the edge of your seats for the next update. Well, at last, here it is. I was in a really bad mood last night and decided that it wasn't conducive to writing an amusing tropical biology tale, so you can be glad you were spared the spectacle. 'twas a result of too little sleep and a bit of poor communication.

So yesterday we wrapped up our first Faculty Field Problem, and made an incredible (detect facetiousness here) discovery. But seriously, it was a really fun and interesting time. So fun and interesting, in fact, that our group decided to remain intact to work together on our subsequent Group Project. And apparently we're either all masochists or are just really bad at this whole learning thing, because we decided it would be fun to work with the acacia ants again!

Now I should say that I've never really had chicken pox. When I was really young, I had around one pock, and I never caught it when my brother and sister came down with it. So I'll never have to go through the whole chicken pox debacle. But I think at this point I'm beginning to understand how people feel when they have chicken pox. I've got chiggers who have chiggered away my ankles and transformed them into polka-dotted landscapes. The mosquitoes are as thick as, well, a thick stand of mosquitoes. And after today's research, I feel as though the acacia ants have pumped in as much venom as the mosquitoes have pumped out blood, and neither insect does so in a painless, friendly manner. It should suffice to say that the insects are enough to drive a sane person crazy. As for an insane person, well, that particular experiment is still ongoing.

But at least I'm in good company, as at least three other crazy, crazy biologists were out among the acacia trees with me! And I imagine that all future pain and suffering in the name of research will pale in the face of working with acacia ants. It's no wonder that so little is known about them!

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we'll finish up our group project and will then be almost ready to head on to our next site. It's hard to believe that I've been in Costa Rica for a week, as it feels simultaneously like it has been forever and yet time has flown by at a furious rate. That is, of course, always a good sign of time well spent.

Okay, until next time...