Before I left I made a list of things that I wanted to see while I was in Nicaragua.\u00a0 Not unlike others traveling to the Neotropics, my list included some of the species you most often associate with a tropical rainforest; a sloth, a macaw, the poison dart frogs, and if I was lucky enough, some of the big cats.\u00a0 While I\u2019ve seen nearly everything I came here for, I\u2019m perhaps more excited with a new list that I\u2019ve been working on.<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A novel question is not determined by the resources you have in the field.\u00a0 Practically anything can be fashioned from common items.\u00a0 While I was sure that bromeliad water was going to contain some insects, I could have never imagined how many small permutations of a worm body could exist that seemed impossible to classify without needing a labs worth of equipment.\u00a0 With the opposite end of a pair of binoculars and a headlamp, however, the tiny features of the invertebrates became my own personal sci-fi horror film.<\/p>\n
2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seize the opportunity to collect data.\u00a0 Who knows when three continuous days of downpour will become your next obstacle to overcome.\u00a0 But really, tropical wet forest is an understatement.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you feel overwhelmed by complication after complication, try an objective ear.\u00a0 Several times on this trip, in the anxiety of testing something that isn\u2019t trivial, I\u2019ve wanted to quit.\u00a0 What could I possibly do in this small amount of time with the few resources that I have?\u00a0 And unsuspectingly Juan strolls by and solves my ultimate demise with a casual suggestion.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Forget the mirror.\u00a0 While I know it\u2019s trite to reject vanity, it\u2019s indescribable how nice it is to give my full attention to my project.\u00a0 For the past week and a half I haven\u2019t had a mirror, not to mention my continual state of indifferent muddiness, and it\u2019s been freeing.<\/p>\n
Surely this isn\u2019t exhaustive.\u00a0 I\u2019m still learning.\u00a0 If anything this trip has inspired me to return to the tropics.\u00a0 Without question this is what I want to commit myself to.\u00a0\u00a0 Nothing can beat the feeling of sitting in a hammock with a cold coke after a long day of data collection, feeling an inch away from knowing just one thing about a tiny worm or a brilliantly colored bee (and maybe about yourself).<\/p>\n
Until next time,<\/p>\n
JC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before I left I made a list of things that I wanted to see while I was in Nicaragua.\u00a0 Not unlike others traveling to the Neotropics, my list included some of the species you most often associate with a tropical rainforest; a sloth, a macaw, the poison dart frogs, and if I was lucky enough, … Continue reading Part Sloth, Part Self-Discovery<\/span>