“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana” - Groucho Marx

Hola all!

So before I digress into the minutiae of my everyday life here, I would like to tell you all about a wonderful moment I had today. As we were cruising back across the ocean to the mainland this afternoon, William, the captain, slowed down the boat to a stop and pointed at something off the port side of the boat. About 10 feet away from us, cruising slowly just under the surface of the waves, I glimpsed a giant yellowy green shell. That’s right, folks, a sea turtle! Everyone excitedly peered overboard at the gentle giant and craned their necks for a better look, but soon after we stopped, the turtle dove down and vanished beneath the choppy waves.  I realize this doesn’t sound hugely exciting, but it really is. Sea turtles are endangered, and their habitats and breeding grounds are being degraded at an alarming rate. I, therefore, consider it an immense privilege to have seen one in its natural habitat and healthy. Ah, it’s the little things.

Anyway, life here has been nothing more or less than ordinary, but I find that I have been doing more with “ordinary” than usual. What does this mean? Well, I guess I just find that now people have begun leaving and setting departure dates and now I realize I will only be here for a few more weeks, I have been trying to accomplish things on my mental list of “experiences to have while in Punta.”

So far this has only manifested itself in small ways. For example, two days ago, Monica came by my flat and asked me to walk to La Fav with her. Unlike past trips, however, this time we stopped at the street fruit vendors, which I have been wanting to do since I got here. (Lack of Spanish was my obstacle in the past…) And it was well worth it. Monica bought a fruit I’d never seen before called quenapa. (Click link for picture.) Quenapa look at first glance like little leathery green bouncy balls and are sold still attached to the branch in bunches in little paper bags.

When Monica handed one to me, I had no idea what to do with it. I quite nearly just popped the whole thing in my mouth. Luckily for me, Monica showed me how to eat them by tearing a hole in the skin and popping out the peach colored fruit, which actually looks like a fluffier and gooier lychee. In actuality, it tastes nothing like a lychee. It tastes kind of like a very sour peach. You have to suck on the fruit until the juice is gone and then spit it out because the flesh is attached quite securely to a very hard, round seed. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but it was so interesting that I was delighted. Plus, a big bag of them was only $1.

We then walked down to the other fruit stand, where an old man is eternally chopping open fresh coconuts from an ice filled cooler with a machete. He is quite the expert, and for $1.25, he will chop the top off of a chilled coconut and give you a straw to drink your coco frio, and, when you finish, he will cut it all the way open and carve out the fruit for you. I’m not a fan of coconut as a general rule, but this was delicious, and the coconut milk was ridiculously refreshing. So Monica and I stood on the side of the road with the machete man, by the fruit stand with the thatched palm roof and the assortment of plantains, mangoes, and watermelon, and shared a coconut. I have never felt more Caribbean than in that moment.

Since I’ve been back, work has been pretty fine. No horrible monkey encounters. No new vendettas. I am now down to two conditions, and although they are the two most painful ones to conduct, the end is in sight. I say they are painful because they involve ropes, which are short enough for the monkey to steal without my being able to yank them away. This leads to wild goose (read: monkey) chases into the woods and a very unhappy experimenter (read: moi). Nevertheless, I was able to get some of the photos I’ve been trying to get for you guys. I hope you enjoy them. J

(Above) A pair in consort. The male will sit with, groom, and mate with the female throughout her period of estrus.

(Above) One of the ugliest monkeys on the island, Katie and Brian and I dubbed her Skeletor. She is just so fat and noseless. It's great! 

(Below) The foot of good 'ol X58, Mr. 9-toes. He can use some of the toes on the foot and walks a little funny but is not significantly impaired by it. In fact, he is pretty mid-to-high ranking in his group, F, which is one the largest on the island. There is another picture of him above with his face to the the cage, hoping for a piece of apple. 

OK, I will write more tomorrow. I got some photos of 51A, who is the Alpha male of group V, and an interesting Alpha at that.  I want to use it to explain a little more about the nature of dominance, female coalitions, and alpha-beta male relations in Rhesus macaques. (In anecdotes, of course, to prevent this from becoming too dry.) Hint: it’s not all about being tough.

Hope all is well back stateside!

Much love,

B