Thursday was my first day flying solo. It was actually kind of exciting. I’m not sure it should have been, since it wasn’t very different from any other day on the island. Nevertheless, I was kind of into the idea of “flying solo” and what not, so I took to calling myself “Maverick” for the day. (Julia: I’m a maverick! *pew pew pew*) It was pretty uneventful, though, so I’m not sure I warranted the title. Sigh… I did find that I am actually more productive on my own than with a group, when it comes to IDing the monkeys. I think it has something to do with the fact that one person can more easily creep around a monkey than many. On the other hand, the extra hands are seriously helpful for manning the video camera.
Although I was flying solo, Brian shadowed me all morning as a sort of evaluation. He didn’t help or advise in any way. He just followed and noted. Then he gave me advice on baiting technique, tips for protecting the camera, and choosing subjects. By the lunch boat, however, he felt comfortable leaving me to the monkeys by myself and took off. It was his last Cayo visit for this trip. He leaves tomorrow evening from San Juan, and then I am really on my own.
In order to bid Brian farewell, the researchers all went to Jaws restaurant for dinner. Jaws is an interesting establishment. From the outside it looks like a cross between a surf shop and an eatery, a tiki hut and a log cabin. Inside it looks like a run down dance hall with random, drugstore decorations hanging from the ceiling and out of place, chicken-themed needlepoint table runners on the generic, round white plastic tables. In the middle of the restaurant stands an old school juke-box filled entirely with Spanish music and an little known American 70s and 80s tunes. (When we arrived and were the only patrons in the place, they noticeably changed the music to anything with English lyrics = The Beegees.)
The restaurant owner is also an interesting character. He looks like he should have been running a “pasta and other” joint in Hoboken, not a burger and burrito joint in Punta. He is short, potbellied, wears a striped, faded v-neck polo showing off some chest hair and a thick gold chain around his neck and a gold Rolex knock-off. Slacks. Slicked, combed hair. A round scar in the middle of his forehead. Spoke perfect, almost Italian-accented English. I don’t know, I just kept looking at him as he graciously circled the table taking our orders and substitutions, wondering whether he’d known about casting calls for the Sopranos.
Anyway, the company was lively, and good conversations were had by all, I believe. It is interesting how work follows people everywhere, though. I was sitting in the middle of the long rectangular table we’d pieced together, and I kept my ear in all the discussions. I was surprised at how often the island comes up in conversation, how often the monkeys are discussed specifically by ID, and how often life trajectories and futures are pored over. It is understandable, I suppose. We all have this place in common. We spend the bulk of our time on the island with the monkeys. We have this shared ground (literally) and understanding and experience, so it doesn’t shock me so much that we all talk about it with one another. Similarly, when you spend so much time with one group of monkeys or doing focal studies of a handful of individuals all the time, you get to know the different personalities of the monkeys very well.
Then again, I guess I thought that once people got off the island they’d want to leave the island and the work behind them. I think I am forgetting that for many of these people, the island and this work is their life. I am not there yet, and I don’t see myself getting there anytime soon. After all, most people here are looking to be academics. I am not. (This is a commonality that contributes to their discussions of futures and career trajectories. )I’m not the only one, though. Nevertheless, I was able to contribute to the conversations, since we have our own set of experiment regulars to remark on. (Next post, maybe I’ll give you all some monkey personality profiles?)
Anyway, it was enjoyable, despite the fact that it took FOREVER to get our food and the orders weren’t properly executed. Then again, I paid less than $6 for my entire meal, so I think I can handle it.
Ok, I’m going to break this post up a little, since I haven’t posted in a few days and I now have lots to tell and way more to come this weekend and next (FESTIVAL IN PUNTA!).
Much love, and I’ll write another post later today.
B
I have never done so much leisure reading in my life. This is by no means a bad thing, but I have been reading constantly to pass the time here, since it is too hot to really do anything else and since we do not have Internet in the flat. So far I have read:
This is in two weeks time. That is insane. I kind of like it, though. I have become a mini book lender in the research community, and I really enjoy the fact that I now have a running list of books to order on Amazon. Next order will probably be in a few weeks, tops.
I am currently reading a book called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It sounds trite, I know, but in fact, it is turning out to be a nice little story and very engaging. Not terribly difficult, but interesting. It is told through a series of letters between the main characters and is about an authoress in 1946, post-WWII London, who is looking for a new story to start her post-war career. She stumbles upon it, when she receives a letter from a man on the island of Guernsey in the Channel. From there unravels the story of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which came into being as a cover for an illicit roast pig dinner during Guernsey’s occupation by Nazi forces but evolved into both a protective and literary community. So far, so good. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Today was Katie’s last day on the island. L She came out in the morning for photos and a last walk around, but didn’t run any subjects. Luckily in the 11th hour subjects started responding to her methods properly, and I believe she took off with a suitable number of successful trials for her pilot. Unfortunately, when we attempted to go back to the mainland with her to see her off, the demand for seats on the lunch boat was so great that only those who had previously arranged for a seat could go. As a result, Brian and I had to give her brief hugs on the boat, disembark, and hunker down for another three hours in the lunch cage before we could head back. (This is standard, by the way. Technically, the lunch boat at 11:30 is only for CPRC staff. We, the researchers, can only get a seat if there is room. We are supposed to plan accordingly.) This was very upsetting, since our video camera battery had died, so we could no longer run trials.To kill time, I decided to take a long walk by myself around the shore of the islands. We spend so much time on the inland, since we go where the monkeys go, and I am always tempted by the clear water and pebbly intertidal. So around 12:30, I trudged off with my camera and began to trek around the pathless areas of the island. I found some pretty cool stuff: jagged volcanic rock, black and raspberry red sea urchins, baby iguanas, rock slides, and even an eel. It was very relaxing and fun to explore on my own. (It also helped that I learned how to use the macro function on my camera.)
When I finally got back, I had to rush through my usual routine of shower, lunch, data analysis, etc. I accidentally left my phone in Brian’s rental car yesterday, when he was nice enough to drive me to the supermarket so I could get some real produce. He figured he was leaving on Friday, and that it would be nice to throw the undergrad a bone or carrot, as the case may be. And, I gotta tell ya, I had never been more excited to see a cucumber or a bag of baby carrots in my life. I must have looked deranged, since I was practically yipping and jumping for joy at the sight of the vegetables and fruits at Ralph’s Supermercado in Humacao. Consequently, I am claiming temporary insanity due to vegetable overload as the reason for my leaving the cell phone in the car. Alert the media.
Anyway, point is that Kelly, the grad student on the Yale team, has a rental car for her time down here, so she was nice enough to drive me back to the rental car place to pick up my phone. We nearly got lost on the way back and, thus, were compelled to explore a little of the southern side of Humacao and Palma del Mar, but all in all, pretty uneventful. When I got back, though, I was ushered into the Yale abode and got to hang out there for quite a while chatting about school and boyfriends and later old high school drama (with Adrienne, of course). Very relaxing and a ton of fun. Their house is so much comfier and decorated than ours!!! Not fair. (I will admit, I had a momentary lapse during which I may or may not have blurted out that the house was nice enough to make me want to go to Yale… I take it back, though. Don’t hurt me….)
Now that I’ve gotten to know the different people down here, many more things appear to be happening. Tara, Allison, and Sasha are renting a car this coming weekend and are planning to do some sightseeing, including going into Old San Juan, visiting the rainforest, going kayaking on a nearby bioluminescent bay, doing some hiking up to the fresh water swimming holes, and visiting some white sand beaches down the coast. The Yale group also invited me along to into San Juan on Saturday evening for dinner, etc. There are also little get-togethers and movie excursions into Humacao popping up all over the place. I think this may have to do with the fact that more people make bigger excursions seem more worthwhile or worth the expense. Either way, I’m excited to get out and do things outside of Punta, and everyone is being extremely generous by inviting me to join in or tag along. Hooray for altruism!
Anyway, with luck by the next post, I’ll have more to share that is of interest both about the monkeys and me. As for now, though, I’m going to make myself a dinner with real vegetables and chicken and do some more reading. Remember let me know if you have questions. Also – recommendations for places and things to visit here in PR are most welcome.
Much love,
B
