Salida

August 3, 2010 Departure Gate 13

Security was oddly thorough with me. As I went through the first checkpoint, the security officer decided that I would be the lucky winner of extra screening and looked inside my backpack throughly. My pencil case, too! Heather and I were the only two passing at that time. I guess someone has to win the lottery. Also, we left to meet our airplane outside. We took this little shuttle from the building where everyone was checked again to the airplane which we boarded from the front. Today was a crazy day for flying for both Heather and me. We both missed one flight at some point...

Streets

August 2, 2010 The streets of San Jose

This isn't a typical street. Actually, the streets are pretty decrepit. I walked across San Jose, going from the 'National Park' to the downtown shopping area. I imagined skyscrapers and retail shops. The buildings did not tower high though, where I went. And the retail shops were like those in the fashion district of LA or in the streets of Taiwan: stores and stores of cheaper clothing and shoes. I saw a really nice backpack for about $10, but I didn't trust the material, so I didn't buy it. I liked it though, red and black, and I need a new backpack as well.

Coffee

August 1, 2010 Don Juan Coffee

This morning, I went to the Don Juan Coffee tour, and in the afternoon, I left for San Jose. The coffee tour was pretty good, and for $20 as a student, I didn't regret it (I love coffee anyway. how could I regret it?). It wasn't very history heavy which might have been more interesting for myself, but our guide spoke English very well and the tour was very fun. Afterwards, we tried some coffee. Like yesterday, the reception was awesome because we also had rice pudding and these delicious corn tortilla things holding some tasty mashed bits of potato or something. And chocolate-covered coffee beans of which, as it turns out, I'm not huge fan. But the coffee, much like yesterday's, was good, and I only needed to add a little sugar (I usually add a million gallons of sugar and cream). My tour guide made me a tasty mocha with a pretty design on top. And the four of us - Heather, a nice Oregonian, the guide, and I - had a nice conversation about life and family. We sat on the patio overlooking vast green-ness. It was wonderful. Pura Vida!

Chiquita

July 31, 2010 Riding Chiquita

We began the day by going to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reverse. We spotted a family of coati's! But soon after, it started pouring. No monkeys. :(

When we came back into town, I went to the Orchid Garden. Besides seeing the world's smallest orchid (couldn't take a picture because the flower was so tiny and I was using my camera phone), I saw a beautiful colored bird, blue-crowned motmot.

In the afternoon, we went horseback riding. For $25, we saw the countryside. We had the most beautiful views of the surrounding areas. Chiquita was my horse. She was a little small and a bit of a free spirit. She had a tendency to wander off the path. :) I got to take quite a few pictures, and we had fresh guava along the way. Afterwards, we had lemonade with queso empanadas. Pretty good. And then, we also had sugarcane and coffee! We had a chance to see the coffee plants and banana/plaintain trees, and we were also shown other things (sugar cane plants!) growing around.

Canopy

July 30, 2010 Selvatura Park

I went zip-lining today! Followed by treetop walkway across the bridges. Zip-lining was a blast! Except I was pretty afraid after the first two lines and needed a guide to take me through the other eleven or so cables. The views were pretty amazing. I just couldn't do it by myself, because I was too afraid to go fast and I wasn't sure when I was nearly pressing down on my own wire.

The Tarzan swing was after the zip-lining. It was fun. Quick and dirty, not really dirty though - just quick. I was like :O and screamed going down because I was caught a little off guard.

We went across the bridges ('packaged deal'). Not much to comment here. The bridge gave us more time to observe the canopies and enjoy our surroundings.

Sloths

July 29, 2010 Pura Vida!

Today was ridiculous. With little forethought and preparation, we went canyoning (waterfall rappelling today). And in the evening, we went on a night walk. I'm very battered with the former. Crashed into the rocks a few times. Yikes. But it's okay because the rocks are smooth.

Although we saw a sloth on our night tour, we had a better view in the trees basically in front of the hostel. The sloth mama and the sloth baby have been there all day. We saw them this morning sleeping, and after we got off our shuttle bus following the tour, we saw other people from our hostel gathered outside watching the mama sloth move about and eat.

Autobus

July 28, 2010 This is good-bye to Puntarenas

Look at that strange bus stop! It doesn't look very official. We left the shelter of the Double Tree for Monteverde today. The bus ride was nice and cheap - 1250 colones which is about $2.50. The ride was about 3 hours long, and our hostel, Cabinas El Pueblo, was probably 2 minutes from the bus stop! Really frickin close. Heather and I are basically staying at the Santa Elena City Center. The streets are lined with tour companies and restaurants and a few shops (and a supermarket).

Swimming

July 27, 2010 Swim-up wet bar

Look at the pool! Isn't it super clear? The Double Tree has two wet bars which brings much excitement to people's hearts. I kind of feel trapped here. I know it's a resort, but things are getting old (probably because I'm not drinking) and I am very ready for my adventure which begins tomorrow! Yatta! I'll miss the bed though. Ahh, heavenly. It's like being hugged all around by a cushy person.

Oxcart

July 26, 2010 Welcome gift

I have arrived at the Double Tree, and I am officially never returning to the R/V Melville. Isn't this a cute little gift? And coffee caramels? Yuuummm...I would buy a bag of the candies, but the bag is big, and I shouldn't hook myself on something I can't have for life.

The bed is increi

ble! The sheets are so nice. I just drown in a sea of plushieness. And five pillows for me! What am I supposed to do with all of them? Loveeee. The food sucks. The fruit bar is a bit of a disappointment. And where are the mangoes??? I still have yet to get Costa Rican mangoes. Is it the wrong season? Oh well, at least I get to go to a coffee plantation soon. YAY. This trip is a dream come true. I hope it stays that way until the end.

Calle

July 26, 2010 Looking at the boat

You can see the Melville near the center of the picture which means I was not on it. Which means I was on land! (Or I guess, shuttle boat.) After our second floor bar (and some pizza), we, the majority of the science party, meandered to the restaurant across the street next door. This restaurant's name translates to "hot feet", and here, more drinks were enjoyed with loud music and some karaoke singing. There was dancing and much joy. :)

Shipping

July 24, 2010 Packing up the van

We're done! We're packed, and we're on our way back to Puntarenas! I'm really frickin excited about land. I'm a little tiny bit sad to leave the boat just because it has been my home for the past month, and I'll never do it again. I need to pack up my belongings now. The boat gets in on July 25, but we're spending the night and leaving on the 26th (for the Double Tree Resort!). I'm going to be land sick. Yay!

Styrofoam

July 23, 2010 Final deep cast crush

Today was the last 3000m deep cast. Everyone decorated lots of cups and ice cream containers, filling up two sizable mesh laundry bags with foam goodies. I wanted to miniaturize an instant noodles container. It isn't incredibly small, still 2.5 inches or so. At the suggestion of grad student Carly, I decorated a foam rack that held 15mL Eppendorf tubes (pretty frickin sweet, I'll show it to you sometime mayhaps). I'm pretty sure getting to crush sytrofoam objects made this trip. I should have made more cups.

Cast

July 22, 2010 Team Trace Metal!

These are the people I work with most closely (L to R): Heather, Jagruti, Carly, Dreux, Stephen, and Matt. This is our last trace metal cast for the cruise. The weather has been pretty nice (almost too nice), clear skies and quite hot. I have a different hat than the one I thought I would be bringing. It's super fashionable.

Bow

July 21, 2010 Picture Day

After our last weekly Wednesday fire drill, the science party gathered on the bow for a group picture. Today was a very beautiful day. I will show you the picture of us sometime if you want, but I don't have it on my own camera. So close to being done! So strange! It feels like I have been here for eternity and not at all at the same time.

Dinner

July 20, 2010 Grilled fishie

Yay! The fish from yesterday was cut up for dinner. The flesh is quite nice though I think I would have liked to have tried it raw. Hehe. I want sushi and sashimi when I get home. And bubble tea and Szechuan food and spicy eggplant and ice cream and vegetables and okonomiyaki and tofu and tomato & eggs and basil plants and fruits from Yakima Fruit Market and creme brulee etc. Fooooood.

Wahoo

July 19, 2010 Wahoo fish, Acanthocybium solandri

A fish was caught today! It is supposedly over 40lbs. You can see its gills in its mouth. O.o This picture reminds me of a crime scene. I watched the Chief Engineer- he caught the fish- filet and cut open the fish. It was pretty impressive. It's a she according to my scientist buddies; it has ovaries. Innards are so cool!

Rainbow

July 18, 2010 A rainbow past the stern

I was having my dinner outside today which was nice because I didn't miss the rainbow like I have before. Someone pointed out the rainbow, at which point I leaped out of my seat and ran to my room to get my camera. I am ridiculous. Well, I think this is the first actual rainbow I've caught, as opposed to spectra created by water fountains or light. Unfortunately, the rainbow was incomplete and did not touch on the other side to the ocean.

Lounge

July 18, 2010 The crew's lounge

This is the crew's lounge where wandering members of the science party occasionally crash to waste away time. There are hundreds of movies and TV shows on the shelves (and three copies of Twilight...). Some of us recently got hooked on True Blood (a sexy vampire show that is very, very different from Twilight). The writers are so brilliant. They write in cliffhangers, and it's so obvious that they're just trying to play their audience to make them watch the next episode. Sadly, though their tactics are obvious, I can't stop watching.

Furniture

July 17, 2010 My Room, Part 2

Here is another bit of my room. We have two chairs in our room, but only one desk. I should use the desk. It has a lamp on the inside, but I just use the desk to put random things on top. My room shakes too much for me to be comfortable if I were to use it to study or anything. My gigantic suitcase doesn't fit into my locker/closet. It is an eyesore.

Bunks

July 15, 2010 My room, Part 1

This is my bunk bed where I have nice dreams. I really like the curtains. They keep out the light. And there is a light attached to the wall above my head. Waking up in the dark isn't very fun. Well, I've gotten used to it by now. But without natural light (I have no windows, I live near the bottom of the boat), it's hard to tell that it is daytime. I guess it wouldn't matter much anyway because I have to wake up before the sunrise half of the time anyway.