This was our third full day in a row in the jungle. I have found that my "assistants" either love or hate what I do. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with me, instead, the thick jungle, 1KM hike one way carrying all you need for the day there and back, painstaking care to plants and mapping them, and mosquito hoards tend to discourage newcomers.
Today, we went in to 1 KM and started mapping plants in a 20 km circle. We had a minor mishap with a map and then we were back on track again. Tara called me a saint for putting up with the set-back so well, and then she went on to say that, with all the work I do, she is not wanting to do a dissertation. When I informed her this was just the pilot study for my thesis, and the dissertation work will come later, she freaked out even more. We found more new plants, bringing the grand total to 171. The mosquitoes were swarming today and, everywhere we moved, we had a pack following us. Cleofo was the worst because he doesn't use deet- because it hurts his skin. So, his white shirt highlighted his personal crew of mosquitoes.
We now have a half-an-hour hike in and back and Dr. L informs me that the car stops at Yalbac- meaning that the farther I travel inland, the farther I have to walk. Hopefully, I won't make it all the way to 11KM, because that is one epic hike!
We didn't collect many specimen, so, my pressing job was light tonight, which was a relief after the almost 2 hours daily I have spent pressing for the past couple of days. I relaxed today and cut up one of the two mangoes that I bought in the market yesterday and shared it, while slicing off random pieces. It was very good. We have a lab day tomorrow, so, I can work on my stuff some tomorrow instead of trying to do EVERYTHING tonight!
I think I said that I bought all my press stuff yesterday, so, I am officially a plant press NERD- according to Dr. L. I found stuff to make due, and it was awesome. I missed Wal-Mart's have everything you could possibly need or want, but, I found other alternatives that I am now enthused about.
We have had two catastrophes on this trip so far: Tara fell and hurt her ankle badly (it was still bothering her to work with me today and especially that hike), and then today we found out that Chris has pink eye. I knew that his eye was doing poorly yesterday when he was working with me and his eye was pink and puffy and he kept rubbing it with a wet handkerchief. He had to take a day off today.
Today, we were joined by one of the women who originally mapped the site (Jane) and her dad who also worked on Yalbac (James). They are from Texas and Jane used her archaeology degree very well- to open a relaxing resort where she is a professional Yoga instructor.
All in all, it has been a very good day, minus the mosquito attacks!
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