Livin' On the Edge

Last night was a blast. It was exactly what I needed.

We spent most of the day out in the field: we compared two sites on opposite faces of a hill--in both pasture and forest--based on a selection of measurements, such as air temperature, soil temperature, relative humidity, light, canopy cover, etc. The points we analyzed were 50 meters apart, which seemed much further considering the incline and the thicket--which was intense. Bromeliads are not not kind. No, they are not.

We came back to the classroom and had a lesson on basic statistics while we analyzed our data. Thank god we didn't have to do another Power Point. Not that I don't love Power Points, because really I do, but the group work was getting kind of...tense. We were split into two groups of ten for our second presentations (on our leaf collection data) and there was an uncomfortable level of dissent. We didn't make it to full scale mutiny, but there was definitely some snapping. Unnecessary snapping in my opinion, but not everyone can be as laid back and wonderful as me all of the time. Uh huh.

Our "social" started at about 8:30...and I would say that we all behaved pretty socially. A samba band came in, which was awesome, and we did some dancing and some drinking. Scratch that. Some dancing, lots of drinking, some more dancing, some more drinking, then some stumbling. Lots of fun. Legal fun! So over the 21 year old drinking age in the US. Ooooover it.

I fell asleep early--and when I say fell asleep, I mean passed out. I slept really soundly and I feel great today. Can't say the same for everyone else though; I think the overall mood is headachey. (Fun fact: I've never had a hangover. KNOCK ON WOOD.)

We have the whole day today to work on our project proposals. I changed my topic (again), but I'm much happier with my new idea. I decided that I wanted to do something more unique to Brazil. Soil is fascinating (seriously), but at the end of the day, dirt is dirt. Since I'm here in such an extraordinary environment, I'd like to study something more regional--and something more alive. So here's my plan: I'm going to lay out sand traps and analyze the mammalian tracks that cross them. I plan on setting traps at two different edge systems--forest to eucalyptus edge and forest to pasture edge. I'll choose three sites at each edge and lay three traps at each site (so 18 traps total). I'll probably check them about ten times. Juliana--one of the TAs--warned me that this project will be much more work than what everyone else is doing, but it seems legitimately interesting. In all honesty, the erosion idea would have been taking the easy way out. And I might as well learn something while I'm here. Or at least see some cool animal footprints.

I won't be going into the field today because I don't have the supplies I need to build the traps, but I'm hopefully going to work out some logistics. I have to submit a 4-page proposal including my general question and five potential literature references by the end of the day. I've already come up with a catchy title though; guess what it is. (Hint: Check out the title of this blog. Duh.)

I might go to the doctor tomorrow because I have this gross irritation around my lips and I have no idea what it is. I thought it was from too much fruit, but I haven't eaten fruit for three days and little red bumps are still chilling on my face. I don't think it's fatal, but it's unsightly and really itchy. I guess it's not actually that noticeable, but I can see it, so it's highly annoying. I have a dry cough too, so I might get that checked out while I'm at the doctor's, if I decide to go. I'm basically falling apart.

It's raining and cold :( I'm not thrilled about it, but at least it makes it less depressing to be inside all day, typing on my computer. We're all watching a movie tonight; I don't know what yet, but hopefully it will be exciting. Also, I've acquired a new life goal: Learn Portuguese. Stat.