Hello from Costa Rica! This was my first week at the field station in Costa Rica and it was a very eventful one.
Day 1: I left Oklahoma at 6:00 am on Sunday morning (and may have almost missed my flight) and arrived in San Jose late Sunday afternoon. After a long wait in the customs line, I picked up my rental car and checked into a hotel. On Monday morning, I woke up and headed out on my five and a half hour drive to the Las Cruces Biological Station in southern Costa Rica.
Day 2: On the first day, I was guided by another team member on the project, to the first two sites I would be conducting my field work at, and met some of the farm owners and my field assistant. I was shown some cool local plants, and saw some leaf cutter ants in action! Later that day I relaxed and got acquainted with the field station and prepped for my field work the next day.
Day 3: Eager to get started, I headed out with the team to one of the field sites, about an hour away from the station. Samuel, my field assistant, and I set up the first two plots (out of 20) at this site, before heavy rains started and we had to leave. As we set up, we discovered a small river that ran directly through where I would need to set up my plots (which has been problematic with the atypical rain patterns in Costa Rica this week). The rain came down so fast our field truck almost got stuck in the mud! But we made it out fine and headed back to the station early.
Day 4: Samuel and I returned to the site once again, but only made it halfway through setting up the plots before we got rained out again! The rain caused the river at this site to flood, so we have to leave early as to not get stuck. But on the bright side, I saw a tarantula crossing the road and followed some cows part way down the street, two things I never thought I would say. I learned about some of the local agriculture from Samuel and I am excited to learn more throughout my time here!
Day 5: We finally finished setting up our first site! The weather was on our side and we were even able to set up a few plots at another site.
Day 6: I made some friends at the field station and we visited Ceibo, which is an extremely tall tree in Sabalito, and spent some time downtown trying out local fruits (I bought a mango the size of my head) and desserts.
Day 7: Myself and Teresa, an intern at Las Cruces, were able to finish setting up the second site and spend some time chatting about her project at the station. Tonight, I will be heading out with some friends for dinner! San Vito, the town next to us, is famous for its Italian cuisine (the town was actually founded by a group of Italians after World War 2).
All in all, Costa Rica has been a beautiful and crazy adventure so far and I am excited for the rest of my time here! This week I plan to finish setting up my other two sites, work on identifying some of the seedlings I am working with, and learn more about the amazing things Costa Rica has to offer! In the meantime, enjoy some of my favorite pictures from the week:
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Gina Errico 
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