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The two most exciting things that I did this week were (1) spent 48 straight hours sorting through a list of 7,500 sanitation systems to delete the duplicates, and (2) started some interviews for my research. I’m piloting my data collection methods in a community that is a resettlement from a slum. The community is … Continue reading Naan-Fiction from India

Apparently it becomes a lot harder to write a blog as your research life gets busier. It took me much longer to write this one because the frustrations of developing world research increased and my motivation to spend my free time back on the computer typing decreased. To some extent, this is just a medley … Continue reading So Sari, here’s the long-awaited India Update.

Hi friends, family, and unknown followers. This week saw a little more action than last week. My fan fell from its shelf, crashed to the floor, and shattered into a million pieces. Thankfully, I made friends at the electronics shop and they replaced the blade for me and I fixed the rest myself. My friends … Continue reading Holy Cow, India is Hot.

When I decided to resurrect this blog from last summer, the first thing Google asked me was “Why not blog in Hindi?” I could probably think of many reasons ‘why not’, the first being I don’t know Hindi, but thanks Google maybe later. I also am going to preface this by saying, I promise I’ll … Continue reading When you see a cow in the street, keep calm and curry on.

After the spider monkey, there was a slight “lull” in the action of darting for Grace and me. We were still sent out each morning earlier than the rest of the group and came back often later in the evening. We were still “asked” to go searching for the capuchin groups, but we were usually … Continue reading The End of PanamaCanallie and Grace.

Prefacing this post with this: no animals were harmed in any way in the making of this post. I was actually extremely impressed with the professionalism, respect, and humane treatment of the monkeys for the entirety of this experience. All darted individuals were very healthy upon inspection and successfully and safely returned to their groups. Many … Continue reading I spider Capuchinabag.

Tuesday of this week was our most unsuccessful day yet. Characteristic of all Tuesdays thus far, it took hours to find the monkeys. We hiked twelve miles before getting a faint signal far down the peninsula. We did get to see BCI’s other toucan species, and since no monkeys meant only trail hiking, the spiders … Continue reading Cul8rallieg8r and the Panama Canallie

On Thursday, Grace took an “office day,” which means no marching in the jungle, and no organized activities planned for me. So I decided to try my hand with the island’s one kayak. I spied the kayak under one of the docks, and spent ten or so minutes trying to figure out how to get … Continue reading If I can, Toucan.

Our weekend adventure began bright and early with a 6:30 am boat to Gamboa. Grace had only communicated with the dive company via Whatsapp, so as the hours ticked by, we got progressively more worried that they weren’t coming and our dreams would be crushed. Just as I had given up all hope, Tonia pulled … Continue reading PortoBELLO

We wake up every morning to the Indiana Jones Theme Song. Sometimes it’s the only way you’ll get out of bed at 7 am for another day in the jungle. My second method of waking myself up is to inhale half a canister of Deet, as I spray my entire body before putting on clothes. … Continue reading Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? IndiAllie and the Last Crusade.