Learn Something New Every Day

First, I have to catch this up a bit...

On Wednesday, I played tour guide for Ben and Rodrigo out in the field as Martin and I changed the entire numbering system for our nest boxes to incorporate new boxes we will be placing next week. After checking all the nests which took forever since we didn't split up, Ben and I headed off to Santo Tome. I've taken the bus there, but instead of getting off at the terminal where we could easily catch it, we got off our collectivo much earlier. After waiting at one corner, switching to another corner (again having no clue if the bus actually travels on that street), we hailed a cab to jet us over. Then we started making some new boxes with all the wood we ordered last week.

We kicked butt! I drilled all the holes for every screw Martin set in place. The two of us also put traps on every box as well. (Ben drilled the hole for the door in the front piece of wood and cleaned up while waiting for us to finish.) We were like a well oiled machine. I was actually a little afraid that I was going to drill my fingers or Martin's at the rate we were going! By the end of the day, we started and finished 45 new boxes!!! Anyone want a bird house for Christmas? I'm an expert at making them now! hehe

We got back to the apartment at around 8pm, so instead of making dinner, we went out to celebrate. Every day when we take the taxi to our field site, we pass this Arabian restaurant. I've been eyeing it and was quite interested in trying it out. (We've probably gone out to dinner twice a week and have tried all kinds of places. Because real dinner isn't served until after 8:30pm though, most of what we've tried has been sandwiches (and burgers, lomos, etc).) Well, I ordered lamb which was served with onions on top (cebollado). Yum! It was cooked so which is a big difference between the pan fried steak Ben's been dishing up at the apartment. He ordered some kind of ground beef scoop marinaded in a lime juice or something. I liked mine way better! hehe. For desert I had oranges baked and drizzled with a sugary syrup. Mmmmm.


Okay, yesterday I worked with Rodrigo out in the field while Martin and Ben paired up. Each team was tasked with catching some birds and checking the nests on their side of the field. Our first nest to catch the female in was tipped upside-down by a cow and all the eggs were on the ground around the box, broken in half mid-incubation. It was too bad to see that there weren't going to be any chicks from that nest, but as Rodrigo said, it's less work for us. We checked all of the nests in that section (before ducking under the fence) and then processed the next female. We did all of that before the others even caught their first bird. Yes, we rock! Then we checked some more nests, measured some chicks, and tried catching a female that needed to be painted. (I've painted all of mine with a bright blue fat sharpie, but some of them either weren't painted at all, or got a speckling with a fine-point black pen. Yeah, as you might imagine, it is a little tricky to tell the males from the females as they are flying around if they are only a little bit more grey. Mine look like a whole new species!!!) We couldn't catch her again, as this was the same bird that took several days when she was incubating. Now with chicks in the nest, she has no reason to sit there forever. Oh well. We gave up and finished the rest of the nests.

By this point, Martin split up from Ben and finished checking the nests on their side. Ben was still trying to catch his bird. Rodrigo and I were walking to see if they needed any help when I froze... About three feet ahead of me lay a snake with a distinct triangular shaped head. In my book, that means bad news, so I asked Rodrigo to confirm that it was dangerous (peligroso). He replied with "do you want to take some pictures?" and "beni-noso". I'm flipping through my mental Spanish dictionary and it's not ringing any bells. So then I do the next best thing and run through possible English cognates... beni-fit, bene-volent, etc. Ummm, that doesn't make too much sense. Peligroso, si? Muy beninoso. Hmmm... still not helping, answer my question. Ohhhhhhh, light come on. So what you're saying is, this is the most venomous (actually spelled "venenoso" in Spanish) snake in all of South America. With this realization, I take a couple steps back. I think this snake doesn't need quite the intimate photo shoot Rodrigo seemed keyed up for. hehe, oh foreign languages...

We told Martin who after fixing the broken box joined me in telling the ranchers. Rodrigo left with one of them to go find it again and kill it. I am all about letting wildlife be, but these snakes can give birth to 60 live, venomous babies. Then with each bite, then inject more than double enough venom to kill a person, let alone all the cattle, horses, and little kids the ranchers have running around. Needless to say, the snake is no more. The main rancher (whose name I can't remember for the life of me) told Marin and I an interesting remedy for a snake bite. When his dogs have been bit by snakes, he injects kerosene into them. We asked all kinds of questions like how much and where to gain a better understanding. Evidently it would work for people too, but he said an alternative for treating people is to drink a mixture of milk and garlic. I don't think I want to try it just to see if it works. I'll try my luck at the hospital if I ever need to. But it is definitely neat to know that in a situation far from any medical treatment and without antivenom, you can live from such a bite. I'd love to learn all those little tricks, which makes me even more excited for Peace Corps. hehe

Today Ben and I had our day off. We split up and he paid for our accident insurance. (I am now covered with Argentina accident insurance, Cornell's International SOS health insurance, and my own travel health insurance. Overkill, doncha think?) I walked to the post office (12 blocks) and picked up the certified mail we got a notice about, which turned out to be our accident insurance papers. I also hunted down a stationary store to buy an envelope. That was another little lesson in Spanish, as I couldn't remember the word for envelope. I knew letter was "carta" and I had what I needed to send in my hand. So I told the lady I needed to send a letter, pointing to the paper I had in my hand. She then directed me to some nice, blank pieces of paper. Umm, let's try this again. I need to send this paper, and I need one of these (Pointing to the envelopes I just picked up), but smaller. Yes, success! I then went back to the post office and waited in line again. When I got to the counter, I told the lady I needed to sent "una carta certificado" or a certified letter. She just took the letter, gave me a price which was way less than I expected and slapped a stamp on it. No, I know what the word is this time, and you didn't even listen to my bad Spanish!!! :) (I didn't say that to her, but just repeated what I said the first time.) She looked annoyed, but totally understood that yes, I didn't just want to send the letter internationally, and that I pay a lot to send a little piece of paper in the mail that I had already faxed to it's destination. (That's how I see it at least.) But I'm not paying for it... if I ever get my reimbursement, that is.

Then instead of heading back to the apartment, I set out with my camera. I found llamas, picaries, flamingos, parrots, foxes, tapirs, pumas, and more!!! Yes, I took the bus up to the zoo. (I mapped out the bus system here in Santa Fe and have been exploring the city. Yes Jeff, that means that I have seem more than just Walmart. hehe Oh, speaking of which, I made peanut butter yesterday!!!! I was in a desperate search for a cheap, yet functional blender which I found at Walmart. I'm happy now. lol) At the zoo, there were no maps, no brochures, no gift shop, just animals. It was a different experience with the focus really just on seeing the animals. All the big animals were in similar enclosures which consisted of grass at varying heights and a house for the animal to get out of the sun all surrounded by a fence. The birds had perches to sit on, the monkeys had trees and swings to play on, and the nutria (think huge rat) had water to swim in. It wasn't the best zoo I've been to, but for a small city in a country with a struggling economy, it better than I expected. And for a dollar to get in, I'll have to go back to just watch the animals some more and perhaps sketch a little.

Just as I was leaving the zoo, the same Mormons were coming back down the street that passed up the street as I was going in the zoo. I had been kicking myself for not talking to them. When we passed the first time, they said "hola" and I replied with a "Hi." They each did about ten double takes as they walked further up the road. So we had a chat about where we were from and all that kind of stuff. I learned that they stay in each town for about 6 weeks and are in the country for a total of almost two years. For one of the kids, it was just his first month here while his partner was finishing up his mission. Then at the bus stop an older gentleman (who I stopped earlier looking at a map) asked me what I was doing and the like. He overheard me speaking in English and there you go. hehe. He's just traveling all around Argentina with this trip scheduled to last 5 weeks. (His Spanish is about at the level of a second week Spanish 1 student. I'm definitely more appreciative of my own ability now!) After practically a month here, I'm running into all kinds of Americans! Several stops before my apartment, another pair of Mormons boarded the bus. I would have talked to them too, but I needed to get off too soon. Crazy though.

Tonight I made the best dinner ever. I still have no clue how to control the heat in the oven. It is gas powered and there aren't any labels on the knob to tell you how hot the oven is going to be. We need to get a thermometer before I try baking cake or something. Anyhow, I put some foil down on a pan, drizzled it with oil, and sprinkled some salt, pepper, and seasonings. Then I plopped down some chicken breasts and repeated the same base layer on top with the addition of some chopped onions and tomatoes. (I realized too later that we were out of peppers.) I folded down the foil into a little packet and popped it in the oven (which is supposed to be at 400F but who knows what it was) for 30-45 min. (I think I took it out closer to 45 min after a bit of a disaster cooking the rice too high. Smoke. Bad.) The chicken turned out so well though. It was so tender and would have been even juicier had I cooked it properly. It was still loads better than anything we have eaten here at the house though. hehe Well, I take that back, I now can make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. mmmmm