Las Cruces, the Rainforest, and Red Pineapples tou...can you believe it?

After a six hour long bus ride, we arrived at Las Cruces field station a little after noon on Wednesday just in time for lunch (I'll leave you to do the math about what time we departed San Pedro!). For your geographical enlightenment, here's a map of Costa Rica. We came from the central valley where San José resides (the valley is where over half of the country's population lives) to the southern part of the country in the highlands. 

Meals are served family style here and are delicious. Always some sort of salad, meat, side/vegetable...and of course the cornerstone without which the meal (and perhaps the whole sociopolitical system of the country as well) would tumble violently...rice and beans! If you're ever in the neighborhood I recommend stopping by here...

And not just for the food! (Although it's about a hundred times better than a McDonald's road stop. Point made enough? Nah). It reaches the stop branches of the tree of all the beautiful things I have seen. The greenery is engulfing. Against the palmy fronds, the fauna of the ferns, there are little splashes of colorful flowers that pop out nicely for some eye candy (more desirable than a Nestle Crunch, if you can believe it). 

Red pineapple! 

What is even more exciting is that scrumptious meal time and mind-blowing beauty come together in the happiest of marriages. And I'm not talking about eating these plants (although we will learn much about different uses of them in the ethnobiology class!). Eating breakfast this morning on a deck outside, we saw a toucan! Actually two of them. The throw their head back when they do their call. Seriously, call up Willow Smith, cause these birds can whips their heads back and forth like no other. Or more front to back. But the sentiment remains. 

After breakfast we made a trip to town (about a 10 minute car trip away) to run errands and make sure everyone had a pair of rubber boots, which are important for protecting against snakes in the field! Contrary to what I assumed, it's not that they're too thick for snakes to bite through. It's that snakes look for their meals by heat, and the rubber boots act to hide the heat of our feet, making them more invisible and less appetizing to snakes that we might encounter! 

After our trip to town, we finally had our first classes...a little raindrop of everything for today! Discussed ethics in our research practicum, learned about the history of Costa Rica, and got an intro to enthobiology. And then in a very nonmetaphorical sense, the rain came pouring down as per expected in the afternoon and evening. It's so soothing (and sleep inducing). It's like having one of those calming sound tapes with nature noises...except this is the real deal!