Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 - Day 12

16:30 Hrs. Forest Trails, BNP, Karnataka, India.

First signs of attitude degradation amongst the group. We woke up at five-thirty this morning to go bug hunting. It's exactly like it sounds. Underground traps, mosquito nets, and lot of alcohol ("we must kill in order to learn and conserve..."), and we were expert bug-catchers.

Most of us didn't get much sleep last night due to another torrential downpour. At least the clothes I had hanging outside my tent got a free wash. The large majority of us are starting to feel some exhaustion. Mostly due to heat and lack of sleep; I don't think anyone's hit culture shock yet. Nonetheless I'm trying very hard to keep a positive mood. I certainly miss showering everyday away from the peering eyes of insects and frogs.

After lunch we took a trip to the mountain with Mr. Bug and I sat by one of the larger pools of water up there, (there's quite a few) to watch for frogs. My research study here, is going to be an examination of the behavior of calling male frogs. I sat on a rock in the shallow end and patiently waited in the sun. Amazingly, about eight minutes in, a skidder frog croaked and took a jump towards me. Within fifteen minutes, I had five or six male frogs all no more than 2 meters away from me calling. My mind wnadered to education as I watched them floating. If someone could convince children to patiently wait quietly, one truly becomes part of the environment. All manner of things approach and crawl on you...

Over lunch I spoke with Lisa about her desire to travel and her many study abroad experiences both as a student, and as a GTA. Whatever I end up doing with my life I hope it involves substantial travel. Despite my grievances and missing the luxuries of home, I desparately want to see the world. Already I feel as if what I'm doing is incredibly unique and perhaps once-in-a-lifetime, but I don't doubt something will change in me at the end of this trip, even if miniscule.

We said goodbye to our local guide, Shivarudra, who had accompanied us on the trails. Guides with absolutely incredible local knowledge of flora, fauna, and everything in between accompany us everywhere. A new one arrives today. We only have a few more days here. This is the longest stay in one place we have (10 days). There's talk that this is the nicest of our field sites, mostly from Geeta, and that it only goes downhill from here, luxury-wise. I'll reiterate again that we know next to nothing about what happens ahead of time; where we're going, what we're doing, etc. We are certainly learning a lot though, already I have lots of ideas I'm interested in trying from an education standpoint: i.e. herbariums, transects, cultural interactions, human distrubance research. I'm excited to pursue some research I've begun here even back in the states.

Seems so distant.

Many of the others have said that they have mentioned the other students in the group so I've decided that to ease my story-telling, I shall at the very least give names here:

My roommate both at UTC as well as here asleep on our porch in front of me is Andrew. A hiker, hunter, and nature lover, his twenty-second birthday is tomorrow, and I'm sure something interesting will occur. Andrew, Rhea, and I are the three Ecology and Evolutionary Biology majors, the rest being Environmental Studies. The others in that tent with Rhea include Hayley, our resident blonde, and recipient of many Indian stares, and Monica, a chill, sing-song girl of Egyptian heritage. Next we have Deepak, our resident Indian. When Geeta is not nearby, he is often our source for food and culture questions. Deepak is also into education, planning to be a teacher, and already works heavily with young kids. His roommates are Jason, a delve-right-into-the-heart-of-a-culture kind of guy, and Bradley, our very laid-back music lover. In the final tent to have Kristina, with an incredible knowledge of geography and modern journalism, Melissa, a product of the UKanTeach program, and lover of plants and wildlife, and lastly Brandy, who provides much of the group's sense of humor.

All in all, it's a very entertaining group, and I don't doubt this journal will learn a lot more about them as I do. Tonight we relax, and continue our research (mine: frog-calling, is a primarily evening event).

~Joking around with people I see 24/7 and who will soon probably know me better than many of my friends,

- David