1) Right now I am sitting on the porch at Moca, the research station on Bioko Island where BBPP (Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program), the organization running this abroad program, is stationed. We, the 4 students, live in Malabo, the capital of Eq. Guinea, when we are taking classes at the Universidad de Guinea Ecuatorial (UNGE). We will be in Moca for about 2 weeks. We get back to Malabo just in time to watch the Superbowl, which will be showing at around 2AM our time. We’ll probably watch it at our friend’s house at the Mobil compound. We go over to their house every Sunday night when we’re in Malabo to eat dinner. That family is so nice, they are a huge help with organizing the Expedition we just went on in the southern area of the island, where we censused monkeys at the beach for a few days, then hiked 12 km uphill to another camp near the Caldera, the crater. That hike was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, such a mental battle because you’re hiking uphill, ranging between 40 and 80 degrees about at all times, for hours upon hours with no end in sight and it was so hot and humid, I don’t think I’ve ever sweat that much in my life! We would go out twice every day to census, walking a 3km trail at a speed of 1km per hour, which is really slow, but you need to go that slow to be able to see monkeys, otherwise you’d be looking at your feet at all times because the ground is so rocky, covered with volcanic rocks. The beach, where our Beach Camp was located, is a black sand beach, and the sand is very fine. It was very pretty, and when it rained, it cooled down enough so I could sleep at night. It rained 3 out of 4 days there, and when I say rained, it poured, harder than I’ve ever known it to rain before. This is actually the dry season which is crazy; they get 36 feet of rain here a year! There are 7 primate species on Bioko Island: Erythrotis, Pogonias, Nictitan, Preuss’s, Red Colobus, Black Colobus, and Drill. We saw a lot of Pogonias and Erythrotis monkeys. The black colobus are huge! I never saw a drill but some other people did. We went out to dinner in Malabo last night, 28 of us, including the students, volunteers for the expedition, UNGE students, and a few others. We ate chicken and plantains, a very typical, delicious dish in Malabo, and it was very fun. It was crazy during the trip because our diet consisted of rice, beans, tomato sauce, spam, sardines, and spaghetti. I would eat what we had for dinner the night before for breakfast, or oatmeal if I had any left, a power bar for lunch, then a large dinner. One night we had spaghetti and the only sauce options were sardines or spam, and everyone was so sick of that, so I brought out the Spicey Mike’s, and we used that as sauce and the bottle was finished after one dinner, everyone loved it! They really want to buy some they said, we’ll see if they follow through. Everyone on the expedition was keeping a food log of food they couldn’t wait to eat, mine is wonderful, the first thing being baby back ribs with cornbread. I also have mac and cheese on the list, banana bread, cereal and milk (because they only have powdered milk here), and such. When we got on the Hess boat to come back to Malabo, we were all craving the sandwiches and soda we knew would be on the boat, which included a plain roll with some type of meat between, such as hot dogs, ham and cheese, pastrami, salami, or such. I didn’t realize how good that could taste! One of the ladies who came to pick us up had brought homemade peanut butter cookies which were seriously some of the best things I’ve ever tasted in my life, and I had only been deprived for two weeks! Here at Moca it is much cooler and less humid; I’m in a sweatshirt, pants, and socks and I’m still chilly. At beach camp, on the southern tip of the island, I was basically constantly sweating it was so hot and humid. Each of us 4 study abroad students is paired with an UNGE student to do our research projects here at Moca. My partners name is Felipe, he participated in the program last year and is really nice, and we’re studying galagos, basically counting how many we see and marking the type of vegetation they are seen in and at what altitude. My research will take place from about 8pm to 12 or 1am every night for the next two weeks. As of right now I am glad I chose this program; I am around a lot of biology/scientist people, but I am learning a lot, practicing my Spanish, and enjoying learning about their culture. EG is very similar to Nicaragua in many ways, the countryside, architecture, cities, shops, and such. It has made me realize and appreciate yet again how comfortable of a lifestyle I have in the US. It would be nice to travel as part of my job, but I wouldn’t like it to be a central part of my job. I also have yet again noticed the excitement that I feel whenever food is involved in anything, whether it be cooking, walking through the local market, observing the agriculture and the plants being grown in the countryside, eating at a restaurant, or anything. I think that’s a good summary of what I’ve been up to so far. Hope to talk again soon!
: ) Isys
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