Basselope

On Irene’s one day in Singapore we spent hours traversing the winding trails of the McCruchie reservoir all for a few sweet moments up on a bridge through the canopy. It had been raining heavily before reaching the bridge, but as we stepped out into the tree tops the rain slowed to a trickle. I got tunnel vision watching as individual raindrops, seeming to slow, suspended in mid air like diamonds as they neared their destination, catapulted single mindedly below us, making a barely perceptible *plip* as they intersected with the leaves beneath us. We stood alone in silence, suspended dizzyingly far from the ground; the only sound the winds through the palms, the horizon stretched out into an oversized circle around us. The paths themselves seemed to drag on endlessly, and by the time we ... read more

I recently realized that a number of you reading this blog (and receiving these annoying emails) are people I have not spoken to in some time, so I thought I ought to provide some context. I am currently attempting to change my field of study/work from laboratory based research (I spent the last year and a half working at the NIH) to field work (I need to be outside!!). Of course, in order to get a job/into grad school I actually need some experience. So, I have elected to spend three months (at least) volunteering in wildlife conservation research in Thailand. I will be working with an organization based out of Bangkok but will be staying at various field offices in national parks throughout the country. In my spare time I am playing the typical tourist: ... read more

The start of my journey has been rather inauspicious. On Tuesday morning I had to get an emergency root canal which seriously depleted the savings intended to keep me afloat over the next few months. On Tuesday night I left my bags in the wrong house and consequently missed the last metro. We barely made it out of the house in time Wednesday morning, and upon arrival at the airport I learned the seating chart for the 14 HOUR plane ride had been changed and I had been deprived of my coveted window seat. Not only was I in the middle of 5 seats but my seat was broken and wouldn't recline fully! And then they lost my requested vegetarian meal! But I survived. And so here I sit in Tokyo's Narita Airport where the air ... read more

My mom has informed me that my blog entries are overly negative (or always end on a bad note) so I've resolved that this one will be only good...which is easy because I can't think of anything bad that has happened in the last week. In Kampala I stayed with a young Rwandan man who grew up in Uganda and had strangely worked on the film crew of Last King of Scotland and so had pictures with all the stars. He seemed to hang out mostly with ex-pats though so I got a very ex-paty view of Kampala, going to a horror movie night for halloween and eating veggie burgers (and bagels!). I also spent a good amount of time wandering aimlessly around the city as is my way. Kampala is probably the most terrifyingly congested ... read more

Tanzania seems like a million years ago, I made friends with an immigration officer and a conservationist for the Jane Goodall Foundation (her park was right near by but with exorbitant entry fees) and stayed in a guest house populated mainly by congolese refugees. I ate at a restaurant decorated like "Mexico" for no apparent reason (they made no pretense to offering Mexican food). Having been kicked out of my guesthouse for staying past checkout time I lolled the afternoon away on the open "Mexican" patio. I had been told the previous day that a boat would leave at 18 hours and I was to report back at the dock at 16. Walking to the dock at 16:00 an elderly man greeted me, "Bonjour!" I stopped in my tracks, too confused (as usual) to think ... read more