Respect the Ha'Ting

Greetings!

Realized an email is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG overdue!  I'm sorry I have not been better about writing-I know it has been a couple of months and I am SUCH a slacker :(  I guess I could blame it on all sorts of things but the reality is things have just been swamped here as I get integrated.  Although hopefully you will note from my pictures that I have managed to get a "bit" of time off to do relaxing things :)

Things on the island are GREAT.  I am so enjoying this place, the culture and the experience.  So far I think I have jumped through the majority of the hoops and come out on the other side with lots of friends and people to help me with both the biology work and the cultural implications/bridging the cultural gaps.  It is so nice to have a complete stranger (yes there are those on the island as I don't KNOW all 3,000 people..............YET!) come up to me in the store and say something along the lines of, "Hey aren't you the new island biologist?  I would really love to set a time and sit down with you to talk about some of the things I know or have seen"  From a systemic perspective this is HUGE.  I have kids coming up and talking about what they are learning in school and how they would like to do some interning with our programs (yet to be developed!) to get "out in nature". Etc etc.  The kicker is going to be if I can get all this amazing work translated in such a way that the higher-ups can see the value (it is hard to explain and quantify from a funding perspective) and keep the communication lines going.  Course that is simply the nature of the work and the challenge of blending biology and systemic thinking.  Interestingly enough I had my first young person come up to "Ahmen" (the sign of respect they give to someone else by placing their forehead on your right hand and asking for a blessing)...........THIS time I knew what to do :)  It was actually quite humbling and honoring to be accepted on that level.

As you can see from the pictures I spend quite a bit of time in rugged beauty with my co-workers Robert (a local technician who has been INVALUABLE in showing me the ropes and getting me in and OUT of the jungle safely!) and Molly who has been instrumental in helping to bridge the communication gaps between the cultural "system" and the conservation "system-she is a trained sociologist and RAWKS at her job.  The terrain is rugged and craggy, most of our work is done on cliffs.........seems that is were all the wildlife likes to hang out! LOL  Not to worry though we are all VERY safe and trained to say away from the edge :)  The view of seeing the ocean crashing on the rocks from hundreds of meters up always takes my breath away.  Unfortunately I have yet to figure out a way to get a good picture that can really convey the majesty of the scene.  I'll keep trying.  In addition to counting bats to ensure the colonies are maintaining, we also do sea and shore bird surveys (thus the Brown and Red Footed Booby pictures).  This trip we actually saw a Abbott's Booby which is INCREDIBLY rare as they are an endangered bird only known to breed on Christmas Island.  We turned around and there she was, about 5 feet from us saying "What's up?".  Sadly she flew away before we could get a picture.  But we all verified that it was definitely that species and have recorded it, this is actually the third time she has been seen in the last few years.  Course we are making the assumption it is the same bird and not another one.  Either way, pretty neat from a biological perspective.  I know I DO have my geeky moments :)

In addition to all the work I have been doing I have managed to get out for a hike up Telong.  I went with Molly, G, Donald and Flea (Molly's booney dog).  It was loads fun and a unique experience.  I think the bamboo forest was my favorite part.  I could have stayed there for HOURS!  One thing to note about doing work or hiking in the jungle are the Jungle Warriors; the locals call them Ha'Ting (I think the species is Odontomachus simullimus).  These lovely aggressive black ants and known for their painful bites and did I mention AGGRESSIVE???  Sooooooooooo the rest of the story............at the end of the hike I am trying to set my camera up on the timer for a group shot and made the mistake of sitting down to relax and try and stabilize the camera better............I'm sure you can fill in the gaps.  Yup, right on a nest that I had been stepping on for about 2 minutes.  Suffice it to say the "little darlings" were NOT happy NOR shy about expressing there displeasure.  Suddenly, I have ants in my pants making me do the ant dance!  So I do what ANY sane person would;stomp around to dislodge them (please note the large pincers in the picture!) and yelling "AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!" over and over again.  I think I was doing my best not to cuss as the Chamorro do NOT use profanity and I did not want to offend our two friends who went with us.  Friends, whom I must point out were LAUGHING at me without reservation.  The bad part of the Ha'Ting bite is it continues to burn for several minutes.  So, I could not tell if they were still in my shorts and continuing to bite me on my buttock (which had gone relatively numb by that time but not enough that I could not still FEEL it sadly!) so I stripped off my shorts and turned them inside out while frantically smacking my own derriere   Significantly MORE laughter AND some rolling on the ground at that point (brave people if you ask me...........I mean we all KNEW at this point there were VICIOUS Ha'Ting in the area).  I'm still yelling AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG and squinting one eye (so says Molly); and before you ask I have NO idea why I channel an angry pirate when in pain.  This is definitely a new phenomenon as far as I know.  In the end, all was well.  Nothing was injured except for my pride.......AND I now have GREAT respect for the Ha'Ting!

Okay, since today is a relatively nice day and I have sufficiently embarrassed myself (and most likely left you with a very distrubing mental image!) I will sign off and maybe try to go for a swim :)  

I hope all is well and you enjoy the pictures :)

2012 Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy Happy New Year!  

Christmas here was really nice and I had the opportunity to  integrate myself into the Chamorro holiday traditions--which ARE extensive! LOL.   I was invited over to several families house for "dinner" and managed to make two of them (much to the chagrin of my poor belly!)  I really can't say enough how very welcoming everyone has been.  The first family we went to, Vanessa and Eddie had lots of family there and quite a spread on the beach behind their house.  It was nice to sit near the beach and watch the children play in the water with their parents.  The other family, The Ogo's, are also very supportive and welcoming.  They also have two adopted children.  I have to say that one thing I have noticed here is that children are cherished and raised by EVERYONE.    The kids are just learning to walk and go from one cousin, uncle, aunt or Grandparent to another.  The adults get down on the ground and play with them, hold them on their laps, take them in the water, feed them and discipline them (gently) when necessary.  In some ways it is a very formal place with lots of customs and respect but on another level it is very free and tolerant of the little things in life.  It is not uncommon for children to be fostered in one home, on one island or another for long periods of time; or for children to be sent to the US for parts of their schooling with an Aunt or Uncle.  I would have to say it is a very holistic approach to family life.

That said, Rota has it's fair share of challenges as well.  Families are so close and invariably there are conflicts and times of strife-which tend to pull large extended families in different directions for a time.  And given how small Rota is (3000 people) just about everyone is related to one or another on one level or another, so you can imagine it can get to be a sticky mess if left unchecked.  I have not seen anything too bad as I think they nip it in the bud as soon as possible.  Another thing I notice about here is that there is very little "out of control" behavior.  Don't get me wrong the Rotanese love their "Bud Light and BBQ" but I have not seen, or heard any of them get out of hand or loud.  The loudest I hear is the distant Karaoke machine and the occasional off key singing :)  No, I have not become a crooner yet, but they are trying their best to indoctrinate me!

The job front is going well.  Since I got here I have managed to get my surveys back in order and even rehab a few juvenile birds that were brought in at different times by locals.  The Yellow Bittern, was super neat and docile.  S/he just needed a few hours to recoup and then I was able to let it go in a local marsh.  As you can see, just jumped off my hand and into the reeds s/he went happy as you please.  Sir Bites A Lot was OBVIOUSLY a bit more of a challenge.  This Tropic Bird was NOT a fan of being kept and quite frankly was more interested in trying to bite my fingers than the chopstick with the fish.  As you can see in the picture I am quite surprised and s/he is quite unconcerned and was willing to wait it out.  I am happy to say another successful release once s/he got airborne--although I am pretty sure there was one attempt to poop on my head!

Patrick's visit here was super wonderful, despite the fact he could only stay for 9 days.  He was not only a champ for the times when I had to work (which I tried to minimize I promise!) but was very helpful in organizing the Christmas Bird Count AND became loved and adored by the locals.  In fact they not only threw him a going away BBQ the night before he left but also 5 people got up and met us at the airport at 2am to see him off because they wanted to tell him one last time to be safe and come back again soon.  He really got along with one of the gentleman, Gerald (or "G" for short) who bestowed a great honor to him by giving him a handmade sinahi necklace, which is a traditional necklace that implies respect and importance.  I would say his visit was quite the success and since he left I have had more than one person tell me they miss him.................I try my best to act surprised.  As you can see we got some fun snorkeling in and were able to visit a couple of the ancient Chamorro villages with "Latte's Stones".  These were the pillars that the indigenous peoples built their houses upon and they say the ones here are about 3,000 years old.  If your interested to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte_stone 

Since Patrick had to leave the day before my birthday, my friends decided to throw me a beach "birthday" BBQ (do you see a trend with the BBQ thing???)  There were just a few of us, but as you can see we had a lovely time and it was perfect in my opinion.  One of my co-workers Robert brought his kids and we had lots of fun playing on the beach and just relaxing in general.  That said, his eldest, Rena, made me the sweetest Birthday card!  BTW-the Taotaomona is there version of the scary spirit..........I'm not sure HOW good my imitation is :)

More adventures to come soon.............I hope this finds you smiling and enjoying your holiday season :)

Happy Happy New Year again!

News From Rota

Happy "early" holidays!

Patrick got to Rota safe and sound last week.  He was able to get a few days off from "work" and has decided Rota is quite the beautiful place and can't get over how friendly everyone is.  Many of my friends have bent over backwards to try and make him feel comfortable and welcome; in fact they are throwing him a welcome & be safe BBQ this afternoon.  We have been snorkeling several times and seen some really neat stuff; an abundance of fishes, seahorses (SUPER neat), a moray eel and a green sea turtle.   Suffice it to say we are keeping ourselves out of trouble :)

Soooooooo, in other important news...........it is official............WHAT you may ask (although I'm sure you have an inkling)............Pizza, beer, beach and romantic sunset..............what better place?  Yes, he "popped the question" and I accepted!  Yes, we are engaged :)  No idea when or how the ceremony will happen given our different locals and his underway schedule.  But we are thankful and enjoying the time we have together here.

More to follow.............

Life on Rota

Greetings and salutations!

First of all, I must apologize for my lack of emails.  Yes, it is true things have been a wee bit hectic......but that ain't no excuse I know.  I guess I can blame it on the beautiful scenery, warm weather and incredibly good-natured and friendly people.

I made it safe and sound to Rota on November 3.  We were anxious to get here as "The Waaaaiting is the Hardest Part"-good ol' Tom Petty does know how to say it best!  The getting here was not as smooth a sailing as I would have liked.  It started at the airport when the airline said that, no we could NOT check our collective 400lbs (between the 3 of us) luggage and were limited to 40lbs a piece-PERIOD.  It seems that the airline is "downsizing" AKA going under.......and so was not flying it's typical luxury craft that seats 12.  Instead we were in a 5 seater and I guess weight was an issue?!? LOL  Welcome to the Islands!  They promised our remaining bags would be in Rota on Monday 11/5 (I'll give a dollar to anyone who can tell where this story is headed!).  To complicate matters this information came about 20 minutes before the flight left; and of course NONE of our bags weighed that to start with and we had stuff scattered about between all the bags.  So there we are in the airport just before flying out trying to open up all our suitcases to see what we either a) needed to survive for the next few days or b) did not want to fall into the wrong hands if swiped (i.e. much of my electronic stuff or some of my field gear-which I swear just the basics weigh 40lbs alone!).  Doing the swap around while trying to hide our 'unmentionables' was humorous to say the least.  Then of course the plane was an hour late so I had plenty of time to think about a) What I had neglected to add to my "must haves" b) What it meant to have busted my computer the day before AND realized my backup was missing the power cord and so was feeling our of touch with my "home" reality and c) What it meant to have been stripped down to the bare necessities (no pun intended!); without my "creature" comforts for who knows how long.  It was an interesting 60 minutes for me-clearly I survived!

The flight over was beautiful because we stayed below the cloud level since the flight was so short.  This means we got breathtaking views of the ocean, Saipan, Tinian, Goat Island and Rota.  The coastlines are amazingly rugged, different and gorgeous.  Upon landing I got my first taste of Rota hospitality, when someone at the airport picking someone else up asked Molly and I if we had a ride-he was happy to take us to town if we needed.  Not sure how he was gonna fit us and our luggage with his two children and wife with THEIR luggage, but he was willing to give it the old college try!  The hotel we stayed at, The Valentino was quite nice, certainly more than one expects on an island of 3k people that does not get a huge tourist population.  Within 20 minutes everyone knew our names and was being as accommodating as possible.

Our next challenge came because we arrived on a Saturday, course everything was closed on Sunday, Monday was the day before the election (a holiday for them) and then Tuesday was the election (another holiday for them).  That meant we had 4 days of nothing to do really.  Course you realize a bored Isha is a dangerous Isha..........I did pretty good though, did not get into ANY trouble whatsoever!  Now remember Monday is when the rest of our luggage was supposed to get here.  Course it did not and when we asked we were told it might (MIGHT) be Friday-far cry from Monday!  Course both Molly and I were concerned as we has some stuff in the luggage we were not able to bring with us that we were not happy being unattended for an extended period of time.  Magically when she said she had medication she needed in there it appeared on Wednesday, split the difference I guess.  Neither of us was complaining though as we know have the basics again.

My first couple of weeks here has gone well.  Due to the weekend and holidays I had several days to just "get to know" the island, which was nice.  I met lots of nice local Chamorro's (the indigenous peoples) and have started off on the right foot I hope-at least no one is throwing rotten fruit at me yet!  The weather has been amazing, staying a balmy 85degrees or so (NOT trying to rub it in!).  There has been sporadic rain showers in the afternoons and early mornings but nothing too major.  I am getting a handle on what the job entails and some of the politics involved and so far am feeling very blessed.  Although I DO have to admit the last two weeks my hair has been "on fire" as I dashed about trying to get up to speed and play catch up since the previous biologist left in May and many of the surveys were lacking in "data"--a definite challenge when reporting on an endangered species to a federal agency, and certainly NOT the way I want to start my tenure off!  The good news is, there seems to be plenty of support from my direct supervisor and his supervisor, which makes it nice; especially since they are several islands away.  I get along well with my co-workers who seem very competent and willing to work as hard as it takes to get the job done.  Course we realize that could be a dangerous combination with me :)  I promise I am holding myself in check and not working them to the bone just yet!

I cannot even begin to explain this island as it is quite unlike any other I have been to.  People who had been here before were not lying when they said it is the friendliest place they had ever been.  Not only does everyone drive when waving, they also stop if they see you walking and offer food if they see you coming by when they are anywhere CLOSE to eating a meal.  They seem very interested in what I am doing here and open with their thoughts and helping me get to know some of the local customs and expectations; which I want to adhere to as closely as possible.  I am starting to learn the language.................SLOWLY but they appreciate the effort and we all have a good-natured laugh at some of my pronunciations.  One thing that amazes me here is the general respect and kindness factor.  I see all the children respecting their elders, even the teenagers!  One way they do this is to go up to an elder when they first see them and touch their head to the person's hand asking for a blessing, the elder responds "Blessing to you".  It is very simple and very sweet to see.  I have seen men in their 40's do it to elderly ladies and vice versa-it does not stop when one gets older.  Course I have to admit it was a bit awkward the first time a child came up to me and I thought she was shaking my hand and instead she put it to her head and waited.........this was BEFORE I knew the tradition. LOL  But seriously they are all very patient with me and I am enjoying integrating and having a circle of people that I can ask what certain things mean.  A wonderful Chamorro family even invited me over for Thanksgiving (picture) which was quite fun, especially when they all started singing karaoke.  Now, I DON'T sing, but after much cajoling I got up and sang "I Will Survive" with one of the lovely young ladies.  I butchered it horribly but fortunately she had a beautiful voice and they all appreciated the effort! 

I found a cute little house on a hill that has a good breeze, which means minimal mosquitoes :)  It is a small 3 bedroom with an open kitchen, dining/livingroom and a nice yard for a garden.  It is exactly what I was hoping to find!  The best part is it is only $150 a month.  YES you read that right, $150 a month!  I only have 2 neighbors on the block and it is surrounded by lots with plenty of trees.  I love it.  It did not come with furniture, which can be hard to find here, but I will make to and piece it together as I go; I think Walmart may have become my new best friend as they seem to be the only ones that will ship here in a reasonable time and for a reasonable price.

The pictures are pretty self explanatory I think, so I will sign off now and promise to write more soon.  I think I have my internet thing worked out which means it won't be another month before my next update :)