Starting host stay

Hey all,
We started our host stays today which will last for the next month, while we take finals and work on our independent project. I am living in a very cute yet small house in Cañitas (close to Montverde) with a young couple (Nísida 29 and Alejandro 31) and their cute baby girl, Valentina born in April. This will be the first real test of my spanish!
During the host stay I´ll also be working on my independent project analysing how pollen loads on bats differ according to the different wing shapes and therefore foraging styles. This means i get to collect bats for 3 to 5 days, and then sit at a microscope analysing pollen samples for the next three weeks. But at least i get to play with bats!
We recently got back from our adventures along the Caribbean coast. We started by hiking from Monteverde into el Bosque Eternal de los niños, the largest private reserve in C. Amer. We hiked in 10 mi with our packs for the 4 days we stayed there, and then out another 10mi. It was beauitful and very remote. The farmer who sold this property to the Monteverde Reserve hiked in with us and packd in our food via horse.
After the stay at Eladio´s we traveled to La Selva a famous research station where almost everyone who does biology work in CR does their research. Then we stayed a few days in Tirimbina, catching frogs (learning their scientific names) and shining lights on Caimen.
Next we headed to Tortugera and saw amazing turtles. Finally down to Panama for some fun in the sun. (more details to come later)

Miss you all keep writing!!
Julia