Sector B i relieved two girls. there are no more nests, but i still had to go to Hatchery B to watch over the equipment. my partner came late because she went to check on her son´s ankle. he was hit by a piece of driftwood last night while relocating eggs from Hatchery B. she shared some butter cookies with me. holly came by to collect some thermostats. jackie (the girl in the room next to us) came by to take some pictures of the broken hatchery. i only took pictures this morning. i wish i had some before the waves washed up. there are two yellow crabs nesting in front of the hut. i´m trying to capture them on my camera but they are either boring bumps-on-a-log or too fast for me. i had some sesame sticks and my apple but the nectarine had gone bad.
morning activity people started to come to the hatchery at 10 am. i went back to change into clothes that i could get wet, go pee, and drop off my stuff. we had to tear down what remained of the hatchery. we dug up all the sand bags. it was tough on our knees, back and wrists, but i liked it much better than carrying logs on our shoulders. the bags had to be emptied and put away. there were at least 3 layers of sand bags. some people took down the fence and rolled it up. i helped to dig up the poles and cut off the twine. we brought all the supplies back to the station. we put all the sand bags in a garbage bag. i washed off some sand and put on long pants and a long sleeve shit because mosquitoes were biting. the bites are not so bad if i can get afterbite on them right away. then i helped separate section numbers from the sticks by using a kitchen knife on the twine. i threw the sticks back into the forest. last night, lots of tubs were used to transport the eggs. we took the broken ones to the garbage and cleaned the others.
new volunteers before lunch, Darian, the first of a batch of new volunteers arrived. she locked her stuff in our room because Jackie wasn´t back yet.
lunch when i got my plate, a frog jumped from the dishes to the wire mesh wall. we had soup, rice and veggies. it was the first time i managed to finish all my food. i was so full.
leisure time i was so tired. after darian took her stuff out of our room, i slept till 2:45pm. we went out to make phone calls, but i brought the wrong card so we walked back to get it. we took the beach path because there are less mosquitoes . i brought back a handful of shells. on the way there, i picked up some more! i called my parents to wish them a Happy Anniversary. it made me upset that i couldn't be home to celebrate it because my mother always insisted it to be a family event. we tried to buy a phone card but they only had c500 ones left. the lady at the store told us to come back at 5pm.
dinner potato and hotdog in sauce, rice and small beans. we went to the store again, but carmen had not come home with phone cards. we will buy them tomorrow.
in my tent i have night patrol from 12 pm to 4 pm. we meet at the white training tent at 11:40 pm. i took a quick shower so i would be clean in bed. there isn´t enough time to put on my contacts, so i will wear them after my shift. for now, i will just lie in bed. i´m too hot and itchy to sleep.
night patrol another 4 hours of walking. this time i was smarter. instead of wearing crocs, i put on socks, tucked my pants in and wore water shoes on over that. the earlier shift saw a false crawl. that´s when a leatherback comes up to look for a place to nest, but does not lay yet. we did not see her lay tonight and it is likely she will tomorrow. the walk was tiring. we got wet early on. the girl behind me kept kicking sand up. i normally would not care but it made the bites on the back of my calves sting. the tide was high tonight, we got wet more than usual. at the end of our shift, Holly and two others went to playita. i walked with two other girls back to the station. luckily, we found the path back with no problem.
homesick sometimes, i want to pack my bags and leave, especially when i see girls crying at the phone booth. it´s not just that i miss home, but it is really sun fu here. i keep counting down the days and tell myself i can get through this. i can´t let such a rare opportunity go to waste. even though no one is forcing me to stay, it feels like camp. like i begged my parents to let me go to summer camp but when i get there, the kids are mean, everyone cries, we work hard, i can´t eat the food, everything is dirty and i feel miserable. i haven´t seen a mother or handled a baby yet. hopefully, i get used to this or get a chance to do something fun (snorkeling, lagoon tour) so my spirits turn around.
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