Natural history all day long

We've spent the majority of our time the last few days studying natural history and taxonomy, of insects (plus more on Lepidoptera) and plants (vegetative, floral, and fruit). My brain is going to implode from the weight of all the new terms and concepts, but I've really enjoyed the head-first dive into both formal and applied (read: useful) taxonomy. Some terms I've heard before, but the majority I haven't. One of my favorites: arcuately subparallel (a type of leaf venation). We've dissected flowers, and examined floral parts and insects under scopes, which has been cool. One of my strongest impressions is that plants in general are amazing for the extreme variety that exists in shapes, colors, functions, structures of all the exact same basic parts and organs, especially in flowers. When I think about it, the extremity of it all is hilarious and fascinating at the same time. From the delicate, ornate orchid flowers to the enormous bulbous inflorescences to the basic daisy. And fruits can get even more bizarre.

Also: cool Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) facts! Butterflies actually have the best eyesight of any organism, with four (or even five) cones where we have three, and the capability to view light from infrared to ultraviolet.

We got our first real homework assignment yesterday, which is to catch and identify down to family 10 different insects at each of the three major OTS stations (here at Las Cruces, Palo Verde, and La Selva). I can't decide if this is going to be fun or frustrating. Some of both, probably. Funstrating?

We played soccer for the second time today, got in around an hour and a half. I always feel a lot more energetic after playing sports, or at least doing something really strenuous. My left foot was hot today, I scored all my goals with it.

I've been spending a fair amount of time with David, one of the Tico students, and I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with understanding the Ticos, and with speaking in Spanish. Which feels good. And, oh yeah! the language academy told me who my host family will be:

"Ana Isabel, your Costa Rican hostess, is a homemaker. Her husband, Esteban (born:1960), is a taxi driver. They live with their daughter Rebeca (born:1985) and their grandchildren visit often and sometimes stay overnight."

Sounds good to me.