Short Update

Well, class has started again.  After a week of not much, it is kind of weird to be in class again.  This module, I am taking Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics!  A lot of the other students aren't very excited about the class, but I think it will be very interesting and relevant to what I want to do.

In this class, we discuss evolutionary history.  It is based off of a comparison of DNA sequences to determine how similar organisms are to each other.  We also get to use a variety of programs to write a research paper on a taxa of our choice.  I'm conflicted as to whether I should research how some avian orders may not be monophyletic, or get more specific and investigate how a particular genus is related to each other.  Whichever I chose, I'll be excited about bird research.

I also thought of another thing about the US that I take for granted: toilet seats!  If I go into a bathroom in the US, I expect there to be a toilet seat that is well-secured to the toilet itself.  Many of the bathrooms here do not have seats on the toilet.  The toilet in my house has a wiggly toilet seat that you have to sit very stilly on or it slowly slides away from you.  There is also a bathroom in the school without a seat at all.

Other things I've been up to:

--Cooking: I tried to cook something to eat for lunches instead of going out every day.  I decided on a curry with lentils, chickpeas, and veggies.  It was difficult to cook in a kitchen that isn't mine without all of the tools I'm used to having, but I did it!  My curry was really delicious hot, but not very good cold.  I'll try heating it up on the stove (no microwaves here) and see if that helps.

--Lizards: In my last class, I volunteered to help collect data for my professor's research on lava lizards. I'm collecting really basic population data, like sex and location, but some have microchips in them.  If we find one with a microchip, we also record its length and weight.  I went out trying to catch lizards today, but I wasn't very successful.  We use a string on a stick with a little loop on the end to try to catch them.  It is really difficult because they often just run through the loop.

--Movies: Since the internet here is pretty "janky," I've resorted to watching movies for entertainment instead of streaming TV or youtube videos like I would in Quito or the US.  All of the movies for sale here are pirated copies, so they are cheap and easily accessible.  I just hope I have enough patience to watch more than three before I get sick of them.