Small Mammals, Big World: There's a lot of life in this house!

I'm writing this on October 17th, and the kittens are 8 days old. Sara and I were obsessively watching them today and I noticed that one had one eye open!! Which was sooo creepy. We were talking about how weird it is that we see all animal’s eyes, and yet we are absurdly interested in seeing the kitten’s eyes. I kinda want to call that kitten Mad Eye Moody, because the eye had a fake or glass eye quality to it and it was super weird. And then Sara was saying Mad Eye to it, which sounded like Maddie, and we laughed and I think its name must be settled now. I also think based on what little we can see of their parts, that Mad Eye is a girl, so I think we have 2 girls and 2 boys :)

Most of my degus show signs of giving birth! Now I start the night telemetry part of my project, where we track the degus to where they are sleeping. They have a radiocollar on that emits a specific frequency, and I can tune my receiver to pick it up with an attached antennae. Unfortunately, this means that now Sara and I have to go to the park again at 8:30pm and usually get back to the house around 10:30pm. Then, we have to wake up at 5:30am the next morning for trapping. Not the best schedule ever. Zorro doesn’t like that we leave twice a day, either.

A caterpillar decided to make its cocoon right inside our front door. Not sure if that’s a good spot, but hopefully we’ll be able to see it emerge before we leave in about a month!

There are lots of bird nests around, including nests of the giant hummingbird, jal and platero.I am always amazed at their ability to construct a nest! Seriously, they are so perfectly formed and so sturdy and so intricate. We had a big storm the other day, that may have rivaled the “great flood” of August, and I was sure the nests would have been wiped out. Especially for the platero bird which nests on the ground. How could that not get washed away? Somehow they all survived! In fact, the day after the rain we checked the platero nest and there were very very new fledglings in it! Non human animals are amazing. We are wimps.

Sara noticed another colony of coruros by our processing station that I like to watch. The problem is that the biting flies are so bad that it doesn’t allow for me to stand still very well, so when I involuntarily shriek in pain from a bite, or move to slap a fly as it’s biting me (I swear I don’t even consciously make the decision to move my arm I just go for it when I feel the pain), the coruros make their alarm sound and go back underground.

I’m trying to appreciate all the time I have left here (which is not much). After spending almost 5 months in Chile this season (11 months total) feeling like my time here would never end, it’s weird to think that it will soon. I may act like I want to get back home, which I do when I think about my life there. Family, friends, my dog Snickers, happy hour (which often includes, friends, family and my dog), going to movies, bar trivia, the fact that I miss out on my family’s beach trip every time I’m here!! Those are just the fun things I miss. I miss the practical things like unlimited water, hot water, central air conditioning, real showers, internet, TV, washer and dryer.

But there are a lot of things here that I do not have in the US. These include, goat cheese and churrascas from my neighbors, which are maybe my favorite thing in Chile. Juan, the mammal guys, tiny tangerines in my front yard, Zorro, Potato and her kittens, all the delicious new foods Juan cooks us, cheap veggies and fruit at the Feria, peace and quiet and the ability to disconnect (no internet), lots of time to read books I wouldn’t read when I’m at home, and I'm more committed to working out and doing yoga when I'm here.

Sara is Venezuelan and wanted to make a common food called arepas for me and Juan. Juan said he would cook luche (sea lettuce) with potatoes for us. I had luche last year and wrote about it in the blog. It is one of my favorite things ever. Arepas are a kind of corn bread which you cut to make two pieces like two pieces of bread, and put whatever you want in it, like a sandwich. We had the amazing goat cheese from our neighbor, carne de soya, and eggs with veggies. It was an amazing lunch.

I've also included some photos of the Feria we go to every week to get fruits, veggies, nuts, raisins, oats for my degus, dog food, etc.