Dear friends and family,
Kalai vannakkam!
(Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is at the intersection of three states and hence of three languages: Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam; but Tamil is always a good bet.)
My research project has gotten an encouraging start over the past two weeks. I’ve nearly completed a bird survey of a roaded scrub area near the field station, which is an area heavily altered by humans. Being out there in the early morning and the late afternoon is peaceful and pretty enough, but today was even better: we started the survey of birds in the forest! Jamie, Boma and I trudged off early and took a jeep to the estate of Mr Raghu, the plantation owner, who hosted us for lunch in between the morning and afternoon surveys. By the end of the month I will have done samples of the roaded scrub, a lantana-infested area, a scrub forest, a semi-evergreen forest, and the woods of a coffee plantation.
Actually when I say “I”, I mean that I plod around accomplishing a survey only with the immense help of Boma, who is absolutely indispensible as a tracker. In the past three days the man has found three impossibly hidden bird nests, scared off menacing buffalo with only small stones and hiss-barks, and even defended Jamie from a monkey which climbed in her window and stole her orange. And the other day he paused and pointed out the call of a langur (a monkey) which was making the warning call for “leopard.” So there was a leopard right there in the area where we were standing! Boma reassures me they don’t attack humans. At least I think that’s what he said.
So that’s my research project so far. As for our free time, two of the PhD students here, Gita and Nandita, took us last Sunday on the bus to nearby Ooty, a former field station set up in the hills by the British because of the nice R&R weather (it was cold!). We ate tons of chocolate and remarked how funny it was to see so many Indians in cardigans, sweaters, and scarves. Not what comes to mind when I think of India!
Forty-one days! Amazing. Finally I’m starting to count the things I miss: coffee, the Big Dipper, The New York Times and the Strib, and friends and family. But mostly just coffee. All the tea and coffee here comes loaded with milk and sugar so it all tastes the same – like sugary milk, that is.
It’s five weeks here for Jamie and me in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary altogether. After that I’ll reunite with two others in my group for a two-week travel break (we’re all splitting up), and then it’s another five-week research project in a research lab in Pondicherry. Then four days of rest, all in time to reach the US on December 20. It’s amazing how fast the time has gone so far. I’m trying so hard to take it all in. I sometimes forget just where I am but it’s easy to remind myself: Minneapolis is that way, where my legs are pointing!
I hope the Fall is wonderful there. And if you go to Starbucks please think of me!
Ever your loving,
Isaac H.
pseudoisaac 