SOMEONE is looking out for me. The science gods, the Panama gods, or some other powers that be. After being used to doing fieldwork where nothing goes right, I'm finally getting a few breaks!
I collected samples from some mangroves back in March that I need to bring back to the US to use a fancy machine to analyze them for nutrients. I'm planning to do this in the laboratory of a collaborator, but I needed the proper export permit from Panama before I bring the samples back. I left them boxed up and ready to be shipped, so that as soon as I got my permit the lab in Panama could send them to the US and they would be safe.
Well, the export permit never came through. So here I am in Panama again, three and a half months later, cringing at the thought of opening up my samples and seeing them completely molded over, covered in fungus. Even in air conditioning the humidity is still 60% here, so it seems likely that mold would take over (my hiking boots grew moldy after I left them in a closet in Panama for 3 weeks!).
I got to the lab today and opened the box...and the samples are still good! Not completely destroyed by fungus! YAY! I haven't gotten to the ones at the bottom yet, so I don't know if every single sample will be okay but I will at least have something. Probably because I thought they would all be destroyed (and so did everyone I told about them), I'm ecstatic to have usable samples.
Lowering my expectations seems to be working well for me. Over the weekend I traveled to David, Panama to sample mangroves from that area. I discovered after returning to Panama City that I had no longer had my camera with me, which I really need to process the samples after I collect them. In a panic, I called the hotel to ask if they found it, but I assumed I would never see the camera again.
Expecting a, "no, there is no camera here," as I waited on hold for them to search the room, I was surprised to hear that they did find the camera and would be willing to send it via bus to Panama City. That was a surprise! In Panama, there is no mail system like the US so sending things by bus is typical. You just get a number for the package and pick it up at the bus station.
However, I had to wait for the hotel staff to put the package on the bus, call me and tell me what bus it left on and what the number was to pick it up. After I didn't hear anything for a few hours, I called them back. Then I called them again. Every time I got a soothing reassurance that they would call me as soon as they knew which bus it had gone on. But the problem was I didn't get a phone call all day, so I figured someone was out trying to see how much money they could get for the camera.
At 9:30 last night, my cell phone rang. It was the hotel staff, saying, "the bus should be there by now, it left at 3:30." Why they didn't call at 3:30 or any time shortly after that, I don't know. BUT it gave me hope after I had almost given up! Today I went to the bus station to pick up my camera and we were happily reunited. Well let's just say I was happy--I think my camera was indifferent about it. But BIG thank you shout-out to Carlos at the Hotel Internacional in David, Panama. THANK YOU!
So thank you science gods, or fieldwork gods, or Panama gods or whoever is helping me out. Fieldwork doesn't always have to be SO challenging.
No comments:
Post a Comment