More preparation

Vaccines
I'm done or working on all of my immunizations for this trip. Hepatitis A shot, tetanus shot, flu shot, typhoid pills, and malaria pills.

SCUBA gear
I bought a one piece, full body, black wetsuit and neon green weight belt. Plus an amazing dive watch, a Casio Baby G Whale Watch in Translucent Light Purple (the website keeps changing, but hopefully that will be the right watch). It's like a secret agent watch, it does everything! Casio contributes part of the sales of the Whale series to the Eco-Research Network project, in hopes that it will help to protect and improve the global environment that is home to dolphins, whales, humans and other life forms. . . Whale watches are shock resistant tough, but pretty. They come in great, soft colors and have all the signature G-Shock shock and water-resistant features, in addition to an EL backlight with afterglow, 20-page data bank and World Time in 40 cities. They have a 5-day counter and have a stopwatch and an alarm, as well as an auto calendar, so you can be one together chick. . . . . Translucent purple color . . Shock Resistant . . 200 meter water resistant . . 20 Page Databank for phone numbers and stuff . . World Time in 40 cities . . Auto Electro-luminscent backlight with afterglow . . 1/100 second stopwatch . . Alarm . . Hourly time signal . . Auto-calendar ( pre-programmed until the year 2039) . . 12/24- hour formats . .

Miscellaneous
bandanas (2) - purple and sage green
dive insurance

Still Need
long sleeved shirts (2)
a couple tank tops / short-sleeved shirts
sunglasses (I have bad luck with mine breaking)
sunscreen
bugspray
Skype + headset
And . . . probably lots of other things I'm forgetting

Books and Readings

Yet another list! The books and papers I need to get through over winter break include:

• Books:
  • Costa Rica
    • Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America by Adrian Forsyth and Ken Miyata
    • The Tapir's Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest by Elizabeth Royte
    • A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by F. Gary Stiles, Alexander F. Skutch, and Dana Gardner
  • Little Cayman
    • Peterson's Field Guide to Coral Reefs: Caribbean and Florida by Eugene Kaplan, Susan Kaplan, and Roger Tory Peterson
• Papers:
  • Costa Rica
    • Using ecological criteria to design plant collection strategies for drug discovery
    • Diversity in tropical rainforests and coral reefs
    • Assessing representativeness of protected natural areas in Costa Rica for conserving biodiversity: a preliminary gap analysis
    • Riches from the rain forest
    • Tropical ecosystems into the 21st century
    • Adaptation in a plant-hummingbird association (I have to prepare a critique of this one to present . . . yikes)
  • Little Cayman
    • The Ecology of Coral Reefs
    • Corals and Coral Reefs
    • Catastrophes, Phase Shifts, and Large Scale Degradation of a Caribbean Coral Reef
    • Hurricane Allen's Impact on Jamaican Coral Reefs