We had some free time after breakfast so about 6 of us went hiking on site. It was the first time I felt really smothered by the humidity. Most of the time we were in open areas, but in the rainforest you wanted to scream for someone to open a window. I stop and point a lot so eventually I ended at the back of the group and Cathy kept me company. She spotted something black in a tree. We went back and forth… is it… could it be… no… maybe… can we get closer… and finally we decided it was indeed a bat hanging from a branch. It was quite large, but wings were folded and it looked quite comfy and oblivious to our staring eyes. We had to run back to the meeting spot, but it was so worth spending some time trying to figure it out, and seeing where leaf cutter ants had been because of the torn pieces off of some leaves.
The workshop after the hike was studying Biology to Design. We were told to work with someone we hadn’t before and there was one person I had not had the privilege to work with so I asked him quickly. I didn’t know that he and another man in the group had been or were in a Biomimicry program. I was in a group of professionals and quickly felt overwhelmed with everything I still didn’t know. When I get frustrated I cry and I was very frustrated. They were so comforting, but I realized they thought I was unhappy with the organism we chose and I had to explain that I was fine with the organism, I was just frustrated that it still felt like I was not comprehending all of the Biomimicry. They were very patient and walked me through processes. They were so helpful.
After lunch we prepared our presentation. We were fortunate to have Karen L. on our team, who by that time, everyone knew was a beautiful artist. She drew everything out and I worked on adding lines and circles to delineate layers in one object.
Everyone presented their designs and I was amazed how so many of them came from a desire to help someone they knew. I hesitate to talk about them here because I can very much see someone working on the design for production.
I knew I was surrounded by special people, but this confirmed it. We were a group of people from the U.S., The Netherlands, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, UK, Canada, and Scotland and we were a cohesive group who cared for and looked after each from the moment we met.
We had a little party (and I was a party pooper planner) since it was our last night and we celebrated three birthdays and a graduation. Everyone milled around talking and then, all of a sudden something caught a few of our eyes as it zoomed through us and landed on Gui’s back. I couldn’t tell from Heine’s face what it was and before I could look Gui had shimmied so it fell off. It was a very large beetle almost as long as my fist. A little biological explanation was given, but we mostly just enjoyed checking it out.