A field work family

I´m Imanol and I´m from Bilbao. I have come to LFP as part of my master´s degree – I study Primatology in Girona. I am particularly interested in prosocial behaviours of primates and have been analysing this topic throughout many species. Now I have travelled accross the world to observe this first-hand in the field, specifically in slow lorises. I will stay in Indonesia for 4 months, although now I have already hit the halfway mark! So for my first blog I would like to talk a little bit about my emotional journey of coming to the project.

Here is my experience so far, in the form of my feelings. This is the first time I have been living so far from my home, when you go to another country with a different culture you need to know that it is not going to be easy and you need to really open your mind. I was prepared for that, but I wasn´t prepared to take a motorbike with a stranger up a large mountain with all my baggage! I really thought I was going to die (when you do this a couple of times more, you realize you won´t!). Finally when I arrive to the project house all my demons disappeared and I started to enjoy myself immediately. My first day was very special because we had a party, however not for my arrival, but because one of the coordinators was leaving, but it was a nice entrance! The first week is very special, because you feel excited and welcomed into a new ´family´ but at the same time you feel alone. Dont worry, this feeling disappeared quickly with time. The first step to not feel alone is to make some friends and believe me, it not diffcult when you spend 24 hours with someone. When you have someone to talk to everything is more easy. I am lucky because I have made some good friends whilst here.

“What are you doing out there”? I hear this question like 100 times from people. What do I say? Working with the Lorises? Helping with conservation? Having a life experience? But I always end up saying the same – I´m helping and trying to provide a little piece of me into this crucial project. IMANOL