Day 7 Costa Rica
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| Learning ImageJ |
Today Corbin taught me how to use the ImageJ software. It was a little difficult at first but after few hours of doing it, I got the hang of it. We have 45 images of leaves to process with the software. Basically we are getting the total surface area of the leaf as well as the healthy surface area. By doing so we can get a percent of diseased area of each leaf. This software is pretty awesome, but there are some nuances with it also. Some of the leaves were hard to do because the lighting as well as the software sometimes would pick up the background as part of the leaf. Overall, I am enjoying learning this method of determining how much of the leaf is diseased versus just guessing. This is more accurate.
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| Lazaro preparing the tattoo material. |
After lunch we all got temporary tattoos from Lazaro the leader/chief of the Embera tribe of Panama. He used a fruit from a specific palm tree. To get the fruit you have to climb the tree. Lazaro brought one fruit with him, but usually 3 or 4 fruits are used but he didn't want them to get taken away on his way here. To prepare the tattoo ink, he grated up the fruit and then squeezed the juice out of it. The fruit starts to ferment and eventually stains the skin a dark bluish/black color. After he applies it, it has to sit on your skin for at least three hours to set. During this time, you have to be very careful not to smudge it otherwise it will stain elsewhere. Lazaro did different tattoos on everyone and each had their own meaning. There were tattoos for warriors, hunting, marriage, etc. Mine is a hunter one with two arrows on it. Lazaro did say that the two arrows were trees from Panama at one point then later said they were arrows. I think the tattoos can have a lot of meanings. He also wanted to paint a necklace near my collar bone. It turned out really good. I wish they were permanent tattoos though. After this experience, it makes me want to get a tribal tattoo from my tribe and maybe add some from other tribes that I visit. I am thankful that Lazaro is here. He has such a good presence and definitely has a lot to share from his culture. It is amazing that these tribes are still very well intact. I am thankful that all the tribal people from the area were able to be here. It has made this experience something I will never forget. I hope to be able to see them again some day in the future.
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