Oddly enough, as the course progressed we had fewer and fewer lectures. First the evening sessions got cancelled because we had to be up before the sun to find the monkeys (a very vaild reason) but towards the end the excuses got pretty weak (a pick-up game of barefoot soccer broke out in the courtyard and we were all forced to play for over an hour - whoops, too late for a lecture now...).
Lounging about was done in any and all free time given. There were two lovely hammocks where one could catch the sun and the sea breeze while daydreaming, er, I mean reading our assignments. There was of course the ever-present beach, the warm Carribean water, and snorkeling to fill up one's free time as well.
Back on the island I had fun climbing 85ft to a platform in a tree in the primary rainforest. I wore a harness attached to a rope thrown over a branch and about halfway up I saw monkeys traveling through the canopy at just about eye level. That was amazing.
Once a week we took the night off and drove to the town at the south end of our island. We would walk around for a while browsing the local craft booths or check our e-mail at one of the internet cafes before we met up for dinner at a restaurant called "The Pirate." Afterwards we'd visit the bars before going to the club Barco Hundido (Sunken Ship) to dance. There was actually a deck out over the water with a hole in the center wehere you could look down and see the remains of part of a ship.
The place started filling up between 10 and 11 and we'd dance the night away to American 80s tunes and Reggaeton. There were definitely some awesome dancers there and I never lacked a partner. That probably had a lot to do with me being young, blonde, and American but I wasn't complaining. One local taught me the moves to a Michael Jackson song and sang along to Madonna's "Like a Virgin." We always had a blast and were dead tired by the time we got back to the station in the wee hours of the next morning.
Near the end of the course we spent 3 whole days and 2 half days in the swamp forest doing our own research projects. The howler monkeys we followed just had to live in the swamp forest because the figs were ripening there so we had to leave the primary rainforest and go to the swamp forest. I'm not bitter or anything...
The monkeys were amazing. The adults mostly ignored us, the sub-adults tended to make a racket to scare us off, and the young were curious. I had a few monkeys come within 5 yards of me and just stare. So of course I stared back. And promptly decided that even though I was sitting in a swamp where all my clothes would become permanently stained, my gear would reek, my backpack would grow mold, and my legs would be chewed up by mysterious swamp bugs, I was in love with field work and would gladly spend hours in muck just to watch monkeys. I think it's one of those "you had to be there" experiences.