We left our hotel at 8am, probably. We drove in our taxis and arrived here:
We were attending a conference/symposium about isolated chimpanzee populations.
Then, all the speakers were introduced! And THEN all the international attendees were introduced! That included me! And the guy introduced me as Dr. Leigh Anna Young! Haha! It definitely sounded good. But maybe it was just the accent.
Matsuzawa spoke for a few minutes:
All the speakers spoke and all the questions were asked! Then, when we get up to leave, and a hoard of boys came up to Cat and I to take pictures with us. It was like India all over again. I don't really mind that sort of thing... But I felt bad because Cat had to use the restroom! (Sorry, Cat...FYI?)
So, once we leave those boys, we find a nice boy to help us find a restroom. He took us to... A very very unfortunate restroom area. As you open the door, the smell of urine slapped your face inside-out. It was bad. There were no doors, no lights, and no toilets. There was stinky water covering the entire floor. This scared me because I have a slight rip in my right shoe... And I was wearing SOCKS! And also, there was a man peeing RIGHT THERE in THAT STALL. As Cat is deciding she's going to take the chance, the peeing man finishes. When he turns around he immediately whisks us away and out of the bathroom! He said that we couldn't use that bathroom... But to follow him. So, we did. Through offices and doorways. He takes us right up to a nice, doored, single-stalled, lighted, and clean potty room!! Wow! Thanks, mystery peeing man!!!
Picture of their campus:
So then, the party/academic conference was over. We got in the taxi with Matsuzawa and left. You guys, Matsuzawa is amazing. He is so nice to me. So kind. He has taken me under his wing!! We drove down the road to the hotel and saw such things as, such as, maps, South Africa.
Dr. Matsuzawa in the passenger's seat:
I am pleased to report that the driving/traffic/road rules are not as bad as in India!!
Finally, we went on a walk with a dude who may or may not have worked at the hotel. He took us to buy a SIM card. THIS was an awesome adventure. I was scared, sure. But... I don't know, I knew I would be fine. I didn't want to flash my phone around on the walk... I'm not sure if that is unreasonable or not... But- I DID take one blurry photo! 
We took all kinds of back alleys and side streets. We passed many children who waved at us! I ALWAYS waved back. Haha, one little girl actually got hit with a broom for waving at us! It seemed like her mother thought she was harassing us. Nono, it's ok.
We passed a huge soccer field... I wanted to take a picture so badly, but I didn't want to get left behind!
This place is so interesting.
Cat and I had a beer wit Dr. Matsuzawa... So, that was a highlight. In fact, it was the same brand of beer that we had in Brazil! Skol. Made me miss Boa Vista pretty badly. But at least Matsuzawa wanted to hear about my work in Brazil... Because I definitely wanted to talk about it!!
He talked to us a bunch. Great guy. Insightful and so, SO intelligent.
And finally, we had dinner for 3 hours. Basically what I gathered from the dinner was that I am the youngest, least experienced, and least qualified person here. It kind of got me down... But I kept hearing Allison's voice in the back of my head saying, "Ya gotta start somewhere!!" Lol and I don't even know if she has ever said that to me before! I just know that's what she would say!!
I am listening to everyone so hard. I'm trying to just shut up and soak all the information in that I can. My ears hurt from listening so intently.
Tomorrow morning at 6am we begin our two-day journey to Bossou. Also... Tomorrow is my birthday!
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