I got a very strange hair comment the other day.  I was in Costa Rica for two weeks to study sea turtles, and for reasons of practicality (i.e. My hair is exactly the right length to swat mosquitoes, and it was HOT) I was wearing it in a high ponytail.  Except then I found a dead beetle in my ponytail (GROSS, by the way) so I braided the ponytail.  The next day one of my teachers commented on how thick and strong my braid looked, and how it looked like a rope that you could save yourself with... I think she meant it to be a compliment but it was a little weird.

Studying the turtles was really fun.  The only annoying thing was that we had to do 4 hour beach patrols every night, alternating 8, 10, and 12 o'clock shifts.  We saw three nesting leatherbacks and some hatchlings.

The beetle was pretty creepy.  I went back to our cabin (this was later when we were staying in the rainforest and actually had elecricity) to brush my teeth before sleeping.  The girl's bathrooms didn't have a sink so I used the boys.  Unfortunately, the boys had left the light on which was drawing all sorts of creepy crawlies there.  The next day they actually found a toad in their shower....
Anyways, I was brushing my teeth and there were all sorts of things flying around my face.  I then went into the cabin and changed into my pijamas.  Then I was tightening my ponytail when I felt something hard in my hair, and I couldn't see what it was or whether it was alive.  I pulled it out and it was a half inch long iridescent beetle.  It was then that I decided it might be a good idea to braid my hair...