Tuesday the 7th

We began the day by eating eggs, rice and beans, watermelon, and papaya, with a strawberry banana fruit juice to wash it all down. After breakfast, we had a few hours to explore Finca la Anita. We used this time by hiking down the winding path to the "mall," which was really just a store 15 by 4 feet large packed with local treats and an assortment of items including tooth brushes. We purchased lots of candy to enjoy back at our dorm.

Later, we all loaded into the van to go to horseback riding. We rode through a grove of beautiful rainbow eucalyptus trees with trunks that appeared to be tie dyed. Heading deeper into the jungle, we crossed a small river on our horses and continued up a steep incline. When we reached the top, the view of lush green mountains covered in mist was breathtaking. It was funny to watch as the horses messed around, and even get spooked by some cows crossing our path.

If you look closely at the trees you will see stripes of vivid colors.

To conclude our morning, we ate a lunch of fish, assorted veggies, salad, and white rice, with the pungent drink of ginger lemonade. 

Following our break after lunch, we met in the classroom with our groups to begin our experiments! We got to work not only in the classroom, but we also went out into the field to collect gmellina leaves  for our projects. We worked from 2 to 4:45 in our lab notebooks with our groups.

Lauren and Anna holding a colony of ants.

A close up of the queen and the colony.

When the time came to end our science for the afternoon, we once again loaded into vans to go to Aracelly's, a cafe where we got to help a local chef make dinner. We all got a chance to add ingredients to the big bowl over a fire, roll out tortillas, and make salad. We also tried drinks of pure lime juice. After much hard work, we finally got to sit down and enjoy the delicious Costa Rican meal we made. It consisted of chicken, rice and beans, steamed vegetables, with the option of fresh lemonade or pineapple juice. Music was playing in the background, which lead to us all joining the chef dancing in the kitchen. We did the salsa and danced in a big circle. Arcelly's daughter then showed us some brain teasers using tooth picks. Shoutout to Graham for figuring out the problem first. The chef was a sweet woman happy to spend her night dancing and eating with us.

This is us posing with the chef, also known as our new friend.

Plates of ingredients before adding to the sauce.

On our way home, we listened to music to get us awake and ready to do some more science upon our return. All groups who needed to continue their work got the chance to put finishing touches on the first day of performing our experiments.

Finally, the end of the day came. We are exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep to refresh us for tomorrow's adventures.