Day 6: July 20th

HELLO PARENTS!! We're having lots of fun in Costa Rica! Today was another early morning with breakfast at 8:00 am sharp! After breakfast we truly began sciencing which was really fun. The past few days were planning days, but today we finally were able to begin collecting data and setting up our experiments. We were all very eager to start testing our hypotheses! Groups went out in the field collecting ant colonies and the leaves that are used to feed them. One of the groups was able to see the results of a preliminary, informal test in the field. They had set up an obstacle on an Atta's trail and found that the Attas had formed a new trail in less than 24 hours. A different group, whose experiment requires sugar cane, found it difficult to receive the sugar cane from their stalks, but they came up with some creative ideas. After going through several designs, they finally settled on using a tractor to crush the sugar cane stalks and collecting the run off juice. After a long morning of working hard on our science projects it was time for lunch, which were cheeseburgers! Although the food has been amazing all week, the cheeseburgers were a definite favorite.

 In the afternoon, we headed into town for our community service project. We helped eleven women, who own a garden in the center of town, weed and move wood for the house they are building on the property. Although it is progressing, in Costa Rica it is much less common for women to work and it is harder for them to find jobs. The women we worked with were very courageous and determined to support their families, which was very inspiring. It was really cool to be able to help out, and all of the women were very fun to talk to and get to know. We were honored to give back to a community that has helped us so much!

After we had departed from our service project, we walked to the local futbol field to play a "friendly" match against some of the local boys. Although we outnumbered them by more than 3 to 1, they beat us 3-0. There is a futbol player staying at Finca la Anita, and we invited him to join our team. We would have been far more destroyed had it not been for his help. The fields were very muddy and we were slipping around the entire game which added to the fun. It was a very unique experience for us because we couldn't understand the other team's communication, there were no nets in the goals, and barbed wire surrounded the field. In the end, we were able to make new friends and we all had a good time.

Next, we had the opportunity to learn how to cook an authentic Caribbean meal with a local family. The family was very welcoming and friendly. We chopped vegetables and made cheese, but the part of the meal that was the most fun to make were the corn tortillas. The tortillas were made by pressing the dough in a circular motion and then frying them on a wood stove. There was a girl from the family who was close to our age with whom we enjoyed speaking in Spanish, English, and even Chinese! She had a music player and some of us joined in on a spontaneous dance party. Eventually we got to try our beautiful and tasty meal and it did not disappoint. We had chicken on tortillas with a side of spicy rice and beans and a fancy salad as well as homemade juice which was really fantastic. For dessert we had fried flour tortillas drizzled in honey, and they were delicious! Once we got back to Finca la Anita (at 9:00 pm), we returned to our experiments since the Attas are most active later in the night. Some groups collected data or specimens out in the wild Costa Rican jungles while others stayed back and studied their artificial colonies. It was a late night (hence the late blog posting), but everyone is pleased with the work that was accomplished and the fun that was had by all.

Blog entry by Leah Johnson and Anna French