July 16- Day 2: First Years

Hey Everyone!

Today was a great experience where we were introduced to the week ahead of us, and it sounds intriguing! Right to start off the day, we found these bugs with giant mandibles that we thought was very unique. No one would pick the scary bugs up, except brave Bridget... who actually thinks they are cute.            

In the morning, our group discussed tropical ecology and we learned a lot of information, especially new details about fungus. We can already tell this trip is going to be very educational. We were also assigned our groups for our experiments with the "Atta" ants.

Today we also learned a lot about the Costa Rican culture and lifestyle. To start this off, we went a tour of Finca La Anita (the farm we are staying at). We started the adventure in a tractor ride due to the rain this morning, but unfortunately, the tractor broke down. But, don't worry! It started up again after a little while. During the farm tour, we saw many of the different types of vegetation they grow here. The most interesting to us was the cacao trees, which is used to make the most delicious dark chocolate that we have ever tried. Finca La Anita makes the chocolate themselves.

After this, we went into the village near the farm and first grabbed some homemade ice cream at a little house. It was so cold our hands froze, but worth it for the taste and it was very refreshing. When we walked around the village, we saw the cute, little school house and a store called La Poperia. At the store, many of us bought refreshments and something to eat. We tried these yummy miniature cakes they sold (some Costa Rican name we don't remember).

A couple hours later, after we came back, we hiked on a path in part of the forest. Here we saw many birds that we have never seen before in Minnesota (mainly because they don't exist in back home). We also could hear toucan calls, which we have never heard before.

At the end of the day, we are all exhausted from the eventful day. But, we can tell the trip is going to be an experience of a lifetime.

-Adalee and Carlie