Hey everyone! The whole group was super tired today. Yesterday was a very thought demanding day and We really felt it catch up this morning. Delicious breakfast as always (pinto balls and eggs)and then back to the lab. We reviewed our data from last night and finalized our procedures again. Los Vaqueros (the cowboys) which consists of Chris, Olivia, Emma and Kobie are testing the effect of ashes on the ant activity. Los Tortugas Moradas (the purple turtles) which is Grace, Katie C and Shelby are testing how citronella affects ant activity. Dan, Lauren, Katie L and Sarah are Los Cientificos Locos (the mad scientists) are looking at how arsenic tea affects ants. The fire ants, Las Hormigas de Fuego, are testing a bell shaped oil covered device on repelling ants from certain trees. Amanda, Pedrum, Maddie and Owen are in that group. We checked fungus growth, colonies, and some gram staining on the side from three hours. Many groups fine tuned their experiments again to get ready for another night of data tonight. After fighting to stay awake during our group time we came in for an amazing lunch of homemade hamburgers. About this time the clouds cleared up for the first time all week and we could see all the beautiful volcanos (Rincon and Santa Maria) in the distance. It was really an amazing site and we all made sure to take a ton of pictures. Right after our meal we ran back to our cabins to put on painting clothes to get ready to go into the community for our service project this week. We walked to the church and broke into two groups to paint the inside of the church and the outside of the clinic. The man who was helping us at the clinic, Inez, bought us all cookies and coke. It was a really nice surprise. After we finished painting we went to play soccer against some local boys. They ranged from ages 6-15 but they still managed to cream us 5 to 1. They tried to help us at first but by the end they were literally running circles around us. Even the littlest boys couldn't help but laugh as we tried to take the ball from them. After time more and more people came To join the game or just watch. We could tell that the locals were really enjoying watching us scramble around on the field. After our soccer defeat, we went to Aracelly's house for a cooking class while we were still extremely sweaty and dirty from playing. She taught us how to make homemade tortillas, cheese "footballs", cerviche, and salad. She had also prepared rice, beans and caribbean style chicken. After it was all finished, Adrian and Maricella came to the house and enjoyed the meal with us. Once we all finished Aracelly brought out a couple of match picture mind games and stumped us all, even Adrian. By that time it was dark out and we walked back to our cabin while John drove the car slowly behind us so we could see where we were going. Right now the groups are out collecting their data and finishing up their experiments for the night, where we should probably be going to help also. Good night and see you all in 5 days!! -Sarah and Chris Shutout to my dad: I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I wish I was there to celebrate with all of you! Love, Olivia