We added some a few more pictures to the flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81929315@N04/

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

Hola amigos! This is Katie C. and Shelby R. blogging to you from the dining hall! We did many amazing things today, and we would love to share with you. Today, we woke up to dry skys, which was a nice change from yesterday! We ate a lovely breakfast of pancakes, rice, and eggs. It was absolutly delicious, and then we went to the deck to begin our lab work. Our group is doing our project on the effects of citronella (a plant that repels insects) on gmellina tress (a favorite of the leaf cutter ant). We began with finalizing our procedure and examining our fungi and microbes. Pablo gave us a tour around the farm to scavenge for the best materials we would need for our experiments. We worked through late morning on our projects, and then took a break for lunch. We had an equiste meal of cheesy rice, steak and onions, and fresh salad. After lunch, we had two hours of free time, so many of us went into the village to purchase items from La Pulperia (the local store). Many of us bought various types of candy including: watermellon flavored suckers, cookies and creme flavored suckers, bon bons, chocolate, carmels, and basically anything you can imagine. After we got back, Dr. Pinto took us aside for another meeting, and we had more time to work on our projects. Since our group finished early, we decided to examine our bacteria a little more closly. With the help of Dr. Pinto, we made a bacteria smear, stained it, and examined it under the microscope. We found something very interesting; not only did we have the expected type of bacteria, but also another type as well! The bacteria was from Grace's waterbottle, so it may have been a little frightening for her! Next, we went back to our cabins for a break, and then, before we knew it, it was time to collect our data. Our first trial didn't go quite as expected, considering the leaf we had was completly missing! Although, we did get data from the other two trees, so hopefully we will be okay! We watched as many of the other groups investigated, and did trials on their projects as well. After that, we had another fantastic dinner of fish and potatoes with fresh mango juice. Now, we are off to do another trial for the night! Hope everyone is well at home, and wish us luck as we continue with our adventure!

*This was written last night but due to storms our internet was down and we could not post this.  We'll have our usual daily post tonight as well but wanted to get this up for you to read*

Hola! This is Owen and Grace from Finca la Anita, Costa Rica! Today started out with an always delicious breakfast consisting of fresh fruit, juice, omelets, and a new favorite: Fried cheese. Then we went to the deck to meet with Dr. Adrian Pinto to culture the fungus gardens from our colonies which we collected yesterday. We did this to try to grow the fungus or the parasitic fungus called Escovopsis in a lab setting. In addition, we did readings about diseases and microbes. Later, we met with our groups to finally decide what we wanted to test for our experiment. Los Vaqueros decided to use ash to confuse the ants to keep them from eating that crop. Las Hormigas de Fuego (Owen's group) is designing a plastic structure to coat with natural insect repellents from the forest as well as slippery oil to prevent the ants from climbing up this structure up the tree. Los Scientificos Locos are going to brew a tea containing auchiotillo leaves, which contain arsenic. Las Tortugas Moradas (Grace's "group") is using citronella in different forms to deter the ants from the Gmelina tree. We all designed our hypothesis, procedure, and materials list for each experiment and made a poster to present before dinner. After this, we went to lunch, pasta with meat sauce and the best pesto in the world. We also had juice, bread with more pesto, and salad. The dessert, of which many of us ate two, was a scoop of something (we never know what exactly it is we're eating) delicious atop a lemon leaf. The scoop was similar to cookie dough and was handmade here with fresh cocoa, coconut and other ingredients from La Anita. After this glorious meal, we met on the deck to begin our adventure in the forest. Carlos drove us in the trailer bed which was attached to a tractor. Javier and Freddy, our guides, quickly stopped us along the way when they sighted a very rare white hawk perched in a tree nearby. We looked through the scope and took pictures while Javier told us it was only the third time he had seen one perched in a tree in his eight years as a guide! After loading the trailer once again, we continued to a point where it was obvious the tractor could go no further. Here we dismounted and began the steep trek with our first downhill. At this point, it began to drizzle (as always!). The first part of the hike was mostly dry, and we stopped often to point out different insects while our fabulous guides filled our heads with knowledge and their expertise. Perhaps the coolest critter was the venomous Rainforest Hognosed Pit Viper. After an hour of muddy, slippery, downhills (picture a slip 'n slide covered in mud with 19 people trying to make their way down over leaves and roots in the rain). It was also raining heavily by now. As we finally slipped all the way to the river at the base of the valley, the sky opened and the heavens rained down on us with no end in sight. Deciding that we were already soaked, many of us decided to ditch the swimsuits and dive in clothes and all. We all enjoyed the water, the view, the rain, the people, and an experience so amazing no words can be used to describe it. After some time of swimming, raining, exploring, and slipping on rocks, one loud clap of thunder was all it took to bring us all back home to the bank of our muddy boots, soaking bags, and mushy socks. Then, we redressed in our forever-wet clothes (here Owen comments that his jacket is still wet and Grace mentions the wet socks hanging on the makeshift clothesline in her cabin). This was also the time when many a mumble was made about packing more pairs of tall socks. Brief moments of complaining behind us, we began the arduous task of making the climb back up through what had turned into a river of mud. We climbed for about 45 minutes, faster than the descent we might add, in soaking wet uniforms and boots filled to mid-calf with dirty water. At the breaks, which were few and far between it seemed, many of us took the time to empty the gallons and gallons and gallons of water that had begun to call our boots home. Finally, we made it back to Carlos and his tractor waiting to begin the journey back to La Anita. In case you were wondering, it was still pouring rain. On the ride back to the farm, as Carlos expertly maneuvered his precious cargo through the roots and puddles, we took the time to learn more from our guides as well as sing some Spanish songs. We arrived back safely, soaking wet, smiles on our faces, and not a complaint in sight. With only 45 minutes before our presentations, we all moved quickly to our cabins to wring out the clothes, boots, socks, bags, etc. and prepare for the rest of the day. It was around this time, when we experienced some of the most violent lightning and thunder combinations known to man. One of the strikes was so powerful, it set off the alarms on la Finca. After drying off as much as possible, we gave our presentations to the group as well as Adrian and Pablo to share our thoughts with the group. Next came dinner: kabobs, corn on the cob, peppers, salchichas, fresh juice (of course), and dessert which was ice cream perched atop a glorious piece of chocolate cake. After dinner, was our second hike of the day. We began our night hike with our beloved guides and right away they pointed out some insects to take note of. Throughout the trek, they shared their expertise about the critters we were seeing; preying mantis, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders ad other arachnids, walking sticks, a frog, a cicada, and many others we can't remember. Everyone commented on the diversity we were seeing; a cricket at home cannot possibly be related to a cricket here, can it?! After returning to the farm, everyone went to bed declaring today was the best adventure we have had! They all went happily to bed and Owen and Grace began the arduous task (more arduous than the hike) of this blog. Sixteen hours later, they finally joined their classmates in the cabins and went to bed!

Signing off for the night, 
Nos Vemos!
Grace and Owen

Greetings from Costa Rica! Today was a lovely day. Waking up is always a struggle, however, the farm fresh food that they grow in Finca La Anita makes the struggle worth it. Right after breakfast this morning, Dr. Adrian Pinto took us to "harvest" fungal gardens of various species of leaf cutter ants: Atta Cephalotes, Atta Columbica, and Acromyrmax [spelling not guaranteed to be correct, lol. :)]. Three of us, other than Dr. Pinto himself, harvested the fungal garden along with the queen; those three are Pedrum, Dan, and Amanda. Apparently if you harvest the queen of the ants, you are officially an Ant Man or an Ant Woman, which we all became, yay! I believe that we are the first group to successfully harvest an acromyrmax queen of the program. The process of harvesting involves digging sideways so the dirt is not spilled into the fungal garden chamber. Because of this, the process must be done carefully so the fungal garden is not damaged. We will use the harvested fungal gardens and ants for research later in the week. After this event, we washed off then ate lunch. After lunch we took a 30 minute tractor ride to Colonia Blanca so that we could go horseback riding, or take the alternative hike to a waterfall. The horse trail was filled with rocks and mud. Each student was filled with dread and terror (just kidding, well sort of) of falling off the horse because some of the hills were so muddy and steep it was surprising the horse was still standing. I, Pedrum, eventually got kicked in the ankle by one of these horses, but no worries because I remain uninjured, for now ;). Pablo's dog, Corleon, somehow managed to run all the way there with us, ran on the horse trail, and ran all the way back. The horse trail was filled with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain side so expect amazing photos from my fellow peers! After we got back, we took an hour and half break then continued with the ants. We transferred the ants from the field containers into a more permanent residence. We took a dinner break after transferring the ants. After a delicious meal, they all are delicious by the way, we found leaves for the ants so they could forage and eat. After this we took a look at the petri dishes from yesterday and counted the amount of microbe colonies present. After this event, we wrote/are writing the blog. I don't think I can get any further up to date than this. Now off to bed! Stay tuned for tomorrows blog update, which I'm sure will be as equally snarky as this one. From Costa Rica, with Love.

Pedrum and Kobie

To give you a taste of what we are doing and what we have done so far, we were able to upload a few pictures for you guys to view! There is more to come. We would upload them all,  but sadly the internet connection is not that fast :'(. Here is the Link!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/81929315@N04/sets/72157630471435540/

Greetings! Sorry about posting this so late, but we've had a very long day. A very fun day, at that.

Breakfast started at 8am and after getting a good night's sleep we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to go! We ate eggs, rice and beans, and fresh pineapple, which was incredibly delicious.  Then, Pablo took us on a tour of the plantation to see how the ants are affecting the crops they plant as well as getting a lay of the land. We saw a variety of plants: achiotillo (arsenic plant), cacoa tree, guava, palm, pineapple, macadamia, orange, etc... There was a plant where were were able to squeeze it and wash our hands out in the forest (pictures to come!!). To get back to the cabins, we trekked through the rainforest. Under logs, across streams, over muddy terrains, trying to keep up with Pablo as he was machete-ing his way though. We also had our first leaf-cutter ant sighting! The rainforest is a beautiful place and walking through the midst of all of it was a wonderful experience.
After the long trek, we were all hungry and ready for lunch. Once again, it was beyond delicioius, consisting of rice and beans (also, once again- but they're still stupendous) and beef.
After the nutritious lunch, we had a tour of the local community we are staying in. We bought ice cream made by some local people, in bags, and it only cost fifty cents! Coconut, cacoa, and cream flavors- que deliciosa! We saw the brand new basketball court, less than two months old and made possible by the Peace Corps and financial help from an WNBA player. We viewed the typical home that the locals live in- a very different life from the ones we have back home. Pablo introduced us to a 76 year old man who travels twenty five kilometers on horseback almost every week to continue sustaining his family. Wow! We also visited the local school, church, and saw the clinic we will be helping later this trip. The sun finally came out and we were ready for a swim. The pond we swam in had a bottom that consisted of pure mud. Your feet squished all the way down to the water and even when you got into the water. After enjoying the scenery and the subtle rainfall that had begun, we decided to head back to the cabin. Realizing that the mud was pretty much covering our bodies, we decided it would be a good idea to rinse off in the showers.
In our time before dinner, we were able to relax, photograph the humming birds, and enjoy one another's company while playing cards.
Dinner did not consist of rice and beans (to tell the truth, we kind of missed it...!) but did consist of chicken with caribbean sauce and mashed potatoes- the best I've ever eaten.
After dinner, Dr. Adrian Pinto arrived and we introduced formally to microbes and the scientific method. We found our groups and named them: Los Vaqueros, Las Hormigas de Fuego, Los Scientificos Locos, and Las Tortugas Moradas. Our first experiment was testing to see where microbes are the most present. Doing this at 9:00 at night, you would think that we would be slightly tired. In fact, we were just the opposite! Thrilled to be doing an official experiment!

It has been a long day; it is hard to believe that just yesterday we arrived and two days ago we were celebrating the 4th of July. We have already experienced so much about the Costa Rican culture and learned so much about the beautiful environment that surrounds us. We are looking forward to horseback riding tomorrow, continuing our experiments and improving our spanish skills.

Amanda's Poetry Corner:
Yesterday's poem...
WELCOME
Different scenes scratching the surface of my eyelids like irritating sand.
Once the polish returns, awe sets in.
The magnitude of the mountains, billowing clouds do hide.
Palmate leaves looking like welcoming hands do guide.
Liberia, the pathway's title.
Open air tunnels peak out beyond the trees, touches of civilization. 
Here we come, sweet wholesome stillness.

Today's poem...
PURITY
Clean at last!
That murky water now washed off,
purity by the exquisit crystal clear liquid comming pre-heated by the foucet in the wall.
Alas, as I peer out of the mesh window conjoining my purified world to the outside world.
A sublimly perched humming bird catches the cornner of my eye. 
Please come again soon little bird.
Clarity and calmness now setting in.

FROM!!!!!!!!
Olivia, Amanda, and Katie L   GO CABIN 1! :)

Greetings and salutations to the parents of we here in Costa rica. I am excited to report that no one is dead, although we were all string to die of boredom on the flights. Many of us just slept through until we landed in Atlanta. We were a little rushed on our transition between the flights, but it worked out the end. Upon landing we were moved into a bust hat took us on a two hour trip to Finca la Anita. Along the way, we stopped at a local restaurant, since many of us had not eaten since before the flight, or even since the night before. The food was delicious, and many of us got a chance to practice our Spanish (we're pretty bad at it). All the while, we are surrounded on all sides by beautiful scenery, rural villages, and wonderful people. Our hosts here at the ranch, Ana and Pablo, are some of the nicest people we have ever met, and have been helpful every step of the way. Around halfway there, John stopped us and showed us a tropical fruit called a Mamon Chino. It was absolutely delicious and looked like nothing we had ever seen before. Upon arrival we discovered that not only was the rain falling and refusing to stop, but the camp also has a resident horse and three resident dogs. Since none of us know their real names, and we haven't bothered to ask, we call them Charlie, Chester, and chestnut. The horse we call Freddie. After arrival, getting introductions and formalities out of the way, as well as obtaining our boots, we all settled in to rest before dinner. Dinner consisted of fish, salad and vegetables, along with some delicious pesto sauce and even more delicious hot sauce. Over what was an excellent meal, we had some of the silliest conversations imaginable. And thus, with that I find myself writing this blog. I wish ya'll the best from us hereat the ranch. Sincerely, The first blogger Daniel McCrackin