Saturday, June 25, 2016

Noli te Agitare/Freak Not Out

Pura Vida friends and family,

This morning, many of us were so tired from our amazing day yesterday that we slept for an extra half an hour, cutting it close for another spectacular breakfast of Gallo Pinto, eggs, yogurt, and coffee. Today was focused on finishing up our research experiments. Many groups still had several trials left to run, along with creating their final presentation, but everyone kept their spirits high by interspersing hours of science with coloring (in the basically communal adult coloring book) and breaking out our summer reading books (total tally: 8 copies of Unbroken, 5 copies of Of Mice and Men).

Lunch was one of the best meals yet, consisting of “Pancake fish” (-Siggy), a colorful fresh salad, vegetable rice, and smoothies that tasted just like Jamba. After the meal, we had some time before we needed to resume our science experiments, so several people decided to walk into town for one last trip to the mall. We loaded up on Costa Rican candies and ice cream with the intent of bringing some home (sorry, families, it probably won’t make it all the way to the airport, let alone Minnesota). While we were walking, it started pouring and, since most of us opted to leave our raincoats back at the ranch, we got drenched. On the way back in the rain, Carlos, an employee at the ranch who also led our hike to the river with Javier earlier in the week, drove up behind us in a tractor. We climbed into the trailer and rode “like Roman gladiators” back to the ranch with Ellie’s rain poncho blowing behind her.

In the afternoon, groups wrapped up their experiments, and we had a coffee break with empanadas, which were delicious. We worked again until dinner, where were joined by Pablo’s daughter and her friend, who are freshmen by our school system. We loved talking to them about American culture and found similar interests in YouTubers and TV shows. After a dessert of banana flan, we went back to the lab to put the finishing touches on our experiments and presentations and make them ready to present tomorrow.

Lots of love,
 The Ant Farm J
Blog talent by: Jules, Bergen, and the dead ant

So quotable:
“Don’t blow the dead ant at me!”
“It’s freezing here!” “It’s eighty degrees.”
“Pinto, we have a problem”
“They’re all statistically significant, Yes!!”
“The Wi-Fi here is worse than the Wi-Fi at Vis.”
“I was going to bring my Vis sweater on this trip”
“I was so looking forward to playing soccer with boys”
“So apparently ants are trying to start a colony in my backpack, so….”


Early morning view from the dining area



Smiles at breakfast










Working on summer reading during a break





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