Morning in 'Merica

Well, we made it.  After 9 days, thousands of miles traveled, hundreds of insect bites, and dozens of gallons of sweat, we're all back in the friendly confines of our homes.  Hopefully all the students have had time to wash the sweat, grime, and DEET from their bodies in the first hot showers they've had in almost 10 days.  I'm sure they're also taking full advantage of sleeping late in beds not covered by mosquito nets and raiding refrigerators filled with food other than rice and beans.

I think I can speak for Ms. Inselberger, Dr. Wood, and Jeff Klemens when I say thank you to all the parents for encouraging and allowing your students to take this tropical journey with us.  Many of the experiences we had on this trip took the students far away from their usual comfort-zone.  While many were cautious and skeptical at times (eating termites?!?), they banded together and supported each other through the hottest, toughest, most slippery climbs.  I know that they gained respect for tropical forests  and the work necessary to preserve and restore these ecosystems.  Hopefully the respect gained in the ACG can be transferred to (and their work can continue in) their little corner of the world.  If nothing else, I think this experience has given them an amazing appreciation for the creature comforts you have been able to provide them with at home.

This was definitely a trip of firsts.  Over the course of our time in Costa Rica, we tried to keep track of all the "firsts" experienced by the students.  Each student kept their own exhaustive list, but we've compiled a sampling of their responses below.  (Numbers represent number of students who shared this first-time experience.)

19  First time eating rice and beans every day for a week.
18  First time in Costa Rica.
18  First time seeing monkeys in the wild.
15  First time surfing.
14  First time swimming in a hot spring.
13  First time riding in the back of a pick-up truck.
11  First time snorkeling.
8    First time swimming in the Pacific Ocean.
7    First time riding a horse.
6    First time planting a tree.
5    First time traveling outside of the U.S.
5    First time swimming in the ocean.
2    First time catching a scorpion.
1    First time being stung by a bee.
1    First time finding both a scorpion and a tarantula in your bed AT THE SAME TIME!  
0    Dan Janzen sightings.


Thank you for trusting us to guide your students on this journey, and thank you for the thoughtful gifts received upon our return.

SHS Jungle Team (Ms. Inselberger, Dr. Wood, Mr. Carlson)

Holes and Hot Springs

Today, we woke up at 5:00 a.m. We had a mission: replant the rainforest. We rode out in vans, in trucks, and even the back of said vehicles. We were prepared for a fun, laid back planting of trees. We were so wrong.

We learned a little about the area we were in, and that after planting a few hundred tree sprouts, it only took a couple of years for a brand new forest to be standing, with hundreds of new species that they did not plant in the first place, 50% of which were airborne. So with our motivation set and teams built, we took our giant shovel pick things (macanas) and bags of fertilizer and went from spot to spot digging holes and planting little trees. 300 times. In the sun. With most of us already being sunburnt. But with all that aside, we made systems and got it done, and had fun! Until the system broke apart and everyone was running around demanding holes to be dug when they had already been dug in other open spots and a donkey hee-hawing following us everywhere we went. BUT, finally, we were scrambling around, and bam there were no more trees to plant. We followed a path and got back to our bags just in time for it to start raining. Being muddy and sweaty and other unmentionable things, we all got back in the cars feeling tired yet satisfied with our contribution to the rain forest.

After all that work came the relaxation. We went to the hot springs that were naturally heated by the volcano. We took a short ride there, greeted by two very excitable chocolate labs. We then proceeded to take a hike down the trail until we reached the first hot spring, which was at the bottom of a small waterfall. Thinking it'd be cold, people took their time getting in, but once we all realized it was naturally warm, everyone jumped in. We stayed there for a while and then went on another hike to another spring, which was through the forest, which happened to be led by a trail of mud. We all took our shoes off and let our toes squish in the mud, it was awesome... We reached it, at the bottom of a bigger waterfall, it was breathtaking. But colder. Sadly. Then it started to thunder and we had to get out, which was disappointing. We took the long hike back with the mud and went back. 

It was a nice way to end a long, week long trip. And as the last blog post, we end this with a thank you to the parents for supporting us to go on this trip, and to all the teachers along with us for sticking with us the whole way through.

We'll see you tomorrow!

-Johnny and Jesse

A new home and new experiences

Today's highlights include horseback riding and cattle herding. Controlling a horse is skill, and like any skill, riders can hone it with practice. Two facts which laymen may not realize is that horseback riding requires a healthy sense of balance and that routinely riding a horse tones the legs in a manner similar to how ballroom dancing tones the arms. Newcomers found a seat on more docile horses while the equestrian veterans received rowdier ones. Fortunately, despite mild hills and occasional falloffs the activity passed without significant injury. In between the two sessions of riding, there was a short lesson in throwing a lasso and spraying insecticide on cattle. To the surprise of some, efficient  lassoing takes a far larger looper than the picturesque lassos of westerns. The vigorous enthusiasm of one lassoers inspired the reminder that "[he] [was] cleaning the cow not exorcising it."

During the second horse ride, we rode through the tranquility of rolling pastures. The riders and horses worked well with each other despite some incidents where people lost control and fell off. Don't worry, everyone is ok! Although those events arose we still were able to see beautiful waterfalls in the rainforest. That was the end of the ranch part of the day.

In the evening, after we left the ranch, we travelled to our new housing, Mapache Lodge. Once we were settled in we had dinner and socialized. Then we took a night hike on which we saw a plethora of wildlife ranging from the famous red-eyed tree frog to the enormous bullet ant, whose bite has been known to make grown men cry (check it out on the web...glad we avoided the sting!).

Overall, a fantastic day.

- Arjun Bose, Keegan Fry

-Pura Vida!

Heading to Rincon de la Vieja

Hola blog readers,

This morning we are packing up all of our stuff and heading to our final lodging destination. Since it will be on the side of the volcano in the middle of the rainforest...it's possible that we will not have wifi service, meaning this might be the last blog post for a day or two. We just wanted to let you know in case you were worried by not seeing a post tonight.

All of the kids are doing great!

Pura vida!

The Fun Committee Brings Snorkeling to You!!

Today we woke up refreshed from the intense game of ACG charades and were greeted by the repetitive meal of rice and beans... Then we got ready and piled into Eladio's van (EHHHH) to continue our journey into the ocean. We arrived at the dock in a rural fishing village. We jumped into boats, Blue Whale and Maria Laura, and set out into the bay to snorkel. On the way to our destination we were mesmerized by the massive rock structures. 

If you haven't realized; these our the massive rocks we were mesmerized by.

Once we got over the big rocks, we pulled into a small bay and dropped anchor. We got our gear on and we flipped and flopped our way into the water. We were amazed by all the tropical fish and coral surrounding the bay as we hyperventilated through the tubes. We saw myriad amount of sea creatures such as poisonous sea urchins (we had to hold each other back from touching), eels, coral, rays, puffer fish, AND a mysterious pair of disclaimed shorts.

After our snorkeling adventures, we headed to the beach for almuerzo that Eladio happily served for us. After a lot of liquid intake, we got an URGE... and squatted in the ocean. Besides that, the beach had an incredible view that everyone enjoyed. Marvelous seashells and hermit crabs were scattered amongst the shore. For one last time we mounted the boats or one last time. 

We arrived at a local fresh fish restaurant and had delicious seafood meals and  fresh fruit smoothies.  We went home with our stomachs expanded to-da-max. Don't worry... 'bout a thing... cuz every little thing... iz gon' be alright.

Brought to you by the fun committee: Rawan Harb, Sara Ploch, Emma Buckardt.

p.s. our post is better than the  rest :)

Workaholics

Greetings from the tired yet enthusiastic K-NOISE-evic, Scorpion Setesak, and Monkeyin' Around Myles. After a long day at the beach and probably not enough sleep, we rose this morning for our daily breakfast at 7 o'clock. Guess what?? We had Rice and Beans! Again. Like every meal. Since day 1. We went off to the lab to continue the second part of the research we had started on Tuesday. Our good friend Daniél helped us recollect the leaf bags we had gathered previously from the drying oven in order to record data for our experiments.

Daniél helping us sort and label

 The sorted bags

While some groups washed roots out of soil, others measured leaves that had been left to decompose (more on that experiment later...), while others separated bags into categories of twigs, leaves, fruits and seeds, flowers, and caterpillar poop. What a joy that was. After a few hours of good hard labor to whip us rowdy teenagers into shape, we went to lunch. Which was a surprise in many ways. Not only did we get a new type of rice for lunch, but we also got to see a troupe of about 10 howler monkeys in the Guanacaste tree right outside of the Comedor (which is the Spanish word for the mess hall). After lunch and a little down time, we went right back to work. We began to do our analysis on our experiment on the decomposition of leaves. We were examining how two types of leaves decomposed under the tree they came from (Home Status) versus where the other type of leaves came from (Away Status). We measured how much of the mass had decomposed and was lost in the process. We had to almost yell across the room to hear each other over the sudden downpour outside. After a long development of the hypothesis and other critical information about the layout of the project, we took a small break. After all, we had been doing science for 2 hours. No kid can last that long during the summertime. 

Some of our layout for the experiment analysis

We returned to look at the mathematical patterns and calculations regarding the experiment, and spent the next hour taking an introductory course in statistics. Needless to say, by the time our 5:30 dinner rolled around, our brains were more cooked than the rice and beans we ate (although some of us have complained about these staples in Costa Rican cuisine, us three have been enjoying them a lot. Except for Myles. He doesn't like the beans :( But we won't judge him). We took some time to relax and take a nap (for the third time today if your name is Nick Setesak...). We were then surprised with a game of charades, which pitted the Seniors-to-be against the other students and Dr. Wood. It was a long, hard fought battle, as seen below:

As the last contestants from each group rose and acted out their Costa Rican themed terms, things were looking bright for the "Everybody Else and Dr. Wood" team. But those whiny old seniors couldn't lose. And Mr. Carlson decided to call for a Lightning round. Things got more heated than the Costa Rican sun. The tensions were increasing by the millisecond. We played our hearts out until the final stopwatch beep. And the Seniors rose, and screamed, and I, Alex, may or may not have exited the room in tears. Needless to say, there are grudges to be settled. But the dark, rainy evening perfectly displayed the crushing loss and defeat in all of our hearts. Or maybe just Alex's. But anyways....

We are preparing for a termite swarm tonight as they are on the hunt for mates. But we will tuck in our mosquito nets tight and hope for the best. We hope to survive. Stay tuned for more. This has been Myles Olson, Nick Setesak, and Alex Knezevic, reporting from the Santa Rosa Sector of the Área Conservación de Guanacaste. Thank you and goodnight. PURA VIDA!!!!

Vamos a la playa!!!

So, today was the long-awaited beach day. Although those in the back of Jeff's truck might argue that the ride there was the most exciting part.

We drove over hugely bumpy rocks and rivers, and, despite the advice from several road signs suggesting no one drive on the path, trusted Jeff's driving skills.  We took a couple breaks along the way, and during one of the stops to learn about the forest, we finally managed to come across a whole group of howler monkeys! Sounding like loud, rough barks of dogs, the monkeys called back and forth to each other over our heads while slowly moving along by swinging branch to branch. The car Dr. Wood was riding in also received a special gift from these monkeys- a lovely fecal surprise on his windshield.

On our way to the beach we stopped by some mangroves and learned about the different plants there. Then, we finally made it to the beach and played in the waves (and scared Ms. Inselberger by going way too deep into the ocean). After lunch, Eladio taught us how to surf. It was awesome, but it was very difficult to stand up on the surf board quickly.

After dinner, we watched the sunset on the beach where we came across an interesting phenomenon in the sand. When all the flashlights were finally shut off, we spotted tons of glowing, firefly-like spots spread all through the sand. These were natural, glowing algae.  Watching these wash in through the tides and through the sand was a great way to wrap up the night on the beach.

Our fun day in the sun came to an end. The return home in the truck was a lot shorter (unlike spending an hour to drive five miles to get there). We looked up into the sky and saw the sky lit up with beautiful arrangements of stars, and heard some beautiful music too (Carlson made up a great song about a towel living at ACG). We also saw some of the greatest sun burns man has ever witnessed.

Cowabunga from Emily, Megan, and Hannah

Photos: Take 2

Some of you have shared challenges in getting to the dropbox folder with pictures. It appears to work better if you copy and paste the link into your browser (as opposed to using a live link). If it does not work to copy and past the following link, please send me an email directly, and I will share a link via email directly from Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wnmha3fgn7xinik/I2kYDM5AP_

The students who did the blog last night ran out of time before getting the photos uploaded...hopefully they'll get to do that a little later. In the meantime, if you are able to access the link above, you will also find some fun videos from yesterday, such as Mr. Carlson eating termite larvae, crossing a canopy bridge in the rain forest, and a baby sloth moving between trees...we are having a great time! Today it's off to Playa Naranjo (beach) for some surfing lessons!

Pura vida!

Steve Wood
swood@d125.org

Bridges, Termites, Baby Sloths...OH MY!!

Greetings from Sabrina, Asha, and Neel!!!! Started our morning with rice and beans (see a pattern here?), eggs, and pancakes, and followed up with some serious off-road trucking.  Seriously, why can't we pull stuff like this in the states?

Anyways, took a long trek through the rainforest/cloud forest canopy with some scary, rickety bridges over 120 feet above the ground. Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones.

Then another slightly shorter but just as bumpy drive to a nature preserve which had SLOTHS!!! We almost had a heart attack because of the cuter than cute baby sloth. :D We could have spent hours staring at him.

Then we saw the "Brad Pitt" of the rain forest...the red-eyed tree frog. "Brad Pitt" and Mr. Carlson had a moment together when the tree frog jumped out of Jesus' (Costa Rican tour guide) hands and straight onto Mr. Carlson.

The truck ride back was pretty awesome. Afterwards we had dinner which had guess what? More rice and beans (and some other stuff...don't worry, we're eating well)! Neel Bose proclaims that he will never eat Chipotle again. We just want to say that Costa Ricans are very friendly and they are very willing to show you their culture. We also saw this cute little chica as we were leaving. Of coarse we got the "if you're not my mom don't talk to me" look, but either way the people here are beautiful. PURA VIDA!!!

P.S. We are now part of the I ate a bug club!!! (termites)
        BTW they taste like carrots and/or lettuce. We have some pretty brave souls here!!!



Tomorrow we tackle the sun and surf :)

Vamos a la playa, a mi me gusta bailar
El rico de la noche, sounds of fiesta!!! (google it)

Heart of the Jungle

Hola! Greetings from the jungle!

Joey, Alexa and Lauren here to report on all the happenings of day 2 in Costa Rica. Our morning started out with a LOVELY fitting for snake guards. (it took us all an hour to put those suckers on. Now we are all pros) We then trooped out to the truck to be dropped off into the forest (DUN DUN  DUUUUUNNNNNN) 

When we all arrived Daniel explained what the experiment was. In basic terms we collected decomposing leaves to compare decomposition under different trees. Daniel first showed us the short term experiment and then the long term one. We proceeded to help with the long term one by collecting current data and resetting the experiment.

 After lunch we all went on a hike to the different  sections of the National park. We became one with the forest during an hour long silent observation. (silent except for the gnats and mosquitos) We compared the differences between the original forest and the regrown forest. Then came together after dinner to discuss all the different observations we had. (WE'VE SPOTTED MONKEYS!! MOST OF US...)
P.S. Happy Birthday to Miles
P.P.S. BLACKHAWKS FOR THE WIN... yes, WIFI WAS FOUND!!
P.P.P.S Rice and beans? Too soon

Pura Vida! From T-Chick, J-Lo & Alexa (who has yet to be given a nick name from the great and all  powerful Ms. Inselberger)

We made it!

After alarm clocks going off at 1:15 am (or some choosing not to sleep at all on Sunday night!), we successfully met at 2:30 am and headed for the airport. All travels went without any troubles, and we arrived in Liberia C.R. at 11:05 am (local time). We boarded a caravan of vehicles to head to Eladio's Place for lunch (Eladio will coordinate our transportation...and surfing lessons...while we are here).

We enjoyed lunch by the pool, including sandwiches, fresh fruit and a fruit drink. We also began finding wildlife and getting acclimated to our new surroundings.

After settling in the dorms, we were off on our first nature hike, finding a nice range of specimens, including a couple of snakes, geckos, monkeys in the distance, and several bat caves! After dinner, Dr. Jeff Klemens gave an overview of the area, some history, and a preview of all we'd do over the next week. Although not a huge surprise, the kids still had enough energy for a late night card game on the patio outside the dorms!

We will provide an overview of our experiences each day, and include a few photos from the day. In addition, I'll be posting my photos to my dropbox account, which you should be able to view even if you don't have an account (click on the first photo and then you can view as a slide show): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wnmha3fgn7xinik/I2kYDM5AP_

If you have trouble accessing the photos, let me know. If you don't see your son or daughter in the photos....check out the link...I'll do my best to get a shot of each of them each day, but rest assured they are all doing well!

Pura vida!

Almost there...

Can it really be this close?  Are we really only a few hours away from leaving?

I think I can speak for the other teachers when I say that we can't wait to show all 19 students what is truly one of the most special places anywhere.  I can't wait to be woken by howler monkeys at 6 in the morning.  I can't wait to see dolphins skipping through the surf at Naranjo.  I can't wait to see the steaming caldera of Rincon de la Vieja.  I CAN'T WAIT!

Before we see any of that stuff, however, remember to have your passport, luggage, and your eager brain at Stevenson by 2:30AM tonight/tomorrow.  That's right, 2:30...in...the...morning...

Pura vida!