New ecosystems -- from Jesse

While different then Atenas and Santa Rosa National Park, ITEC has offered our group an insight into many completely new ecosystems and natural formations. Whether its a visit to the primary forest or trips to wet and dry caves to study bats and get a hands on look at limestone formations, nothing is more than a half an hour ride away. We have learned about mangrove swamps, hard coral formations. We have taken a boat ride in a torrential downpour to experience the canal built in the mid 19^th century for banana transportation from the upstream plantations to Bocas Del Toro.We have been exposed to different type of beaches, from cheddar reef, less than 100 yards from our dorms to the black sand volcanic beach at Serrapta. While in ITEC we have split up into smaller research groups and have had a chance to further explore many of the natural wonders available here. With studies ranging from behavior of leaf cutter ants to documenting the abundant coral found in the reefs near ITEC, the ability to further explore many of the interesting species and formations has given us a chance to hone the scientific process we started learning in Santa Rosa National Park and dig deeper into what tropical ecology has to offer.

--Jesse

Rainy boat trip! -- from Tom

On Tuesday the group put on our raingear and hopped in the boats. We rode a ways across the Serropta Pennisula, where we rode through a long canal. We finally got out at Chino’s house (he owns some property on the Peninsula and the ITEC research station property.) We walked through some mud and muck to a beautiful black sand beach, and we were careful to keep along the shore to avoid the strong rip tide. We waded in the shallows and dug in the dark sand, which had eroded from clastic volcanic rock and was smooth underfoot. Pete discovered a few empty sea turtle eggs at the top of the beach. Eventually we made out way back to the boats, and Pete picked a few figs from a tree in the river. He threw some over to my boat (they were admittedly pretty bitter) and we rode back to ITEC. It was a great experience.
* For most of the ride it was pouring rain, filling the boat so that we needed to bail out the boat.

-Tom Foley

Group Projects -- from Mikaela Joyce

Today, Thursday, is our last full day at Bocas del Drago, Panama. While we were here, we explored the forest, snorkeled in the coral reef, visited caves, and floated down a canal. Everyone in our group has also been working on a science project. Tonight, each group will present their research.

My group (Niko, Tilly, Sarah, and Mikaela) has been tracking the movement of sea stars. We observed their speed and which direction they went in, and we are trying to determine if there are any patterns in their movement.

Kayla, Knaide, and Tom are doing a social science experiment. They are interviewing people on the island about natural medicine and Western medicine, and seeing if Western medicine is taking over or if people still use natural medicine.

Amelia, Will, Alex, and Aundre are studying geckos. They are testing whether the geckos prefer water with higher concentrations of sugar, or water with less sugar. They have cups of water with varying concentrations of sugar attached to a wall where geckos congregate.

Kate, Peter, and Brianna are studying ants. They are tracking the ants and obstructing their paths with blocks of Styrofoam. Next, they observe how long it takes the ants to move blocks of Styrofoam, and what methods they use to move them.

Jeff and Jesse are studying bats. They are looking into the diversity of bats on the island. There are a few caves on the island and they have been conducting their experiments there.

Tomorrow we are headed for Los Quetzales, Panama, and we will be exploring the cloud forest. Wish us luck with our presentations tonight!

-Mikaela Joyce

Cave of Wonders -- by Kayla

Six of us went to explore some wet caves not too far from our station here the other day, which might have been the best thing we’ve done yet! We went into one shorter cave-tunnel with Steve, Carra and Pete first and saw some cool bat colonies and rock structures made of clay and calcium and stuff. We had to wade through water around our knees at times. Then just us students went exploring through a second cave-tunnel for maybe a half hour. It was much longer and exciting, the water up to my neck at some points and we had to crouch a bit for some parts to not hit the ceiling. Bats flew around our heads and we saw a bug that looks like a mix of a crab, spider and scorpion (amblypygi). If you watched the 4^th Harry Potter movie it’s the spider Moody messes around with in class. Pretty creepy, but harmless, we touched them. Anyways, pretty awesome adventures in the caves!!!

Amelia-Selected Science Journal Excerpts

Hullo. This is Amelia. It appears that I am posting from Briana's account (?). It was suggested by Amber that I post the following selections from my daily science journal.

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

10:30

Today we explored a hard coral reef.`We saw deadly sea urchins waggling foot long venomous spikes, and gigantic stationary sea cucumbers. The hard coral and sponges came in a mesmerizing variety of shapes, textures and colors. One particular type of sponge came in deep blues, greens and turquoises, while others were bright orange or pink. These grew up from the sea floor in great quantities, and were even more numerous on the mangrove roots that jutted out into the open water. There were branching tree-like corals that grew up from the sand, wrapped all about with spindly brittle stars, and huge domes of brain coral with labyrinthine surfaces. Occasional strands of blueish phlegm extended from one coral to another. I later learned that these were a form of tentacle that one body of coral will shoot out to destroy parts of another coral so as to make space room for itself to expand.

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

22:00

Drizzling and overcast

I have just come back from a night hike in a tropical rain forest. It was an excellent experience. Despite the clouds the stars shone brilliantly. We walked along the road and on a path through the rain forest that we had hiked the previous day. I saw my first red-eyed tree frog: the stereotypical tropical tree frog with brilliant green back, cream-colored underbelly, neon-orange feet, yellow sides with vertical stripes of brilliant blue and fiery red eyes that give it it's name. I was surprised by it's smallness. I had always heard rumors of its toxicity, yet my guide gave me permission to handle him. I later had trouble removing him from my fingers, for his large, sticky feet with flat, circular toes are perfectly developed for clinging to most surfaces. He was splendid. We also saw several varieties of toad. Some lucky fellows in the front of the group spotted a Bufo marinus, a huge, hideous, omnivorous creature capable of shooting spines containing a deadly venom up to ten feet from its back. I had become enamored of the species when I was seven, and had been begging to keep one as a pet ever since. We also saw two flattish, creamy toads perched on leaves, and another fat brown toad, which appeared to differ from a Bufo americanus only in size. I captured a frog whose binomial nomenclature had recently changed to include the name Savage (amusing, since my science project is citing and expanding on the information of Jay M. Savage, this frog's namesake). We also spotted and captured another large frog, which left a copious amount of translucent slime on my hands with the adhesive qualities of elmer's glue. We also spotted a yellow skinned tree frog with semitransparent skin, through which one can distinguish its blue bones.

Apologies for the lack of knowledge on the classification of these animals. I fully intended to identify them, but ran out of time to do so.

a quick update from bocas

We have succesfully relocated ourselves to Panama, and we are right up against the sea. We´ve started our group projects, and have been out collecting data inbetween excursions to caves and canals. My group is working with starfish and it involves a lot of half-underwater, muffled yelling with snorkel masks on about how far one of our marked stars has slunk (very far very quickly, if you were wondering). I´ve probably ingested more saltwater than is healthy but it´s well worth it.

Despite discovering that all our belongings are eternally damp here, it´s been great. I´m exhausted by the time I crawl into my top bunk at night, with the rain pounding on the corrugated metal roof and thoughts of starfish slinking through my head. We are getting to apply the methodology we´ve been learning, and deciding what we work on.

The Final Day by Aundré Bumgardner

Just to give you a taste of my experience the last 11 days, here’s my haiku for Spanish class:

Atenas C.R.

Me encantan las ticas

No queiro salir

My time in Atenas has been utter amazement. Most of my days have consisted of a morning run around Atenas with Mario and Jeff, an afternoon chilling in the park with Jeff and Eagle, and some partying with my family. Now that is coming to a close, I cannot help but wonder what life will be like when I leave Atenas. I love it here.

The families have been more than a homestay. They’ve become family. After just over a week an Atenas, I am family. Nothing felt better after I walked out the house, and my family told me whenever I would like to visit, I had a place to say.

“Quieres regresar a Atenas?,” Mi familia dijo. “Si, Era todos los dias.”

In the morning, we began with Spanish classes as usual. Most of my days have consisted of a morning run around Atenas with Mario and Jeff, an afternoon chilling in the park with Jeff and Eagle, and some partying with my family.

In the afternoon, we went out for Ice Cream. With Jeff Dinardo, a close confidant of mine, along with his host brother and his two cousins Tati and Efren, whom I met while I spent a day at the pool with the previous Saturday. Seeing How Jeff and I have swag, we waited for Tati at the high school. From there, we finally went out for Ice Cream. I treated out my adoptive second family for some good ol’ chicle flavored helado. We all chomped down, then took the final afternoon stroll through the infamous “el parqué,” and went off to “la casa de Isabel” to prepare for the evening fiesta.

Seeing all the families I spent so much time with made me quite sad to leave. They have treated me with the up most respect and hospitality within the last week. I will genuinely miss the great people of this town, and the endless fun and interactions I have had.

From Luis my video game loving 14 year old brother, to Monica my 20 yr. old sister who’s a Costa Rican National Fútbol Team Phenom, to Tefi, my corky happy go lucky 17 year old sister, to my hardworking stocky father, to the ever so loving host mother… I can thoroughly say I am sadder to leave a place so wonderful then I ever have. Without a doubt will I be returning...

For now, to be continued from Atenas… See y’all in a couple weeks.

Pura Vida.

This is not Jeff

For the past 4 days, we have all woken up to either the sound of waves or rain, which are actually rather similar sounds. So far, it is usually rain (this is probably why they call it a rainforest).

I, Knaide, am rooming with the lovely Sarah, Kate, Kayla, Brianna, and Mikaela, as well as a dozen or so pale orange geckos that seem to be living in the rafters. I hardly ever wear shoes here, as the activities generally include walking across sand or snorkeling in the sea, which is only some 40 yards away from our room.

Despite the paradise like atmosphere, this is far from luxurious. One of the 4 sinks in the bathroom work, and the toilets seem to be clogged half the time. The showers aren’t much more than hoses sticking out of the wall (It makes one appreciate showers with good water pressure much more when it takes several tries to rinse all the soap out of one’s hair) The spacers for the to bunk of the bunk beds are oddly spaced, causing some of us to wake up half sunk into the bed. Everything seems to be perpetually damp, from clothing to our science notebooks, and many of us have legs decorated with bug bites. However, we are still laughing and enjoying every moment.

Everyone has split into separate groups to conduct field studies or projects. Tom, Kayla, and I, Knaide, are focusing on medicinal plants in comparison to modern medicine, and how the uses of both have changed over time. We spent the day yesterday doing research and creating and translating a questionnaire. Today, we are going into town to interview some people who live here and see what they know about medicine and what type they use.

-Knaide

hellooooo from kayla

so we´re leaving costa rica in a couple days, which is terribly sad. I love my host family even though they try to feed  my five time sthe amount of food i  can possibly hold, but it´s out of love and it´s delicious so  it´s  ok. My little sister has declared i am her best friend and doesn´t want me to go,  which makes me only want to stay more.  I´ve had a lot of fun with my family teaching the three kids ukulele, joining in family dance night, running around the block with them and the  neighbors, playing monopoly (imperio here), swimming in the  pool, and tons of other stuff. I definitely wish the homestay part of the trip was longer, it feels like we just  got here  and already have to leave!
I´m really excited for the next part in panama,  sunny beaches and wild jungles definitely are the best!

bits and bobs

These last few days have felt strange, but in a lovely sort of way. I didn´t think eleven days could pass so quickly. I think most of us can say that we´ve fallen into pleasant patterns with our host families and have gotten to know our way around the center of Atenas. I know I´m going to miss getting up at six to have coffee with my host mother and watch daylight creep up from behind the mountains of the valley.

We went went to a volcano on Sunday. The change in temperature was incredible-- We went from being dusty and overheated to shivering in the bus, closing our windows and appreciating our host mothers´ insistence on bringing along extra layers. Further up near the crater was covered in fog and you could feel yourself breathing it in. There were viewing platforms where you could stand up against the railing to look  at the crater but for most of our hike up all we could see was heavy, white fog and it felt a little like looking at the end of the world. But by late morning the sun came and the fog dispersed. Supposedly this is a peek into what the cloud forrest will be like, on the last strech of our trip.

The past few days we´ve been working on a project having to do with recycling in Atenas. We broke up into groups that approached the issue in different ways: a survey for our host mothers, finding key informants to interview, systematically observing people in the park. It wasn´t until we came together this afternoon that all the pieces started fitting together that we had a clearer, wholer picture of what was going on.

We´ll be leaving on Thursday for Panama. Wish us luck.

Costa Rica

Well our time in Costa Rica is drawing to a close. Atenas, where we are staying with our homestay families, is year-round sunshine and good company, and everyone here is amazingly kind-- especially our families. This past weekend we visited, as a class, the rodeo and fiestas that took place right near where we are, and we were able to see bullriders, races, and general games of taunt the bull until he chases you (pictures online), which was very amusing. In additon to that entertainment, we did have time to visit a volcano and do group activities on the recycling habits of the citizens of Atenas. So, while I can´t honestly say I´ll ever want to leave, we will be doing just that on this Thursday, off to see the wild vegetation and animals of Panama. Unfortunately we do have a final exam for our spanish class here tomorrow (it is school), so I think I should go and prepare a bit.
Jeff

This is sort of a late post due to not having internet, but here's an update for yesterday, our third day in Atenas and our second day of classes. It's amazing how fast you adapt to a way of life that's different from your own. In the states, I am not a morning person, but here, I wake up exactly at 6 every morning amd spend time with my host family.
During our four hours of spanish we had a dance class with a special teacher, and I believe there are videos somewhere on the cswoffcampus website.
After lunch and siesta, we went to a nearby forest to do some comparisons to the others we've seen so far. We talked about the imprtance of watersheds and the distribution of water before our walk, and during our walk we could hear a river but not quite see it because the sides of the ravine were very steep.
And on a more personal level, during lunch I was spending time with the cousin of my host sister who is about 6 years old, and I showed her how to use my watercolors and watercolor pencils. Later on I'll post her drawings because they are very sweet. Now everytime I see her she asks if we can draw and I can't wait to see what she draws next.

IN ATENES!!

So! after a long journey in Santa Rosa, we finally made it to our host families! no doubt that we were all nervous, but hopefully we will all survive. My feeling is that we will. Tomorrow, we will have our first day spanish school. Alex is looking forward to playing ping-pong. well I am not really sure what else to post, so hopefully someone else will post something! Deséenos la suerte!!!! (wish us luck)

Second Night in Costa Rica!

So it looks like another peaceful night after an amazing day at the Santa Rosa Dry Forest. Today we saw tons of animals, with deer everywhere and a band of white-face monkies coming right outside of the cafeteria. The food, maybe not so suprisingly, is delicious. Here, it seems rice and beans with some other option is the staple, as well as variations of ham. Tomorrow we go to a volcano to hike and observe the vegetation, which has been nothing short of incredible. Already, I have learned tons, mostly without trying, as there are so many types of plants and animals that I didn't even know existed. So hopefully tomorrow will not be too hot for our hike, and it turns out to be a good one.

Jeff

the url of this blog may be misleading

...though there have been quite a few monkeys.

We are in Santa Rosa, after a long day of planes and buses and the realization that we have really and truly left the snow behind. There will hopefully be photographic evidence coming (maybe of the monkeys!).

This is to be a student-run blog, updated daily so you all at home can be terribly jealous of our adventures.

More to come!