We said our goodbyes to our families in Atenas, throwing a festive dinner party for all, complete with BBQ marinated meats served on a tortilla with delicious rice with grated carrot, fresh salad and pico de gallo of chopped tomatoes and onion and cilantro, and Costa Rican style ¨refrescos¨ of hand squeezed orange juice, just picked from my family´s farm with blended melon from the local market. Students came early to prepare for the fiesta, dusting and moping and preparing food. THe party food was hosted at a kind of club house/family farm built by the father of the daughters at my host family, and decorated with oropendola nests and steer horns. THe site was down a steep road and just past the local venue for cock fights. Almost all our host families came to enjoy the feast along with our Spanish teachers, we ate and talked and then to share our thanks for such a wonderful warm time, several students spoke in eloquent Spanish about their time in Atenasand their gratitude for their family´s care. It was truly amazing to see how much each and an every student had progressed in their Spanish. And for many it was hard to leave although new adventures beckoned.
And now we are in full swing here at ITEC research station in Bocas del Toro, Isla Colon! Students have already jumped right in with muddy boots and tender skin, now a bit dooted with constellations from sand flea nibbles. Students explored the primary and secondary forests next to Enrique the station manager´s home. We have begun our field studies and students are brimming with ideas for their independent research projects… Last night I stood along the beach, sky full of stars and cresent moon, watching as underwater flashlights gleam off the reef as 4 students dive in to explore the life below. Two horses walk past me in the dark beach path heading home, other students are working under the florescent lights illuminated from the gas generator in the station lab, viewing samples of water from the flower cups of heiconia, others are reading through books and posting the days´pictures of posion dart frogs, another is tropming back to find the fate of the baby sloth we had found the day before, learning the reality of the forest and survival. We are basically all healthy, counting the bites, and bowel movments. A handful of us have had a day of not so happy stomachs, but it seems to pass within a day, and we are making sure to stay hydrated and have been going through packesçts of electrolytes!
I now sit slightly chilled by the air conditioner in the internet cafe in Bocas town,the streets showing the edges of the carnival festival that asted last week. We snorkeled by among coral reef, bight blue baby angel fish, parrot fish and sargent majors, and squid and sting rays. Before that we walked through a beautiful forest, guided by people from the Ngobe indigenous community. We saw night monkeys adn owls peeking down at us and caiman in the fresh water lagoons. A full day… and now it is past my tiem to catch up with the taxi´s to head back into the research station… all the best!