Day One:
Hola a todos... Jen Abbate here.
POR LA MAÑANA...
Today has been amazing. We started out (bright and early) with a delicious breakfast of Costa Rica's local dish- "Gallo Pinto" which is rice and beans with scrambled eggs. After filling our bellies, we then headed out to the rainforest with our guide, William. We saw so many interesting flora and fauna that I feel compelled to share all of them with you. Here is a list of what I can remember seeing:
-Female Ringed Kingfisher
-Male Amazon Kingfisher
-Great Kiskadee
-Iguanas
-Halcedonia (a bird of paradise looking plant)
-Green and Black Poison Dart Frog
-Avocado Tree
-Bromelia
-Rufus Tailed Hummingbird
-Rainforest Millipede (yuck!)
-"Blue Jeans" Red Frog
-Cicadas (so loud!)
-Long Nose Bats
-Long-Billed Hermit Hummingbird
-Hot Lips plant
-Ground Anoli Lizard
-Whiteliner Bats
-Great Green Macaw (ok, we didn't actually see one, but we saw the type of tree they live in)
- Leaf-Cutter Ants
-Slaity tailed Trogon
No sloths, no howler monkeys... yet.
After the hike it was so hot and humid that we felt like we were walking around in a steam room. We looked longingly at the Sarapiqui River.... and then Helen suggested that we go in. We suited up and climbed down to the river and just laid there in the shallow running water enjoying the cool down. It was the perfect way to regroup and reenergize for the rest of the day.
POR LA TARDE
After our hike we met with Jennifer Klein from WLS and we had great conversation about global education. Some questions we considered were:
What is culture? How do we define global citizenship? When one imagines the global graduate Berkeley Carroll will produce, what are the skills, knowledge and behaviors, and values that we want to embody? These questions alone are so thought-provoking and we all appreciated having the time to bounce ideas off one another and with Jennifer. We already have a working list of so many ideas to take back to Carroll Street, and it has only been ONE day.
After lunch we headed to a cacao plantation to learn all about one of the best (in my opinion) creations on this planet, CHOCOLATE. Our guides took us through the process step-by-step. We got to try cacao from the fruit off the tree, to a raw nut, to a roasted nut, to a powder, to a liquid, to a drink, to solid chocolate. We learned a lot and enjoyed the samples. I think Ms. Blumenthal may have to incorporate some of this into her science curriculum!
Oh, and we saw (and heard) HOWLER MONKEYS at the plantation (insert jaw-dropping emoji face here).
POR LA NOCHE
We had dinner with two locals, Dunia and Rocio, where we learned about life for women and families growing up and living in this area of Costa Rica. From the moment we met them they treated us with so much love, greeting us with open arms and kisses. They shared stories of their lives, growing up in rural Costa Rica and the challenges they faced trying to get to school. We learned that although there are certainly stark contrasts between our communities and lifestyles, we were able to find many commonalities and enjoyed many laughs together. It was a pleasure to meet them and we are grateful for the opportunity to share a meal with them. We plan to visit them at their homes later in the week!
Hola a todos... Jen Abbate here.
POR LA MAÑANA...
Today has been amazing. We started out (bright and early) with a delicious breakfast of Costa Rica's local dish- "Gallo Pinto" which is rice and beans with scrambled eggs. After filling our bellies, we then headed out to the rainforest with our guide, William. We saw so many interesting flora and fauna that I feel compelled to share all of them with you. Here is a list of what I can remember seeing:
-Female Ringed Kingfisher
-Male Amazon Kingfisher
-Great Kiskadee
-Iguanas
-Halcedonia (a bird of paradise looking plant)
-Green and Black Poison Dart Frog
-Avocado Tree
-Bromelia
-Rufus Tailed Hummingbird
-Rainforest Millipede (yuck!)
-"Blue Jeans" Red Frog
-Cicadas (so loud!)
-Long Nose Bats
-Long-Billed Hermit Hummingbird
-Hot Lips plant
-Ground Anoli Lizard
-Whiteliner Bats
-Great Green Macaw (ok, we didn't actually see one, but we saw the type of tree they live in)
- Leaf-Cutter Ants
-Slaity tailed Trogon
 |
| "Blue Jeans" Red Frog |
No sloths, no howler monkeys... yet.
After the hike it was so hot and humid that we felt like we were walking around in a steam room. We looked longingly at the Sarapiqui River.... and then Helen suggested that we go in. We suited up and climbed down to the river and just laid there in the shallow running water enjoying the cool down. It was the perfect way to regroup and reenergize for the rest of the day.
POR LA TARDE
After our hike we met with Jennifer Klein from WLS and we had great conversation about global education. Some questions we considered were:
What is culture? How do we define global citizenship? When one imagines the global graduate Berkeley Carroll will produce, what are the skills, knowledge and behaviors, and values that we want to embody? These questions alone are so thought-provoking and we all appreciated having the time to bounce ideas off one another and with Jennifer. We already have a working list of so many ideas to take back to Carroll Street, and it has only been ONE day.
After lunch we headed to a cacao plantation to learn all about one of the best (in my opinion) creations on this planet, CHOCOLATE. Our guides took us through the process step-by-step. We got to try cacao from the fruit off the tree, to a raw nut, to a roasted nut, to a powder, to a liquid, to a drink, to solid chocolate. We learned a lot and enjoyed the samples. I think Ms. Blumenthal may have to incorporate some of this into her science curriculum!
Oh, and we saw (and heard) HOWLER MONKEYS at the plantation (insert jaw-dropping emoji face here).
POR LA NOCHE
We had dinner with two locals, Dunia and Rocio, where we learned about life for women and families growing up and living in this area of Costa Rica. From the moment we met them they treated us with so much love, greeting us with open arms and kisses. They shared stories of their lives, growing up in rural Costa Rica and the challenges they faced trying to get to school. We learned that although there are certainly stark contrasts between our communities and lifestyles, we were able to find many commonalities and enjoyed many laughs together. It was a pleasure to meet them and we are grateful for the opportunity to share a meal with them. We plan to visit them at their homes later in the week!
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