Directly after breakfast, alpha and omega split up to go on a short hike. We walk along Rio Java, which is the water trail, until we got to a clearing where we played a predator vs. prey game. One person became a deer by being blindfolded and putting on a cap. Then, everyone took ten steps back and waited for the deer to call out how many steps to take. The prey would point to people when they heard them coming from a specific location. The object was for the deer to only use its hearing and for the predators to be as silent as possible until they were close enough to capture the hat. It was a lot of fun, but a lot harder than I expected.
We worked on our art and project advocacy, ate lunch, and then separated into our project groups. Half of omega walked in circles for two hours counting the squirrel species they saw. In the end, they saw a grand total of three. The other five counted the fish they saw in the river and it seemed like they enjoyed their time in the water. Part of alpha measured leaves in the garden while my group counted the distribution of an invasive ginger plant in the forest. The work was a bit tedious, but we motivated ourselves by thinking about snacks when we were done and learning how to count in Swedish. Anja pumped us up after yet another academic session by having us a play a game in which you have both hands on the table and you have to slap when the hand next to you slaps, but the direction changes if someone double taps. All of our brains were tricked, except for the winners', Jonah and Sally.
Instead of a night hike, most of us decided to go up to the tower to go stargazing. The Costa Rican sky is so clear compared to in Connecticut. I saw the Little Dipper for the first time, which looked even cooler through binoculars. I also learned that Orien has a not only a belt, but a sword as well. We stayed silent while watching the stars slowly drift and were lucky enough to even see some shooting stars. The beauty of the galaxy beyond Earth simply amazed me.
