Day 6: June 21

Y'know when we said yesterday was an early morning? Well, today we had to wake up at 6 AM sharp for a hike through Santa Monica National Park, an hour long drive from where La Anita was situated. The hike was also about an hour long, through rivers and many encounters with some very large bugs. It was definitely worth it; the hike ended in a visit to a hot spring, where everyone relaxed and just had a good time!

Meanwhile, we were surrounded by tons of life, most notably damsel flies and dragon flies. We also found special mud at the hot springs that we rubbed on our skin.  After, we had a nice picnic and lots of new candy!

On the way back, we passed copper bowls that were historically used to cook cane syrup into molasses for export.  According to our guide, the place was also a historical site that had previously been visited by two of our very own former American presidents, FDR and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The rest of the day was dedicated to our lab experiments.  Some of us cultured fungus, observed their leaf-cutting activities or even ground up ants.  At this point in the research process, the professors left us to our own devices, running our experiments independently.  The night concluded with a dinner of plantain chips and lasagna, and a blackberry sorbet for dessert.

Day 6:  Google Picture Folder

Nora Turner & Isaac Fink

TEACHERS NOTE:  special shout out to Christopher for busing my dishes at dinner the other day.  I also want to tell all of the parents that your students have been WONDERFUL and HARDWORKING individuals.  Very fun to have on this trip, we are all very tired from all of our adventures and hard work but are enjoying every minute of it (except for maybe the song Despacito which has mixed results in terms of popularity).