2019 SOC Bioinformatics: Day 4 - Cow Milking, Science, Zipline, Science!

Hola familia y amigos!

Half of our group (Zach, Hanna, Madeline, Amogh, Eliana, Christian, and Annabelle) started out the day by milking cows and listening to screaming, hungry pigs. Milking cows was a weird, but overall cool experience (warmer and squishier than you'd expect). Then one of the Naturalists taught us about the biodigester which helps reduce waste and carbon emissions. Afterwards, we all went to get breakfast composed primarily of rice and beans (surprise, surprise:) and some delicious hot chocolate!

Next, we went to the classroom where Gabriel and Ibrahim helped us continue to research our projects. Everyone is making a lot of progress! After 4 hours of science, we were excited to break for lunch.

After lunch, we met for our afternoon adventure at SkyTrek! The bus ride was mildly scary and bumpy, but we all survived (with only minor cases of motion sickness). When we arrived, we donned our glorious trash bags that shielded us from the greasy spray of the zip lines. Once we received our gear and a short intro, we took off of the training platform. Then we took a tram up to the top and began our zip lining experience. There were six runs, 2 of which we did with partners, and all of which had amazing views. There's nothing like flying through the clouds at high speeds with rain pelting your face :0 But it was truly and awesome and incredible adventure!

We swung into the last platform and were met with an astonishing challenge--getting down (*dun dun dun*). We quickly learned the only ways to reach the beloved ground were by A) repelling off the side of a very high platform or B) throwing yourself off said platform (with a bungee cord of course). Despite fear, a majority of the group chose to take the jump. Some highlights of watching people free fall were 1. Amogh's facial expressions as he plummeted 2. Hanna's graceful fall with perfect form and a calm demeanor 3. Eliana's strangled scream, and finally the warm sugar cane water at the end.

When we headed back, we had a delicious dinner (of noodles, yay!!) and worked on our science projects for another 2-ish hours. Now we are writing this blog to you before we take the half-mile hike to our cabinas and check for massive spiders in our beds. We are so excited for more adventures and miss you all!

Chau,

Eliana and Madeline