Chocolate Tour, Lunch, and a Night Hike - Ryan Groza and John Vanetti

The Chocolate Tour
  
Pablo gives the students a brief history on the diffusion of cacao as a crop, luxury good, and even currency.  It traveled from South America to southern Mexico, and eventually European methods commercialized it into the food we know today.

Cheers!

Pralines and blackberry chocolate... made that morning. 

Enjoying a cup of Mexican hot chocolate "chocolatl". It is made with freshly roasted cacao nibs, organic sugar, fresh vanilla bean, and a hit of chili. No milk is used in this recipe, as cattle were not present on the American continent before European settlement. 

Jack and Luke

Cacao tree on the farm.  We learned about the different categories of cacao plant.


Pablo preparing a tasting of raw cacao seeds.  The beans are covered in a white fruity pulp that tastes like mango.


Pablo preparing a hearts of palm ceviche for the students. Fresh from the plant that he cut before our eyes...
After lunch, we had our first session, where we learned about the scientific method.  We were assigned groups and took on our first experiments revolving around the world of microbes within the community. Some groups focused on different bacteria levels in water while others observed natural vegetation. During this process, we also learned how to accurately collect specimens in petri dishes. We are still awaiting the results of our experiments! At night time, we took turns traveling in the rainforest for a night hike; this was our first experience in the rainforest. We encountered several species of insects and frogs.
Night hike in the rain forest with Alan (professor).



Glass Frog




Alan showing us a termite colony.

Ryan Groza
(Costa Rica Fam)

John Vanetti 
(Team Walter)







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