Me llamo Mia y soy tercer año biologica estudiente. This morning we woke up early to get a large, hearty breakfast of rice, chicken, and potatoes along side Guanaba juice. We then took an hour car ride to the small town of 23 de Junio alongside a bumpy mountain. We then took a hike through the cloud forest to get to Richard and Guido’s house where we go to see the production of sugar cane. We got to eat some sugar cane by chewing and sucking on the stalk to extract the sweet sugar. We then ground the sugar cane through a manual machine and drank the juice with some Ecuadorian lemons, which had a green rind and orange pulp. 

Afterward, we began to construct a greenhouse for the community by clearing the terrain to get down to the dirt layer and saw some cool insects, like red millipedes. We then carried bamboo on the side of a mountain to bring it back to the construction site for the integrity of the greenhouse. Then taking rope and a tarp, we were able to create a roof. 

Intermittently, we ate some fruit salad with fruit freshly picked from the farm and had fresh chicken that was caught during the day, rice, mashed potatoes, salad, and plantain soup for lunch. The food was so delicious. 

We then planted some trees in order to conserve the integrity and diversity of the forest. Afterward, we took a hike around the cloud forest and saw a waterfall, which was absolutely amazing. We followed up this adventure by trudging through a very cold and fast river. At the end of these adventures, we were very wet from all the water and sweat but overall had so much fun. 

To wrap the day up, we reflected and ate some empanadas and ate very exhausted but so excited for the next adventure tomorrow!