Boot camp began today. The crew got up at 5:30 for an early breakfast and an early send-off from the Ecolodge. Sylvia did good work this morning. She served up a legit breakfast: fried huevos, coffee, frutas, gallo pinto, and plantains. It was awesome. Then we got to pack our lunches--woo! I made myself a PB&J with bananas, and then a half PB&J for good measure. We also got OJ, bananas, and cookies. I love packed lunch days! And you know we snagged the jar of peanut butter that was left over once everyone was done.. it is rightfully ours, after all.

So we loaded up the TOURISMO taxi and the Ecolodge truck and set off for our road trip adventure. The 6 of us and the K/Carlas rode in the taxi, leaving Fabricio, Scott, Katie and her husband David in the truck. They make quite the group, those four. The Fantastic Four, if you will. They all love science and get super excited about plants, frogs, and geographical features, respectively.

We are not allowed to sleep at boot camp. Sleep is for the weak, the un-fit. Boot camp is all about survival of the fittest. We were on the road for six hours today, but only because we pulled over every half hour for enlightenment on biological corridors or hadley cells or a rock. Just when we were on the verge of a good quality car nap, the truck's turning signal would start flashing and we'd all pile out for another lecture.

As we drove, we moved from rural to more rural. I saw the biggest pig I have ever seen in my life. The thing had to be five feet long. I was freaking out. We also saw this weirdo walking in the middle of the road, unconcerned with the ginormous TOURISMO taxi barreling towards him. We squeezed past so that he was right outside our windows and I swear homeboy was straight out of Dawn of the Dead. Yikes.

Our taxi was of extra rockstar caliber today. Granted, we did bottom out quite a few times, but whatever--we crossed streams and made it up crazy steep hills and over massive pot holes. It was easily the bumpiest ride yet, which is a pretty big deal. I can say this with certainty because today was the first time I actually slammed my face into the window. Good times. My body was so tense for the entire drive, what with all the bumps and holes we were experiencing at full speed. Yay for unpaved roads.

Our hotel is hardcore. It's all solar energy-powered and is smack in the middle of nowhere and everything is wooden and rustic-y. Plus the food is incredible. My hardcore living arrangements make me [more] hardcore by association. Cold showers, limited energy consumption, sleeping with an open window in the middle of the great outdoors, with a good chance that I may wake up with the resident cat pouncing on my face... yeah, I'm hardcore alright. Apparently I'm safe on the cat front, though, because he likes the room with rats, which is the next room over. I'm not letting my guard down, though.

When we got here at two, they had a second lunch set out for us--rice and beans, homemade potato chips, tuna pasta salad, and some chicken thing I didn't eat. Everything was good, though. Plus everything here is served in coolers. Cool. Then we went on our orientation walk to get acquainted with our new surroundings. We were told that this would be a short, muddy hike so I donned my Chacos. It wasn't until we started that I realized that everyone else was in rubber boots. This was not so much a problem until I was ankle-deep in mud about halfway through our hike. I had mud clogs until we finally came to a stream. On the way back, we got to swim around in the hot springs if we felt so inclined. Abs and I hopped in along with Katie, David, and Fabricio. It was nice sitting in the warm water, but the bottom was covered in leaves and twigs and it creeped me out. We walked back around 5:30, when it started getting dark. Then we all sat around and drank coffee and talked before dinner. The coffee is great here, of course. As was our pre-dinner snack. It was like cereal flakes covered in some wonderful combination of butter, sugar, and condensed milk. Mmm. Then came dinner-- more homemade chips and SPAGHETTI with this delicious red sauce with mushrooms and cheese and leftover tuna pasta salad and this weird cole slaw-looking thing that I didn't eat. I love the food here. Over dinner we talked religion like civilized human beings. No one got their feelings hurt or freaked out in any sense of the word. It was so nice. I love our group.

After dinner we went on a night hike. This time I wore my rubber boots. We saw lots of mating crickets, a cricket momma laying eggs, a Jesus Christo lizard, lots of sleeping birds, a couple of teensy frogs, some mammal way up in the trees, and the craziest-looking spider I have ever seen in my life. It looks like a Pokemon. It's neon yellow with this fat body shaped kind of like a crown. We snagged it with a plastic baggie because Fabricio thinks it might be a new species. What?? How cool would that be?

We got back to our hotel dead tired, especially the ones who had taken Dramamine. Tia-ita was already asleep, actually. The crazy girl stayed out til 2 am at Bar Amigo with Geovanny and the night guards last night, so she was exempt from the night hike. Oh, Tia-ita...

So now it's time to pass out. We have leopard sheets that I am so looking forward to sleeping in. Be jealous.

peace love and boot camp