All I have to say is wow! We have been at the UGA campus for a total of 6 days, but it feels like I have been here for at least 2 weeks. The amount of knowledge I have gained is incredible. We have been to many local coffee farms where the owners has given us a “down and dirty” insight on how he thinks the best way to grow and harvest the coffee beans are. Some differences include if the farm is organic or not, how the beans are processed including natural, washed, or half washed beans and how they like or dislike the ICAFE. All of the farmers believe they have found the best way that works for them all the while following the rules and regulations of the ICAFE. They have shown us how and when to pick the beans, how they process the beans meaning if its using machines or let them dry in the sun, and how to roast or if they send their beans off to get roasted, we ever got to most of these things our selves. I feel as if all this knowledge has made me appreciate that I can purchase the beans processed, roasted, and already ground in stores. Not only have we studied coffee but we also got the change to investigate the cacao plant. The cacao beans are where coco and chocolate come from. These beans are processed in a similar way to coffee, the biggest difference being that the cacao beans are in pods and not individual cherries like coffee beans. This trip is very educational yet what some people don’t expect is that we are also having a blast! We got to hike, milk a cow, and even zip line! Yesterday before heading to the zip line place we ate breakfast at the campus, which is every delicious and filling. We did a total of 8 zip lines which were so high that when I went on them I was going through clouds. It was a little nerve racking yet it was one of the coolest things I have ever done! On top of all the once and a life time experience the UGA Costa Rica campus is so beautiful and the staff for example the naturalist are very good at what they do. I have loved every aspect of this trip and most importantly I can not think of a single thing I didn’t enjoy or a single thing I would change. 🙂