Day 2

            What a long but amazing day of driving one of the coolest rainforest roads that I have ever been on. As we drove out of San Jose I could not feel any further from home; however, about two hours later and about 2000 meters in elevation I began to feel the connection of this amazing land to the homelands of my people. The paramo high mountain ecosystem had so many similarities to the region that I know, and I began to feel more of a sense of connectivity with this majestic forest ecosystem. However, as we continued to drive down the mountain motion sickness set in, and I unfortunately lost my lunch. Scott quickly jumped into action and moved me from the back of the bus to the booster seat in the front next to the driver. I began to feel much better and I actually had a much better view; accordingly, I really enjoyed the duration of the ride much more. We pulled into Las Cruces Research Station at around 4PM, and I was blown away immediately. I absolutely love learning and spending time with scientists that are doing great things to protect our precious ecosystems. I am so excited to begin our research that I am going to have a very difficult time sleeping tonight. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds for us!