Three field trips in one!

(Written last night, posted this morning)

Many students declared today our best day so far. We managed three field trips in one (long) day.

We first visited El Museo del Oro Quimbaya in Armeria, where we learned about the native cultures of Colombia. We observed the gold decorations both men and women wore to be balanced individuals. In Colombia there isn't information about the chronology of their native tribes, but they all created beautiful work with gold. We also saw prehistoric plants the natives saw during their days on the earth. 

Next we went to the Mariposario, did some class work about different types of butterflies, and enjoyed their thirteen acres of preserved natural habitat. Walking into the enclosed butterfly space was a highlight--everyone had at least one butterfly land on them (followed by a flurry of pictures).

After a full day, many of us were tired, but the best was yet to come! A visit to Recuca taught us everything we could learn about coffee in Colombia. We first enjoyed a traditonal lunch, and then embarked on the dress-up/fashion show/dancing part of the program. We all got to put on the traditional comadre/compadre outfit, learned a few dances--and took LOTS of photos.

Then we learned what it takes to pick coffee beans--from the outfits for each season to the buckets we were supposed to fill up in the fields. We finished by learning a bit more about the process coffee goes through before it ends up in our cup.

We are heading back to Pino Verde now, and enjoying the beautiful sunset.