Day Seven: January 13, 2015

The Legend of Walkiria's Bag

Day 7 

Today we would be 112' above the ground.. sounds scary doesn't it but I don't think i'll get over the fact that I was that high up and I wasn't moving or riding a roller coaster. We went up the tower to take measurements of the floor so that we can design it when we get back to New York City. It took about 15-20 minutes to climb all the way to the top but once you do and you're up there it feels amazing. Dani, Baljinder, and myself climb and we loved it. I started calling the howler monkeys the same way the tour guide at the Belize Zoo did the first time. I failed but at least I tried to. Patricia and Professor Lia were downstairs taking measurements of the base and the foundation so that we can out information together to produce a nice model for Jacob. We came back down and went back to the kitchen and dining, there we sat for a long while producing ideas about what to do with the tower and what programmatic activities we can include in the tower. That evening we presented a section of the tower and explain each individually what we thought would be appropriate for each floor.

Patricia's Blog

Working hard

It was observation tower day!!!! Back to the observation tower we go, we had to get the measurements of the tower because once back in New York, we had to create a Rhino version of the tower and render it. Professor Lia, Bal, Dani, Walkiria, and myself walked to the tower; Lia and myself stayed down to measure the footing, the stairs, and the height from the second level down. The other girls went all the way to the top to enjoy the view and get the measurements. 

Tower ideas presentation

This day was all about the design process, coming up with ideas for both the dining hall and the observation tower. After the tower, we headed into the dining hall and sat with our sketch books and our ideas were getting drawn out. Drawing sections, floor plans, and even some interior elevations. We had our lunch break, but then straight to work once again, even tried to have a hammock break. Dinner time came at 6:30 pm and we refueled before presenting our tower ideas to Jacob and the jury. After this we all went to our bunk house and knocked out until the following morning. 

Baljinder's Blog:

Tuesday January 13, 2015. Today after breakfast we went straight to working on our designs. We had a short trip to the Hicattee Turtle Pond where Marcelleno and Tom gave us a brief overview on how they have been designing the structures around the BFREE property. 

After returning from the small lecture/workshop we went back to work. 

We sketched away our ideas with Prof. Lia intervening and critiquing our designs. The help was greatly appreciated. We believ that Prof. Lia is an awesome professor and guidance.

Marcelleno popped in to see our designs for the kitchen. He gave us advise and told us to use the most practical design. 

A short while later we had lunch.

After eating we discussed Marcelleno's ideas and how they benefited our design. We decided to come up with revised designs and proposed ideas for the night that we would present to Jacob our client. Jacob always seemed to be interested in all the ideas we suggested, if not confused. 

Walkiria and I were determined to dry our clothes so when we say the sun up, we ran to the Bunk House to put our clothes out to dry on the tree by our house. And met some chickens along the way.

We had hope that our wet shoes would dry. 

I called my mom before dinner to let her know I was okay and the events up until now. She missed me. 





Of course it started to drizzle so I had to hang up and run back to the clothes before they got wet. At least they were drier than 4 hours ago. 







The group went back to hard work.

Beyond the dry clothes we joined in for dinner before we had to present our final sketches to Jacob. We were going to leave BFREE after breakfast the next morning. 

Dani's Blog

Today was a work day (terrible, I know) so we spent a majority of the time at the dining hall sketching away. For a "break" we toured BFREE again and talked to the carpenter staff on site. We heard from them on the quality and way they construct everything from structural to furniture on the site, and brought us back to the Hicatee pond. Here we heard more about the future plans Jacob has for BFREE, and learned how to sketch on leaves in a pinch (Professor Lia will never cease to amaze me).

After our lecture "break" was over, we returned once again to the dining hall to spend the rest of the day working. After dinner and presentations for Jacob (and the other guests at BFREE) we had our beds calling to us once again.

Day Six: January 12, 2015

The Legend of Walkiria's Bag

Day 6

Usually I'm up and ready by 6:30 but last night I must have been so tired that I woke up around 6:30 I was the last one to shower and get dressed. We head out to breakfast after breakfast we had a hike to holey rock. Jacob told us the story of how it got it's name and it was from his daughter when she told him that "It has so many holes" The hike was amazing we saw an owl, we crossed two rivers, we saw an orchid flower, until we finally got to Holey rock. It was beautiful! People usually go to bathe in the river and we did. We had brought lunch along with us because we wouldn't be back in time to have lunch at BFree. After being there for 10 minutes enjoying the sunshine ( and it was very hot we were so surprised) It started pouring down on us. We were by a very rocky hill close to the water but we had to get up and pack up all our things in order for them not to get wet. TOO LATE! We were soaked we didn't leave Holey Rock till the rain completely stopped. We stood under the rock until it stopped. We had plenty of bread left so Professor Lia decided to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone. We were all squished under a rock that had a small overhang, enough to cover at least 3-4 people not 6-7. Stuffing bread down our throats got filling so we gave some to the fishes in the water. They seemed hungry they ate the bread in like 2 seconds.  The rain stopped and we hiked back through where we came from. Canti stopped us and had us drink water out of a vine, he said that this how people drank water to survive when they have been dehydrated and in the jungle for a long time. 

That afternoon after the hike we went back to our rooms we took showers and got dressed into dry clothes. We had some time to spare so we stayed in the bunk house and bonded with each other. We spoke about life, school, girl stuff as if it were a slumber party. For a few we even napped until it was time to go for dinner. We were extremely exhausted we haven't physical nor mentally rested. around 2 we got up and we went to the kitchen and we started working on our design proposals We had a lot to produce. The whole afternoon we were indoors out of the sun to crank up some ideas and last proposals for the kitchen and Dining. 

Patricia's Blog

Drinking branch water

Waking up a bit later than usual at BFREE. We had fry jacks, finally, for breakfast, with some mashed beans, sausage, spicy cole slaw, and fruit punch. Today was the day of the hike to Holy Rock. Now this was an actual hike. After breakfast we got ready and started heading to the trail. Trees, vines, thorny trees, bugs, steep muddy trails, walk across two creeks, climbing up, going down...what a workout. The scary part for me was when we saw the river the trail got very narrow and steep and I was clinging for dear life. When we finally got to Holy Rock, Canti, Ken, and Dani got bathing suit ready and all jumped into the river. 

Thorny tree...DO NOT TOUCH!!!

The rest of us just relaxed by the rock, until, of course, the rain came pouring down on us as we were preparing our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We all gathered our stuff and headed under the Holy Rock for dry shelter. We made more sandwiches, but it was just too much to eat, plus with me not being a fan of peanut butter, I was getting sick of it so we started feeding the fish the sandwiches, just like in Lilo and Stitch. Hiking back to BFREE, we saw owls, spider monkeys, and birds. I remember sliding down a muddy steep path because it was too steep and slippery for me to contain my balance so I decided to get dirty and slide on down getting my pants fully muddy. Canti stopped us and started to cut these thick branches, to our amazement it was a water drinking branch. Fresh water coming out of the branch and we all huddled to get a drink. What I must say from this hike is that Canti became my new best friend, he helped guide me throughout this hike because I was prepared for something like this and I got tried. He hold my hand when I needed some balance help and warned about thorn trees, etc. Canti is such an awesome, kind, intelligent person who I admire very much. 
Back at BFREE, we all took showers, got dressed, and relaxed in our bunk house just chatting about everything, this was our bonding moments. Once we were done, we headed back to the dining hall to continue designing ideas for the place. The entire afternoon was work dedicated until we had dinner and went to bed. 

Baljinder's Blog: 

Monday January 12, 2015. So Monday morning at 6:30 am the group and I were to report to the kitchen to sit in on a bird demo. Marcelleno and his friend were able to capture various birds briefly to explain to us how their evolution worked. We learned who the length of the feathers could determine the life span of a bird and can tell if its a baby or an adult.  The demonstrators even blew on the birds to show the gender. Once the birds were identified and set free, we started breakfast.

Prof. Lia watching from afar with her coffee.

Today we were going to hike to the Holey Rock. So we had to prepare our backpacks with enough water, camera's, insect repellent, and anything else we might need. Canti was our guide and Ken tagged along.The hike was exactly what I was hoping for. Not a flat walk for miles, bu one that you have to climb and have to go through obstacles. Even though the hike was about 2.5 miles, it seemed like a long one because of the pace we were moving at and stopped every now and then to look at owls, thorn trees, vines, and the river peaks. 

Since we were in the rain forest, it had to rain. However we had the benefit of the trees shading us so that we didn't get hit by the rain as much. 

Once we got to the holey rock, which is pretty much a rock with "holes", the people who wanted to dive into the water got ready. They were Canti, Ken, and Dani. The rest of us just enjoyed the view for about 20 minutes. Then I assisted Prof. Lia with our lunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Soon enough it started pouring like there's no tomorrow in the middle of us making sandwiches. We had quickly cover up the bread loaves and head underneath the Holey Rock where we would get shelter from the rain. We were having a little fun. Then we made a second batch of sandwiches but everyone was already full. The fish got the wet leftover bread and were having fun in the water with their food. 

As soon as the rain calmed down we started hiking back towards our little homes. It was a rougher path because the rain had created a muddy track. But we made it home and we were happy that the rain had stopped. 

Everyone decided to clean up and have some rest for the meantime. When I started to head to the shower I fell down the stairs, I panicked for a bit but I was glad I wasn't rolling down the stairs. The mud made slippery stairs but I was okay. 

After taking showers we all napped until Prof. Lia showed up and discussed the project with us and what we should be doing for the next few days with our designs.

Then we had dinner and that was it for the rest of the day.

Dani's Blog

Today started off with a bang by learning about the different species of birds in the area, by getting up close and personal (literally bringing it inside). We were given a quick lesson on identification, classification, and monitoring bird migration and patterns, and then settled in for breakfast. 

At breakfast, we were given the heads of that the majority of the day would be spent hiking to Holey rock, so we made our way back to the bunkhouse to prepare a few potential necessities and water (always water). Ken, a gentleman who remained friends with Jacob's parents throughout the years, took the opportunity to also attend. 

Canti let us know at the beginning that although the distance itself was short (2-3 miles) that the hike was neither short or easy. To say the least, it was a hike for the books. The flattest terrain throughout the trail was found strictly in the riverbeds we crossed (this really was quite the hike) and after scaling mountainsides, ravine edges, and ant colonies, we finally sound ourselves at the fabled Holey rock (quite literally a large rock with holes in it)

Never one to miss an opportunity in an environment totally new to me, I took the chance to jump in the river. The current was strong, and the rocks were ungodly sharp, but the experience was Fantastic!!

As all things must come to an end, the rain took the opportunity to downpour after about 20 minutes at our destination. We took shelter under a large rock face, and made PB&J sandwiches (the food staple of all adventurists, of course.) while I continued to sort out my clothes after switching into a bathing suit for the river. As the rain refused to let up, we finished our lunch and trudged through the jungle back to BFREE.

Another hour or so and we finally returned to the property line of BFREE. Since our hike was just sooo restful (hikes are NOT breaks) we took some time to wash the mud off ourselves and just lay down for a minute (or 30.)

Eventually Professor Lia came to fetch us from our resting and discuss the projects we were to complete for the course, including some direction and elimination of the projects we didn't have the time (or the energy at that point) to complete. We headed to the dining hall to work on design (and for dinner) before bed summoned me back to the bunkhouse.