Día 10 - miércoles, el 18 de enero

We’re leaving today.  We got to sleep in a little bit this morning, which was nice, especially since we will have a very late night by the time we get back to Spirit Lake. 

Of course I’m anxious to get back home to see Josh & Lucas & Leah, but I will miss it here, too.  One of the YouTube videos we watched during class before we left said that Costa Rica was “the home of the happiest people on earth.”  I thought, “Yeah, I’m sure they’re just saying that.”  But seriously, everyone here is really happy. From Jimmy & José to our host families to almost every single other person we’ve encountered, the Ticos are truly happy people and seem to be very thankful for all that they have and truly appreciate the people in their lives.  I’d even say that they’re more than happy - they’re joyful.  It’s interesting because most Americans have so much more material things, but we’re not as happy. 

I’ve been thinking about this trip from my role as a teacher’s standpoint, wondering if I would change anything for future trips, and I honestly don’t think I would.  I think the itinerary has been great--a good mix of different activities, and enough to keep us busy and occupied but not so much that we felt like we were running every moment of every day.  It was really a good balance.  We had outdoorsy activities and educational activities, active and more laid-back.  It was truly a great itinerary.  I think the students feel the same way, at least that’s what they told me last night in our nightly meeting.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I feel so thankful to have been able to experience Costa Rica with such a great group of students.  I truly am thankful!  They’ve been so awesome - everyone has had a great attitude, and they’ve been respectful of everyone in every single situation.  They’ve participated well in every activity and have been open to new things and ideas.  They have made what would have been a really good trip into a fabulous trip!  I am truly thankful for all of these students!

Tomorrow we will be back in school, getting to work on our projects for class.  I’m anxious to see the students’ work and their reflections on the trip. 

We’ll be leaving the hotel soon.  Hopefully all of our travels will be safe and will go smoothly.  It’ll be a shock to step out into the cold midwest weather tonight in Minneapolis.  (It’s absolutely perfect weather right now here in San José - it’s 78 degrees, sunny with not much humidity.)  I’ll definitely miss the Costa Rica weather!

Hasta luego, Costa Rica - it’s been an amazing week and a half.  ¡Pura vida!

Día 9 - martes, el 17 de enero

Today was our last full day in Costa Rica.  That’s hard to believe!  After breakfast we headed to Manuel Antonio National Park.  The main attractions there are the beaches and the wildlife, and it lived up to the hype.  The actual size of the beach is smaller than the public one, but it’s really nice because they only let a certain number of people in the park each day, so it doesn’t get over-crowded.  Also, the sand (especially in the water) was SO smooth!  There weren’t any little rocks that you had to walk on once you were in the water.  And the best part was the gentle waves.  Again (comparing it to the public beach) the public beach had big, powerful waves that you had to brace yourself against, but the Manuel Antonio beach had gentle waves that were more like swells in the water that lifted you up off the sand.  You could just hang out in the water and enjoy everything--it was absolutely perfect!  By far the best beach I have ever been to.  We all enjoyed the water, then moved to some shade (which there was plenty of on this beach, too) and then headed back to the water all morning long.  Some people got a little fried yesterday, so they spent more time in the shade than the rest of us.  I was very glad that they were being smart today about their sun exposure!

Part of the hike to the park entrance.

One of the highlights of Manuel Antonio was the monkeys.  We had heard that there was an abundance of monkeys in Manuel Antonio.  Jimmy told us that they’re sort of land-locked there because the entire national park is surrounded by African Palm plantations, which they don’t like, so they won’t travel through them to get out of the park.  So they just stay there.  The problem with that is they have in-bred for many years and now are getting weaker.  So, they’re planting bridges of rain forest (re-foresting parts of the plantations) so they can get out and breed with other monkeys.  I thought that was interesting.  Anyway, mid-morning Jimmy came to the water & told us that the monkeys were moving through to find food.  So we got out of the water & at first saw a few monkeys high up in the trees.  Then as more moved through there were tons of monkeys, and they are so used to people they’ll come right down near everyone on the ground, pick up their seeds or fruit for food and then climb back up in the trees.  Some of them are sneaky little guys and will even steal people’s belongings--mostly food that they can find, but also sunglasses, cameras, etc.  So you have to be careful because once a monkey’s got it you’re not going to get it back!  I got some great pictures that I can’t wait to show Lucas and Leah.

We left Manuel Antonio around noon and ate lunch at a Costa Rican fast food chicken place called “Chicken on the Run” (in English).  The chicken and the cole slaw were both very tasty.

Then we drove to San José.  The drive along the Pacific was especially beautiful.  It was sad to say good-bye to the ocean.  (Especially when it will most likely be years before I see it again.)  But the weather in San José is so refreshing--cooler and less humid.  We’re back at the same hotel we were at the first night, which is really nice. 

The students all wanted to go to the food court of the nearby mall to eat supper, so I went with them and we all ate at Quizno’s.  It was good to have a little taste of home.  After supper we found a frozen yogurt place in the mall for dessert.  Dudley and Bernie ate at a different restaurant near our hotel and they had a great meal, too. 

It’s hard to believe that we head home tomorrow.  It’s been an awesome trip, but I’m also glad to head home and see Josh, Lucas & Leah.  I miss them a lot.

I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience this trip with such an awesome group of students.  They’ve really been great.  I’m sure I’ll reflect more on that tomorrow. :)

Pues, hasta mañana.  Only one more entry left.  For my first attempt at blogging, I’d say that it’s gone pretty well. :)

Hasta, y ¡Pura vida!

Día 8 - lunes, el 16 de enero

Today was yet another good day!  We started out with breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which we could choose one of 4 breakfasts--I had toast, fruit & yogurt.  It was good.

After that we headed to the beach!  We took the bus to the public beach down the road, found a big spot of shade, rented some chairs and umbrellas and settled in.  It was very fun and laid-back.  Everyone enjoyed the water, which was nice and warm.

Mikayla took surfing lessons and did awesome!  (Lessons were $30 for two hours - one hour of lesson and one hour of surfing on your own.  Not a bad deal!)

Sarah, Scott, and various others built a great sand castle.

For lunch most of us bought some gelatto from a shop across the street.  I had one scoop of mango and one scoop of strawberry - ¡delicioso!  Lots of us also checked out the shops across the street from the beach, which have lots of souvenirs and typical Costa Rican crafts.

When everyone was ready to go, we got all of our stuff together and headed for the bus stop.  When we got back to the hotel most of us couldn’t wait to take a dip in our pool to wash the salt and sand off of us.  The pool water was so refreshing!  We hung out in there for a while, then one by one everyone headed off to shower.

We’re going to eat supper at “El avión” across the street again.  Since it’s right on the Pacific Ocean we’ll have spectacular views of the sunset from there.  What a great way to spend our last night in this part of Costa Rica!

Tomorrow we’re going to Manuel Antonio National Park.  It has another great beach, but it’s more private--they only allow a certain number of people in there every day.  There are also a lot of monkeys and wildlife, so we should get to have some fun spotting them.

It’s hard to believe that we only have one full day left before we head back to the U. S. and Spirit Lake.  It’s gone really fast. 

¡Hasta mañana!

Día 7 - domingo, el 15 de enero:

(about 8:00 in the morning):  We are experiencing true rain forest weather--rain!  We were very fortunate to have such sunny, dry weather the first few days.  This is a little more of a reality check, I think.  But, to quote Mrs. Webb, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only insufficient gear.”  So, it’s a little chilly and very wet.  We weren’t able to spot any toucans on our little outing this morning, most likely because they come out when it’s sunny & warm.  Oh, well.  At least we tried.

(about 9:00 pm):  Well, we have gone full circle today weather-wise.  What was rainy and chilly this morning has turned into humid Pacific heat.  We had a big day of travel from the Arenal area to the Pacific Coast, to the Manuel Antonio area.  Along the way we stopped for several small outings: El Cocuro hummingbird and butterfly house in the Monteverde cloud forest, a short hike in the Monteverde cloud forest, stopped for lunch at a little restaurant, stopped along a bridge to see some crocodiles (we saw 25 of them!), then pulled off the road because Jimmy spotted some Scarlet Macaws.  Every time we got off the temperature was a little warmer, which was great.  I think we were all excited to see blue skies and sunshine!

The blue Morpho butterfly

"El espejitos" butterfly (clear-winged butterfly)

Near the Continental Divide, a perfect view of the cloud forests of the Caribbean side transitioning to the clear blue skies of the Pacific side.

Living fences, one of the many environmentally-friendly common practices of Costa Rica.

Mikayla & Kayla in front of un carrito, one of the traditional Costa Rican ox carts.

Costa Rican crocodiles!

A perfect view of a Scarlet Macaw

We got to the hotel, got settled, and some of us went for a swim in the pool, which felt fabulous in this hot, humid weather.  Then we ate supper across the street at “El avión”, which is open-air and right on the Pacific Ocean.  (Except we couldn’t see the ocean because it was dark already.  We’re going to try to catch the sunset there tomorrow night.)  Pretty soon it’ll be time to do room checks and then to hit the sack!  I’m tired and I’m sure I’ll sleep well.

¡Hasta mañana!

Día 6 - sábado, el 14 de enero

Today was another great day!  It was SO nice to get a good night’s sleep in the hotel and to take a hot shower!  I feel clean again.

Supper last night was really, really good.  It was paid for (included in the price of our trip) and we could order an appetizer, entree, and dessert.  It was all really good, especially the banana split I had for dessert!  (Big surprise that I ordered ice cream.)

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant again.  The usual - a buffet with fresh fruit, fried plantains, gallo pinto (beans & rice), eggs, but also pancakes & toast, cereal, etc.  I was especially excited about the peanut butter toast!  While we were eating breakfast an agouti (a raccoon-like animal) came wandering up onto the deck and got really close to us.  I’m sure he was looking for food.

Then we departed to go zip-lining at the “Sky Trek” adventure company.  It was awesome!  First of all, our guides were great.  Three young Costa Rican guys who were  really good at what they do and who know how to have fun.  (And they might know how to flirt with some “Gringa” girls, too.  But nothing inappropriate, of course.)  There were 7 cables that we went on.  The longest was half a mile in length, and the tallest was 600 meters from the ground.  What a rush!  On the longest cable, you could get going up to 50 mph.  It was very, very fun.  We had some rain showers, which wasn’t ideal, but we are in a rain forest, after all.

After that we drove to La Fortuna and had lunch.  My dad, Dudley and I ate at a very good restaurant (I had the best grilled chicken sandwich I’ve had in a very long time), and Dudley picked up the bill for us, which was very nice of him.  Thanks, Dudley!

After that we went to the Danaus Eco-center, which is a nature reserve that has some very interesting wildlife.  We saw two sloths, some interesting birds, some large iguanas, and lots of beautiful flowers.  It amazes me how Jimmy is able to spot wildlife!

From there, we went to the “Eco-termales” hot springs.  What a relaxing treat!  It was great to just hang out in the warm waters (and then to go to some hot waters, then some cooler waters, and back to the warm again).  It was also great to get to chat with everyone.  One thing that has been great about this trip is how well everyone is getting along and how respectful everyone is of each other.  They’re really having a lot of fun together.  It was raining on & off during the hot springs, and very overcast.  This was probably the best weather we could have had for this, because if it was hot & sunny it would have been way too hot to be in the the warm waters.

Then we came back to the hotel.  I took a nice, long, hot shower and now I’m in the lobby, catching up on my emails and blog.  I miss Josh & Lucas & Leah, but it’s great to know that they are in such good hands at home!

One thing that is driving me nuts is how I can’t seem to be able to add pictures to my blog!  I can get them onto the page where I edit it exactly the way I want it to look, but then when I go to publish it, it just spins & spins and tells me it’s lost the script or something.  So, to those of you who are reading this (I’m sure it’s a huge number) :) I’m very sorry I haven’t added any of the great pictures I’ve taken to go along with the text.  Hopefully I’ll manage to do that soon.  (A few days later - Hooray!  I finally figured out what I was doing wrong.  Go back & check out all the pics from the last few days!)

Soon we’ll head to the restaurant for another delicious supper.  Tomorrow we’re going to Manuel Antonio, which is on the Pacific side of the country.  This means that we should be able to have some dryer weather.  (The Caribbean side gets all of the winds and humidity from the Caribbean, but by the time this air crosses the mountains all of the moisture has either fallen as rain or evaporated.) 

Until tomorrow, when I’ll be posting again . . . ¡Pura vida!

Día 5 - viernes, el 13 de enero

This is the first time we've had internet access in 3 days, so I just got done adding my posts from while we were in El Roble for the family stay.  It was nice to check emails and just get in touch with family at home.  I miss them very much!

This morning we said good-bye to Marzarella, Norberto and Douglas, our Costa Rican family.  We had another delicious breakfast - basically ham, lettuce & tomato sandwiches on toasted bread.  We also had watermelon and bananas, hot chocolate, and soda crackers with guayábana jam and slices of their homemade cheese on top.  Delicious!

We got in the bus and started heading towards the Malekus Indian reservation.  The roads were extremely curvy, and I was just waiting for someone to get motion sickness.  Of course, it happened.  One student got quite sick and threw up, so we stopped, gave her Dramamine and water and had her get out of the bus and get some fresh air for a while.  When she felt a little better we had her sit in the front of the bus next to the driver, and she did much better up there.  Two other girls started getting queezy and clammy hands, but we were almost to our destination, thankfully!  They took Dramamine, as well.  We have learned our lesson - Take Dramamine before we leave every morning!

The Malekus Indian reservation was interesting.  I thought the most interesting part of the demonstration was how a young man would have proposed to a young woman, and then been married right there on the spot by their families.  Interesting.  I think I'm glad that we have our customs instead of theirs.  We also got to try out their traditional bow & arrow.  We have some good archers in our group!

From there we went to the town of La Fortuna, ate lunch and did a little shopping.  My dad, Dudley and I ate together, and I had a Hawaiian pizza.  It was nice to eat some food that’s a little more familiar to me. :)  Then we stopped in a shop and I found some souvenirs to buy.  Then it was time to head to the waterfall, which was spectacular!  After a steep hike down into a ravine, we were able to get up close to the extremely tall “La Fortuna” waterfall, we waded in the water by the actual water fall, then went down to the lower pools and climbed along the rocks, took some pictures, and Scott swam.  We were in the middle of that when a huge rainforest down pour hit!  I tell you, it rained hard in a short period of time.  We took shelter down by the water under a little cave-like structure.  Apparently a few weeks ago it rained like that for 3 days straight--I think we’re lucky to be having the weather we’re having.  So, when the rain calmed down, we started hiking back up to the top.  It was a good hike - nice to get some exercise again!

From there, we headed to our hotel, the Arenal Observatory Lodge.  It’s a nice place that is completely off the beaten path - the road literally ends at our hotel, and there is no way I would have navigated that road in my own car, but our amazing driver, José, did it in a mini-bus.  Awesome!  It’s a nice place with great views of the volcano, except it’s been cloudy so far so we can’t see much of it.  There’s a beautiful lake in the distance, as well.  I hope it clears up so we can get some more great pictures.

I can’t wait to take a long, hot shower!  We’re going to eat supper at 7:00, and I’m guessing after that we’ll have a quiet night.

Time to start heading to supper at the hotel restaurant.  ¡Hasta mañana!

Día 4 - jueves, el 12 de enero

Today was another great day.  There was a lot less animal noise last night, which made it a lot easier to sleep.  We woke up and had another good breakfast - sort of re-fried beans that we spread on bread, with an egg and meat mixture that you put on top of it.  It was pretty good!  And of course, fresh fruit, coffee, and fresh-squeezed juice.

Then it was off to the Tirimbina Reserve area for a cacao tour and another hike through the rainforest, this time with hanging bridges.  The cacao tour was interesting.  We saw the traditional way of getting chocolate from the cacao bean and learned some of the history of the cacao bean along the way.  We even made our own chocolate - ground the cacao beans, mixed it with sugar and cinnamon and tempered it.  It was delicous!  At the end, we got to eat cacao as the indigenous Costa Ricans would have eaten it, and then some chocolate that they make at the reserve.  It was delicious!

Then we headed off to their hiking paths for about a 2-mile hike through the rainforest.  There were amazing hanging bridges, that tested my slight fear of heights!  We saw lots of different types of birds, including two toucans.  We saw several others that were very exotic-looking, as well.

After that, we headed back to El Roble (our family-stay community).  We had the idea of all of us going down to the river (the Sarapiquí) with the members of our families that were able to go and just enjoying the river.  It was very fun!  A lot of the kids were able to go along, so we got to meet some other young people that we hadn’t met yet.  It was fun for me to visit a little with Melissa (Sarah & Mikayla’s “mom”) and with her two little boys, Esteven (4 years old) and Dílan (7 years old).  They are so cute, and they make me miss Lucas & Leah so much!  We had fun down by the river.  Most people just put their feet in the water to relieve the heat, but Douglas and Darwin (two of our hermanos) were swimming quite a bit.  The rest of us were a little afraid of the current.  Everyone had lots of fun splashing, skipping rocks, and just hanging out.

We walked back to my family’s house, and along the way enjoyed showing everyone their pepper plants (and tricking them into biting in the pepper corns) as well as talking to the cows.  Scott pretended to be a bull-fighter, which was pretty funny.  When we got back to our house, it was time for the community soccer game.  Some went back to their houses first to change clothes.  Lots of us stayed at our house and played catch with the Spirit Lake football I had given our family, and we introduced them to the game “500”, which was lots of fun.  Once all of the kids were there we divided into teams (USA, or the “Gringos”, vs. Costa Rica, the “Ticos”) and played a very fun and lively soccer game.  All of the moms were preparing supper, a pot luck of all sorts of delicious Costa Rican food, and everyone had a FABULOUS time!  It was so cool to see all of the students having fun with our new Tico friends.

After supper the students and young Ticos went inside to play cards, which was also really fun.  I stayed outside on the porch for a while and visited with a few of the moms.  It’s amazing how they welcome all of us into their families and truly love sharing their culture with us.

Once everyone left, I took another (cold) shower, and then we made some more bracelets with Marzarella.  We’re getting better!  We were also able to show Norberto our photo albums (he was gone the first day when we did it the first time) which was really fun.  He’s a really nice guy.  He was especially interested in Amanda & Scott’s photos, since he’s a farmer and is very interested in agriculture, and lots of Amanda & Scott’s pictures were of their farms in Iowa.

They showed us their pictures of their land when they bought it.  It was completely empty except for a little shack of a house, which they tore down and built the house they live in now with their own hands (and many family members’ hands, as well).  They have completely made their home and the land on their own.  Pretty amazing.

Time to go to bed.  Tonight is our last night with our host families.  As awesome as it has been, I’m really looking forward to a warm shower and sleeping without any farm animal noises. :)

Buenas noches y ¡Hasta mañana!