Update #1: Day 1 – 2 June 2011
We arrived in Costa Rica at 5:30 this morning. It was super humid once we stepped out of the airport, much different than what we are used to back home in Colorado. We quickly got on our bus to the place where we were going to spend the night. As we were riding we saw a Coca Cola distributor and the Intel factory, one of the 2 in the world as our driver told us, among other things. After we got settled in we had an orientation to the trip and were given our homestay pairings. Then we left to walk around town and eat lunch. The place we had lunch was a small traditional restaurant with a menu mixed with traditional dishes and touristy homey food. Many of us went for the traditional food while others, thinking ahead to the homestay, went for a good old familiar hamburguesa. After lunch we walked around the plaza in small groups talking to locals to find answers to questions we had for a scavenger hunt and met local high schoolers. Many of them were our age and after the scavenger hunt we talked to them for around an hour and a half. They told us about what they like to do, their community, and themselves, and we shared about ourselves as well. Then we walked back to our inn and immediately had a dance lesson taught by a local dance teacher. We had a fun experience learning the salsa, merengue, and the cha-cha-cha. Then we ate dinner and had a discussion to prepare for our homestay for the next week which we leave for tomorrow. We were all definitely ready for bed early after a long, busy but fun first day. — (written by Jena and Caitlyn)
Update # 2:
Day 2: Friday June 3rd, 2011
After waking up to cold yet refreshing showers we ate frosted flakes, beans with rice, fruit, and eggs. We packed our bags and got ready for an exciting day as we prepared to meet our homestay families. Micaela entertained us with an exciting game involving imaginative musical instruments en español. We then recieved an inviting letter from our host families. We were on our way to the beginning of a new adventure. A 2 hour bus ride with a stop for a semi-authentic lunch brought us to the majestic mountains of Santa Cruz. This unbelievable backdrop will become the backdrop to our life for the next educational and fun semana (week). After we arrived and met our host families, which was an interesting and nerveracking experience for most, we went back to their homes and were given the opportunity to get to know all the members of the family and help around the house. We then ate a woderfully prepared dinner. The rest of the evening was dedicated to spending time with our families and activities varied among houses. The bloggers of the day (Carrie and Julia) went to an indoor soccer arena with our family because our ¨mama¨ is on a team and had a scrimmage game. Her equipo (team) won. Epa! Today was an exhausting day yet one to remember. Because Spanish is not our first language, having to translate, process, and try to convey our thoughts with limited vocabulary is extremely difficult and our minds are full and flustered. We need sleep. Buenas noches!
-Carrie and Julia
Day 3: Saturday June 4th, 2011
Waking up to the cool breeze of the morning while the sun shines through your window is one of the many refreshing experiences Costa Rica has to offer. But on our third day in Costa Rica we were already working. Preparing the ground for a concrete wall in front of the high school is hard work. We spent most of the morning bending metal, shoveling, and pickaxing the harder ground. Lunch anyone? We returned back to our host families for some almuerzo (lunch). After lunch it was time to hit the road again. House after house we visited all the host families of the kids in our group. After another brief rest it was time to put on our dancing shoes! Our dance class was fun and entertaining and our local instructor made the class interesting. There were lots of moves, several partners, and overall we had a great time. Coming home we are all tired. For some of us it´s straight to bed. Buenas noches!
-Sydney and Madison
Update # 3:
Day 4: Sunday June 5th, 2011
After a hard yet rewarding work day the day before, we woke up ready for a day of rest.. somewhat. As early rising is a part of the local culture here in Santa Cruz, we woke up early and had a delicious breakfast. We met up as a group at 7:30am near the park and headed up the hill with our chofers on the way to their coffee processing tour. We learned that there is more to the addicting brown liquid than you would think. In fact, this particular beneficio, or local processing plant, dries their beans twice; once naturally in the sun and again artificially. Apparently the natural process gives it more flavor. Another interesting fact is that coffee has two layers of cascaras, or shells, before you even get to the bean, not to mention the roasting. The outermost cascara is burned during the artificial drying process to add additional flavor. We then hopped in our car and endured a tossing and turning ride on the way to see a tour of a farm that cultivates avocados and granadillas, which are a type of passion fruit with yellow, styrofoam-like peels and a transparent seed-filled inside. We learned that there are two types of avocados that come from here, Haas and Ettinger. We then continued to where the granadillas were and saw that they grew like vines. We laughed at those who dared to attempt to juggle them and applauded those who succeeded. We observed the beautiful purple flowers of the granadillas as well. We loved cracking them open and slurping out the sweet and tangy seeds. We then parted and were tossed like salad on the dirt road en route to our lunch spot: the fishing pond. The pond was stocked with trout and we had no problem at all catching more than enough fish to satisfy our hunger. We watched them flop and writhe and finally become still so we could carry their slimy bodies to the bucket. A delicious meal was whipped up by Miguel, our host, consisting of fish, chicken, or egg with rice, coleslaw, and yucca. Afterwards we walked to our meeting place and discussed upcoming events we are planning with the community. The remainder of the afternoon was free-time and was spent walking over the many hills in search of friends. We finally decided to meet at the internet café which was quite a popular spot. We waited for countless minutes to use one of the five computers available, and once able to use it, we were subject to the slowest internet connection ever! Then we went home and had a delicious traditional dinner cooked by our homestay mothers. The dinner consisted of beans and rice (no surprises there!) and whatever else our ¨moms¨ happened to feel like making. After a long but fun day we were all happy to go to bed, anticipating the fun we´ll have tomorrow.
-Laura, Audrey, and Ben
Update #4:
Day 5: Monday June 6th, 2011
For Monday the 6th we started the day with construction work at the school. We mixed cement, built the base of a wall, and cut back some brush. After that we all went back to our houses to eat lunch. After this we went to the gymnasium to play traditional games with the local kids. We started with wheelbarrow races, then we jumped rope to see who could get the most jumps, then we played tunnel freeze. After that we played a game called mamones (a type of fruit here) and leones (lions), a game where if a mamon is called they chase the lions and vice versa. Then we played handball, a mix between soccer and basketball, followed by soccer which everyone of course knows. After that we returned to our houses for dinner to finish off the day.
- Kerrick and Jack
Update #5:
Tuesday, June 7
Fun day! We didn’t have our work project today though we have been loving it. Instead we went to the Escuela (the Elementary School; our big project has been at the Colegio, the middle/high school). They asked if we would teach English to their 6th grade class. We taught them numbers, colors, animals and some commands through a variety of games. We had a race with match the color card to the word of the color; we played flyswatter to learn the animals; we played bingo for the numbers; we had Pobrecito Jose to learn body parts and we went outside to play a speedy version of Simon Says called In the Water/On the Beach. The students are pretty much like US students. They laugh, like to participate, get really rowdy sometimes and all in all, have a lot of fun.
After lunch with our families we headed back to the gymnasia to play some games, mostly consisting of soccer. Always lots of soccer!
We headed back home to clean-up and have dinner then we all joined up at the Salon Comunal for a presentation by La Comparsa. It is a group of drummers and dancers who do traditional dances to rhythms from the Eastern coast of Costa Rica. Hence the dances and beats have a lot of Caribbean influence. The costumes were gorgeous and brilliantly colored. Asdruval, one of the men who helps us at our work project, is one of the drummers. We all joined in to dance! They LOVE to dance here in Santa Cruz.
We felt a little hard of hearing with all the drumming in the small area, but it was a great experience!
Wednesday, June 8
After our day off from hard labor yesterday it was back to the colegio, this time to dig a massive drainage ditch behind the school, it is rainy season after all! We pickaxed and shoveled and pick axed and shoveled and wheel barrowed the removed earth out of there. It was tough work and we welcomed our snack break at the little school tienda where we got chips and ice creams among other things. It was a lot of work this morning but we proudly looked at the ditch that we actually finished in one morning working all together and gathered for a group photo in front of our colegio projects to capture the spirit of the moment.
After lunch we met up in the park and made thank you cards for everyone who has helped us during our stay in Santa Cruz. Turned out to be a lot of cards! We have had help on the worksite, people who have organized our recreational activities and guided our tours, the teachers who invited us to their school yesterday to teach English, and on and on. It is really such a friendly community and while we look forward to heading to the beach soon we will be sad to leave our new friends and families here. Tomorrow is our last day and we plan on throwing a great despedida, or going away party.
When we finished making cards we headed to the indoor soccer field for cooperative games. They were hilarious! We played mousetrap, human knot, king crab shoe grab, and others. Of course, it ended up in a game of, yep you guessed it, soccer. We left in high spirits and walked home with our hast families for dinner and rest before our big last day tomorrow.
Thursday, June 9
Thursday morning we woke up saying to ourselves, “Today is the day. Today is the Big Day.” Breakfast came and we were in awe at how quickly our trip had gone by. But not for long were we dozing off. Work to the rescue! For some of us, the job consisted of filling tiny black bags up with dirt. For some of us, work was digging weeds, big and small, out of the soil. It would all benefit a place where they prepare and provide milk and a healthy lunch for pregnant women and children up to age 6. After our 3 ½ hours of tiring work, we went home for a relaxing lunch and some resting and packing time.
How quickly that went by! Before we knew it, we were preparing food for our goodbye party. Delectable salsa, cheesy mac ‘n cheese, tea, and floral dirt cake were the edibles made all by our group. At the Despedida, beautiful wood pictures were sold, slide shows were shown, and colorful bracelets were made. At the end of our pow wow thoughtful words were said and tears were shed. In leaving the get-together we found how much we love our families and we dreamed of them the night following.
Friday, June 10
Travel day. We rose and shined early to meet in the park with our families, friends and lots of luggage. Our buseta was waiting. We again had long goodbyes, just like last night at the Despedida. We are now feeling like we are a part of each of our families as well as a part of the community. We received many thoughtful gifts and shared lots of hugs and some tears. Then we loaded everything onto the bus and headed to the Northern Coast to Playa Grande, Guanacaste.
The bus ride went very smoothly: lots of chatter, some reading, games, a souvenir stop. About 2 hours before arriving we stopped for lunch. They had a huge menu including wood-burned pizza! We loaded back up and in no time arrived at our EcoLodge in Playa Grande.
We are staying in these neat bungalows on stilts. We are right on the beach and have a swimming pool and an open air dining room. There are two rooms in each bungalow and a separate bathroom as well as a porch…all off the ground. Some have hammocks hanging underneath. There are a zillion crabs running around because of lots of recent rain. They are red or orange and move really fast but don’t bite you. They hide in little holes in the sand or dirt.
We had a great dinner and are really ready to sleep and be ready for surfing lessons in the morning!
Saturday, June 11
After a long travel day and a somewhat late social night in our bungalows by the beach, we awoke to a glorious sunny day! We went to breakfast by our pool in our casual open air dining area. On the way we stepped around thousands of cute, right red crabs who come out of their prairie dog like homes en masse because of the rain (we aren’t having any, but they have been before we got here). Everyone ordered pancakes and fruit and it was delicious.
Surf’s Up! Listos para sufear! We met our three surfing teachers and got our rash shirts. Then we walked to the beach, which is only about 30 yards from our bungalows. In groups of 4 we practiced technique on land and then we hit the surf. Our teachers helped us to get up the first few times by giving us a push, then we did it alone. Everyone got up and rode! We had to take a break because a bunch of stingrays invaded our territory. It was cool to see but very surprising because even our instructors said they rarely see them and then only a few and much further from shore.
So we came back to the pool and played lots of water games and races until lunch. We again ate poolside. We had different choices and they served a delicious strawberry juice.
After lunch we went back to the beach and the stingrays had left so we spent several more hours surfing and playing in the ocean. After another quick pool dip, we cleaned up and relaxed in our bungalows. Oh, we saw some big iguanas too because it got hot. And the crabs went back underground for the most part.
Dinner was yummy. Right after that we had a presentation by Jeff, the surf company owner. He had taken lots of pictures of us surfing and gave us a slide show with music of our efforts, successes and wipeouts! Then we watched Endless Summer II.
Finally to bed…after packing. We come home tomorrow!!!