Telluride High School – Costa Rica: May 22 – June 2
UPDATE #1
It’s hard to believe it’s only been four days in Costa Rica! Everyone is having such a good time and we have accomplished a lot already. Our fist day in Costa Rica was such a treat since the sun greeted us upon our arrival. We were so happy to leave behind the cold and snow and just basked in the warmth. Upon arrival at our hotel we put our things away and then had a typical delicious breakfast of rice & beans, scrambled eggs, a variety of tropical fruits and Costa Rica’s famously wonderful coffee. Even though we arrived on the red eye at 5:30 a.m., we were too excited to nap after breakfast and instead decided to take a brisk swim in the pool and then relax in the nearby hammocks. Later in the day we visited the University for Peace, Jenny’s future school! (We get to call Miss Manhoff Jenny while we are here. It’ hard to get used to, but we like it). It was fun to tour the campus. They have a large forest reserve and we took a walk through it to the UPEACE monument. Nearby there were ponds where we spotted different ducks, ducklings, and turtles. We learned that the University for Peace has students from 40 different countries and that a typical class has 15 different nationalities represented within it! After our visit we did a short scavenger hunt in a small town and then headed to a local tico restaurant for dinner. We were exhausted and ready for bed after dinner.
On Tuesday we were up bright and early to meet our bus that would be taking us on our rafting adventure! We left at 6:00 a.m. and arrived at 8:00 a.m. at the base camp where a delicious and bountiful breakfast awaited us. We were told to eat well so that we could paddle our way down 18 miles of the Pacuari River that included class 3 & 4 rapids. The Rio Pacuare is one of the top 10 rafting destinations in the world! We soon found out why as we paddled our way through scenic jungle populated with exotic birds and flowers. We were able to swim a section of the river that was reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie with it’s high canyon walls, a waterfall, and vines hanging down. The rapids were exciting and we bonded with each other as well as our fun rafting guides. No one in the group swam any rapids and the trip was a great success! After our 2 hour bus ride home we were well enough rested for a two hour dance lesson with Randall! We learned how to dance the merengue, bachata, salsa and cumbia. While we were dancing Gabby and Jenny cooked us a delicious meal of spaghetti, garlic bread and salad with ice cream for dessert. What a great day!
Wednesday morning we all awoke excited to learn who our host families would be. It was great to read the letters they had written us and to learn that we would all have host brothers and sisters. We then loaded up the bus and began our 4 hour journey to Vista del Mar. When we arrived every one was waiting for us in the community center. It was strange entering the building and having almost the entire community watching us! We were all nervous but as we met our host families we were happy to be greeted by such warm and friendly faces. We went home with our families and then met back at the community center to compare notes. After figuring out some more Spanish and things to talk about, we headed back home for dinner and to stay the night in our tico homes!
Thursday morning had us up with the roosters even though we didn’t have to wake up until 6:00 a.m. Roosters should have better internal alarms. At 7:00 a.m. we met to begin our community service. Max and Mason’s first job was to cut the grass on the soccer field. At first that seemed like an easy job but since the grass was over a foot tall and the lawn mower was pretty old, it turned out to be sweaty and dirty work! Five girls worked on building a bathroom for the community center and learned how to make and mix cement. The other 7 students worked on the new entryway to the community church. They dug out an existing wall to make a larger floor and covered area. All of the jobs were pretty tough be we felt accomplished at the end of our work day. At 4:00 p.m. we got back together to play soccer with the locals. We don’t know which team won but we all had a good time. After soccer, we returned home for dinner and then headed back out to the community kitchen to learn how to make tortillas. Many families from the community, including our own, showed up to make tortillas in the large cooking space. The women of the village showed us how to make them and we copied them. Then they used a wood fired stove to cook them on. We munched tortillas with salami and drank agua dulce – sugar cane juice. It was a fun evening of sharing with the community.
Speaking of the community,you are probably wondering what it is like. Vista del Mar is situated on a steep hillside that overlooks the valley. It has only 200 inhabitants. The houses are colorful and every kind of fruit can be found in someone’s yard. It is a peaceful place where chickens, goats, dogs, and children run free and everyone is asleep before 9:00 pm. We have enjoyed our first 2 nights here and expect to enjoy each day as it comes. Tomorrow we work and tomorrow night there is going to be a bonfire and talent show!
That’s all for now. Pura Vida!
