2019 Costa Rica 15 Day Service Adventure
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Another Great Day
Escrito por Kaelon Newcomb
As the sun rose over San Gerardo de Rivas at around 7:00, all of the group woke up into our last morning in our host community. Over breakfast, we said our last goodbyes to our host families and walked out the door one last time. Many of these goodbyes were tearful. After some time, we took our last steps on the mountain earth and got on our bus.
The rest of the morning was almost all travel. Our distinctively Costa Rican microbus passed through jungle, valley, city and beach. Our route also took us past the Valle Diamante, where we spent the first portion of our trip at the Rama Organica.
A midday lunch and settling into our rooms at the hotel came first when we arrived in Manuel Antonio. The beach was later, only after the sun had become less intense and much excitement had built up. However, the wait was worth it. Our surf lesson had perfect conditions in every way- with the water, the sun, and the waves. Everyone had a great time out on the water, and the majority of the group that was new to surfing was introduced by our guides to a whole new world of fun.
Lastly, dinner once again happened to be situated in a beautiful outdoor setting, this time overlooking the Pacific sunset. Another great day was had by all.
Aguas Termales
Written by Jackson Darre
Today we cleaned the clinic and got it ready for opening day Monday. There was not a whole lot of cleaning that needed to be done so we were able to finish early. Lunch today was at our homes with our families, and after lunch the group went to the hot springs or “Aguas Termales”. The hot springs were a blast! The water was warm and there were lots of other people there. Tonight for dinner we went to one of the host families houses and had a barbecue there. The food was excellent and it was fun to be with everyone. Bernie, the person who led the work at the clinic was the one who hosted and cooked for us.
A Hard Days Work
Today in Costa Rica!
Written by Louie Salfi
The whole team woke up and made our way to the soccer field at around 9am. It was then that we tossed around the frisbee on a beautiful soccer field until it was time to leave for the day’s adventure. The adventure today was the butterfly pavilion at Casa Alegría. When we arrived at Casa Alegría we were greeted with delicious coffee and hot chocolate, along with a very intense foosball game. As we were sipping our drinks we had the pleasure of listening to Joe, a colorful personality and native to Colorado with a knack for storytelling and songwriting. After listening to a couple of his songs we went and checked out the laboratory where they collected butterfly eggs and cocoons. Inside the butterfly dome we saw plenty of different species of butterflies of different sizes and colors. From there the crew grabbed some ice cream and went back to their home families for lunch. After lunch a few of us went to the local field to toss and pass footballs and frisbees. After a couple hours it was party time! We all enjoyed a variety of food, games and entertainment as we kicked up our feet to celebrate the Fourth of July.
¡Pura Vida!
¡Pura Vida!
Today was our first day working on the service project. My morning commenced with a delicious breakfast of eggs, fruit, and coffee. Unsurprisingly, my host mom Carolina’s cooking didn’t disappoint. Ellen and I were so occupied with breakfast, we ended up a little late to the clinic where our service project was taking place. After we arrived, we started unloading rolls of grass. However, before planting the grass in the ground we had to remove stones, weeds, and other objects in the way. I’d like to say that it was enjoyable and easy work, but the sun was relentless and by the end of the ordeal we were all sweaty and covered in dirt. Unfortunately, the rain interrupted our planting, but we had gotten so much done! When I got back to my house, I took one of the greatest showers of my life. Later, Ellen and I helped Carolina make tortillas, a new experience for me. I’m so excited to see where this project goes!
Sueños de Vida
Written by Sofia Quiros – Program Leader
¡Hola!
We began our day in the beautiful organic farm, Rama Orgánica. From there, we went to another farm called Sueños de Vida (Dreams of Life) run by locals Graciela and Roy and their family. Here, we got to learn about their sustainable practices and their everyday work on the farm. We learned about the plants and herbs they grow, including coffee and chocolate which they produce locally. We milked a cow, fed newborn baby pigs, learned to make empanadas and tasted the coffee and cocoa produced at the farm. You can tell it is fresh from the farm!
We then headed over to San Isidro del General, the main city in the Pérez Zeledón region. We visited the market, ate some lunch and walked around the city center. After that, we made our way to San Gerardo de Rivas, the community where we’ll be doing our service work and staying at for the next 9 days. Once we arrived, our host families came to greet us. We were each paired off with our families and went off to what will be our homes during our stay in the community. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening socializing with our host families. More to come on the students’ experiences here!
Nuayaca Falls
Witten by Ellen Han
Hola! Today was the day that we got some serious action with nature. Starting the day off in the Rama Organica, after breakfast we hiked down to Nauyaca waterfalls. We spent the day there swimming, socializing, and eating our exquisite packed burritos. We were able to hike back to the bus to head to a local grocery store right before the rain hit hard. The next couple of hours were supposed to be dedicated to touring a coffee plantation/farm but the weather caused a change in plans and instead we got a couple hours of free time and rescheduled coffee expedition for tomorrow morning. The day has ended with another delicious meal of vegetarian lasagna made with ingredients all from Rama Organica. We can’t wait for more to come!