2021 Lake Oswego Costa Rica Spanish Immersion Program
Program Blog
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Last Day
We met for breakfast at 7:30 this morning and Hilary would not tell us where we are going. People had all sorts of ideas, Niles guessed the zoo, Michael thought we were going to a volcano and Emery thought we were going to a butterfly garden. Michael got closest with his guess of a volcano. We went to a crater in a volcano. It was really pretty and we had to wear white hard hats. Afterwards got back on the bus for an hour and drove to lunch. People missing home had hamburgers while others had the traditional “casado” lunch. With beans and rice. Then we got back on the bus and went to a museum with traditional oxen carts. We got to learn about how they make the wheels and we got to watch them paint the carts. But most importantly it is where we got all of your guys’ presents. They had a cute shop with all sorts of handmade items. So that is the one thing you should look forward to about us coming home.
After that we went home and had a nice dinner where we dressed up and had a traditional beans and rice meal. Then we had our ceremony where we got certificates and the teachers said some words about us. They said things like energético (energetic), positivo (positive), and amable (kind). We packed as much into our last day as possible and it was a great last day. We all have mixed emotions about coming home but thinking back, here are our favorite parts of the trip:
- Athena: The big group made it really fun
- Charlie: The beach and in particular the surfing
- Niles: Hanging out with old friends
- Emery: The home stay and getting to know the family
- Brandon: Getting up on a surf board and the beach in general
- Daniel: Getting to go surfing with Spanish friends
- Jonas: The zip line
- Sophia: Playing just dance with her host siblings
- Romi: All of zip lining
- Michael: Mixing concrete with the boys
- Yago: Surfing
- Lucas: Being with all of the Spanish immersion kids again
- Grace: The Tarzan swing while zip lining
- Elsa: Swimming in the first waterfall
- Samadhi: Finally standing up on the surf board
- Molly: Surfing with friends
- Kai: Going under the big waterfall
- Anthony: When Michael took his shirt off and when Justin was no longer sick
- Nico: Zip lining
- Justin: Getting to do a homestay
- Conner: The really pretty beach
- Munroe: The beach and the home-stay
7/27
Written by Romy Howell and Ellie Rogers
We started off the day eating breakfast and checking out of the hotel La Fortuna. We then started our drive to Alajuela to start our zipline tour – there were 8 ziplines total. Many members of the group faced fears, but we ALL participated and we were not disappointed by the amazing views. Check out the photo gallery to see some group pictures and a few funny features of students upside down on the tarzan swing! After the ziplining tour, we drove to the Servia Rústica for lunch and ordered yummy food like veggie sandwiches, chicken fingers, and fajitas.
And we started our drive back to the hotel La Rosa America where we first started the trip in the city of Alajuela. We will be here for our last two nights in Costa Rica! To end the day, we all wrote letters to our future selves about what we have learned and what we want to hold onto… and we can’t wait to get them in 3-4 years! Tomorrow, we start the morning off with a surprise adventure and then will do some shopping in town. ¡Hasta luego!
7/26
Written by Samadhi Perera
Today was an eventful day in the city of La Fortuna. This morning, we went to a waterfall near the volcano and there were 500 steps to go down… and come back up! But we made it back happily. The waterfall was refreshing, cool and watery. Then we drove to lunch. After the ride home we were given the option to do a scavenger hunt to explore the town – here were the teams: Munroe/Charlie/Niles/Daniel vs. Niko/Anthony/Justin vs. Samadhi (me)/Grace/Michael/Brandon/Yago. We walked around town looking for a colorful hat, an interesting mustache, a dog with no owner, and more… the winner is being announced tomorrow!
Straight after the scavenger hunt, the group headed to… THE HOT SPRINGS!! They were in a really pretty resort and the temperatures varied from lukewarm to SUPER hot!. There was also this waterslide that slid into a bowl where you go round and round at high velocities, some people even made it their goal to do it 50 times! After the fun at the hot springs we all had dinner at the resort and it was a buffet. Finally, we made our way back to La Fortuna for our last night in this hotel. SEE YOU TOMORROW… FOR ZIPLINING!
La Fortuna
Written by Charlie Howell
Hola!!
We spent the day on the bus heading away from the coast towards our next destination, La Fortuna – on the way, we ate at a buffet for lunch! It was a long drive but we got to go to an air-conditioned gift shop. Michael developed a southern accent and Justin found a pan flute.
- Michael loved his day. He had a good bus ride and sang a lot of songs. He played smash road and had a good nap. We played heads up as well. I (Charlie) taught him a variety of impressions including a southern one which he has almost perfected and is loved by all. He had amazing food at the buffet and delicious pancakes and the best fried fish west of the Mississippi River (words of Michael) – in conclusion he had a great day and is looking forward to further adventures.
- Justin had amazing nachos that he states are the best in Costa Rica. And the waiter was the best too. Justin also sat on a bus for a long time (we rode for about 5 hours). He loved the gift shop which was air-conditioned (shout out to Nico for going with him and me, Charlie, for showing it to him).The gift shop had a sweet pan flute that he didn’t buy because he states that it would have been a bad use of his money. Everyone on this trip super nice and you should be friends with everyone here (Justin quote). Justin thanks the academy for this award and he worked hard for it. It was an honor to be nominated. All in all, Justin had a good day.
- Elsa had a good day too. She enjoyed the bus ride listening to music and liked the dinner and hotel. Elsa enjoyed eating snacks and chocolate on the bus and that’s all – thank you Elsa.
Here are some quotes and one-liners from the rest of the group:
- Niles: I am sitting on a hammock with Lucas
- Lucas: I’m sitting on a hammock with Niles
- Daniel: Stay away from the rocks they hurt
- Samadhi : Clams are not crustaceans
- Molly: Kai played geometry dash for 4 hours
- Monroe: It was good
- Anthony: Don’t drink the fountain water
- Athena: I ate yummy food
- Yago: Michael shaved his Mustache
- Kai: Don’t drink cold drinks when you have a sore throat
- Grace: Sup
- Connor: best restaurant ever
- Nico: Best waiter at the best restaurant ever and best restaurant and kudos to Charlie for showing us the gift shop
- Joonas: I don’t know – long bus ride today!
- Brandon: umm hmmm umm no no don’t write that CHARLIE DONT WRITE THAT!!
- Emory: I was sleeping on the bus… WAIT IM NOT DONE
- Sophia: I don’t know we drove for a long time
- Romy: We drove
- Profe Ellie: Um let me think of something good
- Mary: I love seeing the squirrel monkeys
- Susan: Oh ok Um Hillary is always right about the food
- Hilary: I feel like… ready for tomorrow!
We can’t wait to see our friends back in Oregon and we look forward to the rest of our trip.
Hasta mañana!
7/23
Written by Emory Guyer
¡Hola! Last night we had our fiesta! It was a ton of fun, we had a great time eating with our host families and swinging at a piñata. Today we said goodbye and thank you to our host families and were off to the beach! We went surfing, Molly said that the instructors were helpful and made her feel safe.
You’ve heard a lot about us students, so let’s get to know the adults here too:
Mary is a middle school teacher at Lakeridge. She used to work as a dishwasher, waitress, and an EMT. Out of it all teaching is her favorite.
She grew up in Oregon and Mexico! Mary is a vegetarian, and if she were to be an animal she would be a deer because they eat only plants and chill in the shade. She’s also an Aquarius!
Ellie a Spanish teacher in Lake Oswego! She is obsessed with her dog Marian and misses her so much. In her free time she likes to do yoga and thrift shop. At first Ellie said that she would be a monkey because people say that she looks like one, but later changed her mind to a sloth after we saw one in a tree.
Tommy works with Walking Tree and used to be a Spanish teacher in Denver. Fun fact, his favorite thing to do in the snow is make snow angels. Tommy is also a proud Minnesotan. If he were to be an animal he would be a loon (the state bird of Minnesota). Loons are great hunters and can hold their breath for long periods of time. They have beautiful red eyes and mate for life.
Hilary works with walking tree and knows every logistic about our trip. She used to own a restaurant for a about a year but unfortunately had to close it because of the pandemic. She is 100% Tica (Costa Rican) and she loves hiking and food. Hilary has lived in Spain for the past 8 months. If she were to be an animal she would be a bat because they are interesting and knowledgeable.
Susan is a pharmacist as well as a mom of two. Megan is 11 years old and Justin is here with us! She is always prepared, and has all of the snacks, sunscreen, sting-eeze, and toilet paper that we need. She hates crickets with a passion but doesn’t mind snakes. Her Chinese zodiac is tiger and she is a Taurus.
Ronny is our driver and has been working with walking tree for 14 years! He knows so much about Costa Rican nature. He shows us edible plants and fruits and is amazing at spotting animals. So far he’s shown us scarlet macaws, toucans, and a sloth! In his free time he enjoys hiking through the forest, biking, going to the beach, and spending time with his family. His daughters are Isabella who is ten and Sophia who is seven. If Ronny were to be an animal he would be a lion because they are powerful.
Tomorrow we are off to explore a national park, adios!
Farewell Dinner
Written by Yago Marin
The day started out with a fun activity that our leader Hillary showed us which involved a lot of jumping. After that, we started to get to work – five people had to sweep the building, another five had to stir and pour concrete and another ten had to stir concrete further away. Though some of the jobs were difficult, we only had to work until 12pm. After the service work, our host families brought us lunch and we ate and relaxed for about an hour together. It is fun to see what everyone’s host family brings! After that, everyone went back home to shower before our tour of the local elementary school.
The principal showed us around and it was a great experience to see how the kids there learned and what they were taught. After the tour, some kids went back home or stuck around nearby waiting for the party to begin with all of the host families. We all sat down with our families at individual tables and were able to serve them for the first time after all they did for us throughout the week. The food was an amazing fried rice and there was a lot of drinks like grape fanta, blueberry tea, and coca cola. A little into the middle of the party they hung up a piñata and all the kids got a chance to swing at it with blind folds. Even some of the adults joined in! For example, Susan was going ham on the piñata. We ended the day with a big thank you to all the host families and everyone went home. Tomorrow, we say goodbye to our families and head to the coast to surf!
Work Day
Written by Niles Bauer and Ellie Rogers
Today, we all woke up early and met at the plaza. We did our usual count off in Spanish and got ready for our last full day of work! We chose jobs depending on what we wanted to do this day. We did things like cleaning a space for new bathrooms, building a retaining wall, sweeping the floors, spackling the walls, finishing painting, and moving logs and sticks. Before starting to work, we all shared our rose (flor), bud (brote), and thorn (espina) of the trip. Here are some of the responses:
Rose (what we’ve enjoyed most so far)
- El tiempo con las familias (time with families)
- La comida (food)
- La catarata Nauyaca (waterfall)
- Cariño de la comunidad (the community welcomed us with open arms!)
- Fanta (orange)… it tastes different here!
- Speaking practice
- Amigos nuevos (new friends)
Thorn (a challenged we’ve faced)
- Chickens (early morning noises)
- Stuffy noses
- Bugs (lots of bug bites)
- Extrañando nuestro perro/familia (missing our dogs and families)
- Sol, humidity
- Adjusting to the new sleep schedule
- Language barrier
Bud (what we’re looking forward to)
- Surfing lessons
- Zip line adventure
- Seeing the ocean
- Oxen cart factory
Nothing can keep this group down! Despite some sore throats and scraped knees, the group’s energy has been overwhelmingly positive and appreciative of all we have learned thus far in our homestays.
The Best of Costa Rican Cuisine
Written by Molly Cole
We’ve had many different foods in Costa Rica, many host families grow their own food in their backyards. Here are some of our favorites we’ve had 
Danny: Hamburgers from host family & Fanta
Romy: Los frijoles
Sofia: The coconut she drank out off
Emory: Custard liquid drink /fruit
Niles: The bananas/ strawberry frozen drink
Elsa: Strawberry juice/ chicken tacos
Brandon: Strawberry smoothie from flory
Samadhi: Green oranges from her host family (they grow them)
Munroe: Orange juice with herbs
Kai: Pork/ Fanta
Lucas: Pancakes
Yago: Michaels fried chicken/ grape Fanta
Charlie: Casada with pork/ pineapple juice
Conor: Rice/ lemonade
Justin: Rice/ lemonade
Nico: Casado with steak/ purple Fanta
Anthony: Yellow drink/ rice
Michael: Patacones/ guanabana juice
Grace: Strawberry smoothie/casada
Athena: Strawberry smoothie
Molly: Pineapple juice/ pasta from host family
Joonas: Fanta/ pinto
Service Work
Written by Mary Petrides
Today was our first day of work on the service project. We worked hard. We sweated, fended off ants, carried heavy branches off the soccer field, and mixed cement. And on top of that, navigated some technical Spanish with our local project foreman. On our breaks, we bought snacks at the pulperia (mini-mart), danced, and made a human knot. Our host moms brought us lunch at the work site, checked up on their/our kids and commented on how much progress we had made.
Homestay
Written by Mary Petrides
So much has happened since we first arrived at our homestay. Now I better understand the word HOMEstay. It is not that we are guests in a home, our host moms, dads, siblings, (plus aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents) have opened their families to include us this week. It is difficult to describe how warm and welcoming the community has been. It is one of those small towns where everyone knows everyone. For this week, our travelers are part of that everyone. Several host moms have told me that they imagine how they would want their children to be treated if they went abroad. Many of the photos on the blog are from the host family group chat where they are showing food and activities that each family has shared with our kiddos. There have been games of soccer, (Spanish) monopoly, playing cards, spoons, tic tac toe with host siblings & cousins.
Blog #3
Written by Kai Dodson y Ellie Rogers
Hola familias,
Today we are all spread out with our host families across the rural town of San Salvador where there are less than 2,000 residents.
We haven’t begun our service project here just yet because today is the town’s rest day. We spent the day getting to know our host families and settling into our homes – some of us made tamales while others played games with host siblings or visited their family’s ranch nearby. Most of us live very close to other host families so we are able to say hi and spend time together.
Later in the day, we all gathered at the soccer field to play a game at the plaza in the center of town and talk about what we have learned so far. Tonight we are all going to interview one of our host family members in Spanish to learn about their cultural perspectives.
And tomorrow, we begin our work at 8am.
¡Hasta la próxima!
A few additional notes about yesterday (7/17)
Written by Joonas Sarvanto
In the morning, we had an epic pool tournament in our “jungalows”. Later we went out to big lunch (I had casado con cerdo)! We toured the town we are staying in for the next 5 days and met our families for first time. After dinner, our leaders came around and checked in on us.
Blog #2
Written by Brandon Taliaferro
The day began walking up a giant hill from our “jungalows” in Pura Suerte. We walked by a bees nest and Athena and Romy got swarmed by bees. They got stuck in their hair, miraculously they didn’t get stung. Shoutout to Tommy – he saved the day (everyone else ran away…). After our sweaty walk, we were met with another sweaty walk – but it was all SO worth it! We made it to a beautiful waterfall with a large swimming area at the base. We swam under the huge waterfall and also found a giant grasshopper! Charlie claims the insect was 4 1/2 inches long 1/2 wide and stood about an inch tall. The bugs and plants here are crazy and huge. We had a few slips on slippery rocks but all walked away smiling. We continued our journey to a higher part of the waterfall and hung out around a small pool and after a solo reflection we were on our way back. I had probably the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted and later we tried out some coffee and other local desserts. We played some pool, ate some pasta and that about concluded day 2 :) Tomorrow we begin our home stay adventure… stay tuned!
Blog #1
Written by Michael Shin and Tommy Tyson
On Wednesday we flew from Portland to Costa Rica, connecting in Los Angeles and stopping over in Liberia en route to our final destination in San Jose. We were able to see a cool lightning storm on the final leg of our journey. Upon arrival, we drove to our hotel where we ate pizza (Munroe forced me to try tomatoes on mine) before playing Marco Polo in the pool.