Sunday, April 12, 2015

Monteverde



Although today was travel-heavy, I am certain that it held some of the most memorable moments for  our students. We left La Fortuna early to wind our way around Lake Arenal on our way to Guanacaste and Monteverde. Our windy path provided us breathtaking views of the region and, once again, proved the impressive skills of our drivers. On the way, we stopped at a local school where the students were kind enough to perform a dance for us on a Sunday. Our students had an opportunity to interact with young Costa Ricans as they joined in the dancing and played soccer afterwards.

Once we arrived in Monteverde, our group split across two hotels before enjoying the day’s activities. Although Monteverde is typically known for its misty, cool climate this time in the year, this afternoon was pleasantly dry and warm. I was especially appreciative of the dryness on our horseback excursion as the rough terrain would have been especially adventurous in the mud and rain.


Again, I was fortunate to find three students willing to share their favorite experiences of the day so I will let them close out today’s post:

Today was a very fun day! We did many fun activities like visiting the school, going to town, and even walking through a rainforest. My favorite part of the day was probably when we visited the school. Visiting the school in La Cruz had a great impact on how I see my school back in D.C. The school wasn’t that big and it seemed a bit run down. Seeing this made me realize how lucky we are back home. It was cool meeting the kids who came to the school, even on a weekend, to perform a dance for us in cultural outfits and playing soccer with us. I had a lot of fun meeting these young Costa Rican locals. I also had fun going in to town and buying ice cream and buying stuff in random stores. Today was one of my favorite days so far!
-Sophia Strazzella


Probably my favorite thing about today’s trip was the chips. These chips are no ordinary chips, however. These chips are different. They are a feat of human engineering surpassing all other inventions of the 21st century. They combine the crunchiness that everyone loves, with the latin tradition of bananas or “plantanes” as they call it here. These plantain chips are like sliced bananas prepared using magical techniques to make crunchy slivers. It is something to all run to get. They feature regular, salted, lime and bbq flavor. So, next time you look at your chips remember, there is something better out there that you are missing.
-Chris Bond


Today we had a four-hour drive to Monteverde which was actually not that bad because the hotels are very nice. We also stopped at a school in La Cruz which looked very poor but what was interesting is that the whole school was pretty much built on the donations from different places. After horseback riding, we went into town and Aiden bought a hammock.  We also went to a chicken place and a really good ice cream store. All this time there was this stray dog that would not leave me alone and even licked my leg.
Stella Troy

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