So, it is March now and I am finally writing about my trip to Costa Rica. Let’s see what I can remember…
This trip is a cross-cultural course through Messiah. So every January our Professor takes 24 students to Costa Rica to study and experience a different culture. We were required to read a book about Costa Rica over Christmas break. The trip was plenty of fun, but I cannot forget to mention that we had plenty of work to do. We wrote in journals every day, to reflect on our new encounters. We took a test and had a presentation as well. And in the end we wrote a 10 page paper to sum it all up…
Anyways, enough about the school work. I learned a lot in Costa Rica, about myself, others, and the culture. But the only way I was able to do this was by immersing my self into the lives of Ticos (Costa Ricans). We traveled all 7 providence’s and made many stops along the way. I visited both coasts and saw a few volcanoes. Locals came to talk with us and tell us about their life in Costa Rica. We had a wonderful bus driver, Franklin, he drove us everywhere! There were good times and bad times. We ran into some bad flooding along the Caribbean coast and I got stuck in a rip-tide in the Pacific ocean. Although, the bright sun poked through…we enjoyed the Costa Rican cuisine and the Tico hospitality. Now, I am just going to mention a few highlights of the trip because there is so much to talk about!
- warm weather
- exotic plants and animals
- hand picked coffee!
- Did you know that Americans are called Gringos?
- rainbows
- church fellowship
- service project- painting a local chruch
- home stay- We stayed with a family for a few nights…
- the local market
- Monteverde- Green Mountain
- zip lining
- Cloud forest- nature tour
- La Paz Waterfall Gardens-we saw the after effects of a large earthquake
- Volcanoes
- Guanabana- delicious fresh fruit drinks
- Baldi Hot Springs- so relaxing!
- group interaction- it was like living with a large family
- dance lessons- I discovered my very bad dance skills!
Well, I am sure I missed quite a bit but I hope that helps. It was not a vacation, it was an experience that I will never forget. I will post a few pictures and I am sure I will tell more stories in blogs to come.
