Classroom Costa Rica

We just saw a blue crested mot-mot. It had a blue cap with a black bandit mask around its eyes. It’s stomach was yellow-green and its back was blue-green. We saw this while we were writing in our journals at 3 o’clock-ish.
-Mandy

(editors note: this picture is not related to this post, but look at the concentration on those faces!)

As predicted, there hasn’t been one day, or even one meal, without rice and beans. The water at the waterfall in San Luis is so cold your lungs might collapse if you stay underwater too long.
-Zoe

I loved the really cold water! It was very exciting not being able to feel your body, even though it was not as bad as glacier water. Carrying the logs for the community service kind of made me nervous because I am now realizing that I might have a phobia of ants!
-Maddie

There are so many different animals in Monteverde. So far I’ve seen coatis (Central American raccoons), quetzals, tarantulas, leafcutter ants; there are still so many its hard to name them all. I think this is the best way to learn about something rather than sit at a computer all day and jog down notes. This is fun and exciting and you can actually interview people. Plus you get to see this beautiful country.
-Colby

We got to Costa Rica and holy guacamole it’s hot as Hades. It’s so cool here. Costa Rica is: cool, sweet, radical, gnarly, awesome, amazing, or whatever you want to call it.
-Jackson

Our tour guide at Monteverde Reserve was Maria, and she knew her stuff. I saw three quetzals that were so, so beautiful. A snake, which I took lots of pictures of for my mom!! Howler monkeys (LOUD) and…a tarantula! Got it was awesome but super scary! Very hairy legs! I also saw the footprint of a puma, which was very cool! The cloud forest is really amazing in general. Just green everywhere and huge trees with epiphytes and vines…it was so amazing and I immediately understood why clear-cutting is so bad. We did a rainforest study, but you can never really know what to think of the cloud forest until you go there. I am so unbelievably baffled at how lucky I am that I got to experience it…in Costa Rica.
-Audrey

The ride took five hours with stops for fruit in-between. It was extremely tiring but there were beautiful valleys that were blindingly green. There were so many cattle and wild horses. It was so different to see people out and about playing soccer and running with all the stray dogs (there are quite a few). I loved the squat little houses that were nestled in the countryside.
-Emma

When we arrived at the airport in Liberia, which by the way was completely awesome because it was small and open with gigantic fans, we went through customs and everything and boarded a bus, starting on our way to Monteverde. We stopped at different fruit stands and a supermarket in town for bananas, mango, papaya, oranges, and other amazing fruit.
-Charlotte

Still on the plane and watching the sappiest movie called, “P.S. I Love You.” I THOUGHT it was ending a half hour ago, but I guess not, but I am quite preoccupied fro the overly sappy gross love story (although the Irish guy is cute), with y goldfish and diet coke. Uh-oh, “captain” turned the seatbelt sign on for turbulence. I can’t wait for tonight. Costa Rica will be AMAZING! Before I go, let me tell you that the clouds are huge, white, poofy, and beautifully dear! There is also a large river that makes me want to go swimming! Knowing that I can soon in a crystal clear waterfall is the best feeling in the world! Adios!
-Audrey

Our bags are almost packed, as we count down the last couple of days before we leave for Costa Rica. Final preparations are in progress, like practicing the play we will perform down there, quizzing each other on Spanish phrases, getting familiar with the itinerary, and making last minute packing choices. How many pairs of socks? Which book? Is one color of bandana more useful than another?

Our heads are full of exciting images of things we will be doing, walking through the cloud forest canopy, hiking to waterfalls, snorkeling in tropical waters, visiting with farmers and staying with local families. We are eager to experience all of these things ourselves, and share them with you along the way. We will hopefully be able to add to this blog at least a couple times during our week in Costa Rica, so keep checking back for something new.

Before we go, we’ll take this one more opportunity to thank all of the people that made our trip possible: all of our friends and family that gave so generously, all of the people that bought Costa Rican coffee from us, rented kids, and took a chance on our rustic bench raffle (there’s still some tickets left!) so we could all be included. We are so grateful! We are thinking of your kindness as we embark on this exciting adventure.

Hasta Luego!