Pura vida!*
After a smooth (and sleepy) flight, Rachel, Hilary, Meagan, and I found ourselves in beautiful San Jose, where Jennifer held her ground amongst pushy cab and limousine drivers in order to greet us. When landing in a new place, one can't overstate the value of seeing a familiar face. Thanks Jennifer!
At our hotel, after a delicious dinner of pollo a la plancha and fresh-squeezed jugo de maracuya, we shared used our ANCHOR ritual to share some of our favorite moments, news, and fears. All in all, everyone is pumped to meet our homestay families, forge connections in the community, and learn more about Costa Rican culture and education. One challenge we're all facing is our language gap. Maybe we're all wishing we'd studied a little bit harder in our high school Spanish classes :)
Fears aside, we woke up bright and early this morning, and made the drive through the cloud forest to the Eco-Lodge, in Chilamate. This was my first time at an Eco-lodge, and I learned today that an eco-lodge is defined as "a type of tourist accommodation designed to have the least possible impact on the natural environment." This means that this lodge is built into the rain forest. This place is truly unique: morpho butterflies, a family of beautiful dogs, iguanas, and a family of bats are just a few of our close neighbors.
While at the lodge, though, the highlight of our day was definitely when William led us on a hike through the rainforest. Aside from the symphony of cicadas and frogs, we were able to see Howler Monkeys, Poisonous Dart Frogs, a Three-Toed Sloth, a Red Coffeesnake and... we even got up close and personal with a Bullet Ant! What a day!
As the forest grows dark and begins to buzz with life and activity, we are resting up for another day of adventure. Rachel, Hilary, Meagan, Jennifer, and I are sharing our different journeys to this trip, and the ways in which we hope to bring global learning into our learning communities. Today has been action-packed, and tomorrow promises to be even better. Pura vida!
*"Pura vida" is an expression that Costa Ricans use, which means "pure life", or "cool!" "this is living!" Thinking back on our first 48 hours in Costa Rica, I can't think of a better way to describe our experience.
After a smooth (and sleepy) flight, Rachel, Hilary, Meagan, and I found ourselves in beautiful San Jose, where Jennifer held her ground amongst pushy cab and limousine drivers in order to greet us. When landing in a new place, one can't overstate the value of seeing a familiar face. Thanks Jennifer!
While at the lodge, though, the highlight of our day was definitely when William led us on a hike through the rainforest. Aside from the symphony of cicadas and frogs, we were able to see Howler Monkeys, Poisonous Dart Frogs, a Three-Toed Sloth, a Red Coffeesnake and... we even got up close and personal with a Bullet Ant! What a day!
*"Pura vida" is an expression that Costa Ricans use, which means "pure life", or "cool!" "this is living!" Thinking back on our first 48 hours in Costa Rica, I can't think of a better way to describe our experience.
Pura Vida friends! So excited to read and follow your adventures. Take it all in, an amazing place, community and experience:)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic start to your adventure! Please keep the pictures and updates coming.
ReplyDeleteAloha! Soak it up and enjoy your journey!
ReplyDeleteHey y'all! Sounds like a fantastic beginning in the southern latitudes! Grin at those bull ants for me.
ReplyDeleteY aprendamos espanol este ano!