We graduated! And the end of the trip

On Friday, instead of having normal classes, we had a weird schedule because the school doesn't have classes in the afternoon. That means that the school had double the amount of students we were used to. We started school with a cultural chat. Some people learned about legends, some learned about the provinces of Costa Rica, some got to study art and the environment and some played games. After our chat we had a big break where many people went souvenir shopping. We came back and took tests and did an evaluation of the school. Some people got done early and got to eat lunch before graduation; others had to wait until after graduation. At graduation, we received diplomas, had to say a few words (in Spanish of course!) to thank the teacher and say what they had learned. The professors said a few words, some students got prizes, and we got fruit. After graduation we had a little over an hour to kill before our hike. Our hike guide was none other than one of kayak guides, Heiner, so it was nice to see him again and chat with him. He took us up a mountain to a look out point where we took some beautiful pictures. Then we hiked down to a hidden beach and got to swim and take pictures and just explore. On Saturday, we got to go zip-lining, which here is called "canopy." We had to go in 2 groups because we were such a large group. The first group went at 7 am. We got geared up and were taken up to the place where we would get to zip-line. There were 10 lines and we only had to hike a few times between lines. We got to go down regular lines, got to hang upside down on one, got bounced on a different one, got to see the ocean on two and got an all natural snack in the middle. It was so much fun whizzing through the dry rainforest and seeing the great scenery! The second group went at 10:30 and got to see kuwatis - the first group only heard a bunch of howler monkeys. After zip-lining, we had free time for the rest of the day. Most people took advantage of the beautiful day and went swimming or just hung out on the beach. Our guide and friend Heiner was on a beach soccer team that was in the semi-finals. We got to watch some beach soccer (they lost in the final) and enjoy the day on the beach. We finished up our souvenir shopping and spent our last night with our families and packed for the next 2 days. We were sad to say good bye to Sámara but excited to see Arenal and go to the hot springs! We had a 7 am departure time for La Fortuna (the town at the base of Arenal) and it took us about 4 1/2 hours to get there. We stopped at the same restaurant/cafeteria that we stopped at on the way to Sámara, so we knew what they had and what we already wanted. Unfortunately, on the way to La Fortuna, we couldn't see the top of Arenal because it was covered by clouds. We never did get to see the top :( The kids were disappointed that they couldn't hike up the volcano, but since it is so active, only scientists are allowed up Arenal. Once we got to La Fortuna, we went to our hotel, changed, and got things ready for the rest of the day. We went on a nature hike and saw a poisonous frog, some crocodiles, and some sloths!!! It was hard to see the sloths, but we were excited to see them! Then we headed off in search of food - half of the group went to Burger King and the other half went to a soda (little restaurant) for a last authentic Costa Rican lunch. From there we went to the Baldi Hot Springs! We had about 4 hours there to relax, go down the water slides, and enjoy the tranquility of the hot and cool pools. After the hot springs, we ate at a pizzeria for our last meal in Costa Rica. :( We headed back to the hotel to relax, pack up and enjoy the last few hours in Costa Rica. We had a 2 am departure time (gross) and just about everyone slept during our almost 3 hour trip to the airport. When we got to the airport, I went to go pay the airport tax as the guides helped unload everyone and gave them their snack breakfast. After paying the tax and having our breakfast at 4:45 am we got our tickets and went through security as we watched the sunrise in the windows right in front of us. We had a nice big waiting area, complete with a Cinnabon near by, which many took advantage of to supplement their earlier breakfast or to help wake them up with the coffee. We had an uneventful flight and got in to Dallas around 2 pm. Unfortunately, when we got to Dallas, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get through migration, get luggage, and go through customs. Thankfully we had about a 3 1/2 hour layover, so it helped eat up some of the time. Again, we had an uneventful flight and got back to MN on time, where we met up with our families :) And here ends the saga of Costa Rica 2013 :) I changed the settings on the pictures, so hopefully everyone will be able to see them. There are 2 different albums, so here are the links for those: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.627430537275545&type=1 https://www.facebook.com/groups/520493947969205/photos/

Kayaking Adventures and A Discotheque

Let's see...where did I leave off? Oh yes, we are up through Tuesday. Well, Tuesday after school I reminded the students to drink lots of water that night and the next day and to wear LOTS of sunscreen since we were kayaking. We arrived at the school by 8:30 and had a kayak lesson before going out. Our guides told us the route we would take to get to the island and when we were supposed to go in single file. Our biggest hurdle was making it over the breaking waves - not all of us were successful, myself included. We went in pairs except for Julio who was special and since he was strong, got a single kayak. Once we made it past the breakers, we had to wait for all the kayaks to arrive. This proved to be a problem for some. We had a few kids get seasick on the way over, but got them some Dramamine as soon as we got to the island. It was a tough half hour of kayaking with the sea a bit rough but we made it. Once on the island, we got to relax, explore, sun bathe, swim...and snorkel! About half of us went snorkeling. We didn't see much because the sea was rough (apparently the worst day in a long time) but our guides did find a spider starfish, blue starfish, and a puffer fish for us to look at and tough if we were brave enough. After snorkeling we got fresh pineapple and watermelon and juice to replenish our tired bodies. After a little more exploring and resting and picture taking, we were on our way back. Thankfully we only had to kayak to the close beach, about 6km from where we had started. Unfortunately, we waited there for a long time as there was some miscommunication as to when the trucks were coming to pick us up to go back to school. By the time we got back to school, we were late to classes and still hasn't eaten lunch. Some people had snacks in their backpacks and others bought snacks during our break. After school was done, many of us went to the near by ice cream shop for a quick snack before supper. It was rainy all afternoon, so many people went home after ice cream or to Pali (supermarket/Walmart store for basics) for snacks. On Thursday, we had morning classes again, but we had a nice big break for lunch - 2 hours instead of one! However, since we all ate at a tiny restaurant, we needed the extra time since they weren't used to big groups like ours. It took quite a while for everyone to get their food and all the accompaniments that went with it. After lunch, many went out souvenir hunting and even bought some things. I'm just looking for know but will buy on Saturday. At 2 we headed back to school to catch a bus to CREAR - a non-profit organization that provides supplemental education for the children in and around Samara and the neighboring villages. It has grown quite a bit since the last time we were here! Now, instead of just after school activities, they also run a day camp for the kids when they are on vacation, which they were this week (2 week mid winter break). Thursday was there last day of camp, so we helped with the party. We helped set up the relay race and run it, play ice breakers, painted faces, filled water balloons, prepared and passed out soda floats, played soccer and overall just had fun with the kids. It was a lot of fun! After CREAR, we either explored, rested or went back home to get ready to go our on the town and dance! It was discotheque night and we met later that night to go "clubbing". We went to Tabanucos which was just down the beach from the school. It was a bit slow at first, but once they loosened up and the music got faster, they had a lot of fun. We saw a lot of crazy dance moves ;) Curfew came too quickly, but better to end on a high note than a low one, right? The bartenders were great and served some delicious juices and even changed the music for us so the kids could dance. Now it's off to bed to get ready for school, graduation, and a hike through the forest to a hidden beach!

Pictures

True blog to come tomorrow but I wanted to tell you I posted pictures :) Hope this link works since I'm sending it from my phone... Let me know if it doesn't. https://m.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=oa.627430537275545&type=1&v&ref=bookmark&__user=96100057

Surf and sun

We went surfing today! But before I get to that, let me back up a bit and explain the morning. We had classes at 8 - but even though we learn things, we also get to play a lot of games. I even heard a big group of students playing some number game outside as I was trying to study really hard :) as soon as classes were over, we changed and walked down the beach to Chocos Surf School. We met some pretty awesome instructors (Choco, Marco, Marcelo, y Jose) who taught us in English so that we would perfectly understand the safety rules and instructions. We were given rash guards to wear and I personally was thankful for the sun protection. After we learned how to surf on the sand (which I prefer - MUCH easier) we were divided into 4 groups and went with our instructor. Our instructors helped us choose waves, told us when to get on, paddle, and get up and even gave us a push. After a few times of individual instruction (or a couple more if you did not pick it up quickly...) we gained more Md more independence as the instructor gave less and less instruction. In the end, we were choosing waves for ourselves and trying to surf them in. We had a blast! The great thing is that now that we have had the class, we can rent the surfboards and go out in our free time. Now with going surfing, we had to skip lunch. This was because the high tide was coming in and our window of opportunity for good waves was quite small. We had snacks during our break and went out to eat after surfing. We found a nice little restaurant that had group discounts so we each only paid $6 for a full meal. Some had casado which is a typical dish with rice, beans, meat, salad, vegetable and plantains and it comes with a drink. While we were not rushed at our meal, we did have to hurry back for our dance class. We learned 3 different merengue dances and got to dance in pairs. Our dance instructor praised us for paying attention and having "good discipline". She even said many of the students had good rhythm and should continue dancing :) Once dance class was done, the students had some free time so of course many of them chose to go swimming. It's rainy here for the first time. It's not raining hard (not like 2 years ago) but it i a nice refreshing sprinkle after some hot days. Tomorrow we are hoping for good wether and calm seas as we go kayaking out to an island in the morning. I'm hoping to get pictures up soon - maybe tonight!

First days in Costa Rica

Sunday began with a lazy morning where many explored the grounds and some found some great photo opps (painted cow?). Our plan was to check out, eat at Denny's and then head to the airport to wait for our Colorado crew and catch the bus. Unfortunately our plans were thwarted by a crowded Denny's who refused us service. So we decided to venture to the airport earlier than planned and see if we could find some food there. We were in luck. We found a little airport restaurant outside and a little bit away from the huge throng of people meeting arrivals. There was even extra space for us to put our suitcases to the side and spread out a bit while we waited. And wait we did. Thankfully we occupied ourselves with a variety of activities, some of which I didn't even know the names of :) while playing the games, many passers by would stare as they walked by, comment or even strike up conversations - not because they were bothersome, but because they were genuinely interested in how the kids were keeping themselves occupied. It was pretty neat. We finally found the bus and the rest of our crew (who had endured a 12 overnight layover) and headed out toward Samara. We got to experience Latin American driving (with our luggage on top) through the hills and beauty of Gods creation. We made it to Samara in record time - only a little over 4 hours and that with a stop! Out host families came to pick us up and we spent the night getting to know our families and getting accustomed to the heat, humidity, and sounds. Morning came and brought with it unusual sounds like chickens, roosters, monkeys and birds cackling outside of our windows. We ate a nice big breakfast (typical breakfast usually includes gallo pinto) and we were off to go get tested. No paper and pencils - just a nice little conversation with an evaluator. After our tests we had orientation to learn about the school and town, with a little tour of the "downtown" area (about 3 square blocks). We learned of some good places to get lunch, buy souvenirs, exchange money, get coffee, buy school supplies, groceries and other necessities and basically just how to get around town. After that we had either 1 or 2 hours to go explore (depending on the group for cooking class) so we split up to go explore the town. We learned that there are approximately 100 or so students here this week, so there are lots of interesting people around an everyone is friendly and helpful. This town is used to tourists and students which is nice. Many went to check out the beach or get a cafecito. Then we had a cooking class where we learned to make Tortas de Yucca (like a thin yucca pancake) and eat them with cheese. After our cooking class we went to find some food to eat. A number of us took advantage of the 2 for 1 pizza deal at a pizzeria and had some delicious juice. We are all trying to get accustomed to the heat and humidity so it was a relief when the time for classes rolled around and we for to have class in air conditioned classrooms. We got a 20 minute break in the middle so we got to rest our brains for a bit. After school, some got to test out the waves and some explored a bit more around town before supper with our host families. Tomorrow we have classes in the morning and surfing in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather will continue to be wonderful and the sea not too terrible as we tackle this new experience :) I haven't gotten to an Internet cafe yet to upload pictures from my camera but I have put up a few on Facebook. Once I get to a computer, ill put them up and get you the link.

Ya llegamos!

We made it to San Jose! We had a smooth traveling experience - no delays, missed flights, or missing baggage! Hooray! Things got a little tense at baggage claim, but we all found our luggage. Getting to the Holiday Inn Express was a snap once we made it through the mob of people waiting at the exit. A quick hop done the street and we all checked in. People have been very kind and helpful to our big group. After a quick meeting and devotion, the kids headed to the pool for a quick dip before it closed. I'm hoping for some good sleep tonight before another day of traveling tomorrow when we will finally reach our destination - Samara!