Travel Journal 7

My time in Costa Rica has changed me by demostrating to me the power of risk, responsibility, and adventure. Being on my own in another country has allowed me to experience things that I never have before. I have been occupying a whole other home with my roommate Chris in an excursion that calls for a new roof and a new set of rules. I will now value the conservation of water and energy since it is a rule in our household to turn off the lights and running water immediately when they are not being used. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with my family and have learned what it is like to be accepted into a new home. I hope because of the Tico acceptance I have experienced that I can more easily accept new people into my home and into my life.

I learned the hard way on this trip that your own decisions may have just as much impact on others as it does on you, if not more. This is the main reason why abiding rules is so important. I put my group and host mom through a scare by sleeping through class one morning at a hotel away from home. I was at risk at being thrown off the trip and expressed my sorrows through a deliberate apology to the class. The most important address of the apology was acknowledging that those who cared for me were let down. I found the need to address the need to make amends with myself and others, with the promise that no such occurence would happen again.

I am utterly grateful for the experience as a whole, particularly towards Crista and Basia, whose accomodation allowed me to embrace the experience more openly and fully. In times of need and distress, both directors were very reliable and reassuring with their advice as they sought to guide me through times of adversity. I am grateful for the extent to which Crista showed her care for me with her consistent check ups and sweetheart attitude. I am equally grateful for Basias promise to keep in close contact with me as we return to the states. For this reason, I would like to dedicate this blog equally to my peers and family as I do to both Basia and Crista. Thank you.

If I was to come back to Costa Rica, I would remind myself to breathe deeply and, as our tour guide Mario would say, take in the details. There is an utter abundance of beauty to be found through our excursions and day to day travels that I hope to hold inside as I return home and continue to grow. I would also take more precaution on being on my own and resisting incidences of danger, for there was a time or two where I had a close call and an incident where my phone was stolen. Seeking this precaution, I would try to be more like James Bond, according to my fathers words, and be able to predict any sort of anger presenting itself at the home, the beach, my travels, or the streets. I hope through my hard learned lessons that I will demonstrate more caution regarding my decisions and their effect on others, with the hopes to make a better today and an even better tomorrow.

Lastly, I would remind myself upon return to Costa Rica to relax and simply enjoy myself. It seems that the small, up close, and personal things in life are the most important, as there is a lot of natural and utter beauty to account for around here.

With a sincere gesture of appreciation to all my directors, peers, and family, I dedicate this entire blog and atrribute this entire experience to you. For this I am forever grateful. Thank you all so much.

Love,
Nico

Travel Journal 6

The first thing we did on our trip to Arenal was stop at the Topiary Gardens and observing the carved bushes of a artesian´s life work. I was very intrigued by the topiary passways and lush shrubbery. Next, we went into the town of La Fortuna to have lunch at a ´´soda´´ or a pizzeria. The town of La Fortuna was tucked into the outskirt of Volcano Arenal, which is one of the top ten most active volcanos in the world. La fortuna manages to keep its rather authentic Costa Rican feel although it was rushed by eager tourists after the volcano´s eruption in 1968. After La Fortuna, we went to our hotel ´´Arenal paradaiso´´ to settle into our prospective cabanas. Chris and I very much enjoyed our time at this luxorious hotel as we ventured to the ´´Cataratas de la Fortuna´´ the following day. These waterfalls were very mesmerizing as they were tucked into the depths of the volcano. The waterfall itself was about 100 meters high and fell with such strength that it was almost impossible to swim to because of the force of the water around it. Standing in the water surrounding the waterfall with my arms widespread allowed me to feel something that I have never encountered before. I was able to feel truly alive as I embraced the beauty around me. Typically caught up in the day to day errands and trivialities, I was able to distinguish what it was to be heartfelt and happy. Never will I forget my time amongst the Cataratas waterfall.

The location of Arenal was quite lush with tourists and ´´gringos,´´ demonstrating that the place itself is quite the spot for ecotoursim. This could be seen through the multiple line of luxorious hotels and resorts that were along the road past La Fortuna. As a result of La Fortuna, Volcano Arenal, Las Cataratas de la Fortuna, and the abundance of resorts, it was clear that Arenal was a local tourist hotspot, accomodating thoroughly the tourist sector of Costa Rica´s economy. Furthermore, I was very surprised by the beauty of the waterfall and lush vegetation that surrounded the Arenal waterfalls. I was no less impressed by the hot springs accomodating Baldi. In these hot springs, my friends and I treated ourselves to a few drinks as I attempted to converse with the local female populace. Overall, I think the Arenal excursion itself was very important to the program since it showed us a more tourist oriented part of Costa Rica. This tourist infested part of Costa Rica demonstrated one of the main sectors in Costa Rica´s economy. Experiencing the resort life amongst the clean and preserved santuaries of the National park, the waterfalls, and the volcano showed just how seriously Costa Rica takes it land preservation and maintanence. The cleanliness of Costa Rican land attributes to Arenal´s popularity as a tourist hotspot (no pun intended). Overall, the weekend for me was an eventful yet unforgettable one as we followed the yellow brick road through the depths of Arenal.

Travel Journal 5

InBio park was vast in its biodiversity and was a convenient location since it was so close to the town of Heredia. We managed to explore the entire park within a time period of an hour and a half, covering the corn maze, the butterfly gardens, the spider and snake sanctuaries, and the underwater aquarium. I really enojoyed the water aquarium as we saw fish up to 5 feet long. I also took particular notice of how the iguanas tails were the same length as their body, giving them a total length of 6 feet. I was surprised how the entire set-up was a total biodiversity immersion as soon as you entered the park. By this, I mean I was surprised how the exhibit itself mostly took part in the forest that surrounded us as we walked along the trail. It was neat to know that as we followed the trail, there were sloths, iguanas, Jacana, and white-tailed deer. I was surprised also with how diverse the park really was, with 100 species of birds and 583 native plants. InBio itself represents Costa Rica´s pre-mountainous forest where there were trees and plants that represented Costa Rica´s central valley. I loved the rainforest ecosystem as it was one of the world´s richest in diversity and remained green all year long with its high levels of humidity. I was surprised with how many types of ecosystems InBio managed to replicate and portray. InBio is important to Costa Rica and our program because of its encapsulation of Costa Rica´s biodiversity. The richness of biodiversity allowed for us to observe Costa Rica more fully in its beautful and natural entity. I felt that InBio was a nice segway for excursions to come since it was a neat summary for us of the climate, vegetation, and animal life we would anticipate to see in excursions to come. Another nice thing about InBio was that I felt that I really got to know Mario our tour guide as he throughly described the rich plant and animal life of the private research institution established in 1989. I have no doubt as to why this excursion was included in the program given its convenient location and accurate potrayal of Costa Rican ecosystems of volcanos, lagoons, plantains, dry forests, and rain forests. I felt that InBio was a neat pre-requiste for the exploration of the natural wonder that is Costa Rica.

Travel Journal 4
                                                                     Lake Botos

At Volcan Poas, we first ventured up the steep incline of the volcano. A few of us had foot races up the moutain to see who would reach the summit first. Our first scenic stop was the view of the crater, where we typically would be able to see both the Carribean and Pacific coast, but it was a little too cloudy. Standing at the top of the crater was like witnessing a meteorite crash that took place on  a mountain. From the crater came a fog of smoke, which signified that the volcano was still active, and in the middle of the crater was also a sulfuric lake. We took plentiful pictures of the scene and took note on how we could see the cuidad de Sala to our left. After the crater, we ventured up the volcano to reach the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. Lago Botos was its name, and it glimmered in the sunlight and was clear as the sky. A part of me wanted more than anything to jump in the lake had it been open to the public. The lush vegetation accomodating the lake made it appear like an oasis as it shimmered in the sunlight. We completed the Lago Botos round trip by venturing carefully back down the mountain with Mario as our guide to point out the unique and diverse vegetation. What really surprised me about the volcano was how the sulfuric lake and especially Lake Botos looked so inviting to swim in but was truly acidic and dangerous. The grand view from the crater was hard to comprehend as well as I looked down to the clouds and searched for the pacific and carribean coast of Costa Rica. I was particularly surprised by the actual existence of Lake Botos too as it formed as a water deposit coming from a landslide. I was most just shocked to see such a captivatingly beautiful body of water on the summit of a volcano. The excursion impacted me by demonstrating that volcanos are much more than a mountain that erupts lava every once in a while. I learned that there were three different types of volcanos, dormant, active, and extinct, and Volcano Poas was an active one. The summit itself is also a keystone in Costa Rican culture since you can see both the carribean and pacific side from the peak. The national park of the Volcan Poas is something that Costa Rica should be very proud of as it represents an outlet for locals and tourists to explore nature´s wonders. The excursion was included in the program so we would develope a well rounded opinion on volcanos having visited both Irazu and Poas. Our volcano adventures were not only meant to be an extremely exciting part of the trip, but they also showed us the very diverse and impressive terrain that Costa Rica has to offer.

Travel Journal 3 

 
In La Paz, we had a delicious American/Costa Rican style buffet then explored the wildlife the hotel had to offer. We started by viewing the tucans, hummingbirds, and yigurros. I got a chance to take a picture with a tucan on my shoulder, with its claws clasping on tightly to my shirt as if for dear life. The hummingbirds were quite swift and active as they flew shamelessly directly past our heads and shoulders. The next exhibit we examined was the butterfly gardens and then the snake preserve followed that. The butterfly gardens were quite hot and humid as well all attempted to have the butterflies land on our hands and limbs. The feeling of the butterflies´ antennae was quite ticklish on my skin. The snake preserve I took particular interest in as the most venemous snale (bushmaster) was not necessarily the most hostile (fer-de-lance). The abundance of vipers with triangular heads in the exhibit also fascinated me. After the snake exhibit, we visited the monkeys and then the jungle cats. The monkeys were quite comical as they mocked us by making funny faces. My friend Tom managed to lure one over by squishing his cheeks together and making noises with his tongue, which allowed me to get a picture from inches away. The jungle cats really fascinated me, especially the full grown leopard. I was surprised by how angry we made the leopard by mocking it through the window, while the baby leopards and smaller jungle cats simply slept, adorably so, through our mockery. The excursion also included a trip to the La Paz waterfalls, which were extremely vast and created a sound much like the rushing water of an overhead shower head. I managed to get captivating pictures of the waterfalls and the lush vegetation that surrounded it. La Paz was important to include on the Costa Rican trip because it showed us the great biodiversity and beauty that takes place in the region. It is enlightening to know that nature could hold such wonders. La Paz particularly impacted me not only because of its beauty but also because of its genuity and its efforts to committ to an all natural and beautiful wildlife conservation. I was particularly impressed by the fact that all the animals in La Paz were rescued. Furthermore, La Paz is important to Costa Rica as a whole as it provides a wonderful and luxorious resort-like outlet to the fantastic wonders of the country of Costa Rica. I was truly grateful to have been in the presence of the beauty witnessed in La Paz and to have witnessed the beauty of the tremendous waterfall gardens.

Travel Journal 2    

Pueblo Antiguo was an interesting experience indeed. We participated in Costa Rican dance as it progressed through history and this allowed us to feel and experience the culture through physical movement. The first thing we did was reunite with the other group from UD to socialize over a unique, red, alcoholic beverage. Then, we went to the auditorium where the dancers demostrated the culture of Spanish dance as it progressed through history. There were forms of dance such as the merengue, the tango, the salsa, and the flamenco, all of which demonstrated a unique and lively side to Costa Rican culture. It was especially fun getting a chance to learn these dances briefly over a wonderful traditional dinner. The dinner included rice, beans, meat, and vegetables, all of which were served at a lovely buffet. The dancers were particularly funny during the performance when they interacted with the audience and had them come on stage to demonstrate the very ``gringo`` version of Costa Rican dance. I especially liked the dancers dressed in giant, funny looking Costa Rican male and female costumes. I also enjoyed thoroughly being their with the other UD group. One thing that surprised me was the difficulty with which it was to perform the Costa Rican dance. I found myself, shamefully enough, struggling to perform some steps while I watched others master them on the dance floor. I was also surprised by how good all of the Costa Rican dancers were at what they did. This excursion impacted me by showing me a festive, traditional, and creative side to Costa Rican life while taking me through the experiences of Costa Rican history and culture. Pueblo Antiguo was especially important for this reason and through truly immersing us through a historical Costa Rican town with all the homes, office buildings, and ``edificios`` based around the church. Through the full immersion of an oldern Costa Rican town and through its introduction of Costa Rican culture amongst tradition and dance, Pueblo Antiguo proved to be an integral part of my Costa Rican trip.

Travel Journal 1    

The experience was different than I anticipated mostly because it all happened so fast. I felt that soon as I arrived I was brought into a new home, which was intimidating yet very comforting. The home was a lot more in a city setting than I anticipated since I expected we'd be in a rural place having to walk to the city. The brothers are much more welcoming than I anticipated too and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of openness our host mom had in welcoming us into our new home. The university is slightly smaller than I anticipated but it is a neat place nevertheless. Another surprise to me is that I am not as passively becoming a Spanish savant through full immersion as I thought. I still have to work on my Spanish and speak it frequently in order to challenge myself and get the full benefit of learning another language. It is slightly easier than I thought to get by with little Spanish but it is much harder to push yourself to become a better Spanish speaker. The food is fantastic and is much easier to adjust to than I thought. Although slightly monotonous with rice and beans, the platters have been pleasantly surprisingly delicious and satiating. The excursions themselves are also enjoyable as we go to places of unparalleled beauty and wonder. I did not expect San Jose to have such European influence as it did nor did I expect the iratzu volcano to be so much like a state national park. I realized on this trip that it is important for me to remember to be careful in the streets, especially at night, although there are less beggars and less crime than I expected. Chris has proved to be a competent and accommodating roommate, which has made the entire transition that much easier. Overall I was surprised by the level of welcoming the family brought us into our new home and the rapidity with which I would really start enjoying Costa Rica. All things considered, this will prove to be a very rewarding trip.