Costa Rica Studies Tour 2010
Travelogue by Tr. Chris
Day 1 - Sunday, February 14
Greetings All!
It's Teacher Chris kicking off my first official Costa Rica update. I'm writing you from a School Bus, converted into an internet cafe that I was dropped off at on the way back to our hotel tonight. I want to first start off by saying what an honor it is to be the representative and liaison between our class and all of the parents in the class. I know that the trip is stressful on everyone and there was a lot of preparation that went into making sure everything was done right. Though I've never been in your shoes, my goal is to give descriptive enough details that you can 1) imagine what we're doing day to day. 2) have questions to ask your kids when they get home. 3) ease any fears that we are lost in the wilderness somewhere.
With that said, the arrival at the airport yesterday could not have gone smoother. We quickly went through security, found our gate and boarded our plane. The flight itself was fairly uneventful. The kids, I thought, could not have been more relaxed and at-ease with the whole situation. I was very impressed.
We were greeted by 80 degree weather in San Jose, where a bus and Sarah, our tour-guide, were waiting for us. Once on the bus, we were informed that it was a four hour bus-ride to our hotel. While that sounded like an unimaginably long trip after getting off the plane, the kids were enraptured by the views outside the window. As we left the airport, they commented on children their own age, walking around outside, dogs riding in the back of pickup trucks, and giant dump truck carrying an enormous load of oranges off to some destination. Upon boarding the bus, Sarah had given us a complimentary bag of snacks and water bottle. One snack was a semi-hard shelled fruit (that I've never heard of) with a soft inside (almost like a pomegranate). The other snack was a wrapped piece of Costa Rican caramel from a company that her family is involved with (I think they are investors in it, not owners, though she is friends with them). Both were out-of-this world delicious. We stopped the bus about 2/3 of the way as the sun set (at 5:30 p.m.). In the distance, the sun set over a mountain-top in the most amazing hot-pink color. We were blown away by the site. It looked like something out of a movie and it set rather quickly. We tried capturing pictures of it, but to be honest, none do justice. Ha! Sorry. Insert your own imaginatively-scenic, mental creation here.
We ate dinner at a pizza beautifully upscale pizza restaurant, and finally arrived at our hotel around 7:45. We were informed that, due to an early start tomorrow, we needed to be in bed by 8:30, lights out. Thinking this was absolutely impossible, we all got ready and, sure enough, passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow. (In case you're curious, the rooms are really nice. There's 3 people to a room. Bathrooms are great. Picture a shore house vibe.)
This morning we woke up, mostly before the alarms we had set for 7 a.m., due to jitters and excitement. While I was busy blinking my eyes in a delirious sleep haze, the kids were already outside exploring our area. Tr. Pete, being a bird-watching enthusiast, had already been up for a bit and was out and about with his binoculars, pointing out whatever he could to the irrepressibly excited kids bounding with energy. We walked up the hill at 8 to catch breakfast in the hotels dining area and had a mixture of eggs, rice and beans, pancakes, fruit, coffee (do these kids really drink coffee?! I didn't start until I was 25. Wow), and orange juice. There were no complaints about the selection and we were quickly off to our first destination. Arriving at the Quaker meeting, we had been informed that their meetings generally last for an hour and a half, with the first portion being devoted to song. We got there in time to catch the last few songs,followed by an hour long meeting. A funny story from this meeting was the fact that after every person got up to speak, they were shortly followed by a Costa Rican man getting up to add his own two cents (the kids are reminded in meetings at home, time and again, to wait between comments in meeting, to give each persons thought time to sink in). After about 10 to 15 people stood up, followed by this man's lengthy dialogues, a few of us began looking at each other wide-eyed, thinking, is this guy serious?! He's not even letting other people talk! He's hogging the floor time!!! It was only afterward that many of us were informed that he was the Costa Rican translator for anyone who couldn't understand what the English speakers were saying. We all got a good laugh. Also notable, was the fact that we presented a song to the meeting, entitled "Monteverde," written by our own Marian McKenzie. The song was a total hit and was later requested by several locals who wanted to include it in their repertoire
After the meeting, we went to sit outside where we were met by a woman named Lucky, who was one of the original American settlers in Monteverde. The story she told us, was that she and her husband, after turning 18, came over in 1951 to escape, what they felt were, unfair military laws in the United States. Her and a group of friends basically created their own community by clearing the land, building housing and developing their own way of life. She raised 8 children over the next ten years and hasn't looked back since. The kids asked great questions, like "How did you raise ten kids?" (A: the older ones took over as they grew), "Where are you from, originally?" (A: Iowa), Q.: Did you ever have any scary experiences? (A: my husband came face to face with an ocelot), etc.... All in all, the kids could not have been more respectful this morning and were perfectly inquisitive toward Lucky. You would have all been proud.
Next, we ate a bagged lunch, prepared for us by Sarah, behind the meeting, consisting of sandwich, watermelon, a chocolate cookie type thing, and juice. This was followed by a soccer game and a bit of time to relax.
Our last educational experience of the day came in the form of a bat-cave that we visited. We arrived at the museum, where a teenage, but extremely well-informed and well-spoken tour guide, took us through a series of explanations about different types of bats, their place in the animal food chain and their distinguishing characteristics. Specific facts were interesting things like how a fungus is killing off 98% of the bats in the area that we live (in Pa), causing a rise in the amount of insects our area is experiencing. Another fact is how bats, when we look at their bone structures, are strikingly similar to human beings, and are actually closer to us than they are to any other animal. Then we entered into the cave, which was actually enclosed in glass, separating us from the bats. However, the bats were in high-form swooping back and forth in the semi-darkness, feeding on the nectar that our tour guide had laid out for them. One cool feature was how the room was miked in a way to pick up the sound of their echolocation (sonar). Though, it's inaudible to humans, the mics magnified the sound so we could hear them. At first Pete and I looked around the room to find which of the children was rubbing their sneakers on the ground making annoying sounds, only to find that this was the sonar sound.
I'm going to wrap this up quickly now, since we have to be eating breakfast at 6:30 tomorrow morning, and I'm probably giving more detail than you can stomach in a single sitting. Anyway, we finally made it to dinner at a restaurant in town where Sarah's brother was server (owner? Who knows. Her family is connected to everything around here). The kids were given 2 American type meals to choose from, or 2 Costa Rican style meals, for the more daring. Again, our meal was a smashing success, and we loaded the bus again to make a final stop at an ice-cream shop that her parents owned, I think. That's basically where this story ends, since I was dropped off at the internet cafe on the way back. I hear the kids are being read to back at the hotel, after they've written in their journals, reflecting on the day.
Looking forward to our continued one-way correspondence. Take care, everyone and I'll be in touch tomorrow!
Day 2 - Monday, February 15
Wow. Today was an action packed day. I had to write out a bullet outline for myself to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. This keyboard is a little different, so excuse my punctuation.
We began the day extra-early, by waking around 530, and heading to breakfast at 6:30 (same meal as before, substituting cereal for pancakes) and departing quickly to the cloud forest. While your kids may have already known, I was unaware that cloud forests are far more rare than rain forests, making the one in Costa Rica especially unique. We were divided into 2 groups and accompanied by extremely professional and knowledgeable tour guides Within the first 2 minutes of our hike we caught sight of an extremely rare Quetzal. Tr. Pete's exclaimed reaction of, "Oh my God, I've been waiting my whole life to see this!" helped put into perspective the importance of what we were witnessing. Luckily, our tour guides came prepared and set up tripods with a telescopes for kids to see through. They were quick to lend a hand snapping photos from the kids cameras using the telescope lens to magnify the shot and point out the 2-3 foot long tail feathers that
trailed off of its blue body. Quite impressive, I must say.
We continued on our respective paths, noticing interesting birds, trees, fungus etc... I was especially taken with the white-faced howler monkeys and the fig trees that grew around existing trees, strangling them to death, and leaving only an empty space where they originals had stood. The kids kept busy asking our tour guides about the animals they had seen in their experience at the park. Each question went something like this -- "....Yeah, but have you ever seen (insert next deadly animal/insect/snake that they've studied)?.....Yeah, but have you ever...." You get the point. Along the hike, we also walked across a metal bridge that took us over a deep canyon, where we could look over and see the vegetation from an aerial view, while observing the moving clouds gliding through the air around our height. This was impressive and even the most timid students overcame their fears and were able to get lost in the moment. The hike, itself, was actually close to a 3 hour journey, captured diligently in our photo collections.
Eventually, we returned to our starting location and took a bathroom break, while reconvening with the other half of our class. From here, we walked a short ways over to a Hummingbird garden. It was located a couple flights of stairs above where our bus was parked and was a 20ft by 50ft rectangle area where several feeders hung from above (in an open air setting). In this small area, hummingbirds zipped and zagged back and forth in a frenzy, picking at the open holes to drink nectar, and hurrying off to the next location. I couldn't believe their accuracy and quickness. Our guide assured us that although they seemed to fly closely to us, they would never hit us. It was funny watching how they would shoot back and forth between a 2 inch area while drinking the nectar from the feeders. Jumping forward and then pulling back quickly, as if lifting their heads from a water fountain, and then returning quickly for several more drinks.
After about a half hour of this we went back to the starting location again and ate a bagged lunch on the steps to recuperate. We loaded the bus and were off to our next destination - the Butterfly garden. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a tour guide in her young twenties from New Jersey, who was more knowledgeable about insects than almost anyone I've ever known. She took us through a room where she showed us live Beetles the size of softballs. She lifted indigenous cockroaches the size of small birds from their cage, and spoke to us about the life cycle of butterflies and Tarantulas. One funny aside, was watching Peter, literally shaking with excitement, while talking about and seeing the live Tarantula face to face. She then lead us outside into several net-enclosed areas where we encountered different types of Butterflies. An interesting one was the "Post Man Butterfly," who created his own path of flowers that he would pollinate, and would, for the rest of his life, return to the same type of flowers in the order that he originally constructed.
Sarah, sensing our fatigue, invited us again to her ice cream shop, where we hung out for about a half hour or so. We were then back on the bus again, sugar highs intact, on our way to the house of a glass jewelry-maker. This man was one of Sarah's friends who provided examples of amazingly intricate animals and shapes he had formed over his 17 years of experience. He then showed us a glass bead with a mushroom inside, that would be an example for us to follow while each of us tried our hand at his art. We sat at his stool and began to slowly rotate our piece of glass over a Bunson burner type tool. By taking a second piece of glass and poking the opposite end of the glass from where we held it, we were able to create the mushroom shape inside of the glass bubble, as it slowly formed. This was a fairly long process, and the kids went outside to play with the man's two children. Games ranged from soccer to foot races and all were in good spirits by the end when our mushroom, glass beads were turned into necklaces and we boarded the bus to return to town for dinner.
This time we had a buffet-style meal to choose from. And this...is where I leave you. Oh! Before I forget, there was a huge hubbub in my absence, yesterday as I wrote you from my renovated school bus. Apparently, an enormous, colossal, dime sized scorpion had invaded my room last night while I was gone. Several students had noticed it, and my room filled with the entire class, as it became a "How many FSH students does it take to remove a small bug?" scenario. Cant wait to see what I return to tonight! Until tomorrow!
Day 3 - Tuesday, February 16
So, I think today was my favorite day so far, and I don’t imagine other days trumping it. We started off by taking a half hour bus ride to our sister school. What I had not realized all these years through hearsay, was that our sister school is actually a good distance away from where we had been staying and that it is very much in a secluded, rural area. The bus ride led us along a long dusty road that hugs the side of a steep cavernous mountain. The sights were beautiful and we stopped along the way to admire the clouds as they hung near the continental divide. Our sister school lay in the valley below, however, only punctuating how unpopulated the area actually was. When we arrived the children ran out to greet us and welcomed us as we filed into their two-room classroom. Each student was dressed in uniform and sat in a semi-circle, standing only to introduce themselves in English. We had carefully prepared our entrance and had brainstormed a one-sentence personal greeting to share with the group about ourselves that expressed our gratitude at being welcomed into their community. We learned that there were 26 Costa Rican students in the school. All were of different ages and were taught by a single teacher. We were surprised that one of the teachers from last year had been relocated, and the head teacher was still waiting for an assistant to be assigned to him by the Costa Rican Dept. of Education.
From there, our students were instructed to pick a partner(s), whom they would buddy up with for the day. We were lead outside to their indoor/open air gym, overlooking the mountains on one side. Here we mingled for a little bit, everyone trying out the others’ language, to varying degrees of success. I want to commend Mary Ayers for her work today, especially, being the only one besides Sarah who was able to converse easily in both, and was therefore being pulled in a thousand directions, both on a macro, schedule-coordinating level, and on a micro level, helping kids practice their language skills. The older Costa Rican children then performed a traditional folk dance for us, resembling a circular gallop, followed by the boys imitating a bull charge through the sides of the girls' colorful dresses. This was a hit and performed with complete ease by the children, with absolutely no embarrassment. Our students were impressed and asked to join for a couple rounds before we were able to present our gift. We had brought a multi-colored parachute with which everyone held the corners and flapped around, making an enormous noise. We then played a game with it by lowering it to the ground and raising it high in the air while children holding certain colors were told to run underneath and grab an opposite side (sort of like musical chairs without the whole losing aspect i.e., Friends School style. Ha!)
After this, a soccer (ahem!) futbol game ensued. Sarah informed us afterwards, that we should be proud. We ended the game tied and it is apparently the first time in all her experience hosting us that we have not had our tails handed to us by the Costa Ricans.
When this was finished, we went inside and the children painted each other’s faces and mixed a little more. We were then treated to a lunch in the small dining hall off the side and had Gallo Pinto with Chicken along with a vegetable salad of sorts. The final activity was creating photo albums with the children by helping them cut cereal boxes into binder shapes and decorating them with wrapping paper and plastic paper-holders in the center. I am realizing now that, in explaining the daily activities, I am not expressing how incredibly moving this whole day was. I left the school amazed and not sure if I was feeling happy or sad about the situation I had just seen. The students we met were incredibly smart and reminded me of students I had taught throughout my years at FSH, but I was also overwhelmed in trying to imagine their daily existence and what their future would entail. This is not meant to convey that there was anything in
Their situation that was worth pitying, only to convey how absolutely amazing to think that this world exists in near isolation to the rest of the world, and how none of our paths will likely ever cross again. Our kids were absolute perfect ambassadors and I could not have been prouder. Even in situations where our students were uncomfortable, they sucked up their pride and made sure everything worked in every way (with the sports, with some students being swarmed during face painting, with the language barrier, improvising and using sign language, not making fun of what was different–everything. Total respect)
I am being told that the internet cafe is closing, but I want to get in the rest of the day (since I am only at 2:30 in my reporting. Ah!)
We rushed off to Sarah´s family farm where she took us inside to see how cows were milked. We each got to taste milk from an actual cow udder and taste the molasses (?) that they were fed to add nutrients.
At 5:30 we went on a night hike and wandered through the forest with only our flashlights. Highlights included seeing tarantulas, frogs and other insects. I hate to cut short these last two events, but to be honest, I would have been fine with our day consisting ONLY of the visit to the school. It was such an amazing experience that the rest was just icing on the cake.
I am being pushed out the door. Goodbye! Talk soon. Chris
Day 4 – Wednesday, February 17
Today's adventures begin on a calming note and end in a frenzy of excitement. Our journey starts at the Cheese Factory, the first successful business venture in Monteverde, of which Sarah and her family are shareholders. Started in the early 1950's, the Quaker settlers from the U.S. began their adventure by spearheading the cheese factory and eventually growing it from a small community business to one of the largest in the country. After a quick tour of the factory, we sat down for a video showing the progression of how the cheese business served as a significant means of growth and survival for the early Quakers after leaving the United States in protest of the draft. Sarah then gave us all a taste of the various cheeses that were produced in the factory.
We then zipped over to the coffee farm of a man named Oldemar. He was in a meeting to get his plantation affirmed and recognized as fair trade (or green organization, I can’t remember), and was unable to give us the tour himself, as he had done in previous years. We were greeted instead by his son, who was equally knowledgeable and interesting. He explained to us the different types of coffee that were grown and strapped us in with baskets, so that we could graze his farm and pick coffee beans. I found this to be a highlight, since all the kids were in really good spirits. Everyone stood side by side amongst the coffee plants and picked the beans while reflecting on different aspects of the trip so far. The weather was out-of-this-world beautiful. If you can picture rolling hills in the distance and a near-perfect blue sky with low humidity, you're half way there. The thing about the weather here that I have not explained yet, is that, since we are near the cloud forest, there is always a feeling of mist in the air. Its as though you are sitting on a lawn chair in spring, with your feet in a baby-pool, while a fan is blowing spray-bottle mist into your face. The locals call it "cat hairs," in describing the constant, refreshing moisture that feels like pre-rain, but seldom condenses into full-on raindrops. Either way, we picked to our heart’s content, with the knowledge that students in previous years had picked 5 baskets of coffee "cherries." We reminded ourselves that even if we picked less, at least we had survived the futbol game with our pride intact.
On a neighboring plot of land, we visited another man named Alvaro, who owned another vegetable farm, and who took us up a long scenic, mountain trail to a small bungalow where he kept a sugar grinder. If you can, picture a long piece of wood, hoisted in the air above a circular, center machine, by which two ox were strapped in on either end of the bar and instructed to walk round and round, while sugar cane was fed into the center machine. We each had a turn grinding the sugar cane, while another person held a pitcher to the other end of the center machine, catching the sugar water, as it rushed out. We then tasted the sugar water that we had produced and sat for a few minutes to journal our thoughts on the day, while overlooking one of the most magnificent views I have ever seen.
The University of Georgia has set up a satellite campus in Monteverde for students of ecology to study abroad and learn in a horticulturally vibrant environment. Upon our visit, we were greeted by a student who lead us around their campus, each of us equipped with butterfly nets and plastic bags to capture whatever insects we could find. We spend about a half hour outside and returned to a classroom where our student gave a lesson, looked at and explained the insects we had found, and lead us around a display case where more exotic finds lay. In reality, this stop to the University of Georgia was interesting, but served as an opportunity to let the kids recharge their batteries while learning in a fun environment. It worked, since they left in high spirits, while we head off our final destination – the community dinner.
The community dinner had been hyped as one of the most significant stops along our tour, because it was when, in previous years, we met with the families of the students we had been introduced to the day before and presented them with the money we had raised, throughout the school year. As we filed into their newly-built community center, we realized that the money from previous years had been spent wisely, reconstructing a more stable and beautiful center where ceremonies and gatherings could be held for the 24 families in the area. Underneath the tin roof, all of about 100 of us stood, facing one another and feeling the weight of our communal presence. There was a bit of awkwardness and careful interaction as we prepared to introduce ourselves. The whole time there was conscious understanding amongst the adults in our group that we were walking a fine balance of showing our appreciation at being admitted into their
community, but that self congratulation over our gift would send an unintentional message of superiority. We went around the room introducing ourselves, both Costa Rican residents and ourselves, just as we had the day before in the school house.
Each in our humble way, we carefully conveyed our intention of contributing to the community, followed last by Tr. Pete whose kind words implied that our gift was an appreciation and not a donation (my words not his), toward the causes they saw necessary. (I found out yesterday through conversation with parents who stopped by to observe our visit, that there are at least a half dozen or more students enrolled in the school, who would not be, had our partnership not been formed. There is a requirement of uniform and notebooks to enroll, that our gift has covered in previous years that has enabled certain families in the community to join the school). The remainder of the evening was spent engrossed in an indoor-picnic style dinner (it was raining...more than cat hairs), served by the women in the community. The children interacted easily, teasing about which boys and girls liked each other in the opposite school, while the adults sat around smiling and stumbling through positive, but labored conversation. As we boarded the bus, there was an understanding that this class had achieved an almost unheard-of level of acceptance in the community and had helped continue a bond that will hopefully last far into the future. While previous money of ours had been put toward the half-completed community center, future money was intended toward a revamped library. This, mi amigos, is where I leave you tonight. What a nice treat to head to bed knowing that a zip line (which I had always thought was an over-rated part of the trip, but now look forward to anxiously), awaits us in the morning.
Tr. Chris
Day 5 - Thursday, February 18
Today can be characterized with one word - cold. I just received an e-mail message from Tr. Marcy saying that you all have been so inundated with snow and that I have missed only two actual school days, so far. So, I'm not complaining about our situation in relation to yours. However......when you pack expecting a tropical climate and are met with cold rain and wind, it can be unexpected. In conversation with Sarah, I learned that, commonly, Costa Rica receives storms from the east coast a week or two after they hit Philadelphia. In other words, our group was lucky enough to experience the record breaking storm from last week two times in a row. The "cat hairs," were much spikier today. More like pine needles. Imagine this after you´ve taken a gondola high up into the mountains to traverse miles of Costa Rican cloud forest, hundreds of feet above the trees. The experience wasn´t dangerous, though there were moments where I felt like Forrest Gump´s Lieutenant Dan, clinging to his ship at sea, tempting the heavens to unleash its worst. The rain came hard. The wind blew mightily. We were soaked to the bone. We saw SOME great sights. Though, in contrast to previous years, where the sun shone and kids returned with sunburns, we had quite a different experience. A minority opted to take the Sky Walk, which was a much milder version, where miles of bridges provided views of the forest. While some of these children initially felt sad that they were missing out on the experience, they quickly changed their tune when they realized how rainy and cold the Sky Trek was, in reality. Of the ones who opted for the Sky Trek, none regretted the experience, and many found it to be the highlight of their trip that they had heard it to be. Still, there was a sense that nicer weather would have yielded a far nicer time.
We warmed up inside, drinking hot chocolate and changed into our warmer clothes and were off on a bus ride to Arenal. After about a two hour trip, we were greeted by a covered boat that took us on a short ride around the man-made Lake Arenal. Again, the weather was cloudy and kept us from seeing the volcano, as we had expected, though we did get nice views of the mountains and immediate scenery.
We exited the boat on the opposite side of the lake, and were met by shuttles, who carried us to our hotel. Since this was an intense, but short day, we took our time at the hotel and relaxed a bit (first time in a while) and prepared for dinner. The new hotel is really nice. It´s a row of small cabins bordering a single walk-way. They are really quite beautiful, and have there is a common swimming pool, that the kids are swimming in, as I type this. Also, I didn´t mention yet, that Teacher Pete bid us farewell this morning, after the Sky Trek. There is only a couple day window between now and when his wife leaves for abroad for several weeks and he wanted to be with her (it is their anniversary, after all).
All in all, the Sky Trek was completely different than I had expected. Aside from the weather, I didn´t realize that its a full hour and a half long activity, that throws you through the forest at high speeds, from an incredible height. For some reason, I had pictured it as a small zip line, much closer to the ground. You are REALLY up there, looking down on the vegetation, below. Its much higher than amusement park roller coasters, and is a much more involved and organized ordeal than I had assumed. Anyway, those are just my own thoughts. The kids are in great spirits. Sarah keeps mentioning to me how great a group this is, so we´re all happy as can be. Can´t believe the trip is coming to a close.
Tr. Chris
Day 6 - Friday, February 19
I believe tonight will be my final travelogue, but am excited to report an insanely interesting day, as my final send-off. We began our day by heading off to the actual Bat Caves (I had mistakenly called one of our earlier trips the ¨bat cave,¨since there were bats and caves involved. However, this was the official FSH Costa Rican Bat Cave experience). It involved us wearing our muckiest clothes, strapping on a helmet, putting on a pair of knee-high rubber boots, and equipping ourselves with a flashlight. Senora Ayers informed me, off the record, that we would be leaving the cave looking like contestants on Survivor; this was a down and dirty event. We were lead by our tour guide down a long, lush hill. Rain was still coming down from the previous day, but not as hard as it had been earlier. We came to the opening of a cave about the size of the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, where we were briefed in proper cave etiquette and informed that bats, tarantulas and other interesting creatures resided inside.
The cave, inside, was completely black, except for the flashlights that we held. We climbed over large rocks and waded in water up to our knees. We observed stalagmite and stalactite that had formed 6 million years ago into mind-blowing shapes, resembling liquid-like, rippling stone. As we continued our 2 hour journey, we began to pass through more and more intricate and tight passageways, leading to openings like nothing Id ever imagined before. We were informed that, years ago, Costa Rica was actually under water, and were then pointed out the fossils of shells that had been pressed against the stone, generations ago. As we traveled through the cave interiors, some began to feel claustrophobic and were given the option to leave at a certain point. Those who continued were lead on through a series of increasingly demanding environments, sometimes crawling in positions lower than hands-and-knees through water. At no point was this experience dangerous, beyond the possibility of slipping on slick rocks, however, I can honestly say, I have NEVER imagined as fascinating an experience as this. Between yesterday´s zip line and today's cave trek, I have filled my quota of extreme outdoor activities in a way I had not anticipated. (There were times, leaping from rock to rock, that I laughed to myself thinking, "I´m getting paid for this experience?!). Upon re-emerging soaked to the bone, on the other side, we dumped out our boots and returned to the front desk, where we were allowed to shower and change into a pair of clean clothes we had packed for the trip. After eating a well-cooked meal in the kitchen, we returned home to our hotel to record in our journal what we had just been through.
After about an hour break, we were off to the Hot Springs that we´d heard so much about from previous years. We arrived at a gate. Apparently, this was more of a private/exclusive Hot Spring than is open to the general public. We quickly changed into our swim trunks and head to the pools. My first impression of the pools was that it was how I would have imagined Roman baths to be, had they been outdoors. There were several pools, lined with round stones, foliage. Water-falls lead from one pool to the next, along a cascading hill. The pool at the top of the hill was the hottest (almost like a jacuzzi, but a tiny bit cooler). There were then 3 pools connected in succession, each one progressively cooler, followed by one unconnected pool that was regular temperature. We spent a good two hours dipping from one to the next, enjoying the cool rainfall from above, as the sun began to set. It was pretty idyllic, I must say. Some of the girls met another 12 year old from New York, who was on spring break with her family and they spent a lot of time talking and trading information to stay in touch. When the sun set completely, we dried off and headed out.
Our final stop was at a restaurant in town where the kids gave a formal presentation, thanking Sarah and our bus driver, Gerardo. She, in return, conceded a conversation she had been having with Tr. Barbara and Senora Ayers, that this was the most enjoyable FSH class she has worked with. The kids were enthusiastic, curious, well-behaved and up for new experiences in a way that made this trip truly remarkable. Good feelings were in the air, as I got off the bus to write this. We are all looking forward to our trip back. Our families are on our minds. However, the experiences from this trip are irreplaceably etched in our memories forever. Looking forward to seeing your smiling faces tomorrow. Ciao!