Hello again! I
have some down time to write, so I thought I would do another entry. We’ve done a lot of things since the
last time that I wrote. I love
that this trip is filled with activities that are fun and challenging. My students and I are not used to the
landscape and elevation, so it’s really neat to see them have a good attitude
and conquer challenges here.
On Saturday, we went to the Reserva de los Indigenas Malecos
(Malekus Indian Reserve). In Costa
Rica, Indians make up about 2% of the population, which is quite different than
the rest of Central America. This
particular group consists of only 650 pure blood Malecos and they live in three
different tribes. They still try
to follow the ways of their ancestors through their lifestyle and religious
ceremonies. I was joking with
Mario that I would like to join their religion because they offer chocolate (my
favorite food) to their gods! While we were there, they presented information
about their customs, religious ceremonies, music and dress to use. They even let us try their bows and
arrows!
After the reserve, we visited an organic farm and local
school. On the farm, we learned
about the different uses for sugar cane and how it is manually processed. We also saw all of the gardens and medicinal
plants that are used here. It’s
really interesting to see how sustainability and protecting the environment is
integrated into the culture here.
A lot of the fruit is very different because they don’t use
pesticides. For example, an orange
is actually green and when it ripens, it is yellow. Bananas also have brown spots on them because they are not
sprayed. I really learned a lot on
the farm and had the most amazing organic lunch. We had rice, beans, chicken, yuca chips, blanched yuca,
papaya picado and the most amazing star fruit!
The students also came on Saturday to do a special
presentation for us about the traditional dances of Costa Rica. They were so
cute and so enthusiastic. Our
students loved seeing them and interacting with them. At the end of the presentation, we presented them with ten
industrial-sized Lasko fans for the classrooms, as well as some paint for
maintaining the school. They were
so grateful because it’s so warm and humid in that part of Costa Rica.
Sunday was a change of pace. In the morning, we got up bright and early to go on a
volcano hike. The hike was around
three hours and was a series of steep trails made of volcanic rock from Arenal
Volcano. Before 1968, this volcano
was dormant. People actually used
to camp at the top and swim in the lake that formed up there. But for some reason, in that year the
plates began to shift and a huge eruption occurred. The volcano threw boulders that were 10 feet and more in
diameter to the valleys below.
Those boulders are still there, with miles and miles of lava rocks. Rain forest also re-grew in this area,
so it is an extremely wet, rainy and slippery hike. It rained the entire time that we were there. The hike was a little scary too because
we had a fall, a sprained ankle, and my co-leader and one student got
lost! They were missing for over
an hour and our guides had to go back into the trails and the forest to find
them. I was so thankful that they
were not hurt because there’s no way to get someone out of there unless you
carry them!
Today was amazing!
It was our first day in the beautiful Santa Elena and Monteverde. My students and I had the opportunity to go on nine zip lines that
stretched for miles. I wasn’t able
to participate because of my surgery.
But, that was more than okay because the most amazing thing happened to
me today! I have been waiting for years
to see a Quetzal bird. It is an extremely rare bird that lives
in high altitudes and is close to extinction. The reason that I like it is because it is very beautiful,
it is used in many Mayan legends and it is the national bird of Guatemala. Today, I got to see a male Quetzal, a
female and their nest. I cannot
describe how it felt to see this bird.
I had been waiting so long and was going to give up on seeing it and
then it just appeared! It’s
definitely a sign!
Cool stuff so far:
*I experienced a 5.2 earthquake
*I went to the highest point in the Costa Rican Continental Divide (1,770 meters)
*Saw a Quetzal
Tomorrow we head to the beach on the Pacific side. I look forward to seeing the sun since
all we’ve had was rain! Miss you
all.
Love,
C
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