Costa Rica 2018
Daniella Ruiz

Day 1:
We finally made it to Costa Rica after two flights. We met Monica, our tour guide, and Eli, our driver, at the airport. They brought us to our first hotel to drop off our bags, then we headed out to the city of San Jose. It was kind of like New York: lots of traffic, pedestrians, tall buildings and people on the side of the streets selling bags, toys, etc. Roza, a senior from Co-op, interacted with the street performers. They had her lay on the floor while one guy jumped over her body on a unicycle. I was actually scared for her.

After that, we went to a little marketplace where they sold food, clothes, more bags and toys, souvenirs, and more.The marketplace reminded me of a flea market. The first day was really nice because we really got to take in some of the Costa Rican culture.

Day 2:
We went to the coffee plantation where we learned about how coffee is made. I'm not a big fan of coffee so I didn't like the samples that much, but my classmates really enjoyed it. Did you know that they separate the coffee beans into high, medium, and low qualities? Did you also know that they give the low quality coffee beans to the people of Costa Rica? Kind of messed up, right? But it makes sense because they want to sell the best quality to those all over the world in order to make money.

After the coffee tour, we went to Sarchi to see the largest ox cart. Of course we had to learn more about ox carts so we visited the workshop. There we learned about how the carts are made. We also got to see artists at work. Their paintings were beautiful. They really had an eye for color.
Because the next day we had to be in  another Costa Rican city, we drove for about an hour to Monteverde. Have you ever tried to take a nap on a rollercoaster? Impossible, right? Well, that was me. There were so many bumps and hills, not to mention that on my side of the car was just a cliff. So the possibility of me taking that nap was close to none. But luckily, Monica saw howler monkeys on the side of the road, so we stopped to take pictures of them. I was so happy to see a monkey. They are my favorite animal. The monkeys we saw were eating mangoes from the tree next to them. We were able to eat some mangoes with them. It was my first time eating a mango and I really liked it.   

Day 3:
We went to the Cloud Forest in the morning. This forest was actually up in the clouds. When you look up, you can see the clouds moving super fast. We walked through the forest while Monica taught about different birds, insects, and plants. Monica was able to tell us about the different bird sounds we heard while walking. On our way back to the car, we found this platform where we climbed up lots of ladders and stairs to see the view. It was very windy and cold up there but the view was worth it.

Then it was time for ziplining! Have you ever been to IT at Jordan’s Furniture? Well, this was nothing like that; it was so much better. We were outside, zipping from tree to tree. Before the trip, I looked up videos of ziplining in Costa Rica. The videos were about 3 minutes long for one zip line. Just one! I was so excited to finally get to experience it. But before actually getting to zip line, we had to let ourselves fall from a tall platform. Falling is not something I enjoy so this activity was kind of nerve wracking for a bit. But I just had to do it. The guy said “1, 2, 2 and a half, 3” and I took my feet off the platform. Swinging from that tree made me feel free like Tarzan.

After being Tarzan, we finally got to go ziplining. There were 14 lines. After line 7, we jumped from another platform to climb up the inside of a tree.This was actually very cool because inside were steps made from ropes to help us get to the top. After making it to the top of the platform we continued ziplining.The ending ziplines were the 3-minute ones from the video I saw on Youtube. The view of mountains, houses, and trees was absolutely amazing. But the adventure didn't end at zip lining. We finished our day off with horseback riding.

I never really went horseback riding before besides on my grandfather’s horse in Puerto Rico in his backyard so this was a new experience for me. We learned how to let the horse know what we wanted it to do whether it was to stop, go right or left, or to walk or run. Horseback riding was actually relaxing to me because I got to see another amazing view. This time of the sunset and lots of land.

Day 4:
We went to the Arenal Volcano. To get there we had to take a hike through the forest and a bunch of rocky little mountains. We didn’t get a great view of the volcano due to all the clouds but we were able to see it partially. Then Monica told us to sit on the rocks to listen to the volcano's history. We learned about a famous volcanic eruption that managed to ruin the whole town and somehow one family actually survived.

Later that day we went to the Hot Springs--a spring of naturally hot water that is heated by volcanic activity. This was my first time at a hot spring and I really enjoyed it. We went to all of the sections. There were little waterfalls, bars in the water, seating areas in the water, a bridge, a sauna-type area where the water was so hot I actually burned myself, and waterslides. Personally, I don't like waterslides unless I’m in a tube but Roza and George made me try it. I went on the ‘slow’ one first. This was actually really slow. I had to literally walk myself down the slide for some parts. Then I went on the fast one. This one I did not enjoy at all. It was so fast that it managed to flip my whole body around at the very last second before hitting the water. This hurt my back a lot. I probably won't go on another waterslide again without a tube.

Day 5:
In the morning, we headed to an elementary school. It was interesting to learn about how the day worked there. At the school there was only one teacher with about 20 students coming in and out during the day. I say in and out because the 1st-3rd graders go to school in the morning and the 4th-6th graders go to school in the afternoon. While we were there we played theatre games and I taught them a cultural dance from Puerto Rico called Bomba. I love that I was able to share something about me with the kids. It seemed like they had lots of fun dancing.

I like to say that I found my long-lost brother, Andie, at that school. He was in first grade, loved soccer, and only knew two words in English: yes and thank you. He told me that he didn't like to dance and that he wouldn't do it, but when I was teaching the kids Bomba I saw him dancing and following along.

I honestly did not want to leave the school but we had to because they had to continue with class. So before we left we took pictures and left a donation of money and two soccer balls.

After lunch and walking around La Fortuna, we went horseback riding again. This time we went through water, up and down hills, and we didn't have to stay in a line like before. We were able to go at whatever speed we liked. At first, I didn't want my horse to run. But after a while I got bored of going slow so I signaled my horse to run by lightly kicking him because I didn't want to hurt him. After that my horse went so fast. You know how fast people go on TV when they are in a race? Well that was me and my horse.

After horseback riding we headed home to rest for the next day.

Day 6:
For our sixth day in Costa Rica, we did a little community service. Our job was to plant eight trees at the reforestation project with Katia, Tare, Christian, and Don Isidro. By the end of our time with planting the trees, I had planted 14. I named all of them after my closet friends and family. I think I’m going to start planting in the future.

Then it was time for our cooking class. We learned how to make cheese and tostones with Dona, Hazel, and Kevin. Making the cheese was interesting with a lot of steps and waiting. But we made tostones which we were actually able to eat. I already knew how to make tostones but it was cool to take a class with everyone from Coop.

Tostones are twice-fried plantain slices. First, we peeled the plantains, cut them into pieces the size of a quarter of our pinkies, and fried them. Then we took them out, flattened them with a smasher, and fried them again.

After the cooking class we ate a traditional dish of rice and chicken from the cooking instructor and her family. The food was really good despite the stringed vegetables that were in the rice and chicken. I'm not a big fan of vegetables.  

For the rest of the day, we hung out in the pool, then got dressed for dinner.

Day 7:
For our last full day in Costa Rica, we went on a sky ride through the rainforest. This was very relaxing and a place where the other students and I bonded even more. We talked about our likes, dislikes, old TV shows and movies, and more.

We also went on mini tours to see butterflies, frogs and snakes. The butterflies must have really liked us because they were landing on our heads and shoulders and stayed there for a couple of minutes.
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Then for the emotional part of the trip: our last dinner with Monica in San Jose. Before the dinner, since Eli wasn't going to be joining us, we gave him a stuffed version of his favorite animal, a Scarlet macaw, and read something we wrote for him about the trip. For the last dinner, everyone got dressed up and read something they wrote to share with Monica about our experience on this trip. We gave her a stuffed animal as well. Hers was a turtle. Lots of us started to cry because we had shared a whole week with them so we had grown really attached to them.

Day 8:
We woke up at 4:00 in the morning to get to the airport by 5. We took two planes to get back to CT. Once we got back to CT everything was different: the air, the weather, the food, etc. I wanted to stay in Costa Rica a little longer. Everyone was so welcoming and proud to be who they were.

I’m happy I took the opportunity and learned about beautiful Costa Rica. So many great memories and new experiences were made there. And I actually got to practice my Spanish in the ‘real’ world. If anyone wants to travel the world like myself, take all the opportunities you can. You can learn lots of cool things about different cultures. For example, I learned that only in Costa Rica the people say “Pura Vida.” Isn’t that cool? No other Spanish culture says that but them. It's literal meaning is ‘pure life,’ but to them it means more than that; to them it’s a way of life.
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My Trip to Mississippi: Hazelwood Family Reunion 2018
Brookelyn Hazelwood 5/18

     My trip to Mississippi was different from any other trip I’ve been on because I went for a family reunion on my dad’s side. It wasn’t easy riding in a car for 24 hours there and back, but I made it my priority to be at the family reunion for the first time. My dad was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin which is where most of the family currently lives. The reason why the family reunion is held in Mississippi every year and not Milwaukee is because the anchor of the family, my 79-year-old grandfather, lives in Mississippi and is too old to travel especially somewhere far from Mississippi, 11 hours to be exact.
     It was so inspiring to meet some of the family members that my dad grew up with and see how quickly they brightened up once I was introduced to them as “Travis’s little girl.” Travis is my dad’s name and the whole family loved him very much, so to see that his daughter was there right in front of their eyes allowed them to be happy knowing that a part of him was still here. That also allowed me to see a glimpse of my dad’s childhood and to see what his life was like since I’ve never met him.
     Mississippi is very empty, something I’m not used to, so it was different for me to be in that type of scenery. My hotel was in Indianola, MS and my grandpa’s house was in Belzoni, MS. Though the house was only approximately 26 minutes from my hotel, the scenery changed vividly & rapidly. Indianola had a bunch of restaurants, cars, & street signs while Belzoni had nothing but land, corn fields, and dirt roads.
     Being in Mississippi made me feel different than I ever did before and that was because I felt my dad’s spirit throughout the whole trip. I knew he was there watching during every part of my trip, happy that I got to meet most of his family, who I only knew from Facebook. That feeling was impeccable and made me feel warm and good inside, which will allow me to remember this trip forever.

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