Costa Rica Photos

Our work group in CASEM and the ladies of CASEM.

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

The kids of Canitas.

The "Casa Club" in Canitas.

Hummingbird in the backyard of the B and B in Canitas.

View from Gaudy's hostel in San Jose my first morning.

Madison

The first week of school is over. I left Costa Rica on Saturday January 16th, arrived in Denver, flew out to MN on Sunday, and drove to Madison on Monday. Phew. Classes are wonderful and the week went along without much trouble. I miss Costa Rica but I am really glad to be back in school, learning about new and interesting subjects. I am especially psyched for my Soil Science class which is a little ironic because originally I thought this would be a rather boring class. This is apparently not the case. School, studying, work, and fun. That's my life for now.

Art and Food

This last week has been a blast. The five new volunteers arrived on Sunday. They are all over 55 but are still kicking it like they are twenty. We worked this week at the local woman's co-op. Global Volunteers has worked with this cooperative for many years and through this collaberation many great projects have been accomplished. It was wonderful to add our own layer of work to this effort during this week. The building in which the co-op resides was actually constructed with the help of GV. Over time new improvements have been made. The co-op is made up of all woman artists who sell their wares at this co-op to make a living or to generate a little more income for themselves and their families. It is also very empowering for them because they support each other emtionally and learn to becoming a little more self sustaining by learning a new skill. We spent the week painting the backroom of the co-op. The future plans for this room involve turning it into a cafeteria where the women can sell traditional Costa Rican food.

Everyday we ate a delicious meal prepared by some of the ladies. We sat together and ate and talked about our families or hobbies. The ladies wanted to practice English and I practiced Spanish.

The weather has been really cold and rainy lately but today the sun finally made an apperance. I went for a long hike today after work with Elle, one of the volunteers. We hiked in the forest to this beautiful look out. Today is my last day in Santa Elena but it could not have ended more perfectly.

Arco Iris (Rainbow) Numero 11

I have seen a rainbow almost everyday since I have been here in Monteverde. I have been horrible at updating this blog but there was no internet over the weekend and this week suddenly slipped by into Thursday. So what is new?



First, I visited the Cloud Forest. I walked the suspension bridges in Selvatura Park over and through the forest. There were eight bridges total and it gave us a wonderful view of the rainforest. The rest of the group chose to zip line through the forest but I think I made the better choice because I actually got to see the forest rather than speed over it. Still it was a fun day.



We spent eight days working in Canitas and we managed to get a lot done. I spent everyday painting. Painting the ceiling, the outside and inside walls, and the trim. Amanda and I were the designated trim team in the group. Everyday the ladies of the town would prepare a wonderful lunch for us which usually included a salad of tomato and shredded cabbage, black beans, rice, and some protien source. This is a very traditional Costa Rican meal. After lunch we would play soccer with the kids or if we were tired just lay in the grass and watch the kids play soccer or futbol. The people of Canitas are so wonderful. The kids were especially cute. Today they gave us all gifts. The women got earrings and the men got bookmarks. All handmade of course. Today was also fun because I got to cook with the ladies and they taught me how to make this delicious fried bread and cheese snack.



New Years was WONDERFUL! We went out to eat with the entire volunteer group. Half of the team was leaving the next day so we wanted to celebrate with everyone. After dinner we went to one of the bars and got a salsa lesson from one of the locals. It was sort of fun but no one else was at the bar so we ended up leaving and heading to another bar where all the locals were hanging out. A bunch of us stayed up until midnight dancing and drinking. Dancing was really the best way to bring in the new year in another country.



On the weekend I traveled with Amanda, another girl in our group, to La Fortuna. After an exhausting three hour ride that involved a shuttle, a boat ride across the lake, and another shuttle ride we arrived. Unfortunately it was rather disappointing. La Fortuna is overshadowed by the volcano Arenal. This is the main attraction of the area but other than this geographic wonder the town of La Fortuna does not have a lot going for it. It reminded me a lot of the Wisconsin Dells (yuck). We ended leaving early and returning to Santa Elena but still managed to have a fun weekend.



I feel like this only glosses over the last week. There is so much I have seen and done that it would take about three hours to write about it all. When I am back in the States I hope to share more stories and pictures with all of you.



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Hello all!!

I am doing really well. I had a wonderful New Years and hope everyone else did as well. Sorry my blog fell off the face of the earth but internet has been down the last couple of days. I am about to run to dinner but I will write a more detailed description of the last few days later tonight or tomorrow.

Hope you are all well!!!!