The Five Senses Monteverde

I am currently unable to post pictures, but hopefully that will come later. I have been surprised by the remoteness of my program, both pleasantly and unpleasantly. Internet is spotty at best if at all present and to get cell service I have to constantly refill minutes on my phone at a grocery store (it cannot be done remotely). Despite these inconveniences and occasional frustrations, my experience in just a few short weeks has been incredible and completely worth it. There are 22 other students in my program and we have been travelling to different national parks along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. I can honestly say that I have never been to a more naturally beautiful place. I have climbed 20 feet high in a mangrove forest (nature's jungle gym) and sliced up my hands in the process, snorkeled the reef of la isla del cano with countless colorful fish, hiked 18 miles through an old growth tropical rain forest to a huge sandy beach void of any other people, and stood under three 30 foot waterfalls.

The touristy slogan here is "Pura Vida," but even though it mostly shows up on t-shirts and shot-glasses it actually makes sense when you venture into the more wild places in this country and realize how happy locals are to be living in two room houses without hot water or wifi or cell service. They don't miss it. Even in San Jose, the sprawling, noisy, smoggy, and smelly capital city, people living on a lot less than the average American are still are far more relaxed and friendly, even with foreigners like us who's Spanish is deplorable. We had to complete a scavenger hunt one day at the central market looking for exotic fruits and I cannot imagine trying to complete the same task in any American city because it required so much patience on the part of the sellers and every merchant we met with was completely willing to give us their time and smiles, even when we were not purchasing anything, just asking long annoying questions.

After we left San Jose, we traveled across the Pan American highway through the Talamanca mountains and down into Corcovdo National Park on the southern coast. Everything there is damp and humid. The biodiversity this kind of environment yields is astounding and the topography of the coastline is stunning. Our classes are structured around field experience, so our exams are based on species we find on our hikes. We are encouraged to touch and smell and use all of our senses to identify species, and always be looking for similarities between new discoveries and what we've already learned. This has been an interesting process of comparison, especially after we moved north from Corcovado to Santa Rosa which is bone dry and mostly secondary growth forest recovering from cattle farming 30 years ago. Now I am finally at the biological station in Monteverde at almost 3000 m in elevation where it actually rains and where I can actually unpack sleep on a mattress, and take a hot shower. I will soon begin Spanish classes and that should add yet another dimension to my cultural experience. I can't wait!