=omg it's all over =(

Well were all back from Costa Rica and I know for many of us were sad it's over but also so glad to be back. We spent 10 days in Costa Rica learning new things, meeting new people, helping/hurting the rainforest. We've done it all and it could have been one of the funniest trips I have ever been on.
As I hope you've noticed we didn't blog for about 3 days. That was because we were in a big place called the Rain Forest. Being there was one of the hottest places I have ever been to. Like it was so hot I had a beard made of sweat. I especially had a bearded made out of sweat when we were working on the trail of the rainforest. Well I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
The first day we were there, all of us had to get to know the trail that we would be working on for 2 days. So we hiked all the way to the top of the forest and walked all the way back down. It took us about 2 hours or so to do the whole walk. It was pouring down us which didn’t make it any easier to climb and walk the trail.
So the next day we began working on the trail. We had to bring these huge logs from our cabins down to the trail and put them in the ground. After we did that for the first 2 hours we got to eat. Than after eating back to work! Afterwards we had to make the trail wider and make sure all the big rocks in the stream were pushed to the side. I was working on the making the trail wider. The like wall on the trail was mostly rocks so we had to really smash the rocks down to get the trail wider. Well while doing so 3 of the group members; Meghan, Monteria, Crystal, and Morgan all caused some small land slides. It was quite surprising when it happen. Because all of the girls were just screaming and jumping around when the slides hit. We had to fix the trail about 4 times I think.
The next day we pretty much just moved logs up the mountain. Now that might sound hard and your right because it was. We had to lift these heavy logs all the way up this mountain while the sun was burning on us. It was half fun half torture more torture than fun but lets just say I felt really good about helping as much as I could.
Oh the funniest thing we did there was swimming in the waterfalls. Really that was what I was looking forward to the most. I just really wanted to swim in the waterfalls. We got to swim in two different ones. One which we all liked the most because in had a deep end. The other was as much fun just because it was really shallow and there was A LOT of rocks so it just hurt.
The last night we were the Rain Forest Don Miguel who was like our guide and the man who owned the resort we were living at played some games with us. One game was where someone would act like a cat and he/she would have to go up to someone. That someone who that person chose had to same this phrase and if they laugh than that person would have to be the cat. That was a really fun game, Crystal was really bad at it though. She went up to this little kid and couldn’t even get a giggle out of him.
We were all sad to leave Don Miguel but we were all happy to leave the wasps and misquotes. When we got back to the other hotel we were staying at we were all tried. So we slept and than we got to go to the market and buy things. We stood there for about 2 to 3 hours.
It was our last day and we all were really happy to go see our favorite person there Don Francisco. He was this cook at this restaurant we went to all the time. We all loved him and I would like to this he loved us. The last time we ate dinner there he made us burgers and all of us were talking about how much we wanted burgers. So it was a awesome surprise to get.
Now that I’m back in America I really do miss Costa Rica and all the people we met there. I really can’t wait to go again and I am going to miss everyone that I want with.
COSTA RICA BUDDIES FO LIFE!!!!

Home at last

Well, we landed safe and sound late last night here in Pittsburgh. The trip is actually over. Hard to believe. It has been ana amazing experience and I want to thank everyone involved: the students, Matt, Isabell, Don Fransisco, Don Miguel, and all the others that worked so hard to make our trip as great as it was.

This blog will remain active for at least the next week so that all the students can post final entries about their experiences and post pictures to our photobucket. So please, keep dropping by so you can see everything.

If you havent seen our pictures yet, please visit our photobucket site and Meghan's Flickr site. We also have some videos on the photobucket site.

Thanks for visiting and coming along on our trip.

Celebrando el Rojo,Blanco y Azul

Well it sad to say that i didn't wake up with the sounds of the national anthem, but I did wake up for the final time listening to the waterfalls of a natural rain forest in Quebrada Arroyo.
The leaving was very bitter sweet, because your realize how close people become on trips like this. Leaving Miguel today almost broke my heart, because he was so selfless. Yesterday he open he doors of his home and allowed 13 people to chill on his porch. he even fed us coconuts, star fruit (which is the best fruit ever), as we waited for the rain to pass over the beatuiful landscape. Even though today was a very sad, i felt that in my heart that i will see him again & be able to hike up a 3km trial just to see the pacific ocean.

We had such nice ride back ot the peace house, we had an very interesting stop to a river bed, where we were able to crocodiles. The timing was perfect because a boat came by and a guy pretty much went into the water and fed teh crocodiles. (which of ecotourism) standing there from a distance it was pretty cool, but i was amazed at the fearlessness of many Ticos.

When we first made it to the peace house it was quite a relief becuase we were finally back into an environment that we were pretty used to. The most amazing gift that i recieve came at 6:30 tonight.
My adopted Costa Rican Grandfater Don Fransico (which you all should be familiar with) cook us hamberges and french fries for independence day. This was so amazing i almost cried "he treated us like angels" said mimi at tonight meeting. And it is true, he treated us like we were made of gold i owe him a million times a million thank you for being our true "Pura Vida" in Costa Rica, he made every one smile.

Like i said before these trips just bring us closer together. i just want to say how thankful i am to be here because i feel like i have seen people in a new light over these past 10days.this trip has made so many people totally selfless Meghabn made that very clear to me today. i just want to thank meghan for giving mer gormet cocoa that meant so much to me. I just love the fact that everyone is just so caring, i feel that we have learned so much from the tico people.

Well i will see most people very soon
Pura Vida
** Cristal***

The Day Before Our Last...

We're looking at the second to last day of our trip. We haven't been able to blog because we left San Jose and went too Quebrada Arroyo for three days which was in the middle of the rain forest. Here we experienced many things out of the ordinary for us. First of all we went on a long hike to the top of the mountain, which was very hard for me personally. Many of us seen it as a very great opportunity, but it was really hard for me. Plus it was pouring down rain as well. That's not unexpected because it is the rain forest. Then the next two days we did service work to help the association with their trails so that it will be safer for the tourists and community, and also for the association to become a corporation. Again this was really hard for me. We had to carry posts and cross waterfalls, and and dig into the earth to make this trail more efficient for them. At that particular moment I didn't have the greatest attitude. But when we finished I felt way better about our effort.

When we finished our work we got to go to the waterfall and swim and get a chance to cool off. This was a first experience for me. I never been to a waterfall and I never thought that it would happen with 11 other of my new close friends at school.

Also another first experience for me was getting stung by a wasp. I never been stung before in my life, and that wasn't the greatest experience. Being stung by the wasps put me in reality check that we were actually in the rain forest surrounded by different different animals that we don't come in contact with as often.

This is an experience that I will never forget. I will never forget Costa Rica and I hope to come back some day. But I will also never forget the family that we've created.
Hope to blog again soon...

Last days in Quebrada Arroyo & Costa Rica

Yesterday was our last day of working in the rainforest. So many things happened during those two days of work. The first day we started moving post which are large sticks that are sometimes light and sometimes heavy. The work was really hard but on my part i think it was totally worth it. It was helping others in need as well as getting awesome work experience. I loved everything we did the whole time except getting bitten up by bugs. The waterfalls were the best part. We got to swim in and under the waterfalls it was AWESOME!..
The last night they we stayed in Quebrada Arroyo was fun. The people who lived in the small town showed us some of the games they play and we showed them some we play. They showed us this cat game which was really funny; and we showed them how to play duck-duck-goose. They seemed to really enjoy it as much as we did. I do believe we have pictures up of everyone playing the games. Tonights our last night in Costa Rica we went shopping, and our friend Francisco made us a "Pittsburgh Dinner" It was cool/sweet. I know i speak for everyone when i say this; we are going to miss everyone we met in the country and the country over all.

PS: See you guys monday.

Cabina's

We stayed in Cabina's in the Rain Forest the past three days. Hmm...lets just say it was rough, we were "swollen."


Don Miguel invited us to stay in his Cabinas and help his eco-tourism work for the past three days. We woke up at 5am each morning and carried heavy logs atleast a mile to create fencing so they can be in code for the national tourist board's regulations. This guy was awesome.


Trickster. Don Miguel was funny and always in a good mood even though he worked his behind off. We were walking through the rainforest while it was pouring. (I don't mean a Pittsburgh Pour times that by ten these rain drops were HUGE) He was walking up a trail and Boss (Bossert) was down below and he threw a rock right in front of her and creeped her out it was halirious. After a long day of work yesterday we were sitting in our work clothes in a water fall taking pictures and he started to throw water at Boss. As we walked through the Rain forest he picked different leaves and told us to try them, most of them were good, but when they were bad he of course laughed at our reactions. There was a huge bridge that was VERY scary to everyone at first and when we walked across he shook it so he could see us grab on soo tight. I loved Miguel he was fun, we even broke the rainforest but he helped teach us how to fix it. We were making the trial wider and there were landslides which almost killed Morgan, Crystal and Also Monteria.


We made a rather nice donation last night to his project of $650 and half of our first aid kit. (BTW The Nurse Hooked us UP! We used that kit sooo much) After our donations we played a few games. One he told us a ghost story about the headless horse man and Crystal freaked out, Don Miguel was laughing so hard. There was also a Gato (Cat) game, I'll let someone else talk about that.


Don Miguel took us to the coolest natural waterfalls ever. We got to swim in them and climb on them and everything. I've never seen anything more pretty in my life. Dubas said he'll post pictures.



I have tons to say but I wanna pass off the comp to someone who needs to blog as well, I'm sure with the combo of our posts you'll hear all about our past few days.



**Oh yeah, we were attacked by wasps and ants, and Boss, Dub & Matt Saved us**

Happy 4th of July!!

WE'RE BACK! In San Jose at least!! The rain forest was crazy. It was pretty and had awesome waterfalls. The work on the trails was Extremely hard, especially for me but we were all sweating. We got a lot done though. We expanded the trail, put rocks on the side of a river so when the water raises it does not erode the trail, and we also put up posts for rails about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile up the mountain. <-- See CRAZY.

I'm so sad I'm missing all the parties :( It definitly does not feel like the 4th of July - I don't like it. I can't wait to come home because up in the rain forest it was so humid - everyone felt dirty All the time.

We don't have a lot of time to talk now because we're getting ready to go souviner shopping - which should make all of our friends & families really happy!

missing my eddie!
<33 chelsea b.

my first beach experince

Hello views out there to day was an layback day for us so we got to go to an very beautiful beach out here in costa Rica. Its my first time ever going to a beac h and I can say that I had the time of my life. It has a been a great experienc eand to top it off I got to travel to costa rica and go to this beautiful beach. It was a lifetime of fun for me. I can say that this group has some of the best people of all time they made this an experience of an life time. It something you have to see for yourself. I can say when we first got there the tides were coming in very low but the later in the day that we lare and stronger, but that did not face us. Unfortunly for the next couple day we will not be in contact until July 4th, we will be in the rainforest until then, Take care and we will be back in touch JULY 4th

After 10pm here in Costa Rica...

Sorry Mr. Dubas for posting after you. So these past couple days have been crazy. Meeting the high students was fun but I could not understand what they were saying; Mimi told me that the one kid who said to me "What Your Name" in English was making fun of me :(. But whatever it's cool!


The interview with Epsy Campbell was awesome, we all were really attentive and interested in everything she had to say. She was so passionate about PAC, and she truly felt that CAFTA would only hurt the people of Costa Rica. To be honest I agree, and I think most of us here do but I don't want to speak for anyone else.

I liked that we also got see the other party and that they supported CAFTA, but it was like a dry political speech like you hear in America.

Today (Friday) was awesome! It was such an amazing experience making beds for those who hard practically nothing but were so happy just to have what they did. The Nicaraguans that live in La Carpia are so better off there then they would have been in Nicaragua, but I think that's the saddest thing of all because no should have to live in those conditions. All of us took so much away from today because just by being there and seeing them smile and laugh just shows that family, friends, and community mean so much more than money. In the United States we have so much but all we really need is just love and compassion! :)

Now on to the fun stuff!
Coffee!! On Thursday I had TRES cups of coffee! I love Costa Rican coffee con leche & lots of
sugar!! The eggs and toaste at breakfast are bomb!! Love the rice!
Tonight at dinner we were served FISH and I Did Eat it - I know SHOCK right!? And it was not too bad! The mashed potatoes were delish! And so was the great hot chocolate!!

No internet access tomorrow through like next Wednesday night (which I guess is the 4th of July!!) so I just want to say to my friends and family have a great weekend and Happy 4th! I love you Eddie! Miss all of yins like crazy!

With lots of love!
<3 style="font-size:78%;">sorry for the informal writing

Heading out of town

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving San Jose for a few days. First, we go to Manuel Antonio National Park for one night and we will be ale to go to the beach and visit our first rain forest. The next 3 nights after that we will be staying inside another rainforest and doing work with the community to help them out. Mostly, we will be fixing up trails running through the rainforest that the community uses for eco-tourists that visit. What this all means is that we will not be blogging for the next few days since there will not be any internet connection. We will be back on line on July 4th when we return to San Jose.

Please visit our picture pages. This one has pictures taken by various members of our group and this one has pictures taken by our budding photojournalist,Meghan.

all heart

Costa Rica is a world that is brought together threw love and hope for there country's future. I look at them and I see the people of the United States only separated by a deeper tan and there language. My Spanish is not very good but it doesn't have to be. It is almost like reading minds and there eyes and body movements. You begin to feel like they are you and automatically. Your words are understood, We went to a school and I was paired up with a student named Javier. I consider him my friend because I felt the connection that we are the same person. And that is why we were able to communicate and it was the most amazing experience entering psychologically into a new world. The school honored us by having there band play and showing us around the school and we were also played a very enjoyable game of soccer. Imagine your best friends and how sometimes you don't have to speak to understand them it is exactly like that and I wish i could have spend another day with my friend Javier.

That Night we had a little dance at the hostel we are staying at and got to hang out and learn to dance Costa Rican style and I impressed them with some of the American Pop Lock style dancing. That was the first full day in Costa Rica and I can't imagine a better way to start out are experience. I believe a trip is blessed because everything is falling into place and destiny is taking is course.

We went to La Carpio which is a large neighborhood of ram shackled housing and very poor Costa Ricans and Nicaragua. And they were poor but they were all heart and they were happy no matter what and were even prouder of there accomplishments and I was proud to help build 16 bunk beds for these families with nothing but the floor to sleep on. Getting to meet these people and communicate with them and see there children and how much they love there mothers and i saw me in there smiles and really felt the equality in all man kind. And I thank god for this Trip this is truly the most meaningful experience of my life.

4 days late...

YAY! my first post is here! Well, just to let everyone know, im safe and doing well. Sorry that I am 4 days late, but if there was something wrong I would definately be in contact with you.

So far we have experienced so much stuff. The first day we went to the volcano in Poas and I was really excited. Before I came to Costa Rica, I thought that it was going to be really weird going to see a volcano and I thought that it was insane and dangerous, but it was really cool. And it is definately something that I would never do on my own.

Then after we did that and of course took very much needed showers, we met other high school students from here. And of course they spoke their language and we had to make the effort.
I felt kind of confident about my spanish until I got here. I was able to pick up every other word, but I was really nervous to the point that they probably thought I was a mute.

Then we started to play futbol (soccer) and that made me a little more sociable. Even though I don't have a gift at playing soccer I had a good time. I started talking to a few kids and they understood my spanish but I couldn't respond to them. I felt kind of bad. But they made me feel okay, and helped me with a few of the words.
After we left their school, they came to the place that we are staying at for a little party. It was pretty cool. We started dancing and of course I was loving that, and we talked with them and practiced a little more spanish. They are pretty cool kids. They are just like us, and many of them like to do the same things that we do.

Then the next day we had many interviews, we had one with legislators and we met with Epsy Cambell as well. It was great to here the different points of view about the Free Trade Agreement and its effects on Costa Rica, people are very passionate about this agreement and how it can change their lives.

And today was one of the best for me. Today we went to La Carpio to build beds for families. This is something that I never thought I would get to do. We built bunk beds for these families and I felt that we helped them alot. I felt like I had so much strength to do so much more. It was almost like this rush of energy. And alot of people that know me, know that lately, I haven't had that much energy, but that all passed.

Today made me appreciate so much, and made me think of life in a different way. Not to may people, or situations make me do that...
Well Im pretty much done for today, hopefully some more thoughts will appear later....

For Mom:
Of course I'm safe, and you should be proud that you invested in this trip.I miss you and of course you miss me, I don't really want to come home anytime soon, but I guess I will for your benefit..lol..HAHA gotta love me mama, and I love you too.

For My Boys:
You know who you are, I miss you guys and I hope to bring you back lots of stuff...lol...don't expect much because you know I'm cheap..lol...expect many NEW stories for when I get back...LOVE YOU ALL!

couldn't possibly describe with words...

This trip so far has been absolutely amazing. We met the high school students and now I miss them soooo much already... I wish we could spend more time with them. I have been really emotional so far (even though nobody knows it). At the end of each day we sit in a circle and reflect on the day and the trip so far. We it comes my turn to reflect, I only say a sentence- if that. I can't say any more without becoming emotional, so I just let others talk. Today, we went to La Carpia and met amazing people- amazing women. A lot of Americans think that they are just the best of the best of the best, in reality they're NADA. You never know what you're made of until you are faced with extreme adversity and challeneges. The women we met today are so young and so beautiful and of course, so strong. Many of them have kids and NONE of them have any male in their lives. I completely admire their strength and how they didnt give up on themselves or their families. Every single day, these mothers make sure that their kids have the things they need in order to live, even if it means sacrificing something for themselves.

The whole community was gorgeous (I don't mean in a visually appealing way), I mean the people. I have never seen such extreme poverty up close and personal and the spirit, determination, strength and beauty of these women and their kids is one of the most moving and emotional events that I have ever been involved with in my life. It felt so so good to build all of those beds and to know that I took part in bettering the lives of these children and their families that live in a 3rd world country. The kids were beautiful and they all wanted to help build the beds, and when they found out that these beds were for them the look on their faces were priceless. I wanted to cry, as I would like to do now too. It's only the 4th day of the trip and I already feel an incredible emotional attachment to this stunning country and its amazing people. I dont want to leave. Now that I have been aquainted with this place I want to study abroad here and visit my new friends.

On a lighter note, the people drive CRAZY! unlike in the U.S. where people have the right away to cross ti street, here people have absolutely NO right away to crossing the street. If there is a group of 14 or 15 people crossing and there are cars coming- you'd better (well if you want to live) jump out of the way. It's crazy, pero por su puesto, todavia me encanta este pies hermosa!

yo nessicito mas dias!

It is the fourth day in Costa Rica and it is practically impossible for me to explain how I felt during the programs today

As many of my fellow students have already said we visited a villiage called la cuerpia today. The plan was to go and build beds for some of the families in desperate need of beds for their children. What I think is very interesting is the fact that we didnt take as much out of the building experience as we did the feelings that we had while interacting with the women and children of the community. It so easy to feel your heart brake (in both a good and bad way) when a child is smiling from ear to ear when you tell them that their new bed if finished.

Mom: A mother forced a present on me in gratitude for building a bed for her children, I thought if you

Dad: Many children told me that Math is there favorite class and two children showed me their report cards for english class (100% all A's in English for both of them) I said A's are important, i thought of you

Shana: The villiage is full of people fighting addiction and succeeding, the work that you do is so honorable and the village would thrive if you were there to support it

I am terribly humbled and glad to have experienced the life of such strong and respectful people

=omg costa rica is awesomly awesome!!!

Um first of all I would just like to say that I am sorry for the unnecessary things I wrote in my last blog. I forgot what the blog was really meant for and I am sorry for that. What I wrote was not to hurt anyone, everything I wrote was about was a inside joke. But it wasn’t necessary and I am truly sorry for it.

But anyways let’s get to Costa Rica. So far so good!!!! Costa Rica has been really fun so far. We have might with so many different people. We have might a congressman, a cofounder of a political party, a lady who made her own organization that helps people who can not really help themselves. Everyone we have talked to I has really open my eyes about the different things that are going on in the world. Like CAFTA and how much it is EVIL. But meeting all these people has really open me to different things that are going on in the world.

We got to see a volcano the second day we were here. The volcano was awesome. I was just at awe; it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. We also got to see this lake that was further up on the trail. The clouds were just surrounding us and it was just amazing to see all of the sights. One of the greatest things we did was go see our pen pals that we wee trying to email. When we got to there school we had to meet up with the kids that we were talking to. I got this girl named Stephanie; she was like the coolest out of all the other students. Mainly because I didn’t have to speak a word of Spanish to her. She knew English so I was pretty happy about that. Also everything she liked I liked so were had A LOT of things in common. The funniest part of that day was playing soccer with the kids. That just had to be the best part. Like before we played I thought our team was going to get killed because none of us really played soccer. I did but that was al the way back in middle school. But when we started playing it all came back to me. I scored 5 points and hurt my knee. But it was all good. We also had like a mini party at the hotel with all of the students. We danced for hours I was really sweated by the end of the dance. I LEARNED HOW TO SALSA!!!!

Today we made beds for the poor people at this area. It was really inspiring. It’s like now I want to go back and do more for these people. I just got really caught up in the moment when we first built a bed and the little kids were so happy. Just seeing their faces made me feel so much better. I would totally go and make beds for those people again in a heartbeat. Tomorrow is going to be awesome too. We are going to a new hotel and were going to live there for awhile. We get to go to the beach and swim that is going to be really fun also. But I really can’t wait to swim in the waterfall.

But so far it’s been really fun and I can’t wait to do a whole bunch of other stuff.

All of the pictures that I took are too large to upload to the photobucket, so I uploaded them to my flickr. If anyone is interested in looking at them I put up my favorite photos of mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meghanrosephotos/

Beautiful

Oh my gosh!
Today was one of the best days i ever had in Costa Rica.
We went La Carpia which is this community of people who has to live in really small houses made of metal. Later I will upload pictures. We went to certain houses and built bunk-beds for the children. It was really touching to see them smile. OMG i wish i could live here for a little. I was just really happy that i could help these little cute sweet babies out. The people here are s0o0o00 nice, i just live it. This one guy in another car made funny faces at us when we were on the bus. He was trying to make us laugh and it worked.
Tomorrow we go to the beach...YAY...its going to be beautiful..W0oT!
well TTFN.

Embracing The ROOTS

It said to say that I'm still dealing with cultural hangover (believe me it's a good thing). This trip so far has been 'mazing. Today was very interesting because we were able to get tw0 Juxtaposingg ideas on CAFTA. As your probably already know that we meet with Epsy Campell (btw she is so intelligent and amazing) After her interview we were able to meet with Gelbert Jerez who was an important figure in the NLP. Just having this opportunity to meet with these people and having conversations about controversial issues is really breath taking.


Just to let you know I feel that i am an expert in Costa Rican Political History. We had a tour of the legislator building where all the important decisions are made. thought many found it be long, i was just in awe of our tour guides passion for Costa Rica. He just had a great sense of pride in his country(in a good way). Being a tourist it is sometimes extreme hard to get excited about the history of another country, because it don't relate to you. This guy made me excited to learn abut president Salas who was only 3 days in 1948, because the revolution had started in Costa Rica. To me that is CRAZY, but at least he got his own painting. ;p. Learning about how our tour guides uncle/godfather got an national citizen merit for his work in medicine. Our tour guide's passion made me excited to want to learn more about Costa Rica History. I saw how rich and unique it's history is, and it opened my eyes to being to appreciate the history of other cultures and their difference. I really got out of this is what the US can learn form the Costa Ricans is their sense of appreciation an honor ALL THIER ROOTS. I hope that one day American society can embrace it the same way.

Well today was very interesting because we were able to get tw0 Juxtaposingg ideas on CAFTA. As your probably already know that we meet with Epsy Campell (btw she is so intelligent and amazing) After her interview we were able to meet with Gelbert Jerez who was an important figure in the NLP. Just having this opportunity to meet with these people and having conversations about controversial issues is really breath taking.

well as midnight passes in pittsburgh or 10 here, we have another early rise 6:30 (yeah!!!)

Embrace the Roots
Cristal

Beautiful*l* Rose

I had the most amazing experience last night. The students from the local school came to our hostel to have a party. We talked, danced, ate pizza. A few of the students tried to teach us how to baliar (dance) as well!



In a la escuela (In the school)

Each of us had a chance to look around the school. The students showed off amazing art work. By art I mean lovely mirrors with amazing designs around them, lots of Pooh designs. They had wire work. Stuff that you would find in home decor stores for candle decorations. My student was a boy, I couldn't understand him very much but we both tried. I found he had a girlfriend, I understand why, he was muy guapo (very handsome.) That was an amazing and inspiring experience, I've never met more friendly people.


When the students came to the party it broke the ice. This great guy who was the best soccer player, Kevin (Ke-Bin) was the most fun for me. I danced we taught our amigos (friends) the electric slide, some liked it. Kevin and I started to talk, I was very interested in his social life. Before coming to Costa Rica we learned they were very religious but turns out most aren't! Kevin wants to be a doctor or become involved in medicine which is very cool. The boys were cool, the girls were very fun as well.


La Carpio

I had the best and worst experience today in Costa Rica. We visited La Carpio which is an extremely poor area. The people lived in what is worse shacks than imaginable to any American Person. These people don't have water they can drink that's clean. When they go to the bathroom it runs through their walkways, into their water and homes. Its very sad. Their clothing is very torn and dirty. With Softly International we built bunk beds for this families. My group was amazing, Meghan, Nee, Monteria, Matt (our guide) and myself. Our last bed a very good looking Tico (word for Costa Ricans) helped us his name is Ernesto. It hurts me so bad to see people like this. Our old clothes these people could use, shoes, hair things everything. Even the plastic we took off of the mattresses before putting them on the bed we tried to keep in good condition, so they could reuse it. I can not even speak anymore of this, it was so sad. Though sad these people were so proud and if anything I hope to take away a sense of pride in who I am and my views even if I am not always proud of the U.S.


I wish I could stay here a lot longer, its so...so..marvelous.

SORRY IF MY TYPING IN BAD BUT COMP. USAGE IS IN HIGH DEMAND AND I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO TRULY GO THROUGH IT ALL SORRY!!

ending of day 2

Whats going on all views its just about the end of day 2 and I can say, im still loving it here in costa rica, I really wish I can stay alittle longer then the ten days. To day we had alot of interviews and got alot of information. our first interview was with the infamous espy Campbell who is the president of PAC, which stands for Citizen Action Party, and I can say we fell in love with her, what see is doing as president of this party is amazing and we are right behind her one-hundred percent. She has this young lively hood and good intension on helping woman of afro decent.

We also got to talk with and lady who has started many foundations to help families that dont have the money are place to stay to support themselves, and just listening to her motivated all of us and we can wait to help them. Thats going to be very uplifting to them and us. The day was insiteful. I am so happy to be here and with my friends I can say this is an experience like no other, thanks to all of our sponsers for help making this experience to us. See ya later.

Photobucket Album

Check out our photo album

This post is not about my love letter.

This trip just keeps getting better and better and it is still only the third day.
I have seen so many amazing things and I am just so happy that I have gotten this opportunity. I've seen my classmates with their broken Spanish having fun and exciting conversations with Costa Rican high school students with their broken English. It was beautiful to watch and amazing to be a part of. I also saw a young, blind man on a bus with his guitar singing a beautiful song and it was so awesome. Tomorrow we get to build beds for Nicaraguan refugees and I'm so excited. I love doing things like this. This is what I live for. I love to talk to people and I love helping people and I just can't even put into words how excited I am to do this. I'm sure I'll have a really interesting blog with pictures and everything tomorrow.

Buenos Noches!

My favorite thing

So Bossert and I decided that each night, we would meet as a group and talk about the day. How did things go? did we have any problems? Etc. So last night was our first of these meetings. You will probably guess from seeing the kids posts that meeting the high school kids and having them over for pizza and dancing was a great thing. So I wanted to share what I mentioned as my favorite thing from our meeting last night.

My favorite thing was just watching the kids. They met an environmental leader (Gabriel Quesada) that has been crucial in enacting changes to the Costa Rican constitution. They met a musician (Manuel Obregon) that has been bringing together traditional musicians from all of Central America to write new music and bring that music on tour throughout the world. They met with students their own age to see what they might have in common or see how different they were.

I was so proud of our kids when we met the first two individuals. They knew everything that Gabriel Quesada talked about and were able to ask great questions about the struggle of the environment with politics and modernization. They asked great questions of Manuel Obregon as well and were delighted by his music.

The students from the local school was the best though. When we got there, they didnt want to talk to them. "My spanish is horrible", "I don't know what they're saying!" was all they would say. But we paired each of our kids with one of the local students and watched as they ignored each other for the most part. Then we put them into two teams and had them play soccer. And that is where the friendships began. By the time we left the school, they had made some connections. When they realized the kids were coming to our hostel for a "party" with pizza and music, they were thrilled. You should have seen them show each other dance moves to both U.S. music and Latin American music. By the time the local students left, they were so sorry to see them go and had even exchanged email addresses to keep in touch. I'll let Meghan tell her story. Make sure you ask her if she doesnt fess up. LOL.

So all in all, my favorite part of the day was watching them and knowing that, as we have learned, City High kids represent whether they are down the street in Pittsburgh, in New York or DC and even outside of the US. I'm proud of them.

Wow... so much happened.

Well as I sit here, I am amazed at how much fun we have been having at Costa Rica. As a new plane flyer, I was a little nervous, but I made it through fine. As the trip progressed we did amazing things but the most amazing activity was visiting the school students in Costa Rica. It was sooooo sad to see them go and I almost cried because the connection that we made with all of them was just beyond words. In terms of the weather and atmosphere around here, it is hot'ish with a lot of humidity. When we were in Poas (a volcanic area) located about an hour outside of San Jose my jacket had so much moisture in it. Today was a day of hope for the people of Costa Rica in our minds because we meet leaders of P.A.C., a Costa Rican political party that is in favor of a change towards a more viajo pais (young country). A hot topic in Costa Rica is the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Many groups call this possible agreement between the US and Central American countries, TLC. As I was walking down the street I could see many echos against TLC including a persona' de Costa Rica (person of Costa Rica) yelling "
¡No T L C ere!" (No TLC here) which was great. Well I need to go because mr. Dubas is yelling at me to go to bed. Good night. Hasta manana (until tomorrow).