Biology Major
Public Health Science Masters
Pre-Med Track
Indiana University Purdue University, IN
The Full Story
Costa Rica, Uvita
Travel to Costa Rica, Uvita with me on my very first international flight. Here you will be able to see the community and environment that surrounded me as I took my first step on international soil. We learned about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), the local's daily life's, the culture's food and activities, and the nature that is home for 5% of the diversified animals on earth.
Volcano named Volcan Irazu. The one closest to San Jose, Costa Rica airport.
Red tin roofs of homes and business from the air.
A colón - The Costa Rican currency. 10,000 = $5
Volcano named Volcan Irazu. The one closest to San Jose, Costa Rica airport.
Day One
Pre-Landing
The wheels took off from Denver, Colorado and the lights from below were twinkling like stars, and my stomach tossed and turned with anticipation and curiosity on what to expect. As we cross into Costa Rica we were greeted by an active volcano that is known as Volcan Irazu. Then as the wheels were about to touch down on the runway I looked down to be welcomed by red tin roofed houses packed next to each other, surprisingly looking completely different than Indianapolis building with different colors, heights, and space between
Landing
The wheels screech on the concrete and we come to a stop at the terminal in San Jose, Costa Rica. I first notice how simplistic the landing area is. Lot of space and not much building which surprised me because I would have thought the airport would have been bigger. As the group walked off the plane and onto Costa Rican land we headed twards customs which to my surprise was a good and fast experience, compared to what I've heard.
Into the Big City
After the flight into San Jose, we met our drivers Graven and Givany, and our tour guide Tara. From the air port we loaded the drivers tour busses with out luggage and headed to the first city Alajuela, where we arrive at our community hotel. Once arriving we had a meal and got to listen to a guest speaker that set the stage for the current sociology situation and about Costa Rican history to frame the beginning of the trip with useful information.
Day Two
Starting The Day
We began the day by waking up to the chirping birds the sunrising, and a homemade breakfast of pancakes, eggs and ham, rice and beans, fresh pineapple, fried plantain and bread. This was accompanied with a fresh cup of orange juice and tea.
On The Road
After the breakfast we took off from the first hotel in Alajuela, on a 4 hour car ride to begin our stay in Uvita, Costa Rica, where we spent the majority of the week. On this four long trip we took two pitstops. The first stop was Crocodile bridge. This bridge is home to many crocodiles and lizards where the animals swim and run freely. The second stop was to a local shop called the Maxí, similar to that of our Walmarts in Indiana. This is also where we first experienced the currency difference and had to figure out our change.
Arrival at Hotel Canto De Ballenas
As the Four hour long car ride came to a halt, we were greeted by the community hotel staff, who later helped us with our Spanish speaking abilities. We took about an hour break and got to adventure the space and see the nature surrounding us and to take it in.
Community Walk
Shortly after adventuring the space we met a local who took the group on a community walk. This was where we got to see other locals and learn about plants, nature, and begin our conversations over SDG's. (To be respectful of those who lived there, no pictures were taken during the community walk) As we walked for about 2 hours, so much was racing through my head on difference compared to Indiana. For instance, the pets of families such as dogs and cats roam the streets, and some are very protective of their owners land. This is why we weren't supposed to pet them like we can with strays in Indiana. However a dog did follow us all the way back to the hotel and stayed the night with us. The group named him Drago. He later left and was rightfully found by his owner. Another difference was how polite and caring the community was for each other. The community for instance held a dinner every Sunday, at the local church, for everyone to have dinner, and they also give housing to those that are homeless and need shelter. Another part that added into my culture shock was how no one cared if you used resources off of their land. Unlike Indiana or anywhere in the US, one could walk into someone yard and grab fruit and the owner would not mind unless someone was over indulging. An example of this is how everyone got to try a fresh star fruit right off the tree and how we got to try what's known as a magic bean!
This is a picture of the walkway leading to the pool and the rooms that we would be staying in.
This was the breakfast described from the First hotel in Alajuela.
This was a picture taken on day three, of Drago sad because he was not allowed to go on the bus to our service trip with us. (He also found his owner though)
This is a picture of the walkway leading to the pool and the rooms that we would be staying in.
Day Three
Morning
We started the day off with another homemade breakfast of pancakes, and fresh fruit. We then got ready for the day of our service project.
Service Day Pt. 1
Today we worked as a group and collaborated with the tour guide that gave took us on a community walk. Here we translated information, about the nature around us, from spanish to English and started to create signs to inform locals as well as tourists about the importance and nature around them. The point of this was to show others why the SDG life one land is so important. The signs allowed them to be educated on why we can't just remove a specific ecosystem for our convince.
Cooking Class
After our first day of service, we were given the opputntiuy to learn how to create some local dishes. For instance, we made empanadas from scratch, made a couple of drinks such as a ginger drink, and coconut creamer/ milk.
Day Four
Early Morning
I woke up at 5 in the morning and decided to take a swim before starting the day. around 6 in the morning we all met up and took time to eat some breakfast.
Service Day Pt. 2
after starting the morning we headed back to meet the local that we had collaborated with on day three to finish our projects on the signs and start putting them up along the trails.
Rainforest & Natural Waterfalls
After completing our signs, we headed to a rainforest that held some amazing natural waterfalls. Here we were allowed to swim in the blue water and enjoy the scenery around us.
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Day Five
Morning
We started the day out by eating a homemade breakfast and then headed out to some local markets. Here we got to encounter what was like a farmers market where we got to meet locals and some of the products that they have created. Some of the creations included jewlery, soaps, painting, and even masks.
Local Marine Biologist
After enjoy the community farmers market, we headed to a new non-for profit company called coral restoration, where a local marine biologist taught us the importance of coral and the jobs it has in the ocean. Some of these jobs included filtrating the ocean, providing an ecosystem for some of the marine life and help the ocean with the pH levels.
Parque De Las Esferas
After being educated if the oceans that surround us and what lives inside of them, we were taken to Parque De Las Esferas. This park was a historical park/ museum that educated us on the history of these spheres that no one actually knows what they were used for , but have some ideas on what they could have been there for. Some of these ideas included praising gods, showing power, used for timing or a calendar, and many more.
On Our Way Back
We took a pitstop at another grocery store to grabs some snack and souvenirs, and ended the night with Dr. Ian McIntosh telling us his life experience with traveling and learning about other cultures.
Day Six
Morning of Darkness
One Day six my roommate and I woke up at 4 in the morning and found that the power was still out and couldn't go back to bed. So we headed to the front of the building where the hotel staff offered us hot chocolate and we took in nature. Once everyone woke up we all had breakfast which consisted of rice and beans, fresh fruit.
Corcovado National Park
After breakfast we headed to the busses where we drove down the street to get onto a boat at the beach. We took a hour and half boat ride to the national park that conserves one of the few remaining large areas. Once we arrived we took a hike through the trees and spotted out some animals such as a golden orb spider, a three fingered sloth, a crocodile and much more. This also allowed for us to learn about the plants and how they adapt to their surrounding and how they can be used as medicine for some purposes. After hiking we then took a trip back to the boats to have a picnic on the beach where we ate, watermelon, pasta salad, salad, and some chips and dip. After letting our food digest we then took one last hike to a natural waterfall and got to see the beauty of a natural pool filled with rocks and clear water. Once we got to swim and night fall was headed towards us we headed towards the boats and went home to the hotels
SDG Discussion/ Plastics
We arrived to a amazingg dinner and had a guest speaker teach us about Life below water. This presentation described how resorts are taking over public beaches and turning them to private beaches not allowing the locals to visit and clean up the beaches. This lead into the conversation on how none of the money goes back into the community and how it does not allow for them to put the money back into the environment. We also talked about how when tourists come to visit Costa Rica beaches or even beaches in general, they become so poluted with plastics that eventually become micro plastics in some cases and cause animal death and polluted islands. This all got Brought back on how we all can save the earth by changing our ways by choosing to not use plastics, maybe not boycotting them but by picking and choosing what we use and what we don't.
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Day Seven
Morning Trip
Today was the morning that we had the chance to go to some local shops along the beach and shop for some souvenirs to take home. I had the experience to use what little Spanish I knew and communicate with some of the locals, which also landed me some free bracelets because they really appreciated me trying to speak their language.
Beach Time
After some souvenir shopping we took some time to go back to the beach that we did our service project at. This allowed us time to enjoy the beautiful clean sand and allowed us to take surf lessons and catch a few waves.
Dancing
After catching waves, we headed back to the hotel to find a special homemade dinner, where they served us our choice of fish or chicken, along with some rice and beans and some sort of mushroom sauce. After eating the night began with some local traditional dancing. One of us even got to try on the beautiful red, white, blue skirt that many women commonly wear to dance with.
This was the carrying and loving staff that took care of us for the week.
Hotel Canto De Ballenas Sign up front.
This was the carrying and loving staff that took care of us for the week.
Day Nine
Flight Home
A day like the beginning of the trip, except of my stomach tossing and tuning it was my heart breaking because it was time to leave. We woke up to birds chirping and the sunrising again, and were dropped off at the San José, Costa Rica airport, where we said our goodbyes to our friends that helped us travel across Costa Rica. After our goodbyes we were off and like before the wheels of the plane took off and we were on our way back home to Indiana.