Last Day! :)

I really enjoyed the trip. The nature walks did get a little old after awhile. I think the beach was a good way to end the trip though. It was great to relax and just have some free time. It was another bonus that the hotel we stayed at last night had the best rooms. We all had our own bed and it was a very large room compared to the others we stayed in. I even won for the quiz that we had to take. I got a towel for my prize with a picture of Costa Rica and all of the towns on it. I thought that was pretty cool! :) I'm going to miss the new friends made and some of the aspects of the trip. But you can't have too much of a good time, so therefore, I am ready to come home.

-Miguela

Josh "Grande Perezoso" Peters says:
Well, today is a sad day. We have to leave one of the best countrys in the world. It was definitely a lot of fun. My favorite part was when we went and swam by the waterfall, it was one of the most prettiest things i have every seen. But dancing last night was really fun too, man them ticans can dance, WOW! And it also had an amazing view of the city. Well, Ms. Call is telling me i'm typing to much so i gotta go, I LOVE YOU MOM!!!
P.S. Pura Vida

Costa Rica 9 days

My first and last post. Costa Rica is an amazing country. The senery is great. Zip lines was the best adventure. The best water activity was kayaking followed very closely by the waterfall. The jungle hikes were unique expierences. The students at the school were very good dancers and nice people. Over all the trip was good.

Hello from the Costa Rican airport!

We've been sitting in here for a while now, and we've successfully taught Michelle how to play euchre (sp?). That's about all we've been doing today--besides paying $9 at Burger King for a cheesebuger and french fries. Everything is moving pretty slow today, and I'm sure that everybody is ready to get home and sleep in his or her own bed--I know I am. I'll see everybody at home soon!

Love, Clare

Costa Rica

Hola! We are in the airport right now and will soon fly to Atlanta. The last few days have been kinda fun. We had small dances at night before we went to bed and stayed at some pretty nice hotels. The beach side hotel was great! We went down to the beach and quite a few of us got a mouthfull of water. Saltwater doesnt taste very good. We went to a fold lore dinner last night and watched the people dance. It was pretty cool. The past few days most of us have been pretty tired and have been wanting to eat hamburgers. :) They mostly have rice down here. The time that we have spent in Costa Rica was worth it. It was a great experience for me to have. :) I think I will remember this trip forever.
-Rosa Kivikoski

La Playa

Well, we arrived at the beach yesterday. It's very pretty although the Internet connection is faulty. The kids are loving the beach. As I post this, I'm sitting in a beach bar under a palm leaf roof. The beach is off to my left, the pool straight ahead and another behind. There's a telenovela on the tv. Oh, and it just started to pour. Rain, rain, and more. It will last for about 20 minutes.

It's been wonderful. Hoping that the connection lasts long enough to put up pictures!
SC

Ropes, Birthdays, and Tarzan

Hello all,
We made it to Monteverde. We´re at the hotel. There´s only one computer, no wifi. Only teachers are allowed to use the computer. So...I´ve printed notes to deliver to students. It´s been an absolutely incredible day. Absolutely. We started by leaving La Fortuna and driving around Lake Arenal. It´s the largest man made lake inCentral America. Forgive typing I´m hurrying! Anyway, it´s a beautiful but very hilly trip. We stopped at a country school where 10 students performed traditional dances for us. Our kids sat and talked with their kids. Then, back on the bus to Monteverde where the clouds are below us. It´s so, so, so beautiful. We went to the zip lines today. A tour through the cloud forest. Oh wow. I was so scared! Rosa said I had to go too! After all, she said, if it wasn´t safe I wouldn´t let them do it. Ugh. Hate when they´re right. So, I swung through the trees along behind them. Glad that this company had every safety feature imaginable. Really did feel protected. I couldn´t believe how high we were and how fast it went. And yes, we all swung like Tarzan. They so want to tell you all about it.

Back to the hotel. There was a brief power outage. No problem. It´s cool here so they lit a fire in the hotel fireplace and everyone hung out until the lights came on. I´d picked up cheese at the market in town so we could taste the difference. It was good!

We also present Jesus with his birthday present. Now, the group is having a party in the main room. There are three with a birthday on the same day. So, we have cake and ice cream both.

Funny little thing. THere´s another group here. One of the ladies is from Milwaukee. She honed in right away on us and asked if we were from Wisconsin. She´d heard there was a group here. So I said, yes...what makes you think that....She said she had heard there were other cheeseheads. So, I held up the cheese I was cutting and she just laughed.

We won´t be at our next hotel until the day after tomorrow. So probably no Internet for a couple of days. Still, I´ll let the kids know you´re thinking about them and vice versa.

Take care!
SC