Hola from Costa Rica

This is my first post from abroad!

Hola from Costa Rica! We arrived in San Jose Wednesday night after our flight from Miami via San Salvador. We stayed at a hostel overnight before loading up on a bus for a four and a half hour bus ride South to Uvita, a small town on the Pacific coast. In Uvita, we're staying at Hotel Canto de Ballenas (translation is call of the whale.) We're in little bungalows arranged around a nice grassy lawn and pool. There were surprise centipedes waiting for us in the bathroom and some pretty big spiders as well. We avoided these, got settled, and changed into our bathing suits for a walk to the beach. Usually it's a mile walk away, but they hadn't cut the trail yet, so it took us about 40 minutes to walk by road. The waves were HUGE and the water was almost bath temperature. So pretty. After dinner, we had our first discussion. The topic: what is development? Everyone seemed to really have thought about it and contributed a lot of really good ideas, so it was very interesting. And we have work to do already! We received a packet with excerpts from the book Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo, which we have to read by next Thursday.

This morning, I woke up to run with Lauren (another runner on the trip) before breakfast. Even at 7 am, we could feel the humidity and heat. Our adventure of the day was a hike to a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole. We picked up burritos along the way and ate them on top of rocks in the middle of the stream. The sun definitely left its mark on my shoulders and arms though.

We have lots of other fun things coming up in our ten days in Costa Rica. Tomorrow we're taking surfing lessons, the next day we have a yoga session, then there's ziplining, a kayak trip, and a boat trip to Caño Island. We also have more discussions and briefings over the program awaiting. And I'm sure there will be more gallos pintos (rice and beans) to be eaten. So far, I've had it at every meal but one! But there are lots of yummy juices to look forward to. Last night it was from a guanabana fruit. Who knows what other new fruits I'll find while I'm here.

Adios for now!