Sat., 1/11: Day 5

Today was a big day!  We said good-bye to our host families, which was kind of sad.  At the same time, I think we were all excited to move on to the next part of the trip and all the adventures it will bring.

Natalia and I

Bernarda, Ademán, Natalia, Daniela, Natalia's mom, and me

First we drove for a few hours to the Malecu Indian reservation.  They explained some of their traditions, then we got to try our hand at shooting a bow and arrow.  I think we did quite well!

Then they did a demonstration, sort of like a small play, about their tradition of the marriage proposal and the wedding ceremony.  When a young man decides he wants to ask a girl to marry him, he goes hunting and then brings his catch to the girl's family in order to prove that he can provide for her.  His mother asks her mother if the girl will marry him (he doesn't ask the girl directly).  Then, if the girl says yes, they do a small ceremony right then and there and the couple is married.  If the girl says no the families are now enemies.  I'm very glad that our customs are different from theirs!

After the Malecu reservation we were able to visit a local school  Even though they are on summer vacation, the parent organization got a group of students together to lead us in some dancing, which was very fun.  We also gave them some school supplies for them to use in their classes when school starts in a month and a half.  It was a very good experience!

After that, we drove to "La Vida Campesina", which is an organic farm near La Fortuna in the Arenal volcano area.  At Vida Campesina we ate lunch, which was made from all fresh ingredients grown on their two acre plot.  First, we made the tortillas that they served us, which was a first for many students.

 Then we ate lunch, and afterwards they served us coffee made from an old-fashioned, traditional coffee maker.  I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but that was excellent coffee!  (Especially after adding milk and a few teaspoons of sugar).  Then we headed to a hut where they store their firewood (which they use to prepare all of their food on old-fashioned Costa Rican wood-burning stoves) and had a sugar cane demonstration.  We used a machine that basically squeezed the sugar cane juice out of the sugar cane.  It took four people to do it - one to hold the cane as it went in, two to turn the cranks, and one to "catch" the sugar cane as it came out.  I think we did a pretty good job!

The result was sugar cane juice, which we got to try.  We also tried pure sugar cane, which indigenous people used like gum.

After that we got to help them out with their re-forestation project by planting a few trees.  Very exciting!

That's sugar cane in Boz's mouth. :)

The last activity of our day was La Fortuna waterfall, which is about 1800 feet tall and absolutely spectacular!  There is quite a hike down to the bottom of the waterfall.  We were able to swim in the lower pools and climb on the rocks, enjoying the water and the beautiful day.  Then, of course, we got to climb back up, which is, of course, quite a hike, also.  It was good to get some exercise. :)

On the way to our hotel, the Arenal Observatory Lodge, we stopped at a grocery store and were able to buy a few snacks.  I bought Yippy bars and Chiky cookies, a few Costa Rican favorites!

Our hotel is really nice.  It's quite the road to get up here, though - narrow, winding, very rocky with quite a few potholes, winding up the volcano.  And just when you think the road won't get any worse it branches off to an even narrower road, and at the end of that road lies our hotel.  Our driver, Jonathan, did a great job!  He has a pretty fun personality.  At one point, when the road was pretty rough, the bus stopped, the lights turned off and everything was completely black.  After a few seconds he laughed and started the bus back up again. :)  It's hard to really tell what the hotel's like because we arrived in the dark.  I'm looking forward to seeing everything in the light in the morning!  I know the basics from two years ago, but our rooms are in a completely different part of the lodge, overlooking what I remember to be beautiful gardens with winding pathways.  Each room has a nice patio, and all of our rooms are together.  So we can sit out on the patio, see the volcano and type our blogs in the beautiful Costa Rican weather. :)  Tonight we ate supper at the hotel restaurant, which is very good.  I had a Caesar salad, spaghetti, and a banana split for dessert.  After supper we had a meeting in the reception area.  We had a lot to talk about.  We discussed a lot about our family stays, and Mrs. Petty and I also wanted to have a discussion with everyone about having a good traveler's attitude.  Today was a very busy day, and at times we were tired, hungry and hot, and that came out in a few of our activities.  In our opinion, we didn't make the most of every opportunity we had here in Costa Rica today.  So, we had that discussion and I think it went well.  Our students are pretty self-aware.  I'm confident that we will have better attitudes and make the most of our future activities.

This evening I was so excited to have Internet access and even more excited to be able to call home.  Then I spent about 20 minutes trying to get my calling card to work, all to no avail.  Our internet connection here seems slow and sketchy, so I'm afraid Skyping won't work, either.  Hopefully we'll be able to figure something out so that I can talk to Josh, Lucas and Leah.  I know the kids are in good hands, and I'm sure Josh is having a great time in Florida right now.  I miss them and I wish I could talk to them!

Right now it's about 11:20 and I'm sitting on the patio of our hotel room in the dark, and there is this absolutely amazing bird call coming from the rain forest around our hotel!  I wish I knew more about birds so I could identify it.

Tomorrow we get to go zip lining, do some shopping in La Fortuna, and then spend some time at the hot springs.  I'm sure it will be another great day!