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Today we had a day without pre-planned adventure. Fortunately for us, we were not deprived of adventure.
We were able to see toucans and monkeys right on campus, which isn't always the case. We have only limited evidence of these creatures, at least as of now. Perhaps more photos and videos will surface later, but thanks go out to the boys who supplied us with the videos and a photo below. (FYI: We have been adding photos to prior events, even if they are in the past. You can find them in the Drive folder, and the new files probably have different types of filenames, so they should be easily distinguished.)
The boys have also been introduced to pizotes, which are a rather unique creature that we can find all over campus. These animals are in the raccoon family, and the general name for them is white-nosed coati (apparently). You can read about them here. John has provided us with a pizote video, which you can find here. Dennis has provided us with a video of the toucan, which you can find here.
Monkeys!
Monkeys!
Good luck finding them...
Toucan!
Toucan!
An amazing shot. Thank you, Dennis!
Pizote!
Pizote!
They are everywhere. Thank you, John!
With the exception of the time spent moving rocks and raking yesterday, we have been painting all week. We have worked on the fence shown below, which wraps around the parking lot and dropoff/pickup area of the school. We've made good progress for sure, but we won't have sufficient time to finish the project. Our friends from Mercersburg Academy - my (Mr. Cohen's) former school - will arrive on Monday. We suspect that they will pick up where we left off. College students from Sewanee (The University of the South) will also be here starting next week. From what we are told, we three schools are the only ones who currently volunteer at the CEC. That means that the CEC is going to get a ton of work done in a short period of time. Sadly, it also means that they won't get help from such groups for a long time.
We stopped just before noon after a morning of only working. The weather was ideal, though - cool and overcast. We weren't painting in the sun, so it was rather pleasant. Some of the boys joined the CEC students playing basketball, as they'd done earlier in the week. They hope to (finally) play soccer tomorrow. They've played some soccer, but they haven't had the chance for a more organized game yet.
Soon after, we hiked up to the Kiosk. This is a gazebo structure deep in the forest. It's been there for nearly 20 years, if I recall correctly. We worked on it during my first trip over 15 years ago, and we had to dismantle it two years ago. It's now fixed up again, and it even has a plaque proudly commemorating the CEC's relationship with Mercersburg Academy. This location is quite far from the classrooms, but the school does use it as a classroom. The view from there is incredible, looking down on the town.
After the hike, we left the school for the day. We took the boys downtown (the area of town referred to as Santa Elena). They had a couple hours to shop and walk around, even though some of the boys had already been there with homestay families.
We were taken home to clean ourselves up (we had paint all over ourselves) and then picked up again for dinner. Traditionally, we go out to dinner as a team on the last night in Monteverde, and we go to an Italian restaurant called Tramonti. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed the meal. We timed the reservation to get a view of the sunset, but the clouds came out of nowhere to spoil the party. The view was still pretty great, though.
Time for student reflections! We have two more of them today.
The second our plane hit the ground in San Jose Costa Rica I was immediately met with the feeling of excitement, because the end of the trimester was the biggest struggle. I already wanted to be in Costa Rica. Landing in San Jose lived up to all the hype. I could finally say I was in Costa Rica, and I could feel it. The second we got off the plane, I noticed the jump from blistering cold air to soothing warm air. I knew it was a good sign of a successful trip. The views and weather have been awesome. Even if it was very sunny and hot, the wind always cooled me down and kept the pestering bugs away. Getting to some of the waterfalls and sights could be difficult if you're not in shape, but it has been worth all the energy it took. Some of these places don't feel real. Being able to live it has been incredible. But the most important part about this trip has been the people. Not only the people that I’m traveling with, but more importantly, the people at the school and my homestay. Carolina, the woman who has organized almost everything for us, has been very good to us, giving us helpful advice on what to do and not to do. My homestay mother gets up very early in the morning to make me breakfast and pack lunch for me. The students at the CEC have been very welcoming, and I enjoy playing soccer with them after lunch. Every day after work, I always feel good about myself, knowing that I worked my tail off for the school. As they say in Costa Rica, PURA VIDA!
And can’t I can’t forget to shout out George Van Clief and Benjamin Young in FRANCE!
- Pierce Meza '28
Before I went to Costa Rica, the only international trips that I have vivid memories of were France and Japan. Living in the US, all the countries I’ve experienced had one thing in common. Development. In these countries, anything that was not federally designated as protected land was, for the most part, filled with highways, corner stores, or any other things worth putting there. Here it’s different. From my experience, the environment here feels rather untouched. And not just because they haven’t gotten to developing it yet. It’s more purposeful. The purpose of preservation. And the entire country has gathered to fight for it. A country where composting is the norm, 98% of the energy is renewable, food isn’t wasted, and they give up military protection for the education of their children. As an American, it’s just flabbergasting. Costa Rica has dived into a green revolution while the rest of the world has been trying to wrap their heads around it. Before, I often didn’t finish much of what was on my plate and didn’t think too much of it. But because of this community, I’ve started to try to eat everything on my plate, even the unappetizing things. Something about being in the environment you’re affecting does something to you. And in the future, whenever I think of doing something the lazy way, I’ll remember the rainforest. If that doesn’t fill me with determination, I don’t know what will.
- Frank Peluso '29
We are all now back at our homestays for our final nights with our families. It's always bittersweet to leave, but we'll have to get on the road tomorrow. It's astounding how much people can get to know each other when spending a week in the same home. These past five days have been highly concentrated with memories and emotions that our boys have not experienced in the past. They will now have to move on to the next part of our adventure, leaving Monteverde, the CEC, and their new families behind.
We will work in the morning, enjoy a party/lunch with our families, and then hit the road. Hopefully we'll be in La Fortuna by around 5pm. We'll settle into our hotel before enjoying dinner out on the town.
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