We were in Tamarindo from Friday to Monday and left Tuesday morning. Tamarindo was just as amazing as San Jose. We were trapped in the bus all day Friday driving from San Jose to Tamarindo. Once we got to the resort, we dropped off our bags in the room, changed into our bathing suits and headed to the all inclusive bar in true Louisianian fashion. That's where Peyton and I met Susan. She was such a blast. We hung out on the beach the rest of the afternoon. The food at the resort was absolutely amazing. It was buffet style for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The bar also had some food like onion rings, fries, fried chicken, burrito things, nachos, bread, and fruit. We ate an amazing supper then went take a nap. Peyton and I ended up sleeping too long and missed the show. We went to the bar/club at the resort for a little while. We didn't stay that long and went to sleep.
Saturday was very relaxing. Peyton and I did water aerobics in the morning so she could stare at her crush, Aleex, in a not creepy way (even though we definitely sucked at it). We hung out at the resort all day and went back and forth between the beach and the pool and the bar. Every night, the resort has a show for the resort guests. Saturday night was the International Show, and it was so awesome. Susan, Aleex, and the other workers danced in the show. They did different dances from all the different nationalities. They were so good. I loved watching the show. Then we went to sleep.
Sunday was so much fun. We had to be up really early for our all day excursion. The excursion started off with white water tubing. It was basically the same thing as the white water rafting except in a tube down a smaller river. I saw a monkey in the trees above us. After the rafting we went eat lunch which was delicious. Then we got to zipline. This wasn't my first time but it was definitely better because of the views. I did the first zipline upside down which was a terrible idea because I almost threw up all the delicious food I had just ate. We ziplined over trees and rivers. It was so pretty. After the ziplining we went horseback riding. I picked a white horse that liked to run. I have only rode a horse like 5 or 6 times but I absolutely love them. My horse pretty much ran all the way to the waterfall. My poor little legs were so sore from squeezing the horse. We took a little break and played in the water by the waterfall. Some people jumped in but I didn't because I did not want to get chapped. Then we rode the horses back to the camp thing. After the horseback riding, we had the option to go to the hot springs and have a mud bath. I chose to do it. It was really cool. It was a natural hot springs that they turned into individual pools to sit in and relax. Me and Lizzie did the mud bath too. It was kind of weird lathering mud on our skin but after we washed it off, our skin did feel smoother and softer. On the walk back the bus from the springs, I saw like 20 of the little white faced monkeys. They were so cute. I even saw a mommy monkey with the baby on her back hopping between the trees. We took the bus back to the camp to pick up the party poopers who didn't come with us and went home. After we got back to the resort, Peyton and I went to the show. It was like a game show instead of a dancing show. We were so amused by this one red neck guy from Canada. I went back to the room and crashed.
Monday was another relaxing day at the resort. Peyton and I did our water aerobics again. Then, we layed out for a little bit. We played water volleyball for a little while. Then went back to laying out. The sun was pretty intense so I didn't last that long. I headed back to the room around 4 and took a nice little nap. I skipped going to dinner with the rest of the group so I could catch up on my sleep. Once I finally dragged my butt out of bed, I got ready and went with Peyton, Susan, Aleex, and some others to Aqua, a bar down the road from the resort. It was sooooo freakin hot but still a lot of fun. I had more fun there then I do at bars/clubs back home. We left around 2 am so we could get a little bit of sleep before having to leave in the morning.
Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early to get some breakfast then load up on the bus to head to the airport. The airport was miserable because the food and drinks were so overpriced. I sucked it up and paid $15 for dry rice, chicken, and french fries so I wouldn't pass out on the plane. Then we landed it Atlanta and had a little layover before making the last flight home to Lafayette.
I did not want to leave at all. Costa Rica was such an amazing experience. I got to see a lot of new things that I've never seen before like mountains, rainforests, waterfalls, and volcanoes just to name a few. I also got to experience a lot of new things like leaving the country for the first time, white water rafting and tubing and jumping off the cliff along with trying so many new foods that I would never try back home. Costa Rica is such a beautiful country that I could see myself living there. I'm so glad I decided to do the Study Abroad program and will definitely be going back to Costa Rica one day.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Pura Vida & Suave
Yesterday was a boring day. We had five guest speakers come talk to us. the first man was an entrepreneur who talked to us about how the country has grown and the new opportunities that are available. He said that there weren't a lot of opportunities when he was 20. From 1978 to 1982, the economy in CR was very bad. Around 1982, things started to look up. The socialist party helped the economy to grow. Now CR has the widest range of export products in the world. CR had to learn how to compete and do business with the rest of the world. CR had the first free trade agreement in the world. CR really became a competitor with the rest of the world when Intel came into the country and built their plant. Intel opened the door for many other companies to come to CR and build. He also told us about a company he created for his two sons that did not have inventory or account receivables. they created Ticoshopping.com, an online store where you can buy coffee, food, sauces, drinks, jellies and jams, snacks and sweets, health, t-shirts, and souvenirs from CR. It has been running for over 10 years, and they plan to sell it in the next 5 years.
The second guest speaker was Lisa. She talked to us about the economic development in CR. She told us about how a couple decades ago, the president at the time had proposed a presidential candidate for the next term but the CR people really wanted the other candidate who was running. When elections began, someone cheated to make the not so popular person win president. The CR people were very angry, and the revolution started. It only took 3 months to overpower the existing army and government. The new state was organized by intellectual people that would answer to the social needs of the people. Water, energy production, education, health, communications, banking, and insurance began at this time for everyone in the country even if they couldn't afford it. CR heavily relies on the US market. In the 1960s, CR started developing industrial goods for the rest of Central America such as fertilizers, processed food products, and electrical appliances. Exports tripled during the 90s. CR has developed a foreign investment policy with great success by offering incentives. CR promotes themselves a lot for foreign investment.
The third lady was Gail who is president of Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation that works with underprivileged children. In 1977 she came to costa rica through the peace corps. There are still communities in costa rica that are poor. They don’t have running water in their homes and some don’t have electricity. A lot of the families in the poverty communities are single mothers. The men will leave to go back to their country they came from or to another woman. Money for poverty communities: take a resource and figure out who needs it and where they need it. She thinks that you can slowly get out of poverty from 1 ½ to 3 generations later. The perception is that it’s a very bad and dangerous city. It’s just like New Orleans where you just have to be smart about what you do and where you go. La Carpio may one day become a condominium community. It’s currently a really poor city but it’s slowly being turned around. There are about 34,000 people in the city with basically 1 way in and 1 way out. This foundation is very expensive to run. Pay $2 week to buy snack and paper goods. Rest is subsidized through donations and volunteers that come and work and try to help out financially.
The fourth person was Dr. Fernando, was a dean at the university of costa rica, chemist degree, also wrote a book.
The second guest speaker was Lisa. She talked to us about the economic development in CR. She told us about how a couple decades ago, the president at the time had proposed a presidential candidate for the next term but the CR people really wanted the other candidate who was running. When elections began, someone cheated to make the not so popular person win president. The CR people were very angry, and the revolution started. It only took 3 months to overpower the existing army and government. The new state was organized by intellectual people that would answer to the social needs of the people. Water, energy production, education, health, communications, banking, and insurance began at this time for everyone in the country even if they couldn't afford it. CR heavily relies on the US market. In the 1960s, CR started developing industrial goods for the rest of Central America such as fertilizers, processed food products, and electrical appliances. Exports tripled during the 90s. CR has developed a foreign investment policy with great success by offering incentives. CR promotes themselves a lot for foreign investment.
The third lady was Gail who is president of Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation that works with underprivileged children. In 1977 she came to costa rica through the peace corps. There are still communities in costa rica that are poor. They don’t have running water in their homes and some don’t have electricity. A lot of the families in the poverty communities are single mothers. The men will leave to go back to their country they came from or to another woman. Money for poverty communities: take a resource and figure out who needs it and where they need it. She thinks that you can slowly get out of poverty from 1 ½ to 3 generations later. The perception is that it’s a very bad and dangerous city. It’s just like New Orleans where you just have to be smart about what you do and where you go. La Carpio may one day become a condominium community. It’s currently a really poor city but it’s slowly being turned around. There are about 34,000 people in the city with basically 1 way in and 1 way out. This foundation is very expensive to run. Pay $2 week to buy snack and paper goods. Rest is subsidized through donations and volunteers that come and work and try to help out financially.
The fourth person was Dr. Fernando, was a dean at the university of costa rica, chemist degree, also wrote a book.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Smelly Markets, Bubble Gum, and Mountain Views
Today was a busy day. We were up and on the bus by 7:30 to head to the local market. We got to walk around and see all kinds of little shops selling everything from fruit and vegetables to clothes and shoes. We left the market and walked down the street to do a little bit of sight seeing. Costa Rican buildings are definitely different. It reminds me of New Orleans because one building or house can be very pretty, and the next looks like the home of a drug dealer.
We got to go to Congress and see the buildings where they hold debates and meetings. I learned that Costa Rican government is similar to the United States. They only have one chamber though. There use to be senators but they got rid of that because of financial and political problems. There are 7 political provinces in Costa Rica. There are 57 members of Congress, and they cannot be reelected for two consecutive terms. They have to sit out a term, and then run. The 3 requirements for Congressman are that you have to be older than 21, born in Costa Rica or been naturalized for longer than 10 years, and no criminal record. San Jose has the most congressmen out of the provinces with 21. Twenty-two of the 57 Congress members are women. In 1969, Congress passed a law that no president can be reelected. This prevents them from becoming too powerful. One term for president is 4 years.
After Congress, we left and grabbed lunch at a cute little restaurant. We had a delicious bacon cheeseburger with French fries. Dessert was some heavenly thing that consisted of ice cream, figs, and sopapillas drizzled with sugar can syrup. Heaven. In. My. Mouth. Right next to the restaurant is a souvenir shop. There was so much cute stuff. Like 95% of the stuff in there was made of wood. Come to find out, there is a little shop on the side of the souvenir store where workers cut, carve, shape, and assemble the wooden souvenirs. They had jewelry, kitchenware like utensils, bowls, and plates, shot glasses, wine bottle holders, and lots of other knick knacks.
We were rushed out of the souvenir store because we had a tour at a bubble gum factory lined up. It was so freakin' cool. We saw how the dough for the gum is made and "churned". Then it's passed through this beastly machine to be shaped into the balls. Once shaped, they have to be chilled in a no humidity environment. After that the dough balls are put in these circle things and spun around in the different colored dyes. The balls are sorted and sent to another machine to be packaged in the individual plastic wrappers. Then they're passed through another machine and bagged and packed in boxes to be shipped to the different countries. 90% of the gum made is shipped outside of Costa Rica. Venezuela is their top buyer.
After the bubble gum tour, we headed back to the hotel for a little break before our guest speaker at 5:30. Peyton and I got ready and changed clothes then headed to the AM/PM store to get some alcohol for our super cute flasks. We made it back just in time for our guest speaker, Robert Hall. He works in the medical tourism industry in dentistry. He said that in 2012, 1.6 million people left the US for medical tourism. It's so much cheaper for people to have surgeries and procedures done outside of the US. A lot of Americans think that Costa Rica is a sketchy place to get surgery but it's really not. Costa Ricans are very smart and well educated. A lot of Costa Ricans have 3 more years of school than American doctors. There are 2 JCI accredited hospitals in Costa Rica. JCI accreditation is a program through the US. The main medical tourists for Costa Rica are from Canada, California, New York, and Florida. 46% is dental surgery, 18% is plastic and cosmetic surgery, 18% is Rx, rehab and therapy, and 18% is medical treatments (cancer, dermatology). The average patient profile is 45 years or older, middle or high income, insured and uninsured, and have international travel experience. People choose Costa Rica because of the strategic location, reduced cost, and quality among other things.
After the lecture, we were rushed to the bus to go to our supper at the top of a mountain. It was absolutely amazing. We had the most awesome view of San Jose. All you could see were the lights shining from the city down below. The dinner was buffet style that included 2 complimentary drinks and local Costa Rican food. The first drink was a shot of some local concoction that was pretty tasty. The second drink was a drink of our choice and didn't have to have alcohol. Of course, I got alcohol. After supper, we watched a show with salsa dancers. It was so neat to see a traditional salsa dance. After the show, we drank and hung out at the restaurant. There were some cute guys from a college in Michigan so we had some eye candy to look at. ;) There was also this lady at the restaurant selling handmade jewelry, and I bought a really pretty necklace.
We left the restaurant around 10:30 with some people being a little drunk. Well, we got a brilliant idea on the bus to go the strip club. That ended up being a fail, and everyone went to bed. And that pretty much sums up my day.
We got to go to Congress and see the buildings where they hold debates and meetings. I learned that Costa Rican government is similar to the United States. They only have one chamber though. There use to be senators but they got rid of that because of financial and political problems. There are 7 political provinces in Costa Rica. There are 57 members of Congress, and they cannot be reelected for two consecutive terms. They have to sit out a term, and then run. The 3 requirements for Congressman are that you have to be older than 21, born in Costa Rica or been naturalized for longer than 10 years, and no criminal record. San Jose has the most congressmen out of the provinces with 21. Twenty-two of the 57 Congress members are women. In 1969, Congress passed a law that no president can be reelected. This prevents them from becoming too powerful. One term for president is 4 years.
After Congress, we left and grabbed lunch at a cute little restaurant. We had a delicious bacon cheeseburger with French fries. Dessert was some heavenly thing that consisted of ice cream, figs, and sopapillas drizzled with sugar can syrup. Heaven. In. My. Mouth. Right next to the restaurant is a souvenir shop. There was so much cute stuff. Like 95% of the stuff in there was made of wood. Come to find out, there is a little shop on the side of the souvenir store where workers cut, carve, shape, and assemble the wooden souvenirs. They had jewelry, kitchenware like utensils, bowls, and plates, shot glasses, wine bottle holders, and lots of other knick knacks.
We were rushed out of the souvenir store because we had a tour at a bubble gum factory lined up. It was so freakin' cool. We saw how the dough for the gum is made and "churned". Then it's passed through this beastly machine to be shaped into the balls. Once shaped, they have to be chilled in a no humidity environment. After that the dough balls are put in these circle things and spun around in the different colored dyes. The balls are sorted and sent to another machine to be packaged in the individual plastic wrappers. Then they're passed through another machine and bagged and packed in boxes to be shipped to the different countries. 90% of the gum made is shipped outside of Costa Rica. Venezuela is their top buyer.
After the bubble gum tour, we headed back to the hotel for a little break before our guest speaker at 5:30. Peyton and I got ready and changed clothes then headed to the AM/PM store to get some alcohol for our super cute flasks. We made it back just in time for our guest speaker, Robert Hall. He works in the medical tourism industry in dentistry. He said that in 2012, 1.6 million people left the US for medical tourism. It's so much cheaper for people to have surgeries and procedures done outside of the US. A lot of Americans think that Costa Rica is a sketchy place to get surgery but it's really not. Costa Ricans are very smart and well educated. A lot of Costa Ricans have 3 more years of school than American doctors. There are 2 JCI accredited hospitals in Costa Rica. JCI accreditation is a program through the US. The main medical tourists for Costa Rica are from Canada, California, New York, and Florida. 46% is dental surgery, 18% is plastic and cosmetic surgery, 18% is Rx, rehab and therapy, and 18% is medical treatments (cancer, dermatology). The average patient profile is 45 years or older, middle or high income, insured and uninsured, and have international travel experience. People choose Costa Rica because of the strategic location, reduced cost, and quality among other things.
After the lecture, we were rushed to the bus to go to our supper at the top of a mountain. It was absolutely amazing. We had the most awesome view of San Jose. All you could see were the lights shining from the city down below. The dinner was buffet style that included 2 complimentary drinks and local Costa Rican food. The first drink was a shot of some local concoction that was pretty tasty. The second drink was a drink of our choice and didn't have to have alcohol. Of course, I got alcohol. After supper, we watched a show with salsa dancers. It was so neat to see a traditional salsa dance. After the show, we drank and hung out at the restaurant. There were some cute guys from a college in Michigan so we had some eye candy to look at. ;) There was also this lady at the restaurant selling handmade jewelry, and I bought a really pretty necklace.
We left the restaurant around 10:30 with some people being a little drunk. Well, we got a brilliant idea on the bus to go the strip club. That ended up being a fail, and everyone went to bed. And that pretty much sums up my day.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Volcanoes (Not) and Mountain after Mountain
We attempted to see the volcanoes today. We were so close but didn't get to see it because the clouds rolled in. It was so cold with very strong winds blowing. We went to the souvenir shop for coffee and hot chocolate. Then we rode the one of the near cities to site see. We went to a market that stunk because of the raw fish and meat. We saw a train station that is about to have a grand opening. We saw churches and a old building for leprosy. We ate at a really pretty place in the mountains overlooking a huge lake and coffee fields. Coffee is harvest three to five months. Mostly harvested by Nicaragua's that cross the border and travel like nomads from coffee farm to coffee farm. Coffee plants are good for 25 years. A coffee cherry contains 2 coffee beans. Can make an average of $24/day. Coffee gets $2 a bag. Then we rode back to town where I passed out at 6 and slept the rest of the night.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Low Key Day; Not Very Exciting
So today was a pretty low key day. We were "allowed" to sleep in since we didn't have to meet until 9:30. Of course, I still woke up at the crack of dawn. I had pretty much the same thing for breakfast as yesterday with the addition of waffles. I had wanted to try the passion fruit but forgot.
We had 4 guest speakers today, 2 before lunch and 2 after. Vanessa Gibson was the first speaker. She talked to us about Costa Rica as a travel destination. She works for CINDE, an investment promotion agency of Costa Rica. CINDE was founded in 1982, and they attract hitech related investments. Tourism generated $2 billion in foreign exchange representing 25% of the country's total exports. There are 9 regions in CR, with each region having something different to offer. Roberto Morales was the second speaker. He talked about world tourism. People are starting to travel more and take ecotrips rather than the traditional sun/sea/sand vacations. Travel and tourism was responsible for 12% employment. CR travel is very dependent on the United States. We make up the majority of their tourists. In 1984, CR tourism really started to take off. They received a Nobel Prize in ecotourism which allowed them to receive about $30-40 million in free advertising.
We took a break for lunch where we had a nice little dinner. First we were served tomato soup. Then we had salad, heart of palm, potatoes, and chicken or fish. Dessert was a really sweet dessert that tasted like condensed milk. It was so sweet that I only ate the white part off the top. Then it was back to lecture time.
Carlos Beer was the third speaker. He talked to us about trade promotion management. He works for an export agency of CR, PROCOMER, which is a public institution in charge of all CR exports. It provides tools to position CR goods in the international markets through international trade fairs, export and buyer missions, business agendas, etc. Fun fact, about 50,000 people come per year from the US for medical procedures. PROCOMER helps companies in the internationalization process through information, training, diagnosis, advising, procedures, and programs and services. The sectors consist of agriculture, food, industrial, and service sector. They have 12 offices around the world. Most of the offices consist of two people. There are 5 regional offices in CR.
The last speaker talked to us about research coordination with academic programs among Central America. Central America has 7 countries, 41 million people, with 46% poverty in 2010. It has gone through 5 transitional processes: war to peace, authoritarian to democracy, ISI to open economics, rural to urban, and pyramidal to rhomboidal (whatever that is). The main challenged that Central Americans face are demographic transition pressures future development, migration that drains societies in the long term, region highly vulnerable to climate, high and persistent social exclusions and weak instruments for social inclusion, weak infrastructural capabilities of states, hybrid political regimen and democratic backwards, and worst prediction for the isthmus did not materialize.
So that pretty much sums up my long, long, long day of guest speakers. I think the most exciting part of today happened while I was procrastinating and not writing this blog. I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook in the lobby of the hotel when this random man walks by and stops. He starts talking in Spanish, so of course, I look at him in a super confused way. I say, "English". He asked if I speak Spanish and say no. He then proceeds to ask if we can be FB friends. -_- He attempts to search for himself but his name doesn't pop up so he proceeds to look up his company and sends a friend request from my FB. So now, I'm going to have a random man from Spain as a FB friend.
And this is why I never leave my hotel room.
We had 4 guest speakers today, 2 before lunch and 2 after. Vanessa Gibson was the first speaker. She talked to us about Costa Rica as a travel destination. She works for CINDE, an investment promotion agency of Costa Rica. CINDE was founded in 1982, and they attract hitech related investments. Tourism generated $2 billion in foreign exchange representing 25% of the country's total exports. There are 9 regions in CR, with each region having something different to offer. Roberto Morales was the second speaker. He talked about world tourism. People are starting to travel more and take ecotrips rather than the traditional sun/sea/sand vacations. Travel and tourism was responsible for 12% employment. CR travel is very dependent on the United States. We make up the majority of their tourists. In 1984, CR tourism really started to take off. They received a Nobel Prize in ecotourism which allowed them to receive about $30-40 million in free advertising.
We took a break for lunch where we had a nice little dinner. First we were served tomato soup. Then we had salad, heart of palm, potatoes, and chicken or fish. Dessert was a really sweet dessert that tasted like condensed milk. It was so sweet that I only ate the white part off the top. Then it was back to lecture time.
Carlos Beer was the third speaker. He talked to us about trade promotion management. He works for an export agency of CR, PROCOMER, which is a public institution in charge of all CR exports. It provides tools to position CR goods in the international markets through international trade fairs, export and buyer missions, business agendas, etc. Fun fact, about 50,000 people come per year from the US for medical procedures. PROCOMER helps companies in the internationalization process through information, training, diagnosis, advising, procedures, and programs and services. The sectors consist of agriculture, food, industrial, and service sector. They have 12 offices around the world. Most of the offices consist of two people. There are 5 regional offices in CR.
The last speaker talked to us about research coordination with academic programs among Central America. Central America has 7 countries, 41 million people, with 46% poverty in 2010. It has gone through 5 transitional processes: war to peace, authoritarian to democracy, ISI to open economics, rural to urban, and pyramidal to rhomboidal (whatever that is). The main challenged that Central Americans face are demographic transition pressures future development, migration that drains societies in the long term, region highly vulnerable to climate, high and persistent social exclusions and weak instruments for social inclusion, weak infrastructural capabilities of states, hybrid political regimen and democratic backwards, and worst prediction for the isthmus did not materialize.
So that pretty much sums up my long, long, long day of guest speakers. I think the most exciting part of today happened while I was procrastinating and not writing this blog. I was scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook in the lobby of the hotel when this random man walks by and stops. He starts talking in Spanish, so of course, I look at him in a super confused way. I say, "English". He asked if I speak Spanish and say no. He then proceeds to ask if we can be FB friends. -_- He attempts to search for himself but his name doesn't pop up so he proceeds to look up his company and sends a friend request from my FB. So now, I'm going to have a random man from Spain as a FB friend.
And this is why I never leave my hotel room.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
White Water Rafting, Hiking, and Chocolate!
So today was quite an adventurous day. We started off the day by making a long, long drive to white water rafting in the Sarapiqui River. This was the first time I had ever white water rafted, and it was an absolute blast! Our raft was the only one for people to fall out of, and thank goodness I wasn't one of them! We stopped about half way through to enjoy some fresh pineapple and jump off a little cliff into the river. It was so fun that I went three times. We all hopped back into our rafts to finish the adventure. Once we finished, we headed back Pozo Azul to change into dry clothes and enjoy lunch. I tried all new foods that I had never tried before. The mango-pineapple juice was absolutely amazing and sweet.
After lunch, we headed down the road to the rain forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park where we got to hike a trail about 30 minutes into the forest. During the trail, we had to cross a very, very long suspension bridge that was kind of sketchy. The guide told us to stay in the middle, don't lean toward the sides, and stay about 3 feet away from each other. At the very end of the bridge we got to see two monkeys! Then we got to enjoy a chocolate tour that showed us how chocolate was traditionally made. Chocolate comes from cocoa beans which can be found inside large oval looking fruits. You have to crack them open like an egg and get the seeds and pulp out. The seeds have to ferment for about seven days in order to dry out and kill the embryo. Once they are fermented, they are placed in the sun or shade, depending on the weather, to dry out. Once dry, they are taken out of the shell and smashed with a rock. Then the cocoa is passed through a grinder to reach a powder form. Hot water can be added to make a cocoa drink. We were allowed to taste the chocolate at the different stages, and I felt like I was in Heaven. I didn't mind the bitter taste because I love dark chocolate.
After the guide was done showing us the traditional process of harvesting cocoa we got to spot some cocoa trees. Then we headed back to the building for a PowerPoint on ecotourism and sustainability. There are different standard programs. The CST, certificate for sustainable tourism certified them in hotels. The EBF, ecological blue flag, gave them 3 stars in natural place and watershed. Tirimbina received four leaves as of December 2012.
After the presentation, we headed back to San Jose. Once we got back to the hotel, we walked a couple blocks to an Italian restaurant, Basilico. The inside was so cutely decorated and made me feel like I was actually in Italy. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get our pizza but it finally came and was really good. Once we were nice and stuffed (and some drunk) we walked back to the hotel to call it a night.
After lunch, we headed down the road to the rain forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park where we got to hike a trail about 30 minutes into the forest. During the trail, we had to cross a very, very long suspension bridge that was kind of sketchy. The guide told us to stay in the middle, don't lean toward the sides, and stay about 3 feet away from each other. At the very end of the bridge we got to see two monkeys! Then we got to enjoy a chocolate tour that showed us how chocolate was traditionally made. Chocolate comes from cocoa beans which can be found inside large oval looking fruits. You have to crack them open like an egg and get the seeds and pulp out. The seeds have to ferment for about seven days in order to dry out and kill the embryo. Once they are fermented, they are placed in the sun or shade, depending on the weather, to dry out. Once dry, they are taken out of the shell and smashed with a rock. Then the cocoa is passed through a grinder to reach a powder form. Hot water can be added to make a cocoa drink. We were allowed to taste the chocolate at the different stages, and I felt like I was in Heaven. I didn't mind the bitter taste because I love dark chocolate.
After the guide was done showing us the traditional process of harvesting cocoa we got to spot some cocoa trees. Then we headed back to the building for a PowerPoint on ecotourism and sustainability. There are different standard programs. The CST, certificate for sustainable tourism certified them in hotels. The EBF, ecological blue flag, gave them 3 stars in natural place and watershed. Tirimbina received four leaves as of December 2012.
After the presentation, we headed back to San Jose. Once we got back to the hotel, we walked a couple blocks to an Italian restaurant, Basilico. The inside was so cutely decorated and made me feel like I was actually in Italy. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get our pizza but it finally came and was really good. Once we were nice and stuffed (and some drunk) we walked back to the hotel to call it a night.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
The Party Has Arrived!
May 11, 2013
So we have finally arrived in Costa Rica! The day started off with a flight out of Lafayette bright and early at 6 am. We had a connecting flight out of Atlanta and finally made it to San Jose by noon without any delays. Flying here was so amazing. The water in the ocean was so vibrant and blue, I couldn't stop taking pictures during the flight.
I have never seen mountains or hills before so it was really cool to see them as we flew into the airport. I knew Costa Rica was mountainous and hilly but I wasn't expecting what I saw. The first thing I saw out the window of the terminal was a very big and long mountain range.
Once we got out of the airport, we had our travel guides, Gabby and Fernando, waiting for us. We piled into the van and headed to our hotel, Tryp San Jose Sabana. On the car ride, Fernando told us some fun facts about Costa Rica. Obama had just left last week, the first McDonald's in any Latin America country was built in Costa Rica in 1970, and that 30-40% of the world's intel chips are made here. Fernando told us about how to the west of Costa Rica is the Caribbean mountains and to the east is the pacific mountains; the two have different types of weather which allows for it to be sunny in one direction and raining in the other. Also, Costa Rica celebrates their independence day September 15th. I noticed that Costa Rican drivers aren't that safe. They might even be worse than drivers back home.
We did make it safely to the hotel. We unloaded our bags and checked into our rooms then met downstairs in the lobby for a little mini tour around the block. We walked to Soda Tapia which is a local restaurant around the block. I ordered a hamburger and fries with this really yummy fruit drink that was kind of like a smoothie and strawberry flavored. I was so stuffed after eating that it hurt to move. We left Soda and continued our tour to AM/PM which is a convenient store. There was fresh fruit and bakery items along with alcohol and chips. They had some of the biggest grapes and tomatoes that I have ever seen. After everyone was done shopping, we headed back to the hotel and had a little recap of what the itinerary consists of and things to expect for tomorrow.
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