Menlo Abroad- Costa Rica 2024

As I (Kirin) banged on doors at 5:00am, I was greeted with a variety of delirious, sleepy, and angry faces. Thankfully, the sunrise — the reason for our early rise — quickly brightened the sky and our moods. Then at a much more reasonable time — 9:30am — we finished our breakfasts, ready to depart for the well-earned last (activity-filled) day. First up, we visited one of Eric's favorite nature reserves awing at the monkeys, and stunning lookout points overlooking the ocean. Gazing out, we watched the waves lapping against the rocks. After our walk in the park, we made lunch — consisting of peanut butter, and Gauva/Strawberry/Pineapple jam sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Everyone was ecstatic at the food selection Kirin and Melina made at Megasuper for the picnic. After eating, we frolicked in the water and beach. We swam, suntanned, and harnessed our inner Pura-Vida, enjoying the much-deserved break after our stays here.  With smiles from ear to ear, we were all prepared to go sho

Parents, Menlo Abroad will soon be coming home. I know the students are looking forward to seeing you as much as you are looking forward to seeing them. They have had unique and powerful experiences in the last three weeks and will no doubt have much to share with you, although they will need a good night's sleep first! What follows are details regarding Saturday, June 8 (the return), and Sunday, June 9 (the re-entry day).  SATURDAY (Return) The Costa Rica group's return flight itinerary is below: Sat 08 June San Jose (SJO) - Los Angeles (LAX) UA 1553 06:00 AM - 11:20 AM Economy Sat 08 June Los Angeles (LAX) - San Francisco (SFO) UA 2234 02:00 PM - 03:35 PM Economy The flights are currently on time, scheduled to arrive at SFO on Saturday at  3:35 PM , but you might want to check the flight status  for updates closer to the group's arrival. As the group is going through customs at LAX, they will arrive at United Airlines, domestic, Terminal 3.  Please be there to meet them a

Hey Menlo Parents, It's us again, Jilynnette and Justin. We are currently in Cahuita on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. The students needed this break after shedding many tears this morning, saying goodbye to the places they have called home and the people they have called family for the past few weeks. It was especially hard on the host families who adopted all of our students with loving, kind, and open arms throughout the entire trip. We are looking forward to the next day and a half of relaxing, but more importantly, the students will spend a lot of time reflecting on their experiences. They will reflect on the hardships they have overcome, the frustrations of cultural differences they encountered, and celebrate all the wonderful and fond memories that will stick with them for a lifetime. Pictured below are all the students with their host families. Unfortunately, some of the host moms and dads had to leave for work early in the morning and are not pictured. Nos vemos, Jilynn

Heading into our final full day in Chilamate, all the work groups were wrapping up their projects. We were all excited to see our final products and how they turned out. At the school, we finished making the paths around the newly cultivated plant beds, where piñas, bananos, yuca, and many other fruits and vegetables are now growing. After taking many pictures with all the wonderful school moms who helped us, we were treated to a lunch with all the students who gave a sweet presentation thanking us for our work. We were all very grateful for the cards the students gave us, feeling a sense of accomplishment from our work on the school farm. At the women’s co-op, we worked until the last moment to finish our 12 promotional videos and Canva titles for the Instagram posts. It was a bittersweet moment to leave the home-cooked meals provided by Vicky and our wonderful guides Walter and Josue, but we were proud to have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. Wrapping up a success

After the unfortunate weather last night, our plan to have a fiesta at Jordana and Rianna's house never happened. Despite the predicament, we all spent the rest of the night with our homestays, bonding and trying to cherish these last moments with our families.  This morning our group awoke refreshed and ready to approach our second to last workday. As usual,one group went to the farm, another group went to a school, and the last went to the Women led co-op. With the end of our trip approaching, there is a mixture of feelings. While some feel ready to head back to the United States and share their adventures with their families, others are sad to leave their homestay families in Costa Rica.  Despite this mixture of emotions, our group is feeling eager and excited to finish our final two nights with our homestay families. Tonight, we are embarking on a rainforest hike in the evening time to see all of the amphibians that only come out at night. ¡Hasta luego! Matias & Jordana

After coming back to our host families last night, our group split into two parties where we had a delicious dinner of spaghetti, danced to Bachata and Cumbia, and played with our host siblings and cousins. After a fun night, we slept in and had a relaxing morning where we played games and helped our families cook lunch and milk cows.  In the afternoon, we were given an informative and interactive talk about Costa Rica's botany by the local expert, Jaime. We learned about medicinal plants that can cure various illnesses like diarrhea, upset stomach, nausea, cancer, and constipation. What was the most fun however, was the eating; we had coconut water spilled all over our clothes, we marveled at a magical seed that made a super sour fruit taste sweet, and had an anesthetic leaf that made our mouths feel like we had a nine-volt battery held on our tongue.  We're super excited to go back to our host families for dinner with a bonfire and smores to follow.  We are all shocked we onl