Menlo Abroad- Costa Rica 2024

 Hola!  We were all excited for a change in our routines. Taking a break from our homestays, we jammed out to music on the long, but fun, drive to La Fortuna. Our excursion began with a visit to the Maleku tribe, a group of indigenous Costa Ricans. We enjoyed another good local meal, with an appetizer straight out of a termite nest on our hike prior, which had everyone curious to try. The excitement calmed as we focused on painting jicaras with our favorite animals just like the artisans in the Maleku tribe. In the evening on Thursday, the hot springs and a nice three-course meal were a perfect way to end our first day away. Enjoying our first warm showers in over a week and a lazy morning, we felt energized and ready to conquer the three-mile hike around the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna. Surprisingly, the hike felt shorter as we were awed by the wild animals, lagoon, and gorgeous views.  Hunger got the best of us, and we had a very late lunch. Devouring our food, we were...

 Hey everyone, Today we left the homestays and headed to La Fortuna for some rest and relaxation. Instead of the normal blog today, we have a surprise HERE for you, so our blogwriters can take a break. You will hear all about our adventures from today and tomorrow in our next blog post. Warm regards, Jilynnette and Justin

Day 10, Work Day 3 ¡Hola! This morning, many of us woke up rested from an impromptu fiesta last night. Our AMP was filled with mixed energy levels; some of us were ready for our third work day at our rotations, and others were ready for tomorrow’s well-deserved break at La Fortuna.  The group that was focusing on making promotional content for the Women-led Co-op, re-evaluated their course of action in a realization of the short time left. Using their problem-solving skills, they considered what was possible given the short time period, and reimagined the structure of their videos. With a newly established course of action--polished and plausible--the morale was high.  The group that went to the Organic farm continued making their signs for Don Daniel. Now that their wood was cut and measured, they moved on to the most fun part—painting! In addition, they also assembled the posts in preparation for attaching their finished signs.  Those who went to the local school contin...

After a good night's rest, many of us woke up early to run or walk our homestay siblings to school. We have started to grow stronger connections with our homestay families. After breakfast, we got ready for pick up at 8:30 AM and returned to the Chilamate Eco Retreat Lodge for our daily AMP (Analyze, Manage, and Prepare) sessions. At 9:30 AM, we all hopped onto the buses and began our journey to our respective workplaces. One group went to the Women's Co-op and continued their plan from yesterday's projects. They first went to Lorena's project, where they learned different ways to make tortillas, including traditional and modern methods. They also tried a new empanada made from plantains and the original one made from corn flour. Lorena offered a natural remedy, a drink infused with Gavilana, which helped many of us feel better. The group then visited another project, where they saw an Airbnb being built to attract more travelers to the Women's Co-op. They also expl...

We (Jilynnette and Justin) are taking over the blog today to give the students a rest; it is Memorial Day, after all. Today marked the first day of our community projects, and we were excited to get started. Everyone focused on brainstorming, planning, and purchasing the necessary materials to bring our projects to life. It was wonderful to see the students collaborating, showcasing their creativity, and taking turns leading the various projects. Our student writers will return tomorrow. After a productive day of hard work for the communities, we're heading to bed early. Warm regards, Jilynnette and Justin

After finally getting to sleep in, we spent the morning with our host families, helping them out with chores and cooking breakfast. We made plantains, drank coconut juice, milked cows, and helped build fences. We were picked up at noon by the bus in anticipation of lunch and a chocolate tour. After a cake and song for Melina's birthday, we headed over to the much-hyped chocolate tour where we were greeted by our tour guide and chocolate expert, Rodolfo. We headed into the jungle to learn about the cacao tree. We ate dried cacao beans, chewed the flesh around the seeds, and Isha cracked open a cacao fruit. Trying chocolate at every stage of the chocolate-making process, Joaquin biked in place to grind the beans into pieces of cacao with pieces of the shells, Jordana helped separate the shells by blowing them away, and Jily, Ava, and Arianne helped grind the cacao bean further into a powder with sugar. After trying some delicious hot chocolate and mixing it with variations of pepper,...

After packing up all our things last night, we all headed onto a bus and were each dropped off with our roommates at our homestay families. We spent the night playing games with the children, including soccer, Jenga, and Uno, and chatting with our new homestay parents, getting to know them. We then enjoyed delicious dinners prepared by our homestay parents and went to bed early after a long day. We woke up in our new homes, met by another tasty breakfast before getting picked up by the bus again and heading to the soccer clinic. On the bus, everyone excitedly talked about their different homestay families and all the animals that were at each of our houses, including dogs, cats, cows, rabbits, and some very loud roosters. Once there, Chino, a community organizer who runs the soccer clinic and used to play on the Costa Rica Premier Soccer League, talked to the group about the importance of shared values and coming together as a community. Before starting to play, we were introduced to a...

After another night where Matias shortened Justin's goatee to a handlebar mustache, some of us woke up for a morning run in the sun, though maybe not as soon as we would've liked (thank you malfunctioning alarm). When everyone woke up we ate breakfast and got our backpacks ready.  We stayed in the same groups as yesterday and this time those who went to the organic farm went to the elementary school and vice versa.  On the way to the farm we saw chemically, monocultivated pineapples, and learned about the negative effects that these large farming conglomerates and their chemicals have on Costa Rica and its environment. When we reached the farm, we got to try the flesh around the cacao bean, and also got to feed pigs, stomp compost, and play soccer with the farmer's grandson, Josue. After lunch we tried one of the farm's peppers, and although we didn't see any howler monkeys, we heard them (thanks to Carlos, our guide, for teaching us how to make the howler monkey so...

After last night's blog post, we busted out the clippers and razors. Matias trimmed Justin's beard down to a goatee after a lost bet, and Arianne gave Kirin braids in anticipation of his birthday. While our laughter was loud during hairstyling, we couldn't seem to match the howler monkeys that screamed us awake at 6:00 am — between Justin waking us up early yesterday and the monkeys we might never get a full night of sleep. After starting the day early, we split up into two groups  to visit two of the three community projects— an elementary school and an organic farm.  When we got to the elementary school, they were having an art festival. We got to watch the kids present their art projects such as dances, puppet shows, and songs. All the kids were super cute, very social, and talented. They even said hello to us in English to show off their skills from English class. We also played musical chairs with the kids, who were very competitive and got us all out in the first coup...