Jan. 16

On our last full day in Costa Rica, we put some finishing touches on our painting project, then had a celebration with some of the kids and moms  who are served by the Nutrition Center.  Antonio, our painting supervisor, also has a cart he takes around the neighborhood to sell granizados, sort of like a snow cone except that he shaves the ice by hand with a sharp tool and he layers it with syrup, powdered milk, and sweetened condensed milk.  He gave everybody at the celebration a granizado. This evening, we had a group dinner with the CEN director, Doña Estrella, and Mercedes and Diego from Atesa language school who coordinated our program along with World Endeavors.  Tomorrow we head back to Kansas!

the students with Félix our bus driver, Doña Estrella, and Antonio

Antonio making the granizados

Jan. 15

The students and our guide, Javier, went ziplining this morning and saw a toucan and a white-faced monkey up in the trees!  Then we spent several hours at Jacó beach, where a group of students took a surfing lesson and everyone soaked up plenty of sun.  On the way to Jacó we crossed the Tárcoles River, which is famous for its crocodiles, and the students counted 26 they could see from the bridge.

Jan. 14

This morning we visited the Universidad Técnica, which specializes in agriculture and vet med.  We saw cattle, goats, crocodiles, and iguanas, as well as the dairy and food science facilities.  It was extremely hot there!  Then we worked some more on our painting project, and this evening we had a cooking class where we learned how to make Costa Rican empanadas.  Yum!

 

Jan. 13

Today we painted the school in the morning and had Costa Rican history class and salsa/merengue dance class in the afternoon.  During a break from painting, the students played soccer with our painting supervisor (Antonio) and practiced some gymnastics.

Jan. 12

Today we visited Poás Volcano. We had a nice hike in the cloud forest, which lived up to its name.  It was so foggy that we could not see the crater at all, so I am posting a picture of it from Wikipedia.  It was much colder there than Atenas.  During the trip we saw coffee farms, strawberry farms, sugar cane fields, and large plant nurseries for growing ferns.  We stopped in the town of Grecia on the way back, and saw a church that was built from metal imported from Belgium.  I forgot my camera on the bus, so the picture of the church is also from Wikipedia.

Jan. 11

We took the bus to San Jose today and visited the very ornate National Theater and a lot of historical monuments and government buildings on a walking tour.  We also went shopping for souvenirs and had traditional Costa Rican food for lunch.

One of the host moms is a talented hair stylist!

Jan. 10

All the bags are here now!  We enjoyed trying guanábana and other delicious fruits at the farmers' market this morning.  The nutrition center (really more of a daycare where children receive much needed food) is going to look like a new place when the kids come back from vacation.  We learned a lot about how coffee is processed and tested for quality.  My clothes still smell like coffee three hours later!

Farmers market

traditional oxcart (carreta)

Atenas coffee coop.  A professional coffee taster showed us how they check each batch and rate its quality.

Painting at the nutrition center

Jan. 9

The class has done a great job working as a team and using their Spanish skills today in our painting project. This afternoon they will be participating in a Spanish class in the center of town.  Tomorrow we are going to the farmers market and the coffee coop, and to Santa Eulalia to continue painting.

Jan. 8

Our trip was fine except that nearly all our luggage was lost. We are hoping it will come tonight.  Everyone has done a great job of keeping a positive attitude.

at KCI

Atenas Park

ATESA Spanish school

Before painting at the Santa Eulalia Nutrition Center

Getting ready to paint

Touring Atenas

Atenas market

Nativity scene (portal) at the Atenas Catholic Church

Costa Rica

Professor Kanost and her students just landed in Costa Rica.