Today we all boarded a bus to La Selva Biological Station. The ride was supposed to take 1.5 hours, but took closer to 3.5 hours due to a mudslide. Definitely not something we are used to experiencing in North Carolina! The students made the best of the time though by getting out of the bus for a walk around during a particularly standstill moment (we had been waiting over 20 minutes without moving a single foot), and playing some very competitive Uno. Who knew we had such Uno talents in the group!

Once we arrived at La Selva, we got lunch and then headed to the classroom, unloaded our belongings and headed out to do some recordings of animals we encountered in the rain forest. I believe our groups got quite a few birds, even more than they might have expected. We also saw a pit viper, lots of pigs and whole pig families, leafcutter ants, and a bullet ant which you apparently want to avoid at all costs as a bite and/or sting from one of those can have you writhing in pain for hours!

We then headed to our cabins to settle in and met up again for dinner. After dinner, the students played several more games of Uno, which even my kids got involved in. We then put bug spray on and went on a night walk. It is shockingly dark in the rain forest at night. We saw bats, lots of frogs and toads, and several huge spiders. The students then finished the day by analyzing data and getting their lab reports ready to go as they have to turn them in tomorrow! Here are some pictures of the day, hope you enjoy them!

Today my mamá tica used “tu” with me for the first time. I had asked my spanish professor about it a couple of times before, wondering when does that transition happen, or how close do you have to be for someone to use “tu” with you. He never really gave me an explicit answer and he just said “it happens naturally”. So I waited.

I came back around 6pm, unlocked the three consecutive doors and went in (this always takes a couple minutes because there are so many keys and they all look alike). I came in to the kitchen and saw my mamá tica preparing dinner. She got fried chicken today. It made me happy because the night before, we had walked near a fried chicken restaurant and she asked me if I liked fried chicken. I nodded and said “Claro!” because c’mon, who doesn’t like fried chicken. After greeting me with a hug, she said : “Cómo te fue hoy?”. AHA! I noticed it immediately. It wasn’t like I was impatiently waiting for it, but it made me happy.

I replied with ‘bien, fue bien!” as every other day. Then I grabbed my computer and sat with my papá tico and watched some american movie starring Owen Wilson. He turned on the light so that I could work on my computer then sat next to me and started talking about the movie saying how much of a typical american movie it is. I just laughed and continued coding for my lab.

I helped them with diner, and we sat down. Diners are usually very amusing. My mamá tica always find the most random things to talk about, and she just laughs at her own jokes which I love so much. She reminds me a lot of my grandma back home. Today was definitely different. It felt more like home.

Using the term “home” is really funny and weird to me. For the longest time, home was Lebanon. I was born and raised in its streets and sounds and food and culture. It was home and where I felt like I belonged. But the definition I have of that term is changing day by day, or chapter by chapter. Moving to the USA is probably the main reason this happened. Being away for two years makes you realise that your “home” can change so easily. Lebanon is always home, but my apartment on central campus is home, my freshman dorm Southgate is home. All of it is home. I lived there, slept there, had good memories. It is home. And today, Curridabat felt a little bit like home. I sleep here, eat here, study clean and spend time with two lovely people that have welcomed me in their home. It really feels like home and I never thought it would feel like that in such a short amount of time.

As I am writing this, there is a huge cucaracha walking around in my room and it is currently under that small nightstand. I am probably sleeping with one eye open tonight pero it’s okay, today is a good day.

One of the highlights of this trip for me has been visiting different mercados. It’s been so interesting to see all of the different foods and items that are sold either at incredibly cheap or incredibly high prices. On our free Friday a couple of weeks ago, I went to El Mercado Calle Nacional de Artesania in downtown San Jose. They had so many cool handcrafted items, it was so overwhelming! And I wanted to buy everything that I saw. But being that this was an obvious go to spot for tourists to purchase souvenirs to take back, a lot of the prices were really high. Nonetheless, the vendors in there definitely get a lot of business!

Last week, our Spanish class took a trip to El Mercado Nacional also in downtown San Jose. If I remember our reading from class correctly, this is the city’s oldest market. It reminded me of the farmer’s market I go to back home because of all the fresh fruits and vegetables that you can buy for a very small price. But it also carried a lot of other things such as natural medicines/remedies, una sorbeteria where the sold only one, but a clearly popular flavor of ice cream, sweets, animals, hair/makeup supplies, bags, just so many items. I don’t think there’s anything that you can’t find in this market. Below is a picture of three different sized chanchitos. Prior to this, I had never seen such a large piggybank, but I really liked it as well as all of the colors and designs on it!

I am going back to either one or both of these market this weekend to get the rest of my souvenirs to take back home before leaving next weekend. Now that I’ve been, I know what to expect this time around!

Two staples of the trip

It’s been a incredible four weeks. Between Spanish, Engineering, and travelling all over the country, we’ve managed to keep busy. We’ve rafted Río Pacuare, stayed in Quepos/Manuel Antonio, gotten lost in Tapanti national park in pouring rain, been to the top of Irasu, recorded wave energy in Jacó, and most recently stayed in Cahuita on the Caribbean coast. We found the pillow in a cafe during a late breakfast on a much-needed relaxing weekend. Spanish is improving all around despite some pretty interesting linguistic inventions. I’ve been sick with  an unpleasant cold almost since arriving, but luckily that hasn’t slowed things down too much.

Rafting the Pacuare with Cole, Livi, Kerry, Sam, and Christina

The trip hasn’t been without challenges. After staying in our beautiful Manuel Antonio House, a few left with ear infections/other bugs. Translating medical histories across a pharmacy counter was definitely a highlight of the trip.

The pool on the third of four floors

Technology has been a challenge on the trip. Tyler here wasn’t thrilled with our seismometer,  but at least it ended up working, and the rain in Jacó just couldn’t kill it (or my computer). Hopefully we can get some good data from the birds in La Selva!

 

Looking forward to more adventures in weeks to come.

Greg

Thus far, my time in Costa Rica has been amazing! I have gotten to see so many cool and unbelievable sights! On our first free weekend here, a bunch of us rented a villa in Quepos near Manuel Antonio. It was a massive and beautiful villa that even had a pool, although I think I did end up getting an ear infection from the pool. Oh well, pura vida!

While in Manuel Antonio, we were able to see the gorgeous Costa Rican beaches, and we even saw a family of monkey’s right on the beach! On our last day in Quepos, a couple of us decided to take some surfing lessons, which were so much fun! Having never surfed before, I was shocked at how easy it was to be able to actually ride the waves. I will definitely want to try surfing again in the future.

On our second free weekend, some of us decided to go to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica in a small town, called Cahuita. We rented two houses to split between 18 people. They were both very nice, and fit all of us comfortably. While in Cahuita, we visited Cahuita National Park and the two beaches in Cahuita, playa negra and playa blanca. Both beaches were very beautiful! Playa negra had some of the biggest waves that I’ve seen in person. It was so much fun to try to catch the waves.

 

Overall, I am very happy that I’ve had the opportunity to study in Costa Rica. I have met amazing people and gained friends that will last a lifetime. I can’t wait to experience these last two weeks here in Costa Rica, and I wish I had more time to see the rest of this wonderful country.

✌

Our second day of field measurements focused on wave energy and its erosion potential.  Unfortunately, it rained, making the measurements at the beach more difficult to obtain.  We did start the day with an impressive crocodile tour and boat ride.  Besides some close up views of large male and female crocodiles, we also got to see falcons, white herons, tiger herons (adult and juvenile) and the crested caracara (considered a threatened species in the US).

We had a successful day at volcano Irazu.  Everyone got a chance to measure the impulse response of their seismographs on different surfaces.  We were also able to see the activity level of the volcano, despite it being perhaps as much as mile below the surface.  After a visit to see the most important icon of Costa Rica, the virgin Los Angeles, we enjoyed a lunch by a lake (a hydroelectric project) and a visit to a very old Franciscan monastery.

Our first weekend in Costa Rica was a success! On Saturday morning everyone went on a tour of San Jose. We visited downtown San Jose, and we got to see the National Theater, as well as a bunch of museums and parks in the area. We all had a great time seeing the sights and learning more about the history of our temporary home.

On Sunday, a large group of students organized a whitewater rafting trip to Pacuare. Dr. Bucholz and Lauren went on the San Luis Canopy tour on Sunday as well. It was a great way to unwind after a busy week!

It was Dr. Bucholz’s birthday today.  Well actually, it was not.  But we celebrated her birthday today because we missed it last week.

Besides saying Feliz Cumpleanos, we enjoyed some queque (muy rico) and some sweet empanadas.  The perfect break before tackling the convolution integral.

Every afternoon is filled with fun activities. Greg, Olivia, Tyler and others are enjoying a Salsa class.