I'm in Heredia now, safe and sound. It's been a long week and I'm headed to bed. I'll write more tomorrow about the snorkel cruise I went on earlier this week. Buenas noches... :
::this part was written earlier today::
I’m in the techo alto (high roof) van right now headed away from the beach back to Heredia for a few days. My next group is a arriving on Tuesday! This week is the peak time for groups in CPI. I saw the schedule yesterday and it looks very hectic. Tonight, Meggie and I are staying with Mayi, the homestays coordinator at CPI Heredia. Apparently she’s having a fiesta tonight too!
Last night was the groups last night in Costa Rica before heading home today. After their class finished at noon, I showed them a slideshow that I had put together and then gave them their certificates of completion for their Spanish courses. From there we headed to a little town of Brasilito for lunch at El Mordizco. We then walked down to Playa Conchal. This beach is made entirely of shells and has white sands further down and crystal clear blue waters. The kids played all afternoon in the water, which involved them being pummeled by wave after wave. The hurricane in Mexico is still affecting the waters down here and even the usually tranquil Playa Conchal waters were very agitated.
As we left Playa Conchal, we had to walk about a kilometer back to Brasilito to be picked up. The walk is nice because it’s entirely along Playa Brasilito (Brasilito Beach). However, it’s important to note that upon approaching Playa Brasilito, there was no beach to walk on. Typically, you have a good 30 meters of beach to walk down, but yesterday there was nothing. In fact, we would wait until the waves would recede enough to go sprinting across part of the beach to avoid getting wet. This was to no avail though because I’m pint sized and too short to avoid any size wave. My previously drive suit and shorts began to get wet after the first 20 meters of the walk. Finally, with about 50 meters to go, I came across a deep ravine that needed to be crossed. Two Tico men enjoyed watching me for 5 minutes try to figure out where the narrowest part of the channel was only to find there was no such place. Eventually, the younger Tico came across and helped me cross so I wouldn’t fall with all of my gear in tow. (Going to the beach with a group of young’ns involves taking a lot more than just your towel and suit...). I was grateful for his help because after stepping into the channel, the water came up to my waist.
Regardless, we all made it out alive and were eventually on our way to El Castillo for dinner. Dinner was great and the students enjoyed the food and desserts. From the dinner we then headed to a fogata (bonfire) on the beach. Gerry, one of the other chaperones had spent the entire morning chopping wood and scouting out the perfect place for the fire. Now, typically when someone says campfire on the beach, it means a small flame that won’t call attention to its self and is entirely under control. Well this fire was certainly under control, but was by no means a quaint little flame. I turned the corner on the beach to where to fogata was supposed to be and was astounded to see an 8 foot flame stretching toward the sky and 8 feet of limbs fueling the fire. Again, I stress that it was under control, because by that description it seems impossible, but the only danger we had was that the tide was coming in too close and threatening the life of our fire.
The kids hung out around the fire for a while roasting marshmallows, and the word ‘roasting’ is a relative term because the fire was so hot that you stood a better chance of just quickly lighting the marshmallow on fire and roasting it that way. Nonetheless, the kids loved it and consumed endless amounts of marshmallows. We finished off the night by asking the kids to share something they learned in class and we got a nice mix of songs and skits. It was a great way to wrap up the week!
Today, I woke up, packed my bags and took the kids to the airport in Liberia. I headed back to Flamingo for a couple of hours before getting on the techo alto and beginning the 5 hour journey back to Heredia.
My computer battery is about to die and I’m in desperate need of a nap. This week has wiped me out! Time to recoup. I’ll write more later.
Amor y abrazos,
Jessica Lynn
::this part was written earlier today::
I’m in the techo alto (high roof) van right now headed away from the beach back to Heredia for a few days. My next group is a arriving on Tuesday! This week is the peak time for groups in CPI. I saw the schedule yesterday and it looks very hectic. Tonight, Meggie and I are staying with Mayi, the homestays coordinator at CPI Heredia. Apparently she’s having a fiesta tonight too!
Last night was the groups last night in Costa Rica before heading home today. After their class finished at noon, I showed them a slideshow that I had put together and then gave them their certificates of completion for their Spanish courses. From there we headed to a little town of Brasilito for lunch at El Mordizco. We then walked down to Playa Conchal. This beach is made entirely of shells and has white sands further down and crystal clear blue waters. The kids played all afternoon in the water, which involved them being pummeled by wave after wave. The hurricane in Mexico is still affecting the waters down here and even the usually tranquil Playa Conchal waters were very agitated.
As we left Playa Conchal, we had to walk about a kilometer back to Brasilito to be picked up. The walk is nice because it’s entirely along Playa Brasilito (Brasilito Beach). However, it’s important to note that upon approaching Playa Brasilito, there was no beach to walk on. Typically, you have a good 30 meters of beach to walk down, but yesterday there was nothing. In fact, we would wait until the waves would recede enough to go sprinting across part of the beach to avoid getting wet. This was to no avail though because I’m pint sized and too short to avoid any size wave. My previously drive suit and shorts began to get wet after the first 20 meters of the walk. Finally, with about 50 meters to go, I came across a deep ravine that needed to be crossed. Two Tico men enjoyed watching me for 5 minutes try to figure out where the narrowest part of the channel was only to find there was no such place. Eventually, the younger Tico came across and helped me cross so I wouldn’t fall with all of my gear in tow. (Going to the beach with a group of young’ns involves taking a lot more than just your towel and suit...). I was grateful for his help because after stepping into the channel, the water came up to my waist.
Regardless, we all made it out alive and were eventually on our way to El Castillo for dinner. Dinner was great and the students enjoyed the food and desserts. From the dinner we then headed to a fogata (bonfire) on the beach. Gerry, one of the other chaperones had spent the entire morning chopping wood and scouting out the perfect place for the fire. Now, typically when someone says campfire on the beach, it means a small flame that won’t call attention to its self and is entirely under control. Well this fire was certainly under control, but was by no means a quaint little flame. I turned the corner on the beach to where to fogata was supposed to be and was astounded to see an 8 foot flame stretching toward the sky and 8 feet of limbs fueling the fire. Again, I stress that it was under control, because by that description it seems impossible, but the only danger we had was that the tide was coming in too close and threatening the life of our fire.
The kids hung out around the fire for a while roasting marshmallows, and the word ‘roasting’ is a relative term because the fire was so hot that you stood a better chance of just quickly lighting the marshmallow on fire and roasting it that way. Nonetheless, the kids loved it and consumed endless amounts of marshmallows. We finished off the night by asking the kids to share something they learned in class and we got a nice mix of songs and skits. It was a great way to wrap up the week!
Today, I woke up, packed my bags and took the kids to the airport in Liberia. I headed back to Flamingo for a couple of hours before getting on the techo alto and beginning the 5 hour journey back to Heredia.
My computer battery is about to die and I’m in desperate need of a nap. This week has wiped me out! Time to recoup. I’ll write more later.
Amor y abrazos,
Jessica Lynn
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