Last night was amazing. Party time in the conference hall. 500 kids loosing it to dub step and ticos trying (and failing) to teach us how to dance. This has been the best trip EVER, and I am so not ready to go home. I've fallen in love with Costa Rica, for many reasons. But, regardless, I will be happy to be in my own bed tonight and it will be nice to see everyone once again. Ill miss my new friends, but thanks to Facebook and the likes, I'm glad I can keep up with everyone.
One last pura vida before this blog starts becoming about my plane ride home...
¡PURA VIDA!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Conference day two: live post
Innovation village products are being presented by international teams.. GREEN TOUCANS and tecocenter!!
Conference day two: live post
Meet part of my group, the green toucans, as we work on our presentation for the teco-center. ( play on words on ticos).
Day two of conference: live post
And it begins all over again. Hopefully today won't be as intense. I had some coffee so that might help... I hope
Conference day two: live post
Light up the world (lutw) speaker on the topic of providing solar panels to those who rely on daylight and candles. Working with governments are hard, exspecially when prior groups have failed and caused tensions.
Te team members of this organization are fearless and very impressive.
Te team members of this organization are fearless and very impressive.
Conference day one: finale
This conference is fantastic. I wish we had more breaks so I could appreciate everything here. I feel like I've eaten nonstop. The people I've met are the best kids everywhere. Shout out to my new buds from Ontario, Toronto, Columbia, Massachusetts, Costa Rica, qubec, and new jersy! You all are great, don't stop doing what you're doing! I hope to work with you all in the future. And a shout out to my roomate talia for meeting al gore and being the first to ask a question. She is so studious and has earned everything. She's all around a great chick.
For now, ive turned Into a toad.
For now, ive turned Into a toad.
Conference day one: live post
Nina takes the stage to explain our groups reaction to Carlos de la rosa. Human population growth needs to decrease in order to save forestry life.
Side note: one of the girls in our group scares kids as a living on a star treck adventure theater thingy. She's sooo funny.
Side note: one of the girls in our group scares kids as a living on a star treck adventure theater thingy. She's sooo funny.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Conference day one: live post
Working on notes during gore's Q&A session. Recorded the audio presentation and ill try to upload later.
Quick
Waiting for the conferences to begin right now, and I wanted to make sure, as I've spent the morning updating the blog, that it's clear that te posts on this are very quick and I'm only typing and not reviewing for spelling or anything else. If you're a perfectionist, I'm sure your eyes are bleeding. I hope you are enjoying my abrupt posts on all that's going on.
Well, time to go... Pura vida!!!
Well, time to go... Pura vida!!!
Day Six: Sarapiqui
Wwll. it was the last day in our gorgeous hotels in Arenal. We even got a glimpse of the summit of the volcano! But in the time it took me to grab my camera, it dissappeared behind the clouds. Oh well. We packed up, headed out, and got ready to go on a day of shopping. We drove for a while before reaching some shops, in which the most beautiful handcrafted goods were found. We even managed to learn about sarapiqui more, thanks to the amazing Jimmy. Jimmy told us how Sarapiqui is known for their ox carts. Ox carts are the symbol of labor in Costa Rica. It used to be that the people of Sarapiqui would drive the ladies to sunday mass every sunday in thier carts. They would decorate the carts with the flowers of the region , exspecially the purple orchid, which is the flower of Costa Rica. This happened for many generations until someone had the idea to paint the carts. Once this happened, the carts became ornately decorated all over the region. To this day, the oxen cart factory of Sarapiqui stands, and we had the fortune to tour it.
The desgins on the carts are so perfect, its unbelievable, and so bright! The entire factory was run by a water wheel.
after more stops for shopping and such, we went to visit the coffee plantation. Our group from fairfax county also is being interviewed by The Weather Channel for a special that will air monday morning. Two people (nina from my room and sarah) were interviewed. The coffee plantation was run by a tour staff that really interacted well with us, the audiance. We were even allowed to taste test coffee like professionals, and i have to say, i think i will now become a coffee snob. Starbucks really is horrible. sorry guys. and Britt coffee really does everything they can to keep the coffee all natural. I bought my moms friend some coffee (hi Ellen!), and myself a cold drink.
there isn't much else to report about the day as it was spent mostly traveling and shopping. Jimmy told us stories on the bus, and i have to say, listening to jimmy tell stories makes me autotmatically want to curl up in front of him like im 3 and listen. he really enwraps us with his stories. It's so refreshing on a long drive.
When we got to the hotel last night, we sat down to dinner with other EF groups. And im in love. The groups here are the sweetest and so kind.
Pura Vida!
The desgins on the carts are so perfect, its unbelievable, and so bright! The entire factory was run by a water wheel.
after more stops for shopping and such, we went to visit the coffee plantation. Our group from fairfax county also is being interviewed by The Weather Channel for a special that will air monday morning. Two people (nina from my room and sarah) were interviewed. The coffee plantation was run by a tour staff that really interacted well with us, the audiance. We were even allowed to taste test coffee like professionals, and i have to say, i think i will now become a coffee snob. Starbucks really is horrible. sorry guys. and Britt coffee really does everything they can to keep the coffee all natural. I bought my moms friend some coffee (hi Ellen!), and myself a cold drink.
there isn't much else to report about the day as it was spent mostly traveling and shopping. Jimmy told us stories on the bus, and i have to say, listening to jimmy tell stories makes me autotmatically want to curl up in front of him like im 3 and listen. he really enwraps us with his stories. It's so refreshing on a long drive.
When we got to the hotel last night, we sat down to dinner with other EF groups. And im in love. The groups here are the sweetest and so kind.
Pura Vida!
Day Five: Arenal Region
Alright, I am in love with the Arenal Region. It's just a small step below from the experiance we had in tortugero. The Arenal region holds the Arenal Volcano, which is still somewhat active. It hasn't errupted lately, but activity in the area suggests it may become active soon again. The mouth ofthe Volcano can be seen from my hotel, but it's usually hidden behind a layer of clouds. It's very pretty here and the weather is perfect, compared to the extreame heat we've been experiancing.
Today we woke up, got some amazing breakfast thanks to Hotel Lavas. Then it was swimsuit time, and we headed off for a hike... to La Fortuna waterfall! This downhill hike on stairs (don't judge, it was way more difficult and long than you'd think)led to a 250 ft waterfall that fell into a pool. I was the first to jump in. It was about as cold as we would expect the Atlantic Ocean to be back home, so I was used to it, but a lot of other people thought i was crazy. After a while we gave up swimming against the force of the falls and moved to the streams just below. We met another EF group there, and shared the stream for a while, until we were done swimming. Stopped at the gift shop, then boarded the bus and returned to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we went to the zipline area.
Maybe it's just me, but im not a huge fan of ziplines. And this one was incredibly slow because the group in front of us continually got stuck. It was interesting.. Part of our group even got the chance to eat termites because they were stuck on one part of the line so long that the guide got hungry and pulled back som bark! apparently it tasted like pepper... I wouldn't have minded trying some!
Afte ziplining, we went to the hot springs... yes, hot springs. You want to talk about a relaxing experiance? Originally the hot springs were formed because of the volcano, but after many renevations,i think that they were built over... except for two. In the back area of a cave thats secluded in the park, there are two outlets for nearly boiling hot water. It's hard to breathe in the cave and it's nearly impossible to see anything. It was like a sweat lodge! My freind, Tatiana, and I even took the oppertunity to go to the bar while we were there and bought two virgin pina coladas... very fresh and very very good. After a couple of hours in the hot springs, we returned to the hotel, where i was supposed to get a spa package thing. Even though the woman who was running the spa knew we were coming, she did not show up! Very dissapointing, but my room cut into a mango, and gave each other massages, which im sure were just as good.
I slept like the dead that night, I was so relaxed.
Today we woke up, got some amazing breakfast thanks to Hotel Lavas. Then it was swimsuit time, and we headed off for a hike... to La Fortuna waterfall! This downhill hike on stairs (don't judge, it was way more difficult and long than you'd think)led to a 250 ft waterfall that fell into a pool. I was the first to jump in. It was about as cold as we would expect the Atlantic Ocean to be back home, so I was used to it, but a lot of other people thought i was crazy. After a while we gave up swimming against the force of the falls and moved to the streams just below. We met another EF group there, and shared the stream for a while, until we were done swimming. Stopped at the gift shop, then boarded the bus and returned to the hotel for lunch. After lunch, we went to the zipline area.
Maybe it's just me, but im not a huge fan of ziplines. And this one was incredibly slow because the group in front of us continually got stuck. It was interesting.. Part of our group even got the chance to eat termites because they were stuck on one part of the line so long that the guide got hungry and pulled back som bark! apparently it tasted like pepper... I wouldn't have minded trying some!
Afte ziplining, we went to the hot springs... yes, hot springs. You want to talk about a relaxing experiance? Originally the hot springs were formed because of the volcano, but after many renevations,i think that they were built over... except for two. In the back area of a cave thats secluded in the park, there are two outlets for nearly boiling hot water. It's hard to breathe in the cave and it's nearly impossible to see anything. It was like a sweat lodge! My freind, Tatiana, and I even took the oppertunity to go to the bar while we were there and bought two virgin pina coladas... very fresh and very very good. After a couple of hours in the hot springs, we returned to the hotel, where i was supposed to get a spa package thing. Even though the woman who was running the spa knew we were coming, she did not show up! Very dissapointing, but my room cut into a mango, and gave each other massages, which im sure were just as good.
I slept like the dead that night, I was so relaxed.
Friday, April 19, 2013
PICTURES from the last few days
It has taken me forever to find wifi to upload posts and pictures. I still have to type up what happened in Arenal and at the coffee plantation. Crazy schedual here, so little downtime. But, in the meanwhile, here are some pictures which i took over the course of the past few days. Here we have the sea turtle conservation site in tortugero. This sea turtle visitors center was very imformative, however i have heard it all before. 
I love this poster that i think some kids made. 
preserved baby sea turtles... i think these are green turtles
logger head?
leatherback.
albino!
This is kinda creepy and kinda cool, a fetus baby monkey. 
notice the triple c's in the shell? it used to be called the carrabiean conservation center( i think). 
Jimmy showing us a compleatly recycled sign.
an old sea turtle egg... must have hatched last season.. i hope this guy made it!
stray pup on the beach
The classroom we visited. it was so so hot. The girls are all in front of the room simply because they wanted to seperate themselves from the boys... even they know boys have cooties! 
notice the desk? its recycled from cans and the such. 
All under construction. 
Working on convincing the kids to recycle. 
Tortugero shops
a house painted like the costa rican flag!
the recycling plant of tortugero
the music center. 
inside the recycling plant...
seperating bottles and bottle caps
so many caps
ick
what an interesting bird...
This husky had the coolest eyes. he kept following me around for food. even tried to hop on the boat!
Got back to the hotel and planted some trees! 
Tatiana and i taking care of our new baby tree. 
Saving the earth means dirty work.. someone has to do it!
Jimmy explaining how a bannana plant grows
Iguana
harold and his buddy
the volcano (arenal) in the background of our room!
on our way to la fortuna
Ready to go swimming!
heaven
kids playing soccer and kicked the ball in front of the bus... theyre so good!
if you can see it... its a three toed sloth!
posion dart frog
the clouds parted and i could almost see the top of the volcano
shops of sarapiqui
I love the art here. its so pretty..... so perfect. 
how to make a wagon wheel. 
making our own energy via a river
Hey! look what i can do now!
coffee plantation, and the weather channel is following us around. check it out monday morning!
tasting coffee.
more to come... Pura Vida!!
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