Diana in Costa Rica
Diana traveled to Costa Rica with her friend Khalil. After a few weeks of volunteering with kids and studying Spanish, Khalil and Diana were joined by Diana's brother Stephen. The three then worked on a public health project.
At the Institute
This is my friend, Khalil and I at the Institute in Barrio Jesus of Santa Barbara. These welcoming and warm people often went out of their way to help me feel right at home. The great plus is that there is a travel agency within the Institute, which makes excursions on the weekends extremely easy to plan.
The River
Within the Institute's property, there is a winding river where the 3 lively dogs love to splash and play. In fact, if the dogs hear you walking about the grounds, they are sure to accompany you to your destination!
The Soup Kitchen
I spent 2 weeks here in “El Comedor de Ninos” or the soup kitchen. Although it was very small, we managed to serve up to 70 people daily. I worked with a team of 4 and prepared some of the most delicious Costa Rican meals.
Cooking Class
In addition to volunteering and Spanish classes, we also took cultural classes like salsa dancing and cooking. These are some happy tortillas we made in the cooking class!
Ziplining
This is me ziplining in the cloud forest of Monteverde. It is one of the best ways to see and experience Costa Rica and as you can see, it was raining heavily that afternoon. The full pura vida experience! I stayed in Costa Rica during the rainy month of May and to be honest I found it quite refreshing!
Spanish Class
For 4 hours, Monday to Friday, I had intensive Spanish lessons with a small group of volunteers. I had a lot of good laughs in this room with my enthusiastic teacher! Because almost all locals speak only Spanish, I was challenged to exercise my low-intermediate level of Spanish and was surprised by how rapidly I had improved!
Traditional Meal
The staple to a Tico diet is rice and beans! They eat it three times a day with a variable side dish (in this case, chick peas) and never get bored of it! It might sound bland but they know how to use their spices. I loved Tico food and miss it now.
Host Family
Aren’t they all so adorable? This was my host family for the first two weeks in Barrio Jesus. My mama tica is such an incredible and inspiring woman to be taking care of her own children and volunteers. I will never forget Saul’s obsession with Super Mario Bros. and Ian’s lovable smile.
Crazy Friends
These are my silly friends from Barrio Jesus that I met through the family of my friend, Khalil whom I nicknamed YAM 1,2,3. Yam in Spanish or camote is slang for crazy! They were always up for a game of soccer or cards and they treated me as family. Another note, family is extremely important in Costa Rica and it is not uncommon to see one family occupying three adjacent houses on the same street.
Second Hosts
This is my second host family and my brother preparing a salad for a fiesta of 50 people all from the community. Interestingly, most everyone here in San Isidro de Heredia is related to one another. One big happy family!
The Institute's Grounds
Some of the fruits experienced during the fruit lesson came from the orchard right on the Institute's property. If anyone got a sore throat, no worries! There are many a lemon tree onsite for a soothing cup of hot honey lemon tea!
Fruit
Today, we sampled twelve different fruits including the fishy flesh of guanabana, the sweetest pineapple slices and slimy granadilla. A peculiar tradition is to eat many of the fruits such as avocado with salt. So interesting!
My Friend
This is my crazy and super hospitable friend and “sister-in-law” Alejandra with her daughter, Nataly! She often gave me numerous gifts that belonged to her because I made the mistake of using “yo quiero” which has two meanings. One translation is “I love” (which is the one that I was intending to use) and the other is “I want” (which is the translation I believe Alejandra mistook me). So maybe that’s why I received so many gifts after complementing on her accessories?
A Sloth
Out of all the parks that I had been to, Manuel Antonio National Park had the most abundant and exotic animals that could be seen without a pair of binoculars or guide. One such animal was the 3-toed sloth, which is active during the day as opposed to being nocturnal like the 2-toed sloth. I could not believe that I saw this playful sloth only 2 meters away from me.
Locals
In San Isidro de Heredia, my brother (biological) and I walked around town providing questionnaires about their health and well-being. For example, we asked how often they visited the dentist and if it was not sufficient, I would advise them the number of visits in a year is recommended. We also took people’s blood pressure and weight. I had a lot of fun getting to know the community and made great friends that I will never forget.
Arenal Volcano
The active volcano of Arenal! A great weekend destination where you can take a night hike in the national park to see the lava flows, lounge around in the hot springs and traverse the dense jungle to La Fortuna Waterfall. The rainforests sprouting from the mineral-rich soil give rise to a plethora of animals. On this particular weekend, I saw 3 different types of monkeys that were so close that the group was afraid of them throwing branches at us! haha!
