Oh hot dam

IT WAS SO STINKIN HOT TODAY! I don't know why they call this the rainforest... it has hardly rained since we have been here at all. Before we came, we were told that it would rain for a few hours every single day. We have barely gotten a few TOTAL hours of rain with all of hte days added up! The rain usually cools it down and helps to get rid of some of the humidity, but since it hasnt rained it has just been miserable without air conditioning. Today we actually had a few hours of free time after lunch so that we could nap/relax, but there was no way that I could sleep because of how much I was sweating.

This morning though, we went to a hydroelectric dam that is pretty close to the Soltis Center. We got to put on some hard hats and wear ear plugs and walk through the control center which contained all of the turbines and generators that controlled the dam. The tour was pretty cool since we got to see all of the inside things that controlled the whole dam. Then we took our bus and actually went to the dam which was really cool! We got to stand on a little platform that overlooked the entire river. Apparently the dam provides electricity to 15,000 homes in the area... and it is only running 8 hours a day for 15 days out of the month. All of the other times it is closed for maintenance or to conserve even more energy.

Ever since I've been here (minus day 1... I think) I have taken a picture of the meal that I have eaten that day. Mainly to prove to people that we literally eat rice and beans with almost every single meal, but also just to remember all the crazy things that we eat. Like for dinner tonight, our main course was some mixture of eggs with green beans. I have no clue how they made it, but it looked like they somehow implanted the green beans into a huge circle of egg. I don't know where they get the creativity for some of our dishes. Hopefully at the end of the trip I can make a slideshow of every meal that I've eaten here! Being abroad has also made me wish that I kept up with learning Spanish. It would be so cool to be able to speak the language and understand everyone because only 1 of the kids with me knows Spanish, so everyone turns to him to ask him how to say things.

Even with all the hot, humid weather we've been having and all of the crazy long assignments we've had to do, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything! It hasn't even been a full week yet and I'm already having the time of my life :)

Today we got to collect some more data! This morning, we split into groups of 4 and went on a new trail in the rainforest! This one wasn't as long, but the place where my group collected our data we had to walk through grass that was up to about my chest. That wasn't all too fun, but (here comes my nerdy side talking) we collected soil moisture content of a 5x5 meter area. After we were done collecting data, we came back and worked on another assignment all day long.

Tonight has been fun though! Since we finished early, we have had some free time. Right now I'm sitting outside with 4 other people. We are looking down the sidewalk from our bungalos which overlooks all the lights from the city. I'm not sure what city it is... but seeing all the lights at a distance is really cool. It feels amazing outside tonight too because it's finally not too humid for once. And there are so many stars! This is the first night that this many stars have been out and they are EVERYWHERE! I'm so glad that we finished early tonight so that we could have this free time. We are taking pictures leaving the shutter open for a long time so that we can draw things in the picture with a lazer pointer haha

Aside from Costa Rica... today has been another reminder as to why Fish Camp is one of the most important things to me. I was able to talk to a lot of people from Camp Edwards today and also a couple from Camp Allen. It was so nice to catch up with everyone that I got to talk to! Fish Camp has been the thing that has impacted my college experience the most up to this point, and seeing how much everyone cares about me and how close I am to them makes me love the organization even more. I can truly say that my best friends have come from Fish Camp, and I do not know what I would do without it.

There was my sentimental moment... but now I'm going to go take more pictures and enjoy this nice evening! Sorry, I don't really have any pictures today to upload since we were at the Center all day. But more will come soon!

Another hard day at work

Ah today was such a long day. It was so hard to get out of bed this morning after our busy and exciting day yesterday. Everyone was dragging this morning, especially when we had class at 8:30. We got our first taste of field work today though when we had to divide into 2 groups and each build weather stations to collect data. One station was going in a completely covered place under the canopy of the rainforest, and the other was going in a place where some of the trees in the forest had blown over so there was no cover over them. After building the stations in the classroom, we had to carry them while hiking through the forest which wasn't the funnest thing that we have done while we have been here. It was fun to actually get out in the forest and take a few readings... but we weren't there for too long. We came back around lunch time, and from then until now (11:15) I have been working on my assignment that was due today. They SUCK. Even though we are allowed to work in groups, they are very long and tedious and everyone kept messing up which caused us to have to start over numerous times. These days where we have to do school work all day long are not very fun at all... but I guess the reward comes when we get to go on excursions and explore new things every couple days.

Luckily Dr. Quiring is with us while we are here at the Soltis Center. He is one of the coolest professors that I have ever had, and he is an all around awesome guy. He is always around to help us if we have any questions, but he also hangs out with us when we aren't working and plays card games with us or just sits and talks with all of us. It's almost as if he is one of us (a student) studying abroad and enjoying himself. He ALWAYS has a smile on his face and has definitely made the trip so much better. These few days have convinced me to change my class schedule for next semester so that I can sign up for his Intro to Hydrology class!

Not too much else happened today. Actually nothing else happened other than our adventure to the forest with our weather-meters and working on our assignments all day... but I did get to talk to Kristen Diou today on skype!!! It was so much fun being able to talk to someone else and tell her all about the adventures that I have had.

Here are a couple random pictures from yesterday and some of the other days. Other than that, I have nothing else to really say. I am wiped out so hopefully I can sleep through the birds/bugs that are waiting to start screeching around 5 every morning.

Pura vida!

The bus with gringos and ticos

Today has easily been my favorite day in Costa so far. No classes, no schoolwork... all fun. We left the Soltis Center around 8:15 this morning to head to La Fortuna, a city a little less than an hour away, where we first went to the most famous volcano in Costa Rica, Volcan Arenal. Just like everywhere else here, we had to hike about 1.5 miles through the rainforest to get to the lava-rock field. I thought we were going to be able to get closer to the volcano, but since it is still VERY active, it now makes sense as to why we had to stop where we did. Needless to say, the view from the point where we had to stop was stunnning. If you looked one way, you would see the humongous Volcan Arenal (and there wasn't a cloud in the sky today so you could see all the way to the very top of it), but if you turned around 180 degrees, you could see a huge lake past the canopy of trees. Everything up there was gorgeous. Of course we took hundreds of pictures, and I felt super cool... I made the hike in my Vans today. I guess I was going for style more than comfort because I was tired of wearing my hiking boots, and I actually didn't mind it. Vans are my favorite shoes for a reason!

 (Here is a quick video of the view from the lava-rocks that we hiked to)

After the volcano hike we grabbed some lunch at a cool local restaurant, which was completely open to the outside just like everything else in Costa Rica. They don't really have air conditioning anywhere, so they make all of the buildings/restaurants open everywhere with hardly any walls or doors. It's really different from the U.S. and I actually like it. It makes everything feel more inviting and friendly. After lunch, we drove a little bit longer to a waterfall that was in La Fortuna. I was thinking that this waterfall was going to be like the one that we hiked to at the Soltis Center the other day, so I didn't really have my hopes up for anything spectacular. BOY WAS I WRONG! The hike to this waterfall was nuts... it wasn't so much of a difficult hike, but we had to go down about 700 steps in order to get to the bottom of the falls. These weren't your normal stairs either... these steps were so steep and were not very wide at all considering we were in the forest still, so they were just made out of dirt/some kind of waffle-shapped rock formations. The tiring trek was definitely worth it. The waterfall was amazing! (I don't have any pictures of it right now to upload because I didn't bring anything with me since we were swimming... but other people got some so I will put those up as soon as they send them to me). It looked like it was coming out of the trees from nowhere and dropped about 300 feet at least. That's probably not a very good guess, but it was a loooooooong drop. The waterfall dropped into one pond which flowed down a small stream to another swimming hole where everyone went swimming. A few of us guys decided that we didn't want to swim in the designated swimming hole, but we wanted to swim in the pond that this monster waterfall dumped to. We climbed over the sharp rocks and jumped in the water which was absoultely freezing cold. We kind of swam around the front of it trying to get close to the dropping water, but it was so strong that it was making waves that kept pushing us back. We decided to swim around the pond to the backside of the waterfall... basically underneath the huge cliff that the water was dropping off of. There were 4 of us that swam/climbed over slippery rocks underneath the cliff, and when we got back there we found a huge rock that was in the water that was probably about 10 yards away from the waterfall itself. So of course we swam to that rock to sit on it! The rock was so slippery, but we all 4 managed to get up there and just sit right next to the waterfall. Just to give an idea of how close we were, the spray from the water was blowing in our faces and the waves were crashing on us... and when we swam off of our rock, we were almost right under the actual waterfall itself. This description of where we were doesn't do it justice. But this was probably one of the coolest things that I have ever done. Sitting under a huge cliff on a rock in the water with a 300+ foot waterfall being 10 yards away from me and 3 of my friends... it was breath taking. All that any of us could do was smile, first of all because we could hardly hear each other talk over the roar of the waterfall, but also because we all knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I will never forget sitting on that rock for as long as I live. (What we didn't know is that later on, other people tried to go back where we were but a security guard yelled at them because it was illegal to go over there... it just makes my story that much cooler).

After our waterfall adventure the day still wasn't over. We went back into downtown La Fortuna to just hang out and walk around and really do whatever we wanted. Dr. Quiring told us where he was going to be and when to meet him to get back on the bus to come home, and then he turned us free to wander the city on our own. It was so much fun being in a city just being able to walk around with no set plans. We ended up going in a few stores, but La Fortuna is a very touristy place, so everything was pretty expensive. We also went to a few restaurants and bars... and all got cervezas! Yay for the drinking age only being 18! All of the people in Costa Rica are very nice and friendly and surprisingly speak English pretty well. (They call themselves "ticos"... hence the title of this blog. Our director as the Soltis Center, Dr. Eugenio Rodriguez came along with us today, and said that while driving our bus around, everyone was probably pointing and saying "look at that bus with the gringos and ticos!") I even had a conversation with a few guys at one of the bars as well as I could. They were speaking mostly spanish, but they were super nice and funny. They kept making fun of each other and calling each other fat haha!

Today was a great escape from the Center. We definitely didn't waste any of the day at all considering we were out for about 12 hours, but it was a day to remember. I know this post was a little long and wordy, but there was just so much that happened today and it was all awesome. I really didn't want to leave that rock under the waterfall... it almost felt like we were in another world. What a perfect day :)

Do snakes poop?

Overall, today was a pretty boring day. I know that you think that there is no such thing as a boring day in Costa Rica, but today was just that. Woke up, worked on an assignment, went to class for an hour and a half, had lunch, went to class for another 45 mins, worked on the next assignment. Coming into it, I wasn't really aware that our first few assignments were going to be on Excel and take us about 8 hours each to complete. Being at the Soltis Center, there isn't too much to do unless we are going on hikes or collecting data for projects (which we aren't starting until sometime next week), so we didn't really have a choice besides sitting down and completing our assignments. I guess it worked out that they took all day long to do (and I'm still not even halfway done with the second assignment) because when we have free time, there isn't really anything else to do besides play on our computers or sit around and just enjoy the scenery... which I have done lots of. I'm so glad that all of the other people that are here are really cool and that we all get along really well. We can pretty much always entertain ourselves sitting or laying on the cool tile and just talking.

Thankfully our day got a little more exciting when Dr. Quiring told us that we were going to go on a night hikeafter dinner to look for cool creatures in the forest. Everyone grabbed their flashlights, or like me their awesome headlights, and we headed out. We saw animals such as poison dart frogs, green frogs, more huge toads, a tarantula, long skinny tree snakes, a pit-viper (yes, they are venomous!!!), leaf-cutter ants carrying their leaves up super high trees, and of course tons of new weird looking bugs. For the amount of time we were out there, we didn't see as many animals as I thought that we would. It could have been for the reason that there were 20 of us and we definitely were not quiet at all... but I was really expecting to see a lot more creatures out and about.

 

Putting aside all of the schoolwork that we had to do today, it is really awesome how close all of us are getting. We are spending just about every waking minute with each other so I feel like I have gotten to know everyone fairly well, and a few people really well which has made this experience even better so far. Today we were lucky that it actually didn't rain! Who would have ever thought that there would be a day where it didn't rain in the rainforest?! There were hardly any clouds in the sky around the time when the sun was setting, so we got to see our first sunset of the trip... and it was BEAUTIFUL. The canopy of trees in the distance literally looked like they were on fire when the sun was setting behind them. All of us saw it while we were doing our assignment, and we all sprinted to our bungaloes to grab our cameras and take pictures from the highest point. I really wish that I had a nice digital camera while I was here, but mine gets the job done.

 

Thankfully tomorrow we get a day off from doing work! We are going to Volcan Arenal (one of the most active volcanoes in the world) tomorrow right after breakfast, and we're staying there and in the city La Fortuna the entire day. I'm super excited! But I am also exhausted. All of the schoolwork we had to do yesterday and today combined with the few times we have gone hiking has sucked all of the energy out of me. I think I can find a way to manage though :)

Time to go dream about all the fun things that could happen at one of the most active volcanoes tomorrow!

Little foot goes to the waterfall



View from the balcony in the main building of the Soltis Center



This morning was amazing! I woke up around 7:30 for breakfast, which of course included rice and beans just like every meal has, and after a short class lecture where we talked about what we were doing for these 2 weeks in the rainforest, we went on a hike to a waterfall! All of us got geared up in our zip-off pants, backpacks, and hiking boots and went on our first adventure through the rainforest. One of the directors of the Soltis Center lead us along with our professor down a 3.2 km trail (about 2 miles) through the forest. This definitely was not an easy hike by any means. The humidity here is about 100% at all times so as soon as I stepped out of my bungalo, I was already drenched with sweat... I guess I'm going to have to get used to that because it is 9:40 at night and it is still super humid. Our hike was on a small muddy trail that went up, down, around, and every other way you could imagine through all the plants and streams. On the way to the waterfall we surprisingly didn't see too many creatures. We saw poison dart frogs, a couple of lizards, and the normal flying bugs that get really annoying.

So... the name "little foot". This was a nickname given to me by one of the guys, Brandon. Him, me, and another guy (John) decided that we didn't want to hike as fast as everyone else, so we took our time and fell pretty far behind the group. There was only one trail to take so we weren't afraid of getting lost, and we actually had a lot of fun going slow. We laughed the whole time and enjoyed all the scenery more than everyone else... at least that's what we kept telling ourselves. Brandon, being the funny character that he is, decided to tell me to hurry up by calling me "little foot". The name is kind of self explanatory. Obviously this was a short joke and it just stuck for the rest of the day because it made us laugh every time someone said it.

 

After over an hour of hiking we finally reached the waterfalls! There were two of them right next to each other and we walked up almost underneath them and took tons of pictures and had a grand ole time... for about 20 minutes. All of that hiking to be there for 20 mins and then we made the trek back. It was definitely worth it though and we plan on going back sometime.

I am definitely wishing that I had a pair of choccos for this trip or another pair of sandals that strap on to your feet. I've been wearing flip flops around the center and it would have been much more comfortable to have a good pair of walking sandals. I guess I'll have to remember that for the next big trip that I go on! After our hike we actually had to do a bunch of classwork womp womp. I'm still getting used to the whole waking up early and going to bed pretty early thing. We are pretty much on a 12 hour day/12 hour night schedule with the sun coming up around 5:40 and it starting to set just after 6. I absolutely love not having a watch though so I don't have to really worry about what time it is. It is now time for me to go try to magically rest my legs for tomorrow because as of right now, they are killing me. Maybe I should have ran a little more before I came here so that I could have been in better shape!

Until next time, watch out for the huge toads that wait for you on your front porch step!

~Little Foot

Finally here!

My first post from Costa Rica! I can't believe that I'm finally here. EVERYTHING has been so much better than I expected it to be: the scenery, the people, and especially the food.

It has been such a long day. I got to the airport at 8:15 this morning, met up with the 17 other students and my professor, and our plane took off right around 10:15. The flight only took about 3 hours so it wasn't bad at all... but once we got to Costa Rica, we had to load all of our stuff, as well as ourselves, onto one bus. Now this wasn't a charter bus or even a school bus like you would imagine. This bus had the bare minimum to it, and all of our luggage was stuffed inside and on top of it. The busride took a little less than 4 hours going through steep, narrow roads through the mountains and hills. Costa Rican drivers are crazy! I probably could have stuck my arm out the window of our bus and touched the cars driving past us in the other direction. For the entire busride, I couldn't help but look out the window the entire time at the amazing landscape. Everything is so green and there are hills, mountains, rivers, and trees everywhere!

One thing that I wasn't completely expecting was how differently people live here. I knew that I wouldn't be seeing houses like I'm used to in the suburbs of Houston, but the houses that families live in here are so small and are basically shacks to our standards. Most of them are just a little larger than my living room back home, and everything is so open. All of the doors of houses and stores are open so it's like you are always outside... it's pretty cool. Another thing that surprised me was how many people were walking to get from place to place. Yes they have cars, but most of the people we drove past were walking to wherever they were going. It's totally different than the way I grew up. Everyone seemed like they were very close to each other because they were either working together or they were just sitting on couches talking. And they don't waste all their time watching tv! Shocker, I know.

The Soltis Center is unbelievable! It is gorgeous here, and again, everything is wide open. We are staying in bungaloes and I'm in a room with 2 other guys, Trey and Gilbert. Our rooms are so much nicer than anything I was expecting. Everyone's favorite part has been the showers... they are huge! As a group, we've already encountered our first "adventures" of the trip. We found a frog outside that is bigger than the size of my hand, and in one of the girls' rooms there was a lizard just hanging out on their wall. I can't wait to see what else Costa has in store for us!

I can't believe it is only 9 o'clock... we are all in our rooms laying in bed because everyone is so wiped out from all the traveling today. I didn't think it was possible, but after being here for just a few hours, I am even more exicted for the rest of this trip than I was before. Everything has been an adventure so far (it's going to take a while to get used to the Spanish speaking and the different currency) and I know that there is going to be so many more exciting things to happen. I couldn't be happier right now :)