Third week in Monteverde

Whoo, this last regular week in Monteverde went out with a bang! More exciting adventures to come in our Peñas Blancas camping trip and our 2-week homestays, but this week was a good end to the short time of routine. Monday was an intense day of writing our project proposals; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all lecture days. Friday was our last agroecology trip, and this time, we planted trees!!

But before we get to the awesome little trees we planted, I must tell you about this awesome big tree I climbed today. It was a huge strangler fig that was a hotspot for visitors and locals alike. Even though I was shaking and freaking out, I made it to the top and enjoyed the view with the other students. As we were just hanging out and taking pictures, the most amazing thing happened: white-face capuchins jumped onto our tree and came so close to us!! I swear, we were just a few feet away from the closest monkey, and I had such a hard time holding back my squeals of pure joy. The climb and height were terrifying, but the monkeys made it so worth it. I'm really happy I got to see them, and I felt so accomplished after coming back down. I feel like I could get addicted to tree climbing now. It was also a really good way to relax and enjoy ourselves, since we just had 4 hours of midterm tests in the morning.

On the Friday agroecology trip, we planted 130 trees in total, and I had so much fun digging holes and getting down and dirty with the plants and soil. We were all gross and sweaty, but it was such good work, in the sense of exercise, bonding, and doing a deed for restoration! After devouring our lunches with our strong appetites, we swam in a swimming hole in the nearby river. We haven't gone swimming in so long, and it was so much fun! Especially since there was a rope to swing into jump into the river. We were all pretty wet on the bus ride back, but it was so worth it. Once we got back to the station, we got our homestay assignments!! I'm super excited to meet my host family: there are two daughters that are my age, and I am definitely looking forward to making new friends and learning about tico culture.

Speaking of awesome bodies of water, this is a waterfall that's nearby the station. It also has a little pond at the bottom, but it's only about waist high and the bottom is very sandy, muddy, leafy, and squelchy. Still pretty to look at though!

Since I forgot earlier, here are some pictures of what our Spanish classroom looks like. The gazebo was a construction project from past Monteverde Institute programs, and it's such a beautiful room to sit and talk. On our last day of Spanish, a Blue-crowned Motmot came to visit us!

For our Wednesday dinner, we all went out to this fancy Italian restaurant. I haven't had pizza in so long, and this one was a tasty ham and mushroom. It was a nice change of pace from always eating at the station, though the cooks have done a great job at making delicious meals.