Monday, January 11

Jan. 11, 2016

¡Buenas!  Today was a big day!   A lot happened today!  We had breakfast at 7:00 am at our San José hotel.  Everyone enjoyed a buffet with eggs, hashbrowns, gallo pinto (Costa Rican dish with rice and beans), pineapple, papaya, bananas, yogurt, juice and coffee.  Ok, so I don’t think anyone tried the gallo pinto this time.

After breakfast we met our Julio and Henry and loaded our suitcases in the bus.  Our first stop was a coffee plantation where Julio told us about how coffee is grown and picked by hand.  Costa Rica has high quality coffee.  When he was a boy he picked coffee beans.  People earn 2 dollars per basket picked.  Some people can pick 40 a day, but he was never so fast at it.  They pick the red beans by hand with a basket tied around their waists.

We hopped in the “buseta” and continued on toward Volcano Poás.  When we got there we noticed the temperature was cooler and we put on sweatshirts before our hike up to the crater.  It was a clear day, por dicha, so we were able to see the crater very well.  Poás is not a cone shaped volcano.  It has one of the largest craters in the world.  It is considered an active volcano.  We could smell the sulfur in the air coming from the volcano and we could see gas coming out of it.  In 2009, Poás did erupt and the devastation was terrible.  A small town, called Varra Blanca was destroyed and all put two families died.  Those families relocated to lower elevation.  No worries, there were no eruptions today!  :)  Then, we took a two hour hike through the forest right on the volcano.  It was very steep- we got our exercise and we learned many interesting facts about plant and wildlife from our super-knowledgable guide.  We were then able to see the “laguna botos” just near the crater.  It is a lagoon of sulfur.  No fish can live in it because of the high sulfur content.  We also were able to check out the volcano museum afterward.

Next. we loaded the bus and continued on to the restaurant.  We ate at Freddo Fresas.  The Poás area is also known for their delicious strawberries (fresas).  So, we all had strawberry milkshakes for our drink there.  ¡Mmmm…muy ricas!  Also, everyone had “casado” a typical Costa Rican dish with rice, beans, fried plantain, choyote (squash), lettuce salad, and our choice of steak, chicken, fish or pork chop.  It was a big meal!!  We all ate either chicken or steak.  It was very good!  The students had great attitudes and tried all the foods.  Plantains are a fruit that looks like a banana, but must be cooked before eating.  It is soft and bright yellow when fried.  It had a sweet, tangy flavor.  We also had a dessert of a wafter with real whipped cream and a strawberry.  Everyone got enough to eat!

We got in the buseta once more and started our one and a half hour journey to El Roble, our host family stay village.  The highway was new (rebuilt after the volcanic eruption).  We are in the mountains!  The highways twist, turn, go up and down.  We got great picturesque views of the valle central (central valley).  We also stopped to take pictures of two beautiful cataratas (waterfalls).  We also stopped to see coatimundi (in the raccoon family).  Some tourists were feeding them which is a “no no” here.  We also ran into some road work.  So we were a bit late arriving in El Roble.  

When we arrived around 4:00 the students were introduced to their families one by one in front of their houses.  I could sense the excitement and nerves coming from our students!!  All of the families were very welcoming and friendly.  We said “Hasta mañana” to our students!  I can’t wait to here their stories tomorrow!

  

Señora Bolluyt and I went on to our host family and met Marzarella, our host mom.  She was by herself.  She and her family hosted Señora Bolluyt on their trip four years ago!  They are organic pepper farmers.  We sat on her porch and talked.  We showed her our pictures and gave her our gifts.  She was especially interested in the snow and the colored leaves of fall.  She thought they were flowers on the trees.  She thought our town looked very beautiful.

Soon, it was time to make supper.  We helped her make tortillas by hand.  I had never made them before.  She was a good teacher!  We had fajitas with beef and peppers, rice, cooked vegetables with the tortillas.  It was awesome!

  

After supper her son, Jason and his family came to visit.  We played a few games with their son, Dillon (Spot it and Uno).  It was fun to play with Dillon.  Although he wanted to cheat while playing Uno!  He gave us kisses on the cheek when it was time for him to go.  Soon after, it was time for bed.  It was a great day!  ¡Buenas noches!