Saturday, April 19, 2014

Homeward Trekking


And here we are on our final day, within a long stone's throw of the ocean. Today was quiet and uneventful, the hottest and brightest of the trip. Most students traveled to one of the three nearby beaches, where they finally reached the Pacific. The beach itself was less attractive than the beachside pool associated with the hotel - this is where most of the students ended up before returning to the buses. A handful remained at the Nacascol Resort building up strength for the long journey home - and getting over a few viruses. A second excursion with just a few students returned to the beach after lunch. By this time, many students were pining for home, planning purchases at the Houston Airport that were not available here in Costa Rica.

Our last collective meeting was tonight after dinner. Our large group was gathered to review the plans for tomorrow's departure. The group that flew from Dulles on Saturday has a 3:30 am departure from the hotel. Yes, that is right. Up at 3:00 and out the door. for a 6:00 am flight They have a long layover in Houston and then they arrive at Dulles in the evening. Those of us who traveled through Chicago on the way here have a more reasonable trip this time - at the airport by 9:30 am, a short layover in Houston, and then home to National by 11:00 (delays willing).

Our Costa Rican farewell was a wistful affair.  Students made a birthday cake for Nick's birthday and serenaded him with a hearty song. A salsa band at the restaurant also found themselves face-to-face with our 63 students. After a brief try with Eric Clapton and the Beegees, they gave up and gave in to their roots. For all their coaxing, no locals found the dance floor, but at times some of our Viking girls danced to music that will not be played at the 8th grade dance in June (but should!). We released the students to an early curfew. A few last minute crises around towels (how can someone end up with 6 blue towels when they started with just one?) and scorpions (I successfully removed one from a bed only to have it go missing somewhere else in the student's room - we evacuated!) didn't slow sleeptime too much.

The next time we will report will be, well, never! With a continuation of the general good luck we have had on this trip so far, we will all be home tomorrow. No doubt that we have had fun, learned a bit, and saw a lot that Costa Rica has to offer - now we can appreciate home even more. Thanks to all our families for supporting student experiences like this world language trip - it was a powerful opportunity and your children took advantage of it.

Pura Vida!

Friday, April 18, 2014

From Jungleland to Home on the Range

Today was probably the least action we have seen this long week. We bade farewell to Lavas Tacotal under heavy clouds and fog. The clear mountain view from yesterday was long gone and the day felt as if the clouds were going to pout on us. A quick exit took us to the Arenal National Park about 10 minutes down the road. We went on a short (2 kilometer) hike that took us to a lava-covered viewpoint that was as close to Areanl as we were allowed to get.

A small group of students and teachers stayed back at the hotel as a combination virus/sun/food illness swept our crew. Even one of our guides (Gustavo) was afflicted. In each case the illness affected its victim differently, although in most cases it was a 24-hour upset. Much speculation on the source of the illnesses, but families were notified as needed and students ate less and were given time to get better. The bulk of the illnesses are probably over at this point, but the experience, nasty and unpleasant for the sick seems to have given everyone a good conversation piece at home.

The remainder of the day was spent leaving the jungles on the volcano's slopes and heading towards Guanacaste. Within minutes of our lunch break, the environment shifted to ranchland - the northwestern part of Costa Rica is something like Texas in look and feel. Ranches are everywhere, stables are now visible, the land is dry and the air is hot - all sense of lushness is vanished. There was even a saddlery on the main road.

After a pit stop at a supermarket, we returned to the road. Our final hotel, Nacascol, is just a couple of miles from the beach. It is designed as a small village of condos and single family buildings, with dozens of exciting amenities for the kids: ping-pong, futbol, volleyball, video games, and more. We just finished our 57th large meal and are off to do a room check. Tomorrow, the beach beckons - and then a short night and a return.

We are here having fun, but we are also almost home. See you soon!

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Trifecta in La Fortuna

The last couple of days have been busy. As I noted yesterday, we traveled to La Fortuna. Here is an iguana, posing with style at the Las Iguana tourist trap, visited on yesterday's journey. These are fat and sassy lizards, accustomed to the endless attention of a stream of tourists. Impressive, nonetheless.

Here is an actual shot of La Fortuna, with Arenal Volcano looming in the distance. You can see how helpful the EF Tours backpacks are - especially with as compliant a group as Deal 8th graders. La Fortuna is more than a one-stoplight town (example pictured here) but the hardened Costa Rican traveler uses a different measure - one-, two-, or three-ATM towns. The kids here are probably on their way back from Pops, an ice cream chain that must be partly owned by our guide's family, as he reminds us frequently that it is the best in all of Costa Rica. We are a highly suggestible group and buy this product as often as we can.
Our students/your children have been wonderful. They are very interested in where we are and what we see and ask questions along the way.
With today's technology, everyone is a photographer, but Eliza here puts most of us to shame. Once pictures are taken, there is a mad rush to post shots to Instagram wherever wi-fi is available. If you are following your children, you know what I mean.
Time is spent on the bus, but I think they do a good job keeping it to a minimum and the buses are very comfortable.
Finally, the beast of a mountain that we look at all day. Here it is, briefly cloud-free, poking up through the trees. (All these photos are courtesy Patrick Rottman, by the way.)

Today was incredibly busy - we kayaked on Lake Arenal, we hiked down 500+ steps to the La Fortuna Waterfall (and back up), and we visited the Baldi Hot Springs Spa. Each was pretty amazing. The kayaking was done under intense skies along the face of the dam and around several points to a small beach. The waterfall was busy but also offered chances to swim in the outlet stream at the bottom (but not IN the waterfall). The spa remains hard to describe - paths winding through 22 pools, each with its own temperature and design (caves, waterfalls, disco). By the time dinner rolled around, there was just quiet murmuring as they ate and then a rush to their rooms. A number of stomachs are upset, but discomfort seems to be the order of the day rather than outright viral attacks.

And now, a guest writer, Eden Breslow. I asked her to give us some impressions of the day.

"Costa Rica is very different from the US. For starters the weather: it's hot and humid all the time and can go from sunny skies to pouring rain. There are animals everywhere ( I have woken up to hollowing monkeys, teachers knocking on our doors, and croaking frogs numerous times).  We have been on many long drives during which I have noticed towns in which all the roofs are made of metal sheets. I know we still use satellite dishes in the US but there are many here which seems uncommon to me.  Lastly, the food, which consists of a daily staple of rice beans and some type of meat, not to mention fresh fruit (watermelon and pineapple) for breakfast  every morning. I have really enjoyed my time here so far in Costa Rica and hope to have more new experiences in the last few days."

Thank you, Eden! It is now time to get ready for our departure tomorrow - off to a hike, handicraft shops, and then our final hotel in Guanacaste. Wish us well!


Gliding into night


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Down the Sarapiqui Instead of Over

This morning (is it really Wednesday?) a big chunk of our group rafted down the Sarapiqui - the same river that we flew over yesterday. Our day started at another huge breakfast - really, your children should all come back rested and about 5 pounds heavier - and then we prepared for the rafts. If middle school is frequently about limits and the testing thereof, many of our travelers tried to see if the thin little flip-flops they use around the house could withstand the whitewater. This turned out to be not such a big deal, although they were very creative with restringing their shoelaces over their heels to make it all seem secure.

Very friendly guides met us just down the road and we headed over to the put-in place. Suitably attired and quickly trained, we moved down to the river. Cleverly, we had to enter the river by jumping off the bank; this removed any initial squeamishness about getting wet. The river guides were great - our boat guide is on the Costa Rican National Whitewater Team - and were thoroughly professional. The rapids were Class I - III, but as we are in the dry season, the average was a lot close to II! There were some great thrills, and everyone was in the water a minimum of three times - sometimes by design, never by accident (i.e., some were pushed in!).

Nature was at her best this morning. Tiger herons, kingfishers (blue and green(?), cormorants, and summer tanagers joined us. One of the herons proudly held a fish in mid-swallow. We beached after an hour or so to have watermelon and pineapple. What most of the kids missed (thankfully) was the guides removing a dead fer-de-lance (10 feet long) from the beach before they really landed. This is an incredibly poisonous Costa Rican that was indeed met better dead. The water was clear and warmish, the sky a bit overcast, and all pronounced it a blast.

We put out after just over two hours and had lunch and some great conversation. Here we joined our rested students and teachers that hadn't done the whitewater rafting. We thanked and tipped the guides, and headed back on the bus.

Our final stop today (besides a quick visit to La Iguana Ice Cream stand) was the non-bucolic town of La Fortuna. Your students mingled with regular Costa Ricans, had more ice cream, bought hats, and played a quick game of soccer in the big city park. We then headed to Hotel Lavas Tacotal where we are staying for two nights. The students love the view - right up the east flank of Arenal volcano (the picture on the front of this blog, but much much closer). Right now they are in the pool screaming "Marco Polo" in the dusk under ominous clouds. I promised them that tomorrow morning, if it is cleared up, they will see the perfect cone of Arenal.

Tomorrow - kayaking on Lake Arenal, a hike to La Fortuna Waterfall, and a trip to the Baldi Hot Springs - 22 pools of crowded glory. Should be a blast, if an exhausting one at that.

Two final notes. Please read a Deal parent's (Andrew Smiles) account of his trip to Arenal a couple of decades ago when it was more active - it is in the comment section a couple of posts ago. This story or a version thereof was told to our students on the bus - the volcano burst out of dormancy, killed many, and has burbled on and off for 40 years but has just now gone back to sleep. As David, our guide, gleefully told the story there was a slight shift in the mood on the bus. For a few minutes the primary concern was fear that it was going to erupt tonight and that we were way too close. Not much to do about that, unfortunately, once the cat was out of the bag. I am sure that we will have wary students keeping their shoes on for quick dashes away from the volcano's flanks for the next couple of nights.

And finally, I will get some more pictures from Mr. Rottman to liven up the visuals here. Rafting and ziplining are tough to capture when you are in the midst, and the money the official photographers want is a bit high for most. But if possible, I will repost tonight with some pics for parents. Pura Vida!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Sarapiqui Zip

It is evening now here in Sarapiqui - a region of Costa Rica most akin to a county in the States. It is a hot night, sweltering even, not offset much by a breeze this far inland. I realize as I write this that DC is on the receiving end of a batch of snow and some icy weather for the next day or so. Let's just say that we appreciate each other's weather at this time and leave it at that.

Our last night on the Caribbean gave us the chance to enjoy skywatching. About a dozen or so hearty souls watched the lunar eclipse early this morning (I was not hearty enough) and argued about which shade of red the moon most approximated. If they wanted to see it, they were able to; how they were up at midnight is unknowable as they were all pretty exhausted by then.

We left Tortuguero this morning by water taxi. We split into three again - luggage, small boat, big boat. In the two days since we came down the Rio Suerte ("Lucky River") the water level had dropped precipitously. Now that we were fighting the current our progress slowed dramatically, as well. Our pilot was as safe as all our students' parents could want: methodical, perhaps even lethargic, but safety above all - to heck with schedules. It took 2 and a half times as long to go back as it did to get there. It felt like we were cruising the Mississippi with Mark Twain - endless tree limbs out of sight to the travelers but clearly troubling to the pilot. It poured as well, a nice tropical downpour that gave us that steamy feeling in the crowded boat. To top it off, no crocodiles - they apparently don't like rain either.

To really top it off, we became stuck within hailing distance of the dock at La Pavona. This explained the mysterious presence of the boat boy up top - he was ordered into the water to shove our boat off each sandbar. He was more nonchalant about the potential for crocodiles than I was; many of your children also volunteered to leap into the Lucky River, but we were freed in time to keep them on the boat. If you have ever seen the movie African Queen, well, it really felt a bit like that, We were passed by many bemused travelers on much lighter boats, but we kept our spirits up and waved at everyone.

Once finally docked, we had no time to linger at the delights this waystation offered. We had to get to Sarapiqui in time to eat and zipline - and we were well behind time. The buses roared out of La Pavona (after checking three detailed maps, I am convinced the town is not called that because I never did find it) and we worked our way over to the volcanic foothills of Puerto Viejo and our hotel.

The hotel, Ara Ambigua, is a delightful eco-resort (by the way, there are no non-eco-resorts in Costa Rica, it may be against the law) with individual cabins, twisty paths, a lake of caimans, ant trails, and a pizza restaurant. There are a couple of other older school groups here as well (so not interested in our kids!). The kind of place you loved as a kid, but one that is a bit more difficult to love as a chaperone.

A quick lunch and most of the students were ferried over to zip line. A second round went an hour and a half later. The zip-lining was a series of nine interconnected aerial pathways that culminated in a long drop over the Sarapiqui River - the same river we will raft tomorrow. The guides were professional and efficient. Our second group arrived very late and almost didn't get to go - the final long drop would be in the dark by the time we worked our way to it. But we got going and didn't miss a line. At the very end, Mr. Rottman and I stood as the last two participants, watching lightning bugs from our platform and then, once aloft, guessing that there was a river far below us. It was just that dark, a transition that came up swiftly.

We headed back to the hotel where vast amounts of pizza awaited us, and then prepared for curfew and the challenge of keeping everyone more or less happy in a tight setting with other adolescents. Tomorrow we head for our rafting trip and then, after lunch, off to Arenal. We were trying to figure out which day of the week it was, and failed. That is generally a good sign when you are traveling and someone else is driving the bus.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Seder in Tortuguero

A great tradition was continued tonight here in Costa Rica, as recounted by guest blogger Hannah:

Before dinner, we celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover. Earlier in the day, a fellow student and I spent our time in Tortuguero village, gathering the materials needed: apples, cinnamon, lettuce, etc. We then came back to the hotel and began to prepare, mixing apples, grape juice, cinnamon, and nuts to make the customary Charoset. As the seder began to come into play, more and more Deal students gathered around to see what was going on (most of them not having heard of Passover or a seder). As my fellow Jewish friends led us through the blessings, we ate matzah with charoset, dipped lettuce in salt water, and other seder customs. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that others were joining in, even those who weren't Jewish! Overall, it was a great experience to teach others about Jewish customs and being able to lead others in something I've been doing my whole life.

Hannah Docter-Loeb

Tortuguero - A Snail's Pace at the Turtle's Place

One of our students, Danielle Breslow, is serving as a guest correspondent for this part of our tour. Here is her report from the little town across the canal:

Yesterday and today we went to the small village of Tortuguero. Tortuguero is a peninsula with the Caribbean Sea on one side and on the other side the Tortuguero Canal. Stray dogs roamed the island and followed us hoping for a little food. There was a small playground with old rusted machines in it. The machines came from old saw mills, used to cut wood, in the early years of the island. When in the town we walked around looking at the rustic school buildings and picturesque homes. The locals were very interesting to talk to as they all were different. Some were selling cold refreshing coconut water, and others were relaxing on the cool sand of the Caribbean Sea beach.  Many kids challenged themselves when talking to the locals, speaking in Spanish to ask for an exchange objects or information [The guide suggested this activity to increase opportunities for speaking]. For example, my friends and I gave a young girl a flower in "exchange" for her name and if she goes to school. In addition, a girl gave a young boy a coin and he told her his name. A few kids on our tour played soccer in a schoolyard with some of the children who lived in the village. The field was bumpy, there was a little grass scattered throughout the field, and the rest of the field was sand and dirt. Everyone played barefoot and by the end of the game they had sand all over their feet.
 - Danielle Breslow

Thank you, Danielle! 
 
The students have really enjoyed La Baula. In addition to crossing the canal to Tortuguero, they have been very excited to have howler monkeys as their alarm clocks - they eat early (at around 5 am). The pool has been delightful - a small waterfall and clear, warm water. The big question: how many students can fit into a pool? The food has been great - plentiful, ricey, and tasty. There have been no complaints (to my ear) about the lack of air conditioning, as the hotel is located where it captures great breezes off the Caribbean. In addition to traveling to Tortuguero, the students have taken long boat excursions into the back canals for wildlife viewing. Here are a few pictures from Mr. Rottman's lens.

A group sets out. Early moments yet. Excitement palpable.


Nothing makes cereal more enticing than seeing the actual bird (toucan) that represents Froot Loops. This one appears oblivious to his (her?) cross-over appeal.

He sees you as well. He is just better at concealing his interest.
Directional signs for each of the canals. 
 The students have enjoyed their many sightings of spiders. This one is probably close to actual size. We have to have confirmations of the "flying spiders" that apparently beset one of the rooms, although adult skepticism may have put a damper on student reporting.

Tonight, we eat heartily again. Some students are putting together the components for a Deal/Spring Break in Costa Rica seder for later on tonight. We will see what Tortuguero offers up for this important landmark - our students are creative, however, so I am sure we will have another unique experience. Tomorrow we leave for Sarapiqui and our canopy tour (think zip lining), although I think as a group we are having a harder time thinking about leaving the banks of the canal. Especially with the freeze warning posted for Monday night back in DC. Maybe some of us will just stay here . . .

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Seeing Costa Rica Through Different Eyes

Good afternoon, families. The following shots were taken by Mr. Rottman who is journeying with us in Costa Rica. We are led by Ms. Henderson and joined by Ms. Darkjian, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Cuffee, Mr. Otterstatter, and Mr. Diehl. Each has been taking photographs from the trip; here are Mr. Rottman's from the first couple of days.

Here is a typical late afternoon scene on the pedestrian street near the hotel. Unlike pedestrian ways in the US, this one is busy and lively. An interesting Costa Rican art festival takes place this week, and we have seen signs (and heard a bit of the music) - it is right out on the street.
 
Mr. Otterstatter is seen here with a group that took a small jaunt after arriving in San Jose. Roman Catholicism is still preeminent in Costa Rica and we are here during Holy Week (Semana Santa). During the day today we saw a small procession in honor of a local saint.



 
This is the way the buses look at the start of the trip. Please note that this is very early in the morning, bright sun dominates the smiling and still awake faces of the children. Each guide stands at the front and describes everything visible from the bus. In two cases, the driver stops and lets the guide out who runs into a nearby field and returns with a frond or a flower to share (coffee and bananas today). These are really quite interesting, although I think most of us are still struggling with the idea that bananas, bananos, and plantains are all different things. 
The countryside changes constantly. Within just a few miles of San Jose, we were in Braulio Carrillo National Park with foggy crests and lush plants. Landslides were evident everywhere, and the road actually closed after we had passed. After the rainforest, we entered ranch and banana country. We meandered on the buses through small villages and past cute farmsteads. I was reminded of how beautiful the average scene is here - colorful houses, lots of children and families on bicycles (a Capital Bikeshare outpost, perhaps?), and a sort of sturdy prosperity everywhere. And then we were quickly plunged into the coastal forest for the last leg of our trip to Tortuguero.
We split in three - two boats for humans, one for luggage. We started far upriver and took innumerable turns and bends on this muddy, racing river. The trip took less time than I remembered from three years ago, but the students were just as interested in every branch, swirl, and bird.
This toothy river friend reinforced the idea that everyone should keep their hands in the craft. These were actual crocodiles, apparently, and they were very big (the groups saw two). There was evidence of their nesting on the river banks. Did I mention that they were big - and the river was really not very large so we were within 20-30 feet of Toothy here?
Nearing our hotel we spied this gentlemen watching the traffic go by - very slowly. There were many tourist boats like ours and a number of smaller water taxis. Enough to keep a Sunday afternoon interesting for the boatman at Finca El Bosque (The Forest Ranch).
Mr. Rottman encouraged me to add this particular image - a map of our trip to the lodge where we are staying. Because the maps of this area are not detailed, this could be useful - at least so we can figure out how to get back. The green dot is where we boarded our boats - we then went downstream until we hit a large canal. We then took a big turn to the south on a north-south canal paralleling the Caribbean. Finally, we looped back north when we hit the town of Tortuguero. Our lodge is on the far side of the main canal - indeed, my exact view as I am writing this for you!
 After a long morning's journey, we arrived at La Baula Lodge. La Baula translates as leatherback turtle - the beach near Tortuguero is the nesting ground for many sea turtles, presumably the leatherback as well.
We jumped in line for food and the dispersed the students to their rooms. In the first few minutes here we saw amazing blue birds, monkeys high in the trees, other tourists looking askance at our large group, and evidence that 60+ students can fit into a beautiful pool. After an hour of "rest," the students took off for Tortuguero to sample that town's life and to sign up for tomorrow's boat rides up the smaller canals that criss-cross the area. Two students will serve as reporters for the trip to Tortuguero, so you can hear more than my voice as to how wonderful the trip is so far!





Saturday, April 12, 2014

Early Morning in Chicago

Saturday - 1st Note: Chicago O'Hare - Early Morning

For the 31 students who are sitting next to me in the airport lounge in Chicago, the excitement has already started. Who knew that the exotic nature of deep-dish pizza and airport Starbucks would be just the thing to kick off a Central American trip? Somewhere halfway across the country, the remaining members of our tour are gathering at Dulles Airport - they will surely be better rested than the Vikings here in Illinois. O'Hare is a big place, and getting to the "airport" hotel was a bit taxing, but the lobby was filled with the smells of pizza (of all varieties) and the students already ravenous. There was a short turnaround in the hotel - our wake-up call was for 4 am - so everyone is a bit groggy and stunned by travel.

We had a great lesson in assumptions this morning. As established before we nodded off to sleep, wake-up calls were set for 4. At 3:57, however, all the boys were gathered at the elevator, buzzing loudly. That was my wake-up call. I realized that I would need to better define "wake-up" - they thought that was the departure time. Remarkably, none of the girls on the their floor had woken up. The bigger lesson out of this is that your Deal Vikings were ready, cheerful, and packed with no problems. This is a tremendous advantage when traveling with 73 of them!

Finally, I had that great Deal moment when exiting the plane (I was the last one off). The flight attendants asked me if these were my students and what grade they were in. They said that the kids were so polite, and all had said "Thank you" as they exited. The last attendant said "They can fly with us anytime they want." Nice.

Next stop: San Jose, Costa Rica

Saturday - 2nd Note: San Jose, Gran Hotel San Jose

We are now checked into the Gran Hotel( translation: Grand Hotel) in downtown San Jose. We (the Chicago crew) landed just as the Dulles crowd was exiting customs - what great timing! We reunited and then left the airport to meet our EF tour guides. Luckily, David was one from my previous trip (an excellent one) and the other fellow (name not yet memorized) was from last year's trip. All good omens. Because our flights were early in the day we weren't really on the EF "clock" and we had to figure out lunch. Luckily for all of us, there was a mall with a food court on the road to the hotel. Although there were some of the usual suspects (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) I can proudly report that many students chose the Costa Rican cuisine at the cafeteria area and were quite excited to do so. The money was handled easily (it is clear that exchange rates vary from counter to counter) and everyone appeared well-fed. We quickly left and traveled into San Jose to our hotel, a beautiful early 1920s structure on the main plaza. San Jose has an odd feel to it - clearly Central American, some strong North American elements, and a beautiful mountain-rimmed landscape. It is intimate, even though it is a full capital city, and nowhere overwhelmed by the repetitive architecture of much of the region. Tonight, we gather at 6:30 to lay out the ground rules for our excursions. Students are excited that tomorrow at this time we will be sweltering on the Atlantic Coast with monkeys hooting at us. Me, too.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Off to Costa Rica . . . .sort of

This evening roughly half of the students on the Costa Rica trip will depart from National Airport on their way to our first exotic destination, the airport of O'Hare (located in Chicago). Before these students have a chance to acclimate to the sounds of the Dan Ryan Expressway, the wafting smells of sausage, and the lilting tones of the Second City natives, they will head off (again) tomorrow morning to Costa Rica, our second stop on the tour. The other half of the student group is leaving Saturday morning; we all draw together in the city of San Jose, the capital. The students are extremely excited for this trip; they come up to me all day long and ask a very narrow range of questions about the trip. Here are a couple of examples.

"What time will be set for curfew?"
"Can I wear [insert clothing item that is just a bit past dress code limits here] to Costa Rica?"

My favorite so far has been the earnest question, "I can take up to 50 pounds in my suitcase, right?" As I recoiled in horror (50 lb. suitcase up the steps, down the hall, up the stairs, back down and into bus 18 times on this trip) I asked why he needed 50 lbs. of anything. He responded that he only had 23 lbs "so far" but just wanted to know. In my heart, I already feel bad for our bus driver who will have to take all these "just under 50 lb bags" on and off the bus. We should all learn some colorful phrases in Spanish on this trip!



Monday, April 7, 2014

Information added on itinerary

Hola! At the top of the blog, there has been a new "page" added titled "Itinerary '14." This is a day-by-day listing of what can be expected on the tour. If I come up with additional information, I may well add it here. Also, I will be tweeting the postings of this blog to the Twitterverse, so if you are following @DealVikings you will know when a new posting has gone up. While the France trip has also followed suit, they have added their own actual Twitter account and, in a sop to the youthful, have included an Instagram page/feed/account for their trip. We here at Monkeys . . . .won't stoop to such blatant attempts to capture the youth vote.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Getting off the ground

Welcome to the trip blog for Alice Deal Middle School's Costa Rica trip for 2014. There are over 70 of us traveling on April 11 and 12 to Costa Rica (the number changes day-by-day if you can believe it) for a Spring Break tour. All of the students on the trip are Deal 8th graders who have taken Spanish their entire time at Deal. Joining them are most of our Spanish teachers, a couple of dad's, and two administrators. Yes, there are two of us - but mostly because we like Costa Rica so much. I will lead the blog writing, but there may be other authors posting, perhaps in English and Spanish, and even some students will get a chance to write. In addition, I'll keep you up-to-date with photos from Costa Rica, usually once but sometimes twice a day, so you can see what you are missing. So, let's set the stage . . . .

Our trip takes off right after the end of our DC CAS testing, which hits 8th graders the most. Needless to say, they are looking for a break from the Dealish intensity of it all. As there are so many of us, we will be on two separate flights - one that flies to Chicago (the gateway to San Jose) and the other that doesn't. The Chicago flight leaves Friday night and connects on Saturday morning; all of us arrive on Saturday at nearly the same time. And then the trip begins!

Your Vikings will be very glad to be out of the country for nine days. Unless you have made explicit arrangements, they will not be as communicative as you would like. Do not be disappointed in them, they are merely soaking up the culture and don't have much time to talk. The general outline of the trip is fly to San Jose, take a bus and the world's slowest boat (African Queen-style) to Tortuguero, then return and bus to Sarapiqui and Arenal and volcanoes, then more bus to the Pacific Coast and Puntarenas and then, finally, returning home from Costa Rica. A lot happens (of which I will keep you apprised) so stay tuned.

Here are some starter questions for you as you bid farewell to your children: Will they ever have too much rice and beans? (Yes.) Will they practice their Spanish? (Yes.) Will they be bored for very long at any time? (No.) Will they read the books you purchased for them? (Maybe, let me know which ones so I can ask them questions about it and report back.)  Will they spend the entire trip asking each other if they are receiving wifi? (Yes.) Are there any beautiful souvenirs that they will lug home? (Sadly, not many.) Will they groan in unison when I start to talk to them about the politics behind the banana plantations? (Undoubtedly, but I will persevere!) Will they have a good, safe time? (Yes, they will.)

I'll post some more trip information on other pages on this blog; feel free to comment as we go along. Hasta luego!