The St. Elena Reserve helps keep us in shape with all the plant and animal diversity. About a 3.2 km walk through the deep biodiversity keep the cameras and eyes up at all times. Easier said than done though, the constant unevenness of steps, yet beauty of the nature around us kept us consistently intrigued by everything. The pictures below can help to give a little insight into the wonderful rainforest that we saw because words cannot completely describe the beauty.
The 4 hour drive to Arenal Springs was well worth the beauty, heat and hot springs that we spent the afternoon in. Our drive to La Fortuna consisted of monkeys, toucans and sloths just hanging out in trees on the side of the road. The drive was bumpy, but full of perfect mountainous farm land to distract us from the potholes on the gravel roads. Everything we passed looks like it popped out of a painting and was never altered. Cows and horses grazing on hills sitting at 50-60 degree angles act as if nothing could mess up their beautiful land, families walk their dogs uphill both ways and clouds full of perfection are just the icing on the cake for the beauty of the land.
The town of La Fortuna was not only adorable in their landscape, but also in the people. Because it is such a tourist highlight of Costa Rica, many tourists flooded the streets and shops for the perfect Costa Rican gift. Needless to say, this gave me the chance to practice a little bit of my Spanish. Even with the smallest thing such as the ATM and ordering some pasta, it helps to practice.
When it comes to Second Language Acquisition, students must always practice the simple tasks before trying to have more complex conversations. With that said, I admit that I am not at the Advanced Fluency level yet, but I noticed that the more tourist the town is in Costa Rica, the more fluent the locals are (not surprisingly of course). Makes me wonder though: Why don't Americans, let alone North Carolinians, speak more Spanish when they work, shop and live around with those who speak mostly Spanish? Why doesn't it work the other way?
I asked my Spanish teachers at CPI where they learned English and both said that they mostly learned it from their students who speak English. They learned a little bit in primary and secondary school, but unless you go to a private school, such as the Monteverde Cloud Forest School, English is not necessarily promoted or taught properly every day. This type of Second Language Acquisition is similar in the United States. Unless you go to a private school or have a very good foreign language teacher, you don't properly learn or understand another language. Each person has their own speed and pace for learning anything, and some are better at languages than others, but sometimes it is better to fully immerse yourself in a language in order to fully understand the use of the words and language idioms.
Sunday:
Sleeping in, waking up to the Arenal Volcano with ease and spending relaxing time in the natural hot springs of the hotel made for the perfect Sunday morning. A day away from Spanish and the stress of "real life" helps me to realize just how grateful I am to be here. I am very fortunate in my opportunities and experiences, and Costa Rica is no exception. I cannot imagine where I would be right now without the support of family, friends, teachers and many more, but I can't imagine being anywhere else. I have learned so much in my just two weeks here and have another week to go. But just like my experience to Ghana, I will never forget the lessons, people and memories I have made here. Every moment is a moment to take back into my future classroom. Every moment is a moment that I intend to cherish.
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