Its only a few hours away until we board our plane to Costa Rica and I have no idea of what to expect on this trip besides tackling our social issue.This will be my first time traveling to another country in a while and I am super excited. I look forward to immersing myself into the culture and the social issue we will be tackling during our ten days there. I hope to come out of this trip with a stronger desire for service, close group of friends and a change in perspective by traveling to a different country. Despite having a sense of nervousness I am more excited for what this trip will hold and the great people I will be around.
Ayudaremos las tortugas!
As compared to any other trip people prepare for, my excitement and anticipation are growing. Although I’ve been to Costa Rica once before, I have never been there or in any foreign country to participate in service in order to work with a community or in our case sea turtles to tackle a social issue! This time the purpose of my trip is unique but I’m welcoming this change and am hoping to embrace every opportunity to learn and grow with my time in Ostional. I hope this trip will strengthen my desire to continue service and understand complex social issues. With some research I had to do in Spanish class this year on Costa Rica, I learned how important the environment is to the Tican people. Whether it is for economic or cultural reasons, they need and value the ecosystem around them with turtles included. I’m so excited to understand and see the importance of the environment to Ticans and life itself. On our pre-service trip we cleaned garbage alongside the river at a local state park and I was shocked and disgusted by the amount of garbage. Although this made me angry, I want to turn this energy into a productive and environment-saving force and save the turtles, a critical part of the ecosystem. I cannot wait to share these experiences with a wonderful group of people and learn alongside them. We may leave as acquaintances but I hope to come back as a strong group of friends with new memories, smiling and with a tan (hopefully)!
Pura vida!
Pretrip thoughts
We leave in only a few days now, and in short I am excited. We know the general idea of the volunteer work we will be doing for the turtles and community, but until you are actually there doing it yourself, you have no idea what is in store ahead. Whatever the future holds for us, my goal is that I am able to make the most of my experience there. I really want to get up early, work my hardest, and hopefully in return come back with a sense of accomplishment, maybe a few more friends, and some change in perspective by putting together our efforts in a place that is so different than where I am from or the Lafayette campus.
Hola Tortugas!
It is only two days until we will be on our flight to Costa Rica to help with sea turtle conservation. I could not be more excited to have this opportunity to volunteer with ASB and with an AWESOME group of people.
We are not looking forward to a 7 am flight, but I’m sure once we arrive that won’t matter. Everyone is beginning to pack and get ready for the trip, and I’ve been brushing up on my Spanish. Stay tuned to hear about everything we are doing in Ostional, Costa Rica!