Ross Spanish Costa Rica 2025
February 16, 2025
The Arrival
Rebecca knocked on the doors, waking us up. We headed down to breakfast. A green lush area on a mountain overlooking a valley made for a beautiful breakfast location. Breakfast options included toast, eggs, watermelon, pineapple, rice and beans and juices.
The boys played cards at the table, and the girls ate outside on the deck.
We took a really long bus ride that got longer and longer, and we finally arrived at lunch. We had American-ish food for lunch at a nice restaurant, including burgers, pasta, chicken nuggets, or nachos.
We worked off the lunch by going ziplining. The ziplining overlooked Lake Arenal. We learned that the lake is manmade. It’s a reservoir, and they use the water for hydroelectric power. Ziplining was scarier than expected, but really fun. The zipping was worth it. As we zipped, we saw trees through the rainy mist. It was beautiful. The lines made a zzzzz sound as we went down, and we also heard birds.
Boarding the bus once again, we went to Crisley’s farm, where we will be staying for the next three days. We had dinner here – rice, beans, salad, and drinks, followed by a dance lesson.
One of the most fun moments of today, according to Thea was zipping because of the beautiful views.
Isabel said that the most unexpected moment of the day was the dance because it was harder than she thought it would be. It was a lot of exercise.
Lucas appreciates finding the coati at the ziplining place.
We hope to have more exploring, swimming, fun and being able to help others.
By Lucas P, Isabel F, and Thea F
February 17, 2025
We woke up this morning and for breakfast we had rice and beans with the side of rice and beans.
Then, we went on a short bus ride to the community where we did a great deal of work. We shoveled rocks, dirt, and water to make cement to help build a porch foundation next to a classroom. It was super hot, but we got to get water whenever we wanted, and some people sprayed the hose on each other to cool down. Because safety is important, we wore gloves, goggles, and pants to protect our body from the cement.
After we finished the hard work we sat down with the community and had a delicious meal with rice, beans, and chicken. We also had two different types of drinks: cas juice and guanabana.
We also made many new friends in the community. We met a very happy 7 year old boy named Craigston, and many of us played soccer with him. We also met a little girl named Alana who played with almost everyone, and she liked playing a game with people where she’d stand on their feet and jump, and we’d help her jump higher. She was very nice and very confident.
We took another short bus ride to Proyecto Asis. It is a rescue center for animals. Most of them were pets before they were confiscated by the Costa Rican government. There was a variety of animals, ranging from a raccoon to a peccary. What I learned from the experience was the animals have a very low chance of survival in the wild if they were kept in a wildlife sanctuary. I was very impressed by the monkeys swinging from branch to branch in their personal ecosystems without falling. I also learned how aggressive and annoying the parrots and macaws can be. The monkeys were very hyper and a few of them grabbed big rocks and tried to throw them at us, but they were very interesting to watch, especially because we learned that the spider monkeys use their tails as another arm and their alphas are the females. They also only have four fingers on their hands, and that’s why they use their tail to swing and wrap around themselves when they feel threatened or uncomfortable. We also saw a margay cat, which walked around the tree branches and hissed at a few people, and we learned that they are very territorial but also very cute.
By: Torben V. Elsa L. Charlie P. Wylie M
February 18, 2025
Chapter 3: The End of a Beginning
We began the morning by waking up at 6:30 a.m., walking to the main courtyard, and meeting Chrisley to milk cows. Milking cows was kind of scary. A lot of us had not milked cows before, so this was a new experience. Touching animal body parts is weird, tbh. But after a while, we got comfortable squeezing out their milk.
We had pancakes for breakfast, then we drove to the community service to make concrete, just like we did yesterday. The only difference was that we listened to music in the van on the way. After working for the day, we hung out with our favorite Costa Rican kid, Grayson. We played soccer, tag, and we took photos as he biked around the soccer field.
I would like to say that the lunch was really good – the fish and rice and mix with everything was pretty good. It was tasty.
After the service hours, we walked over to a soccer field in a schoolyard, and we played soccer with the kids. We split into two teams. The kids were in elementary school, maybe ten years old. They probably outnumbered us by ten to one. It looked like a dog chase because there were so many little kids chasing us. We lost. The score was something like 21 to 0 for one game, and 7 to 0 for the other. Despite being trampled, we had a good time playing soccer with the Costa Rican school children in their uniforms.
The ride back to the farm was really fun because the boys sang to the music on the ride.
We had some down time, then a cheese tour, then we went to go hold some piggies and some chickens. Chrisley showed us around his farm. The pigs smelled bad, but they were very cute. We also squeezed the juice out of sugar cane and got to drink it.
Instead of taking a night hike, we did a fun activity reflecting on our community service. The best part of today was the community service, meeting and talking with the locals, and playing soccer. Today was the end of a beginning because the community we just started to get to know, we had to say goodbye to.
By Gemma C, Colin C, and Eddie E
February 19, 2025
Chapter 4: Birthday Day 🎂
Today, like every day on this trip, we accomplished a lot. We celebrated two birthdays, Izzy’s and Colin’s. When we woke up we got ready and packed for our bus ride to Uvita. For breakfast we had empanadas. We then went to a chocolate farm, where they taught us how they make chocolate. It takes the cacao beans 120 days to be ready for harvest. Once the beans are harvested, they get cracked open. Inside, the beans are in covered a white jelly. Some of us tried the raw beans and the white stuff tasted like mango or coconut. Once cracked open, they dry out for three weeks, and the jelly disappears. The beans become cacao nibs covered in a shell. Some of us cracked them open and tried the inside. The farmers peeled the shells off, and we put the cacao nibs into a grinder where we turned them into a paste. After that we made two drinks, hot chocolate and the warriors drink, which the native Costa Ricans drank once they became warriors. The hot chocolate was really good, and the warriors drink was spicy and bitter, because it was made without milk and sugar, only chocolate, water, and some cayenne pepper.
After learning how chocolate was made, we created our own in plastic molds. We were given bags of melted white, milk and dark chocolate. On top of that, we were also given 5 toppings: pink salt, almonds, coconut, sprinkles, and coffee. Trays with different patterns were assigned to groups. We all made different chocolate with these ingredients. After we left them in the freezer for an hour, we were presented with an assortment of varied chocolates that we had created.
During the hour that our chocolate was freezing, we took a tour of the chocolate farm. We grinded sugar cane with a special machine and drank the juice (with added salt and lemon) afterwards. We also got a piece of sugar cane to chew on and we sucked the juice out of it. Next, we walked around the farm and saw many different plants and animals. We saw an assortment of fruits, such as pineapple, banana, and jackfruit. We also saw vanilla, which took a year and 9 months to grow. On our walk, we also saw multiple toucans and a sloth hanging from a tree. There was also a trail of leaf-cutter ants carrying pieces of leaves to their mound. When we got back from the tour, our chocolate was frozen and ready to eat!
After the chocolate farm experience, we hopped on the bus for our seven hour bus ride to la playa (the beach). We stopped at a pretty good Costa Rican restaurant with a snack and souvenir shop, which we took great advantage of. We headed out towards the beach and went on a windy road up a mountain. We went down the mountain and ended up at a bridge named Cocodrillo Bridge. Cocodrillo is the word for crocodile in Spanish. The reason for the name is that when crossing over the bridge you see many crocodiles. We parked next to the bridge and walked to the middle. We took our cameras out and snapped many photos. The crocodiles laid dormant in the river while a heron walked near them. We ended up leaving with no real action from the crocodiles. We headed off to the beach, which was a two hour drive from the bridge
By Lauren L, Izzy S, Emily L, and Petey E
February 20, 2025
Chapter 5: The Shockingly Surprisingly Stormicious Storm
All together, we gathered in the patio of the hotel at the wee break of dawn. Everyone applied their sunscreen, and we set off on our journey to la playa.
On our way to la playa, we saw many lines of ants that held leaves and crumbs of snacks in their mouth. At the beach, we had a brief explanation from our professional surf instructor. We practiced surfing on the sand. We applied our newfound skills on the warm ocean water. Almost everyone got up on their surfboards with the help of our instructors. When we got comfortable with standing up and riding the waves, we practiced our surfing skills alone without the professionals helping us. After our surfing experience, many people swam in the water. Finally, we wrapped up and walked to Tecal restaurant to eat lunch.
All of a sudden, while during our pool adventure, the rain fought back. Violently, the rain struck down upon us. The teachers called out for everyone to get out of the water. If the rain was mad enough, it would bring two of its strongest tools – the first being lightning, and the second being thunder. All the students grabbed their towels and hunkered for shelter under the patio. The teachers gave information that a marjority disliked: the venture back to the beach would be posponed until the rain stopped. The boys invented a new game to pass the time and wait out the rain. This was stormy spikeball. The front lawn was flooding with water. As the ball was served, it was a fight to glide on the water and retrieve the ball.
On the other side of the hotel, the girls stayed cozy inside, reading their books and playing games. As the storm calmed down, the boys showered off the grass and the girls came down from their rooms to meet in the communal area. Everyone grabbed the white plastic chairs off of the stacks and created a large circle. In this circle, all the people played games with each other and gathered in a line for snacks. To attain these snacks, a joke was required. The best joke said was “What did the buffalo say when his son left him? ‘Bison!'” The snacks awarded to the winner were delicious, splendid, mouth drooling banana chips. Everyone chowed down on their portion of banana chips. Soon there were no chips left in sight, as they were all inside of other people’s tummies.
Right before dinner, we played roses, thorns, and buds, and shared our favorite adventures from the trip. At dinner we were served right away with a tremendous green juice, made with mint and lemonade. Shortly after we were served chicken, salad, tacos, and more. As we walked home in the dark we made funny jokes which had everyone laughing. When we got home we discussed the plans for the next day and went to our rooms to prepare for our final day of adventures.
By: Ryan P., Nick F., and Poppy P.
February 21, 2025
Chapter 6: The Waterfall to the End
Instead of doing our community service for the animals, we planted trees on a mountain. Fermeli showed us the way to the spot where we would plant ten trees. Seven groups of three people each planted trees. The trees will survive for a hundred years.
Next we adventured down to a private waterfall, where we created memories that will last as long as the trees we planted.
Then, we took a five hour bus ride to San Jose, Costa Rica to spend our final night at the LOP Inn. We laughed, and many of us listened to music.
We got into our rooms, then we went downstairs, where we did activities and had a pizza party. Before the game, we wrote down “Las Palabras de la Semana” words that we were learning the whole week, and the people who wrote down the most words won candy. We are very sad to leave.
By Ellie S, Tommy C, Sienna S, and Charlotte K
