Beach life

Yesterday was jam packed so I didn't get to blog… but it was full of speakers and lectures. We went down to the hotel meeting room early in the morning and had great lectures. The first speaker, Mr. Burgos, spoke to us about his and his son's business… TicoShopping.com. His business targets to American shoppers looking to buy Costa Rican goods online and spoke to us about important it is to understand other cultures in order to do business with them. The second speaker, Ms. Fendt, discussed the history of Costa Rica's economy and gave us an overview of why Costa Rican's are the happiest people in the world. She said that people's happiness depends on one's set range of emotions, circumstances, and factors under one's control. The third speaker, Ms. Nystrom, was my favorite speaker of the whole trip. She talked to us informally and on a personal level about the poverty in Costa Rica. She came to Costa Rica in the Peace Corp when she was younger and never went back home to the United Stated because she fell in love with the country, the people, and her mission to help others. Hearing her stories was eye-opening and humbling while giving everyone a different view of Costa Rica other than just a vacation paradise. The fourth speaker was a Dean from the University of Costa Rica and told us that the commonly used phrase in Cost Rica, "Pura Vida", was first used by Mexican comedians. However, it did not become successfully popular until the Costa Ricans starting using the phrase and is now the motto of Costa Ricans all over the country.  The fifth and final speaker spoke to us about the African decent in Costa Rica.

San Jose from a nearby mountain

After the last speaker, we had a toast to celebrate the end of the school portion of the trip and the beginning of the vacation portion. We headed to a restaurant, Jazz Cafe, where we ate, drank, and were merry.

Today we packed, loaded up the bus, and headed to the beach resort. thankfully the drive was easy and I was able to fit in a little nap before actually getting there. The temperature here is WAY hotter and humid than it was in San Jose… around 90 degrees, but we're at the beach so I'm not complaining. Also, since we're not in such an high altitude, i feel so much better than I did in San Jose; I didn't realize how bad i felt until I walked of the bus today and realized I didn't feel like I was going to hurl and actually had an appetite. The beach here is awesome; there are so many dogs running around the beach and coming up to you so naturally I'm in heaven. After a lot of beach time today and watching the sunset, we all went to dinner… what I'm most looking forward to tommorow: sleeping late!

Our first glimpse of the beach

Macaws chillin'

The resort

Can't beat this view