We Are Aware...

On our return home from the Quepos supermercado our guides, Roberto and Robert told us about how towards the end of every Costa Rican Adventures tour the guides ask their students to perform a small writing assignment. Roberto asked us to title our paper, "We Are Aware..." and to list in five minutes as many things they were aware or had become aware of over the course of the week. During circle time later that evening students, teachers, and guides shared their most poignant.

We are aware...

• that the sun is at a very high angle in the sky in Costa Rica and is very strong.
• Costa Rica has two seasons, wet and dry.
• rice and beans are very popular in Costa Rica
• how fortunate we are to have nice, spacious homes that are comfortable while others live in smaller, tighter, less clean conditions.
• Costa Rica has twelve hour days.
• the currency of Costa Rica is colones.
• that the banana plantations use chemicals that are very harmful to the environment.
• Costa Rica is 50% covered by rainforest.
• feeding wild animals messes up the food chain and is a risk to yourself.
• Costa Rica has no army. The money it saves goes to education for every Costa Rican.
• prostitution is legal in Costa Rica.
• schools here teach their children well but use very few resources.
• we could use more of a "pura vida" attitude at home.
• every action has a reaction and there are consequences for everything.
• literacy is at 98% in Costa Rica.
• Sloths are also known as "perezosos" which means lazy in Spanish.
• different is not bad.
• food is better fresh.
• the environment needs to be protected.
• that my perspective has changed how I see my whole life & school.
• there are two types of rainforests.
• the ocean is really warm and salty in Costa Rica.
• toilets are not tough enough to swallow toilet paper in Costa Rica.
• people get offended when you say "I am from America."
• of the damage that the cattle industry inflicts.
• that sunscreen needs to be applied multiple times a day.
• that as Americans we should look up to the respectful, kind, resourceful, and environmentally conscious Costa Ricans.
• of how different cultures can still bond so easily.
• that our guides passionate about sharing their country.