{"id":6606,"date":"2016-07-13T19:23:44","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T19:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globalroutes.org\/?p=6606"},"modified":"2016-07-13T19:23:44","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T19:23:44","slug":"pura-vida-costa-rica-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/2016\/07\/13\/pura-vida-costa-rica-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pura Vida Costa Rica!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pura Vida Costa Rica — First Blog Update<\/h2>\n
\"Airport
Jeremy and members of Costa Rica 2016 passing the time with some airport shenanigans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After smooth sailing across the skies and seas, our group of 12\u00a0has arrived safe, sound, and wide-eyed in the midst of new people and place. We easily\u00a0made our way through a\u00a0gauntlet of taxi and shuttle drivers who hopefully urged us to make use of their services.\u00a0Yet we continued on to find the\u00a0welcoming smile of our shuttle driver — and now trusted companion — Don Jose.<\/p>\n

The first 5 minutes of the drive were filled with chatter and laughter as students enjoyed finally being united as a whole unit.\u00a0Soon, those voices got quiet. New sights, smells, and sounds enticed their senses, and the reality began to sink in\u2026<\/p>\n

We’re doing this\u2026 We’re here\u2026 I’ve left home, and here I am in this new place I had before only dreamt about\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

A\u00a040-minute drive brought us to\u00a0our first lodging destination: Villa Pacande. Villa Pacande sits amidst a tropical setting and, like everywhere in Costa Rica, and to the absolute shock of the students, brings\u00a0bugs of all shapes and sizes. Soon after arrival and after rest the group gathered on the lawn for our first “chow circle.” First meals consisted of casados<\/a> and arroz con pollo<\/a>, two traditional Costa Rican dishes. With full stomachs, and as the long travel day turned into night, our tiredness set in.\u00a0 After a short “Howling of the Moon” evening meeting, we headed to our rooms, laid down our heavy heads, and closed our eyes — Buenas Noches!<\/p>\n

\"Screen
Costa Rica Pura Vida 2016 —\u00a0The Group giving\u00a0their best “Blue Steel” look from the movie Zoolander.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Waking up to the sun and sights of Costa Rica was amazing!\u00a0 The “pura vida” (translated as: “pure life,” a kind of local\u00a0life philosophy espousing optimism<\/em>) is settling in and it is dawning on us\u00a0that our adventure has begun!\u00a0 Today we are traveling to San Isidro and settling in at the Hotel de los Pinos.\u00a0 The group has been in high spirits and we are soaking in\u00a0the\u00a0surroundings — new foods, lush forests and trees full of oozing mangos, and the sights of animals on the side of the road.\u00a0 Off we went to San Isidro, via “Cerro de la Muerte<\/a>“, a peak rising 3,800 meters (11,000 ft.+) above sea level — the highest pass in Costa Rica.\u00a0 Our eyes were peeled and our cameras recorded the breathtaking views — mountains, clouds, and huge plants and trees covered the side of the road —\u00a0a scene\u00a0straight out of Jurassic Park.<\/p>\n

Then, Don Jose brought us to one of his favorite lunch spots — a Costa Rican buffet with an astounding view\u00a0and a front row table!\u00a0 We each went through the buffet wondering what the different dishes were, practicing our best Spanish while ordering our food, and enjoying the company of a group that has really started coming together!\u00a0 We even ran into a family from the community who will be hosting us — what a treat to see and meet Don Rodrigo and his family!<\/p>\n

\"Screen
Enjoying traditional Costa Rican fare — buffet style<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We journeyed onward by bus and through clouds — a first for many of us! \u00a0We opened the windows and felt the clouds’\u00a0cool air fill our bus, our bodies, and our souls!\u00a0 Arriving at our home for the night, we had an afternoon full of activities in which\u00a0we acted out different cultures created by our leaders, Liz and Jeremy!\u00a0 After a dinner (and a yummy desert), we went back to our rooms and started packing for our journey to the Rainforest Action Center, where we will climb Ceiba trees, rappel waterfalls, and meet\u00a0the warm and hospitable Fonseca Family.<\/p>\n

\"Screen
Cozy Costa Rican bus — we went through the clouds in this!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pura Vida Costa Rica — First Blog Update After smooth sailing across the skies and seas, our group of 12\u00a0has arrived safe, sound, and wide-eyed in the midst of new people and place. We easily\u00a0made our way through a\u00a0gauntlet of taxi and shuttle drivers who hopefully urged us to make use of their services.\u00a0Yet we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalroutes.org\/staging\/8011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}