Currently writing this final blog post in the San Jose airport…it feels weird. It’s so crazy to think that a month has passed since I was first here. I’m so glad to have come out of this experience with so many amazing memories.
But back to where I left off from last time…the girls were planning on renting a car and driving to La Fortuna and Arenal, but let’s just say that didn’t happen. Plan B was to Uber over, so that’s what we did . 3 hour Uber ride! yeah. It actually went pretty well, since our Uber driver agreed to wait for us and take us to every destination that we wanted for $200.
First, we went to the La Fortuna waterfall. This was by far my favorite place we went to that entire day. After 500 stair steps, we were at the base of the waterfall. It was so beautiful. I spent a good 20 minutes staring at it in awe and just so amazed that Earth could create things like this. Alice and I went in together, and it was a journey getting past slippery rocks, cold water, and a strong current pushing us back. Afterwards, we climbed over more slippery rocks to get to other mini rivers and streams all connected to the waterfall. We spent a good hour there, then decided it was time to climb back up 500 steps of stairs so we could make it to our next destination: Arenal Volcano National Park.
Me at La Fortuna Waterfall.
When we got there, the top part of the volcano was still covered by clouds. We sat at the lookout for a while, where I read about the volcano’s history. Even from so far away, I could see some of the lava trails carved into the structure of the volcano. We decided to go on a short hike that led us to a hardened lava trail and a different view of the volcano and of Lake Arenal. When we reached the end of the trail, Alice found a message in a bottle. It was left by a couple that had just gotten married, and they wanted strangers to contact them a picture of where they found the bottle so that it could be passed around all over the world. I thought this concept was really cool, and it inspired Alice and I to do something similar when we grow older.
The last stop of the day was hot springs. On the way there, rain started pouring but that didn’t stop us. We ended up at Las Termalitas Hot Springs. There were different pools that all varied in temperature. After running around in pouring rain, it was so relaxing to just sit in a warm water. We tested out every single pool. Some of them were burning hot at first, but I would eventually adjust to it and it felt very nice. There was also a slide, which was really fun and honestly went a lot faster than I imagined. We ate dinner there, and then started our journey back. At one point, we looked out the window and we could see the entirety of Arenal. The driver was nice enough to stop on the side of the road so we could take pictures. It was a very long day, but it was so worth it. We got to do everything we wanted and for a cheaper price than any of the tours we saw online. We made sure to give our Uber driver a tip.
Arenal Volcano!
Las Termalitas Hot Springs.
The next morning, we took a bus to Jaco so we could meet up with the boys at Playa Hermosa. I spent the morning reading a book (It Ends With Us, highly recommend) at the Selina in Jaco while Alice and Leticia were at church. Then, in the afternoon, we finally got to meet up with everyone at the beach. It was so beautiful at Playa Hermosa. I spent most of my time there just playing in the water and messing around in the sand. Leticia, Brendan, and I made a hole/volcano/moat thing?? Alice, Leticia, and I also attempted to surf but the waves were not for beginners so it was definitely a struggle. Later that afternoon, I just watched as all the locals + James went surfing. It was so cool watching them surf, and it made me insanely jealous that I don’t live near a beach. Alice and I got dinner together at a restaurant right next to our hostel, then we immediately jumped into the pool afterwards. We hung out there with the guys for a while and played Paranoia. Then, we went to a beach party nearby. The music was VERY loud but the DJ was actually insane. So many remixes I couldn’t keep up. I had a blast with everyone while James mysteriously disappeared doing I don’t know what. Many flashing lights, lots of people, many smells. Most of us returned to the pool while James was still at the bar doing his own thing. The rest of that night was mostly a blur, but it consisted of more random games, dares, stupid questions, etc. We considered just staying up all night before catching our 5 AM bus, but I knew I needed at least some sleep.
Me at Playa Hermosa.
Beach partay
Staying in an 8-bed hostel with 5 other guys, a freezing cold room, and a single bathroom was…an experience. Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep that night since I was right under the AC vent with a thin blanket and moist clothes from going in and out of the beach and pool all day. I was awake before my 4 AM alarm went off. We struggled to find any Ubers to our bus station, but Alice came in clutch and called a taxi company. I slept basically the entire way back and felt so lucky that class got cancelled that morning because I was feeling very sick.
That afternoon, we went to Heredia to meet up with the other Rice students. Despite the fact that I was not feeling good, I had a great time. My favorite part was going to a park nearby where there were built-in trampolines in the ground. There was also a bunch of workout equipment, so I had fun playing around with those. On my quest to find a bathroom, Leticia, Carly, and I stopped by a few stores and I bought a nice dress. We then met everyone at Pops and then went back to Selina shortly after.
Workout equipment in Heredia.
For the rest of the week, I was pretty sick but that didn’t stop the grind. Jeff and I were coughing a lot (no COVID though) and we shared Tylenol. Yum. Despite our sickness, we were still very productive for the rest of the week. Brendan, Jeff, and I completed testing on Wednesday. The ULACIT students were very helpful, and they were so eager to help out. They brought all of their friends to our testing table, and we were able to test on 26 people by the end of the morning. The rest of the week, we were finalizing our presentation and also worked on a side project: Gary. The inspiration behind Gary was found during our research on 12V motors. He was made out of a small brush, a motor, a 9V battery, two styrofoam balls for eyes, a collar made out of wires, and one of our 3D printed paddle attachment as a tail. He died shortly, later that day. RIP Gary.
On Thursday, we had our final dinner together as a group. I don’t really remember what the name of the place was called, but it was quite the experience. I ordered chicken udon, and it was pretty good. But that restaurant had literally everything…it was so random. While some of the food was questionable, I had a great time with everyone. After dinner, we went bowling. The last time I bowled was probably at some middle school birthday party, so I was slightly surprised when I was doing alright. But I think I got worse as the night went on. The highlight of my evening was watching everyone else improve and analyzing each person’s “technique.” We made plans to hang out with the ULACIT students later that night, but things didn’t go quite as planned. They planned out a whole karaoke night for us, but we got kicked out of the community space because Barbara “wasn’t supposed to have people over on a Thursday night.” They decided to go to a bar instead, but I decided to go back early to prepare for our final presentation the next day. Either way, I said my goodbyes to the ULACIT students. They were truly very kind and I’m so glad that they were able to show us around San Jose. I hope we can meet them again soon.
parkinSIMS final prototype!
On Friday, our final technical design review and presentation went smoothly. Packaging up our prototype provided some closure to our time here. Brendan and I made sure to wrap it neatly and leave a nice note. My favorite part about that day was getting ULACIT volleyball shirts. Now I can pretend that I played volleyball there! When we got back to Selina, I quickly packed all my things and said my goodbyes because Walsh and I had a 4:00 bus to Cahuita. What was supposed to be a 4.5 hour bus ride turned into almost 7 hours. Apparently one of the routes was closed and it took extra long to get there. I’m very surprised I didn’t pee the first 6 hours.
James modeling our ULACIT shirts.
In Cahuita, Walsh and I stayed at a hostel (Aldina’s Guest House) right along Playa Negra. After settling in Friday night, we woke up early the next morning and spent almost the entire day at the beach. The sand was so soft and squishy, and I collected a good amount of shells. We then spent an hour at a sloth sanctuary nearby, where we learned about sloths and the differences between two-fingered sloths versus three-fingered sloths. Most of the sloths there had been injured in the past, so workers, doctors, vets, biologists, and scientists all work there to make sure they’re safe and healthy. The sloths were very very cute. They itched their butts and yawned a lot. And they do in fact move very slow.
Shells, sloths, Walsh.
Yesterday, aka my last full day, Walsh and I went to Cahuita National Park and Playa Blanca. I’m not sure how long we hiked for, but we walked through rivers, mud, bridges, sand, and other bodies of water. At one point we just took off our shoes so we just walked barefoot through the mud. It was squishy. But we occasionally were able to dip our feet back into the ocean to rinse them off. Apparently the park had been washed over by a tropical storm a few years ago, so there was a lot of interesting stuff washed up on the shore of the beach – coral, fossils, trees, etc. I had fun looking through different shells and broken up pieces of the coral reef. On the way back, we saw a sloth climbing through the trees and also a crocodile. Yay wildlife! We then went back to Playa Negra where we chilled at the beach and read our books until the sun went down. We went back in the water as the sun was setting. It was sad in a beautiful way, like a peaceful ending to our time in Costa Rica. A month truly went by so fast. While my Spanish skills are still quite minimal, I learned so much from this experience as a whole. Every interaction I’ve had with the people on this trip, whether it be from the students from our first week at UCI MED, or our ULACIT friends, or anyone on this trip, I’m so glad to have shared this experience with them. If any of you are still reading this, hello. Until next time, Costa Rica. I’ll be back. Pura Vida!
