Manuel Antonio
Although the whole trip was very fun, I would have to say going to Manuel Antonio was the highlight of the trip. The nine of us got an Airbnb with an amazing view and nice pool. The best part was that there were animals EVERYWHERE, so we could chill in the pool (literally; it was so hot) as we gazed into the jungle with the iguanas by our sides and the toucans above our heads. Some of us woke up early to watch the sunset and it was be-yoo-tiful.
We were pretty close to the beach so we walked there and the hike was super steep but we all survived. The waves were a bit scary but I had fun. We ate melons. I saw my first Costa Rican monkey and my shoulders started getting sunburnt.
The next day, we went to the national park and saw a ton of animals. It was crazy how the tour guides can spot the tiniest camouflaged thing in the trees when we couldn’t see them with our bare eyes after squinting for like 10 minutes. The tour ended at a really nice beach and I found a cool sea glass. This is also where my sunburn got really bad even though I put on sunscreen.
On the last day before we left we made our final trek down to the beach. Although I was dying from the heat and my two backpacks were rubbing the skin off my sunburnt shoulders, I surprisingly had a great time because we saw a sloth AND a monkey super close up and I also stopped and got a nice passionfruit smoothie. We had calamari while we waited for the buss and went back to San Jose.
Post Manuel Antonio
Our final days were spent prototyping and testing our butts off. My team had to restart with a new microcontroller but we got it to work in the end. It ended up working better than I thought: it would light up each time you scan and RFID tag and send an email. I’m surprised we got it working in such a short amount of time. Also one morning we went to an art museum that can only be described as unsettling.
When ENGI 200 ended, we went to a restaurant with Prof. Bisesti that we had walked past a few times and I had wanted to go to. The food was yummers and bathroom was really cool. We also had a little wine night and reminisced about all the good times we had.
The next day, we had to depart. This is me leaving the Selina. You can see the sadness in my eyes.
I’m very thankful that I got to come to this cool place and learn about engineering design while experiencing a new culture. Although my Spanish has not improved even a poquito, I did learn a lot about living in a different country. Most of all, I am happy that I got to meet the most indecisive group of people ever, spend time with them 24/7, and make lasting memories that I will remember for the rest of my life. Pura Vida!
