On to Monteverde

In some of the gift shops in Monteverde they sell a T-shirt that says “I survived the road to Monteverde.” It’s true that the last hour and a half of the trip from San Joaquin was on a very bumpy and hard gravel road that winds through the fields and mountains and eventually reaches what feels like the top of the world. The panoramas were breathtaking. Sometimes there were sharp drop-offs on both sides of the road. We saw some cows that looked like mountain goats perched on the side of a grassy mountain that looked to have about an 80 degree incline. Unfortunately, we don’t have any pictures of the 4-hour drive here because we were too concerned about the road to think about asking to stop and take pictures. Maybe on the way down next Sunday . . . On the bus, the feelings of apprehension were thick. For some, the third week in San Joaquin had been as bumpy and as hard as the road to Monteverde, but most had grown comfortable with the urban surroundings. Everyone knew where to go and who to ask to get what they wanted . . . and there was cheap internet . . . and phones to make international calls at a reasonable price. Monteverde sounded nice enough, but people were using words like “rural” and “rustic” and “humble.” For some, it was very sad to say good-bye to host families in San Joaquin, and the new families were, like the entire Monteverde experience, a great unknown.
The jury is still out on how the group feels about Monteverde, but it definitely involves an adjustment. They met new host families and went home with them on Sunday. On Monday, there was an orientation session and then they met their new teachers and started class. Excursions this week are optional, but some have signed up for horseback riding, some for the Trapiche Tour (a working farm and sugar plantation experience), and some for an adventurous zip-lining and rappelling activity. Some may go on their own to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, where they can hike through the cloud forest. It will be a busy week, but it won't be possible to update the blog.

Internet here is extremely slow and uploading photos is almost impossible. It took over two hours to upload these few. We will have to post the last entry or two from home.

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