Laura Hitchman
Places I visited in 2010!
March 2010: Washington D.C.
May 2010: Oxford, OH and Wheeling, WV
June/July 2010: Monteverde/Flamingo, Costa Rica
July 2010: New York City
September 2010: Chalk Hill, PA and Wheeling, WV
December 2010: Pittsburgh,PA and Wheeling, WV
Highlight of 2010!
During 2010 I had the oppurtunity to study abroad with the College of Charleston. In the beginning of June, 12 College of Charleston students including myself and our Professor, Andrea Canberg traveled to Cental America to be completely immersed in Costan Rican culture for 3 weeks. While we were there we studied spanish and ecotourism. I spent one week in Monteverde and one week in Playa Flamingo. We also enjoyed an amazing overnight stay in a condo on the beach in Tamarindo. On our long bumpy treks across the mountians in Monteverde to Playa Flamingo we stopped at Don Juan's Sustainable Farm in Arenal. Don Juan gave us a tour of his property and we learned about the processes involved in being a sustainable farm. We shared the experience by actively participating in picking tomatos, yuca, sugarcane and the rest of the items we would soon eat for lunch. Once we were done with our tour we gathered in the farmhouse for our 100% sustainable meal prepared by the women that worked there. This was quite possibly the best meal I have ever eaten. That night we stayed in a lodge located at the bottom of the Volcan Arenal. In fact, Arenal errupted early the next morning before we departed. Our next stop was Playa Flamingo where we spent one more week with a new host family. On our last night in Flamingo some of us gathered at a fabulous Italian restuarant in the local community before we would venture back towards San Jose. Our final stop before we would head back to Heredia was Selva Verde. Here we stayed in the Selva Verde Lodge located on the edge of the rainforest. The lodge was built by an Italian woman who purchased the land from a farmer to stop him from cutting down the trees. She gave him everything she had in her pockets with the intention of returning with the rest of the money. Unfortunately she ran into several obstacles when trying to raise the funds and was unable to return for several years. When she finally made her way back to Selva Verde the man had abandoned the property, but she had a new problem to face; squatters. She decided to offer them employment at the lodge and regained her property. She continued to develop the lodge and educational resources available to the local community. The lodge has since grown immensley and has recieved a 4 leaf rating on the sustainability chart. Our last night we spend sharing appetizers and beer at a local restuarant in downtown San Jose.Costa Rica was the trip of a lifetime and I formed some of the best relationships in my life while I was there!
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