Science, puppies, and horses, oh my!!

Yesterday, Friday, was an adventure filled day.

School was fun. Some interns are still trying to get into the swing of classes, one is already teaching! I’m glad that I am not teaching yet, I’m still learning the names of all the students and I haven’t had time to do any planning yet. In the 7^th and 8^th grade classes we just started working with chemical bonds. In 9^th grade we are working on plant physiology, 10^th grade is working on photosynthesis and 11^th grade is finishing Ecology. I learning a lot and hopefully I will begin to feel more comfortable with the idea of teaching an entire unit to three different classes, one of the goals my mentor teacher set for me. I am still amazed at the students and how they live in such an amazing place. During the 9^th grade class we went for a walk, to look for the plant phyla we went over in class that day. I am amazed, still, at the resources in this place. Granted there are many that they don’t have access too, and that limits them in some ways, but the resources they DO have are so amazing and in some ways invaluable to learning certain subjects. Each student sketched a bryophyte (mosses and lichens), a fern, and a monocot and dicot (both in the Angiosperm category, the flowering plants). I think the students really liked it, not to mention it was a great way for the students to learn the subject.

After school we got picked up to go to the property of a friend of Milton’s, the man who is the life of the grounds at the school. He knows all the trails so well he could draw them out by memory. He is a wonderful person! At the farm/ranch/property of his friend’s there was a house that was nice and two puppies!! If you know me well at all, these were the highlight of my day (at that time). One was possibly a terrier of some kind, the other was small and fuzzy. It was love at first sight! However, that didn’t hold me too long, once I saw the horses that were waiting for us. They were all so beautiful! I chose one that was a gray color. He was really nice, his name was Nicoleti. Once we got onto the horses it was a 25 minute ride down, down, down into the valley between some of the “hills”. I am amazed at how well designed the joints of the horses legs are. They were walking on unpredictable rocks, down a steep hill and they barely hesitated. Watching the horse’s feet in front of me made me wince sometimes, but I am sure they were ok, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.

Once we got down the hill, we walked down a small path to a human-made pool where the water from the only volcanic heated hot springs in Costa Rica. The water was pretty close to bath water temperature. The water was fresh and clear and it didn’t have the sulfuric smell, because it was so far from the source of the springs. The best part was that this pool had been placed next to a raging river. As the water came down the hill it rushed over rocks and through the valley that had been formed by this river over many years. The forest trees and vines surrounded us on all sides and it was the perfect place to relax after my first week here.

If any of you decide to come visit me, the offer is open to the friends and family of the school, not to just any tourists. There is also a butterfly garden, a frog pond/garden, the insect world, the bat jungle, the Serpentario (snakes and fun reptiles), the orchid garden and of course, the Monteverde Reserve itself. The school grounds are beautiful and there are trails to hike there as well and the cheese factory near the top of the hill makes amazing ice cream!

For all of you who are keeping an eye on the news right now, the earthquake in Costa Rica was pretty awful, but here in Monteverde we didn’t feel anything. Unfortunately it was felt all the way up to Nicaragua and El Salvador. The devastation seen on the news is awful and I can only pray for families to be restored and for those who lost family, that they may find peace.

Thank you all for your love!

K