Students recall tropical adventure

A group of teens from Rainy River District had the experience of a lifetime during March Break when they spent 13 days in Costa Rica doing volunteer work as well as soaking up both the sun and the culture.
Four of the students who went on the trip—Ashley Nordin, Tashina Morgenstern, Heather Newman, and Julia Florek—sat down with the Times last week to talk about their trip, which consisted of 10 students in all, including two from Rainy River High School.
The group started out with a three-day orientation in Esparza, about two hours from the capital of San Jose.
The girls described a tropical paradise, complete with swimming pool and tennis courts.
“They prepared us for some of the traditions you weren’t used to,” Florek said of the orientation. Some of those included always wearing shoes in the house and never putting toilet paper in the toilet to avoid clogging it.
After the orientation, the group was taken to Nicoya, where they were billeted with host families. “We each had our own host family. Most knew no English at all,” noted Morgenstern.
Before leaving for Costa Rica, the students were given a list of about 700 Spanish words and phrases from Fort High teacher Al McManaman, who helped organize the trip.
While the list was helpful, the girls said the language barrier made for some comedic situations.
“I told my family I was married about a hundred times,” laughed Florek, who had trouble distinguishing between the Spanish for “married,” which is “casada,” and “tired,” which is “cansada.”
“We used a lot of sign language,” said Nordin, who added hunger was a strong motivator in learning the language.
“All you heard was Spanish, 24/7,” she remarked. “After you’re starving to death, you’re pretty much gonna learn.”
But being abruptly immersed in a new environment gave the students a chance to notice some subtle—and not-so-subtle—cultural differences.
“If you just go there as a tourist, you just observe the culture. You don’t get to participate in it,” Newman noted.
Buildings are made of concrete to withstand earthquakes, the students explained, and everyone leaves their doors open, which makes it easier for various animals to make their way inside.
Geckos—small tropical lizards notorious for their climbing abilities—and family livestock would wander freely in and out of people’s homes. Nordin told a story of one morning when she was woken up by a clucking chicken in her bedroom.
Rice and beans were the staple foods, but pizza and French fries, and other foods, were available at restaurants in town.
Morgenstern said Nicoya was “about the size of Thunder Bay, population-wise, but not as urbanized.”
Not having any means of transportation, the students had to walk everywhere or take a cab, which usually cost about $2 (Cdn.), they said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever walked as much in my life,” Newman said.
The first three days in Nicoya, the team made sidewalks in front of a nun’s house. They literally had to mix the cement, pour it, and level it off.
“We were getting the rocks, cement, and dirt, and mixing it by hand,” Nordin noted.
It was hard but rewarding work, they said, and the group left their handprints in the cement.
When they had finished the sidewalk, the team began painting an entire day care centre.
While their days started fairly early at 7 a.m., the students said the work wasn’t overly taxing and they were able to take a long break at lunch time.
“The nuns said through the translators that we were gifts from God. That was really nice to hear,” Morgenstern said.
When they weren’t working, the group travelled around to various nearby points of interest, including a dormant volcano and a local waterfall complete with rock diving.
When asked what the most unexpected part of Costa Rica was, the girls were unanimous.
“The friendliness of the people. Canada is typically known as a friendly country, but you have to go to Costa Rica,” Florek said.
The students said people always greeted each other with a light kiss on each cheek. Other cultural differences included the police presence in stores and on the streets.
Costa Ricans are very proud that their country does not have a formal army, the students explained, but seeing armed security guards at clothing and grocery stores—and police carrying rifles—was a little shocking to them.
Overall, the experience was a very positive one, they said.
“Going to Costa Rica definitely brought out the traveller in me,” Newman said, adding she was considering going back with a friend during March Break next year.
Nordin said she would like to go to Africa or Australia next, adding the best part of the trip to Central America was “learning how different we are from other people.”
She also was especially enthusiastic about the dancing. While there, Nordin said she learned the salsa and the merengue.
“Costa Rica is the spirit of life,” enthused Florek. “Everything there is bright and colourful. I had to shed off my culture and accept another one.”
Newman said the one thing she’ll always remember about the trip to Costa Rica was “the connections we made down there with people. It was sad we had to leave them.”
“We bawled like babies,” Nordin said.