This post features student writing.

After leaving Bonanza Norte on Saturday, we traveled to the beautiful beach town of Playa Samara. On the way, we listened to the song “Elle me dit” a hundred times and everyone danced. When we arrived in Playa Samara, we settled into a beautiful ecolodge named Tico Adventure Lodge, unpacked our swimsuits, and headed to the beach. We spent the afternoon swimming in the waves, playing beach volleyball, and playing cards. Later, we had an excellent dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

The next morning we cooked an amazing pancake breakfast. We shared our expectations and preconceptions of Costa Rica and watched a TED talk about the danger of a single story. In it, the woman explained how a single story has the power to create a certain image or idea of a group of people or a place. This talk helped us to re-orient (or in Zack’s words, ‘‘disorient’’) ourselves  away from Costa Rica and towards what we will take with us back into our everyday lives. After this interesting discussion, we went souvenir shopping. We ate a very satisfying lunch of falafels and sandwiches, which was a welcome change from the very good but usual rice and beans. At 1:30, we headed to the beach for our surfing lesson. The instructors explained the different parts of the surfboard and how to ride the waves, then we were separated into four groups to get more individualized advice. Standing up on the boards was not as easy as it looked, yet everyone eventually made it. Our surfing lesson was cut short because of a thunderstorm, though we spent more time in Samara on Monday and went surfing again! Our time is almost done here in Costa Rica!

– Logan and Olivia