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‘Sense of wonder’ Costa Rica trip
an experience like no other
Clinton High School Spanish students gather for a group picture near La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park, an animal sanctuary in Costa Rica where students saw lots of animals in the rainforest like toucans, jaguars and monkeys. They also went on a hike to see the waterfalls.
By LUCAS GOETTING
Clinton High School Student
Editor’s note: The following article was written by Clinton High School student Lucas Goetting and was submitted to The Clinton Local for publication by high school teacher Kurt Hillegonds.
Costa Rica was, as our tour guide Christian put it, “Not better than the U.S., nor worse. Just different.”
Its difference, however, is what makes it worth visiting.
In Costa Rica, our 20-kid cohort was divided among eight separate families, which were our homestays for the trip. When my group of three other boys and I arrived at Calle Valle Escondido, we were pleasantly surprised by our host parents’ hospitality. Our Spanish teacher, Mr. Hillegonds, had told us that Costa Ricans (Ticos) were known for their warmth and friendliness to people of other cultures, but the care we received at our homestay was incomparable to even the grandest of hotels.
Our guardians for the trip, José and Zaida, provided my friends and I with authentic Costa Rican cuisine: Gallo pinto, freshly squeezed guava juice, and chicken and rice were among the large variety of meals served to us. And this food wasn’t made obligatorily — our “parents” always awoke at least an hour before us to set the table, cook, blend and ensure that everything was perfect.
The process of exchanging cultures between us and the Ticos, though, almost dwarfed the food in terms of importance. What we witnessed at our homestay and while roaming Costa Rica’s streets was active cultural diffusion.
My friends and I, for example, decided to show our guardian José a video from the online web series “Skibidi Toilet,” which he had never heard of or seen. José, at first confused, doubled over with laughter after rewatching the clip. Our household then adopted the word “Skibidi” as something meaning “bad” or “unfavorable.”
This diffusion was by no means a one-way street. Our group was given plenty of opportunities to utilize its Spanish-speaking abilities, and conversing with locals supplemented our understanding of an overarching Costa Rican identity. This understanding was broadened on our tours of pineapple farms (the products of which we were able to sample in hearty numbers) and primary schools, during which we learned about the foundations of Costa Rican culture — how they welcome travelers from different countries to work in theirs, why their kids learn to speak English in first grade, the methods by which they harvest and process different foods. Their climate, geography and education system make these traits and values uniquely Costa Rican.
Of course, while new cultural experiences do matter, so does having fun, and there was no shortage of fun things to do in Costa Rica.
In addition to drinking some of the best coffee on this side of the hemisphere, we rode ziplines that stood around 400 feet above the Costa Rican jungle, glided down waterslides slick from near overuse (the stairs back up to their entries made for a good workout, too), and observed the diverse species of wildlife, which ranged from tiny red ants to massive jaguars and sloths.
And we traveled in style.
Our bus had adjustable air conditioning, comfy seats and afforded us picturesque views of the huge volcano that towered over the sprawling houses below.
Our headquarters that supplied us with the bus, El Rancho, held dancing and cooking classes, which were essentially our group bonding exercises. El Rancho also housed a jacuzzi and two pools, one of which had a platform that we used to play a high-stakes trivia game in which whoever got the answer to a question wrong would be shoved into the water — although some people were pushed in regardless of whether their answer was right or wrong.
The other pool was used predominantly for backflipping and Marco Polo, and the boys made a futile attempt to effect a whirlpool in the jacuzzi.
Though our trip spanned only a week, what we experienced, learned and did created indelible memories (along with a couple of cheeky inside jokes) that will last for a lifetime.
Clinton High School Student
Editor’s note: The following article was written by Clinton High School student Lucas Goetting and was submitted to The Clinton Local for publication by high school teacher Kurt Hillegonds.
Costa Rica was, as our tour guide Christian put it, “Not better than the U.S., nor worse. Just different.”
Its difference, however, is what makes it worth visiting.
In Costa Rica, our 20-kid cohort was divided among eight separate families, which were our homestays for the trip. When my group of three other boys and I arrived at Calle Valle Escondido, we were pleasantly surprised by our host parents’ hospitality. Our Spanish teacher, Mr. Hillegonds, had told us that Costa Ricans (Ticos) were known for their warmth and friendliness to people of other cultures, but the care we received at our homestay was incomparable to even the grandest of hotels.
Our guardians for the trip, José and Zaida, provided my friends and I with authentic Costa Rican cuisine: Gallo pinto, freshly squeezed guava juice, and chicken and rice were among the large variety of meals served to us. And this food wasn’t made obligatorily — our “parents” always awoke at least an hour before us to set the table, cook, blend and ensure that everything was perfect.
The process of exchanging cultures between us and the Ticos, though, almost dwarfed the food in terms of importance. What we witnessed at our homestay and while roaming Costa Rica’s streets was active cultural diffusion.
My friends and I, for example, decided to show our guardian José a video from the online web series “Skibidi Toilet,” which he had never heard of or seen. José, at first confused, doubled over with laughter after rewatching the clip. Our household then adopted the word “Skibidi” as something meaning “bad” or “unfavorable.”
This diffusion was by no means a one-way street. Our group was given plenty of opportunities to utilize its Spanish-speaking abilities, and conversing with locals supplemented our understanding of an overarching Costa Rican identity. This understanding was broadened on our tours of pineapple farms (the products of which we were able to sample in hearty numbers) and primary schools, during which we learned about the foundations of Costa Rican culture — how they welcome travelers from different countries to work in theirs, why their kids learn to speak English in first grade, the methods by which they harvest and process different foods. Their climate, geography and education system make these traits and values uniquely Costa Rican.
Of course, while new cultural experiences do matter, so does having fun, and there was no shortage of fun things to do in Costa Rica.
In addition to drinking some of the best coffee on this side of the hemisphere, we rode ziplines that stood around 400 feet above the Costa Rican jungle, glided down waterslides slick from near overuse (the stairs back up to their entries made for a good workout, too), and observed the diverse species of wildlife, which ranged from tiny red ants to massive jaguars and sloths.
And we traveled in style.
Our bus had adjustable air conditioning, comfy seats and afforded us picturesque views of the huge volcano that towered over the sprawling houses below.
Our headquarters that supplied us with the bus, El Rancho, held dancing and cooking classes, which were essentially our group bonding exercises. El Rancho also housed a jacuzzi and two pools, one of which had a platform that we used to play a high-stakes trivia game in which whoever got the answer to a question wrong would be shoved into the water — although some people were pushed in regardless of whether their answer was right or wrong.
The other pool was used predominantly for backflipping and Marco Polo, and the boys made a futile attempt to effect a whirlpool in the jacuzzi.
Though our trip spanned only a week, what we experienced, learned and did created indelible memories (along with a couple of cheeky inside jokes) that will last for a lifetime.
