Kimberly
Each night over supper we discuss what we did that day and then go over the plan for the next day starting with what time we need to meet for breakfast by the pool. Each morning it seems that the time gets earlier and earlier for us to meet so that we have enough time for travel and activities before the stores, parks, and museums close. But this morning I was able to sleep past eight o’clock. We had another wonderful breakfast. Eating breakfast is not a normal occurrence for me, except before church on Sundays, but I find myself wanting to run downstairs as soon as I wake up each day. The hotel has the same main dishes everyday like gallo pinto, eggs, ham, cheese, and toast. Then there are other things that change each morning like the type of juice, yogurt, fruit, and manner in which the plantains are cooked. There has been something completely different to try each day and I do. “Probar” is a new word to add to my mental dictionary. It means to try, test, or taste. Some of them I like while others not so much but trying new things and having new experiences is what this trip is about.
Alexander
Today we walked to the Museo de Arte Costarricense. It was filled with beautiful artwork that took my breath away. I really enjoyed the sculptures outside. I loved how they were made out of stone. That is impressive. I think of how difficult that must have been to carve and mold something out of rock. I also enjoyed the room on the second floor. Its walls were made of bronze-like metal crafted to depict history, show the conquistadores, industrial revolution, and so on all four walls. That was a beautiful room that I would not mind having at my house. Probably my favorite part of the trip was when we go a chance to do something out of the ordinary all due to some rain. Since it was raining and we did not have umbrellas and we still had a long journey through the city to Alfonso Chase’s office, we sat down and waited. During this time, one of the workers came up and told us that if we wanted to sign the wall we could. This was a main wall in the museum that people got to write on only during its opening, but since my mom had asked about it earlier and we were stuck there for a little bit, the working was gracious enough to let the 5 of us write what we wanted. That was awesome. So I wrote the last two lines from one of my favorite poems “Invictus” by William Ernest Henry. They read, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Being able to leave that message was very cool. I was very grateful for the opportunity to do so.
Polina
Another exposure to Costa Rican culture was the meeting of famous Costa Rican writer and poet Alfonso Chase. He is a very interesting person, with a very rich life experience. He is a literature professor in the University of Costa Rica. Alfonso was born in Costa Rica, but also lived outside of Costa Rica for some time. We talked for about two hours. He has travelled around the world and visited many countries. He also lived in Arkansas and New York. His room was full of different souvenirs, statues and pictures from all over the world. I couldn’t find an empty spot in his room. We talked about many different things. He likes to talk about his experience in other countries. We talked about politics, discrimination, and economy. Surprisingly for me, Alfonso knows a lot about Russia. He visited many Russian cities; he even knows my city, Rostov-on-Don. He admires Russian literature, and poetry. He has read many books of Russian writers. He even likes Russian president Vladimir Putin. Among all of his awards and literature prizes, in 1986, Alfonso received recognition to the artistic merit Sergei Essenin for contribution and promotion of Russian poetry. At the end of the conversation, all of us received books with his autograph. I chose the book “El Pavo Real Y La Mariposa” which is a historical novel, and in 1995 he received an award for this book. I was very pleased to receive the book from such a great writer.
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