Pura Vida!

Day one:
See ya later America! I'll be chilling with my fresco de pina for the next 24 days!

I've had the INCREDIBLE opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica for July! It is a sustainability seminar series that will focus on how environment, culture, and socio-economics work hand in hand to create a life more sustainable, both on the macro and micro side. Because it is also hospitality oriented, we will also focus on eco-tourism and sustainability of a country through the lens of the tourism industry!

I've already learned so much, and the end of day 1 (or two if you count travelling day yesterday). Me and Sara, a student from New Mexico, were the first to arrive yesterday. Our trip is led by a former UNT hospitality student who graduated with his masters in the MIST program that is operated out of a Costa Rican sustainability graduate school a few years ago. He now lives here in Costa Rica with his wife Joanna, who also helps with our study abroad group.

Today (Wednesday) was our first full day here, and it has been a blast! This will be the longest I will have ever been out of the country! It is such a relief to not have to fit in everything I want to do in 7 days! It's been so relaxing, and it also doesn't hurt that we have wifi ;)

Things I didn't expect I would be grateful for:
1. No AC. Here in Latin America, it's so nice most of the time, that AC isn't really necessary. Instead, we keep the windows open and get to listen to the crickets and birds. It is SO refreshing to just lay in bed and feel the breezes.
2. Limited wifi. Seriously ya'll. I get these 3 weeks to RELAX and not check on my phone every second of the day. It is SO freeing. Ya'll should definitely come to Costa Rica and try it out.

I'm sure that list will continue to grow as time goes by, but those are the more obvious ones :)

So, my schedule for weekdays starts with breakfast at 8, even though we all kind of wake up at 4....when the sun rises. Costa Rica's biggest export right now is pineapple and man have I already had my fair share! We then have either a lecture or activity from 9-11:30ish then walk to the University's cafeteria for some seriously delicious food! We then will have whatever we didn't have in the morning after lunch! We'll get to have some free time before dinner, eat dinner, and then free time till the end of the night. We'll have essays, research articles to read, and other things to do at night.

On the weekends, we'll have even more fun adventures! This weekend we plan to go white water rafting and ziplining on Saturday, and who knows what else!

I am so blessed to get to be with the group I'm in for these weeks! There's only 7 students in our group which is nice and very much more my style.

I'll try to write every couple of days to keep everyone informed! I'm having so much fun so far, and I know I'll continue to grow and learn while I'm here!

Sustainability House we're staying in!

My bunk! 

water lillies on a pond at campus