A Colorful Finale

For our last blog post, the incredible Rama Mansour crafted a fantastic summary of our final few days. Great job Rama!

The last few days here in Monteverde have been filled to the brim with exciting new experiences, wrap ups of everything we’ve learned, and doing things we’ve come to recognize as routine for the last time. On Wednesday, a long morning of working on our final projects paid off when we took a trip into town for some of the best gelato we’d ever had. On our way back to campus, all eyes were glued out the window, as we drove unbelievably close to two rainbows. Once we were back, we had the opportunity to use our sugar-fueled energy to learn some traditional dancing. Our rec room exploded with a million vibrant colors as a kind group of dancers helped us into long, beautiful skirts and played some Costa Rican music. We had an incredible time as we were guided through dances, narrowly avoiding more than a few collisions.
          The following day we finally presented our projects. It was a chance to show off what we learned, in addition to learning more from our peers. That same afternoon, we piled onto a bus into town for some shopping. We ran around for hours popping in and out of local stores, finishing up our souvenir shopping. The ride home was filled with oohs and aahs as some of us took turns excitedly sharing our purchases. After eating our last dinner in the dining hall together, a group of us sat on a porch, probably being much too loud talking, laughing, and listening to music.
          Today, the last day, has been going by much too quickly. After a delicious breakfast we had class, in which we put together a document encompassing everything we learned over the past three weeks. We wrote down some steps we all agreed to take, and then signed it in imitation of the Paris Agreement. After lunch and a quick trip to the corner store intended to use up the last of our coins, we headed back to the classroom one last time. Inside, we watched our program leaders Tommy and Lauren struggle for what seemed like an eternity to get a slideshow they had put together to work. It was all worth it, however, when we got to look at all the pictures taken over the past three weeks, a bittersweet finale to our time here. Program Leader Note: It did not take a full eternity to get the slideshow to work... it only took around half of a full eternity.
          Later tonight, we’re putting on the nicest outfits we brought and getting dinner at a restaurant, followed by a party to celebrate the time we spent here. This trip has been full of once in a lifetime experiences, challenges, and wonderful new people. While we’re all sad that it’s coming to an end, we’re grateful for the memories we were able to share, and we’re ready to go home.