Landing into the rainforest!

"From the airplane they can begin to see that green in which they will soon enter. Those mountains where they will create memories for a lifetime. Those mountains that in a few hours the students will enter to know the rainforest, to appreciate that everywhere they see there is life and the place where this adventure will begin." 
Those were some of my thoughts as we waited at the Juan Santamaria airport for the students to land in Costa Rica. 
After a few hours waiting for the groups to be completed in order to reach our campus, we first had to make a first stop. A special one: Food on the map. Of course! We had to start having the whole experience and what better way to start eating typical Costa Rican food. The restaurant was buffet style so students could choose from a wide variety of Costa Rican food. We tried the beans, "picadillos" with potatoes, meat options, various vegetables, salads and of course you can't miss a fruit juice.

During the journey to the campus we could see the different types of weather, sometimes it was a little cloudy, then the sun came out, we found fog, light rain, roads surrounded by mountains on the road. Once we arrived our beautiful staff was waiting for us to organize us in the bungalows, getting to know our roommates and program peers. Once we settled in it was time to have dinner and rest for the next day. 
On the first day of the program we had the orientation class with Leo, one of our HSSA Program Coordinators. In the orientation we saw how the days of the CCM Program are going to be, meet the STAFF, all the general information, how to act in case of emergency and other important aspects to make this experience enriching, fun and safe at the same time. 

Once we had this introduction, it was time for the Icebreak! During the activity guided by Leo we were able to get to know our new classmates better. In the activity we were able to notice some similarities between the classmates, such as:

Ava, Hannah and Tiarra they had in common that they are nervous about Spanish and insects. Nico, Milo and Grace see it as important to practice Spanish and have a good time. Mady, Paxton, Zoé and Margaux have in common that they came in pairs between them. Anet, Tayla and Alex, they see as a big goal practice Spanish. 

After the class activities we went to walk all over the campus. We begin our walk and get to know what the campus is like. We saw the other classes, the lab, we saw the coffee plantation, we heard birds, we visited the farm, we saw pigs and coatis!
Students look happy and excited to continue exploring and creating memories on this beautiful Monteverde campus learning about climate change, forest, and making new friends.