Facing Realities

Ryan Oliver, Social Studies Teacher

As you will read from the postings below, the last 24 hours was an intense, sometimes tumultuous introduction to the people, culture and food of Costa Rica. Extremes have so far been the norm.  We went from the relative wealth of a suburb of San Jose where we are staying to the abject poverty of La Carpio. We transitioned from dirt, sweat and pigs to polite conversation in an air-conditioned school building. And we went from Spaghetti to rice and beans three meals a day. We are encouraging everyone to be as fully conscious and present in each of these experiences as possible, and the students seem to be taking this to heart. As Courtney says, "I keep saying THIS is my favorite part of the trip, but I think I will probably say that about everything."

After an exceptionally long day students were asked to do some difficult mental work in preparation for our two interviews this morning with leaders of both the ruling and opposition political parties at the Legislative Assembly, Costa Rica's version of Congress. A small group of students was asked to put in extra work based on their experience with the Politics and Civics interviewing process and showed incredible stamina and leadership. They developed some of the best questions I've ever seen on one of these expeditions and modeled the depth that we are hoping for in these conversations with leaders of Costa Rican society. Others are doing their best to jump on board and facing their challenges with courage.

We are impressed by the depth of energy, intelligence and good will this group is showing so far, and look forward to continued great results as we delve deeper into the work, the interviews and the interactions with our friends at Liceo JJ Vargas. At the moment we are fully immersed in the rush of activity and new experiences. Look for more reflections and more pictures once we catch up with ourselves.