Furthest From Home.

Siena, 17

The furthest I have ever been from home is Toronto, Ontario in Canada. I went there to visit my great uncle and aunt. I went there with my parents and stayed for about a week. While I was there the most meaningful thing I learned was about my family history and how my uncle and his family immigrated to America from Russia. I was able to learn about where my family came from and the obstacles they had to overcome during WWII. It really made me appreciate my family and my heritage.

The trip I will be taking next is further away than Ontario. It’s the furthest I will have ever been. It’s Costa Rica. Going on this trip will be the furthest from home I have been, and it will be the longest time I have been away from my family. To prepare for this trip I have bought all the supplies I need and am mentally preparing myself for not being able to see or talk to my family or friends for almost two weeks. Although this may seem difficult, I am determined to pull through and do the best I can and have the most fun and adventure I can. I can tell this trip is going to be great and be a turning point in my life. I know I am going to learn a lot of valuable lessons and cannot wait to get there.

Furthest Travel Spot

Alyssa, 17
The furthest away I have been from home is when I traveled to California with my aunt. I was in second grade, and we went away for one week in October. I have always loved to travel, and have been travelling since I was only a few weeks old. My aunt had already been planning to visit her friend, Nadine, in Orange County, California, and my mom and her planned for me to go with her as a late birthday gift. I had such a great time. We went to the beach, to different stores in the city, and to Disney Land. (The Space Mountain ride in Disney Land is much better than the one in Disney World!) I have never been one to be homesick, and I’ve travelled away from my parents many times. I think all of my times going to Girl Scout camps, or just being away from my parents, has prepared me to be able to leave the country without them, and also for college and life after high school.
Other ways I have been preparing for the trip to Costa Rica is by gathering up some of my summer clothes, travel items, and gear I will need while I’m gone. My mom and I have bought things like bug spray, sunscreen, and lightweight clothing to work in. I still do need a few more things, but I feel mostly confident that I will have everything packed soon. I really am looking forward to going out of the country to a new place and culture, and can’t wait to leave Pittsburgh!

Farthest place from home.

Kiera, 16

The farthest I’ve been away from home geographically was when I went to Florida. But the farthest away from home mentally was when I went to Virginia. I was there for two months living with my aunt and uncle. I prepared for this trip by getting my clothes together, and also by talking with my aunt and uncle more, so that I could get used to being around them for a long time. It’s not that I didn’t know them, but it was so that I could get used to being around them more often and learning how they do things.

I changed because of this trip, because I learned how to live in a similar but different environment. It was similar because they did most of the basic things I did, but it was different because they had certain customs that I didn’t do in my own family. I liked being there for two months because they taught me how to become a stronger and better young woman.

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail"

Nathan, 18

Over of the past few months, I have been preparing for this trip of a lifetime. For example, I have been pay more attention in Spanish class so I can somewhat communicate with the indigenous while traveling there. Other things that I have been done are pushing myself in everything I do. In my academics I have been pushing myself to do the best that I can. Knowing that I can push myself in my academics will help me be able to push through the mental aspect of the trip. I have been preparing physically by continuing to play hockey. While playing hockey I always have to push myself to new heights to become a better player, with this happening I know I can put my body up against anything even if I do fail. If I fail I know that, that will make me stronger in the future. A couple of sayings that I have been keeping in the back of my head are “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”, and “doing the best you can do is victory, doing less is defeat”. These quotes help me stay motivated and on track because they mean so much to me. I know that I am going to make mistakes while doing work, or anything else while in Costa Rica, I do it all the time while playing hockey, but it only makes me do better the next time.

Preparing for Costa Rica

Danielle, 18

I can't wait for when it is time to board the plane and leave for Costa Rica! Before I can go to Costa Rica there are a few things that I have to do to prepare. Since many of us do not know Spanish that well we are taking one day a week to practice Spanish. Also, outside of school when I talk to someone I try to substitue a Spanish word for an English word, I do this so that I can get more practice. Not only am I trying to learn more Spanish I am also trying to get things that I will need on the trip. Whenever I go out shopping with my Mom and we see something that I may possibly need on the trip we may get it so that we are not rushing around to get everything at once. Those are the two main things that I am working on at the moment so that I can get myself ready for when it is time to board the plane and leave for Costa Rica.

Reflection on Ecosystem Presentations by the Latin American Studies Students

Mr. Moreland, City High Science Teacher

I was impressed by the level of detail in nearly all of the National Park presentations today. City High students worked in groups of three to four people to research the ecosystems present in several of the National Parks of Costa Rica. I am amazed that organisms as varied as orchids, sea turtles, macaws, tapirs, jaguars, ocelots, and morpho butterflies are all present in a country half of the size of Pennsylvania.

I hope that all of the City High students now have a better understanding of the plants, insects, and animals that they will encounter in April.

First Contact

Ryan Oliver, City High Social Studies Teacher

We finally succeeded in making video contact with students at a Costa Rican High School. Three years in the making, this initial conversation was a wonderful testament to the power of technology to make personal connections across physical barriers, when put to the right uses.

Our hope is that most of the awkward initial moments of self-consciousness and insecurity will be had through our video-conference and email communications in the next month before we depart, allowing for a more meaningful experience once we arrive in San Jose. New this year, students from our partner school Liceo Vargas Calvo will not only host us at their school, but also join us for a tour of Poas Volcano.

We aim to build this relationship into one of powerful cultural exchange with ever expanding opportunities to seek commonality and wonder at our differences. Thanks to Matt Cook, Ed Crist, and Dr. Wertheimer for their practical, technical, and visionary assistance respectively.

Volcanoes in Costa Rica and Pittsburgh?

LaShai, 16

Friday, we learned a lot about Costa Rican geology and how it differs from where we live here in Pittsburgh. For starters, Pittsburgh doesn’t have any volcanoes. Costa Rica on the other hand has more than 5 volcanoes on its isthmus. All the volcanoes in Costa Rica are stratovolcanoes. This means that they have explosive eruptions. When volcanoes have explosive eruptions, they have sticky lava, and eruptions aren’t as frequent.
Because of these types of eruptions, it affects the society a lot. There were several instances to where people, mostly farmers, had to move away because the ash that was coming from the volcanoes wasn’t very healthy. It also ruined the crops they had planted. This is a problem because if the farmers don’t have anything to grow or sell, they won’t make a profit. Also people won’t get the food they need.

Who are the Ticos?

Alyssa, 17
Costa Ricans, also known as ticos, come from a variety of different origins, but share the same traditions and values in their country. These origins include the Spanish, Europeans (mainly German and Swiss), African slaves, and the Natives. Out of the 3.96 million people living in Costa Rica, only 40,000, or 1% are indigenous natives of Costa Rica. This is partially because many of the native Costa Ricans died of sickness when the Spanish colonists came to Costa Rica. Ticos live very peaceful lives, and are considered to be some of the happiest people on Earth. In 1949, after the civil war, Costa Rica created a constitution, in which the army has been abolished ever since. Ticos are proud of their neutrality. In addition, the constitution allowed Africans to be granted citizenship and women were allowed to vote.
Tico society is far from urban, and Costa Rica has the highest rural population density in Latin America. The only true city located in Costa Rica is San Jose, the capital. Rural ticos live a simple life, spending time tending to animals and crops, or as cowboys in Guanacastae. The three most popular crops grown in Costa Rica exported to other countries are bananas, coffee, and sugar. Also, the vast majority of ticos retain ties to the land, including those who live in the city. Homes often have a small garden if they are not located in the rural parts of the country. Costa Rica’s geography includes volcanoes, rainforests, oceans, and beaches. Costa Rica is also considered an isthmus because it is connected to land on the top and bottom, but is otherwise surrounded by water. To the west, the country is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east, the Caribbean Sea. I look forward to being able to see the country of Costa Rica as well as the ticos culture and traditions.

Geology of Costa Rica and how it differs from Pittsburgh

Nathan, 17


During the past two days in class we have been studying the geology of Costa Rica comparing it to Pittsburgh’s. What I gathered from these activities were the different kinds of volcanoes, the types of eruptions, the hazards, and the advantages. There are three types of volcanoes in the world. These are shield, cinder cone, and composite. Shield volcanoes are volcanoes that are made of basaltic lava and that are really flat. Cinder cone volcanoes are made of pyroclastic rock, and these are volcanoes that look like pointy mountains. The last type of volcano is composite volcanoes. These volcanoes are made up of different layer of pyroclastic, and lava flows. Costa Rica is mainly full of composite type volcanoes. These volcanoes mainly have eruptions that are explosive and spew out gases. The hazards of volcanoes in the short run are that the gases are deadly, and lava flows are very dangerous. The advantages of volcanoes are that the heat produced by the lava can be stored and use to produce electricity. Another advantage that volcanoes give is that the ash is very useful for growing coffee beans, and bananas because the soil becomes so rich. The biggest reason to why there are so many volcanoes in Costa Rica and not in Pittsburgh is the tectonic processes of the Earth, and where the plates are located. Costa Rica is on the edge of a convergent boundary which means that the two plates run into each other and form mountains/volcanoes. Pittsburgh on the other hand is nowhere near the edge of a plate boundary which means there are no formations of volcanoes. During the assignments in class we used Google Earth to help us learn about tectonic plates and the volcanoes of Costa Rica. We had to find out where the closest tectonic plate boundary was from Pittsburgh. The closest one to the east is 2,209.41 miles. The closest one to the west is California. Other things we looked at using Google Earth was who close the nearest volcano was to San Jose. The closest volcano is Barva which is 13.29 miles away from the city. Then we had to find out where the closest plate boundary was to Costa Rica. The closest boundary is 90.45 miles off the western coast of Costa Rica. Another interesting fact that I found out was that a lot of the volcanoes in Costa Rica are very active.
All information came from information we learned in class, Google Earth, and the National Geographic Costa Rica Book.

Costa Rican Geology vs. Pittsburgh

Melina, 17

I've learned recently that there are plenty of volcanoes in the country of Costa Rica. Here in Pittsburgh, there aren't any volcanoes because the state isn't located near any tectonic plates that could clash and cause volcanoes/mountains to form. On the other hand, Costa Rica is located between two major tectonic plates, those two being the Caribbean plate eand the Cocos plate. These plates are convergent because they aim towards one another and the plates collide causing volcanoes to form more often throughout Costa Rica. Convergent boundaries form volcanoes that produce andesitic lava, this lave type is sticky, light in color, and has little iron in it. It's known to have highly explosive eruptions when they happen to occur. Out of the major volcanoes in Costa Rica, all but one have andesitic lava and explosive eruptions. One thing they all have in common though it that they all are stratovolcanos meaning they are composite (having explosive/calm eruptions). These volcanoes can affect many of the Costa Rican people at the same time because of the amount of ask that comes from them and gets into the air and causese harm to the surrounding environments. Some of the positive effects that volcanoes have on the environment are the facts that later on down the road these ashes can becme useful because it's full of useful minerals and produces fertile soil for farming. Another advantage of volcanoes is the fact that they provide heat which later turns into electricity, also known as geothermal energy. To Pittsburgh, our closest neighboring volcano would be 1,849.18 miles away. But like mentioned earlier, Pittsburgh doesn't have to deal with active volcano eruptions because of not being surrounded by active tectonic plates that would cause this.

Who are the Ticos?

Emily Stanley, 16

When talking about who “ticos” really are, we seem to think about their government, and past, but what I really think we ought to look at is their real lifestyle that they live every day. One example of this is their religious practices, which consist of 76.3% of the population being Roman Catholic, and 13.7% being Evangelical. Whereas there are much smaller numbers for those who are other religions, such as there being only 1.3% Jehovah's Witnesses, and the other Christian faiths being .7% Protestant. For something completely outside of Christianity, there is the other 4.8%, and 3.2% of the population claim to have no religion at all. However, because of a recent and small immigration from Asia and the Middle East, there are other religions starting to develop more, but specifically Buddhism, but there is a Jewish synagogue in San Jose.

Costa Rica has written and revised its Constitution during all its political trials and tribulations overtime, and through this document, is how they will function in society, as holds true for every society. Costa Rica has one of the most stable countries in its region, which obviously must hold true for its people’s decision making skills, and they have relatively high level educations, and it has a literacy rate of 97% one of the highest in Latin America, making it a very well educated country, more so than most, with educated people.

Though Costa Ricans seem to have an educated mind, they can still enjoy life. While having a well set up government, they have a culturally varied history. Because of the immigration of the Spaniards, the use of Spanish language, and the Catholic religion, it remains to this day some of the main cultural aspects of the country. The old style dances, such as Costa Rican swing are big musical influences in the lives of older citizens, where as things like Reggaeton and American Pop, are most popular among the youth of the country. Through those dances, guitar when accompanied to folk music is a popular aspect of culture. The Department of Culture, Youth, and Sports, runs most funding on these areas, where they are having trouble with funding for smaller activities; the common activities are easily paid for, and remain high quality forms of entertainment. These are a culturally diverse people, who are maintaining a stable government, while still attempting to have an enjoyable life.

- Emily Stanley

Who are the Ticos

The culture of COsta Rica has been revolutionized from its earlier points in that nation's history. Form previous years ago, the culture of this country has evolved into one of the world's most known, unique groups of people. In Costa Rica, what is now known as the Ticos has an amazing story behind it. So who are the Tico's? In today's society, they are simply people who are from and live in Costa Rica. They act like normal teenagers. They like listening to music and dancing. They have a very unique culture. Most of the foods they eat cosnsist of fruits and vegetables. But what was it like in earlier points of Costa Rica's history? The Tico's had developed from groups of different cultures settling in Costa Rica. Some of these cultures included people from Spain, who were intermixed with people from Africa and the Caribbean. The Spanish colonialists settled in the Central Valley wirh other European immigrants. Germans and Italians were slowly moving in and settled with other groups. By the 19th century, larger numbers of immigrants were coming into Costa Rica. These immigrants were intermixing with each other; resulting in mixed-blooded cultures. The Ticos are locally born (crillo) Costa Ricans. According to the National Geographic Traveler Costa Rica, "In Costa Rica, the neglected settlers tilled their fellow Citizens by the ruling cliques, who shared hardships and destitution (in 1719, the governor of Costa Rica complained that he too, had to fill his own land). In this time they had became known as the Ticos". They had been cut off from most outside influence. They had began to develop their own culture and language. Unique vocabulary and slang were just a few examples just to name a few. They have revolutionized Costa Rican culture as a whole and now the majority of Costa Rican people are now considered Ticos.

Who are the Ticos?

Larry Hailsham, 16

There are many things that I know about Costa Rica but there are also many, many things that I wish to learn about the country as well as the natives. A lot of things we’re able to read in books and see in pictures but you don’t really know anything about a country until you’ve visited it and seen the people and have lived with them and experienced what is, Costa Rica. I know that the main religion is Roman Catholic, but I don’t know all the little tiny things such as when do they go to church? Or how big is said church? And what their typical church service is like. Those are things that I would really want to know.

”Costa Ricans like to play soccer”

I only see the answer to the question:

“What sport do many Costa Rican people play?”

I don’t see WHY they enjoy it or anything that has a personal aspect to them. This is why I only know the textual stuff about Costa Rica and not the factual stuff, because nothing is really real when it’s talking about a society until you go in and see the people and see how they live, before that it’s just……. words, just text. Or at least that’s how I view it. I could write all the facts that I learned in this class about the colonization of Costa Rica or the way they reached a democracy or what’s happened there but I don’t feel as though that will make me know “who the ticos are?". But it's something that I will surely know this upcoming April and will be able to answer without hesitation

Shalyce 16

Hi my name is Shalyce,
The reason I want to go on this trip is to help others and have a once in a life time experience. I loved doing the service learning project in 9th grade. I also enjoy when the 10 grade science honors students went to a park and cleaned the creek, and pulled lots of weeds. It was a very funny and fun day and I enjoyed the fact that I was helping. I also want to go on this trip because its something new, and it is an experience that I will be able to tell my kids and grand kids about. I hope to learn more about Latin American culture. I think this will be a very exciting and new thing that me and other student who feel the same way about this trip will take so many things from.