On Apr. 1, 2015, Ms. Ruthanne Gudzan and several FHS students flew south to Costa Rica for a nine-day trip to see the country. This group included 21 FHS students, Ms. Ruthanne Gudzan, Mr. Craig Atkison and 5 adult chaperones. Anyone who had taken a Spanish course, had good academic standings and have a good behavior record was eligible to go on this trip for a cost of about $2180. Those who went on the trip fundraised this money by selling Yankee Candles and selling Spanish Club t-shirts.

The group took an hour and a half flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and then boarded another plane for a 4 hour flight to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. Costa Rica operates on Mountain Time, which means the group had to adjust being two hours behind Pennsylvania time.

“The days felt longer. The sun rose at 4:30 a.m. and set at 6:30 p.m,” Senior Nate Lewis said.

They spent the rest of the first day travelling, exploring the hotel and shopping at a local mall. The second day is when their adventures really began. To start their day, they took a coffee tour at a coffee plantation. Afterwards, they went to Poas Volcano and even went all the way to the very top, 9000 feet above sea level, where they could see the mouth of the volcano.

The third day of their trip was their “water day.”  In the morning, they climbed up 450 steps down to the La Fortuna Waterfall and went kayaking. After eating lunch, they visited the town, La Fortuna and visited  hot springs before heading back to their hotel.

On the fourth day of their trip, they visited a local school and Monteverde. Most of the group went ziplining, which many of them expressed was one of their favorite activities from the trip.

“The activity I was looking forward to the most [before] was zip lining,” Senior Mariah Forsythe said.

That night they went up to an overlook to watch the sunset and to enjoy all the stars at night where Senior Jake Beckey gave them a mini astronomy lesson about the stars in the sky.

On the fifth day, they spent most of their day outside learning about the nature in Costa Rica. They took a nature walk through the Cloud Forest and had the opportunity to plant and name their own trees. Later on that day, group members were given the opportunity to tour around the nearby town during the day. Some of the group chose to embark on a tour that night with flashlights to see night creatures and animals.

The day after that, the sixth day of their trip, the group travelled to the coast and took a sky tram over the forest, followed by a walk through a butterfly garden. They then travelled back to their hotel located on the beach, and were able to swim in the hotel pool and take walks on the beach which featured volcanic sand.

On the seventh day of the trip, the group visited a national park, which included two beaches, and got the opportunity to explore around and swim in the ocean. That night the group was able to watch the sunset from the beach next to their hotel, and they had a clear view of the Milky Way.

On their last exploration day in Costa Rica, they travelled back to San Jose and toured the city. That night they visited the family that Gudzan lived with when she studied abroad in Costa Rica during college. While they were with Gudzan’s former host family, they were taught how to Salsa dance and a few other dances as well. They ended their day by going out to dinner and resting at the hotel all night before going back to the airport at 4 a.m. for their 7:35 a.m. flight to Atlanta to return home.

“On the last night some of us stayed up all night. There is a two hour jump forward on the way home. That was the longest I’ve ever stayed up straight,” Lewis said.

The students had the opportunity to learn a lot about Costa Rica’s culture that they can now apply it to their Spanish classes.

“I think the students were able to learn a lot about the culture of Costa Rica while we were there. They definitely had many opportunities to practice their Spanish with the locals,” Gudzan said.