A major part of Costa Rica's economy is the coffee industry. Not being a coffee drinker and not knowing much about how coffee is grown, harvested, roasted, OR selected I found our visit to a coffee bean plantation extremely interesting. This first picture shows coffee beans from many different locations (altitudes, humidities, and soil types) around Costa Rica. A Costa Rican entity goes through all coffee that is to be exported or sold within Costa Rica and tests them to ensure quality aroma and taste. They smell, feel, view and taste all different types of coffee to ensure that they are of highest of quality. I never knew there was such a strict process that was followed.
Check me out, smelling the amazingly beautiful aroma of freshly brewed coffee beans. Actually, I thought this part was kind of weird and don't really understand the dynamics of how many different smells coffee can have.
While I was there I was able to attend the LDS Temple in San Jose. This picture obviously doesn't do justice (it was taken with my iPhone while I was on the move....in the dark), but the temple was beautiful (here is a link to see a better picture, http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-122-2,00.html)
I had an amazing time flying through the jungles (actually cloud forests, which are the same as rain forests just at higher altitudes) on zip lines. The experience was amazing and adrenaline-pumping. Don't I look comfortable in that harness!!
Costa Rica (Rich Coast) isn't Costa Rica without going to the beach. I went to a beach on the Pacific Coast with a group of MBA students from Thunderbird (AZ). The beach was absolutely stunning. The dark sand that warmed up so much that when the incoming waves hit it it would steam was breathtaking. The hills covered with foliage behind the beach was picturesque. And the beatiful Great White Sharks swimming the shores were ginormous!.....jk!! We had a great time though, and I was thrilled to buy my cool sunglasses for $4!
Need I say more? Probably not!
Here is a really neat picture of part of the cloud forest. This tree here is actually the roots of a tree that has grown around a "host tree". The reason that there are holes through the tree is because the "host tree" trunk was squeezed by the new tree roots and ended up dying and rotting away. The experience at the "cloud forest" of Monte Verde was extremely interesting. Costa Rica has prided itself in making Eco-Tourism a top priority and now I know why.
Even though we were in Costa Rica during the dry season we were able to experience a huge down-pour that was extremely beautiful. About 10 seconds after I felt the first drop the rain came down like cats and dogs (or should I say gatos y perros....hah!). It only lasted for 30 minutes or so but it was definitely pouring.
One of the most memorable/crazy/scary/fun parts of the 2 week study abroad session was the 6.1 earthquake that occurred. The picture below is about 30 seconds after the earthquake when almost everyone (at least locals) was calling family and friends on their cell phones to make sure they were safe. I had just entered the classroom when all of the sudden a rumble started that lasted what seemed to be minutes. White debris started falling from the ceiling, light fixtures started falling down, and the few other students that were in the class either hid under their desks (thanks to Ms. Packard for teaching me that in 1st grade) or ran out of the building. Since most of the Ticos (Costa Rican natives) were running out of the building I decided to follow suit. After the quake there were tons of after-shocks. The US Geologic Dept. said that there were over 100 after-shocks but I only felt 20 or so. One of them happened about 5:45am the next morning....speaking of which, it is a crazy-weird feeling to wake up to an earthquake....I thought it was my phone alarm on vibrate mode until the vibrate started shaking the WHOLE BED!
In the end we (members of the Carlson group) all got out safe even though over 20 people died from the quake whose epicenter was only 20 miles away at a volcano. A professor that was travelling with us and a fellow student's wife (who is expecting) were visiting the volcano (Poas) where the epicenter occurred when the earthquake hit. They were stranded on top of the volcano for around 36 hours due to a huge land slide that wiped out the road. They ended up hiking out for over 3 hours to get to civilization. Crazy, and yet fun for me....the last time I felt a single earthquake was in Utah when I was about 9 years old or so. For the first 3 weeks or so after getting back from Costa Rica I thought that any movement whatsoever (like our neighbors in the apartment complex coming up the common area stairs) was an earthquake.
One of the most memorable/crazy/scary/fun parts of the 2 week study abroad session was the 6.1 earthquake that occurred. The picture below is about 30 seconds after the earthquake when almost everyone (at least locals) was calling family and friends on their cell phones to make sure they were safe. I had just entered the classroom when all of the sudden a rumble started that lasted what seemed to be minutes. White debris started falling from the ceiling, light fixtures started falling down, and the few other students that were in the class either hid under their desks (thanks to Ms. Packard for teaching me that in 1st grade) or ran out of the building. Since most of the Ticos (Costa Rican natives) were running out of the building I decided to follow suit. After the quake there were tons of after-shocks. The US Geologic Dept. said that there were over 100 after-shocks but I only felt 20 or so. One of them happened about 5:45am the next morning....speaking of which, it is a crazy-weird feeling to wake up to an earthquake....I thought it was my phone alarm on vibrate mode until the vibrate started shaking the WHOLE BED!
In the end we (members of the Carlson group) all got out safe even though over 20 people died from the quake whose epicenter was only 20 miles away at a volcano. A professor that was travelling with us and a fellow student's wife (who is expecting) were visiting the volcano (Poas) where the epicenter occurred when the earthquake hit. They were stranded on top of the volcano for around 36 hours due to a huge land slide that wiped out the road. They ended up hiking out for over 3 hours to get to civilization. Crazy, and yet fun for me....the last time I felt a single earthquake was in Utah when I was about 9 years old or so. For the first 3 weeks or so after getting back from Costa Rica I thought that any movement whatsoever (like our neighbors in the apartment complex coming up the common area stairs) was an earthquake.
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