Yesterday at dinner, I told our host mom Patricia that we were going to take a trip to Monteverde for a couple days, and in response she explained the differences she knew between the mountain town and her hometown of Heredia. She said that Monteverde, known for having rolling hills, high humidity, and lots of rain, was one of her favorite places outside of Heredia. Heredia tends to be more sunny and warm, while Monteverde has the prototypical wet season weather of unexpected rain and cooler temperatures. Being in Monteverde, I can easily say my host mom is correct. Additionally, I noticed the community representation in Monteverde was much more scattered compared to Heredia. Monteverde had small individual neighborhoods in different areas while in Heredia, outside of the town center, were all connecting neighborhoods. While I have yet to visit the town center of Monteverde, my first impressions of the town were completely different than those of Heredia, but I’m interested in comparing the two throughout the next couple of days.
Looking back over the past five days, I have to say my perception of Costa Rica changed in that I did not think about how friendly the people are. Whether we’re on the bus, taking an Uber, or just walking the streets, most people are either smiling or waving to us as we pass by. Furthermore, my relationship with my host mom has blossomed in the past few days despite the language barrier. Still, this has helped the skill of Spanish for both myself and my roommate, Zach. I’ve enjoyed looking back on how much has changed in the past few days, and I’m excited to have a couple days in a new city living with everyone on this trip.