As we left Heredia, we hit some tight, curvy, bumpy roads. Little did I know it was going to lead me to a beautiful mountain in Monte Verde. Although I spent most of the ride sleeping and watching Creed 3 when I did look outside, I saw some very interesting things. When it was not just trees roads there were many little shops, people selling fruits and other things on the street. I think the most important thing I saw though was the construction. This has been a reoccurring topic everywhere we go, even at the coffee plantations. I noticed that a lot of what we considered the beauty of Costa Rica is being torn down into factories and businesses, and I can tell when Costa Ricans talk about it, it does not seem like they know whether to think this is a positive or a negative. On one hand, their beautiful land is getting destroyed but on the other hand this is part of the process and a result of the evolution of Costa Rica.

Don Ricardo’s presentation very much showed me the difference between Costa Rica’s culture and America’s culture. His family were raised and grew up as Quakers (they do not believe in solving their problems with violence). When they got drafted for the war in America and they made an appeal not to fight and got sentenced to a year in prison. Once they got out early for good behavior, they decided to leave to come to Monteverde. When they came here they started they own business and helped with the upbringing out Monteverde. In contrast, to the US Costa Ricans would come to Monte Verde to meet and learn about Quakers, and to even buy and try their products. I am usually not one to judge but learning this made me look at Costa Rica more positively but really told me something about America at the same time.