Today, we had a long bus ride from Heredia to Monte Verde. Throughout the drive, I noticed many things similar to what I had come to know in Heredia, along with new and different sights on the ride up the mountains. In terms of the people, I did not notice any differences between the people of Heredia and Monteverde. One obvious difference is that Heredia is more of a city with heavy traffic, and Monteverde is all green forest with little traffic on the winding roads. Another small thing I noticed was all of the cemeteries on the drive up the mountain. At first, I thought it was kind of odd how many cemeteries we saw, but after I thought about it, it started to make sense to me. Being put to rest in a nice quiet mountain sounds peaceful. Sorry to whoever has to grade this, I don’t mean to be morbid, but I slept a lot of the bus ride and didn’t notice a lot other than the pretty views of the mountains and valleys at the end.
On the topic of peace, the talk about the Quakers was enlightening and did not match my current perceptions of Costa Rica. I really did not expect the story of the Quakers settling in Costa Rica. The story really changed my perceptions, and I found it interesting that the Quakers were so devoted to peace that they completely uprooted themselves from their homes to live in a completely foreign land to them. The way they integrated themselves into the Costa Rican economy and culture seemed fairly harmonious, which I find impressive considering the history of other settlers and natives. It was a fun ride, and I look forward to spending more time in Monte Verde.