Fulbrighter of the Year event

Earlier this week I was graciously invited to attend the Fulbrighter of the Year event at the Museo de Jade here in San Jose, Costa Rica. The event was held to honor Dra. Sonia Marta Mora, who is the Ministra de Educación in Costa Rica, and completed a Fulbright in Pittsburgh several years ago. I arrived to the event a few minutes late, and was ushered in to an auditorium by some of the folks at the U.S. Embassy because the President was to enter last. I wasn’t sure who they were referring to, and thought perhaps it was to the President of the Fulbright Association in Costa Rica. To my surprise, after taking my seat in the auditorium the President of Costa Rica himself entered the room!

The presentation of the award was very lovely, with the US Ambassador and Costa Rican President both making remarks. President Luis Guillermo Solis was himself a two time Fulbrighter and Ambassador Haney knew Senator Fulbright personally. Dra. Sonia Marta Mora also shared some words on her experiences, and it was inspiring to hear how Fulbright had provided so many opportunities to so many people. At the end of the ceremony all of the Costa Rican Fulbright alumni gathered for a picture and I was invited to jump in too.

Costa Rican Fulbright alumni

 

Following the ceremony, there was a reception in the hall with some light snacks and drinks. Some of the ladies from the Embassy helped me to meet President Solis, and it was such an amazing encounter. We chatted for a few minutes on my Fulbright project, and he seemed genuinely interested in my work. I feel privileged to have had this unexpected opportunity, and it inspired me to truly make the best of my time down here by giving back to the wonderful country of Costa Rica.

Meeting el Presidente!

 

Taking a second for a posed shot with President Solis

NYE in Puerto Viejo

After spending a lovely couple of days back in Florida, enjoying time with friends and family in the sun, I made my way back to Costa Rica to ring in the New Year. I arrived back in San Jose feeling a little sad to leave so many people that I love behind, but I figured a trip down to the Caribbean coast would help solve that. I left at the crack of dawn on Friday morning and arrived to the coast by around 10am. The bus to Puerto Viejo, the Caribbean town I chose to stay in for the weekend, literally drops you off on the Caribbean coast.. not a bad start to the weekend!

Puerto Viejo bus stop views..

As soon as I got into my hostel, Rockin J’s, I befriended the girls in my room and headed to the beach with them. We went to Playa Cocles, a short ten minute walk from the hostel and lounged in the sand with quick dips in the Caribbean sea. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with blue skies, bluer water, and lush forest along the coastline. After a few hours lying on the beach, my stomach began to rumble so I left the group of girls to head into town and find a bite to eat. I ended up at Puerto Pirata, a cute shop with sandwiches, fruits, coffee and more right on the water. There wasn’t a lot of room so I shared a table with Muchekwa, a lovely woman traveling the world from South Africa. After eating a delicious fruit salad and papaya juice, I went with Muchekwa for a stroll along Playa Negra, named so because it has black, volcanic sand. We watched the sun slowly set as we strolled, and were joined by an adorable pup for most of our walk. It was a fantastic start to the New Year’s weekend.

The view from Playa Cocles

Pathway behind my hostel leading into town

Sun beginning to set in downtown Puerto Viejo

Dusk in PV

The following day, Saturday, started off a little rainy. The girls in my room decided to cancel their trip to Cahuita National Park, but I decided that a little rain seemed like the perfect atmosphere to stroll through the coastal rainforest of Cahuita. I hopped on a bus there without really knowing any details, so once I arrived I asked some fellow tourists, a man from France and a woman from Germany, for directions and I ended up spending the whole day with them. Cahuita is the only park in Costa Rica that is donation based, which is nice because often the parks have really high prices (comparatively speaking) for foreigners. Cahuita is known for its coral reefs, tropical rainforest, swamp forests, and many animal sightings. I did the full 8+ km trek with my new buddies, and we definitely saw our fair share of wildlife despite the rainy weather. All together we saw a sloth, several capuchins, raccoons, a yellow snake, ghost crabs, toucans, and several other birds. It was a really fun and muddy hike with several river crossings. After the hike we hitchhiked back to town with a Swiss couple and scarfed down some pizza. We made plans to meet up later that night to ring in NYE.

Sloth!

Little capuchin chilling

Later in the evening, I went to the hostel across the street where I met up with a motley crue representing the USA, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Costa Rica. We made our way downtown to a bar on the beach and spent a lot of the night dancing in the sand and watching fireworks. It was a great way to ring in 2017, and though I missed my friends and family back in the States, I was happy to experience a Caribbean coast NYE too!

NYE with new buddies from France and Germany

Things got a little blurry..

I spent the next day lounging on the beach and drinking fruit juices until my bus left back to San Jose. Bring it on 2017!