Carly: Sunsets and Stars

       As of tomorrow, I have been here a full month, and I am getting pretty used to the routine of living in Nosara at this point. I have started working at the Nosara Performing Arts Academy a few times a week, and my other time outside of school is spent surfing or with friends. While Nosara is a beautiful community and I love everything and everyone here, the one thing that never ceases to amaze me are the sunsets. I never thought about how we can't really see the sunsets in Houston until I got here. Now I get to watch the sun set everyday. One of my favorite parts of surfing is just being out on the water and watching the sunset over the ocean (surfing itself is pretty fun too though; I am improving a lot). I think this act of seeing the sunset everyday is good for my health. It grounds me, makes me appreciate the Earth more, and has set my internal body clock right. I have not slept past 8:00 in the morning a single day since I've been here. My internal clock is up and ready to go soon after the sun rises and ready to go to sleep by 9:30. It is a great feeling to have a consistent routine that really feels healthy.
       Another amazing thing here is the stars. You can actually see them when the moon isn't too bright. When we went to see the turtles lay eggs a few weeks ago, I was stunned at how dark it is without light pollution and how many stars I could see. It was beautiful.

Carly: De Alumno a Profesor

       El Lunes, me mudé a una casa diferente con la familia de alguien en mi clase. Me gusta mucho su familia, y es interesante para vivir en una parte diferente de Nosara. Debido a que estamos hablando más español que en mi casa anterior, decidí hacer mi primer blog en español.
       Ha llovido unas pocas veces hoy y ayer. Aparentemente, esto es muy extraño. En Houston, es común tener lluvia durante todo el año, pero aquí, hay una estación húmeda y una estación seca. Es muy interesante cómo estar más cerca del ecuador hace que los patrones climáticos sean tan diferentes.
      El Martes, empecé enseñar una clase de canto con otra estudiante de Del Mar. Fue divertido, pero también difícil. La clase tuvo muchos estudiantes de Del Mar, entonces ya conocía muchos de ellos. Pienso que sera una experiencia buena para enseñar los clases (también ayudo enseñar un clase de teatro) y también es una manera buena para pisar afuera de mi zona de confort y conocer personas diferentes en la comunidad de Nosara. Aparentemente, las noticias viajan rápido, porque un mujer ya ha me preguntado a enseñar su hija, cual es emocionante para mi.

Carly: Fiestas and Goodbyes

       Andrew and Ilan left on Thursday and the whole school was sad to see them go. This is a testament to how quickly we bonded with everyone and formed such a tight community in the three weeks they were here. I feel like we have already made friendships that will last a long time. Shockingly, the person who misses them the most, besides me, is Dr. Gabriel's son Ricky. While very shy at first, Ricky quickly warmed up and became very attached to all of us. After the boys left, he told me that he wished they were his real brothers. I know he, along with the rest of the school will be thrilled if they ever come back to visit.
       While this was a sad week for most of the high school at Del Mar, they were also very excited because Las Fiestas was this weekend. I would describe Las Fiestas as a mix between a carnival and rodeo. It lasts three or four days and comes once or twice a year, I think. I went on Saturday night. There were many different activities, and it was also just a great time to hang out with friends and meet new people. It felt like a good look a the community and culture of Nosara because it was the most people I have seen gathered in one place here and it seemed like more of a local crowd.
       Overall, this has been another great week in Nosara. I'm thrilled that I still have two more months here, but I wish the boys could have stayed too.

Coming To An End: Ilan

Today was our final day of a full school day because Wednesday’s are half days here at Del Mar Academy. As I look back on the trip, I just keep thinking about the humbleness and caring the people here are. I truly feel like I have become a part of the community here, and I will be very sad to be leaving it all.
Reflecting on our second to last day, today we had IB course classes (EE work time, CAS work time) which was really interesting to get to attend because I got to see how differently the same curriculum is taught here in Costa Rica. One of the main things I noticed from these clases was mainly in CAS, how focused they are on completing their service section out in the community by picking up trash on the beach, or helping people to develop a good method to recycle. I thought this was really cool to see first hand and will be something I definitely take back home with me.
After school, I ended my day with another surf session which was spectacular today, and as I am now much better than when I first got here, it is really enjoyable to catch waves and have fun with friends in the water.

Today’s sunset after an amazing surf session!

Carly: Our Happy Environment

       In Nosara, the three "main activities" are surfing, horseback riding, and yoga. As of today, I have officially tried two of them. At the end of another amazing weekend, I went riding with a new friend of mine whose family owns several horses. They live in a part of Nosara that I had not yet been to, and riding horses was a great way to explore that land. One of the many amazing things about Nosara is that you are always only about 20 minutes from both the ocean and the mountains. Both of these environments offer different exciting activities as well as different looks at the beautiful land. Riding was my first "mountain experience," and it was a blast. Watching the sunset while we were riding was incredible and completely different from watching it from the beach. I can understand why the people living here try to be very eco-friendly and focus on protecting their environments. They live in such a beautiful place, and they want it to stay that way in years to come.
       This has been mentioned in several previous blogs, but it can't be stressed enough how much people love their lives here. I think the environment really contributes to how much joy people feel living here. I have read that being in nature, or even just seeing trees can improve your mood, and in Nosara it almost always feels like you are outside surrounded by nature. Even at school, the campus is mainly outdoor space. I think that being near other people who feel this joy in their environment is contagious; positive, happy people make you happier, so the overall effect is a feeling of connectivity and happiness in everyone. I feel so lucky for the opportunity to be living in this community of people and this beautiful nature. I hope that Andrew, Ilan, and I will bring some of the peace and happiness we feel back with us to Houston to share with others.

Andrew: The Social Environment

Now that we are two weeks into our trip, our social interactions with students at Del Mar have changed greatly... For the better. Understandably, there was some awkwardness as we first started to integrate ourselves into Del Mar's and Nosara's environment, but it feels like we've almost fully merged into the school and friend groups here. 

As I wrote about in my last post, the lifestyle and environment here seems to have a huge impact on the people. Specifically, their attitudes and interactions. Despite being in a high school environment, the complications of teenage social interactions seem lessened significantly. The social situation at Del Mar has stood out to me as one featuring extreme inclusion. 'Friend groups' exist, as they do in other high schools, but each student integrates into the entire community more than I have ever seen at home.

I believe that, despite the largely positive outlook in our posts, I feel that we acknowledge should some of the perspectives of the Del Mar students as well. They seem to agree that the social situation is more casual and the Costa Rican environment has a positive impact on their lives, but there are certainly trade offs from living in a city like Houston. The students have mentioned difficulties with their college and career paths; They say that Del Mar (and IB) prepares them for college in America, but that isn't a realistic path for everyone, despite their education. It's important to recognize these distinctions as short-term exchange students, as we still have a relatively limited perspective.

Despite any of the negative aspects, it still seems that every student loves Nosara, as do I, Carly, and Ilan. This has been an incredibly valuable opportunity and I feel a bit sad thinking about our departure date. In the future, I hope that this exchange program will continue, and by the time I am in college, I hope Del Mar students will have the opportunity to come to Houston.

Ilan: After School Activities

I have been so impressed with the passion students here have for the activities they do after school. I say this because here in Nosara, there are many less options for things to do after school than in Houston, and the motivation they have to make the most of the activities is amazing. So far, I have committed most of my after school time to surfing which I am very happy with. I have been going with the other students that surf and I have been learning from them. One of the things I really like about surfing after school with the students is that they are very patient with me, giving me tips in the water, and they also help me understand the important details of surfing. From the beach it may look simple, but I have been learning how to read the waves to understand when a good set of waves are coming, and how the wind is moving the waves, and how to anticipate the size of a wave and where it will be best to surf all from the water. I would not have known any of this without the help from the students, and I am really glad I get to surf with them after school because it turns into a very social activity as well (we also surf during sunset which is amazing!!).
Today was the first day of soccer practice which is another after school activity. Although it is practice for their competitive  soccer team, the happiness and joy On the field while I played with them was something I had never experienced during a sport team practice which made me realize how important it is to enjoy whatever I’m doing to the maximum.
Just from these two activities that I have been doing after school and on the weekend, I have learned so much about the ocean, about myself, and about the people I am with and it is allowing me to make amazing new friendships I would not have without these activities.