One of the places high on my bucket-list was visiting Monteverde, a stunningly green cloud forest nestled in the Tilarán mountain range, and home to an abundance of thriving flora and fauna. My friend Sam and I planned a 3-day trip to Monteverde during the first weekend in March (1st-3rd). We savored every moment of our excursion, from zip-lining through the jungle trees, hiking to a tranquil waterfall, devouring delicious meals, and relaxing at our little hostel in Santa Elena, the main town in the Monteverde region. Here are some highlights from our memorable trip:

On Friday afternoon, Sam and I left San José by bus and arrived in Santa Elena craving some good food. Some other friends of ours were also on the same bus, coincidentally! We all went to a Soda La Amistad, which is a Costa Rican family-owned restaurant near our hostel. I had a very filling vegan casado, which is a traditional Costa Rican dish of rice, beans, picadillo (finely chopped, stir-fried vegetables), salad, avocado, and fried plantains. Is your mouth watering yet?

On Saturday morning, Sam and I had an absolute blast on our zip-lining adventure! I registered with The Original Canopy Tour, and with the help of two excellent guides, we soared through the jungle like exuberant birds. It was my first time zip-lining, and I felt very supported since the guides’ first priority was our safety. We were in a small group with other tourists, as well, so it was fun to hear different languages being spoken, as well as having more Spanish practice. Sam and I are both advanced Spanish-speakers, so we conversed in the language about 95% of the time, between ourselves and with locals. We were gifted with extraordinary weather: mostly sunny, with some cloud cover, and a bit cooler temperatures since we were at a higher altitude. It was the perfect reprieve from the sweltering climate in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, where our homestays are located

After zip-lining, Sam and I discovered Gustico, a restaurant in Santa Elena, to fill our bellies. We both ordered the vegan burger with fries, and it, was, so, good… as you can tell by this photo:

After lunch, we decided to seek out Catarata Los Murciélagos, a hidden gem in Monteverde. It was a 20-minute walk from Santa Elena to the main entrance, where we met a kind woman and paid our fee to visit the waterfall. We wandered down the stair-stepped pathway and found ourselves in a forested, shadowed area that featured a murmuring creek, towering trees with extensive roots that hung from the rocky hillsides, and the shining diamond of a waterfall. We rested in this little haven for a while, and when we felt the raindrops melt into our skin, it was pure bliss.

Later that evening, when we were returning to the hostel, we stopped at a lookout point to view the sunset. There was quite a tourist crowd, but we managed to catch a glimpse of the burning red and orange hues on the horizon. It was raining a bit, and we saw nature’s miracle of two rainbows, like colorful arms embracing the last paint stroke of blue sky.

Saturday night was pretty chill; we ate dinner, played the ukelele / sang in our hostel room, and headed to bed since we were pretty exhausted.

On Sunday morning, Sam and I knew it was essential to visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. According to Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve, the reserve is managed by the Tropical Science Center, which a Costa Rican environmental organization. Established in 1962, the TSC has made strides in conservation, research, ecotourism, and sustainable development in Costa Rica.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to reserve tickets online, but the receptionist gave us some helpful advice, and we were able to secure direct transportation to the reserve, where we purchased tickets using a student discount. We arrived at the reserve pretty early, at 7am, to secure our spots.

There are several trails that twist and turn throughout the reserve, and offer an immersive cloud forest experience. As we hiked through the reserve, we felt the water droplets that hung in the atmosphere and the soft dirt give way beneath our feet. The birds were calling and crying out in sounds we’d never heard before, akin to scraping metal, wind chimes, dissonant screeches, and high-pitched chirps. The dew clung to the moss, leaves, and plants. Often, Sam and I stopped to observe our surroundings and to exchange looks of pure awe. Sometimes you don’t realize how fascinating and wondrous nature is until you’re immersed in a novel environment with diverse sights, sounds, and smells. It’s a humbling experience.

Monteverde was worth every precious cent, and I would go again in a heartbeat. I’m so grateful I had this rare opportunity. After our 2+ hour hike through the reserve, we headed back to Santa Elena for a scrumptious and well-deserved lunch.

We bode farewell to Santa Elena and Monteverde in the afternoon, and boarded the bus back to San José. It was probably one of my favorite weekends I’ve had in Costa Rica. Thank you, Sam, for the fun memories, laughter, and good times!

I’m writing this blog post with only one week remaining in Costa Rica. It’s bittersweet, the prospect of saying goodbye to the people and places you’ve come to know and love. My heart feels tied to Costa Rica in a way I didn’t expect. At the same time, I’ve missed my friends and family in Washington. I know that when Saturday, March 16th comes around, I’ll be ready to depart. It won’t be a forever goodbye, but a “see you later”. Meanwhile, my intention is to make the most of every day, and to cherish each moment I have left with my dear friends.

Thanks for reading ❤️

¡Hola! I wanted to share some of my experiences volunteering at SiNEM (El Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical), a children’s music center in the Desemparados neighborhood of San José. My role at SiNEM is to assist the students and professors in their music classes. From Monday through Thursday, I attend different classes and my role varies a bit; I might play the piano, help teach a lesson, engage in activities, or simply observe. I collaborate with the same professors (profes) and each class builds upon the previous week’s lesson. In the evenings, sometimes I observe an orchestra rehearsal. Here is what today’s schedule consisted of:

• 1:30pm: Arrive at SiNEM and get settled in. Warm up my voice and look over any notes from the previous day or week.
• 2:00pm: Attend my first class, “Primera Infancia”, with Profe Esteban. This is an introductory music course for younger kids (around ages 4-6) and their parents accompany them. Today, we focused on singing scales (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do) up and down. The kids are doing great! Profe Esteban asked me to share an exercise for tuning the voice, and I instructed the class to sing silly glissandos (think of an ambulance’s noise) and to listen intently to middle-C when I played it on the piano. My goal was to have the kids warm up their voices and to start to hear the difference between high- and low-pitched sounds. The kids were pretty funny as they made all sorts of noises. I’m not sure if the exercise or my explanation (in Spanish) helped, but luckily Profe Esteban stepped in to provide some guidance and structure. Later, we practiced basic rhythms (whole note, half note, quarter note) using “ta” syllables. It’s been helpful to learn music theory terms in Spanish, and it’s exciting to watch little kids learn how to read music. There’s always a lot of laughter involved!
• 3:00pm: Attend my second class, “Iniciación Musical”, which is a music appreciation class designed for late elementary-school students (maybe ages 10-12) and taught by the fabulous Profe Fabiola. There are about six students in the class, and each week we’ve been learning about different instruments: the flute, oboe, violin, viola, clarinet, saxophone, contrabass, and bassoon. Fabiola is a professional clarinetist and saxophonist, and today she played us a few songs on her clarinet, which the students loved. Later, some of the kids shared a few music tracks they’ve been listening to. I like this course because Fabiola introduces us to a variety of musical instruments and genres, and encourages the kids to explore their interests.
• 3:55pm: Snack break! I headed to the staff lounge and chatted a few professors, including Guiselle, who is my supervisor. I also saw Aaron, who is a guitar instructor and we had an interesting conversation about pura vida (“pura life”); he told me that pura vida is a greeting, or how someone might answer to “¿Cómo está?” or “How are you?” (Aaron had replied “¡Pura vida!” when I asked, ¿Cómo está usted?”) Pura vida usually means more than just “I’m fine”; it means that someone is doing very well, and it always has a positive connotation. You can also use pura vida to say goodbye, yes, sounds good, etc. Pura vida is a Costa Rican phrase and mindset, as it signifies a relaxed, joyful existence, where people appreciate each other and their natural environment.
• 4:00pm: Attend my third class, “Iniciación Musical”, which is a music theory class for high-school students, and taught by Profe William. We’ve been studying time signatures (métricas), and I’ve assisted quite a bit with writing exercises on the whiteboard, providing instruction and one-on-one feedback to students. Today, I wrote time signatures (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4) along with four measures for each one. The students had to invent a series of rhythms for each time signature. I noticed that some students were picking it up right away, and others needed a bit more guidance. So I circled around the room, answered questions, and provided the best feedback that I could. Explaining music theory in Spanish can sometimes be challenging, but it’s excellent practice! Teaching music in a second language is definitely rewarding when the lightbulb turns on in a student’s head.
• 5:00pm: Observe an orchestra rehearsal in the auditorium. The intermediate-level string orchestra is led by Guiselle, and I had the opportunity to watch them rehearse one of their pieces. Although everything is conducted in Spanish, I think that a musician who speaks another language could probably follow along due to the context. For example, by listening to the solfège syllables that the students were reciting, and following the conductor’s cues – strong beats and dynamics – and hearing each person “ta” (enunciate) or clap the rhythms, a musician-observer could recognize and appreciate the orchestra rehearsal. It all felt like a familiar environment for me, being a musician with experience in ensemble performance. In this specific case, knowing Spanish certainly allows you to pick up on every little detail, but the universality of music-ed culture may transcend linguistic boundaries.
• 6:00pm: (Unexpectedly) attend the class “Lenguaje Musical”, which is a music theory / aural skills class for teens and young adults. I don’t usually go to the evening classes, but I needed to make-up some hours so I came to this class. I met a group of ticos that were around my age, and they were welcoming and friendly. We reviewed key signatures (armaduras) and how to write them in three clefs: G-clef (la clave de sol), F-clef (la clave de fa), and C-clef (la clave de do). Interestingly, musicians in the Spanish-speaking world refer to the notes by their solfège syllable and use a fixed do-system. So rather than saying “C major”, they refer to the key as “Do mayor” (literally “do major”). This was something I had to get used to from day one! Also, we practiced simple sight-singing and clapping rhythms (right hand, left hand, or both hands).
• 7:00pm: Depart for home after a long day! I took the bus.

Sometimes I find there are more similarities rather than differences between the music education in Costa Rica and the music education in the U.S. However, I acknowledge that the music education at SiNEM is just one representation or example of how and what students are learning in Costa Rica. I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to even visit SiNEM, as well as collaborate with the students and professors. With less than two weeks left, I hope to continue building my relationships with others and being a supportive helper and ally.

*Sorry for the lack of photos. It would be unethical to take pictures of others, especially children and families, and post them without their permission, so I am refraining from that. Thanks for understanding.

Hi all! Can you believe it’s already March? February seemed to have flown out the window, and now I have two more weeks left in Costa Rica. I wanted to share some of my recent travels in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, which are both tourist-y towns on the Atlantic coast; I visited these towns the weekend of Feb. 16-18 with a tour group of 6 students, including myself. Here are some highlights:

• Visiting the Bribri Indigenous Reserve, located in Talamanca, to learn about the largest indigenous community in Costa Rica, the Watsi. We received a tour from an elder of the Bribri family, who showed us the medicinal plants, natural wildlife (frogs!), cultural traditions and history.
• Learning how to make chocolate by roasting cacao beans, grinding the beans, and churning them into a puree, which is added to boiling water. Then, it’s poured into a cup with a little sugar… sooo delicious!
• Spending time at the beach! We hung out at Punta Uva, a popular beach spot, and grabbed lunch in Puerto Viejo.
• Taking an evening stroll and spending time at Playa Negra, which is a black sand beach. I had never seen anything like it!
• Staying at a hotel in Cahuita, and devoured some traditional Costa Rican dishes, such as casado (rice, beans, salad, and fried plantains).
• Walking in Cahuita National Park, including the beach. It was pretty rainy and didn’t follow a tour guide, so we decided to watch the beautiful waves.

The following video is of me, stirring and roasting the chocolate beans at the Bribri Indigenous Reserve.

The following weekend (Feb. 23-24) my roommate Clarissa and I planned a trip to Manuel Antonio, a tourist attraction with an expansive, beautiful beach, active wildlife, and stunning sights all around. We lodged at a nearby hostel, ate delicious falafels, and hung out at the beach mostly. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well that weekend, and the heat was really affecting me, so I didn’t get to enjoy Manuel Antonio as much as I would have liked, but we still had a good time! On our way home Sunday, we stopped in a neighboring town, Quepos, while we waited for the bus. The weather ended up being gorgeous, and I was able to dip my toes into the Atlantic. I ended up getting into the water fully (because why not?) and had a few lovely conversations with some locals at an art market, and a friendly guy who was out fishing with his son. After that, Clarissa and I boarded the bus back to San José. Overall, it was a busy and enjoyable weekend!