OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015
Experiencing Costa Rica
This isn’t
textbook learning
AHS student tells of trip to Costa Rica.
By RACHEL LERTORA
For The Daily Astorian
F
or high school students, spring break
usually means a week free from
teachers, classes and learning.
However, that was not the case for
me and eight other Astoria High School
and 10 Seaside High School students this
spring. Personally, I had been counting
down to spring break 2015 all year. The
nine-day trip was organized by Garret
Parks, Beth Cornell and Lee Cain of
Astoria High School and Anne Lynes of
Seaside High. In total, the group of 31
was made up of students, teachers, moms
and in-laws, all eager to experience Costa
Rica through the country’s beautiful land-
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Even before the plane landed in San
Jose on March 19, amazing sights of the
Costa Rican landscape were visible as we
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Sea and volcanoes.
Beginning our trip on the Caribbean
side in Tortuguero, we explored the shores
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we kayaked on Lake Arenal at the foot of
volcanoes. We also witnessed incredible
views of Monteverde while zip-lining
hundreds of feet in the air across canyons
a quarter-mile wide. We even concluded
our trip the last day by whitewater raft-
ing 7 miles of Class 3 and 4 rapids on
the Sarapiqui River. In addition to these
bucket-list experiences, when it comes
to experiencing the landscape of Costa
Rica, my favorite activity was horseback
riding.
Going where no tourist would think
a tour bus should drive, we arrived at a
small farm on Day 5 and hitched a ride
through the Costa Rican countryside.
We rode by horseback for an hour to
the bottom of a canyon with natural hot
springs. As some of us dipped our feet in
the springs, others photographed water
spiders the size of an out-stretched hand.
As the sun started to set, we gathered our
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horses returned, the sun had set. Riding
out of a Costa Rican canyon by moon-
light is truly an once-in-a-lifetime expe-
rience that I will treasure forever. As the
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of my eyes, cravings for Costa Rican cui-
sine make my mouth water.
Tasty food
hile in Costa Rica, a large por-
tion of my souvenir money was
spent on food, despite the fact that the
tour included three meals a day featur-
ing Costa Rican staples. Typical Costa
Rican meals include rice and beans
(served as one dish at breakfast, gallo
pinto, and separately at lunch and din-
ner, casado), plantains (served fried,
baked, glazed and delicious any way),
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or chicken.
Although the same main ingredients
were often used, no two meals were alike.
You would be amazed by the endless
number of ways that rice, beans, plantains
and meat can be transformed. However,
my favorite meals were the ones unique
to Costa Rica and foreign to me.
W
RACHEL LERTORA — For The Daily Astorian
This collage highlights the spring break trip to Costa Rica that students from Astoria and Seaside high schools participated in.
W riter’s
N otebook
NHAKIRA LAPOINTE — For The Daily Astorian
Astoria High School senior Rachel Lerto-
ra, center, poses with new school friends
in Coast Rica.
My favorite kind of food is new food.
Thankfully, when in a foreign country,
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when following a Spanish teacher who’s
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I ate, my favorite dishes were lengua
(beef tongue), pork chop glazed in a pas-
sion fruit and, most of all, kebab tacos
found in La Fortuna, my favorite Costa
Rican town.
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tent canopy with a barbeque, ice chest
and a couple of chairs underneath. The
simple set-up was a sign of authenticity ers. While visiting after introductions,
to Mr. Parks and sparked my curiosity. I gave them friendship bracelets I made
A couple was grilling chicken and pork beforehand. Actions spoke louder than
NHEDEVPDULQDWHGLQDPHORG\RIÀDYRUV words when one young girl gave me a
unique to that very canopy tent. We both gel pen. I was there to give, not receive.
purchased a kebab for only 1,000 colo- Surely this scenario had not been out-
nies ($1.89) each. They were wrapped lined in a textbook. Therefore, I had no
in corn tortillas, topped with spicy ba- automatic reply memorized. Tongue-tied,
I replied with a smile
nana salsa and served
and simple “gracias”
on napkins. Food does
New food is
hoping she knew how
not have to come from
not
hard
to
find
thankful I was despite
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not having the vocabu-
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lary to say so. As we all
to be amazing. With
a Spanish
gathered outside to play
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teacher
who’s
soccer with a brand
porcelain in sight, this
new ball gifted by Mr.
was the best way I
an expert at
Cain, I realized even
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sniffing out
more how blessed I am
trip. The kebabs were
local
food.
to have experienced so
so good that Mr. Parks
many lifetime memo-
and I circled the pla-
za twice to buy seconds, our hands still ries with peers, teachers and new friends
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In Costa Rica, I experienced much
friends had been made under a canopy
tent and the next day more friends were more than I can summarize in 1,000
words. Experiencing Costa Rica through
to be made at a local school.
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Language challenge
eal learning happens when skills in- my eyes, mind and heart to the beauty
troduced in textbooks are put to the of an amazing county. While I hope to
test outside of classrooms. While visiting return to Costa Rica, I have also been
a very small school of only 10 students, I inspired to experience other parts of the
put my four years of high school Spanish world on my own as I graduate Astoria
to work. When we arrived, each student High School in a few short weeks. Hasta
shared their future aspirations to become próxima vez, Costa Rica, ¡pura vida!
Rachel Lertora is a senior at Astoria
policemen, movie directors, teachers, art-
ists, soccer players and clothing design- High School.
R
JOSE COCOZZA — For The Daily Astorian
JOSE COCOZZA — For The Daily Astorian
Astoria and Seaside students kayak on Lake Arenal in Costa Rica on a spring break trip.
T HE
Astoria and Seaside students and chaperones pose near a waterfall in Costa Rica
during spring break.
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