Day Two: We've Only Just Begun

Good morning from Costa Rica! My name is Nick Kyratzis and I am a junior from Albany, New York and was volunteered to write the second journal entry by our very own Eric MacPherson. This fine morning I arose with the sun shinning through the shades as the birds chirped what a beautiful day it would be. As I walked through the fine, fresh buffet laid out in the Don Carlos restaurant, I opted for a bowl of cereal, a slice of pineapple, and some of the worlds greatest coffee. While sitting out on the hotel patio listening to the soothing sound of ferocious dogs barking at each other, the one and only P. Phunk enlightened us with rare species that we would encounter as we continued our journey onto the next destination.

Once we completed our fine meal and sent Kate off on her merry way to the clinic with Professor Lewis (who has yet to have a nickname), we packed our belongings onto the top of our shuttle van while our driver proceeded to cover our luggage with a tarp and some string. Oh how safe this trip will be! We departed Don Carlos hotel at 11:30 am to what would be a beautiful drive once we traveled out of the impoverished city with friendly waving citizens. As the bus drove us up and down the winding roads leading to Monteverde, the beautiful scenery caught everyone's eyes. With nearly 6 rainbows counted and multiple mountains about, we captured every sight with cameras, iPhones and photogenic memory.

After a two and a half hour travel, we stopped for food along the way at a road side restaurant. The service was wonderful with helping us understand what each dish of chicken consisted of as they served it on the side of rice and beans. Most of us chose the orange Fanta while Patrick went of the fanta that tasted like cough syrup, silly boy. We then hit the road after filling out stomachs for another two and a half hours until we reached our destination. We arrived at the La Casona Lodge where the four male students got damp beds and the females were left with no towels. There, I realized that I was staying away from the girls for time being in Monteverde.



We caught a shuttle to our restaurant Tramonti at 6:30 where Eric and I drove separately from the crew in a Nissan with the friendly couple Michael and Betty. They shared their travel experiences and hoped us a better time then they had. As we sat to eat to eat our meal, the server presented us with caprese salad as an appetizer, pasta for a main dish, and a delicious brownie with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. The dinner was wonderful with great laughs and wonderful conversations that shall not be repeated. Upon our arrival to the lodge, the professors thought it would be a good idea to go on a night hike to test out our headlamp skills. Although we didn't make it too far off the lodge property, we sure got to see some fascinating trees, plants, and bugs! As the rain pored on our heads and cameras got soaked, not a person cared and not a student refused. My favorite part of this night hike was finding the frog in a water hole, a jumping spider and the new rare Lew-Dawg.

As the night hike came to a close, this students started dropping like the moths Steph was murdering. Some students said goodnight and others skyped loved ones, while I got stuck writing this in frustration on the iPad as Steph continues to kill moths. Well there you go, day two down and ten to go, and yes mom, I'm having fun and changing my socks regularly. One love and goodnight from Costa Rica!