Day Twenty – Our Tico Parents are Famous!

Our last Friday in Monteverde. It feels weird saying that. We love it so much here that saying goodbye is rather bittersweet. We know that we will probably have an amazing time in Playa Flamingo, but we’re having so much fun here. Maybe we’re creatures of habit, but we definitely wouldn’t mind spending our last week here.

Today was a pretty good day at CPI. In classes, we played games and just conversed about life in general. We continued our learning, but it was nice to use our new language to share our lives. I’m really understanding a lot more and am able to create my own thoughts using the words I’ve learned. Three weeks in and I can hold my own in a conversation. The conversation may be slow, but I can still get a thought in every once in awhile.

After classes, Kelly and I made the rounds and said goodbye to our teachers and the staff of CPI. The Monteverde staff were absolutely great – the help us out in so many ways from getting Kelly the classes and attention she needed to helping us plan awesome excursions. Muni and Digna were just two of the people that made CPI feel like a home away from home. Always with a smile or some fun story to tell, they always had the best interests of the students in mind.

We made our final trek down the huge hill in Monteverde and stopped by a few artisian shops and decided to get lunch at a place in Santa Elena called Morphos. A morpho is a type of butterfly that Costa Rica is renowned for – it has these beautiful electric blue wings that glisten as it flies. Truly a sight to see. We grabbed a quick bite of their version of a veggie burger – using an omlette instead of a burger patty – and guanabana batido. Guanabana is another one of those fruits that I tried for the first time down here that I can’t wait to find back in the US.

After lunch, we traversed our way through the shops one last time in Santa Elena. We couldn’t spend too much time browsing because we needed to get back to the house by 4:30. Why you ask? Because at 4:30, Tomas and Ana Patricia were going to be dancing on a TV show called Con Sello de Oro – an afternoon program for Tico senior citizens. The two of them were by far the best dancers – and I’m not just saying that because they were our Tico parents. With huge smiles, they danced to the songs written to celebrate Monteverde.

Monteverde and Santa Elena are both great little villages. It was very evident that the people who live there think they have the best place in the world to reside in. As the dancers spoke with the host of the TV show, they all stated how thankful they were to be from such an awesome place. Truth be told, Monteverde reminds us a lot of Ely, Minnesota where Kelly’s family has a cabin. From the quaint shops to the relaxed atmosphere, Monteverde offered a slice of that up north life that we left behind in the states. Heck, even the weather was reminiscent of summers in Ely.

It was sad to start packing. We were going to be leaving behind a great place, but we do know that we can always come back. We made some great friends and great memories, and we will always be able to hang on to that.

Pura Vida,
Casey