The Beginning to Costa Rica

We've been so busy interviewing and reporting to craft stories for our class blog MU Costa Rica, but I finally have some downtime to update you all on my fourth favorite country, Costa Rica!Day 1 - December 28 (Arrival in Costa Rica)We arrived by plane (check out this post for a more detailed recap!) to Liberia, Costa Rica very late in the evening and stayed at Hotel Las Espuelas for the evening after getting McDonalds and Subway.Day 2 - December 29 (Ostional)We drove in the van for a very long time, but the views were certainly worth it once we got to Guanacaste. Our hotel, at first appearance, reminded me of one of the Kenyan homes I say this summer and many people in my group thought that we were just stopping to the bathroom and not staying at the place. It ended up being very nice, homey and directly across the road from Playa Ostional's shorelines...the location of our big break stories over the next few days. The sweet ladies who cooked our meals did a wonderful job each time. The hotel had hammocks, like the trendy American ones, by the dining area and they were super comfortable. My roommates for this hotel (Albergue Arribadas Ostional) were Amanda, Jalyn and Isabella.Today, we received an orientation about ADIO, Ostional, olive ridley turtles and the multiple directions and platforms our stories could take. The goal is to have a bunch of high quality stories and multimedia pieces to comprise a comprehensive package representative of the various issues involved with the anticipated upcoming arribada.Part of this involved setting the scene -- the beach! While we did not swim we played catch with a stray dog (there are LOTS of stray dogs in Costa Rica-fun fact!), I wrote "hi Joey" in the sand and we tried to get the drone to fly and had to quit due to a technical difficulty.Night tour - To finish the evening we went on a night tour of the beach. DO THIS ONCE IN YOUR LIFE AND I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. Costa Rica does not have "light pollution" like we do back home and I saw so many stars this evening. It was too dark to take photos of the event, but we luckily watch a mother olive ridley sea turtle bury her eggs on the shorelines of the beach. During the 40-45 minute process, I could not help but think of how intricate each and every animal on this Earth is. A "slow turtle" produced several eggs that will hopefully grow into big, healthy sea turtles someday. Flashes were not allowed during the event but it created a really serene and peaceful environment for the turtle. We followed the turtle out to the ocean and because of the low tide, walked almost 1 kilometer out into the water. It was one of the coolest feelings in the world and helping mother make her way to the beach felt like a scene from Finding Nemo. As someone who has a minor fear of darkness, I was at such peace with not knowing what was around me. The night visit was incredibly worth it.Day 3 - December 30 (Ostional)The wake-up alarm was 5:30AM this morning, as I was woke by a bugle horn and noises throughout the city. Arribada, arribada! We sluggishly got out of bed (me wearing my pajamas) and attempting to open our door with journalism gear in tow. Problem - we were locked in from the inside out. After screams and talking to Bill through the other side of the door, I hit the lock the right way and we were freed and escaped to the beachfront to find thousands of turtles nesting on the shores. We watched as turtles exited and entered the beach and as other forces tried to stand in their way. Humans, dogs, birds, and others cause problems for our turtle friends and can disrupt their duty to lay eggs. My story  tells more about this conflict and policy implementation. While 5:30 was incredibly uncomfortable to wake up to, the views and opportunity it provided is one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed. Some students videoed, some conducted interviews, some tried to shoot drone footage and others just took in the sights around them.We also got to follow the eggs through the extraction process and to loading on the back of the moving truck.Adios for now!Holly