“Pura Vida.” You could probably hear this term every single day in Costa Rica. The direct translation could be “pure life”, “hello”, “all good” or “this is life”, but these two words have a far more profound meaning to the Costa Rica culture. It means that no matter what your current situation is, life for someone else can always be less fortunate than your own, so start living it because life is too short.

We have spent most of our time staying at the UGA Costa Rica Ecolodge in San Luis de Monteverde. Here, they pay attention to the wildlife, the local community and the environment. They really fulfill the concept of sustainability. For example, the leftovers we had in the comedor will be used to feed pigs, and the pigs will produce feces which will then go through a biodigester and produce methane. The methane produced in biodigester will turn into the fuel in the kitchen to cook the food.

Now, I know why they asked you to bring a flashlight. When it goes dark after 6, you cannot see anything. The whole campus use a minimum amount of light to minimize the interference to the wildlife. There is one coati living near the campus. He will climb up the banana trees in the campus and eat those bananas. Sometimes he will try to open your plastic bag if you leave it on the lawn.

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Here is a video of coati: https://youtu.be/IW6QhggUx5w

When we went ziplining, the weather was raining, so we cannot really see much. Any waterproof shoes or jacket stopped working when you stood in rain for an hour. We were soaked and shivering. The most unforgettable part of zip-lining is that your face hurt when you are on zip-lining in 60mi/hr, the rain stings your face like needles. I can barely open my eyes to see the view. I can imagine if the weather wasn’t that bad, then the view would be breath-taking, but it is still a fun experience.

This trip has been amazing, the lecture, the coffee farms, the beneficio, except the weather. It rains a lot. I could use some sunny days. Tomorrow, there will be the first hurricane coming to Costa Rica. I hope our schedule can still go on and the campus can still have power, or we will literally live in dark.

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