Costa Rica

      Today we started off with an amazing breakfast prepared by Everest, Jayla, Sabrina, and Gabe. We enjoyed a combination of fruit and yogurt. This prepared up for a wonderful morning of surfing. We had a very interesting time trying to help Brian maneuver the bus into a gate on the beach and then prepared to start surfing.  After putting our rashguards on we met our surf instructors and they showed us how to get up on the surfboard when the wave comes. We practiced in twos on surfboards in the sand. They showed us when to paddle forward and how fast to do so. Then he showed us where to place our feet and how to go from lying down to standing on the board. Then off we went into the water. We were each given a surfboard and every two students shared an instructor. By the end of the day, everyone was able to get up successfully on their boards. I was so surprised at how easy it was! The first couple times I was too scared to get up and then by the third I was able to stand up (even if

  Long drive to Playa Hermosa Delicious lunch at a roadside restaurant Group picture by the Plaza Hermosa beach Mesmerizing sunset by the beach Free time having fun in the pool Dinner cooked by the students

 Today started out early in the morning, letting out the morning sleepiness with a bit of yoga practice. After that was done, students finished any last-minute packing preparations and ate breakfast (eggs and pancakes; delicious as usual). When our guide Bryan finished loading our suitcases on top of the bus, we began the process of getting ourselves situated for the long ride ahead. We had just been briefed earlier about the itinerary, which involved us piling ourselves and all our things into the bus and traveling for around 5 hours to our beach AirBNB. During the trip, we took two stops. The first was in the small, picturesque town of La Fortuna, which had bordered Ranch Margot for the entirety of our stay. In our short stay, we disembarked the bus after around 45 minute of driving, and were given around half and hour to do some small souvenir shopping, an activity that had been absent for most of the trip. There were a couple things of note that I observed, including painted wooden

Gabe getting his birthday cake and hat Playing soccer for Gabe's birthday against other people staying at the resort Everyone waiting for someone to cut the cake Post birthday soccer photo with the players Some morning yoga poses Even more yoga fun  

Group with microorganisms teacher  Jules mixing microorganisms  Group preparing to leave for horseback ride  Sofi and her horse  Fresh chicken eggs  Students learning how to clean eggs  Gabe on his horse   

Today we started out the day with a refreshing yoga class. We practiced connecting with ourselves and our breathing with help of calming nature sounds. This was very relaxing and helped wake the students up and bring them into the day with a calm attitude, and good intentions. After yoga, we had a breakfast of fresh fruit and eggs produced here on the ranch. The food was delicious, and we were all very satisfied and were ready to begin our day. Our first-class of the day was a class on microorganisms. In this class, we learned about why microorganisms are important to the farm's work. One of Rancho Margot's main missions is to practice organic farming with no chemicals on the farm. Due to this, they must be careful about how they uphold cleanliness without the use of pesticides and chemicals. To do this, Rancho Margot has found a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to clean equipment such as the septic tank, by using microorganisms. To understand this concept, our