“It was amazing to see these kids with no technology. Like this is what they do for fun. They don’t watch tv or play video games mainly because they don’t have those things. Yet they still have fun.”
Some of our favorite Costa Rica Service and Adventure Retreats are the student focused trips. To be able to witness middle and high school students traveling out of the country (most for the very first time), seeing the ocean, plants and animals, trying new foods and introducing them to a new culture is one of the most rewarding parts of our job here at True Nature. One of our recent trips was with Milford Middle School. The amazing teachers who accompanied the kids had them journal their experiences day by day. This series we are calling, Mindful Monday with Milford, pulls out some of the great quotes and thoughts from their journals, reminding us all to remember to see things anew, laugh a lot, be grateful and much more.
“Everyone got to know each other on that bus ride. Also on the bus, everyone was amazed by like everything outside and all the cool trees. It made America look dull. Like the trees here are perf. I love how everything is outdoorsy.”
“After dinner was circle time and we said one thing that we were grateful for. Lea played her guitar and Lydia, Jaida, Me, and Kat all sang with her. It was very good. Then we went back to our cabin sat outside, talked, laughed, made stupid jokes.”
“On Saturday, we got up around 5:30. This may seem extremely early, but in costa Rica, the sun rise is like 5am so like sleeping in here is like 6:30. After breakfast we walk up to this old cabin and start cleaning it up. We will use the things we find to make toys for the monkeys. This was a hard job and it was very hot outside. Someone spotted a snake and Paydro picked it up and thankfully it wasn’t poisonous because it bit him on the finger.”
“The parasailing was like one of the best things I’ve ever done like awesome.”
“Then we went to go eat and we saw a sloth like on the ceiling sleeping, it was the cutest thing. After lunch we went on a tour in the jungle and saw sloths, monkeys, and frogs. They were cute and very cool. Then we went to a beach and saw a lot of crabs on the rocks. Then we took a short cut back to the original beach. On the way we saw monkeys, like so close to us. About three feet away from our feet. One of the monkeys had a baby on her back it was so adorable.”
“We talked, laughed, and talked some more. Then we went to bed.”
“When we arrived we got on the boat and left the dock with one other group of about 5 people. It was so fun, we saw pods of dolphins. There were pretty fish swimming around. I tried to touch one but they were too quick for me. The boat we were on had a water slide and you could jump off the edge into the water. We left the snorkeling area and headed back to the dock. It was a peaceful ride back, the breeze was very nice, and the food was good.”
“(Tuesday) In the morning we went on a meditation hike for about 20 minutes before breakfast. After breakfast we went on a tour and got to taste some of the plants that are used for food there. We learned about the chocolate making process. We saw the pigs sitting in the shade and the sun. ”
“When we got back, we thanked them and left for the homestead. We arrived about an hour later. It was cool to see how the people here live and actually get to experience it. They had 3 kids (Andres 6, Gabrielle 2, Angelica 11). They were so fun. We played soccer, duck duck goose (pato pato gonzo), water balloons, ninja, sardines, and guess who. The food was awesome. It was amazing to see these kids with no technology. Like this is what they do for fun. They don’t watch tv or play video games mainly because they don’t have those things. Yet they still have fun.”
