Pura Vida

I don’t believe that any of us were ready to return to the United States after spending over a week in Costa Rica. To some extent we all had ‘Costa Rica Fever’ (some more literally than others) and unfortunately we did have to say goodbye to all our new Tico friends including crowd favorites Miguel and Juan-Carlos.

We brought back a lot of things with us, both in our suitcases (……Dr. Boyer and Dr. Attaran) and in our minds. The genuine people we met, the adventures we went on, and the places we visited truly allowed us to adopt a very authentic interpretation of ‘sustainability.’

As many of us have stated, we absorbed a lot of information in Costa Rica about sustainability that has greatly impacted the way we live in the United States. I fully support and believe this statement as well, but I think there was a lot of things we learned about ourselves and our peers that we should not forget.

It took them 10 minutes to jump...

Dan, my roommate and Energy Team member, managed to find his way to the top of the mountain  with the support of Jonathan and our classmates, for which we applauded upon his arrival at the peak. Autumn and I taught each other how to get the best GoPro footage for every activity (mounts, resolution, frames per second….it’s a GopPro thing). Billy recognized that it’s not always about the booty when we danced the salsa; he found that his hips don’t lie either and he would give Shakira a run for her money. Eaindra is the best scribe at Bryant; I frequently caught her taking notes in every possible scenario which is why Eaindra will be any group’s biggest asset next year at Bryant (Juniors pay attention to what I’m saying for BUS 400). I was able to help a friend discover a passion for animals (Yes, Ronny that’s you…..SLOTHHH), witness Emily discover new go-to dances, and convince two college professors to jump off a cliff (there was water 20 feet below). Krysia loves the beach but may soon have a coffee addiction, Jake and I bonded over things that make us mad, Marco appreciates the simple things in life that are often overlooked, and I often found myself eager to hear Kasey’s contributions when we reconvened as a class for discussion nearly every evening. Among many other things, these are some of my most valuable takeaways from the trip.

I just wanted to thank everybody on the trip for being a good team: this means pulling each other out of rapids, pointing out monkeys in the trees when nobody else could see them, taking pictures for each other, prioritizing who gets the bathroom first during much needed breaks, and voluntarily spraying each other with bug spray to ensure full coverage. Let me know where we’re going next, I’m in.

-'Etan'