Gavin and Onyx Week 1 in Costa Rica

From Onyx

How was your first full week in Costa Rica? What have you learned about yourself?

My first full week in Costa Rica was fine. I learned how to surf, went on a nature walk at the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park, started an exercise routine, and took photos. 

The surfing crew that taught me is called “Surf School Aloha JoSi”. My surf instructor's name was Joshua.  Besides helping me learn how to surf, he taught me the term “pura vida” which means “pure life” which now I want to get tattooed on me later on in life. After we were done surfing and about to leave I got asked if I wanted to model for a surfing website, www.jacosurfexperience.com. I said, “Yes.” and did a bit more surfing rounds and didn't do well in my opinion.  

After that we went home  and my mom and Ms. Corrine went out because it was also her birthday that day. We didn’t do much the rest of the week except school and played games but then the weekend came. 

Over the weekend we went on a nature walk. About an hour of walking on a woodland path seeing monkeys, birds, lizards and various insects. After we finished the walk we went to a beach that was at the end of the path. There were some intense waves. After getting thrown by several waves at a beach, we all decided it was time to go but we were all hungry so we ate at a local restaurant that was right by where we parked. It also started raining we were worried about but it only lasted about 5-10 minutes. 

After that we went home and rested.

From Gavin

When I first got to Costa Rica I was excited because I knew that there was so much to do.  My first full week in Costa Rica was fun because I got to learn how to surf. There was a beach near our AirBnB. The name of the beach was Jaco Beach. 

We also went on a nature walk at Manuel Antonio National Park and it was beautiful. We saw so many animals like monkeys, lizards and insects. Manuel Antonio National Park had a beautiful beach. After the nature walk we went to the beach. The waves at the beach were really rough, and the beach is really sandy/rocky so be careful of all the sand that might go in your pants. 

The Airbnb we are staying at the doors of the house were really squeaky. My mother figured out how to save money and fix the doors by using canola oil on the hinges so now the doors are nice and quiet. We have had a few minor inconveniences such as ants in the house but we have preserved right through them by putting masking tape on the hole that the ants were coming in from. I got to cook with Ms. Christine and Onyx, which Onyx is surprisingly good at. We also have a big pool that is less than 200 feet from the AirBnB from where we are staying.

One thing I learned about myself is that I hate running. I'm fine with almost any other exercise that is not running or push-ups. Other than that I learned that I can hold my breath underwater for over 40 seconds. I know it's crazy. For the first week I think it  went really well. 

In conclusion, the first week was really fun and I am looking forward to the following weeks to come. I know that this is a “schooling vacation” that I will never forget. It will go down as one of the best trips over the summer that I have taken.