Life Changing Past Review

In June 2012 I went to Costa Rica for 5 weeks with International Student Volunteers. I decided to travel with ISV because I didn't want to just see the sights, I didn't want to just be a tourist. I wanted to live there, volunteer in the community, learn and speak the language, all while doing more than a tourist does, not just seeing the sights but skydiving off them, walking through the waterfalls, kayaking to a private island, and much more. My 5 weeks started in a town called Heredia, I took classes at the local english to spanish university for a week. With 30 other ISV students we were broken up into classes with 5 students and 1 teacher based on the spanish we know. I lived in the town there with a host family closely living to the other students walking everywhere. My second and third weeks were spent with my group of 12 people up in the highest altitude in Costa Rica living in the cloud forrest atop the mountains. The first of my two weeks there were spent making an environmentally friendly manure for the farmers there who grow coffee plants. This was a very small community with less than 100 people and almost everyone was a cousin of someone else. One rural dirt road ran through several mountains and connected the town, the school, and all of the houses spread out through miles. Also during the first week we worked on five different farms throughout their small community. The second week was spent working on the dirt road pouring concreate from where the previous groups have ended and we continued. All of this was done while each of us lived in different homes, all virtually neighbors. I lived with the nicest old couple in a nice home on a farm with hens, horses, dogs, cows, etc. He was also known for being the oldest, nicest, man in the town and during the time I spent their I threw a surprise party for my couple when I found out about their 30th wedding anniversary. They told me thank you, but in their culture 30 isn't big and I needed to come back in 10 years for the 40th when the entire town will be partying. Sadly I had to leave my little home in Costa Rica, as the 12 of us headed back crying on the bus. When we got back to Heredia we met up with the other 5 volunteer projects and all 60 of us were divided in half for our adventure tour. After all going out for a fun night together we left the next morning headed out on reverse trips one started at the end and one at the beginning, sadly not meeting half way. The adventure tour was an amazing time filled with some of the best things I have ever done. Surf lessons, kayaking, massage on the beach, horseback ridding, climbing waterfalls, sea tubing, white water rafting, mud spas, and much more. It was the best 5 weeks of my life and this summer, I am going to Australia. I would recommend ISV to anyone who wants to go to Australia, South Africa, Thailand, New Zealand, Dominican Republic or of course, my Costa Rica.