Weekend in Tortuguero

     This weekend, my study abroad program took a group trip to Tortuguero National Park. Actually, they said we were near the park but not actually in it, so your guess is as good as mine where the heck I was for the past two days. I suppose "somewhere in Costa Rica" will have to suffice until I get the chance to ask someone with a better memory.

     What I do know is that there were monkeys howling, herons of various colours flying around and roosters cock-a-doodle-doodling at 2 am in the morning. Me and three of the other guys on the trip "slept" in a giant tent, when the aforementioned rooster permitted sleep to occur. Beyond the sleep experience, the trip was the most mentally exhausting but fascinating experience I can recall having in a long time.

     As we ate dinner, each member of the table took a turn sharing their own "life story." These little vignettes were meant to start at birth and run all the way up until the individual came to Costa Rica. A number of things surprised me about the results of this little activity, and I shall list them for ease of reading:

• I'll begin with my own to get it out of the way, even though I did not go first in the actual telling of our lives. I've given many recaps of my life over the past few years and can do so with relative ease. But last night, I started tripping up and could feel my voice begin to break when I got into the part about my father's death when I was 11. I think the reason was the noise in the room. When I usually talk about his death all the attention is on me and the room is pretty quiet, allowing me to kind of glide over it as if I am telling another person's story rather than my own. But, because there was a lot of noise and people moving around at dinner, I kept having to focus and actually tell the story from a far more personal place...and that was hard.
• I couldn't help but notice the amazing intersections that people lives take- or don't take. Whether it be a place where two people thought about studying abroad before deciding on Costa Rica or a school they both applied to but ultimately one or the other (or both) choose not to attend there, the world (God) certainly has a way of bringing people together.
• I was absolutely floored by some of the amazing experiences and service that my friends in this program have taken a part in previously, both in the U.S. and abroad. I have met a lot of people who choose to let their talents waste away, so it has been nice to come here and have my faith in the general goodness of humanity made visible. 
• Even more than what my friends said, I learned a lot from how they told their stories. One common theme through most of them was humility. It was clear that some people didn't really enjoy talking about themselves and tried to lessen their achievements as they told them. Humility, I believe, is one of the most important character traits, so I was glad to see so many people in possession of it!

     Afterwards, a group of four or five of us stayed up and talked about each other's stories and other random topics. People were very open and personal in their responses, and I think that's a product of a pretty close bond some of us already share. Even though three weeks ago we had never met each other,  I feel more comfortable sharing information with some of my friends here than I would with other friends I've known for years. I have had at least a half dozen meaningful conversations of 10 minutes or more, something I rarely have even with my best friends back home. The interaction with these amazing people has been the highlight of the program. I hope the best is yet to come!