Author: Caylyn Moglia
Program: San José, Costa Rica – Study Center
¡Hola todos!
This past weekend was my first free weekend, so my family took me up to la cabaña (the cabin), and it was amazing. Mamá inherited the cabin from her mom, and it is one of her favorite places to be. I really can’t blame her. The cabin is made of wood and corrugated tin. It is a wonderful place to relax and listen to nature.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the outside, but I did remember to at least take a picture from the doorway before we left.
The cabin was amazing and very simple. All of the water was stored in a big tank, and the “spouts” were pipes. The coolest part was that everything was cooked on a wood stove.
In order to reach the cabin, we had to do a lot of off road driving through a cow pasture. The property was fenced off in the middle of the pasture, so there were cows practically in the front yard. According to Tío, one of the cows is pregnant.
Soon after we arrived, it started to rain, but once it stopped, I went on a hike with Mamá, Papá, Abuelo, and Santiago. We were able to stop at a waterfall! Papá used a machete to clear the path of overgrown weeds as well as a fallen tree. Santiago carried a thin stick that he used like a machete.
After our hike, Santi and I searched for worms and found a ton of them! Look at that leaf!
During dinner Saturday night, we were visited by Lobo (wolf), a local dog who knows that Mamá will feed him. Lobo got a couple of the soup bones as well as the meat from our bowls.
Saturday night, I learned that it gets really dark really fast in the mountains. It was pitch black by 6:30 pm, and we ate dinner with the small amount of light provided by the flashlight to see by. After dinner, we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows. However, we didn’t make s’mores. I just might have to buy some graham crackers and chocolate next time we go to the cabin.
When I woke up Sunday morning, I quickly realized that I had forgotten to put bug spray on my hands before going to bed. My right hand wasn’t as bad since I used it to rub the bug spray in, but it still got eaten up. At least I put bug spray on my legs, arms, and neck!
Sunday was very rainy, but we were visited by a rooster named Gallina (chicken) who ended up coming home with us.
We also had a blue morpho butterfly visit us! This was the first time I’ve seen one outside of a butterfly garden!
Shortly before we left, Ashley returned from a walk with a friend.
Sunday afternoon, I had a very new experience, I caught a chicken. This was really big for me because I don’t particularly like live chickens. Originally, I was just going to watch Ashley and her friend Allison catch Gallina, but they were having a hard time, and neither particularly wanted to touch it. So I grabbed the bag he would eventually be put in and used it like a giant glove to catch him. I managed to grab him and then carried him inside, where Abuelo picked him up while I opened the bag. We brought Gallina home with us, and Mamá gave him to her sister. Having a chicken in the car was interesting, especially when he tried to escape. It was an amazing weekend, and I can’t wait to go back on my next free weekend!
-Caylyn Anne
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