My Costa Rica day 1 (day 2)

Opening my eyes, I realized how far from home I was.  One of my favorite movies played in my head, The Wizard of Oz, "We aren't in Kansas, anymore." I couldn't help but comment to myself, "oh Toto, we are far far from Kansas."  

As we got on the bus for our 10 hour bus ride, (oh joy!) it was nice to see 'familiar faces.' Theres something about seeing other tribal students that is so reassuring.  It gives you a sense of home when you are so far away.  

Clearly, everything is completely different than what I am use to.  I feel like theres a part of me that is trying to bridge the gap or find a link between Costa Rica and life on the reservation. There are some similarities, as well as so many differences.  I grew up on the prairie, where theres nothing but grasslands.  The easy humming of the wildlife on the prairie is like a soft hum.  Everything blends together.  I get here and listen to the local sounds.  I love it, but it sounds so chaotic.  It doesn't appear very tranquil like it does at home.  

The more different scenes that we encountered, I found myself constantly checking my gps on google  maps to see where I really was.  

Sunday Travel Day (day 1)

The week leading up to the travel day was chaotic.  It was final's week and my cubby had his first science fair.  From studying for my ecology final to practicing science fair questions.  It was a whirlwind week that left us with 3rd place for the overall science fair at my son, Kingy's, elementary school to all A's for my final grades.  It seemed as though we didn't get much time to spend together. My whole life is devoted to this little tyke.  He aspires to do everything I'm doing and beyond that.  It would be so hard to tear myself away from him for two weeks.  

It was Sunday morning and I was starting to have my doubts.  Its not the first school related trip that I've had to spend away from my son.  It's also not the longest, however, it's of course the biggest distance apart.  My little aspiring scientist/ engineer is my world.  In our down time we like to watch the discovery channel and conspiracy theories on youtube. Every moment is for my cub: the extra hours of schoolwork, the devotion to extracurriculars, and just trying to be a good role model. 

With his last encouraging words, I boarded my plane for a full day's worth of travel to a new adventure. This new adventure will be completing 2 weeks of research at the Las Cruces Biological Station in Costa Rica. A full day's of travel had us running from plane to plane hoping we weren't going to be late or get lost.  The last 4 hour flight brought us to reality where I stood outside the San Jose Airport.  It was only then that I asked myself "what did I get myself into?"