Connor Caldwell - Costa Rica/Nicaragua

To start, I would like to thank MBA and the Wilson family for allowing me to travel to these countries over the summer. My trip began with an early flight to the Houston International airport where I was lucky enough to have a 5-hour layover. Our group required us to wear these bright blue shirts so that we could identify each other in the airport, but when the other group members saw me, they were too intimidated to say anything. Many of them told me later that they thought I was the group leader, who was 28 years old! Just before we took off, I made sure to order one last cheeseburger before I left, because I knew I wouldn’t get my customary fill of American food for the next three weeks.

After landing in San Jose, we piled together into a very small cab to reach our hotel for the night. We only spent one night there, because we left early the next morning to spend three days in the rainforest hiking and white water rafting.

The white water rafting trip was definitely the most intense part of the trip. On day 1, we climbed into rafts with 13 other people we had just met attempting to conquer class 4 and 5 rapids. But, being a rainforest, the rain had caused the river level to rise significantly. On the first rapid, our entire boat was thrown into the water, scattering people, shoes, and paddles across the river. Because the current was so strong, it took several minutes for the other boats to rescue us. Since I was by far the largest person on the trip, they left me in the water the longest. After being sucked und

erwater by a hydraulic (a swirling current that brings water deeper rather than forward), I actually thought there was a chance that I would die. But we were all successfully rescued with only some nasty bruises to show for it. Since our boat was floating empty down the river, the rest of us piled into the other two boats and made our way down the river still shaking from terror.

Once we reached our camp, we relaxed in the many hammocks that were awaiting us. We soon learned that both Costa Rica and Nicaragua are known for their hammocks.

For the next few days, we hiked through the rainforest and even got to meet the chief of an indigenous tribe called the Cabekr. I have been on many hiking trips with my family throughout the United States, but nothing matches hiking in the mud through the rainforest surrounded by enormous trees and abundant wildlife.

Our hike to the Cabekr tribe took us through this "little" stream. We greatly underestimated the depth of it and I, the fearless leader, stepped in and fell into a mid-chest-deep hole. But, being sweaty from the strenuous hiking, we stayed in the cool spring water for about 15 or 20 minutes.

After leaving the rainforest, we went to a small town called Orosi for our home stay. While there, we also took Spanish classes for several days. My family was extremely nice, but taken aback at the amount of food I ate. While there we attended a local soccer match, but it was like the cage-fighting version of soccer that they call “futsol.” With only 5 players on each team and a field that was roughly 20 yards by 40 yards with no sidelines, it was a very fast-paced and exciting game. The last night in Orosi, we had a salsa dance/going away party with all of our families.

Then we hopped on a small plane and flew over to Nicaragua, where we would spend the remainder of our trip. We visited several volcanoes, went touring through Granada, and shopped in the open-air market of Granada. Then we boarded a ferry to go to an island on Lake Nicaragua called Omatepe, where we would spend a week with an orphanage. The children there were ages 6-17, though most of the boys were older. As a guy, my main job was to play soccer with the kids all day every day. I even earned myself the nickname “mole” which means “huge” down there. The night we left, we had another salsa dance party. I will remember this experience for the rest of my life. I even received several letters from children in the orphanage just after our school year started.

After an intense 3 hour soccer game, most of the orphans didn't want to take a picture. But notice how tired us gringos are compared to the natives.

The island of Omatepe has two volcanoes, and this is the larger of the two, named Concepcion. Sadly, the orphanage has to move from this sheltered island to the city of San Jose because this volcano has become more active recently, erupting twice in the past 6 months.

On the last day of our trip with the orphans, we all piled into an old bus and drove to the coast of the lake to spend the day playing in the sun and trying not to think about having to say goodbye.