Bittersweet

Today (or I guess yesterday now) was one of those bittersweet days. We left San Jose around 9:15 to start our two week field trip on the Pacific coast. I had to say goodbye to a few people I cared about this morning for a second time. It was hard, but I stayed positive and knew that at the very least I would talk to the again in 2 weeks. So I did just that. I focused on the day, learning about oil palms at a little pit stop on our way to Sierpe in the southern part of the state. We learned about the huge industry for oil palms, as they are one of the biggest sources for biofuel in the country. We then stopped for lunch at a cute little restaurant not far from the oil palm plantation. I had some rice and vegetables, which is more or less a typical lunch in Costa Rica. We then stopped at a beach not far from our hotel, and stayed there for a few hours in the late afternoon. The sand was so soft, and the water was so warm! We played in the ocean for almost 2.5 hours, jumping over waves and just enjoying each other's company. It started pouring at one point also, which actually made it that much more fun. There was a dog running around the beach who liked playing with us in the shallow part of the beach. She was adorable and loved the attention. After our time at the beach, we got back on the bus and headed another hour to the hotel, where we got settled in our rooms before heading out to dinner. We had traditional rice and beans, potatoes,and a salad along with pineapple, bananas and watermelon. It was absolutely delicious after a long day traveling. After dinner we came back to the hotel and had a lecture on mangrove swamps, which is what we will be exploring tomorrow morning. After the lecture was free time, which was when I found out that the hotel had wifi. I didn't think about the fact that those I said goodbye to this morning were coping with the idea of not talking to me for two weeks. But then I pop up immediately like nothing changed. That was my first mistake, because I should have given them more time. But I didn't think it through and ultimately made it worse for him in the long run. So even though it was a pretty cool day, I couldn't have ruined it more by hurting the ones I love. Lesson learned..