Sarah:
Well our semester program has officially finished. Except for the paperwork and cleaning up and evaluations and documenting suggested changes for next year. :)
The rest of April flew past us, as we had activities like the river clean-up day, a day to restock the QERC reforestation nursery, a day of interactions and games with the local Costa Rican English teachers, and with visits from professors Dennis Siegfried (to teach Ornithology) and Frank Johnson (for his second trip, to do a Spanish evaluation of the students). The students were as busy as ever, trying to soak up their last moments in Costa Rica and making final memories. They were a great group and everyone seemed very on top of their work this year. We ended our time with them at QERC with some movie nights, game nights, and of course, their presentation nights. We split the group into 2 this year and invited the whole community to join us for listening to them present their research projects. We had a decent turn out both nights, and the students did great informing those present about what they had been working on all semester.
After presentations, things were truly finished at QERC, and professor Bob Lively came down to see us through presentations and our debriefing/reentry retreat with the students. We love having him come down and participate with us and share in the excitement from the semester and offer his insight and advice to the students as they prepare to return to the U.S. We held our retreat at the beautiful location of Arenal Volcano and enjoyed watching the volcano spit lava rocks all night long. We also took advantage of the location and did some hiking, and Adele tried out her swimming legs. We had great discussions with the students and they were able to reflect and process their experiences extremely well. It's such a fun time of sharing memories and seeing the full impact of this study abroad experience.
And finally, after one last night in San Jose, we said a sad goodbye to the students. It's always a sad realization that our students, who have become our friends over the course of 4 months, leave us to head back to their lives in the U.S. It was especially sad for Adele, who will miss having them to entertain her here at QERC!
David and I spent a night with Trevor and Laura in San Jose before they left Costa Rica for the entire summer, and then we renewed our visas before heading back to an empty building. However, it doesn't seem like our lives have slowed down too much with the program being over. Besides the wrap up from the semester, we are welcoming a variety of groups and researchers over the next few months that we are preparing for!
AND...David and I notified the people at SNU a while ago that we will not be staying on for another full year at QERC. We are excited for what awaits us in the States, though we have no set plans yet. We are now in the process of looking for replacements for us to begin sometime this fall. If there is anyone who is interested in this job, or if anyone who reads this knows of anyone who might be interested in the job, please please please have them contact us! You can find the job description at www.snu.edu/qerc-field-manager.
