Volcán Poás
Today we're going on our last excursion as SOLmates: to an active volcano! I didn't realize until a few weeks after getting to Costa Rica that it's a part of the Ring of Fire, but I think this is a cool trip nonetheless. We loaded up onto two smaller buses to drive for little more than an hour to the site. After a mass bathroom break, we headed up the side of the volcano to the outlook where we could see the inter-crater lagoon. Unfortunately the gases were strong enough today that we couldn't go closer, but we were lucky enough to actually be able to see the sea foam colored pool within the crater.
Janiva brought her daughter along on this trip, and I spent a little bit of time with her exploring and giving her a hand to hold as we went down steps. After a few minutes, we were called back to the group for lunch and a telling of the legend of the national bird, which has ties to the volcano. Not too long after we sat down, the whole overlook was completely clouded over. The directors made sure to tell us that they've never actually gotten there early enough to see much of the lagoon, and we were extremely lucky.
We left the volcano after lunch and headed to a strawberry stand (more like a small shop) that grows their fruit on the volcanic soil, so the flavor is better. I've had some good strawberries, but these were still better. Hannah and I were instructed to bring a big container home for Mamá Tica, and as bought some smaller cups of them for ourselves before we headed back on the bus. The directors told us that we have a surprise waiting for us, and we were intrigued.
We stopped at a small garden not too far from Poás and got out to explore a little bit. It turned out that our surprise was a strawberry smoothie and also cake to celebrate the birthdays of two more SOLmates! I had never had a smoothie with milk before, and it and the cake were both delicious. One thing that I'm super appreciative of SOL for is taking the time and money to get a cake for each SOLmate that has had a birthday during our time here. It's hard being away from home for birthdays (more on that later), but this helps. Because cake is always good, and it really lets the students in the program know that they have a SOL family to celebrate.