‘Sense of wonder’

Costa Rica trip an experience like no other

By LUCAS GOETTING

Clinton High School Student

Editor’s note: The following article was written by Clinton High School student Lucas Goetting and was submitted to The Clinton Local for publication by high school teacher Kurt Hillegonds.

Costa Rica was, as our tour guide Christian put it, “Not better than the U.S., nor worse. Just different.”

Its difference, however, is what makes it worth visiting. 

In Costa Rica, our 20-kid cohort was divided among eight separate families, which were our homestays for the trip. When my group of three other boys and I arrived at Calle Valle Escondido, we were pleasantly surprised by our host parents’ hospitality. Our Spanish teacher, Mr. Hillegonds, had told us that Costa Ricans (Ticos) were known for their warmth and friendliness to people of other cultures, but the care we received at our homestay was incomparable to even the grandest of hotels.

Our guardians for the trip, José and Zaida, provided my friends and I with authentic Costa Rican cuisine: Gallo pinto, freshly squeezed guava juice, and chicken and rice were among the large variety of meals served to us. And this food wasn’t made obligatorily — our “parents” always awoke at least an hour before us to set the table, cook, blend and ensure that everything was perfect.

The process of exchanging cultures between us and the Ticos, though, almost dwarfed the food in terms of importance. What we witnessed at our homestay and while roaming Costa Rica’s streets was active cultural diffusion.

My friends and I, for example, decided to show our guardian José a video from the online web series “Skibidi Toilet,” which he had never heard of or seen. José, at first confused, doubled over with laughter after rewatching the clip. Our household then adopted the word “Skibidi” as something meaning “bad” or “unfavorable.”

This diffusion was by no means a one-way street. Our group was given plenty of opportunities to utilize its Spanish-speaking abilities, and conversing with locals supplemented our understanding of an overarching Costa Rican identity. This understanding was broadened on our tours of pineapple farms (the products of which we were able to sample in hearty numbers) and primary schools, during which we learned about the foundations of Costa Rican culture — how they welcome travelers from different countries to work in theirs, why their kids learn to speak English in first grade, the methods by which they harvest and process different foods. Their climate, geography and education system make these traits and values uniquely Costa Rican.

Of course, while new cultural experiences do matter, so does having fun, and there was no shortage of fun things to do in Costa Rica.

In addition to drinking some of the best coffee on this side of the hemisphere, we rode ziplines that stood around 400 feet above the Costa Rican jungle, glided down waterslides slick from near overuse (the stairs back up to their entries made for a good workout, too), and observed the diverse species of wildlife, which ranged from tiny red ants to massive jaguars and sloths.

And we traveled in style.

Our bus had adjustable air conditioning, comfy seats and afforded us picturesque views of the huge volcano that towered over the sprawling houses below.

Our headquarters that supplied us with the bus, El Rancho, held dancing and cooking classes, which were essentially our group bonding exercises. El Rancho also housed a jacuzzi and two pools, one of which had a platform that we used to play a high-stakes trivia game in which whoever got the answer to a question wrong would be shoved into the water — although some people were pushed in regardless of whether their answer was right or wrong.

The other pool was used predominantly for backflipping and Marco Polo, and the boys made a futile attempt to effect a whirlpool in the jacuzzi.

Though our trip spanned only a week, what we experienced, learned and did created indelible memories (along with a couple of cheeky inside jokes) that will last for a lifetime.

Costa Rica provides Clinton students real-world lessons

By BRAD HEINEMAN

Clinton Local

Dating back to 2010, Clinton High School students enrolled in Spanish III or higher courses have been able to experience a field trip that places them into a real-world situation where their Spanish language classroom lessons can be put into action.

One of the hallmark features of the high school’s weeklong, end-of-the-school-year Costa Rica trip is that participating students get to live with host families for the duration of the trip, Spanish teacher Kurt Hillegonds said.

“So I tell (the students) they get to ‘live the life of a Costa Rican for a week,’” Hillegonds said in an email.

The trip to Costa Rica is not an annual venture for Clinton High School students. Instead, it’s held every two years. As Hillegonds described, it is easier to ensure enough students attend the trip — or are at least interested in attending — if it is offered on a cycle every two years.

As an educator, Hillegonds said he has been coordinating similar field trips for students since 2004. When he arrived and began teaching at Clinton Community Schools in the 2007-08 school year, one of the first student trips was to Spain. Since then, Costa Rica has been the destination of choice.

“Costa Rica is safe, and there is no jetlag issue,” Hillegonds said. “…The kids seem to have a great time every time.”

This year’s trip spanned eight days and seven nights from June 7-14. Chaperones were Hillegonds and Kim Albashir. Twenty CHS students went on the trip: Dalia Albashir, Peter Baker, Owen Barnhart, Lucas Goetting, Cole Hillegonds, Annabelle Howard, Morgan Huggins, Nick Jacobs, Caelin Major, Broden Manchester, Kate Mazey, Madi McGraw, Hudson Miller, Emma Pask, Jacob Pizio, Lily Rothfuss, Aislinn Tripp, Zoey Utz, Ava VanTuyle and Jackie Whiting.

Costa Rica is an optimal location for Spanish students where they can experience a little bit of everything from the region’s tourism to its culture, Hillegonds said.

“For me, the kids get exposed to new things,” he said. “The students love how they get a glimpse of a new world.”

For some students, the Costa Rica trip marks their first time embarking out of the country. For other students, it’s their first time boarding a plane and taking flight.

This year’s trip was accompanied with the phrase “a sense of wonder” during much of the weeklong adventure, Hillegonds said.

“It really brings the classroom learning to life,” he said.

Especially in the upper-level Spanish courses — Spanish III, Spanish IV and AP Spanish —students enrolled in those classes are at the stage of their studies where much of the class consists of speaking predominantly fluent Spanish; very little English is communicated in those classroom settings, Hillegonds said.

Clinton High School, he said, prides itself each year on having a number of students earn the Seal of Biliteracy from the state of Michigan after their four years of language studies.