We finally made it up to campus - 7 kilometers of hilly terrain, with lots of birds and butterflies to keep us company on the way up. The UPEACE campus sits atop of a hill above town. The campus is small, a few clusters of buildings with classrooms and offices, and lots of protected area. There are some hiking trails, but after the walk up, we didn't need to walk much more. There is a peace monument at the top, and lots of statues of historical figures, from Ghandi to Eleanor Roosevelt to Oscar Arias, who dedicated their lives to peace and justice work. The monument itself sits in front of a pond, where some funny ducks live (one of whom was angry when we arrived - not a peaceful duck!).
I was also able to meet some of the staff who I've been emailing for months now. They were all incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming. It seems like an ideal environment to study peace-related issues for the year.
On our way, we saw many different kinds of birds and butterflies, and even a tiny snake (who was dead - he had been run over by a car). Apparently there are poisonous snakes in Costa Rica but not in this region. Supposedly there are a lot of monkeys and toucans around, but we haven't seen any of those yet. We did see a hummingbird as we set out, which was very nice. We miss the hummingbirds from California!
I've got a lead on a yoga studio where I might be able to teach, which would be very exciting.
Good start to the week!
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