LaRoue - Blog #10

My favorite part of Bella Vista was easily the rainforest itself.  We got to see so much life everywhere.  There were so many different plants that I have never seen and the forest just grew in a way that it was if everything was connected.  It was beautiful (almost took 300 photos that day).  I really enjoyed just taking my time and being in the back of pack.  We could really appreciate and take in everything we experienced yesterday.  As well, we had people that were very knowledgeable about the area which made learning easy and convenient.

Honestly, the greatest challenge while we were there was to just stop taking pictures.  So many times, I found myself frustrated taking pictures because it is so hard to capture perspective.  Many times, it was at those moments where I realized that I just needed to put my phone down and take it in myself.  There were so many beautiful spots on our hike and really being glued to my phone for pictures only took me out of the moment.  There are several gaps in my documentation on the hike because I realized that I just needed the solitude from my phone to just take it all in.


This week has really opened my eyes to see how big the world really is.  We have so much information at tips of our fingers these days about anything we could dream of.  I realized this last week that nothing really compares to having a real experience.  Culture is not something to read about and assume you know everything about it.  It truly is something you need to take part in yourself.  As for communication, I have grown a lot, but for the next week that is what I am going to focus on the most.  So far, I can pick out a few words here and there and make small sentences, but next week and I want to be able to become a little more involved with my communication.  I have been very quiet this week trying to listen, but next week my goal is to be loud and be able to truly communicate.





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