Category Archives: Uncategorized

Click to see photos of day 2 in Atenas We arrived at Isabel’s Language School at 8:00 am. The group was divided into 4 classes. After some orientation in the school, students took a tour of the town and learned … Continue reading →

Here are some photos of students meeting their homestay parents and entering into their homestays (Homestay Day1). We’re in classes now everyone is fine.

We’ve arrived in Atenas! Each student spent the first evening with his or her host family. It feels a little strange to be spread out now after 4 days dormitory bunk style living! Meeting up with the families at the … Continue reading →

Feb 12 (Click for photos) At about about 5:00 pm we went loaded up our picnic supper and traveled to the top of a steep hill adjacent to “La Casona.” There is a monument at the top of this strategically … Continue reading →

In the dry season any rain is welcome. It refreshes the whole ecosystem. Many of the plant and animals living in this area have to endure the tight bottleneck of very little rain for several months. Rain is plentiful the … Continue reading →

Hello this will be necessity a short entry.  We had a full day in our excursion to Volcán Rincón de la Vieja, and we didn’t return until 5:45 for an immediate supper. The generator at the station failed immediately at … Continue reading →

This site is evolving with, and I’ve added a new page & tab which will “post” student contributions, which may be taken from a separate blog they have created. We support the students in having a separate blog with more … Continue reading →

Here are some student bird and animal photos from today (Student Photos Santa Rosa I). Amelia, Niko, and Jesse contributed. We will post photos of the group tomorrow, but it won’t be until the evening as we have a full … Continue reading →

Jesse Phillips has created a YouTube channel for the course, and he has posted a 30 second video of white-faced monkeys we saw around the field station. See it at  http://www.youtube.com/user/cswoffcampus

To to get an excellent summation of the day, check out Will Freedberg’s blog at http://wfreedberg.tumblr.com/ Will’s blog is part of his Capstone. You can go to his site directly or link to it from this site. After supper, we gathered … Continue reading →

We got in last night at about 8:30 pm local time. It didn’t take long to get settled into the dorms at the Research Center/Park Headquarters. We got up for a 7:30 breakfast, and then went out for an orientation … Continue reading →

We have posted a day-t0-day course itinerary. You can access it by hitting the “Course Itinerary” tab above or the right. While there will be some modifications as we go along, it should give you a good idea of what … Continue reading →

Travel information first few days Please arrive at the Airport (terminal B) at 6:00 a.m. (Note that that this information is also contained in “Travel Dates and Destinations.”) Dates and Destinations 2/9/11 Wednesday
Fly from Boston to San Jose: Lv Boston, … Continue reading →

We’re pleased to announce that Carra Cheslin CSW ’07 will be joining our group as a teaching intern for the Panama portion of the Course. Carra was a student on the 2007 CSW integrated Science and Language course in Costa … Continue reading →

There will be an informational meeting geared to parents on Tuesday, January 11 at 7:15. The meeting will be be held in Bio 1 in the Garthwaite Bldg. Bio 1 is the first classroom of the right as you walk … Continue reading →

On US soil, waiting for flight from Miami to Boston.  All is well. Anne

Our morning has gone smoothly. We loaded our bus at the Los Quetzales hotel at about 5:00 am and then got underway about 5:20. We arrived at the airport in David in plenty of time. Our flight  from  David to … Continue reading →

We’ve had our 12th consecutive full day of activities. We just finished with some student presentations of individual projects involving combining drawing and photographing birds and comparing night and day reef life. The cloud forest was spectacular and now we’re … Continue reading →

Tom reported that while in the cloud forest students were engaged in a variety of individual activities including meditating, photographing birds and bats, reorganizing the packing list, etc.  The group left the cloud forest mountain this morning and did a … Continue reading →

I spoke to Tom on Sunday evening and am just now getting around to posting.  The group arrived in Guadalupe on Sunday.  They are staying in teak cabins 7,000 feet up a mountain, literally touching the clouds.  They had a … Continue reading →

Tom called in a message before the group left for Guadalupe today.  Everyone has started their art projects such as landscape painting, photographing birds and plants, drawing plants, etc.  Cold water showers.  An occasional upset stomach but no serious illness.  … Continue reading →

Click on ITEC or go to albums on right hand side to see some photos.  We have many. many more. We aren’t at the facilities where we can post easily.

We got on two boats in Boca del Drago for about an hour ride to Almirante n the mainland. In our bus ride from the Atlantic port of Almirante we went up the continental divide (about 3,000 feet at the … Continue reading →

Tom left a voice mail message yesterday, March 18, that I didn’t get until tonight: “Everyone is healthy, happy and getting along well.  Four group projects have started: Oysters in the Mangroves, Poison Dart Frogs in the Forest, Biodiversity in … Continue reading →

We’re well settled into a routine the ITEC field station that keeps all busy as well as enjoying ourselves. The ITEC field station is located in Boca del Drago (“Mouth of the Dragon”) on Isla Colón.  There is no Internet … Continue reading →

Tom arrived in Panama on Tuesday, March 16 around 4:30 pm, very tired after more than 12 hours of traveling but having experienced no travel snags this time. FYI, the time in Panama is one hour earlier than in Boston. … Continue reading →

Steve called in to report that everyone is safe and happy.  They went snorkeling, took a 3 hour walk in the woods, and started their science projects today. Steve’s cell phone number is already posted but here it is: 011 … Continue reading →

We’re in the Soberiana Station in Gamboa. We’re all a bit tired, and we’ll sleep well tonight. It is an exotic location adjacent the canal and large tracts of rainforest. We’re off early again  tomorrow, so we’ll get only glimpse … Continue reading →

Steve just called to say they had arrived safely and were enjoying dinner at a restaurant in Panama City. On a related front, Tom Evans plans to go to the Passport Office in Boston tomorrow to negotiate an expedited new … Continue reading →

Hello All, The flight left on time, and surprisingly it was a smooth flight. We got into Miami about 20 minutes early. Great job by all on getting there on time. Thanks to all who helped to get them there. … Continue reading →

Checked Bag Policies and Fees visit: http://pdp.link.aa.com/r/5OASNW/EYNJY/NPLM5J/WPA2N/IYVTXX/AZ/t Carry-on Baggage Allowances visit: http://pdp.link.aa.com/r/5OASNW/EYNJY/NPLM5J/WPA2N/WLEMPU/AZ/t Flight Status Notification visit: http://pdp.link.aa.com/r/5OASNW/EYNJY/NPLM5J/WPA2N/5CPEO0/AZ/t Gates and Times Informations visit: http://pdp.link.aa.com/r/5OASNW/EYNJY/NPLM5J/WPA2N/YH94LH/AZ/t

Check in at terminal B  2 hours before the flight. The following are some key points concerning Check in: • Logan airport opens at 3:30 am. • You should be at the terminal at 4:15 a.m. • Sunday, March 14 … Continue reading →

From this time forward through the upcoming course (March 14-March 25) we will actively maintain this blog. Comments are welcome. Posted comments and questions will be read and responded to if needed. Please see basic instructions by clicking on the ‘About Commenting” … Continue reading →

Click on Bouquete to see more photos of our final full day in Panama  We left the beauty of the cloud forest in Los Quetzales in a timely manner. (The group has been amazing in terms of efficiently moving from … Continue reading →

With the recent rains there are some tree falls and some small slides on the Los Quetzales trail, and we are advised to forgo the hike. Instead we will go to some areas near the beginning of the trail and … Continue reading →

Click on Living in the Cloud Forest for more photos. (About half of these phtos were taken by Matthew B.) Double click to enlarge any photos.      It’s Monday morning, and this is the first time the group has come … Continue reading →

Our former phones won’t work in Cerro Punta, so we have acquired new ones. All numbers are preceded by 011-507 Steve 686-11737 Amber 686-23537 Kaihla 686-23538

We did have a fair amount of rain in Boca del Drago and we had a very rich and productive time. The kids projects, energy, and creative thought were very impressive. The seas were to choppy to reasonably to take … Continue reading →

  Click project work to see more photos. On Monday we returned and put in some long work days on our project. The group project involved looking at the “tank” communities living in the cups of water formed by Heliconia … Continue reading →

Click on Bastimentos island  to see more photos We traveled to Bastimentos island, which as another large island in the Boscas del Toro archipelago. We visited an indigenous Ngobe village and walked in a little reserve there. We saw Western … Continue reading →

Steve just called to say that the plan to travel to the next destination by boat has been changed to an airplane trip due to choppy, rough seas and not being able to fit all the luggage on the boat. … Continue reading →

Click on group studies and snorkeling to to see more photos of our 2nd and 3rd days at ITEC. More photos will follow (at some point) showing all 3 groups.

Click on ITEC, Forest & Beach Hikes to see more photos of our first full day in Panama.

Click on on to Panama to see photos of our bus and boat trip to the ITEC field station on Isla Colón. 

We said our goodbyes to our families in Atenas, throwing a festive dinner party for all, complete with BBQ marinated meats served on a tortilla with delicious rice with grated carrot, fresh salad and pico de gallo of chopped tomatoes … Continue reading →

Cooper just called with an update, so I’ll pass it on.  They are staying in cabins right on a beautiful beach near a rain forest.  There’s running water, toilets and the weather has been rainy and humid, in the 80’s. … Continue reading →

Steve called tonight (Wednesday, February 25) to report that the group has arrived safely in Panama and everyone is fine.  New emergency contact cell phone numbers are as follows: Dial 011 for international access, then country code 507 Steve   … Continue reading →

    Zach and Matthew making raised plant beds with 2 students from the Green Valley School.   Click on Servicio Comunal to see more photos of our time at La Puebla elementary school. On Saturday we did a community service project … Continue reading →

Click on Carara Photos to see more photos of our visit to Carara National Park. Sunday, Feb 22 we visited Carara National Park. The forest in this park is a transition between the seasonal dry forest to the north and lowland rainforest … Continue reading →

 Click on Chloe Renshaw to see more of Chloe’s photos.

Click on feria de agricoltura to see some more photos of the market. Here are some images of “las ferias de agricolltura” which occur every Friday. It is basically a farmers market. The students went there with their Spanish teachers, prior … Continue reading →

Click on agriculture tour to see more photos. Here are some photos from our tour of the agricultural fields of the Anchia family. There are several of us that are staying with some generation from this family. We toured the fields … Continue reading →

Click on Matthew B.’s photos to seem some photos taken by him since the start of the course.

              Click on the photo to see a higher resolution image. Or click on Atenas & Classes, Rodeo, or Cooking Class. to see images with a similar theme. We got back to classes on Monday morning, and … Continue reading →

We made it back to Atenas, and back to the now more familiar homestays and ¨tranquilo¨of this town after time in un ¨bosque lluvioso.¨ Our weekend trip marked our entry into the Science portion as we began to explore, observe … Continue reading →

  Click on this link – La Reserva – or go to the photo gallery under important links to the right to see photos of our stay at Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve field staion (La Reserva)  Our stay at … Continue reading →

What a full first day!  We are all doing well. By course standards we are right on schedule with all the spurts and starts and attention to multiple details that are demanded in orienting a group to a new place.  We … Continue reading →

Kaihla has the cell phone that is our emergency contact number while in Costa Rica. To reach Kaihla dial:     011-506-88 91 16 38     I will post this in communications section now and delete this post in a … Continue reading →

We had a safe and easy flight into San Jose. At the airport we met up with Maruja, one of the host parents, and her husband who helped us pile all our luggage and our slightly travel weary yet eager … Continue reading →

We’re all in the airport waiting for our connecting flight to San José. There are have been no hitches and everyone seems to be doing well.