Proctor en Monteverde affords sophomores an opportunity to study abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica. From living with a host family, to studying Spanish and rainforest ecology, to being fully immersed in Costa Rican culture, Morgan ‘25, Reese ‘25, Will ‘25, Bella ‘25, Henry ‘25, and Emma ‘25 have experienced a life-changing term abroad. Read more from Morgan and Reese below. 

Morgan ‘25 

After a full week of school and activities, Kathia wanted to surprise us with a new activity for the program that we would be the first to experience. She told us that we would be going bat netting on Friday night at the Monteverde Reserve. When we got there we met up with a few of our teachers and our guide, Vino. Vino showed us all the nets and how the researchers at the reserve catch bats. We made our way through the nets to an area where Vino showed us all the different types of bats and told us a little bit about each of them. 

Saturday, we did not have an activity planned, so we all got some extra time with our host families. For these last three weeks, we have all been trying to spend as much time with our families as possible because the time will go by faster than we expect. 

This weekend we also spent a lot of time around the center of Monteverde trying new restaurants. This Saturday the girls and I went to a new place for brunch called The Tree House Café, which is a restaurant that is built around a tree. On Sunday, we all spent the mornings out with our families. I went to my host cousin's 6th birthday party and met some extended family of theirs. Spending time with my extended host family makes me realize how many connections there are in this small community. After lunch, we all met up and went to the town center to do some shopping for the Super Bowl. We went to Bella's house and had a small Super Bowl party with her host family which was a great way to end an amazing week. 

Reese ‘25 

This past week was full of fun activities and adventures like learning a new Latin dance and racing each other on our horses. On Friday we had a Spanish class in town; we were only allowed to talk to locals in Spanish and had many tasks to accomplish, such as getting directions to the bank, purchasing a fruit we had never eaten before, and asking someone to take a picture of us in front of the church.

When we finished we had a big lunch of only typical Costa Rica foods with our Spanish teacher Eva. Later Friday afternoon Ernest brought us to a local hotel called Selina’s where we went in the hot tubs and got dinner. There was a DJ so we stayed, danced and played pool. 

On Saturday we went on a coffee tour with our science teacher Beto. We learned a lot about how coffee and chocolate are made and we also got to try the chocolate and the coffee beans. We were all surprised that chocolate comes from seeds inside the large fruit of the cacao plant. On Saturday all of the girls spent the night at Bella's house, making popcorn and spending time with Bella's host sister Wanda and host mom Maribel. We have had a lot of fun so far, but we are getting sad that our time in Costa Rica is almost coming to an end!