We began with the usual process of flying out of Knoxville to Costa Rica, eventually arriving in San Jose, its capital. We immediately began to experience the culture of the country upon landing, as our ride was running late, so we waited and were surrounded by all of the taxi drivers waiting to take people to their destinations.

In December, this was about the best weather you would expect: sunny, warm and just enough humidity. From the San Jose airport in the town of Alejuela, we took an hour and a half van ride to our final destination: San Miguel de Sarapiqui, a small town with a population about 2,000 people.

The Alternative Winter Break in Costa Rica was an adventure. Going beyond the US into an unfamiliar place seemed daunting but it turned out to be quite different. The experience was also made better by the friendliness of the people and the shared similarities between the countries.

As far as the project goes, I amazed myself at how much manual labor I could do and my drive to get as much done and done well as possible. We worked through rain, mud, and heat and joked around as we went. Nothing brings people together quite like shared suffering, but I was honestly grateful for the exercise and the life skills. The town citizens were all so grateful for our contribution.

Upon my arrival into San Miguel, Costa Rica, I felt the piercing gaze of the locals, accompanied by nearly all fair skinned, light haired people, we stood out. Not deterred by our obvious visual differences and serious lack of Spanish communication skills, our host families and the towns people were nothing but courteous.

The College of Engineering had its first Alternative Winter Break December 13–20, 2013. Six students made the trip: Jonathan Skinner, Kangmin (Carl) Cheng, Christopher Daffron, Payton Smith, Amber Bassett, and Courtney Humphreys. Students stayed with non-English speaking host families in the rural town of San Miguel de Sarapiqui, located in the Heredia Province close to the center of the country.