I Wish I Was A Little Bit Smarter! I Wish I Was A Scholar!

The structure of classes at the University for Peace is not exactly what I was anticipating. We have a single class for a few weeks at a time and then move on to another class. I kind of like it because I can focus everything I've got into one class at a time and then move on to something new. Thing is, it's quite intense! I've never read so much in my life!

Our first class, Foundations in Peace and Conflict Studies, finally finished last week! It was neat because for the first part of the day, all students were together for a lecture. Hearing different perspectives from people representing different cultures and backgrounds was incredibly interesting. The student diversity at UPeace is something truly amazing and it enriches everyone's experience.The second part of the day was spent in smaller groups where we had discussions over the lecture and the readings. During this course, as the title suggests, we studied concepts and theories of peace and conflict. We reviewed case studies over particular conflicts, analyzing all the various components of the conflicts, and then discussed potential solutions.

It was a pretty interesting course, however, my lack of background in this particular subject made the entire thing incredibly challenging!

In between classes was a 4 day break/weekend. To celebrate completion of our first class, some friends and I headed out to an island and then a volcano for some intense travel days of relaxation!Islita Cedros (Little Cedar Island) was an 8 hour trip away from where I live via two buses and two boats. It's a tiny island without cars or even roads. We hung out for two nights with some local folks that Becca knows.After the island we made our way to the town of La Fortuna, which sits at the base of Arenal - an active volcano. Two boats, two buses, and 10 hours of travel finally put us there. We wasted no time and hired a guide to take us to some hot springs. It was late at night, and the tourist host springs had all closed. Our guide took us to some hot river in the middle of the forest. It was awesome! The water was somewhere around 100 degrees and we hung out in it for three wonderful hours!Had to leave in the morning... We only needed two buses and seven hours to get home. Just in time to do my reading for school the next day, and then go to bed.

The class I'm taking now is Forests, Forestry, and Poverty. It's starting out great! So sorry for all the emails to which I haven't responded. Along with my struggle to keep up with school work, I equally struggle with keeping up with emails. More to come! XOXO!

I've started another online photo album of my activities in Costa Rica. If you want to see more images that go along with these stories, check out this address: http://picasaweb.google.com/00Judkins/CostaRicaUniversityForPeace!