Personal Narrative: Costa Rica

I woke up on the cushioned beach chair, gazing across the seemingly endless magical, blue aura of the ocean. As far as I could see, glistening sand stretched across the water, as the magnificent, jagged rock structures that watched over the Pacific Ocean like birds over their prey. Just two hours outside of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, golf courses, resorts and beaches lined the entire peninsula. The luxurious resorts boasted private beaches and exclusive accommodations along the picturesque coastline of Peninsula Papagayo. Any accommodations you could possibly imagine would be provided immediately by the professionally trained wait staff. It was amazing, but this was not truly experiencing Costa Rica. This was not the third world …show more content…
We were there for just over a week, visiting the La Fortuna Orphanage to help restore the homes at the orphanage, along with hanging out with the children. The first day, I was approached by a small boy, Dwayne, who wanted to play soccer. Later on the trip, one of the orphanage mothers explained that Dwayne was taken away from his father when he was just two years old because of drug issues. In addition, he had never meet his mother, so he had lived in the shelter his entire life. Dwayne had never met his mother and had no father to grow up with as a role model. In fact, Dwayne had never even left his town in Costa Rica or been to the beach. That first day, we went into their playground, which was littered with glass shards and trash. The kids were kicking a soccer ball and screaming, while frantically trying to avoid the pointy glass shards that covered the entirety of the yard. As we left the orphanage, the kids watched our bus leave through the windows, which were barred shut with metal barricades like a prison cell. The kids retreated into their overcrowded huts where ten kids shared a room the size of a large