Welcome!

Welcome to the The University of Alabama's Alabama Action Abroad: Costa Rica 2012's blog! (That's a really long title, and c'mon man, 21st century? America? Too many words. So we can just abbreviate that to AAA Costa Rica, or some derivative of further laziness. Too bad UAAAACR isn't a cool and easily pronounceable acronym...)


To begin our tale, sing in me, Muse, and through us tell the story
of those students skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderers, harried for years on end,
after they plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Talamanca.


Lol, jk, this is a blog, not The Odyssey. Mmm. I got this.

In this ship log, we shall painstakingly document our valiant treks into the vibrant jungles of the exotic land of Costa Rica as we search for treasures to confiscate, and barbarians to convert, and land to conquer, all in the name of Her Majesty, the Queen!

Er, no no no. Still wrong century and country and everything, really. Let's try again: 

This here nifty website ain't nothin' fancy but I reckon it'll serve well enough for us t' keep y'all updated as we run 'round in the jungle as wil' as horses in a tornader.

Hmm getting closer with this vernacular thing. One more go?

omg lk u guys shud totes read r blog---kidding. Follow us on our journey, as we spend a little over a week in Costa Rica. (Perfect.) There we will fly to San Jose; spend a night at an Outward Bound post; hike out; get cozy together in the jungle; use mosquito nets instead of internets; spend a few days with the Bribri people (an indigenous tribe of Costa Rica) for us to teach them English and a few things about our world and for them to teach us Spanish and even more things about their world; help out with their school; eat some good food; eat some ... food; get devoured by insects; put those new vaccines to work; increase our chances of skin cancer; get our butts kicked in fútbol like Auburn at the Iron Bowl; cool down/swim/bathe in rivers; scare the kids with our token bushy-bearded ginger (ginger jokes are only out of love, Hunter); see some swell sights; explore San Jose; and, finally, fly back to the States.

Hopefully along the way we'll become closer friends, make some new friends, build our Spanish language, build their English language, share our culture, learn a new culture, acquire a wider and more open view of the world, become better global citizens, and come back both alive and full of life. Hopefully we can Advance others, and ourselves. Hopefully we can Ask questions, and find answers. Hopefully we can Acquire friends, wisdom, and fond memories. Hopefully we can Challenge ourselves--try new things, push yourself to your limits, be open to new ideas. Hopefully we can finally find out what R-E-S-P-E-C-T means to Aretha. Er, more along the lines of the others: hopefully we can Respect as well--ourselves, our fellow travelers, our hosts, our environment, other ideas and cultures and foods and thoughts, whatever.

If we can do those things, then we will be AAACRs. Ace-ers. Acers. Woah. Weird how that just worked out into a term I thiiiink we can use. (Okay it's a stretch but work with me here; I didn't have much.) Best part? What those letters stand for will keep changing as we think of more goals, do more things. Maybe one day C will stand for Conserve; the next day, Community; another day, Chuckle; and yet different day Chickendance (or really everyday, am I right? And yeah yeah it's two words, whatever). But not only will the letters change, more importantly, so will the people who stand for them. Us. And if we play our cards right, while changing those letters, while changing ourselves, we can also ever-so-cliché-ly change the world.

Woah. That just got a bit hefty so I'm gonna take it back a few notches and end with:

can't wait, and roll tide, y'all!

Wait-wait-wait, can we have some sort of sign off? I mean, "roll tide" is sort of a de facto closer, but something more specific to us? Since it's 4am, I'm gonna go with the uncreative mandate:


Keep acin', AAACRs.


"Ace" is almost always a positive thing. Aces are usually desired in a deck of cards. To ace the ball in volleyball or tennis is a powerful way of scoring. To ace a test is to make a good grade. In the scientific world, a word that ends in -ase usually denotes an enzyme....which is a catalyst....which speeds up a reaction, which is generally a positive things and sort of like our goal (that one was a stretch, but have you noticed I'm all about stretching things? It's why I'm so tall (Btw, I'm only kind of tall, but there was me making another stretch).). The comma can either mean 1) that we are separating the subject of the command, as in the command to "keep acin'" is directed at us, OR 2) it can signify that we signing off as a signature, thus denoting the command is not for us but from us, directed at the reader. And the phrase AAACR itself, as I have so presumptuously designated, can be a really cool sounding nickname for ourselves (it sounds like RACER, too, which sounds fast and cool and is what I almost went with but that seemed unnecessary), or anyone who wants to be as cool as us and does all kinds of positive action verbs that start with those letters, or can just refer to Alabama Action Abroad Costa Rica. Look how multi-functionaly this three-lettered phrase is. So until y'all come up with something better, that's how I'm signing off.


Keep acin', AAACRs.

{AR}


[^^ this denotes the initials of the poster(s). I think this is unnecessary but perhaps interesting. our parents/guardians/friends/stalkers can scroll to the bottom and proudly brag about our posts or sadly pretend they don't exist. and in the future, we can fondly reflect upon this blog and know who wrote what. unless you're kellen s. and kari s. and feel the need to make everything difficult. maybe we could just sign our first names. ah but details, details! and again, it's really not important, but just a though. y'all can let me know how you feel about it. and I may be a yankee, but apparently I really do love my "y'all"s. the end for real.]