This summer, two groups of students traveled halfway around the world: one group to the bustling cities of London and Paris, and the other to the ecological wonders of Costa Rica. The London-Paris group spent thirteen days in Europe, walking almost seventy miles in the process, and exploring every landmark they could–from the London Eye to Musée d’Orsay. The group of students in Costa Rica also experienced a range of adventures, including staying in cabins on the beach and going ziplining–all during a thunder storm.

From the multitude of places that the Paris-London group squeezed in, a few places stood out: the London Tower, Covent Gardens, Musée d’Orsay and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.

“My favorite parts of the trip were seeing the crown jewels at the London Tower and having a picnic at a park in the Jewish quarter,” said sophomore Rebecca Hoffman. The crown jewels at the London Tower are priceless gems that have played, and continue to do so today, important roles in British

Junior Lilla Lavanakul recalls that the most memorable thing she saw on the trip was the Wedding Feast at Cana, by Veronese, at the Louvre.“It was on the wall right across from the Mona Lisa. I recognized it because it was the same painting on the cover of the AP Euro textbook.”

Later in the summer, in Costa Rica, other students were helping preserve the rainforests’ natural wonders through studying forest ecology and measuring the growth of the forest floor. At one point on the trip, the students stayed in cabins on the beach to help maintain a turtle nursery.

At the nursery, the students and teachers did volunteer work. They made driftwood barriers around the nursery to prevent seawater from flooding the eggs’ environments and went on night patrols on the beach to search for any eggs a turtle may have left behind. If an egg was found, it would have been taken back to the nursery, where it would have stayed until safely hatched.

“My favorite part of the trip was the white water rafting we did,” said sophomore Evan Chin. “We saw iguanas in the river next to us and our guide did a backflip off a cliff.”

Every year, DHS offers students multiple opportunities to go abroad during the summer. This year, the language department is offering Paris-Madrid-Barcelona trip and a trip to China over summer break (interested students see Mrs. Lea in M101).