'Las tortugas son mis amigas'.

Before I left to be an exchange student in Costa Pica in February of my junior year, I had never been apart from my parents for more than a week. And I never expected to be changed in so many ways in just six months.

I lived with a family in Limon, a port city on the Caribbean coast. Eating rice and beans every day and learning to speak Spanish were my first challenges.

I attended the local school, and one day a group of American high school students with a group called Ecology Project International (EPI) came to visit. EPI brings students from the U.S. to Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands to work with biologists and learn about sea turtle ecology.

AT THE RESERVE

I was excited to be part of a group of students from Lim6n who were invited to go to a reserve to work with the sea turtles.

During the day, EPI teachers taught us about sea turtle ecology and biology. At night, we each took a four-hour shift walking up and down the beach. When we saw a sea turtle, we took its measurements. Then we collected the eggs it was laying in a bag and relocated them to prevent poachers from stealing the eggs.

(Sea turtles normally lay their eggs on the beach and leave them there. The eggs take about two months to hatch, at which point the baby turtles are on their own. Even under normal circumstances, many of the hatchlings do not survive.)

After our four-day stay at the reserve, I headed back to Lim6n in awe. The next day at school, those of us who had gone to the reserve were eager to share what we'd learned. I was shocked to discover that most of my Costa Rican classmates ate sea-turtle meat and eggs--they're considered delicacies--and didn't have any idea that sea turtles are endangered.

I found that troubling, so a friend and I decided to start an awareness campaign. We made T-shirts and posters about the turtles. The front of the shirts said, "Las tortugas son mis amigas, no mi comida." ("The turtles are my friends, not my food.") The shirts sold fast, and we donated the $250 we raised to EPI.

We also made posters with information about why turtles are endangered and the importance of not purchasing turtle products. We used the posters for school presentations. Since I've left, my Costa Pican friends have continued giving sea-turtle presentations at other schools.

LASTING IMPRESSION

My experience with the sea turtles has made me much more aware of our precious Earth. I now see the beauty of a recycled can and a turned-off light. In college, I plan to study the environment more in depth.

My time in Costa Pica--especially my time with the sea turtles--has left a lasting impression in my heart.

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Ellen Cogen is a freshman at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She graduated from Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale, Wash.