Walking, walking, walking, walking (Santa Rosa)

Wednesday: We had lunch with some missionaries that Kelsey,  Ben, and Joey had met at a church here in San Jose. One couple invited us to their house for lunch, and then 2 other missionary couples came over for lunch as well. It was pretty laid back (salad, chips and salsa, chili, bread, and brownies) and was a lot of fun. We played 2 truths and a lie and spent almost all afternoon talking. I didn't get home until around 4:45, then I worked on my presentations for ecology.

Thursday: I skyped with Emily! We had a skype appointment to go over my honors literature review for my thesis. Deanne stopped by and I chatted with her a little bit. It was fun and also helpful : ) I felt bad because I color coded it for myself and then referenced that for Emily. I forgot she's color blind and my color code did nothing for her. I had lunch with mis amigos then had class as usual.

Friday: After a lazy morning and a pb&j sandwich for lunch, Kelsey, Hope, Ben, and I met at Hopes house (Joey had already left for Panama). We went to the school and rented Oh Brother Where Art Thou then played some ninja. I actually won one game!! Then we decided to walk to Parque La Sabana. On the way there we stopped in this courtyard to watch some men playing a game. There were three green things that looked like bowling pins and they each had three little nuts with washers on top of them. Each man would use a stick to push a tennis ball at the pins and try to knock the nuts off without knocking the pin over. We watched for awhile, then the creator of the game (a really nice old man) taught Kels, Hope, and I how to play. Hope and I were tied but no one could knock the last nut off, though we hit the pin repeatedly. We finally asked "El Champeon" (the old man) to do it for us. Then we chatted with someone that Ben and Kelsey had met at church the night before. He just happened to be walking through the same courtyard that we were in, despite being in a city of millions. It was pretty cool.

We continued on to the park, which was A LOT further than we thought. When we finally got there, we sat around, talked, and watched some people play volleyball. We played fetch with this dog who loved us but kept hating on men with beards. Then the dog (who we called Charlie because he looked like the dog from All Dogs Go to Heaven) followed us around everywhere. We saw the new stadium that China built then left the park for the walk home. The dog followed us all the way to a plaza near downtown where he got distracted by all the pigeons (thank goodness, because we didnt know what we would do with him once we all got home).
We finally made it home. I showered and ate dinner, then a bunch of people met up by the highway and walked 20 minutes to a soccer field, where we watched Ben and Sean's game. It was a nice, relaxing (free) and fun thing to do on a Friday night. After the movie, I went to Hope's house. Kelsey played the guitar and we had a little singalong before Ben, Kels, Hope and I watched Oh Brother Where Art Thou (and devoured some popcorn). The movie ended at 12:30, and Kels and Ben went back to their houses while I stayed with Hope so she wouldn't be alone. Overall, we decided that we had walked a bout 10 miles that day.

Saturday: Left Hope's house and walked next door to the school for my field trip. We had to wait for our teacher, who showed us still drunk from the night before, and one of the students who was a little late. There were only 12 of us, so we all got a lot of room, which was super nice for the 6 hour drive. When we got to Santa Rosa, we had a late lunch and put all of our stuff in the rooms. We had a girls room and a boys room, and the bathroom was co-ed. The stalls were marked for a specific gender, but it was all in the same room. Awkward.
We all hiked to La Casona, which is an important historical site for Costa Rica. It is where the Costa Rican army fought off William Walker, who was trying to take over Costa Rica with his army of mercenaries. This is the only battle Costa Rica had to fight for its independence (the first time it was given to them when all the other Latin American countries gained their independence) so its very important. It was cool to see, even though there weren't a lot of artifacts there. Apparently, in 2001, two hunters were angry that they kept getting caught illegally hunting at the park and burned a lot of the building down. At La Casona, we hiked to a lookout point, which was absolutely gorgeous. We just sat and looked at it for a good hour.
While we ate dinner, one guy in our class convinced our teacher to let us walk to this beach (which was 8 miles away). We couldn't go at night because we didn't have enough flashlights. so we decided to go really early the next morning. We went on a short night hike, where I saw two scorpions fighting. One had babies on her back. It was really cool until they froze when they noticed us and we had to head back. Then we went to bed around 9 p.m.

Sunday: Good morning! 4 a.m. and we were up, getting ready for our long hike. We finally ended up leaving around 4:40, after waiting for our professor and getting a sack breakfast that the cooks made for us. We hiked for about an hour in the dark. I didn't have a flashlight and was relying on staying close to people. I was continually tripping, then I got the "bright" idea to walk in front of the person with the flashlight. It was a bad idea. I fell flat on my face. So embarrassing lol. I was fine, and learned to walk behind the flashlight.
We saw a lot of cool things on the walk, like monkeys, a tarantula, iguanas, birds, and more. We stopped around 6:30 for breakfast and finally reached the gorgeous beach at about 7:40. We stayed there for about an hour and a half, relaxing and taking pictures, before we started the hike back. And the hike back was TERRIBLE. Literally, an entire hour was uphill. I drank SO much water and worked my body so hard, but felt very accomplished afterward. We had hiked around 16 miles! Whitney, Derek, and I walked together the entire way back, and we got back to Santa Rosa around noon. We had lunch (though I was too tired to be very hungry) and took quick showers. Then we packed our stuff and headed back to San Jose!

The bus trip back kind of stank because we didn't stop at all, and I couldn't sleep like everyone else was. We made good time, though, and I got home at 6:30. Perfect timing to eat dinner with Ana and the girl that's living in the room next door this week. Her name is Jamie, and she and her friends are spending their spring break here taking Spanish classes. That's dedication! She is in class ALL day long, then Thursday and Friday the school is taking them to see some volcanoes (no beach for her, though). Then I skyped with people and went to bed!

Monday: Had a relaxed morning, trimmed my own bangs, then had bible study during lunch. The pizza place I went to ran out of pizza, so I thought I was going to be late. Turned out fine though, and we had a great bible study led by Rachel Braun. Afterwards Rachel and I got some cake then walked home. I took a little nap and worked on homework for the rest of the afternoon. I found out that my research for my honors thesis got approved! After dinner Rachel and I went on a grocery run, and now here I am blogging. I am sore and tired, but excited to start Spanish again tomorrow : )

Pura Vida!!

More time with my family then on to Playa Hermosa

Tuesday: I studied all morning for my ecology test. Blah! I had a mini paper due in Intercultural Communication, and just studied for my test. It turned out to be pretty easy – just 4 essay questions- but I am glad I studied as much as I did because I had no idea what was going to be on the test. I think it went well, though!

Wednesday: This was a long time ago, so I don’t remember much (wasn’t too memorable of a day). I literally did my thesis/read all day. Had lunch with Hope and Kelsey at a Mexican restaurant close to school. I think the most memorable thing I did that day was walk to the mall for some ice cream with Rachel Braun. It was some really delicious ice cream and some good conversation!

Thursday: Chilled all morning doing my thesis stuff and enjoying a little me time.  After Intercultural communication I caught a cab to my parents hotel and played cards with them for awhile. Then we went back to my house and I introduced them to Ana, who tried to speak English to them (she is so sweet!). My sister understood some of what she was saying in Spanish, though (she is so smart!). We went back to the school and walked around a little. I took them to the Dos Pinos store and introduced them to the strawberry yogurt with coco puffs in it : ) I gave them directions to a mall and went to ecology. I got out early and expected them to be awhile, but they had just gotten back. They couldn’t find the mall, but found Pequeno Mundo (which is a block from the mall).

We all went out to eat at Tin Jo, an Asian restaurant where Rachel Braun’s mom works. It was really good and actually pretty cheap. My food was so hot it burned my tongue off, though. Literally, no taste buds. Ouch. After dinner we decided to go to a movie, so I asked the cab driver to take us to the closest movie theatre. He said the name of one, then a few minutes later said there was another one but it was not as nice and not very safe. He said it was Mall San Pedro (where I go literally once a week). I told him just to take us there, so we went to the only movie they had playing at that time, which just happened to be the Green Hornet. It was actually a good movie, and I don’t even like Seth Rogen (who starred in it, co-wrote it, and co-produced it). It was action and comedy and something I think a lot of people would enjoy.

Friday: My family and I got breakfast at a soda then walked downtown. I was trying to find the artisan market but couldn’t. We walked around for a long time. Then we found a little place that had souvenirs and they shopped for awhile (but didn’t buy much because the market is cheaper). We caught a cab to Café Mundo, where we were meeting 6 of my friends for lunch. I was so excited for everyone to meet each other! My family loved my friends and thought they were just such good people and so sweet. My friends thought my family was really nice. What a good day : )

            At lunch Hope told me where to tell the cab driver to go, so we made it to the artisan market pretty quickly and spent the afternoon there buying souvenirs for my family. My dad was the money man, and we would drag him into stores so he could see what we were going to get then pull out his wallet and pay. They bought a lot of stuff and spent a lot of money, but the stuff was really cool and will be put to use. My parents also bought me some stuff, which I loved. Always better to spend someone else’s money (one vendor even told me he wished he had a dad like me when my dad insisted on paying for something).

            After the artisan market we went to the Centro Commercial del Sur, which is not too far from my house, and got some Mexican food. It was ok, but not worth the price. Then Maggie and I got some ice cream from Pops (which my mom shared, of course) and we headed out. I was really nervous because I didn’t know the name of the place we were going, just that it was a new artificial soccer field and that I could see the lights. We got there fine, though, and had a little time before Ben’s soccer game started.  We watched another game for awhile (we were early), then they had halftime. After halftime the ref came up to us and asked something in Spanish. My mom said, “si… Maggie?” And I asked the ref what he said. He had asked if we were going to play after. I was like “Oh no! Just watching!!” Then we had to give my mom crap for just saying “si” when she didn’t know what people were talking about lol.

            Watching Ben’s game was cool. My sister and I joked around a lot – it was good to be together – but we also watched the game. Ben broke up  a fight and had some good shots on goal and a couple goals. We left a little before the game ended to go to my house to switch my clothes, since I was leaving straight from the hotel for Playa Hermosa that weekend with my friends. We returned to the hotel and caught some shut eye!

Saturday: We had breakfast together at the Restaraunte Grano de Oro (the restaurant in the hotel my family was staying in). It was pretty good. Then we had to call me a cab so I could go to the Coca-Cola station and catch my bus. It was sad saying goodbye, for sure. I just got in the taxi and drove away. I did tear up a little, but I was stronger than when they left after visiting me this summer in VA.

            I got to the Coca-Cola station (where I had never been before) and waited for awhile out front. I was really worried because it was 5 til and I hadn’t seen anyone around. So I went searching a little and found Ben, then we walked back into the main area of the station, which I didn’t even know was there! Luckily I had found Ben otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to go that weekend!

            The bus ride was fairly uneventful. We chatted with each other and with these 2 Tico brothers that were on their way to meet their family in Jaco. When we got to Jaco, we all crammed into a taxi (which is a little illegal) for the ride to our hotel in Playa Hermosa (a 10 minute ride). Our driver didn’t know where the hotel was, so he dropped us off at the wrong one. Luckily a little kid on a motor bike knew where the hotel was and helped us find our way, periodically driving by while we were walking to make sure we were going in the right direction.

            After a long, hot walk we made it the hotel. We checked in and saw where we would be staying, which was a loft right next to the hotel. The owners were renting it from an Australian guy and it wasn’t as nice as the actual hotel, which means we got it for 20 a person and still had the nice pool, breakfast, and barbecue that the hotel offered. We all jumped in the pool for awhile to cool off, then walked to the beach, where we burned our feet off before we figured out that the black sand was very very hot. We grabbed some cheap but delicious lunch and spent the afternoon on the beach, alternating between laying out, being covered by black sand, and getting rolled by the massive waves. We watched a very quick and uneventful sunset then grabbed some dinner at one of the restaurants near the beach. We grabbed a cab back to the hotel. The cab drivers made us take 2 cabs, and they didn’t have their meters running and charged us $4 for what should have been a $1 ride. Ben argued with the guy, but it did no good. We both did what Joaquin told us and slammed the doors of our respective taxis (which is an insult). We spent the evening chilling in the pool and enjoying life in Costa Rica!

Sunday: We had breakfast by the pool, then went and got changed. We spent all day in the pool and around it. The hotel had a barbecue, where we grilled some hot dogs and pineapple for lunch. I highly recommend grilled pineapple! We just played around in the pool and got a little sunburnt (though we put on lots of sunscreen!)

            We got a ride back to Jaco at 4:45 from one of the owners of the hotel. She and her husband moved to Costa Rica 2 months before to run the hotel, which some rich man built for his son (a surfer) to run and take care of so he could visit a couple times a year. The son didn’t care about the hotel and spent all his time surfing, so the father sold the hotel to the couple from Chicago who barely knew English but were ready to take on an new adventure. They were really nice people.

            The bus ride back to San Jose was a little chilly. I tried to sleep but it was uncomfortable and windy, so I just sat through the 2 ½ hour drive. We caught taxis back home, and I ate some pasta then headed to bed. The sun sucked all my energy!

Monday: Read and did homework all day. It was bible study day, and my turn to lead, so that was really fun! We talked about fully giving the power over to God and letting Him determine what our life here on Earth will be like. We talked about hearing His voice and following His will. It was a nice bible study and I felt like everyone got involved. Rachel Braun and I took another evening walk to the grocery store, and I bought bread, yogurt, and a new toothbrush. I bought 3 things of Dos Pinos and today (Tuesday) I have already eaten 2 of them : )

Tuesday: Just a normal day of class. My internet didn’t work at all, so that’s why this is so late and I haven’t been able to contact anyone.  Hopefully it will work tomorrow! I am a little stressed out because I found out I have A TON of work to do in the next week and a half. Like 3 presentations and parts of major papers. I know its just as much work as I have in a busy week at home, it just feels like more here cuz I’m not used to having homework at all! And I want to get a lot done this week because I start the hardest Spanish class next week and want to be able to devote my time to that. Tomorrow we are having lunch with a couple that Kelsey, Ben, and Joey met at church. They are so sweet and offered to make us lunch, so I am excited about that!

I will keep you posted on everything! (

Pura Vida!

Weekend with the fam!

So here's a quick review of the last few weekdays last week. Wednesday: normal day. Went to Mey Bein and had a blast (as usual). Thursday: the four hour class ended up not happening. When Ben and I were walking home from class, we saw Hope, Joey, and Kelsey playing kickball with some little kids, so we joined them. We played kickball, basketball, and drew chalk pictures with these three little boys. They were absolutely adorable. One of them, Andres, had a crush on Kelsey. We taught him how to outline people's bodies and make chalk people, so he made Kelsey. Beside her picture he wrote "Kelsey, la mujer de las sonrisas" (The woman of the smiles). It was so cute! Thursday night after dance class we all went to Castro's, which is a Latin dance club. I mostly danced with people from class, but did dance with one other person. He creeped me out a little bit, though, and I escaped as soon as the set was done. It was a lot of fun, though!

Friday: I went to pick up my parents at the airport. There was a HUGE traffic jam, and I didn't think I would make it in time! I asked the cab driver how long until we got to the airport, and he said an hour and a half! I definitely could not wait that long, because we had to leave from the airport straight to Monteverde and Arenal. I asked the cab driver if there was a faster way, so he swung out into the bus only lane for like 10 minutes! My hearts was pounding because I thought we were going to get in big trouble, but there was no problems and we arrived at the airport in good time : ) I waited outside for about 15 minutes and then my family came!!! It was so great to see them again. I didn't realize how homesick I was until they came. We took a bus ride to our hotel at Arenal, which took 2 hours instead of the usual 3 because our bus driver drove SO fast. Faster than normal Costa Rican bus drivers, which is staying a lot.

The hotel we stayed at was absolutely gorgeous. The nicest hotel of my life. It was a cabin type thing with an outdoor jacuzzi tub, an outdoor shower, a huge bathroom with beautiful granite vanities, an indoor shower with 2 showerheads, nice teak floors, and a deck with a hammock. It was great. We also had a great view of Arenal, which was actually clear enough for us to see on Friday! Friday night we just ate at the hotel restaurant and relaxed. Maggie and I went in the jacuzzi and then tried to watch Eat Pray Love but the DVD kept freezing.

Saturday: We walked around the little town of La Fortuna, which was about a ten minute cab ride from our hotel. We looked in all the little tourist shops and bought some things, but they sell basically the same things in San Jose for MUCH cheaper, so we waited on most of the things my family wanted to buy. We ate in a little restaurant in the town, and I had some delicious spicy "volcano" rice. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for our tour of Arenal, which left at 2 that afternoon. We drove to Arenal then hiked to this look out point, where we learned a little more about the volcano (it actually has multiple craters, and the biggest eruption actually was from a crater in the side of the volcano instead of the top). Then we started a hike to the edge of the where the lava flowed when Arenal erupted in 68 (the biggest eruption). It was a long hike, but was pretty cool to see. At the top was a great view of Arenal lake, which was actually man-made in like 1975. After the hike we went to Baldi hot springs, which was the same hot springs that I went to the last time I was at Arenal. It was fun, though. I went on all the slides at least one more time with my sister, and went on 2 of them with my mom. She didn't want to go on the one that dropped a few feet, though. Other than that we just relaxed in the warm water for a few hours. We met our guide at the front at around 7:15 to go to dinner with this nice Canadian couple that was with us. When our guide dropped us off, he said he would be back at 8:15 to pick us up. We didn't think it would be a problem considering we pre-ordered all of our food (before the hot springs, so at like 5:15). At 8:05 we received our salads. When our guide came back at 8:15 I told him that we had just received our salads. He was not happy and went to talk to the staff. They seemed more concerned with clearing empty tables than with helping us, and even though the restaurant was full there shouldn't have been a problem considering we told the cook what we wanted 2 hours before. They were also very bad about bringing stuff out together - my dad was finished with his food before anyone else got theirs. Well, we ended up finishing our meal at around 9:15 and then heading back to the hotel. I felt bad for the guides, whose day started at 7 that morning and wouldn't get home until after 10.

Sunday: We got up, got ready, then ate breakfast before we realized we still had around an hour before our ride came, so we sat in the lobby and relaxed (it was a long walk back to our cabin, and it was raining so no one wanted to go back). We were a little worried because we were supposed to be ziplining, but it was pouring outside. But when the bus came we all loaded in and drove up the mountain to the SkyTram. We (Maggie, Mom, and I) got on all of our ziplining gear, which included a nice rain jacket, then we road in the SkyTram, which was a mix between a ferris wheel and a ski lift (it was a ski lift but the sitting area was like a ferris wheel). At the top we waited for a while then got instructions about body position. It was a lot different than the first time I had gone ziplining! These lines were a lot longer, so we had to go really fast to make sure we didn't get stuck. We had to curl our legs up and lean back for ultimate speed. The first line was the highest, and it had an absolutely gorgeous view!! We could see the lake over the trees in the canyon that we were flying across. My mom was a little nervous, and after the first line I asked her how it was. She told me that  halfway through she thought, "What the hell am I doing? What did they convince me to do?" It was too late to turn back, and she did great with all the other lines. The last one was really long, and we got going up to 45 mph! Faster than a speeding bullet....

 We met my dad down at the bottom (he had gone for a hike instead of ziplining) and loaded back into the van to return to our hotel. We got back around 2 p.m. and had lunch, then spent the afternoon relaxing and playing card games. We went into town for a typical Costa Rican dinner and some ice cream. We also stopped at a shop where a man made bracelets. They were really neat, and he made one specially for me in 20 minutes with the colors I chose. Back at the hotel, I went in the jacuzzi again (with my mom this time) and we all chilled outside on the porch. Then Maggie and I tried to watch The DaVinci Code, but once again the DVD kept freezing so I just turned it off and we went to bed.

Monday: We had a relaxed morning of packing, then were picked up (a little late) to be taken to a little airport by Arenal. My parents had a flight to Quepos and I had one about two hours later to San Jose. The airport was literally an old cow barn and only had three walls. There was no security whatsoever, and we could tell the airport doubled as a nightclub (there were huge speakers, disco balls, and a massive bar). The runway didn't have lights and there was no building to store planes. All these things made us a little nervous. I gave my family hugs and told them not to die before they boarded a 16 passenger plane (or something like that) and took off! I was praying really hard, and they made it as far as I could see. I waited for a few hours then got in my own tiny plane for the 20 minute ride to San Jose. I caught a taxi/van thing back home and did some homework for the rest of the afternoon (fun fun).

I fell asleep at like 8:30 because I had such a hard time sleeping in the hotel. I set my alarm for 9, but didn't wake up until 9:35. I changed and went down to check my messages, because I was supposed to go to a club with my friends (El Observatorio) to watch some salsa dancers. I realized I was late and basically ran to the school, but they had left. I caught my own taxi there, and luckily found them despite the fog of smoke and the crazy lights. We stayed for about an hour watching the crazy good dancers, then walked the 10 blocks or so back to the school, where Kelsey and I shared a taxi back to our houses (so we wouldn't walk alone). Joey walked Bethany home, and Hope lives right next to the school, so we all got home safely : )

I saw Ana for the first time in a few weeks this morning! She and her husband arrived on Friday after I had left, and they went to Ana's son's for Valentine's day, so I didn't see her at all yesterday. The internet in my room is working again, so everything is good! Today in class we are going to the mall to observe behavior, and then I have a test in my other class. I'm off to study and work on my thesis (even more - this is getting a little old lol).


Pura Vida!

La Selva (aka: The Jungle)

Hey everyone! Sorry this update is so late. I have not had wireless in my room since I got home from my field trip on Sunday, so I have had to use the cord downstairs, which has given me an excuse to put this off…

Friday: Four other girls (Kelsey, Rachel, Bethany, and Holly) and I went to a city close to San Jose called Heredia. We met at 330 at the school and waited for a couple other people, who were late so we had to leave them (no one here has phones, so it’s impossible to let people know if you are not coming anymore, so we just assume 15 minutes late they are not coming).  We walked for about 20 minutes to get to this train station, then bought our tickets (for about 40 cents). The train was PACKED and we had to stand smushed together. It was still fun; however, then we got off one stop too early (all the people still on the train didn’t give us a clue), so we had to ask for directions and walk another 15 minutes to Heredia.

            When we entered Heredia, we were along a strip that had Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, and some other American fast food restaurant. It was strange. Then we walked around, found central park, the train station, an open air food market, some friends in a bar (from school), and then we found Rachel, Holly, and I’s communication professor’s house. He had given Rachel directions to come visit (even though he is in the middle of renovations). I must preface this by saying professor-student relationships here are much looser and there is less crap attached.  Our professor is always super helpful with any of our questions about our families and the culture, and he invited anyone in his class to Heredia and to his house.  He was on his way to the hardware store, but decided to stay and talk to us instead.  We took a tour through his house, which is really cool and will be even better once his terrace is finished. Then he made coffee for people and gave us cookies. We just talked about culture and looked at some of his pictures. It was a little awkward, but really fun and chill at the same time. After we left his house, we stopped at a gelato place (where I broke out of my shell and got ice cream with fruit. Even though it was still chocolate ice cream, I usually never mix the two. It was pretty good, though!).  Then we walked to the train station and got a ride back home to San Jose (and got off on the right stop this time).

Saturday: I arrived at the school at 7:30 a.m with my bag packed and ready for La Selva (even if my attitude about missing a weekend at the beach with my friends was a little cranky).  We stopped at a supermarket then had about a 3 hour drive to La Selva (which translates literally to the jungle but is also a research/conservation center).  We had a while to chill after lunch, then we had a lecture where we learned all about La Selva and what kinds of projects are going on. It’s a really cool mix of long and short term scientific projects, ecotourism, and ecology education. La Selva is actually the only place in Central America where there is a corridor between the highlands and the lowlands, and is a huge biological asset, which makes it teeming with biodiversity. 

            We crossed this massive suspension bridge over a crocodile infested river to get to the main part of the preserve, and we were about to go on a guided hike through the jungle when we found some things within the camp to examine. First of all, there was a huge iguana way up in a tree by the bridge; there were spider monkeys, macaws, and the dreaded bullet ants!! Ahhhh!!! These ants are literally huge and get their name from the fact that when one bites or stings you, it feels like you have been shot. Yeah. We ran from those many times during our weekend! During our actual trail hike, we saw some really super cool looking little white fruit bats sleeping under a leaf, lots of bugs, TONS of peccaries, and an armadillo. We learned a lot about different species of plants and animals, and we got comfortable walking around in the jungle (even though it was pouring rain and taking notes for our ecology paper was hard).  We met some really cool people at dinner – 2 elderly men, one from Boston and one from Montana. They were at La Selva for a couple days, and the guy from Boston had been going there for years and years and years. They raved about the night hikes and told us to feed the fruit piranhas in the morning (more on that later).  That night we went on a night hike, and man was that cool! We saw lots of snakes (mostly nonvenomous, but we did see a baby viper, a cousin to the fer de lance, the most poisonous snake in CR!), spiders, frogs, and insects (like leaf cutter ants – those things are pretty sweet!!)

            We enjoyed some hot chocolate and card games, then settled in to go to sleep. I, being the worry-wart that I am, didn’t sleep very well because I was worried we would sleep too late since I didn’t have an alarm and the girl who did felt like she would sleep through it. I woke up when it went off after having only drifted a little during the night.

Sunday: We had a delicious breakfast bright and early at 6 a.m., and snatched a banana piece or two for the fruit piranhas.  They really do exist!! We dropped bananas over the side and they all dog-piled trying to get the pieces! It was like at the zoo when you can feed the fish, but these fish were even bigger. Then  we spent the next few hours doing our assignment (which would only take 5 minutes, but everyone got an opportunity to explore the jungle).  Rachel, Sara, Holly, and I were a group of 4 and set off to explore. We picked a path that would take us to a swamp and spent a good 2 hours or more just walking around and exploring (and peccarie stalking).  It wasn’t as easy to find animals and stuff as it was with the guide, but it was still really fun. We saw a couple snakes, lots of spiders, lots of peccaries, some birds, and of course heard the howler monkeys and parrots.  Holly got bit by some giant horsefly type thing and almost got bit by a bullet ant, so once we were done in the forest we relaxed in a study area of the preserve. There we found a bullet ant just hanging around, saved a twig bug, and found a HUGE beetle, which we named Ricardo and rescued from his back. 

            Back at the main complex, we talked about the interactions we had seen (our assignment) and chose the one we were going to use in our paper. Then we went to the gift shop and enjoyed ice cream and purchased t-shirts (only $8 and the money goes to conservation research – great purchase in my mind!) and sat around and waited for the bus. And waited. And waited. The driver was about an hour and a half late. We didn’t want to miss the Superbowl, so we all jumped on ASAP and headed back to San Jose.

            The plan in San Jose was to meet my friends at this restaurant for the game. Turns out they are closed Sundays, so everything just kind of fell apart and I ended up watching it at home alone, as did all my friends.  I didn’t have a good night, because of cleanliness issues with my host brother (who is much better now that I used the Costa Rican passive aggressive way of telling him to clean up and asking him where the food money is – he now does his dishes and buys the food using the money I’m pretty sure he took from his mom), the fact that I hadn’t showered in days but no water was working, and general tiredness.  Everything turned out well, though.

Monday: Went running, had breakfast, did homework/thesis work, and went to the bank.  Met my friends for lunch/bible study then went to the mall, where I bought new sandals for $6!! We also went grocery shopping and I bought a whole pineapple for less than $2!!!!! I was so happy with myself lol. When we were at the grocery store, I didn’t know how to pick a ripe pineapple, so I asked a lady there, who told me then went and got someone from the store to help her find a good one for me. They were so darn sweet!!! Other than that my day was boring and full of thesis work and other generally boring things.

Tuesday: Worked out, had breakfast, did thesis work, had a picnic lunch with friends (followed by Dos Pinos ice cream!), had class (and found out another 4 hour session will take place on Thursday), chilled at home for awhile, had ecology class, then went to dance class, where I learned some fun new turns because I have missed the last 2 weeks. I danced with the instructor at one point because there was an odd number, and she asked if I had been practicing. I said yes even though in reality I really haven’t lol. But yea, I’m just that good lol. It’s a lot of fun and our dance instructor is taking us all to a Latin dance club on Thursday for about an hour after class to practice with Ticos (who can actually dance, woo-hoo!).  Tomorrow is my friend’s and I’s lunch out day of the week, and I think we are going to see 127 hours for half price tomorrow night. Fun fun in the sun! Sorry to all my Iowa people who are suffering in the sub-zero windchills right now!!

There are no pictures in this update because of the whole internet situation, sorry! Not sure when I will get them posted on facebook, but when I do I will add some here.

Pura Vida!

Pura Vida!

So it's Thursday, and I though I would give a quick update on what's been going on.


Yesterday morning I went on a nice jog through my neighborhood, and today I am definitely feeling it! 


The last few days I have been working like crazy on my thesis, and I currently have about 11 pages of my literature review done. My goal is to finish it before my family comes (in about a week!!!!! yay!!!!). I think I can pull that off. 


I have also decided that I am going to do my long Ecology paper on the sea turtles that nest on the beaches of Costa Rica, the Oliver Ridley Sea Turtles.  I still have to get that approved, but that's the plan.


I am preparing for my field trip this weekend to La Selva. I think it will be pretty interesting, I'm just really upset because all my friends are going to Manuel Antonio (a beach) and I can't go with them. It is the first weekend we didn't have a planned excursion, so I feel like I am missing out a true adventure of staying in a hostel and taking a bus from the Coca-Cola station : (


I found out yesterday that I got a 93% in Spanish class, my first straight A in college Spanish (all other grades have been A-'s). All my classes here are worth 5 credits, so that means I will have 26 Spanish credits when I come home, which is only about 3 classes away from a major. I think I am going to take those classes (even though I will have SUPER crazy schedules from now on) and then I will graduate with 2 majors and a minor. 


Last night I finished an amazing book called Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It's by the same person who wrote Seabiscuit and is the amazing true story of a former Olympic runner (Louie Zamperini) who survived on a raft in the Pacific Ocean, with very little food and water while fighting off sharks, for 47 days, then spent over 2 years in Japanese POW camps.  I would highly recommend it, and it's going me on a biography/memoir/nonfiction kick. I think it's funny that I refuse to spend $30 on new shoes, even if I kind of need them (like now, with my sandals falling apart) but I willbuy 3 books for $30 no problem.  Shows where my priorities are lol.


Today is Brennan's birthday, so we are all going to celebrate. Not sure yet if I will have to go late (because my class doesn't end until 8) or if we will leave later.  Today is also Bridget's last day, because she leaves for Nicaragua tomorrow morning. After she leaves I won't have a roomie : (


That's pretty much everything that is going on in my life right now. It takes a super long time to load pictures on here, so check facebook if you want to see more.


Pura Vida!!

The Place Pictures Can't Capture and Words Can't Describe

Wednesday, which was my 27^th day here in Costa Rica, I went out to lunch with my friends at Mey Bein.  It’s this awesome Asian restaurant near campus. It’s cheap and delicious, so perfect for us (they also serve A LOT of food, which is perfect for the boys).  We just goofed around, made funny faces, and played mind games.  Riddles are a huge hit with us, so whenever we are just sitting around we do mind games and riddles.

 Thursday – I spent 10 hours in class, and 12 at school today.  I usually have Spanish 8-12, then communication from 1-3 and a break until my other class at 6; however, today we had to make up a communication class because one day our professor was sick (and at Veritas all cancelled classes have to be made up). So we had class from 3-5. Then Rachel Braun (who has the same schedule) and I grabbed some dinner and explored the library a little. Once I got home at around 8:30, I started studying for my Spanish final, which just happened to be Friday. Needless to say, my brain was very grateful for some sleep that night.

Friday – I think the Spanish final went fairly well. Not sure, because it’s hard to gauge a Spanish test, but we got some papers back and I feel like I did fairly well in the class in general.  We got out of class early, so Kelsey and I walked to Pequeno Mundo then packed our bags, and at 1 we boarded a cramped bus/van thing and headed to Monteverde/Arenal! The drive through the mountains was absolutely gorgeous!

We got to our hotel and then changed for the night.  We headed to Baldi hot springs, which is like a waterpark with warm water! There were 3 intense slides (like I got bruises from them, but they were so fun!) that dropped into a pool that was 93 degrees.  There were also hotter pools and some really cool waterfalls and scenery. We enjoyed the pools and the slides for awhile (Ben, Joey, and Kelsey went down this killer slide headfirst. There was literally a drop at the end that sent people airborne, so they had bruises on their hips and Ben had one on his chin. I was not that crazy and enjoyed all the slides the normal way).  After a few hours of playing in the water, we ate at a buffet in the waterpark area. It was SO delicious! The fried fish was amazing, and there was a fondu fountain. Yummmmm. After dinner we went back to the hotel, showered, and hung around and talked to people for the rest of the night.

Saturday – Breakfast was a little early, then we loaded the bus and drove to La Fortuna waterfall.  There was a pretty intense hike down some slightly scary stairs to get to the waterfall. My legs were shaking by the time I made it, but it was totally worth it! The waterfall was beautiful! It was so high and powerful.  Some of us got in and swam around in the pool. Some boys went around behind the waterfall (because there was a huge area back there, too). At first I thought they were crazy, but a bunch of us joined them. It was amazing to be behind the waterfall, literally under it.  Then Amber, Bethany, Lucy, and I climbed around the other side of the waterfall on some moss-covered rocks. It definitely took us a while to circle the pool to make our way back to where everyone was, but we did it! We had to wade through a shallow area of pretty strong currents, but we clutched rocks and were smart about the crossing and all felt accomplished once we made it back.  By this time, it was raining pretty hard. We hiked back up the trail and got back on the bus. 

We drove back to the hotel, where I showered and we all packed up. We checked out of the hotel then drove into town to get lunch.  The guide recommended a pizza place, but a few of us decided we didn’t want to eat at a pizza place with everyone else, so we went exploring to find some real Costa Rican food. We discovered this cute little chicken shack, where we enjoyed milk shakes and some delicious chicken. We grabbed some ice cream (as always) and headed to the church to catch and jeep (which was really a van) and continue our journey to Monteverde!

            We reached Arenal Lake and everyone climbed aboard a boat for the crossing. It wasn’t very long, maybe an hour or so, but the scenery was so beautiful!! It was a good time to talk to people and get to know them. For example, I found out that a girl from North Carolina and I have a mutual friend (they were in bible study together at their school and I know her through ASP). I think I took a billion pictures, but of course none of them turned out as a amazing as Costa Rica really is. After we arrived on the other side of the lake, we hung around awhile waiting for another jeep (aka van) to get there so it could take us to our hotel in Monteverde.  This ride up the mountains to our hotel was the most gorgeous ride of my life.  Costa Rica is so beautiful! Ben said something that really hit home: “Costa Rica: the place pictures can’t capture and words can’t describe”. It is so true. I will put pictures up, because I can’t describe how pretty it all was (like seeing the sunset through the mountains on the Pacific ocean) and the pictures don’t do it justice, but it will at least give you an idea. We drove for several hours on rough roads and enjoyed the scenery before we reached our hotel (Hotel Don Taco).

            After we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we went out to grab a bite to eat.  We found this really cute place about a souvenir shop, and we all enjoyed tropical drinks (with milk because water outside San Jose is iffy) and some pretty good food. Then we walked around and returned to the hotel area. Across the street from the hotel was a for sale lot, so six of us (Ben, Joey, Caroline, Kelsey, Hope, and I) hiked back there and found a clear spot to sit and look at the stars. We talked and sang for a few hours until I got low and it got cold. Then we all went back to our room and played Banagrams, Spoons, and some game with Ratscrew in the title lol. It was a lot of fun, and we noone left until after midnight even though the next morning was an early one.

Sunday – After a scrumptious breakfast of fruit, eggs, and gallo pinto, we all got on a bus and headed for 100% Aventura, where we spent the whole morning zip lining. I was a little nervous at first (I don’t know why – I have done it before and I am an adrenaline junkie) but once I got started, I absolutely loved it. We were more in control than when I had done it in Australia, and we rode a total of 11 lines. The last 2 were really long and over a beautiful valley, probably around a ½ mile in the air. On the last one, everyone had to go double. I happened to get paired up with a girl I didn’t know very well, and she seemed pretty shaken up afterward.  I was talking to one of the guys managing the dismount area and asked if people ever get stuck on this line, because it was really long and it would be hard to pull themselves hand over hand to the platform (which is what many people had to do if they got stuck, which happened to me once but only about 3 feet from the platform). He said no, but the very next couple (Joey and Kelsey) got stuck about 10 feet from the platform! One of the men who worked for 100% Aventura had to go out and get them, but he was like a little monkey and brought them in in no time.

            Next came the optional Tarzan swing. It was a really long bridge out to a platform.  On the platform, the men would attach all the cables then open a gate. People then had to tip off the platform and freefall for about 100 feet before the cable caught and the person started swinging. It was really scary to wait in line, but I had decided that I was going to do this.  When it was finally my turn (near the end) I was really nervous, but I started to tip off the platform and the workers gave me a little shove. I screamed, apparently looked terrified, moved my legs like I was trying to run on air, and had a great time : ) I am so glad I did it! Once everyone was finished, we all hiked back up and got in the vans. At the hotel, we loaded stuff up, went out to grab lunch in town, then made our way back to San Jose.

            Because no one had Spanish classes Monday (because it was the start of a new month long class and we get those Mondays off), Kelsey, Ben, Joey, and Hope came over to mi casa and we made popcorn, brownies, and watched Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights. It was an all right movie, but the boys definitely made fun of it (and the girls, too. It was extra cheesy).  Then we hung around and talked for awhile before the boys left and the girls went up to my room to have a sleepover. I only have a twin bed, and we didn’t want to get woken up by anyone else in the house, so Kels and I shared the bed and we made a pillow bed on the floor for Hope.

Monday - When Kelsey had to leave early in the morning, Hope jumped up on the bed with me and we slept a little longer, enjoying our first day of sleeping in basically since we arrived in Costa Rica. Hope went home around 10:30, so I did dishes and got ready for bible study. We had our lunch/bible study at 12:30, then Joey,  Ben, Hope, and I went on an adventure in the afternoon. First we had to take a taxi (our first!) to EPA so I could buy some rubber boots to protect myself from snakes on my ecology field trips. Then we went downtown to look for a watch for Hope and sunglasses for Joey. We found neither of those things, but enjoyed exploring a giant downtown craft shop.  I had to be back at 5 because Bridget and I went out with Miguel, our security guard, and his friend. It was a little awkward and long, but it was also interesting to talk to them (in Spanish, of course). It was a good experience but not something I would do again.

Tuesday – Today was the first day I didn’t have Spanish class (officially) because I am taking February off!! I slept a little later than normal, but then got up and BOOKED on my thesis. I went from having 6 lines written to having 6 pages written. Woot woot! I was pretty proud of myself. Then I met my friends for lunch at the school, went to comm. Class, made a run to the grocery store (a 2 mile walk or so) and returned to the house. Ana’s sisters stopped by to check on us, drop off food, and check to see if we needed anything. They were really sweet, and the dinner Flory made Bridget and I was excellent.  During ecology class, we talked a lot about animals and some of the poisonous animals that are in Costa Rica (which scared me a little, but they are not very aggressive (mostly)).

The internet at my house has not worked since Monday, so sorry this posting is so late!!!