Monday was a very hard day for me. It was filled with way to many goodbyes. What a sad day, to have to say goodbye to such wonderful people. I guess it's really not goodbye, only see you later. Such a cliche I know, but it's true because we have already talked multiple times about where ever our travels take us we will have people to stay with and see all over the world. What an amazing thought! I have always wanted to travel through Europe and what better way than with the friends I have met who live in these countries. I haven't even officially finished this trip and we are already planning out next. So very exciting.
I can't say it enough but I cannot believe my month in Costa Rica is up. It has been an amazing journey that I would do all over again in a heartbeat. Not only have the people I have met changed my outlook on life but also the culture I have been immersed into. It is such a different life here and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Everything here is so different, from spending 5 hours on a bus (each way!) traveling every weekend across the country, to the food, to the atmosphere and even the people. I cannot thank my parents enough for helping this dream of mine become a reality. This has been an experience that will last a lifetime. I have made friendships I never thought I would make that I also know will last a very long time. There's something about all going through the same experience that you make an inseparable bond. Being immersed into the Costa Rican culture and language has been a journey in itself and I am pleased to say that I understand it so much more now then when I first came. I hope that I will be able to continue practicing my Spanish so I don't lose it again.
I am going to miss the fabulous family who so graciously let me stay in their home and made breakfast and dinner for me every night. It was a blessing to have them and they were wonderful with helping me with my spanish. We even shared a few jokes along the way.
I sit at home now, waiting for the taxi to pick me up and take me to the airport. Even though I am sad to be leaving it feels good to be heading home. I hope you have all enjoyed following my journey almost as much I have enjoyed living it! When I am home again I will post more photos of my trip.
Love,
Starting the next chapter of my life.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Teatro Nacional y Volcan Poas
For my last weekend in Costa Rica I decided to stay in town and do things in the local area. It was also the last weekend for several of us so we all wanted to hang out one last time.
I talked to a few girls about going to the national theater of Costa Rica. We planned to meet at one o'clock on Friday afternoon to head down there. Well word got around and when I showed up on Friday afternoon there were not just two girls but actually 10 people! It had officially turned into a party. What tourists we were! I kept saying though I hope that it turned out to be good because I felt bad if all the people came with me and were disappointed. It turned out great though. Some of us went and did a tour of the theater while the others walked around outside. We chose to do the tour in Spanish. One, so we could practice listening to it and two, because there are some in our group who are fluent in Spanish. Overall, it turned out to be a great experience. I understood probably half of what the guide was saying but it was fun all the same and I have the pictures to keep as memories. Once finished with the tour we all met back up again and went to the souvenir market, since it was the last chance for 4 of us to buy anything.This place has everything you could think of! It was a lot of fun looking and shopping for souvenirs. When everyone had their fill of shopping we walked back towards the school and went to the mall to see what movies were going to be playing that evening. We decided on Spiderman later that evening. Planning on meeting up later, we all went our separate ways to our host families for dinner. While I was waiting on dinner it started raining and the power went out. Luckily dinner was pretty much ready so I got to eat by candle light! It was kind of cool. I met up with everyone at the mall after dinner so we could go see Spiderman. The movie finished and we all parted ways again, some went out and the majority of us went home.
Saturday was an early morning. Had to get up and meet Pauline and Amandine at the bus stop so we could all go together to the bus station. We got there with plenty of time to spare and were able to get the front seats of the bus. These are the best because they have the most leg room. I liked this bus ride most of all (it was only an hour and a half!). It is freezing when we arrive at the volcano and it's so cold I ended up having to purchase a sweatshirt! Because it was so cold and cloudy we weren't sure if we were going to be able to see the volcano. We were right. All you saw was white fog/clouds. It was a bit disappointing because it was the only one I got to see on my trip. The trip in itself was fun though. We joked and laughed and had a good time even without seeing the volcano.
That night was the last night I would see several of the friends I have made while I have been here. We planned to go to Calle Amagura and have drinks at one of the bars. Everyone had a blast hanging out and then the night came to an end and it was the first of many goodbyes.
Love,
Hates goodbyes
I talked to a few girls about going to the national theater of Costa Rica. We planned to meet at one o'clock on Friday afternoon to head down there. Well word got around and when I showed up on Friday afternoon there were not just two girls but actually 10 people! It had officially turned into a party. What tourists we were! I kept saying though I hope that it turned out to be good because I felt bad if all the people came with me and were disappointed. It turned out great though. Some of us went and did a tour of the theater while the others walked around outside. We chose to do the tour in Spanish. One, so we could practice listening to it and two, because there are some in our group who are fluent in Spanish. Overall, it turned out to be a great experience. I understood probably half of what the guide was saying but it was fun all the same and I have the pictures to keep as memories. Once finished with the tour we all met back up again and went to the souvenir market, since it was the last chance for 4 of us to buy anything.This place has everything you could think of! It was a lot of fun looking and shopping for souvenirs. When everyone had their fill of shopping we walked back towards the school and went to the mall to see what movies were going to be playing that evening. We decided on Spiderman later that evening. Planning on meeting up later, we all went our separate ways to our host families for dinner. While I was waiting on dinner it started raining and the power went out. Luckily dinner was pretty much ready so I got to eat by candle light! It was kind of cool. I met up with everyone at the mall after dinner so we could go see Spiderman. The movie finished and we all parted ways again, some went out and the majority of us went home.
Saturday was an early morning. Had to get up and meet Pauline and Amandine at the bus stop so we could all go together to the bus station. We got there with plenty of time to spare and were able to get the front seats of the bus. These are the best because they have the most leg room. I liked this bus ride most of all (it was only an hour and a half!). It is freezing when we arrive at the volcano and it's so cold I ended up having to purchase a sweatshirt! Because it was so cold and cloudy we weren't sure if we were going to be able to see the volcano. We were right. All you saw was white fog/clouds. It was a bit disappointing because it was the only one I got to see on my trip. The trip in itself was fun though. We joked and laughed and had a good time even without seeing the volcano.
That night was the last night I would see several of the friends I have made while I have been here. We planned to go to Calle Amagura and have drinks at one of the bars. Everyone had a blast hanging out and then the night came to an end and it was the first of many goodbyes.
Love,
Hates goodbyes
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Mi última semana
I cannot believe that my stay in Costa Rica is almost done. What an amazing journey this has been. I am starting to have my lasts and it is quite sad. Today was the last day I had with my kiddos. I have enjoyed every minute I spent with them but today was different. When I came in this morning and told them it was my last day they were all really sad and kept saying no Megan no and coming up and giving me hugs. It made it even harder to say goodbye. Even the other girls that I worked with we're all sad to see me go. It was one of the best parts of the trip, working with these kiddos. They were amazing. I didn't understand everything they said all of the time but i could understand things here and there and we were stil able to communicate pretty well. Such a great experience to get the chance to play with these kiddos.
The last few afternoons have been pretty relaxing since I was going to Ana Frank in the mornings. Yesterday after a couple of the girls were done with their classes we went to see a movie because it was 2 tickets for the price of one. We picked Ice Age 4. When we got the tickets the lady told us that the movie was in Spanish with no English subtitles. What a great experience that was! I think I understood most of what was going on and I laughed at the appropriate times but I want to see it in English to make sure I actually knew what I was laughing about! After the movie we went to dinner across the street from the mall. It was a delicious Italian restaurant. Everyone was dying for some pasta and pizza. I got a pizza with zucchini and salmon and it was by far one of the best pizza I have had!
I only have a few more days left as they seemed to be just as packed with activities as the rest of my trip as been. Even though I am staying in San Jose this weekend we are planning on going to the National Theater, seeing a volcano, and possibly a fútbol game. It should be a lot of fun! A few of the girls are staying in town this weekend just for the fact that for a few of us it's our last weekend here in Costa Rica. So we are all going to spend time together.
Love,
Can't believe it's almost over
The last few afternoons have been pretty relaxing since I was going to Ana Frank in the mornings. Yesterday after a couple of the girls were done with their classes we went to see a movie because it was 2 tickets for the price of one. We picked Ice Age 4. When we got the tickets the lady told us that the movie was in Spanish with no English subtitles. What a great experience that was! I think I understood most of what was going on and I laughed at the appropriate times but I want to see it in English to make sure I actually knew what I was laughing about! After the movie we went to dinner across the street from the mall. It was a delicious Italian restaurant. Everyone was dying for some pasta and pizza. I got a pizza with zucchini and salmon and it was by far one of the best pizza I have had!
I only have a few more days left as they seemed to be just as packed with activities as the rest of my trip as been. Even though I am staying in San Jose this weekend we are planning on going to the National Theater, seeing a volcano, and possibly a fútbol game. It should be a lot of fun! A few of the girls are staying in town this weekend just for the fact that for a few of us it's our last weekend here in Costa Rica. So we are all going to spend time together.
Love,
Can't believe it's almost over
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Monteverde y La Fortuna (jeep boat jeep)
Wow! What another absolutely amazing weekend. Every weekend seems to trump the weekend before, but yet they have all been amazing in their own ways. This by far was the most adventurous weekend, however.
Eric, Marcus and I left from the school at 2. On our way to the bus station we started making bets if Robert would be late or not even come at all. He was very hungover that morning And went At lunch time to pack. Let's just say we were disappointed because he ended up being there before us! We started on our lovely 5 hour bus ride to Monteverde. Nothing too exciting happened along the way. Once we got there someone from our hostel met us at the bus station and walked us to where we'd be staying. The hostel was pretty cool. Everyone was very nice and they helped us book our tours for the following day. We got settled into our room and then went to find a place to eat. There was this really cool pizzeria that we all decided on. It was delicious! We brought it back to the hostel and had a chill night, playing Jenga and hanging out. I met a guy that goes to OU and was also at he same language school as us. That was pretty cool talking with him. I even found out we have a mutual friend, my cousin Max!
Friday was big day for us! We got up and headed for the canopy tour! What a great adventure that was. First we did the zip lining. Which was very cool. A couple of them had to be done with partners because they were so long. There was a lot of hiking involved as well. Hiking from one zip to the next but it still a lot of fun. In the middle of zip lining there was the chance to do the Tarzan swing. It was way cool! You jump off a platform and swing back and forth. One swing was 60 meters , that's 196.8 feet! We also rappelled from a platform that was 30 meters. All of this took about 3 hours and at the end we got to do the last zip line superman style, the zip was 1 km long! Man was I tired after all of that, but we were not done! We still had the best part of the whole trip. Bungee Jumping! Yes, this was what we had come to Monteverde to do, the highest bungee in Latinoamérica at 143 meters or roughly 469 feet. It was the craziest, stupidest, greatest thing I have ever done. The adrenalin pumping through your body when you jump is beyond this world. The guides were great. They counted down from 5 for you and you jumped on one. It made it easier because you could probably just stand there all day and never jump but if you went one one it was so much better. I got the video to prove that I actually jumped so when I get the chance to upload it on a computer I will post it on here so everyone who doesn't believe I actually jumped there's prove, and for all of those who believe I did it you can see the jump as well! The evening that followed was a relaxing one. We were all starving and very tired! Plus we were leaving fairly early in the morning.
We scheduled the jeep boat jeep ride to La Fortuna for the following morning so at 8 am we stood outside our hostel waiting for our jeep to arrive. The four of us were very sad when we didn't see a jeep arrive but a van. Not as cool sounding as the jeep! Very poor advertisement in our opinions! Or good in theirs because more people like the appeal of a jeep boat jeep ride. Anyways, we take a two our van ride through uneven rocky mountains that would make any one car sick. It was a very bumpy ride! We arrived over two hours later to where we were going to be picking the boat up and it was just a sandy shore were a lot of people were standing with their luggage. So we get on the boat and it takes a very long time to get a crossed the lake. A 3 hour trip total ended up being about 4. Safely back on land we take our second van to our next hostel Gringo Pete's. What a place! Such a unique place to be. After we got settled in to our room we decided on which hot springs we were going to do and decided that a nap was definitely first on the list before we went anywhere.
Once we were all refreshed we got ready to head to Baldi Hot Springs. Wow that was amazing! Such a beautiful place to be. There were so many pools we didn't even hit all of them. Swim up bars, slides, extremely hot water, cooler water, a great buffet of food, it was a great place to be. We spent the rest of the evening at the hot springs with two guys we had met from Gringo Pete's who were also heading to the hot springs.
It is such a different atmosphere down here and so cool to just meet new people who are also traveling and end up spending the day with them. While we were at the hot springs I saw my moms friend Yehudi and the couple that I met. I also saw two girls from Canada who I had met last weekend in Puerto Viejo. Such a small world and everyone is so friendly here, it's such a great experience.
This morning we woke up bright and early again and had another fun adventure! We went on a four hour tour on ATV's. We went through a local farm and saw a ton of cows! Then we went by a river and stopped there for a few minutes. It was so fun! I was a little disappointed because we were suppose to head up to the volcano. I think because of all the rain and the crazy fog we didn't end up gong there. It ended with a lunch back at the hotel where we first started the ATV tour. Overall it was so much fun, we went pretty fast and went through a lot of mud.
We took the 12:45 bus to San Jose and got back into town about 5:30. It was a very adventurously long weekend, but absolutely worth every minute of it! I am glad to be home, was even home in time for yet another delicious dinner! It was sad to come home and Denise not be here. I still have Lara staying at my host family so that is good. One more full week here! I can't believe my time is almost over. I am going to live the rest of the week up and enjoy the rest of my time here!
Eric, Marcus and I left from the school at 2. On our way to the bus station we started making bets if Robert would be late or not even come at all. He was very hungover that morning And went At lunch time to pack. Let's just say we were disappointed because he ended up being there before us! We started on our lovely 5 hour bus ride to Monteverde. Nothing too exciting happened along the way. Once we got there someone from our hostel met us at the bus station and walked us to where we'd be staying. The hostel was pretty cool. Everyone was very nice and they helped us book our tours for the following day. We got settled into our room and then went to find a place to eat. There was this really cool pizzeria that we all decided on. It was delicious! We brought it back to the hostel and had a chill night, playing Jenga and hanging out. I met a guy that goes to OU and was also at he same language school as us. That was pretty cool talking with him. I even found out we have a mutual friend, my cousin Max!
Friday was big day for us! We got up and headed for the canopy tour! What a great adventure that was. First we did the zip lining. Which was very cool. A couple of them had to be done with partners because they were so long. There was a lot of hiking involved as well. Hiking from one zip to the next but it still a lot of fun. In the middle of zip lining there was the chance to do the Tarzan swing. It was way cool! You jump off a platform and swing back and forth. One swing was 60 meters , that's 196.8 feet! We also rappelled from a platform that was 30 meters. All of this took about 3 hours and at the end we got to do the last zip line superman style, the zip was 1 km long! Man was I tired after all of that, but we were not done! We still had the best part of the whole trip. Bungee Jumping! Yes, this was what we had come to Monteverde to do, the highest bungee in Latinoamérica at 143 meters or roughly 469 feet. It was the craziest, stupidest, greatest thing I have ever done. The adrenalin pumping through your body when you jump is beyond this world. The guides were great. They counted down from 5 for you and you jumped on one. It made it easier because you could probably just stand there all day and never jump but if you went one one it was so much better. I got the video to prove that I actually jumped so when I get the chance to upload it on a computer I will post it on here so everyone who doesn't believe I actually jumped there's prove, and for all of those who believe I did it you can see the jump as well! The evening that followed was a relaxing one. We were all starving and very tired! Plus we were leaving fairly early in the morning.
We scheduled the jeep boat jeep ride to La Fortuna for the following morning so at 8 am we stood outside our hostel waiting for our jeep to arrive. The four of us were very sad when we didn't see a jeep arrive but a van. Not as cool sounding as the jeep! Very poor advertisement in our opinions! Or good in theirs because more people like the appeal of a jeep boat jeep ride. Anyways, we take a two our van ride through uneven rocky mountains that would make any one car sick. It was a very bumpy ride! We arrived over two hours later to where we were going to be picking the boat up and it was just a sandy shore were a lot of people were standing with their luggage. So we get on the boat and it takes a very long time to get a crossed the lake. A 3 hour trip total ended up being about 4. Safely back on land we take our second van to our next hostel Gringo Pete's. What a place! Such a unique place to be. After we got settled in to our room we decided on which hot springs we were going to do and decided that a nap was definitely first on the list before we went anywhere.
Once we were all refreshed we got ready to head to Baldi Hot Springs. Wow that was amazing! Such a beautiful place to be. There were so many pools we didn't even hit all of them. Swim up bars, slides, extremely hot water, cooler water, a great buffet of food, it was a great place to be. We spent the rest of the evening at the hot springs with two guys we had met from Gringo Pete's who were also heading to the hot springs.
It is such a different atmosphere down here and so cool to just meet new people who are also traveling and end up spending the day with them. While we were at the hot springs I saw my moms friend Yehudi and the couple that I met. I also saw two girls from Canada who I had met last weekend in Puerto Viejo. Such a small world and everyone is so friendly here, it's such a great experience.
This morning we woke up bright and early again and had another fun adventure! We went on a four hour tour on ATV's. We went through a local farm and saw a ton of cows! Then we went by a river and stopped there for a few minutes. It was so fun! I was a little disappointed because we were suppose to head up to the volcano. I think because of all the rain and the crazy fog we didn't end up gong there. It ended with a lunch back at the hotel where we first started the ATV tour. Overall it was so much fun, we went pretty fast and went through a lot of mud.
We took the 12:45 bus to San Jose and got back into town about 5:30. It was a very adventurously long weekend, but absolutely worth every minute of it! I am glad to be home, was even home in time for yet another delicious dinner! It was sad to come home and Denise not be here. I still have Lara staying at my host family so that is good. One more full week here! I can't believe my time is almost over. I am going to live the rest of the week up and enjoy the rest of my time here!
Mi última semana de clases de español
What a busy week I had last week! Monday was a great day I had class then went to my volunteer project and the kiddos are great! One of the girls Jimena just loves piggy back rides and always say rapido rapido. Which is faster faster. She doesn't like no más which means no more! She's wonderful though, she was even having me repeat after her. Not exactly sure what I was saying but it was funny and cute all the same. That night a bunch of us from the school went out to a club and had a wonderful time! The live band was great and it was just fun hanging out with everyone.
On Tuesday as many of you heard was not the best day for me. I found out my papa died. It was very hard for me to handle especially being in a different country. I couldn't have a better group of friends or family here in my home away from that helped so much when I was hurting the most. I have an amazing host family that were just absolutely great because I ended up staying home from classes and my volunteer project that day. By Wednesday I was ready to go again, for the most part. Had a great day of class as well as being at Ana Frank. Once I got back into town I met up with a friend of my moms, Yehudi. I got to see where he lives and meet his friends who are also traveling through Costa Rica, Jeremy and Isis. Yehudi took us to a local bar where we had a few drinks, where I was able to raise a toast to my grandpa! Afterwards I took a taxi home and my friend Katharina came over to watch a movie with Denise and I. I was waiting for her to get here and then I heard my sister tica on the phone and heard my name. She was giving Katharina's papa tico directions on how to get here! It was so nice! She even called the taxi to pick her up once we were finished with the movie.
Thursday was a crazy busy day! It was my last day for spanish classes which meant I got to graduate at lunch which was so cool. I got a certificate and every thing. During lunch there was a lot of sad goodbyes because some of the girls I had met were leaving during the weekend and I was leaving that afternoon to go for the weekend. The saddest goodbye was to Denise. I loved getting to know her and had such an amazing time while she was here. I am going to miss her in my last week here. We've talked about me going to visit her in Germany sometime! I'm looking forward to that.
Right after lunch the boys and I left on our trip for Monteverde. Since the girls ditched us for the beach!
On Tuesday as many of you heard was not the best day for me. I found out my papa died. It was very hard for me to handle especially being in a different country. I couldn't have a better group of friends or family here in my home away from that helped so much when I was hurting the most. I have an amazing host family that were just absolutely great because I ended up staying home from classes and my volunteer project that day. By Wednesday I was ready to go again, for the most part. Had a great day of class as well as being at Ana Frank. Once I got back into town I met up with a friend of my moms, Yehudi. I got to see where he lives and meet his friends who are also traveling through Costa Rica, Jeremy and Isis. Yehudi took us to a local bar where we had a few drinks, where I was able to raise a toast to my grandpa! Afterwards I took a taxi home and my friend Katharina came over to watch a movie with Denise and I. I was waiting for her to get here and then I heard my sister tica on the phone and heard my name. She was giving Katharina's papa tico directions on how to get here! It was so nice! She even called the taxi to pick her up once we were finished with the movie.
Thursday was a crazy busy day! It was my last day for spanish classes which meant I got to graduate at lunch which was so cool. I got a certificate and every thing. During lunch there was a lot of sad goodbyes because some of the girls I had met were leaving during the weekend and I was leaving that afternoon to go for the weekend. The saddest goodbye was to Denise. I loved getting to know her and had such an amazing time while she was here. I am going to miss her in my last week here. We've talked about me going to visit her in Germany sometime! I'm looking forward to that.
Right after lunch the boys and I left on our trip for Monteverde. Since the girls ditched us for the beach!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Puerto Viejo
What another amazing weekend. Another bright and early Friday morning to catch the 5 hour bus to Puerto Viejo. This time there was 15 of us that went! What a great group of people. Let me break it down a little. There were 4 from Germany, 4 from France, 3 from Belgium, 1 from London, 1 from Italy and 2 from the USA. What a mix! It really is great getting to know people from other countries. On the way to Puerto Viejo I sat next to Robert who is from London. We talked about all different things but mostly we talked about London. He told me when I go back the places I need to visit and it was such a cool thing to know some of the things he talked about, because I have been there!
Once in Puerto Viejo we went and found our hotel Pura Vida (perfect name for it) which had such a homey feeling to it. The owners spoke German Spanish and English so pretty much everyone could talk to them and understand. The owners we're such great company. They knew us all by name with in the first hour of us being there. The rooms they had were roomy and very clean. Denise and I even had our own bathroom! So nice. Everyone checked in and changed into our suits and we headed straight for the beach. Or so we thought. Where we though it would be a good place to swim ended up having a lot of reef close to shore making it difficult to swim. So we just decided to walk along the beach until we could find a better place to swim. Well let me tell you that turned into quite the adventure. Some parts we could only walk through water because there was no sand or beach to cross then we even had to trek through some of the forest. We didn't worry though because we had a guard dog leading the way. And when I say guard dog he truly was, he chased away a crab that was blocking our way! ( well he tried to play with it first but, is girls decided he was the official guard dog) It felt like a very long time had passed, when in reality only about 25 minutes had we made it to the beach where a few others from school were hanging out. Everyone spent most of the day at the beach and in the water.
Around 430 or so we all were starving and decided it was time to go back get showers and go out for the evening. We went to a local place for dinner that served different types of seafood. The server recommended a dish called Mariscado. It was different types of seafood in a buttery sauce. Wow was it delicious! After dinner we went in search of a place for cocktails. It wasn't very hard to find. There are places all down the main road. We ended up at a place called Tex Mex and because there was free tequila shots for the girls. Of course, right? It ended up being pretty fun. We played pool with people we met and then the best part of the whole night happened. A sloth came through the bar! A sloth! It was the coolest thing ever, it came right over my head, I could reach up and touch it if I wanted to. It was so cool!
Denise and I then had an adventure of our own. Walking home in the pouring rain because we forgot our umbrellas and the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon. We get back to the hotel and feel as though I just showered with all my clothes on!
Denise and I got up early the next morning to go to the Jaguar Rescue Center. It was a twenty minute ride by bike and we had to hurry the tour started at 930 and it was 9 when we left to go rent the bikes! Not to worry though, we made it on time for a guided tour. I am so glad we did, it was a wonderful experience. The beginning not so much with all the snakes, spiders and more snakes. The rest of the tour is what we were there for. They had baby sloths and monkeys. I got my picture taken with a baby sloth. Then the best thing happened when he was talking to us about the monkeys, he told us we actually got to go in and play with the baby monkeys! I almost peed myself I was so ecstatic. They loved me! Two of them kept crawling all over me and the other sat on my head! I was in absolute heaven! It was so amazing to be able to play with the baby monkeys. There were also baby two and three toed sloths, which was really cool as well.
Once we finally left the Rescue center we went back to the beach and stayed most of the day again. At one point I fell asleep and was woken up by this little tongue on my arm. I looked up and it was the cutest puppy ever. She rolled over when I looked at her and wanted to play. It was so funny. She didn't like the water though! It definitely made me miss my own puppies!
That night we had dinner and then we all headed to the beach to hang out a little bit and drink on the beach. We then went to a local club. It was a great place for dancing!
Denise and I got up the next morning and headed back to San Jose. Good thing we did because it ended up raining the whole 4 1/2 hour bus ride. It was good to get back home and relax Sunday evening.
Once in Puerto Viejo we went and found our hotel Pura Vida (perfect name for it) which had such a homey feeling to it. The owners spoke German Spanish and English so pretty much everyone could talk to them and understand. The owners we're such great company. They knew us all by name with in the first hour of us being there. The rooms they had were roomy and very clean. Denise and I even had our own bathroom! So nice. Everyone checked in and changed into our suits and we headed straight for the beach. Or so we thought. Where we though it would be a good place to swim ended up having a lot of reef close to shore making it difficult to swim. So we just decided to walk along the beach until we could find a better place to swim. Well let me tell you that turned into quite the adventure. Some parts we could only walk through water because there was no sand or beach to cross then we even had to trek through some of the forest. We didn't worry though because we had a guard dog leading the way. And when I say guard dog he truly was, he chased away a crab that was blocking our way! ( well he tried to play with it first but, is girls decided he was the official guard dog) It felt like a very long time had passed, when in reality only about 25 minutes had we made it to the beach where a few others from school were hanging out. Everyone spent most of the day at the beach and in the water.
Around 430 or so we all were starving and decided it was time to go back get showers and go out for the evening. We went to a local place for dinner that served different types of seafood. The server recommended a dish called Mariscado. It was different types of seafood in a buttery sauce. Wow was it delicious! After dinner we went in search of a place for cocktails. It wasn't very hard to find. There are places all down the main road. We ended up at a place called Tex Mex and because there was free tequila shots for the girls. Of course, right? It ended up being pretty fun. We played pool with people we met and then the best part of the whole night happened. A sloth came through the bar! A sloth! It was the coolest thing ever, it came right over my head, I could reach up and touch it if I wanted to. It was so cool!
Denise and I then had an adventure of our own. Walking home in the pouring rain because we forgot our umbrellas and the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon. We get back to the hotel and feel as though I just showered with all my clothes on!
Denise and I got up early the next morning to go to the Jaguar Rescue Center. It was a twenty minute ride by bike and we had to hurry the tour started at 930 and it was 9 when we left to go rent the bikes! Not to worry though, we made it on time for a guided tour. I am so glad we did, it was a wonderful experience. The beginning not so much with all the snakes, spiders and more snakes. The rest of the tour is what we were there for. They had baby sloths and monkeys. I got my picture taken with a baby sloth. Then the best thing happened when he was talking to us about the monkeys, he told us we actually got to go in and play with the baby monkeys! I almost peed myself I was so ecstatic. They loved me! Two of them kept crawling all over me and the other sat on my head! I was in absolute heaven! It was so amazing to be able to play with the baby monkeys. There were also baby two and three toed sloths, which was really cool as well.
Once we finally left the Rescue center we went back to the beach and stayed most of the day again. At one point I fell asleep and was woken up by this little tongue on my arm. I looked up and it was the cutest puppy ever. She rolled over when I looked at her and wanted to play. It was so funny. She didn't like the water though! It definitely made me miss my own puppies!
That night we had dinner and then we all headed to the beach to hang out a little bit and drink on the beach. We then went to a local club. It was a great place for dancing!
Denise and I got up the next morning and headed back to San Jose. Good thing we did because it ended up raining the whole 4 1/2 hour bus ride. It was good to get back home and relax Sunday evening.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Número de fin de semana dos
It is already about to be my second weekend in Costa Rica! I cannot believe it. Time is flying way to fast. This week was great. I had Spanish lessons in the morning then I went to Ana Frank and helped out with the little kiddos! They are so cute. I am still having trouble understanding them but I hear that it's pretty normal not to understand them completely. Last night Denise and I decided to go meet Seema, Katharina and a few others at the Jazz Café. There ended up being about 25 of us all together. It was a blast, live music, cocktails, great atmosphere and new friends. Nothing could beat it! It was a great way for those of us that are American to celebrate the fourth!
Today was the last day of class for the week. After class I went with Seema and a few others to a near by Soda ( small restaurants here in Costa Rica are called Sodas) and had great food. Seema and I then headed to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. We had such a great time. There was a Butterfly garden and wow were there a lot of different kinds all over. We also learned a little history behind the museum. It started out as a fort for the army and then was later converted into the museum. There was one section where they had cells and there was writings all over the walls from the soldiers who were locked in there. Such a cool experience!
Once we finished going through the museum and taking pictures of all the butterflies we went and did a little shopping. It reminded me of a flee market in a way. It was a long strip of little shops and most of the things they had were homemade. There was definitely some cool stuff! Hopefully I will remember how to get back there!
Once back at CRLA, Seema and I realized it was the last time we would see each other. She leaves on Saturday to head back to California. She'll be moving to Philly soon though so we will be a lot closer and we plan to stay in touch! I can't believe she is leaving already! It's sad to think a lot of the friends I have meet are going to be leaving soon!
Tomorrow we leave bright and early again. This time we are heading to the Caribbean coast. We will be going to Puerto Viejo. There are a lot of us planning on going and most of us will be staying in the same hotel. It should be another fun filled weekend!
Today was the last day of class for the week. After class I went with Seema and a few others to a near by Soda ( small restaurants here in Costa Rica are called Sodas) and had great food. Seema and I then headed to the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. We had such a great time. There was a Butterfly garden and wow were there a lot of different kinds all over. We also learned a little history behind the museum. It started out as a fort for the army and then was later converted into the museum. There was one section where they had cells and there was writings all over the walls from the soldiers who were locked in there. Such a cool experience!
Once we finished going through the museum and taking pictures of all the butterflies we went and did a little shopping. It reminded me of a flee market in a way. It was a long strip of little shops and most of the things they had were homemade. There was definitely some cool stuff! Hopefully I will remember how to get back there!
Once back at CRLA, Seema and I realized it was the last time we would see each other. She leaves on Saturday to head back to California. She'll be moving to Philly soon though so we will be a lot closer and we plan to stay in touch! I can't believe she is leaving already! It's sad to think a lot of the friends I have meet are going to be leaving soon!
Tomorrow we leave bright and early again. This time we are heading to the Caribbean coast. We will be going to Puerto Viejo. There are a lot of us planning on going and most of us will be staying in the same hotel. It should be another fun filled weekend!
Monday, July 2, 2012
July 2
Today was my first day in my Spanish classes and I think I am really going to enjoy it. I have three hours of class in the morning, an hour for lunch then I head to Ana Frank. During my break today I talked with Lorenzo about possibly taking more Spanish lessons because I think it will be great for me to learn as much as I can. He said I could so instead of only this week Monday through Thursday of class I will also be doing the same thing next week. Which will be great!
Today was the first day that I travelled to Ana Frank by myself. I remembered all the tips and land marks Seema had told me and I made it there and back just fine! While I was there today we celebrated one of the little girls fourth birthday. There was cake and they all sang her happy birthday which is actually Feliz cumpleaños in Spanish. It was awesome to hear them sing happy birthday in Spanish! After the kiddos enjoyed their cake the older ones went to the playground and the littler ones stayed inside and played. I stayed with the one little girl who is only one years old. Sofia is just learning to walking and she tries to get into everything! She even took my sunglasses and tried putting them on. It was really cute. They are so much fun to be around, I just wish I could communicate better! On the way home I remembered where to go and which busses today and it was great other than it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get home! So much traffic here in San Jose. It makes me miss Manuel Antonio!
The next two weeks are going to be the same thing. Classes from 9 until 12 lunch from 12 to 1 then Ana Frank from 2 until 4 and of course the weekends are going to be for traveling!
Today was the first day that I travelled to Ana Frank by myself. I remembered all the tips and land marks Seema had told me and I made it there and back just fine! While I was there today we celebrated one of the little girls fourth birthday. There was cake and they all sang her happy birthday which is actually Feliz cumpleaños in Spanish. It was awesome to hear them sing happy birthday in Spanish! After the kiddos enjoyed their cake the older ones went to the playground and the littler ones stayed inside and played. I stayed with the one little girl who is only one years old. Sofia is just learning to walking and she tries to get into everything! She even took my sunglasses and tried putting them on. It was really cute. They are so much fun to be around, I just wish I could communicate better! On the way home I remembered where to go and which busses today and it was great other than it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get home! So much traffic here in San Jose. It makes me miss Manuel Antonio!
The next two weeks are going to be the same thing. Classes from 9 until 12 lunch from 12 to 1 then Ana Frank from 2 until 4 and of course the weekends are going to be for traveling!
Las Playas de Manuel Antonio
Early Friday morning Denise and I set out on our journey to Manuel Antonio. First we had to take a taxi to the bus stop at 5:15 in the morning and then a long four hour bus ride through the mountains and on two lane roads we finally arrived in Manuel Antonio. We quickly found the hostel where we would be staying. The rooms were small only big enough for the two beds and a small table. The bathroom was just as small and all the girls staying at the hostel had to share. Not something I am use to. After we got settled in we both changed into our suits and headed down to the beach which was only 120 m from the hostel. When we first got down to the beach we were bombarded by the locals trying to sell us whatever they could. The one good thing that was being sold was chairs with umbrellas. Definitely a must with the hot sun. Once we bought our chairs and laid out our towels Butch came around and asked us if we wanted cocktails. We decided we'd better wait until at least 11 (it was only 9 in the morning). Butch ended up becoming one of our new friends, we saw all three days we were there. He was so funny, always coming over and giving us a hard time. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon out on the beach and in the water which was actually pleasant to be in. Around 3 we went back to the hostel to shower and get ready for the 2 for 1 happy hour we saw down the road. Such a great deal. You got two cocktails for the price of one. After happy hour we got to see the sunset over the water. It was spectacular. I can't tell you the last time I saw the sunset over the Pacific ocean. It has been a very long time. We had dinner back at our hostel and the food was great. We met a few of the locals, they new a little bit of English and we helping me learn my Spanish.
Seema and Katherina met up with us in the evening on Saturday. We hung out at the beach for a little more then went and got ready for happy hour again. We all called it an early night that night. While Seema and Katherina went to the park Sunday morning, Denise and I went for our surf lessons. Wow was that an awesome experience. Well, after the little incident with the coast guard. Denise and I paddle out with the instructor and while he is helping Denise with her first wave and I am sitting there waiting for my turn, I notice that I seem to be drifting further from them. I tried paddling in closer and all I seemed to do was go further and further away. At this point, I started to have a mild panic attack and think I am never going to get back into shore and had no idea what to do. Next thing I know a coast guard guy on a jet ski is coming closer to me telling me I need to go in closer to shore, well no crap I need to do that! But how in the hell am I suppose to that.( this is what I was thinking when he initially told me that). After a few more minutes he was able to help me get back closer to the instructor. To make matters worse, the whole time this is going on the instructor is yelling to me "mi Amiga, where are you going?" As if I could control that! Once that chaos was over I was able to enjoy my surf lesson a little bit more. Another instructor came out so it was one on one and he taught it a little differently. I actually stood up on the board a few times, but fell off really quickly. Then all of a sudden I stood up the next time and actually kept my balance and rode the wave all the way into shore. I was so proud of myself that I decided it was best to quite while I was ahead.There was enough excitement for one morning.
The rest of the morning we just enjoyed being on the beach and in the water. We had until 3 before we needed to get showers and be able to catch the bus at 4:30 back to San Jose. No one wanted to leave such a beautiful place. The whole trip was such an amazing experience. I felt as though I was in paradise the entire time and could stay forever.
We arrived back in San Jose around 8:30 and made it back safe and sound to my host family around 9. It was a very long day but worth every minute of it. I cannot believe that I spent my first weekend here in a place like Manuel Antonio. I cannot wait for more adventures to come on the remaining weekends I am here.
Love,
The adventure seeking girl
Seema and Katherina met up with us in the evening on Saturday. We hung out at the beach for a little more then went and got ready for happy hour again. We all called it an early night that night. While Seema and Katherina went to the park Sunday morning, Denise and I went for our surf lessons. Wow was that an awesome experience. Well, after the little incident with the coast guard. Denise and I paddle out with the instructor and while he is helping Denise with her first wave and I am sitting there waiting for my turn, I notice that I seem to be drifting further from them. I tried paddling in closer and all I seemed to do was go further and further away. At this point, I started to have a mild panic attack and think I am never going to get back into shore and had no idea what to do. Next thing I know a coast guard guy on a jet ski is coming closer to me telling me I need to go in closer to shore, well no crap I need to do that! But how in the hell am I suppose to that.( this is what I was thinking when he initially told me that). After a few more minutes he was able to help me get back closer to the instructor. To make matters worse, the whole time this is going on the instructor is yelling to me "mi Amiga, where are you going?" As if I could control that! Once that chaos was over I was able to enjoy my surf lesson a little bit more. Another instructor came out so it was one on one and he taught it a little differently. I actually stood up on the board a few times, but fell off really quickly. Then all of a sudden I stood up the next time and actually kept my balance and rode the wave all the way into shore. I was so proud of myself that I decided it was best to quite while I was ahead.There was enough excitement for one morning.
The rest of the morning we just enjoyed being on the beach and in the water. We had until 3 before we needed to get showers and be able to catch the bus at 4:30 back to San Jose. No one wanted to leave such a beautiful place. The whole trip was such an amazing experience. I felt as though I was in paradise the entire time and could stay forever.
We arrived back in San Jose around 8:30 and made it back safe and sound to my host family around 9. It was a very long day but worth every minute of it. I cannot believe that I spent my first weekend here in a place like Manuel Antonio. I cannot wait for more adventures to come on the remaining weekends I am here.
Love,
The adventure seeking girl
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