The last two days

I’ve got two days to update since I missed yesterday! On Monday, we went for a hike around the rainforest. We split up into three groups of about eight, and each group had its own tour guide. It was pretty interesting because they are very knowledgeable about all the things in the forest. We saw a bunch of monkeys, some parrots, these huge black birds, a GIANT grasshopper (like 6 inches long), and tons and tons of hermit crabs. We also drank water out of a coconut that our guide broke open and even ate some plants from the forest. One group ate termites, but luckily we didn’t! The hike was pretty cool though because it didn’t feel like we were on a trail at all. It was like we had just taken off into the jungle, which is always more authentic and interesting than the super obvious trails.

After that portion of the hike, we did another hike to this big waterfall up in the jungle. It was a fun hike because once again it wasn’t paved or super organized, so we had to jump across rocks and go slow in some parts that were really steep. The waterfall was really pretty and high, and we got some good pictures in. Some of the guys from the Puntarenas group pretty much risked their lives climbing way up right next to the water, but at least they got some good pictures. It’s funny because they always seem to need to one-up each other. It’s like the closer they come to death, the more points they get!

After those two hikes, we spent a couple hours on the beach. I mostly read and slept in the sun, but spent about 45 minutes playing in the water as well. When we got back, Morgan and I kayaked out into the ocean with Jim, a guy from Puntarenas, in order to watch the sunset. It was really cloudy, so we didn’t really get to see the full effect, but it was still pretty and really relaxing. After dinner, we were all sitting in the pavilion chatting when it started pouring rain. We figured that it would stop soon and tried waiting it out, but after about 45 minutes we realized that we couldn’t stay there forever. One of the workers gave us trash bags, and we literally put them over us and tore little holes in order to see. We looked ridiculous, but it actually worked really well! Someone took a picture of us, so maybe I can find that sometime. We didn’t do anything exciting last night though; Morgan and I passed out around 10.

Today, we went on a crazy horseback ride. I was really excited to ride horses, but after this trip I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again. Today was the epitome of a Costa Rican adventure, full of dangerous situations, confusion, and blindly following our guides into a sketchy jungle. It was really muddy from the rain, and the first hill we went up was really steep. Well, I figured that the horse would know where to go since it was the one walking, but it ended up slipping and falling with me on it. It pretty much sat down, so I fell backwards into the mud. It was terrifying, not to mention disgusting, and I was paranoid for the rest of the trip. I switched horses, but I had to pretty much be leashed to one of the guides because I was so scared. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one to fall off their horse—another girl did too! Other problems included one girls horse taking off after she fell off and her being stranded alone in the road for a while and one group got separated from their guide and went the wrong way for about 45 minutes. In the States, we would have had to wait forever for safety instructions, but here we just dove right in. For those of us who know nothing of horses, that would have been extremely helpful. I also heard from a guide that many of the horses were new to this and had only been training for a short while before we rode them—good to know! :/

After the ride, we then went on this crazy hike through the jungle to this “waterfall” that really ended up being a bunch of rapids. We literally followed our guide while he hacked plants out of the way with a machete. Not exaggerating, an actual machete. The path was really dangerous; I witnessed a bunch of people fall and slide down since it was so steep and slippery. We also had to maneuver around bee nests and army ants crawling over logs that we had to scale. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When we finally got to the “waterfall” a bunch of us got in to cool down and in my case, wash off all the mud. It was cool because we could jump off the edge of these rocks into the rapids because it was really deep. I felt so much better having all that mud off me. After that, we hiked/rode the horses back (in the rain!) to the beach where we finally boarded the boats to go back to the resort. I think most of us were over that trip by then! However, it was really cool to ride through some of the pueblos. I can’t believe how different their lifestyle is from ours.

We kayaked again to watch the sunset this evening, and this time I’m pretty sure we saw some dolphins! They were swimming around us for a while and we only saw their noses, but still very cool! I also love watching the storms over the water. The other night, I went and sat by the water by myself for like half an hour and just watched the lightning from miles and miles away light up the clouds with color. It was so beautiful—that’s something that I’ll for sure miss.

It’s our last night at Drake Bay, so hopefully we’ll do something fun tonight! I go home on Thursday, so I’ll do one last wrap-up of the trip in a few days. As amazing as this trip has been, I’m actually pretty excited to go home. Hasta luego J

Tour Update

It’s been a great time so far! Yesterday we went to a beach about ten minutes from our resort. I have never encountered such crazy waves in my life. They were breaking really close to shore, so they were throwing us all over the place. I kept getting salt water in my eyes, which were irritating my contacts, so I could barely see. Plus, the gigantic waves were rolling in one after another, so I was basically getting beat up out there. Eventually, I had to get out to catch my breath and relax. Morgan and I ended up playing volleyball with four of the guys in the group which was pretty fun. After the beach, we all just hung out and got to know each other some more. There is a bar at the resort that was playing some Latin music, so we danced for a little bit but not for long. For the most part, we just hung out around the resort. Later that night, we found a tide pool to sit in down by the ocean, so that was pretty cool. We were able to see more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life. The sky is literally littered with them—it’s amazing. It’s also pretty interesting because things like the Big Dipper are in different spots here than back home.

Today was an adventure-filled, adrenaline-packed day. First, we took a 20 minute boat ride to a beach. From there it was about a 25 minute hike. While hiking, we saw about 15 monkeys swinging right above our heads in the trees. It was pretty amazing—they were so close! It was actually kind of scary too; I kept thinking of this one scene in Hunger Games with viscous monkeys, so I was freaked out after a while. Eventually we reached this really wide river. There was this little cliff overlooking it with a vine that was tied to a stick, and the guides told us that we could swing out from it and fall into the river. I was terrified the first time, but then back for a second time! It wasn’t too high, maybe like 15 feet. Still enough for an adrenaline rush. Next, we paddled down the river in canoes and kayaks until we got to this rocky section. From there, we swam upstream (which was completely exhausting and difficult for someone like me who is not a good swimmer) to another cliff that we could jump off of. This one was scarier because it was higher (around 20 feet) and we had encountered a lot of rocks on the way up. Despite these obvious safety hazards, a bunch of us still did it. Once again, it took me a good minute to work up the courage to jump, but once I did I came back again for another go. After that, we floated down the river back to our boats. There was a little waterfall type thing, but it was flat, and we were able to ride down it. It was really cool but I hit a couple rocks with my legs. After kayaking back for a bit, we stopped off to hike up to this waterfall. The guide told us it would be a “two minute hike,” but it turned out to be a 20 minute trek up this treacherous terrain—barefoot.  Needless to say, it was excruciating for my feet, but worth it. We had to walk across rocks, climb up steep hills with the help of rocks, and even swim under rocks in order to reach the waterfall. All in all, a pretty adventurous day. After our hike, we returned to the beach to lounge around for a while. They had snorkel equipment there for free, but I quickly remembered how much I hate snorkeling after about two minutes of it so I went back. The water kept getting into the tube and I felt like I couldn’t breathe the whole time. Plus, swimming in open water just freaks me out. Finally, around 3:00 we headed back, exhausted but satisfied with our day.

Now we are just hanging around before dinner. The only bad thing about being here is that for some reason we can’t watch the sun set on the water. I think since we’re in a bay we must be facing the wrong direction. We might try kayaking into the water to get a better view, but I don’t know if that will work. Tomorrow we are going on another hike, two hours long this time, and on Wednesday we are doing a horseback ride. I’m pretty excited because I thought it was extra, but turns out it’s included! Yay!

That’s all for now, more to come later!

Beginning of Tour!

I’m writing ocean-side outside my hotel room that overlooks the water. Right now it’s pouring rain so I figured it’s a good time to write a new blog while I sit and watch the downpour. First, I have to rewind a bit. This week has been particularly hard because I’ve had to say goodbye to so many amazing people. It’s only been a few days and I already miss them. I wish so badly that our whole group had come to Drake Bay, especially since the majority of the Puntarenas and San Ramón groups came. There’s only five of us from Heredia, so we’re trying to get to know some of the other kids. They seem pretty cool and hopefully we can spend some time with them during the tour. However, I can’t stop thinking about how much I wish our friends from Heredia were here. I honestly will remember everyone from our group for the rest of my life. I wish that we all lived closer so that we could see each more often when we get back to the States. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to spend the last 5 weeks with. Our group dynamic was amazing—so many different personalities, so many backgrounds, but somehow it all meshed together so effortlessly. I’ve made some friendships that I hope will last for a very long time. There’s nothing like living in a foreign country and having countless crazy adventures to bring a group together.

On Friday, five of us (Me, Morgan, Katie, Autumn, and Zack) packed up and set off for our week-long tour of southern Costa Rica at the beautiful ocean resort in Drake Bay. We drove in buses where we met the other USAC kids from the other cities. We stopped for lunch at a soda after about four hours of driving and had some delicious rice and chicken. Then, we went to an open beach for about two hours to stretch our legs and relax. Most of us started up a soccer game on the beach, which I have to say was a billion times more intense than anything we ever did in Heredia. They put our soccer skills (or lack thereof!) to shame. After that we just sat around and talked with the other kids. It was really interesting to watch the tide change as well. The reason we had to stop playing soccer was because the water was slowly taking over our beach to the point where people were running through water to get the ball. Then, we were sitting on some legs further from the water and talking, but soon the water had creeped up until it was nipping at our toes. With literally no more beach left, we finally set off for the remaining hour drive to Sierpe, a very small town on the banks of a river. We stayed here for the night because early this morning we had to travel by boat to Drake Bay. Last night wasn’t too eventful; we walked around the town only to discover that there wasn’t much more to do than go to the pulpería. After dinner, a lot of us gathered in the Puntarenas boys’ room to mingle and play card games. Surprisingly, we were all super tired by around 10:30 and went to bed. I’m glad we did, because I felt very well-rested this morning at the wee hour of 5:30.

After breakfast, we piled into three different motorboats for an hour-long ride down the river and across the ocean. This is definitely an experience that I’ve never had before, and probably one that I’ll never have again. It was truly one of a kind. We flew past jungle and little bungalows tucked away in the forest. Our driver was awesome and pointed out some cool wildlife for us. We even saw a parazosa—a sloth!! I have no idea how he spotted it as he was driving, but it took the rest of us about five minutes to finally find it. It was hard to see because it blended in so well with the leaves. Soon, we came up to a narrow channel that we had to navigate through for a while, which was really interesting because the surrounding trees’ roots were completely exposed. They’re hard to explain, but I have pictures and videos of them. The reason we left so early was because we needed high tide in order to get through the channel. After about forty minutes, we reached the mouth of the river where it connected to the ocean. It was so cool to see the trees and landscape change from more jungle-like terrain to that of the beach. The next twenty minutes were some of the most terrifying—and exhilarating—minutes of my life. We hurtled through open water, many times bouncing around like crazy, crossing from one side of the bay to the side where our hotel is located. We stopped for a minute to watch a sea vulture dive down and scoop up a snake or something from the water. That was pretty cool to see.

When we got to the resort, I was breath taken. It’s more beautiful and serene than I could have imagined. There are little cottage type things that hold three different hotel rooms. The rooms are doubles and I’m rooming with Morgan. They are about a hundred feet from the ocean, and there are hammocks and benches all over where we can relax and listen to the waves. There are a bunch of jagged rocks, so not too much beach area that I know of, but there is a pool right by the ocean where we can lay out. Plus, there are little paths through the rocks that make for good photo ops.

After settling in, a bunch of us went to the pool to nap, tan, and read. After a while, Morgan and I migrated over to two hammocks. I laid there for who knows how long and then moved to a bench to get closer to the water. This place is so peaceful, so tranquilo. I could sit and watch the water all day. Something about oceans just blow my mind, how it means that we’re on the very edge of a country, not to mention a continent, and that the water lapping up around us could have very well came from Africa, Europe, or any other place. There’s something very humbling about the whole thing; it really makes you think about how small and insignificant you are in the world, and how there is so much more out there for you to see. It made me reflect on how lucky I am to be here, in such an exotic and beautiful place, a chance that many people don’t get to have. I’m so lucky to have this opportunity—it’s something I’ll never forget. Sitting out there made me think about the friends I’ve had to say good bye to on this trip, which got me sad all over again. This tour has a very bittersweet taste to it; on the one hand, it’s probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, but on the other, I know that in a few short days I’ll be saying goodbye to all of this and even more people that I’ve come to really care for. I guess all we can do for now is enjoy the time we have here with each other!

I’ll update you all with our activities while we’re here! Until next time J

Last Weekend All Together :'(

Last weekend was our last one where the whole group will be together. So sad! I'm really going to miss the people I'm here with. I've made some great friendships here! But enough of that, I can save that mushy stuff for a later entry.

Friday was interesting because Claire and I accompanied my mom to a fiesta type thing, but at the time we had NO idea what was going on. Not just because she told us in Spanish, but because what she was telling us in general was confusing. We knew it was some sort of meeting for Father's Day, but that's all we got right. First we thought it was through my host brother James' school, but when neither he nor my dad came, we quickly realized that wasn't the case. We were also wondering why my dad wasn't coming if it was for Father's Day. Needless to say, it was a mystery and we didn't know what was going on even while we were at the house where the party was. However, there was tons of food, so we weren't complaining! We eventually learned that it was through my mom's church, and this was her first time attending one of this parties because she just recently started reading during the service and becoming more involved. It was interesting to see another Tico house and observe them talking, even though they talked so fast that we had absolutely no idea what they were saying. Claire is a lot better than I am in Spanish and can usually understand everything, so when she is lost we know they were really talking fast! They were nice though, and it was still fun.

Afterwards, we met up with our friend Morgan and her conversation partner Yensy (not sure if that's spelled right) at a bar in Heredia where ladies were given a few tickets for free drinks! After that we went dancing at a place called Chill Out Place (that's literally the name--so Americanized!). It was pretty fun! When Claire and I left we waited around for 20 minutes before we were told that the buses had stopped running...oops. Then, our taxi driver told us his whole life story on the way home, including how he was sad because his wife had left him with the kids for 2 months. I didn't understand this and only learned of it when Claire told me the next day, but definitely one of our more sad/depressing/awkward cab rides.

On Saturday, Claire and I walked to Barva, a little town that's about a 10 minute walk from us. It's really cute, with lots of shops and a big park in the middle. Also, it has a theme of masks throughout the town that are on every street sign and garbage can. Pictures to come later. We walked around and took pictures, and then we shopped around a bit because Claire wanted a dress for our "final" later that night for our dance class. Saturday night was SO MUCH FUN. It was most of our group and Carlitos, our dance teacher and one of the directors of USAC who we love oh so much! We headed to San Jose and first ate dinner at this really good Chinese place. I got sweet n' sour chicken and Morgan and I shared some rice. Afterwards, we piled into taxis and headed over to Pepper's, an awesome place where they mostly play typical Latin music. We danced the night away! It was great because there were a lot of Ticos there who knew how to dance well, so it made it 10x better. I danced with two Ticos who were both really good. The first one "cut in" on me and one of fellow classmates, and the other one was actually taller than me!! Actually, he was a giant. I have never seen a Tico so tall; even in the States he was tall. Probably like 6'7". I danced with him right before we left, and he kept telling me to stop looking at the floor! Oops.

For Father's Day on Sunday, my older host brother Edson and his wife and son came over for lunch. I hung out with them for a while, but I couldn't really understand them because they were talking pretty fast so I spent the rest of the time re-reading the Hunger Games on my Kindle, so not a bad afternoon.

Today was our final presentations in my short stories class, which means that I'M DONE WITH CLASS! wooo! It feels great! Tomorrow the group is going to San Jose to see the national theater and I think a museum. After that, I'm free until Friday, when Morgan, Zack, Katie, Autumn, and I embark for the Souther Costa Rica tour! So excited!

On a more serious note, I found out some awful news about a wonderful family in Wauconda on Sunday. I learned that Mr. Mead, who just from the few times I have talked to him radiated kindness, was killed in a moped accident on Father's Day. My heart completely broke thinking about what they must be going through, so I ask anyone reading this to please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Until next time.

Failed movie trip, church, volunteering, and Thursday night

So on Wednesdays, there is a 2 for 1 special at the movie theater in the nearby mall, so some of us went with hopes of seeing the Snow White movie. However, we learned that we needed to get there MUCH earlier because the entire theater was sold out! :( So instead we kinda just walked around the mall and shopped around, which was interesting because we realized that a lot of the stores here look the same as American stores but with slightly different names. There was an Urban Outfitters look-alike and a Pac Sun look-alike, along with others that I can't remember. It also kinda sucks because clothes here are expensive!! I though everything here would be cheaper, but a basic shirt here is like $30 where in the US I could get it for much less. It's also really awkward to shop because the stores are a lot smaller and you're often the only one in there. Plus, the workers will get up from where they're sitting and kinda just watch you, so it's kind of awkward to shop and I feel so guilty if I don't buy anything. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just different.

Thursday morning, I went with my Tica mom to her church. We went early because she had to read a passage for everyone and wanted to prepare. This allowed me to walk around and take a couple pictures on my phone and just observe. The churches here are beautiful, pretty long with very high ceilings. They're usually more open than US churches too, which isn't surprising considering it's much warmer here. There is a large presence of stain glass windows, beautiful alter displays, and countless statues of Jesus, Mary, and a number of saints that I don't know. Needless to say, it's gorgeous. When church started, I was caught off guard when the pastor? (I'm not catholic so I don't know the name. Sorry if that's horribly wrong) looked at me and said he didn't know me and asked me my name. My name is kinda weird here and very uncommon, so of course after saying it like 3 times myself he still didn't understand it, and after my Tica mom saying it about 3 more times he finally got it. He then asked me where I was from I guess, but I was so nervous (this is in front of the entire congregation, remember) that my brain wasn't working and didn't know what he was saying. Nela eventually said Chicago for me so I could figure out what he was asking, but it was a pretty terrifying 10 seconds. At first, though, he thought I was from Germany before she had said anything! Then he asked me to come up to the front, but luckily my friend Claire was there with her mom so they had her come up too. Funny how she's gone about 3 times already and the one time I go all this happens! But he was actually really nice; he just welcomed us to the church, showed us the choir, and asked for the congregation to give us applause. Not too bad, but I was still pretty embarrassed. The rest of the service went pretty smoothly.

Thursday night, I went with Claire to volunteer at a class she has been working with. It's a night class for Ticos to learn English. It was actually really fun because the students were awesome and it was good practice for my Spanish. Being there was fascinating for me because I've never seen people trying to learn English. Let me tell you, our language makes NO SENSE. There were so many times when they would ask us why something has to be a certain way and all we could say was "It's just the way it is." English has so many crazy rules that are impossible to teach and make someone understand. It was especially interesting though because I was able to see some rules that I didn't really know existed because I am a native speaker. If you just sit down and look at an English workbook like they had, you'd see how crazy our language is. I admire these students for tackling such an insane language. There was one point though where I was able to explain in Spanish why a certain sentence had to be structured in a certain way, and they actually understood! It was such a great feeling, because I was able to explain it in Spanish well enough so that they understood! I was on Cloud 9 :) It also felt kinda good being there because I felt smart for once, not like the stupid American struggling to string sentences together. Of course, I didn't go too long feeling like that because at the end the teacher had them ask us questions in Spanish so that we could practice too. I've definitely decided that my speaking skills are a lot better than my listening skills. Half the time I know the words they're using, it's just hard for me to decipher what they're saying. That's what I really need to work on.

After volunteering, we met up with some friends at our usual bar, Boulevar. We didn't stay out too late but it was fun! We met some other Americans from Texas who are studying here, so we talked to them for a while. Then later a live band started playing, so we listened to them. We saw some Ticos our age just kinda standing in a circle and dancing, so me and Corie-Ann went over and joined them. It's funny because in the States, if someone did that you would probably be a little weirded out, but they were so cool about it! Everyone here is so nice, especially to us! I think they might be amused by our struggles to communicate, but whatever :)

I'm still not sure what we're doing this weekend. We might go camping, we might not. It's up in the air. Either way I'll update with out activities!

Fútbol game and Monteverde!

Another fun-filled weekend! This one was by far the most expensive, but at the same time very enjoyable. On Friday, most of the group went to a fútbol game between Costa Rica and El Salvador. We took a bus from Heredia to San Jose and then walked a few blocks to the stadium. The streets were crazy--very similar to college tailgating. There were people everywhere selling merchandise with Costa Rican colors, and a bunch of us bought jerseys to wear to the game for $10. We were a bit early, so we followed the crowds of people to the bars to kill time before the game. After spending about half an hour there, we made our way back to the stadium. Interestingly, we weren't allowed to bring umbrellas or coins into the stadium. The umbrellas I assume block people's views of the game, but the coins are banned because people like to throw their change at the opposing team.

Our seats were in the nose-bleed section, but I actually preferred that because we could see the field really well. It was amazing being able to attend a fútbol game  in Latin America. There get as enthused about soccer as the States do about football. I would rather watch soccer than football, so I loved it! This was the first professional game I've gone to in a long, long time. It was funny because when we told our professor that we going to the game, he spent an hour teaching us all the malas palabras (swear words) we would hear. Turns out, he was right! We heard quite a few of them. At one point, the lights went out in the stadium and the game had to be postponed for probably 30 minutes. We were nervous that the game would have to be cancelled if they couldn't get them to work again, so we were relieved when they fixed the problem.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to witness a Costa Rican win. Instead, the teams tied but I think we needed to win in order for the team to advance, so it was a bad loss. At the end, Costa Rica scored and we were ecstatic, but it was called back for some reason :( We actually ended up leaving with like three minutes left in the game, which totally sucked but was necessary in order to get a seat on the bus back to Heredia. It was a good call, because even after half-walking, half-running to the bus, we still barely managed to get seats.

After the game, we went to a karoke bar where some of my friends sang. One girl, Abbey, sang "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston and absolutely blew it out of the water--she was great! Then Corie-Ann sang "No Woman, No Crime" by Bob Marley and she sounded great as well; she managed to get that Jamaican sound in there since she's part Jamaican! Afterwards to went to a discoteca to dance and watch other couples dance. It was a very late night--after the game, the karoke bar, and the discoteca, I didn't get home until 4:15 in the morning...oops. I only ended up getting one hour of sleep because I had to get up and shower/pack in order to start our next adventure...Monteverde!

We left school at 8 and got to Monteverde about 3 1/2 hours later. Monteverde is a city way up in the mountains that boasts of some of the best cloud forests in the country. On the way there, the view was absolutely amazing and the drive somewhat terrifying--we were driving up the sides of the mountain, only a couple of feet away from a sheer drop off. Plus, la nublina (fog) was so intense at some parts that it only added to the eerie feeling that we were about to plummet off the cliff into nothingness. Luckily, we made it there safely. We stayed at a hotel called Finca Valverde, and the first thing we saw when we got off the bus was a pretty big snake! It felt like it was saying "Welcome to the rain forest!" In order to get to our rooms, we had to cross over a hanging bridge. On our way to grab lunch in town, we were surprised by MONKEYS on the bridge!! I was so excited to see them because they were so close and I've missed them every time other people have seen them. They were pretty small and black, and there were about five jumping around on the trees right above us and even climbing around on the bridge. Someone gave us bananas, so we were able to feed them as well. They would come right up to us and take the banana from our hands. I never thought I'd stay somewhere like that! Our rooms were quaint and the walls were all wood, so we felt like we were in a cabin. At night, we could hear the constant hum of insects since we were literally two feet from the rain forest, which was very relaxing and peaceful.

At 2, we headed up to the cloud forests to go ziplining. This was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. I was a little scared at first, but after the first line the fear melted away and it was pure adrenaline. They started us off with small, quick lines that weren't too far above the ground so that we could get the hang of how we were supposed to position ourselves and how to stop ourselves. About three lines in, we got to the bigger lines. We ziplined hundreds of feet across what I guess would be a valley, spanning from one mountain side to another. We were hundreds of feet above the ground and had a view of the whole rain forest along with some cattle grazing below. The ride lasted about 45 seconds and was one of the most amazing experiences. After that, there were about 12 more lines. About two were as high and long as that one, while the others took us through the rain forest, just feet away from massive trees. One of the lines was a vertical drop, which was pretty cool. Right before it was my turn, a howler monkey showed up and started howling, which is actually pretty scary. Then, he proceeded to climb right about where I was about to zipline and poop/pee everywhere! The guide yelled "Caca!" and the guide at the bottom basically threw himself out of the way. The guide with me then proceeded to throw branches at the monkey in hopes that he would move, but instead the monkey grabbed a branch himself like he was about to throw it back at us! Finally, he moved a couple feet out of the way so that the coast was clear, and I went down hoping that I wouldn't be hit by any more caca from him!

Next, after the ziplines, we did the Tarzan swing, which is a straight drop down, and then it flings you back up to the other side and you kind of just swing back and forth. I was terrified to step off the platform and kept asking a bunch of questions, because in reality the guides don't really tell you what to do. I was trying to figure out what to hold on to and how to go about it, basically just stalling, and I guess I was taking too long because they pretty much just pushed my off the ledge. I freaked out at first but once I realized I wasn't going to die, I realized how awesome it was. It swung me way up into the trees before coming back down. The last thing we did was the Superman zipline, which is like the Superman ride at Six Flags x100000. We had to hike up this really big hill in order to get to the starting point. Then, they hooked us up into this thing that held us so that we were facing the ground. The ride lasted about a minute or so and was sheer adrenaline. I'm pretty scared of rides where I'm facing the ground, so I was convinced that I was going to die. This one was one of the lines that took us over the valley, so basically I was facing the ground from hundreds of feet up. Even though I was terrified of falling to my death and definitely said a little prayer in my head while I was going, it was my favorite zipline by far. It was so thrilling. Plus, it had started to rain a little, which actually added to the experience because it just made it more intense. All of this only cost $35, which I think was well worth it!

That night, we were all pretty tired. We went out for a while to a bar in town that had a lot of dancing and watched the couples, who were all way better than all of us combined. Even if we're not dancing, it's still fun to watch. We also met up with some guys who went ziplining with us earlier and were staying at a hostel in town, so we just hung out with them and talked. It was a fun, yet short evening since we were back before midnight.

This morning, we went to a park before heading home. We spent about two hours hiking and saw a waterfall, a hanging bridge, and a bunch of bugs. I still can't believe that I'm actually in a rain forest whenever we go hiking. I can't wrap my head around the fact that these huge, mossy trees with giant vines hanging down are real and not some kind of prop. It's such a surreal experience. I took a bunch of videos on my phone to show people back home because the pictures weren't really doing it justice. Funny story, I was showing my Tica mom a picture of this giant tree we found during our hike that had a lot of holes in it at the bottom, so I said "tiene muchos conejos" and she got really confused, which got me really confused. Well, I mixed up the word for "hole" with "rabbit," so I had just said that the tree had a lot of rabbits. When we realized what I had said, we all busted up laughing. I guess now I'll remember the word now!

All in all, another successful weekend. We were talking about ziplining and how it was a once in a lifetime experience, and Corie says "We've been having a lot of once in a lifetime experiences." She's absolutely right--each weekend I think that things can't possibly get any better, but with each weekend comes new experiences and new memories. I'm so sad that I only have one more weekend left with this amazing group before only some of us embark on the southern Costa Rica tour. This trip is going by way too fast, but I'm loving every minute of it.

Hike From Hell

This morning, three of us (me, Claire, and Eva) decided to go on a hike at Volcan Barva since we did't have class today. Little did we know it would be the hardest hike of our lives!

We rose at the wee hour of 5:00 in order to catch the 6:25 bus to the hiking spot. However, where we got off is about 6 kilometers (not sure how long that is in miles, but it's more than 6!!) from where we wanted to hike to, which we soon found out from a local. We naively thought it wouldn't be too bad and set off for our hike that was 100% UPHILL. This was definitely one of many what were we thinking?? moments that we've had so far. Don't get me wrong, the hike was fun for quite a while and we did enjoy some breathtaking views of Heredia/San Jose, but by the 4th kilometer, when the road turned to gravel/large rock and civilization was scarce, we started doubting our decision. Still, we powered through and after what seemed like an eternity, we made it to the national park where we believed the volcano to be. We soon learned that the volcano was not accessible by the path we were on, but that we could still go see the lagoon if we paid the fee of $8 to enter the park. That was a surprise, but we had already come so far so we refused to turn around without seeing anything. Oh, I should add that we also needed to be back to the bus stop by 1:00 to catch the bus because otherwise the next one didn't come until 5:00, so we were on a tight schedule.

We set off for the lagoon and soon our nice little path took a turn into a legit jungle hike, complete with giant, fallen trees on the path and mud absolutely everywhere. That was definitely the most submerged I have been in the jungle since I've been here. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached the lagoon. Much to our demise, it was actually pretty lame and definitely not worth the effort and blisters. Basically, it was a foggy lake up in the mountain. By then we were running really low on time, with exactly 3 hours left to make it back to the bus stop. That may sound like a lot of time, but in this case it was just enough. Claire and I started back, but Eva said she would catch up to us. We definitely committed the ultimate sin of hiking: leaving one person alone. I don't know what we were thinking, but after a few minutes we realized that that was probably a terrible idea. In true panicky, American fashion, we instantly started panicking about her whereabouts. What if she trips and rolls her ankle? Or a wild animal finds her? Or some creepy person in the forest? The list went on and on. Still, she said she would catch up, so we decided to keep going at a slow pace in hope that we would find her. We even left a pathetic little carving in the dirt with her name and an arrow pointing in the direction we were going. Needless to say, she didn't see our pitiful excuse for a sign! Luckily, she remembered the way we came.

As the hike back got longer, our blisters, appetites, and worry for Eva grew. About an hour in, tragedy struck: I slipped on the gravel and fell, but that wasn't the problem. Worse than falling was watching the sandwich I was eating fly out of my hand and into the mud. Claire tried convincing me to apply the "2 Second Rule," but I couldn't bring myself to do it and eventually fed it to some dogs later on. Finally, after what seemed like years, we got to a place where both Eva and I had reception, and I was able to call her and confirm that she was still alive--she was! Actually, she wasn't too far behind us, and got to the bus stop only a few minutes after that. Like typical Americans, we worried for nothing! I'm sure that if a Tico had been with us, he/she would have been saying Tranquila, Tranquila! We seem to hear that a lot here...

This hike, as painful, tiring, and insane as it was while we were doing it, is one of those memories that I can look back on and laugh about. I'm still glad we did it -- it was still better than sitting at my Tico house doing nothing. Definitely an experience to remember! Plus, we got to enjoy some beautiful views and, oh yeah, make friends with a bunch of dogs! I don't know what it is, but the dogs love us here. Everywhere we go, we make friends to them: here, Puerto Viejo, and now the random road that led up to the lagoon. They were cute though and served as good company for us.

I'm writing this blog from my bed, where I've spent the entire day since I came home. I'm completely wiped out form this adventure, and my feet ache from all the walking. Oh well! Just thought you all would like to hear about our crazy hike. That's all! Hasta Luego.

Last night, instead of going to our normal dance class, we went out at night to a place called tipico latino (I know I'm forgetting accents but I don't feel like doing them!), where there is a live band and people dance the typical Latin American dances--Cumbia, Merengue, Bachata (sp?), and more. It was so much fun just to watch the couples dancing there because the dances are beautiful when done correctly. These types of dances are also very different from what I've seen in the bars. There, people usually do "regaton" (sp?), which is much less formal and more more for the younger crowds. The best way to describe the music for that kind of dance is a mix between American house music and Latin American music. I've heard Lady Gaga and Pink in the bars before--so weird!

Anyways, since this place we went to yesterday was more formal, pretty much EVERYONE there were viejos (older people). Definitely not the type of people we would normally be dancing with. It was actually pretty hilarious! But like I said, they were all so good at the dances so we had fun watching. We took our turns dancing too, mostly just within our group. However, some of us did dance with the viejtios! I was sitting there during one of the slower songs and this older man who was probably in his 50s or 60s (notice I said OLDER, not OLD--I don't want to upset anyone with that!) came up and asked me to dance. I was a little hesitant at first but figured that practice is practice and agreed. I later learned that he is from New York, was in Costa Rica on business, and is divorced. He danced much slower than the others, which was good because I definitely did not wear the right dress to go dancing--all that spinning was proving pretty dangerous!

Today we played soccer again. Actually, we've been playing every Tuesday. We're all pretty terrible, especially compared to our Tico friends, but it's still fun and good exercise. However, today I went up against this guy to get a ball and we butted heads, and now I have the fat lip to show for it! Such a bummer.

I do think that my Spanish is improving. I'm definitely not fluent by any means, and I still need people to talk at a slightly slower pace in order to understand, but it is improving nonetheless. My Tico family is even telling me so, so it must be true! I just wish I was here longer so that I could get even better.

That's really all for now--Hasta Luego.

Weekend in Puerto Viejo!

So much to tell you!

Last week went by SO fast! Not much happened during the week that is particularly exciting. However, I did manage to drop one of my classes, and it feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I now feel like I will be able to enjoy Heredia more without constantly worrying about homework. So relieved!! Now I am just taking my Latin American short stories class. Yay!

Last week also consisted of an array of complicated texts, calls, and facebook messages in order to plan the awesome weekend some of us just had in Puerto Viejo! It was a nightmare to plan and decide what we wanted to do, but it was so worth it! Four of us girls (me, Claire, Katie, and Autumn) took a bus to the lively, ocean-side town of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast. Finding the right bus was extremely confusing and complicated, so I was shocked/impressed/relieved when we finally found ourselves on our way! We had to first take a bus from Heredia to San Jose (about 30 minutes) to the Caribbean terminal, and from there we had about a five hour bus ride to the coast. 

The place we stayed at was called Rocking J's, the most bizarre (and only) hostel I have ever seen! Everything was turned into artwork--the bathrooms, the showers, the floor, the tables, even our lockers. Every available surface was painted by former guests, which was very interesting to look at. Even more crazy is where we slept: The four of us spent two nights sleeping in hammocks for $7/night!! It was such an odd concept. There was a huge pavilion outside filled with hammocks, and we all just slept in there together with complete strangers. It was actually extremely comfortable, and since the hostel was right on the beach we got to rock ourselves to sleep and listen to waves hitting the shore--paradise!

Just as interesting as the sleeping arrangements were the awesome people that we met. Everyone at hostels is so friendly and outgoing--I guess sleeping in outdoor hammocks makes you instant friends! Some of the kids we met have been traveling for weeks or even months, just living hostel to hostel and picking up odd jobs wherever they can. It's a concept that I cannot even imagine, but I admire their guts! It's scary traveling in a foreign country, so they get major kudos for doing it alone and staying in hostels. One guy that we met was named Bruno and he is from Brazil. He's been traveling all over the world for the past couple months and I think he said he's been to over 15 countries. The manager of the bar/restaurant and nephew of Rocking Jay himself, Gabriel, was incredibly friendly and just awesome in general. He's only 20 years old and already owns his own restaurant (the one at the hostel) and a bike rental service. It may not be the conventional way to go through life, but it sure is like working in paradise. 

We spent the night just exploring the town and dancing at a local bar. The whole town pretty much caters to Americans, but I kind of wish that less people spoke English. I didn't get much practice in this weekend! The next morning, we headed to the beach for a few hours. It was absolutely gorgeous--huge waves that were super fun to play in, some sun to soak up, and the jungle just a couple feet away from us. It was unreal. After that, we went back and Claire and I rented bikes for only $5 for the whole day. We rode into town and had the best ham and cheese croissant I have ever had...yummmm. After that, Katie and three of our friends we had met at the hostel (Bruno and two brothers who were staying there for a few days) also rented bikes and we all rode to another beach. It was a looooong bike ride, but so much fun and so interesting to see the landscape. On the way back, some of the group saw monkeys in the trees, but unfortunately Claire and I missed it because we left early :( Soon after we got back to the hostel, our friends Madsion and Morgan got there. They had driven up a day after us with some of our Tico friends. After we all showered, we headed into town to eat and just enjoy the night. A lot of fun!

This morning wasn't too exciting, but still fun! We walked next door and had banana pancakes and smoothies for breakfast (which were delicious by the way!) and then walked into town to buy tickets for the bus back to Heredia. We were planning on taking the 11:00 bus to Heredia, but it was full so we ended up waiting for the 1:00 bus instead. It was scorching hot today, so it was kind of miserable walking around aimlessly waiting for 1:00 to roll around, but eventually we found some stores and a restaurant to go and cool off in, so it wasn't too bad. After three buses and five hours of traveling, we finally made it home safe :) 

Overall, another amazing weekend, full of sun, dancing, and nighttime adventures on the beach! I seriously can't believe how lucky I am to be here. It doesn't seem possible that we can be having this much fun every week. This Friday, we are going to the big soccer game between the national Costa Rican team and I believe Nicaragua, but I could be wrong. It should be a lot of fun!! Then on Saturday we are going to Monteverde for a night, which is a famous national park here where apparently the canopy tours are a breathtaking must-do. Can't wait!