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.