A rainy Saturday

Hello Hello
It's been raining all day today. Here, it's another beautiful thing. Everyone has a tin roof, the rain is warm and strong, it pours buckets then lightly mists till it's completely gone and there's sun again. What a day :) My friends and I had planned to go white water river rafting but our trip was canceled because of unsafe river conditions (rain rain rain, for the best). So we traveled to Jaco Beach, about an hour and a half away from San Jose, and not your typical tourist beach. The sand was more rough, scattered with beach glass, shells, rocks, even coral. The wave were also more rough, crashing over and under us, pulling us in different directions. Felt a little like home, tasting real salt water again, but much much warmer. It was sprinkling there too but we didn't mind. Had a small picnic in the sand before we had to catch the bus back to San Jose, where it had again decided to pour. A few of us had umbrellas, but we all got soaked regardless.
Finally home now. Dinner soon and then we're going to some kind of Dubstep birthday party, pretty exciting! Girls night to get ready and prefunk beforehand. Living the life here :)

I spent Wednesday's holiday at the artisans market with my roommate and two friend. Bought a few gifts but I will absolutely need to go back, everyone is so friendly there (mostly because you're buying their ish, but hey) I made lots of friends :) One man, Max, let Melissa and I try some coffee chocolate. Oh my goodness. It was incredible. If you want samples, speak up, because you do! Those things I need to buy right before I leave so I don't eat them all! The rest of the day I worked on some homework, colored some dinosaur pictures, watched a few movies (WB and TCM en Espanol, best thing ever!) very relaxing. School's going well, two more weeks of phonetics, one more of Spanish and I am so looking forward to that Panama trip :) I also learned you can get to Lima by bus for like 7 bucks! I don't think I have time this trip but it's good to know how cheap it is to travel here!

Whatever Mama tica is cooking smells really good :) Every time I try something new and delicious I think 'Shane would flip shit' and he would.
Miss and love the fam. Five weeks til Boston!

The weekend

What and awesome past couple of days! Friday I had a Spanish 'midterm' which I did much better on than I thought I would. The rest of Friday was really relaxing thank goodness. My roommate and I just stayed in and did homework. Saturday we had to be at the school by 7 to leave for Poas, a volcano which harbors one of the world's larges crators almost a mile wide in diamiter with a perfect blue lagoon in the center. The sumit is located in a "cloud forest" however, and so we only caught tiny glimpses of the mountain before it was covered by clouds again. Very interesting. The air was so thin there hiking to the top was anything but easy, and in reality it really wasn't a long walk. We also visited a coffee plantation, the mountains are covered with them. I learned that the colder climate is good for the coffee because it requires more energy to grow, making the bean and the flavor much stronger. After the hike, and this was the best part, we took a zipline canopy tour. The first one was a little scary but after that it was just go go go, and so beautiful. I tried to get some good pictures but they wouldn't let me hold my camera during. The last and longest cable was over 600 feet, you travel at about 45mph through holes in the caonopy. Unreal. :)

Sunday was even more amazing. we left early again and first stoped at aa 300ft waterfall. After visiting the viewpoint we took the long hike down and jumped in. The water was freezing and the current really strong but it was unbelievable. A few of us just floated our way down the rocks to calmer water, very fun. Afterward we visited our second volcano Arenal, a perfect cone just off city limits that is constantly active. We were told it was very quiet that day but we could still see the steam coming out of it. Then Baldi, a resort built around a cluster of natural hot springs. Dad, the soulduc looks like a kiddy pool. There were three huge water slides, one that shot you strait out into a pool and really messed up my back. But it was a blast! At the top of the resort was a huge steaming hot waterfall and various trails you could take through their jungle-like gardens. It was amazing. Definitely a place I'll revisit when I'm rich and famous.

The weekend flew by. and it's already Tuesday! Tomorrow's a holiday, recognizing when the province guenacasta became part of Costa Rica (previously Nicaraguen). So no school, girls night tonight, and hopefully dancing! :) More later, and I am just as frustrated as you with this picture ordeal. I'll upload them to facebook and post the link here later.
Much easier.

Pura Vida :)

Getting caught up!

Oh hello all!
Sorry I've been slacking on the blog posts but I've been busy! For starters my classes are going really well but they are challenging. More homework than I expected and some intensive Spanish lessons. But luckily my teachers are awesome and both very concerned with weather or not we understand (slowly but surely, I'm getting there).

I left you last week, and what a week it was. Thursday night there was a patio barbecue at the university for all us international students. Free food and beer, and beer was the ONLY beverage option. Later in the night there was a surprise performance! The drum line was awesome. But as you can see the girls (dressed in traditional festive wear) were not excited to be there at all. They're job was mainly to pull people into the ridiculous chacha line. That's why beer was our only option I guess.

After the fiesta, I learned a few salsa moves on the patio with some friends and we followed another group to this discoteka called Castro's. Holy hell. I had heard tico men knew how to dance but Miguel really proved it to be true. Everyone was sweaty and gross and spinning and twirling all over the place! Some of the most fun I've ever had, and the most spinning! We're going again this Thursday :)

Friday we left for our first excursion to Tamarindo Beach, which my host family nicknames "tama-gringo beach" the term couldn't be more appropriate. Definitely a slightly over-priced tourist town but so beautiful. The bus ride took five full hours and it was storming like crazy when we arrived. My roommies and I got dinner, read for a bit and went to bed. But the exhaustion was worth it; I felt real sand for the first time in years and my goodness, the water, who could believe the Pacific could be so warm. Incredible. Like bath water, with perfect waves, and completely clear. We floated for quite a while before getting sunburnt and hunting for seashells (gifts for everyone!)

That night we hit the tow. All the bars were having special deals (free drinks for all the ladies) and huge parties. Needless-to-say we took advantage of those benefits. The night ended around 2am and by that time I was so ready for bed. Sunday was very relaxing, hopped on the bus at 2 and the most exciting thing happend. At our scheduled rest stop I checked quite a few things off my list. I saw monkeys! Real ones, some howlers and spider monkeys. And Macaws, huge and beautiful. There must have been 15 in one tree! And even better, a Tico saw my astonsihment and asked if I wanted to see the other anmals. Talk about the right place at the right time. Two other friends and I saw a cage full of black Tucans and some crazy afro-chickens. He also had peacocks and a pet deer, so calm and sweet she came right up to lick the salt off our hands.
Pretty amazing.

And I'm really sorry but this picture deal is giving my trouble and I have plans this evening. So, bummer but I'll include them somehow.
Love and miss my friends and fam. :)
Adios!

So far...

Hola
Today has been very busy. I learned this morning that my schedule would not actually give me any Spanish credit, so the first few hours were very hectic and a little emotional. Not sure how that all happened. But Everything is fine now. I had to drop my fun electives (Health and Dance) so I could join the intermediate class, 8 in the morning till noon! And then Spanish Phonetics. The good news is, now I'll be going home with nearly 15 Spanish credits. Oh hello double major, you are a possibility, yet again. :)
It's just after 4 and I am tired! Prime siesta time. And it looks like it's about to storm :)
Oh yeah, you ca see the lightning light up over the mountians almost every night here. Pretty cool.

More later!

Finally here

Hola Todos!
Well, today is day two of this adventure. Costa Rica is more beautiful than the pictures, and so colorful! My host family is amazing. My mama, Sara, is a teacher so very patient with me. I have a 24 year old older sister, and a 13 year old younger one. My papa works with computers, his name is Roberto, and he forces me to have a positive attitude, which is really good for me.
I've met quite a few students at the school but not many locals yet. I'll get a chance to go downtown later today and tomorrow. Everyone is really nice. We're travelling to Tamarindo Beach in Guanacaste on Friday for three whole days! Very exciting. I also learned we are going to zip line through the jungle canopy later this month! And visit some natural hot springs!
I also met a girl who has been her for a month and she mentioned a few volunteer opportunities in the city. classes start tomorrow, four hours of Spanish in the morning, and then three electives in the afternoon. Busy but exciting!
I am happy to be here. Still pretty nervous but am determined to learn the language and enjoy myself :)

Pretty wild. Pictures coming soon I hope!
Hasta Luego!