Hello all

Here we are. We finally made it. Today was my last day of Spanish class. Oh my goodness, I couldn't help myself from dancing after I turned in my exam! My presentation didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped on Thursday but I managed to pull a solid grade thanks to my universe trivia game :) Good thing I took that methods class before coming down here! Last night my friend Kelsey and I went to a dance club for probably the last time. We partnered up with these ticos and danced for about three hours straight! It's safe to say I'm a little sore today. They were more respectable than other ticos I had met, we got to talk for a bit about life, travel, language, Europe, food. It was nice. They never crossed the line but they were sure flirting with it! It was a fun way to close my club experience here. :) Got home at about 3am and hit the pillow hard, then had to wake up early to finish my final essay before making it to class by 8 to take my final exam. What a day. I am sleepy and satisfied. Got a solid B+ in my class, and I'll take it! Advanced 1 was hard but well worth it, I learned a ton, and dare I say, am much more comfortable actually speaking Spanish now.

I'm stuck with this strange emotion. On one hand, I can't wait to get home; hot showers, bubble bath, bacon, cheese, of course my family, boyfriend, and dog. I'm excited to be in the country again, and walk bare foot and breathe some real fresh air, although the ocean is much more agreeable here, I am looking forward to my muddy, cold and windy Purdy Spit :) And on the other hand, especially now that I'm finally feeling comfortable with Spanish, why would I ever leave? People told me this would happen. And like, duh, it's Costa Rica, it's beautiful and warm, the people are friendly (and it helps that I'm so attractive and exotic here!), I'm finally used to counting my money by the thousands, the coffee's richer, the fruit is better, there are jungles and waterfalls and sloths and monkeys and sand. Two months was plenty and not at all enough all at the same time. I wish I could travel for a bit. Really see some of the country and really meet some of the people, but I would need so much more time. I don't think you can ever really be done soaking in a culture.

I've learned a lot here; about Spanish, history, medicine, coffee and bananas, and definitely about myself. I know how I will do this differently next time. I think I have a plan. At least an idea, where I want to go, what kind of work I want to do, what to study, if I study. I think it will all be a little less formal, and a little more adventurous. Costa Rica, one stepping stone to the rest of my life, and one that absolutely changed the original path.

I am excited, and happy, and emotional, loved, pensive, planning, overwhelmed. Lots is in store.
Tonight, saying goodbye to some awesome people. Tomorrow, having a me-day in the city, saying goodbye to some awesome sites. And then Boston to see my amazing family! What a life, what a trip, what a dream. How incredible.

Thank you all,
For being a part of this with me

Este es, actualmente, la significa de pura vida.
Pura vida, todos.
Vive tus suenos.

Winding down

It's been a while since I've written but things are moving quickly as usual! A group of friends and I celebrated our last weekend by staying in on Friday night, some much needed rest. Then we visited Cartago, the same city I walked to for Romeria, Saturday morning. Finding the bus stop was a pain but once there, the basilica made it all worth it. I couldn't even compare this church to anything I had seen in Europe. I love how churches are always so quiet. There is this atmosphere of great faith and respect no one cannot appreciate. La Negrita, the virgin Mary, was presented in stained glass windows, plastic bottles to carry holy water, and in her original stone form. People were kneeling and praying, crawling their way to her alter, counting out prayers on rosaries, and I joined them for a moment. Then we went to the basement and saw something interesting that I still don't quite understand. All this silver behind glass. Clearly valuable items, trophies and metals and gold necklaces. A friend told me it was so he church would pray for someone's family, correct me if we are mistaken, that you give the church this token, with a prayer, and they pray for you. There were little silver legs, arms, eye balls, even internal organs that we found you can buy next door. Possibly to heal your ailments? Very interesting. Deeper into the church was the holy water. Said to have healing powers, because it is were La Negrita was originally discovered. There was quite the crowd filling bottles and washing their hands, feet, and faces. We took our drinks and went on our way. Found a coffee shop to pass the time before catching our bus.
There was a dubstep show in San Jose that night we had planned to go to. Planning ahead, we also decided to simply get a hostel for the night just two blocks away from the show. It was a blast to get all girl-ed up and have a few drinks. Although, I don't think the show was anything any of us were expecting. By the end of the night, we were the only women in there and it was so time to leave. The hostel was awesome, just $11 for a pool, kitchen, our own room, practically our own bathroom, a balcony, it even came with a pillow, pillow case, top and bottom sheet and a freaking blanket! Best hostel for the best price I'd ever stayed in. Ate breakfast a favorite cafe before heading home to do homework.
And now it is Tuesday. Day 2 of 5 remaining class days. Two test tomorrow, presentation Thursday, final exam Friday, and then it's almost over. What an interesting new emotion this is. We're going to try to get to the beach one last time Friday after our exams. Most of my friends leave Saturday so I'll have plenty of time to pack up all my belongings. My plane leaves at noon on Sunday. What a wild ride it's been.
So excited for Boston! Can't wait to see my mom, brothers, and Irene! And then sweet sweet Washington.

Adios for now!

La Salva

Hola Chicos! Allow me to brag about my beautiful weekend in Manuel Antonio. :) After a busy afternoon of finding our correct bus stop, buying the correct tickets, and snoozing on the bus for three and a half hours we finally arrived. It was getting dark when we first got there so finding a hostel was our first priority. The one we had planned to stay at was about five miles before the bus stop so that backfired a little, hostel plans almost always do. But luckily they're never hard to remedy in such a touristy location. Obviously lost, a tico asked us if we needed a hostel. So we discussed it for a while and then walked about a block up the hill to go see our option. It turned out to be perfect. Ten dollars a night, 4 dollars for a huge breakfast, free showers, coffee and tea, internet, all connected to a bar and restaurant. It was a lucky find, especially since it almost immediately started raining afterward. We ran to a close restaurant for some dinner and happy hour and spent the rest of the night at the hostel bar with some guys from Portland, small world! Saturday we woke up very early and made it to the National Park by 8. This place was so unreal. Absolute jungle experience. You have to be careful with your belongings in case monkeys and/or raccoons try to steal them! We saw lots of interesting bugs, white faced monkeys, spider monkeys, saw and heard lots of howlers (probably my fav!), iguanas and gekos everywhere, beautiful beaches, and finally a sloth! Sloths are some of the most peaceful creatures on earth. Personally I think they're adorable... But I can see why most think they're ugly. Usually the animals were fairly high in the trees but I did the best I could with my camera (thanks mom!). We must have walked 7 miles through the park, around the peninsula, up some steep, slippery hillsides, sandy paths along the beaches, and of course with our toes in the ocean. What an amazing, gorgeous place. The rest of the day was mostly spent on the beach since we were both too exhausted to do anything else! We grabbed some lunch at a local place and I had jalapenos for the first time in months! It was delicious. We ended up going back for dinner, and happy hour, later that night to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. We had until noon on Sunday to walk along the beach for the last time, collecting lots of shells and cool rocks, taking some cheesy photos, and soaking up the last bits of sand and sunshine Manuel had to offer. It was probably my favorite location thus far, had a little bit of everything but never too much.
Just two more weeks left in school and I have a few more big projects coming up. Friday will be really exciting, we're visiting the children's museum, which I'm told is a lot like the science center, everything's hands on. It looks amazing, I'm very excited. That said, I'd better start my homework.

Love

Work hard play hard

Phew! I am exhausted! The new Spanish class is pretty difficult but it's definitely helping. Today I had to give a 15 minute presentation on my passion. Of course I chose global water scarcity and worked on translating all the information yesterday. What a process! 15 minutes is a long freaking time in Spanish with no notes. Plus I had some technical difficulties to work out. Thankfully my awesome, multi talented boyfriend was willing to help me from miles away. After our presentations we got to visit a family who makes jewelry out of organic materials from their homes. It was pretty awesome. They curl the peels or oranges into little roses, and make necklaces and rings out or banana pieces. They use all the pieces of fruit that would normally just be thrown out because it's gone bad. Super interesting. Got myself a pair of earrings :) Trying to go to a natural reserve this weekend at Manuel Antonio, one of the more beautiful parks I am told. I'm very excited and so looking forward to the break from class. Hopefully I'll see some monkeys and sloths!
For now, however, lots more studying. Midterm tomorrow, and then I am beachward bound!

We're either gonna die or have really good ice cream...

This week has been packed! For starters I got a nasty cold after visiting the hot climate in the Caribbean and coming back to a very rainy San Jose. It was just a sore throat but now I've completely lost my voice and and all stuffed up. Mama tica is threatening to take me to the doctor if I'm not better by Monday. But I went to the pharmacy today and got some drugs, we'll see if they work. I learned that the pharmacy can just give you a shot right then and there though! In the butt!! Not weird at all.
Anyway, Tuesday I started my new Spanish class (Advanced 1! Go me!) while everyone else was celebrating they're last week with no class. Phonetics is finally over, thank god, it might have been the hardest class of my life (still waiting on my final grade). This new Spanish class is going to be hard but I'm kindof excited for it, there are only two other girls in my class, and they're awesome :)
Wednesday was chill, we tried to have a wine and movie night but after about 20 minutes of the Matrix, endless commentary, and the smell of cheap wine, it was time for me to go home and sleep.
Thursday my friend Heather and I spent the day in San Jose with a guy we met from LA. This went against all the rules mom and dad ever told me about trusting strangers, but I'm happy we did. He took us to an older, more historical part of the city and showed us 'El Marcado Central' founded in like 1907 or something like that! So cool, kindof like the market places we visited in Mexico but more... intricate. A person could get lost and we pretty much did! Meet markets, fruits and veggies, enough cheese to stop your heart, mom and pop everything stores, anything you need, you could find it there, and then work out the right price. We were told we were about to get the best ice cream of our lives but it sure took a long time to find it! Hence the title. You'll be happy to know it really was the best ice cream I think I've ever had. (Yeah, even gelato) It's made from ginger root and is almost a slushy kind of texture. You can get it in a cone, cup, with Jell-o (yeah, whoa.), with cream, pretty much anyway you want. Great adventure.
That night we finally visited this theater that had kept cancelling shows when we showed up but luckily we got free tickets because of it. It was a comedy act that was obviously hilarious but I understood probably a third of their jokes, they just talk so fast! By the third act, I'm sorry to say, I was dozing off. A little sick and tired from my exciting day, it was time to go home after that. A few people went to the bars, their second to last night in Costa Rica, who could blame them.
Friday I was still sick, probably because I've been too concerned with my social life to pay attention to my health. After class I took a long, much needed nap and met up with the crew later that night. Mama tica wasn't very pleased about it but she did say that tequila would help my throat. Might as well give it a shot! :) Maybe it helped, but after an hour at the bar everyone was ready to move on to Grammy's (awesome karaoke bar). I said all my sad goodbyes to so many great people.
Met up with Heather and Nick before their flight this morning, and now it's me. Just me and a few other 8 week students, with a couple brand new ones. Just three more weeks left, better soak it all up while I can!

Lots of love, home on the horizon.
Pura vida

La Playa

This weekend five friends and I travelled to Puerto Viejo on the East coast of Costa Rica. A four hour bus ride (which I almost missed because I over slept!) and we were on the sandy beaches that boarder the Caribbean sea. I'll be honest and say there's really nothing else like this in the world.
Our bus left at 6am so I was prepared by packing the night before, thank goodness. However, the night before (Friday) was filled with festivities of it's own because our good friend Katie was not only turning 21 but also saying her goodbyes before leaving to travel with her family for the remainder of her trip. It was a very emotional night. Makes me scared for when everyone else leaves me! So anyway, none of us really got to bed before 1, and we were planning to meet to get a taxi at 5:15 just to be safe. I woke up at 5:25. I can't remember the last time I moved that fast! I had already thought I missed them but I threw some pants on, grabbed my backpack and ran down the street. I almost ran right into Justin, and could have cried I was so happy they were there. Ironically he had just been calling up to my window, maybe it woke me up, who knows, but what a guy! Most of us slept on the bus, and most of us also skipped breakfast so food was our main priority when we hit the beach. Alex kept saying he had a surprise when we got there. He sure as hell did. We got there and he says we're having a picnic, and pulls out bread, jelly, and peanut butter, the thing we had all been craving for weeks! Peanut butter is expensive and hard to find here but he found it and oh my goodness! Best PBandJ I think I've ever had!
Our next priority was finding a hostel. We simply walked around town till we ran into some so we could ask about prices. We ended up finding this awesome place called "the lazy loft", $10 per person, three people to each room, overlooking the beach, immediate access, right on top of "the lazy mon" bar and grill.. it was perfect, a real lucky find! We spent a lot of the day walking around town, at at a little authentic soda for lunch. Jamaican people everywhere, I've never seen so many dreads in my life! Loved the atmosphere and the people. At lunch we were watching the Olympics and this one woman was just so stoked that a black man beat the American (the ONLY white guy in the race, ok) in the 400m I think. She was so jazzed, "go baby go!" as she pounded on the table. It was awesome.
The rest of the day we walked the beach looking at tide pools and laying in the sun. So freaking cool.
We were all pretty tired at night so we ate at the Lazy Mon (a real grilled burger!) and had a few drinks on the beach. Paradise. The next day we walked the opposite direction up the beach and found where the white sand turns to black, it's amazing! the black sand is ten times hotter as you can imagine, and a lot heavier. so so cool. We swam there for a few hours before we had to check out of the hostel. But! and this is just how cool everyone is; We asked if we could come back and still use the kitchen for lunch and they were fine with it, after we checked out we all ended up leaving out backpacks in the storage unit, taking showers, cooking some really good pasta, hanging out on the balcony, free of charge! So awesome. Gathered some snacks for the bus ride and said goodbye to Paradise.
I really want to go back! And hey, since I have four more weeks maybe I will! Phonetics final this week and a new Spanish class. Busy busy.

Todas bien. Hasta luego!

La Romeria

Hola hola!
Thank goodness it's Friday. Yesterday was La dia de la vergin de los angeles, or Romeria, a catholic holiday with a cool history in Costa Rica. I'm so happy I got to participate, it was tiring but worth it, here's why:

First a little history;
In the early 1600s a woman was searching for firewood by her house on August second. She found a bolder, and on it was a small, back, stone statue of the virgin Mary with a baby in her arms. The woman wanted to keep it and so she took it to her house and put it in a box. But the next day when she was in the forest again, the statue was back on the stone. She took the statue again but the same thing happened. When she told the priest he tried the same thing but again, Mary returned to the stone. They decided she must have wanted her house there and so they started constructing the church. This turned out to be a long process as their buildings kept being destroyed by earthquakes. The current basilica is earthquake resistant, and it's gorgeous!
If you get a chance look it up, in Cartago Costa rica, it's huge! That said, every year around August second (depending where you live) the country walks to this basilica to pay respects. We walked for four full hours, 12 miles yesterday. Some people start weeks before and camp their way there, some carry huge wooden crosses, lots pray with rosaries the whole way. It's amazing and the streets are just packed with people. I don't know how anyone could walk longer than we had, I was tired!
When we got to Cartago the basilica square was so packed with people there was no way we were getting close to the church. the line to get in would have had us waiting for two whole hours. It should have been expected since the whole country was there! And at the front of the church, this is wild, there are two entrances, one is for walking on your feet, the other on your knees. And most people walk on their knees, from the entrance to the stone at the back of the church. It's amazing. And in the basement, there's a river which supposedly has healing powers, and lots of people swear by it.
What an experience! The hype in Cartago was kind of similar to a state fair. Cotton candy, lots of vendors, so many lottery salesmen, just a lot more praying. Very cool.
the walk was the best part, a slight incline for the majority of it on uneven ground. Needless to say I am soooooore. Just a good stretch of the legs :)
Had my last Spanish class today and waking up bright and early to go to the beach, Puerto Viejo, on the East coast, for the weekend. So excited!

Love and miss everyone!