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!

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!