Panama = Thanksgiving break!

This was my first out of the country trip that wasn't pre-planned for me! Very exciting. I left on a Monday with Megan and we headed to Puerto Viejo in Limon where we met up with Ben and his buddy Kevin (who came to visit for the week). We played on the beach for a bit and then Tuesday left fairly early for Panama. It was about a 2hr trip to the border, and then we had to wait in line to get our passports stamped. We had to cross this long, hole filled bridge to get to the Panama side, where we then had to follow this man's directions to buy a return ticket, get a $5 visa and our passport stamped again. Then we took a van to a place where we got on a boat to take us to Boca del Toro. Boca del Toro is a collection of islands and is probably one of the most touristy places in Panama, but it was super relaxing. We stayed in a hostel called Gran Kahuna, and it was awesome. The downstairs lounge areas had couches, hammocks and a big screen TV. The 1st day we just explored the area. Wednesday we took a $15 boat tour from 9:30 am to 5pm, which included dolphin watching, snorkeling, and a trip to Red Frog Beach. We saw a dolphin naturally when we were 1st heading into Bocas, so going to search for them seemed a little strange. There was one, but it was kind of weird because whenever he'd surface, the boat would like chase it and it'd disappear again. Then the boat driver started moving in a circle and the dolphin would follow it and do flips and other tricks. Snorkeling was pretty cool and after a while I got more use to it and relaxed without hyperventilating. It was nice because the water was warm. Also, the beach was beautiful with white sand and blue blue water. the waves were gigantic and super strong but it was pretty to watch them break because they created white foam. Red Frog Beach is named that way because there are tiny red frogs there. Everyone else from my school arrived Wednesday day and so we went out to this place called Aqua Lounge for Christina's birthday that night. Our group of people was the one that got everyone up and dancing at the club, and Will was dancing like crazy and of course he ended up taking his shirt off (very typical of him). Ben and some other people jumped off the diving board into the water, and then some other people were jumping on a water trampoline. It was pretty fun. Thursday we went to a beach called Starfish Beach, and it was the coolest one I've ever seen! There were starfish as big as my face all over the bottom of the water, which was crystal clear. We were wading among them and decided they couldn't be dangerous, so we opted to pick them up. They are super hard and we could see them sucking their little tentacle thing that they must move with back inside. Very neat! That night I didn't go out and Friday Megan, Ben and I literally didn't do anything the next day. Ben said we were on and eat, sleep and poo schedule!!! haha Not too far from the truth. It was relaxing though. That night we went to a club/bar that was build on top of a shipwreck. It was pretty cool. Megan Ben and I left on Saturday and man what a long day on the bus. We left Panama at 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back into San Jose until 5pm. It was a great break from classes!!

Turrialba & Arenal...I'm very behind on the blogging bussiness!

November 15th I traveled to Turrialba, which is world renowned for Rio Pacuare. There I met up with my raft guide buddy, Kyle, who is down here for a few weeks working as a guide. Our trip was pretty cool because in the raft was our guide, 2 girls from Sweden, 3 guys from France, Miguel and me. So we had a ton of different languages going on, but what was really cool was that we used English to communicate. Kyle was our safety kayaker, and there was one point I thought he was going to drown because he flipped over in a hole, and couldn't get his boat flipped back over. He was fighting with the water for probably a good two minutes and finally had to pull the string on his spray skirt and let himself out of the kayak and swim. It was pretty scary.

Speaking of scary, I've never been rafting in water so HUGE! The river was gigantic, with huge drops where at some points it seemed like our boat was going to get swallowed. I fell out, along with the whole rest of my side, but I was only in the water for a few seconds before the guide pulled me back in the boat. It was super super fun, but I do have to say that I was a little nervous at times! The following weekend API took a trip to Arenal where we stayed in La Fortuna (a town). This is totally where I want my parents to come sometime for an anniversary! What a pretty place! Friday after we arrived we had the option to go on one of two hikes. A super hard one up (literally up) a mountain or an easier one to some waterfalls. I chose the waterfall trail. We had to climb down some intense stairs to get to them, but it was worth it. The 1st one was HUGE and super powerful. The 2nd waterfall was broken up by rocks, so to me it looked more elegant. We could go underneath that one, but I didn't because it was like ice water cold.

The next day we went for another hike to get a better look at Volcan Arenal, but it was pretty rainy and cloudy the whole time. Our hiking trail seemed like one big mud puddle, but we hiked that way so we could stop and see the gigantic tree that probably is older than my oldest ancestors. It was massive! And smelled like rotting fish for some reason. It was pretty amusing because when we got to the top to see the volcano another group of people came up from the other side and had literally NO mud on them at all, while we were covered in it. That night we went to a natural hot springs resort called Baldi that has like 25 different pools of water that get hotter as you make your way up. This is where I want my mom and dad to visit because it was SO pretty and relaxing. There are little waterfalls of hot water that you can go under and let give you a water massage, so nice. Also, one of the pools has three huge waterslides. They seemed sketchy because no one was really keeping an eye on them and they appeared really old and rickety (janky for Lena). I went down the slower one 1st and literally stopped moving in the middle of the slide. I was worried that someone would hit me, so I pushed myself so I'd move again. Then, all of a sudden I flew out of the tube into the water where I couldn't reach the bottom...The 2nd slide was similar, but it was faster.

Close to the end the water pushed me into a laying down position and I couldn't sit back up. Then I got shot out on my back which wasn't the most comfortable thing. Some of the pools higher up were even more awesome with like lounging chairs in the water. The next morning Lena, Becca, Francy, Megan, Julie, Rachna and I got up super early to go rafting on el Rio Toro. The rapids weren't nearly as gigantic as Pacuare, but it was still exciting. We split up into 2 different boats and I was the only one who'd ever been rafting before in my boat. I paddled in the front for the 1st time, which wasn't too too bad like I had always thought it would be. The only one that fell out of our raft was Rachna, but that's because she was "riding the bull." Meaning the guide had her go sit on the very front of the raft, and hand all for all her worth as we went straight into a rapid. Everyone fell out of the other boat though and even though I know it is dangerous it was super funny to watch. Megan got tangled in the rope and once she was pulled back into the raft she was flailing around trying to get to an upright position. I feel like being a raft guide would be so stressful sometimes!

Oh..And I have a joke that I find rather clever...

que es el animal más perezoso en el mundo?

un pez. que hace un pez? nada. Get it?!

All the Way back to Rafting the Pacuare on Nov 15th

As you can see I am yet again very behind on my blogging, so here is me trying to catch up! A few weeks ago I traveled to Turrialba where rafting is excellent! I met up with Kyle JOhan, a raft guide buddy from the U.S. who got a job as a guide here in Costa Rica. Rafting was incredible!!! I've never been in water so big. The drops seemed so huge, and I was soaking wet from the beginning. It was great fun, but at the same time I'll admit to being a little scared. I posted pictures on facebook if you'd like to check them out! (even though by now you all probably seen them!) It was a good weekend!

From Cine y Video Costarricense to Tortuguero, and all the stuff in between!

Once again I am behind on my blogging! Go figure, haha. The homework has gradually been growing here, yet at the same time my weekend are becoming fewer and fewer, which makes for a busy life! I would like to start this blog out by just saying that my family is amazing, and thank you to my mom (real mom)! She sent me the best package in the mail, which I received a few weeks ago. It was really comforting, and delicious due to the amount of sugary things included.

Last week I took one night out of my week to head to San Jose where I went to a demonstration of short films made in Costa Rica. It was pretty cool and interesting, and a good language warm-up for the next night. The next day we went to the movie theater to seen a Costa Rican movie called "Gestacion." The plot is similar to Juno, where a young girl gets pregnant and her and her boyfriend have to figure out how to deal with the situation. It was really cool though because, since it is Costa Rica with Costa Rican actors, the language was really easy to follow because it is what I live with everyday. I could pick up on the slang, and it was amusing because the actors spoke just like the everyday Ticos speak. I was really proud of myself. Also, it was cool to see places that I've been on the big screen. It was a great experience! Que Chiba!! (How cool!)

I also haven't blogged about my trip to Puerto Viejo. I'll make a few quick pointers: Miguel telling me he'd cut off his rat tale for me (gross, and extra extra corny) a beautiful beach w/crystal clear water, finding shells that Miguel made into earrings for me, ganja brownies (no I didn't buy any, but if is definitely present in the area), and going out at night to listen to the old American hippies that looked like they'd gotten lost in Costa Rica for the past 20-yrs sing Tom Petty songs. I know, random details, but I'm planning on going back there...so I'll just write more about it then!

This past weekend I went with an ecotourism class to Tortuguero, which is on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. It is like an islet, and instead of driving cars people drive boats around the canals. The place where we stayed was almost like we had our own private beach...which is where I spent most of my time. Saturday morning we got up early and went for a hike. I had to wear long pants and my rain boots (because I didn't want to get my tennis shoes muddy). Speaking of mud, that's what we hiked in...lots and lots of mud. It was actually pretty fun, we just had to be cautious of our footing. It was pretty humid and hot there, and I didn't realize how bad I was sweating until people started taking pictures! We were all sweaty and muddy by the end of the hike. Also, the bugs were AWFUL there! I had to reapply by bug spray several times throughout the day and I still ended up with bites. I'm pretty sure I must of had either an ant or a mosquito in my pants at one point because I ended up with a line of bites starting on the bottom of my bottom, all the way up to my lower back. Terrible right? (not that you all wanted to know that!)

I'm really starting to feel like my time is becoming limited here, and it's kind of weird knowing that I'll be leaving soon, but not completely. I feel like a part of my heart is going to be left behind, and I know that the transition back to the U.S. lifestyle is going to be tough. I'll guess I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it...but for now it's all Pura Vida!!!

Gira a Nicaragua

Yet again I'm behind on my blogs! Oops! Things just get so busy here. I am going to tell you all a little bit about my trip to Nicaragua. The relationship between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is pretty interesting, because it actually is somewhat similar to the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Costa Rica is better off, and so many people come here to find work. Anyways, back to our trip.

We left on a Thursday at 3am and rode on the bus for about 8hrs. Pretty exciting day really, if I do say so. Thank goodness the bus had a bathroom! Immediately after we got off the bus we had people standing right outside begging for money, mostly children, and street vendors trying to sell us anything and everything. We got to our hotel in Granada (which is actually pretty similar building-wise to Spain) and dropped our stuff of in our rooms, then went out to lunch. One of the first things that I noticed was all the people riding bikes, and usually there were two people on a bike. The norm seemed to be that a lady would sit on the bar in front of the seat in a side-saddle fashion while the guy pedaled. The streets also seemed wider and better taken care of than in Costa Rica (at least in Granada anyway).

Later, after lunch we went to a market named El Mercado de Masayo where we had free time to shop around and try our best at bargaining. (Let's just say I'm not the best at it...where's my grandpa when you need him?!) We stayed in the market for dinner because there was a traditional dance performance. It was pretty incredible. My favorite part was the dresses because they were full of colors. On Friday we went to the Cathedral in Leon, where we were able to go on top of the church. So neat! We could walk around the domes and the bells. Also interesting is that Ruben Dario's body is buried in the church. It was cool to go to his museum later, because I had just finished writing a literature paper about him for class. He is one of the most famous Nicaraguan poets because he started the Modernist movement there.

Saturday we went to "las isletas" (the little islands), which was my least favorite/most relaxing part of the trip. Weird right? Well, it was my least favorite because on more or less each island some rich person has a gigantic house built. It was like we were taking a real estate tour of houses people shouldn't be able to afford, while back in town there are people begging on the streets. As you can tell, I wasn't a fan, but at the same time, riding around in a little boat and feeling the current was really relaxing. It felt great to take my shoes off and drape them over the side of the boat.

After the boating we went to the Voncento de San Franscico, el fuente de la Polvora, and last la Catarina. La Catarina was the coolest part because it is a huge, crystal blue lagoon that use to be a volcano. Once we got back to Granada I went to dinner with Lena and Meri. At first I was getting kind of annoyed because we were seated outside and people continuously came up to us asking for food or money or trying to sell us things. It turned out to be alright though, because a couple boys (around the age of 10) sat down at our table with us at first wanting food (and when I say wanting food, these kids didn't look starved, just needing someway to pass their time), but later just to talk with us. They kept making jokes about who was who's girlfriend out of the three of us. It was pretty cute That night we all went out to a karaoke bar, and Profesor Naranjo (my history of Central America teacher) went with us! It was pretty awesome!! I didn't get to sing because they got tired of us picking American songs, but some of the other students did.

We left Sunday fairly early to head back to Costa Rica. The four days felt really jam-packed with activities, but overall it was a good, interesting experience.

Monteverde

October 9th through the 11th I traveled with API to Monteverde, and I have to say, so far it was my favorite trip! Monteverde is beautiful, and the climate is different from San Joaquin. It was a little cooler temperature wise there, and there was a lot more rain. To get there we had to drive through mountainous, windy roads, but to be honest, I slept most of the way! Our hotel, named Hotel Montana Monteverde was incredible!! The rooms were huge and our beds could have fit 2 or 3 people in them. The best part was the bathtub! It was huge and green and absolutely perfect for a bubble bath. Speaking of which, our group of girls did just that later that night.

This may sound odd, but the girls got together in their bathing suits, with a little wine and some candles and hung out in the huge bathtub. Good times eh? Before that though we went to a Serpentario ( like a snake zoo) and took a tour, learning about the different dangerous, deadly snakes in Costa Rica. My brother would have loved this! It was pretty interesting, but the coolest part was when I got to hold a gigantic toad! After holding the toad I held a snake for the first time. What an odd sensation. It was blue, and not very wide, but very long. It wasn't slimy or anything, it reminded me a little of rubber. The weirdest part was when it wrapped itself around my arms and moved all over my shoulder area, smelling me with its tongue. I always thought it would feel gross, but actually it was really neat!

The next day, Saturday, we went to a biological forest reserve/ cloud forest. It was absolutely gorgeous! We got rained on of course, but it was worth it. We hiked around for a few hours to a waterfall, and by the time we came back down my legs were shaky and my calf muscles were burning. Good workout, hiking around. That night we went to a delicious pizza restaurant and watched a soccer game. Sunday was by far my favorite day. Sadly my camera died, so I have to borrow pictures from other people, but that'd ok. Megan got some pretty good videos, which she'll eventually upload onto youtube. You can take a look at these videos, and others from my trip at http://www.youtube.com/clarkmeg06

Sunday we took a Canopy Tour, which entailed zip lining and a "Tarzan swing." The first cable was so nerve racking! I had no idea how fast I would be flying down the line, all I knew was to cross my feet, tuck my legs in, right hand behind, left hand in front and to pull down on the cable if I wanted to slow down. It was amazing to fly down the cable with the wind rushing through my face, and feeling so high up in the air above the forest of trees. When I arrived at the other platform I had to laugh because Caitlin informed me that I had mud all over my face, as did she. I guessed that my face probably looked something like gallo pinto, which made our guide laugh. There were 13 zip lines in total, with the last one being 1 mile long. That one we had to do in partners because it required more weight, and I went with the guide named Pocahontas. Literally, that was his name. He was awesome and full of energy, and well..we all decided our 3 guides were all pretty cute :)

The most adrenaline rush of the day though was definitely the Tarzan swing. We stood on a platform that was probably 15 to 20 feet off of the ground, and our guide attached our harness to a rope, which was tied to a super tall tree. Basically we let ourselves fall off the platform and swung back and forth with two of the guides below trying to grab our feet to slow us down to a stop. When it was my turn, Pocahontas helped me into position to "fall" (because we had a rope attached to us to keep us from falling too soon that he had to undo) but instead of letting me go at three he kept hanging onto me for a few seconds afterward. That drove me crazy! I didn't know when he was going to let go and so when he finally did I screamed SO loud!! I'm not a fan of the falling feeling and it definitely was that feeling, but it only lasted for a second, and afterward it just felt like I was on a playground swing (of course much bigger). When they brought me to a stop my body was all shaky because I'd had so many butterflies escape from my stomach at once! So much fun!! Great weekend :) Do check out the videos on youtube!!! They're amusing fosho...

Museos en San Jose, and some other thoughts

Classes here are gradually starting to become more work, but still manageable. I think I've watched the most movies more here than ever in my college career. I must say, I'm a fan. Also, it's great because we get to take a few class trips, like to the Gold Museum (Museo de Oro) and to the Jade Museum (Museo de Jade) in San Jose.

For my Central American History class we ventured with our awesome professor to these two neat museums. I'm usually not a fan of tours, but he made it fun. My brother would have loved the gold museum because it also had a section with old money and coins, and he collects coins. Pretty neat! It was also neat because I've always learned about various cultures and their art, and in the Jade museum I got to see pieces made by the Olmecas, and I could recognize them on my own! Guess I did learn something after all in those art history classes!

Some other things that I have been up to are mostly just the usual daily life in Costa Rica. Although, I always manage to find a few unusual things to take note of. For example, I went to Hipermas (literally Walmart) the other day and low and behold they were giving samples of alcohol. Sample various shots while sampling crackers, hm... Not something you'd see everyday, well at least not in the U.S. Of course, I am in Costa Rica, and the drinking age is 18 here, so things are done differently.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that I knew I'd have to deal with bugs when I got here, but I never knew that I'd end up hating ants more than say, mosquitoes. Ants are quite literally everywhere, including my in peanut butter jar, the oven, and occasional my retainer case (I panicked less the second time). GROSS! I don't know how they do it, but they can get into anything it seems, whether or not there is a lid. I think I get enough protein, I don't need the extra ants. That's a tropical country for ya...

Speaking of ants, last night mama tica asked me if I'd watch Matias for her. So, playing babysitter I decided it's be fun to cook brownies with him. Lena came over and he "helped" us prepare the batter. We made one batch from scratch and the second from a box. Upon opening the oven, I freaked out, discovering what looked like maggots squirming around in the corner. Obviously the oven is never used in this household. This caused Lena and I both to scream MIGUEL!! yuck, yuck, yuck. So Miguel came to the rescue with a vacuum, to vacuum out the oven. Quite a site. Turns out they were just big ants, not maggots..thank goodness? Debatable.

So, after getting that taken care of we baked the brownies. Turns out that when one heats up suger and then lets it cool it gets hard. Hm, something isn't quite right with that, because brownies aren't suppose to turn out like rocks. Well ours did, go figure. The homemade brownies were hard as a rock, and stuck in mama tica's pan. This caused me to freak out again because I thought I'd ruin her pain. Again Lena and I yelled for Miguel to come to the rescue, which he did. Looks like we created a new recipe for brownie brittle...not too too bad.

As we finished up I got to experience the ultimate Tico drama when Natalia (my tica sister) and mama started yelling. They do this quite often, but I actually felt kind of scared this time. Natalia isn't the nicest person, and she definitely has no respect for her mom. Ana (mama tica) only puts up with her because of Matias, but this time Natalia went too far and Ana kicked her out of the house. She came in today to give me a hug and showed me scratches all over her arm from Natalia. She said that Natalia and Matias are moving out by Saturday, but I'll still get to see Matias a couple days a week. How sad, I'll miss seeing him every day. On top of that, the guy that rents from Ana can no longer pay his rent, so Ana is going to let him move into Natalia's room. He's nice enough, but not someone that I want to live next door. Awesome, gotta love the tico drama. Yet another adventure is heading my way ...I'll try and keep you all updated.

Hope the U.S. is treating everyone well! I must say despite all the stuff going on I love Costa Rica and more than likely am not going to want to leave come December, but I miss you all! Much Love,

~R