The final post: top 100 moments in Costa Rica

Well I've really sucked at keeping up with my blog. Hopefully to make up for it, instead of writing a million posts about all of the things I've done since the end of March, I have compiled a Top 100 Moments list. I've decided to do it in semi-chronological order instead of trying to objectify so many ineffable and amazing experiences. So without further ado, my Top 100 Moments in Costa Rica.

1. Meeting everyone that first day in Hotel Bouganvillea (we had no idea what we were in for)
2. Leaving snow and cold in Cleveland in January and arriving in Costa Rica to beautiful weather and sunshine
3. Having that first beer with Jason at Bougainvillea
4. Orientation in Monteverde
5. The night hike in Monteverde
6. Ziplining in Monteverde
7. Bar Amigos
8. Celebrating Karley's and Meredith's birthdays (It's been great getting to know you)
9. That first beach trip to Manuel Antonio
10. Going to Poás (on a beautifully clear day)
11. Swimming, hiking, and having our own little beach at Osa Peninsula on a remote private reserve
12. Discovering the beauty of no electricity and candle-lit dinners in Osa
13. Playing psychiatrist (too many times to count)
14. Seeing so much wildlife including 4 out of 4 of Costa Rica's monkey species in one weekend
15. Whale watching
16. Having dolphins swim right alongside our boat
17. Snorkeling at Isla de Caña
18. Hiking way high up Volcán Arenal, not breaking our necks, not even a little, (some of us took  some serious tumbles though), and seeing the view from up there
19. Taking a dip in the free hot springs in La Fortuna
20. Jumping from a rope swing into a river with little waterfalls in La Fortuna
21. Rafting the Pacuare River
22. Jumping off a cliff into the river and swimming under waterfalls
23. "Riding the bull": riding on the front tip of the raft while we went down a rapid
24. Being really cold at the top of Volcán Irazú with Audrey
25. Hiking to Volcán Barva with Audrey and her parents and going to Kalú with her sister and her boyfriend
26. Having the beach to ourselves with Jason in Mal País
27. Watching the sunsets from the beachside tiki bar lounge chairs with Jason in Mal País
28. Spending a few days at Playa Negra and Playa Junquillal with my host parents
29. Watching one of the most beautiful sunsets on the beach after a storm passed through with Ligia and Gustavo (my host parents)
30. Watching conservationists release baby turtles out to sea
31. My family coming to Costa Rica
32. Hiking with my family in Arenal and Monteverde
33. Trying out the different hot water pools at Tabacon Hot Springs with my family
34. Having a hot tub in our hotel room in Arenal
35. Ziplining in Arenal with Calder
36. Sleeping in soft plush beds when my family came
37. Drinking wine with my family on the balcony of our hotel in Monteverde and watching a lightning storm
38. Spending the day at the beach with my family at Manuel Antonio
39. Hanging out at the rooftop pool and swim-up bar at our hotel in Manuel Antonio
40. Drinking beers at the Bat Cave with Calder
41. Spending the day at Bougainvillea with my family and Audrey
42. Skyping my friends
42. Skyping my family
43. Skyping Dan
44. Discovering I could pay attention in 4-hour long classes entirely in Spanish
45. Hitting the bar Thursday after History class with Nicolette, Hannah, Audrey, Sydney and Jason
46. Splitting buckets of beer
47. Nights at Bule
48. The jukebox
49. Belting out 90s and early 2000s classics at Bule
50. The Calle Trece Concert
51. Going to Kalú and Café Mundo with Audrey and Karley
52. Going with my host parents and Audrey to that farm in the Caribbean and the beach in Puerto Viejo for the day
53. Seeing a margay napping in a tree- twice.
54. Seeing an endangered leatherback turtle as we patrolled the beach at night from poachers at Tortuguero
55. Getting tan
56. Competing with Audrey for who was more tan
57. Beautiful weather pretty much always
58. Rocking J's in Puerto Viejo
59. Having really awkward encounters at Mr. Grill with Audrey
60. Hearing Hannah tell a story
61. Gustavo's (my host dad's) stories and jokes
62. Getting smoothies at Mandarina
63. Going to "Muffins" to "study"
64. Eating at Sushi Home
65. Going to the national championship fútbol game and watching Heredia win (¡campeones!)
66. Making a fool of myself that one time at Bule with Kate (ok, multiple times for me)
67. The first torrential downpour (and many subsequent ones)
68. Falling asleep to the sound of the rain on the tin roof
69. Seeing quetzals
70. Playing cards - kemps, spades, president (keEEMPs)
71. Waking up at 4 AM to watch the sunrise from Costa Rica's 2nd highest peak at 11,000 ft
72. Celebrating Hannah's birthday
73. Watching Hannah do the worm
74. When Karley recited the Kentuckian alphabet/trying to get her to do it again
75. When Sydney said y'all more than 3 three times in a sentence. Bonus if she said y'all selves
76. Picking up saying y'all from Sydney
77. Kayaking on Laguna de Apoyo, a filled-in crater of an extinct volcano in Nicaragua
78. Taking a boat ride out on Lake Nicaragua, seeing the isletas and not getting eaten by freshwater sharks when we jumped in
79. Playing that movie game in the pool at our hostel in Granada
80. Completing my classes
81. Improving my Spanish immensely
82. Playing basketball with Tracy and Jason
83. Anytime Hannah was at Bule
84. When Hannah's southern belle accent came out (you're pretty alright)
85. Thunderstorms
86. Posts on Adventure Hungover in the Rica
87. Getting to know everyone in the group in the last 5 months
88. When my host mom told me I'll always have a family and a place to stay in Costa Rica
89. The Final Dinner at La Esquina de Buenos Aires
90. The Awards Ceremony for the ladies of our group
91. Passing around the cards to write things about each other at dinner
92. Learning and absorbing so much about the country and the culture
93. Learning so much about my own culture
94. That final hurrah Thursday night at Bule
95. The final lunch with my host family
96. That really bittersweet final goodbye at Muffins
97. Making lasting friendships
98. Discovering what it means to be tranquilo
99. Learning the true meaning of pura vida
100. Knowing I'll be back

The Sad Saga of My Host Dog's Deteriorating Health

So I have some sad news. My host dog's health has deteriorated immensely. Sebastian recently celebrated his 17th birthday, which I'm pretty sure in dog years means he's at least 120. We're talking Okinawa status in terms of longevity here. I mean Costa Rica is known for its high quality of life and its high number of centenarians and I don't see why that wouldn't carry over to man's best friend.

Age has taken its toll on Sebastian though. He has skin cancer, which from what I understand has spread to his bones. He also has a heart condition that prevents any kind of operation to stop the spread of his cancer. Despite his maladies, I came to know Sebastian as a very tranquil and agreeable dog in the past few months. But ever since he received a haircut last Monday, things have just been getting worse and worse for this canine. It should be noted that Sebastian hates receiving haircuts. Much like 16 year old me, he prefers the shaggy look. He hates the buzzing of the razor so much that my host mom pays more to have his hair trimmed with scissors (Hey, he's a sophisticated guy. I can relate). He also has to be muzzled because he tries to bite the groomer. As you can imagine he's very sensitive to the touch due to his infirmities.

Well, after they shaved the poor guy down to nothing, he was one unhappy dog. In defiance, he came home and promptly defecated on the courtyard patio instead of in the grass. But the next day or so, he started shaking uncontrollably and he couldn't get up. My host siblings and mom took him to the vet, which was an ordeal because he tried to bite them when they picked him up, and when they came back he was walking around seemingly fine. My host mom said they gave him an injection and that was that.

Sadly, within a few days Sebastian's health deteriorated again. He lost movement in both of his hind legs and he couldn't walk. My host siblings and mom again took him to the vet. They again gave him some injections, but they did not take. This time they reported that both of his hind legs were fractured (a result of the cancer, I presume), and so he is permanently without use of his back legs. So my host brother, today, built a dog wheelchair so that he can still walk around on his own. It kind of works, but Sebas pants like crazy and it's going to take him a while to orient himself with it. He runs into a lot of things and gets stuck constantly. So yeah, it's extremely sad to watch and I fear he is in immense pain and I just had to share this story with everyone because in the states, he would have probably been put down by now. But who am I to judge. I'll keep you posted on the little guy. Gotta go now. Tomorrow is my first of three midterms this week, so there is work to be done.

2 month mark (final installment)

So I know the ideal way to blog is to do short posts more frequently and not incredibly long posts every few months, so I promise I'll try to do away with the feast or famine style blogging from now on. But for now, here's the 3rd part of my 3 part blog. The International Arts Festival is in San José from the 15th until the 25th I think. So on Friday, my friends and I went to San José and looked around and shopped at the craft tents, got dinner at a really great pizza and pasta place nearby and then saw Calle 13 perform at night. For those not in the know (which was me before I got to Costa Rica), Calle 13 is a big deal in Latin America. They are a band from Puerto Rico with very satirical and politically charged music. Their music is kind of a mix of reggaeton and a bunch of other styles. Anyway, I really didn't hear or see much of them because there were so many people there. We were really far away and when we tried to push our way through the crowd to get closer, it was just suffocating. I was not having it, and neither were two of my friends, so the three of us left and went to a nearby restaurant to get drinks and have dessert. The rest of the group met up with us later. I know Cleveland just set the record for largest St. Patrick's Day parade with 500,000 people but I can assure you that there were more people at this festival. I don't think any Tico has even considered trying to do a count (that's just not Tico), but I'm pretty sure the entire Central Valley was there. When we tried to take a bus to go home, we had to wait for bus after bus after bus after bus before we could get on one. There were a ton of buses, but they kept on filling up. There was an insanely long line for the buses and you had to fight to get on one. It was definitely an experience. I didn't end up getting home until 1 am, which was super rough because I had to wake up at 5 am to go on a class field trip.

We met at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning and departed for the Irazú volcano. This particular volcano is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica with an elevation of 11,260 feet. And let me tell you, it was freezing at the top! It was about 40 degrees at the top (ok, so not technically freezing), but the temperature often drops below freezing at night. I had definitely forgotten what 40 degrees felt like, and I have no clothes here for that kind of weather. Also it was misting and we were in basically one giant cloud, so it was quite an experience. My Tico classmates were too funny. They are definitely not accustomed to the cold like my friend Audrey, who's from Colorado, and I are. Definitely glad I saw it. The views of the craters and the bluish-green lakes that have filled in the craters are beautiful. But also definitely glad that we were only there for about 20 or 30 minutes. There really wasn't a lot to see. It was very desolate up there. Nothing really grows when it's that cold all the time. After that we went to Paraíso de Cartago, a pretty standard Costa Rican city. Audrey and I got an empanada at a street market and we poked our head in the church, but it was under construction (poor timing!). I was bummed because we saw that church instead of the one in Cartago, which we drove past and looks really beautiful. Cartago is known as the colonial and religious capital of Costa Rica and every August pilgrims from all over the country flock to Cartago on the feast day of the Virgin of the Angels. Oh well. Maybe another time. Then we went to the Orosi Valley, which is a beautiful mountainous part of Costa Rica with beautifully scenic look out points and the remains of a church that dates back to 1570. We saw said church a few weekends back on another trip. It was all very beautiful. Then we had lunch and it was a nice chance for Audrey and me to chat with our fellow students.

Last night, I went to dinner in San José with Audrey, her sister and her sister's boyfriend (both of whom were visiting from the US). We ate at Kalú, which is an amazing restaurant offering a wide variety of food. One of my complaints about Costa Rican food (though delicious) is that there is very little variety. So when we had bruschetta and smoked salmon on bread for apps, a salmon taco, a tuna taco and a shrimp taco with a salad for mains, and a (get this!) paulaner hefe weisbier to drink, I think I almost died. These foods are not common in Costa Rica, so it was nice to have them. And as for the beer, the beer here leaves a lot to be desired. A real tragedy if you ask me. All of their domestic beers taste the same (which is true of macrobrews in the US), but they have no microbrews or imported European beers like we do in the states. I know. First world problems. Anyway, we had a great time at the restaurant. Audrey's sister and her boyfriend were both incredibly nice and really fun to talk to. Today, I went to the international arts festival again. This time with my host family. We ate lots of good food and I got a churro for dessert. yum! The festival was SUPER crowded especially the tents full of arts and crafts. After that we left. It was nice to spend time with my host family and practice my Spanish. I really hope my Spanish is improving. I think it is, but I always feel like I should be improving faster. So yeah, that's basically everything that's new right now.

2 month mark (continued)

The weekend after the Osa Peninsula, we went to Arenal. It's about about a 3 hour bus ride. The length of bus rides here varies depending on traffic. As we have discovered, traffic on Sundays (especially along the coast can be brutal). That makes our trips home extra long. The one back from Osa was especially long. The "highways" can be one-lane roads and sometimes you can sit on those roads in a slow crawl for what seems to be an eternity. And there always seems to be a baby crying for two straight hours (trip back from Manuel Antonio) or someone puking on the bus (as was the case with our trip back fom Arenal). I should note that the screaming baby was directly behind me and the little girl blowing chunks was directly in front of me. I guess I have all of the luck. But this is just a minor nuisance in comparison to the greatness that is seeing all that Costa Rica has to offer. For a country the size of West Virginia, the variety of things one can do is incredible. 

Anyway, we paid $6/a night for a hostel in Arenal. We were a bit apprehensive that the place would be a dump, but it was actually a very nice, clean hostel. Not only that but the staff was incredibly accommodating. Juan Carlos, or el Capitán as many call him, picked us up at the bus stop and walked us to the hostel. He even pointed out a toucan along the way. When we got settled in, he offered us all free cocktails. He also offered to take us to a public hot springs for $5/person. Since the taxi would have probably cost more than that and he would watch our stuff while we were in the hot springs, we happily took his offer. He even gave us a cooler for our beer and bought us guaro (liquor made from cane sugar) and coke. Ticos are just too nice. The hot springs was beautiful. Since the volcano's last major eruption in 1968, the water flowing in the rivers has been hot. Consequently, the area is full of high end resorts with beautiful hot spring pools, cascading waterfalls and picturesque views of the volcano. For shoestring travelers such as myself, the free public ones do just fine. The river is surrounded by forest and has little cascading waterfalls. My friends and I had a lot of fun soaking in the hot water surrounded by the jungle staring up at the night sky. It was a great experience. 

The next day, we hired el Capitán to be our tour guide in Arenal. He offered to take us by van into the park and be our guide on a hike through the park for $15. Since it costs $10 anyway to get into the park, for $5 more a person we could have a guide. And we were so glad we did because he took us up the path that the lava flowed all the way until you weren't allowed to go any higher for safety reasons. We climbed so high up and it was pretty arduous, but it was so worth it. The views from up there were absolutely stunning. It was so picturesque. You could see the surrounding forest, the mountains, and Lake Arenal. It reminded me of pictures I've seen of Switzerland. About the lava: Since the Arenal Volcano erupted in 1968, wiping out much of the surrounding area, lava flowed pretty regularly from the volcano until 2010 when it stopped. Because of this, Arenal is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The pictures of the red lava flowing from the volcano at night are so pretty. But alas, the lava has stopped for now at least. I'm praying to the volcano gods that the lava starts flowing again before I go back in a few weeks with my family, but I'm not getting my hopes up. After our descent from the volcano, we went to a local "swimming hole" near the hostel. It was a river with a rope swing that you could use to swing out into deep water. It was right by two little waterfalls about 10 feet high. It was really pretty. And it was reheally fun to swing out on the rope and drop into the water. It was probably about a 10 foot drop into the water. I also dove from some rocks that separated the two waterfalls. It was so fun!! All for free. Doesn't get much better than that. So that was our trip to Arenal. It was one of my favorite trips I think. Though it's hard to say. Everything we've done has been pretty amazing. 

2 month mark!

Today is the 2 month mark! My apologies for not blogging more often. I just got really busy and I kept putting it off. But I have so much to tell. I don't even know where to begin. Here's what I've done since I last blogged. Went to a pool near my house that is sourced from a natural spring. It had a waterfall you could sit under and some high dives from which you could jump, dive, or bellyflop (yes I did that) into the water. Minus the painful bellyflop, it was really fun. I went to an electronic festival in San Jose. That was fun. The next weekend I went white water rafting in Turrialba (about hour and a half or two hours away. One of the shorter bus rides). It was AMAZING! The white water rafting was SO fun. The Pacuare and Reventazón Rivers are two of the best rivers in the world for white water rafting for the rafting itself and for the scenic views of the surrounding jungle. It was incredible. We rafted the Pacuare. I got to sit on the front tip of the raft while we went down a rapid (we called it riding the bull). It was so fun! We swam in the river along the way. We got to jump off a pretty high cliff (I'd guess 15-20 feet up) into the river and swim underneath a couple waterfalls. We stopped halfway to eat lunch on a little sandy bank along the way. The lunch was delicious!

The next day we met up with some more people from the group and a professor who showed us Costa Rica's oldest and most intact archaeological site. It was over 2,000 years old and some of the infrastructure was still there and the aqueducts still worked! We went to two really old churches too. One was completely intact and we arrived minutes before a matrimony was set to take place, so that was awkward. We quickly poked around while the wedding guests stared at us and then we promptly left. The other church was only partially intact, so we didn't have to worry about reenacting "Wedding Crashers."

The next weekend we went to the Osa Peninsula. It's in the southwest part of the country and it's super isolated, which means that it's not easy to get to. After a five hour drive we arrived at the Peninsula. Then we got on a boat on a river and went out into the ocean. We searched in vain for some whales and then we pressed on to the remote beachfront research station that would be our home for the next few days. The boat got as close as it could and then we unloaded all our bags and provisions of food for the weekend by handing them off to each other down a line. The scene was breathtaking. There we were on a beach surrounded by jungle. The nearest road was a 3 hour hike away. It was unbelievable. We spent the weekend swimming in the ocean, laying on the beach, and doing A LOT of hiking. There are trails that go on and on within the massive forest preserve. We saw a lot of animals including a lot of big spiders (not everyone was thrilled about that). Look out for a picture of my face next to a substantially large spider on Facebook. We also went to a bat cave just as the sun was setting, which meant just in time for all of the bats to whiz out of the cave and fly right in front of our faces. It was pretty cool/pretty freaky. We caught some bats in nets and looked at them up close. We also took a hike along the rocky coast part of the preserve at sunset. It was absolutely beautiful. On Sunday (our last day) we went whale and dolphin watching and this time we were extremely successful. We watched to whales surface for air several times and then we saw multiple large groups of dolphins playfully leap into the air. It was so cool! Then we went to Isla del Caño off the coast and snorkeled at the coral reef. We saw so many fish very up close. My friend, Audrey, was mere feet away from a shark. I'm so jealous.

The whole weekend was very interesting. The research station had no electricity, so when the sun went down, it got VERY dark. It's easy to forget how dark a place can be at night with no lights for miles and miles. It was refreshing. As I said, there was wildlife everywhere and that included our abode. One giant toad made himself cozy right next to the toilet one night and an even bigger toad (it was hard to believe a toad could get bigger than the one next to the toilet) posted up in the shower. Thankfully, my room was in the main house so it was a little more bug-free (though I saw a cockroach crawl across the ceiling on my first day) and I still got my fair share of bug bites at night. But my friends who stayed in the cabins detached from the house had a visit from not one but two scorpions right before they went to bed. Fun stuff. The trade-off to sharing your bed with creepy crawlies was that falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the crashing of the ocean's waves was incredible. One of my favorite parts (though there were many) was napping in a hammock on a hill that overlooked the surrounding jungle, the beach and the ocean. Hence the inspiration for my current profile picture. Well, I could say so much about that weekend but I'll wrap it up here.

3 week mark and I've already done so much!

So I've been here three weeks today, which is hard to believe because it feels like I've been here so much longer. Three weeks and I still can't get over the fact that the weather is nice here EVERY day. It was a rough first week of classes. I realize that none of the classes are too challenging content-wise for me. It's just intimidating and challenging to be in a class taught in a foreign language with all native speakers. But it will get easier in time.

Last weekend I went to Manuel Antonio with a group of my friends from the program. It was so much fun. We stayed in a hostel, which was less than stellar if you ask me, but that's what you get when you pay $12 a night. We spent almost all our waking time at the beach anyway. Manuel Antonio is home to a national park so the area is very beautiful. We went to the free public beach outside of the park and it wasn't very crowded or touristy. Much of the surrounding natural landscape is still intact. But apparently, the beaches within the national park are even more beautiful and undeveloped. So we want to go back and pay the $10 entrance fee and see what those beaches are like. Lonely Planet informs me that you can see monkeys in the trees that abut the beach. I would pay $10 for that. The beach was a great way to unwind after our two week orientation, in which every day was jam packed with activities. I was really sad to leave on Sunday, especially knowing that the next day meant the start of classes. But I was really glad that I was coming back to my own bed and my own bathroom in my own room. After just two nights in the hostel, I was done sharing a room and bathroom with upwards of 18 people.

I don't have classes on Friday (dream come true for me), so 5 of my friends and I took the opportunity to go to a volcano in a national park. Costa Rica has over 200 volcanic formations, 100 of which show some signs of activity. But only 5 are classified as active (Poás is one of them). Pretty impressive for a country roughly the size of West Virginia. Anyway, we went to Volcán Poás in Poás National Park. The clouds usually roll in and reduce visibility at around 10 am, so it's best to get there early. The earliest bus from San Jose was at 8:30, so we got up at 5 am, met in downtown Heredia and took a bus to San Jose.

After fruitlessly searching for churros (my friend Kate and I have become addicts. We got some later that day) in San Jose before our bus departed, we had to settle for other delicious pastries. The bus left and we began our ascent into the mountains. Two hours later, we were at Poás and glimpsing into the crater of the largest active volcano in the world. Needless to say, it was pretty amazing. Oh and the visibility was pretty good. It's better in the dry season (which is now), so we lucked out. But on a really clear day, you can see the Caribbean. We were not that lucky. But the crater was so cool. Steam and gases billowed out of it. Then we continued on the trail, which seemed to be almost entirely uphill to a sapphire blue lake that formed in what is now an extinct crater. It's pretty acidic and, therefore, the only life it supports are microorganisms and algae. The lookout point was pretty far from the lake, so we decided to take this trail down to the lake. It was cool to get really up close to it. I even stood on a log in a stream leading out into the lake. Then we took the trail as it wound its way back through the beautiful forest to the welcome center. The bus departed at 2 and I was back home in Heredia later that afternoon.

This weekend has been nice. Friends and I went out Friday night for pizza (it tasted delicious and I don't know if it was because it had been three weeks since I had it or because it was actually that good. I think it was just really good) and then we went to a bar. We only lasted til about 10:30 though because we were exhausted from waking up at 5 am and hiking all day. Yesterday I went to a farmers' market in my neighborhood with my host mom. She bought a ton of fruits and vegetables, which I was really excited about. Then I met up with friends and had dinner and went out to a few different bars and a club. It was a lot of fun! Well I'm going to end it here because this post is super long even though I promised myself it wasn't going to be.

Getting my feet wet in Costa Rica

Today is my second day of classes and I'm hoping it goes a lot better than yesterday. On Friday, when Laura, one of the program coordinators, gave us our schedules, I asked if she could change one of my classes. I wanted to swap geoecology for environmental geology because I thought it would transfer more easily with AU. She said it should be no problem. Just come to her on Tuesday before that class. So I went to my Spanish class yesterday morning and it was with only other students from the program and it's tailored to us, so it was fine. Then I went to see Laura before my next class and she tells me that the class is full, but that I'm on a waiting list. So I left there, assuming that meant I should go to geoecology until my spot was assured in environmental geology because that's how it would work in the US. Well, after having the hardest time finding the room (navigating the campus could be a whole nother blog post, but let's just say it's very hard to do), I go in and the professor takes roll call. First, it was very intimidating because I only caught the gist of his introduction to the class and the students seemed to speak so fast that I couldn't even catch their names or where they were from. When my name was not on the list, he had me go to the head of the department to see why. The head of the department, a kind enough woman, pulled up a list on the computer and it showed that I had been dropped and I realized Laura must have dropped me so I could get into environmental geology. I tried to explain to this woman the situation and why I wanted to be in the class until I knew for sure that I was in the other one, but between the language barrier and the fact that students at UNA don't have that flexibility (they have very little choice in their class selection), I just gave up and decided to go talk to Laura. I had to awkwardly go back to the room, knock on the door, get my stuff, and tell the professor that I had to go sort things out. On the way over to Laura's office, I'm thinking to myself, what am I even doing here. My Spanish is not good enough for this. After talking myself down and chalking it up to a rough start and a rough first day, I concede to myself that I need to take another IFSA course (a class with only other students from the program). So I decide I'm going to take 20th century latin american literature. Seemed interesting enough (only later will I find out it's 4 hours a day on Monday). I get to Laura's office and I'm ready to tell her I'm going to switch to literature. But before I can, she excitedly tells me that she got me into environmental geology. She hands me my new schedule. Environmental geology is evidently three times a week. One of the days is Saturday (no way I'm doing that) and the other is on Thursday (which conflicts with another class). So I have to tell her that doesn't work for me and that I'd like to just switch to the IFSA literature class. She says ok that's fine, but then she tries to update my schedule and finds out that the system is down. (#typicalticostory) She tells me that we can make the change tomorrow. It's strange how things that would be mildly frustrating in the US become extremely frustrating here because you're in a foreign country and things are just done differently and something so basic as communicating with people can be a real challenge. Well, I got some ice cream and went to a park and just relaxed and I felt better. Hopefully my two classes today will go a lot smoother. Next time I'll tell you about my trip to the beach this past weekend, which was a lot more fun and the opposite of stressful.

Life in Heredia

I moved into my home in Heredia on Sunday. Heredia is one of the bigger cities in Costa Rica. It's in the Central Valley not far from the capital, San Jose. There are mountains all around us. It's beautiful. The sun shines every day and the highs are in the 70s every day. It's great. My host mom is very sweet. She and her boyfriend are so nice and they are very patient with me when I don't have a clue what they are saying. But I'm getting a lot better at understanding them. I have a grandma here too. She's really sweet, but she's hard to understand. I tend to stick to just pleasantries with her. My host mom has three kids, the youngest of whom is 24 and lives at home. It's very common for Costa Ricans to live at home until they're in their late 20s. The other two children are older and married. But they live close. They came over for lunch with their spouses on Sunday and everyone was very friendly. We also have a maid. It's not unusual for Costa Ricans to have maids, even if they aren't well off. They are usually Nicaraguan because Costa Ricans are much more well off in comparison. The maid is very sweet. Today she told me we need to be friends because we're both foreigners. Haha. My host mom's boyfriend is also Nicaraguan. There's apparently some prejudice against Nicaraguans (much like Americans treat Mexicans in the US), but I haven't experienced it in my family because my "host dad" (as I call him because it's a lot easier) is Nicaraguan.

I registered for classes at the university and it was quite the ordeal! Registration is hectic as it is and it's just all the more confusing in a foreign language. And they do things way differently, so it was just a very frustrating process. And a bunch of the classes that I got pre-approved by AU did not work with my schedule or they had prerequisites that I didn't have. So hopefully AU gives me credit for the ones I'm taking!! We got a tour of downtown Heredia and the campus today. It was nice. I hope I can find my way around because there are very few street signs in Costa Rica and there are no addresses. It frustrates me to no end that they don't have street names or addresses. It seems so essential but what can you do. Pura vida. Luckily, downtown has some street signs. But for example, my address in Santo Domingo, which is a neighborhood of Heredia, is 500 meters north and 50 meters west of the fire station. How everyone in Heredia knows about the fire station is beyond me. Tomorrow we are touring San Jose and I'm pretty excited for that. Until next time!

Getting down with the get down in the Cloud Forest

I left Monteverde on Sunday and before I tell you all about my new home in Heredia, I have to tell you how amazing Monteverde was. Monteverde is part of a forest preserve and it's located up in the mountains in the northwest part of Costa Rica. From some places in Monteverde you have a view of the Gulf of Nicoya, which opens up into the Pacific. The views are breathtaking. The scenery is stunning. Everything is green and since you are in the mountains, you can see for miles. The sun shines for almost the whole day. But from time to time, the clouds will move in and it mists for a bit. It's very interesting. There is one main road between Cerro Plano, where we all lived with our homestays, and the institute, where we took classes and had orientation sessions. I lived the farthest from the institute and I had to hike up this gigantic hill every day to get to my house. It was a 30 minute walk to the institute. To walk anywhere in the Monteverde area is a hike. Most of the roads are unpaved and it's extremely hilly. That got old, as did the ice cold showers that I endured. I can't tell you how happy I was that I miraculously had hot water for my shower Sunday morning in Monteverde before I left. But besides the freezing cold showers and the arduous trek that was my daily commute to and from class, I loved Monteverde.

On Thursday night, we went on a night hike in the forest. I was mere feet away from a giant tarantula! We saw sloths climbing in the trees. We saw lizards, birds, insects, and so many cool things. It's true what they say: the rainforest is teeming with life. The next morning we took a hike in the forest and we saw about a dozen Capuchin monkeys swinging in the trees right over our head. It was incredible. The next day we went ziplining over the forest canopy. It was so exhilarating! Then we visited a farm and learned how they grow coffee, bananas, plantains and cane sugar. It was really cool. We got back around 4:30 and I took a much needed nap. We've been getting up at the butt crack of dawn all week and it has been exhausting. The sun comes up around 5:30 all year so I guess Ticos are early risers. Then we went to a party on Saturday night to say goodbye to our host families. We all cooked desserts for the dinner. My mom and I cooked jello. I didn't have the heart to tell her I really don't like jello. Then we showed off our new dance moves to our host families and then they joined in with us. It was a lot of fun. I was sad to leave the next morning. But I was excited to see what life in Heredia was going to be like. As our bus wound its way down the mountain back to Heredia, there was this giant rainbow across the sky. Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come.

My first few days in the tropics

Well, I've made it to Costa Rica. Today is my fourth day here and things are going really well. The first day we were here, we stayed in a hotel in Heredia, which is where I'll be living for the rest of my time here after this week. So I landed and took a taxi from the airport to the hotel. I got to say I was a bit nervous to make the trek from the airport to the hotel on my own. But it was fine in terms of communicating. It was just a harrowing journey because my taxi driver was a mad man. I thought I was going to die several times. Oh well, I made it to the hotel, which was really nice. It had these extensive gardens in the back with all of these tropical plants and a pool and a tennis court. The other 14 students and I in the program all kind of slowly found each other as we arrived. There was no one from the program there to welcome us and the program coordinators didn't get there until the next morning. That was kind of weird. We just sort of had to figure things out on our own. Typical Ticos (Costa Ricans). Not much planning. Well, the weather was beautiful when we got there. As it is every day. The sun shines every day and in Heredia, the high was 80 I think.

Monday morning we had orientation at the hotel. That was the first of many long orientation sessions and Spanish classes. They told us we were going to leave for Monteverde, which is up in the mountains, at 1 pm, but we left an hour and a half later. Ticos are never on time. The bus ride was 4 hours and the first two hours were fine. We had a slow crawl out of the city in stop and go traffic that I slept soundly through. But when we were two hours away, the roads became unpaved, more steep, more windy, and more narrow. I was fine with it at first, but it just kept getting worse. I kept grabbing the head rest in front of me as if that was going to save me if the bus suddenly toppled over and we careened off the side of the steep mountain to our all but certain death. Needless to say, it was at this point that I asked my friend, Audrey, if I could have one of her dramamine, which she had the foresight to bring. As Brian Regan likes to say: well it seems like my insides want to be on my outside. (That one is for Duncan).

 Well, miraculously, we made it there. I was exhausted and starving and I've never helped myself to so many servings than at the dinner that my homestay prepared for me. I was glad that I'm not rotund because the family's first impression of me would have been: great, we got another gluttonous American student. But in reality, food is a big deal for Ticos. My homestay parents make elaborate meals, even for breakfast, and they cook all of them from scratch. The food is really good and they want nothing more than for you to eat a lot of it. I can definitely get use to having the freshest fruit I've ever had every day.

Today is the second day that we've had Spanish classes and orientation sessions all day from 8 until 5. Yesterday we had dance classes for 2 hours though. I learned how to dance merengue, salsa, and something else. I was not good at salsa, but my friend Sidney and I nailed the merengue dance they taught us. We even busted it out at the bar in town that we went to last night. There are 15 of us in the program: 13 lovely ladies and 2 of us guys. Everyone is really nice and everyone comes from very different backgrounds and very different places in the US. It's been really fun getting to know everyone so far. The Spanish classes and orientation sessions are mentally exhausting because I have to concentrate in Spanish for an extensive amount of time. But slowly, it is becoming easier. With time, I hope it becomes nothing. I talked more at dinner with my homestay family tonight, so that's good. They are very patient with me, which is nice, because sometimes it takes me a while to form a sentence. I've always been sympathetic to people speaking English when it is not their first language, but I definitely have a newfound understanding for how difficult it can be to communicate with someone when you are speaking in a language that is not your first language.

The weather is just amazing and the views are simply stunning from up here in Monteverde. The high every day is about 70 with ample sunshine and the mornings and evenings are a bit cooler in the lower 60s. We begged for Spanish classes outside and this afternoon they were granted. It was great. The major complaint of the group is that we can't enjoy the beautiful weather and natural beauty of Monteverde because we are in classes all day, but the next three days we get to spend a lot more time outside and in the forest preserve, which I am super excited for. And as my Spanish teacher told us, it's like this all the time here so you'll have plenty of time to enjoy it. Ok well this is probably too long already. I could go on. Four days and I've already done so much and have so much to talk about. Pictures to come. Ciao.