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.
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