Weekend Adventure #3

Well, my tuition here included 3 weekend field trips, so I had my last included trip this past weekend. IT. WAS. A. BLAST.

First we stopped at a coffee plantation. It was super pretty. I learned that coffee grows on shrub-type plants and the berries are red! After, we went to Volcan Poas (Poas Volcano). It's cool because you pull into the park and can start smelling the sulfur from the Volcano. IT WAS STRONG! Some people started coughing, and I got kinda dizzy. But it was ok.  Everyone walks down this trail through the jungle (its paved) up to the top at this observatory site. Then, ideally you look down into the valley below, which is actually the volcano's crater. Volcan Poas is an active volcano so no one is allowed inside the crater, but it was a beautiful view! A first when we got there, there was literally a wall of white. The mist/clouds around us were so thick that we couldn't see anything! Kind of sad because we didn't think we were going to get to see anything. But, like clockwork, the mist cleared out ever 10 min and we got a great view of the crater. There is a little lake in the center, which is full of very acidic water--green colored. It's neat looking. And the crater has many different layers of rocks; the guide said it was from all the different eruptions.

After we spent awhile there (couldn't spend too long or we'd get sick off the sulfer) we took our bus on this road that "was not exactly open yet" to a place called La Paz Waterfall Gardens. IT WAS AMAZING. Its kind of like this resort, out in the middle of nowhere CR, and it is beautiful. We got to eat at a buffet and everything was amazing. They gave us huge plates and I filled it up! Pizza, and fresh fruit, and rica, and plantains, etc yummy!

The place had its own zoo as well. It was probably my favorite part of the whole day. There was a hummingbird garden. They were everywhere and would zoom right by your head! And they had a bird aviary. I got to hold a toucan there! They are so cute! They hop instead of waking, and are just super cute.  There were also monkeys. A few of them would reach out their hand and touch yours. It was kinda creepy...They had long skinny fingers and nails. And they would make this creepy face where they showed their little sharp teeth. yuck... Weird.  But kinda cool that they touched you. There were also jaguars---which have to be the MOST beautiful animals I have ever seen in my life. And a butterfly room! You could just pick up the butterflies! Also, they had the cocoons up on a wall thing and you could see the different types, and we got to see a few hatching! It was really cool. Also, there were sloths...and they are very interesting creatures. I just cannot understand how their blood doesn't run to their head!

After you go look at the animals, you walk down a trail to see 3 huge cataratas (waterfalls). They really are amazing! The water was really cold and it was dangerous, so you cannot swim, but we touched the water and felt the spray of the waterfall. Beauty.

Well, that was all Saturday. But Sunday was another adventure. I got to the school at 6:15am to go RAFTING down the Pacuare River, on the Caribbean side of the country.  There were about 20 of us that went from my school, and pretty much my whole friend group went. The bus guide was this young man who was super good looking and kept referring to himself as "Brad Pitt". When we got there they fed us breakfast, although I didn't eat much because I was feeling a little sick to my stomach. Then, we got back on the bus and headed to the river to get in! That bus ride was about 30 min and our guides name was Ricky, or "Ricky Bobby" as he called himself. He was another good-looking young guy who was really animated in his instructions.

In my boat there was Me, Kelsey, Rachel, Mel, Joey, and Brennan. It was a great boat. Our guide's name was Monkey (he told us he didn't know why, but I think it was because he kinda looked like one). He was cool. Everytime we would do something good he would make us throw our paddles in the air and say "OOH-AH-AH-- MONKEEEYS!" Love it. Well, the rafting went well. Now, you must know that I was SUPER nervous about going. For some reason I just had this awful scary image in my head of rafting, even though I'd been at least 3 times before. I had been praying and praying about this and realized I was tired of being afraid. Well, God answered prayers because I was not afraid the whole time on the river! I actually imagined it would be worse.  There was only one time where our raft almost got in trouble. We hit a big rock and almost flipped, and then ended up going the wrong way around the rock.  But it's ok he just screamed at us, "GET DOWN!" so we all sat down in little balls in the center of the raft. That's my favorite when we do that. After, our guide said he'd never gone that way and when I asked him if he liked it better he said, "eh...not so much."

Overall. It was a good weekend. I have funny sunburn lines on the tops of my thighs, my butt still has that giant scratch from sliding, and I'm SO sore I can barely move. But, vale la pena (worth the pain)

Had our 2nd girls Bible study today! We went to the park and did it outside in the perfect weather. YAY. I love the girls that show up. Really solid group who actually talk and have great opinions. Pray that we all have opportunities to share our faith and be bold!

coffee plant

At volcano with "white wall" of fog behind us

Volcan Poas-after mist cleared out

CREEPY monkey

Tucan!

Is that too dangerous? NAHH!

Today was another grand adventure. I really think I do have a great group of friends here. FOR REAL.

After class a bunch of us met up at Kelsey's house. We talked to her Tico Dad for awhile-- He is this sweet older man and I like his accent!

Then we tried out this new mexican restaurant. It was SOOOOO good. I finally got a little spicy food in my diet. YUM. I didn't really mean to but I ended up with a FRIEND BURRITO. Yep. IT was deep fried and really good.

Then the goal of the day was going to Parque de Paz (Park of Peace). It was dedicated to the recent president Oscar Arias--who did a lot of "peacful" things--ask me about em sometime! This was great fun. I was given a kite from a friend at school and had been carrying it around all afternoon. I got to the park and couldn't wait to try it out! Well, first off the kite was missing the most important pole--but DUN DU DU! Ben to the rescue- He used a stick to rig me up a ghetto kite, and IT WORKED! It was rainbow colored and beautiful! I just kept  thinking of the movie The Kite Runner. Sadly, at one point, Ben and I had a miscommunication and the kite got away...Yep, you guessed it-- RIGHT INTO A TREE!!!

AS he was trying to pull it out with a string this little kid came up and just started blabbering at us in Spanish. He was a cutie! He kept telling us to cut the string and the kite would fall. Ben kept saying "no" but the kid cut it anyway! And the kite didn't fall... :( But it's ok because then we met two other kids- a boy and his older sister. The girl was probably about 11 and looked REALLY freaked out when I said hello to her and asked her name. She was sweet though. There is a big hill that people slide down on cardboard and these rented sled things. She showed me how to rent some saying "Venga" (come) as she took off running with my money! haha. So my friends and I took turns riding down the hill. It was super fun, a bit scary. At the very end I somehow ended up on the sled with both Joey and Ben. Yeah. Why? For the sake of FUN? Well, I asked to be at the back so they didn't crush me,but that ended up turning against me. We all slid back on the sled and Ben had my legs so I ended up sliding on my butt for a few feet and have a pretty cool little butt burn going on! But just on my right side! It stings but it was so worth it. Vale la pena! (Worth the pain!)

At the park there was a little carnival thing as well. We eneded up riding this ride that Ben dubbed "the squeaker" because it sounded like it was going to break any second. But, today was about adventure and doing new (kinda dumb) things :) The ride was one where you sat in two-person seats and went round and round. I rode with Brennan and at one point I couldn't get him to lift his arms, or even open his eyes for that matter, because he was scared! ahha. Love it.

There was a big lake that you could rent/ride horses around (we are saving that for another day!). Then we hit up the playground on the way back. At the playground I managed to fall on my bum after flipping on the swinging bar thing, and almost fall out of my swing as Joey UnderDogged me! What a great day :) It really was super fun.

Tall hill in the park

Kite in the tree...

"The Squeaker". We Survived!

Churros anyone?

I love you friends

GIANT churro roll

Cotton Candy with kelsey!

Joey "Chepe"--doing some swinging. No big deal.

Butt burn-- from the hill!

Now off to see TRON! Let's hope we get the theater in English and not Spanish....

KNOWLEDGE- street smarts :P

Mural on a wall in Art Museum- It went around the whole room!

History and Culture class on field trip

Statue in National Park- Represents all the Costa Ricans fighting united

LOVE THIS MURAL!-Freedom!

Market- crazy crowded

Class- This giant stone balls are from the indigenous period. No one really knows what they mean

Pretty Church

So this orange juice-- about $8. Yep. LOCO

WOW. Today was a blast. Full of...learning. Yep, learning is the word!

My Spanish class went on a field trip to the Art Museum of Costa Rica in the morning. It was ok fun, but we had to fill out a paper with questions and that just takes ALL the joy out of it!

After getting back to school after that field trip I had ANOTHER one to go on! It was with my History and Culture class. Ok so this is the teacher that is from England and I LOVE HER. She is just so sweet and easy to be around and has so much knowledge (but not the kind that makes you not able to have a normal conversation with her). This trip was one of the best field trips I have EVER been on! We just walked around all of downtown San Jose, stopping at important landmarks while our teacher would tell us historical data. I love the city. It's great. We went inside one building and got yelled at by security guards because apparently we were not supposed to be there! haha. We went to tons of parks, and a market, and inside the National Theater (and then witnessed a fight outside of it between two guys selling stuff!). It was just great hearing all the history behind the city and country.

I also really liked it because I found a new way to walk downtown! YEAH! And we walked by an ORPHANAGE! I really have been wanting to volunteer at one, and now I know where one is---super close!

Then later today I went to the Auto Mercado (grovery store) with my friend Joey. Let me just say that I can officially live here in CR because this store was like a normal, american, grocery store!!! AHHH. All the other ones are kinda weird. They are like small, convenience store type things, and this one was BIG. Granted, most US brand stuff was SUPER expensive, I still got a lot that I wanted :) Im stocked for awhile.  Yes, I even got some Mayo in a pouch. Yes, like a bag.

Dance class tonight was  ball too. For one dance I was partners with this one boy named Jose. I thought he was a Tico but apparently he is from Guatemala and is here studying animacion. Our entire conversation was in Spanish and it felt good to just not have to translate in my head. I didnt even think about it, I just spoke!! YEAh~...but it all was in present tense.....

FEAR? NO WAY!

OK. So today has been interesting unto itself. 

First, I signed up to go whitewater rafting. And this is one of my fears. I wasn't planning on going but my "great" friends here talked me into it. So. I just paid today. I just DID it. Now that I paid I have no excuse. This is me getting over a fear.

I went on a picnic today for lunch with Kelsey, Rachel, Joey, and Ben. This has tended to be the group I hang out with most and I LOOOVE them :) We got some sandwiches and stuff and went to this little park where we sat at a stone table in the shade of a huge tree. We didn't do much but talk but it was so nice. We decided that one day soon we are going to explore the mountains not too far away! 

So this afternoon I was really bored and decided to take a walk. I explored the schools library a bit, found an entire giant room that I didn't know existed, and decided they have REALLY good movies in the library (MADAGASCAR!). Then I went on a little walk.

I was not scared to walk alone here during the day because it's in the middle of the neighborhood and there are tons of people around. Well, I made my way to a little park that my family calls "Parque de Monsse" because it's "Monsse's (the baby) park!"There are tons of little climbing things in the shape of animals ex. climbing thing in the shape of a Giraffe. (Im gonna get pictures soon but didn't want to look like a creeper today). There were lots of little kids there today with their moms,dads, and "Titas" (gmas?) They were all PRECIOUS. I wanted to take a few home with me. :P 

I sat on the swings alone and just observed the people and kids playing. It was pretty interesting except lots of the kids just kept staring at me. It's weird, in the US people want to be white, here I just want to blend in. A little girl came to swing next to me and I attempted to talk to her (kids are WAY less intimidating) but all she said was "huh?" and "que?" (what?) everytime I said something! haha. And then her mom made her leave. haha. But it was an adventure finding the park! My Tico Dad brought us there the VERY FIRST day and so I had the general idea where it was...but not really haha. That first day was a little overwhelming!

On the way home I passed another park and there was a family of Gringos (white people) playing ball and speaking English!!! It is normal to see blonde students becuase of the university but not a mom, dad, and little girls. I was so intrigued. I wanted to go talk to them to see if maybe they were missionaries or something, but I kinda freaked myself out. I did the whole "walk in their direction, then turn around. Take a few steps then turn around and walk back. Etc" It was a little rediculous.  I shouldv'e just gone up and said "hello!" NExt time. I PROMISE! Because I really do love people. And this trip is about me facing fears.

Dogs. Rafting. Going up to strangers(which is silly). THINGS TO FACE and WIN!

MAS!

First Bible Study!

My Boys :)

coconut water!

I love you all!

Here are some more pics from this weekend! Except the top one. Some girls started a Bible study today and I am SUPER excited about it. We met at a restaraunt called "La Musa Confusa" (Confused Muse?) Its the CUTEST little place, with kinda artsy walls and cafe feel. Kinda like Schroaders for those of you who know what that is :)

Well, a girl ended up coming that I wasn't expecting but it was great. Her name is Tanya and she is really involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. I think she will be a great addition to the party :) There were 7 of us in total and it was super fun. We just went around today and gave little blurbs of our testamonies, to just find out where we were all coming from. Then we all signed up for a day to lead the Bible Study. Also, this older man came up to us after awhile, (he was American) and said that he wanted to encourage us in our Christian conversation. He was there teaching for a few months and was kinda helping a mission organization that wanted to plant a church in San Jose somewhere.

Kelsey and Me-ice cream- this defines our relationship

Pretty neat stuff. I'm excited! I think it's gonna be good.

"Just Embrace It"

"Just Embrace It"

That has been the catchphrase for the whole weekend for me. We left School Friday afternoon and headed to Puerto Viejo in the province of Limon, Costa Rica, on the Atlantic/Caribbean side of the country. The bus was fun, Kelsey (OFFICIAL BUS BUDDY) and I, got seat in front of two lovely guy friends, Ben and Joey, with some other great girls next door. :)

Well, the busy ride was supposed to last about 4-5 hours. We left at 120ish...but didnt get there til 930. yep thats right folks, we were in the bus 8 hours!! WHY???? There was tons of rain on the winding roads and everyone drives like maniacs, so there was some sort of wreck. At one point, we literally moved about 10 feet, in 2.5 hours. But, we made due. Some people (the ones with alcohol) had a dance party in the front. Some others played games,etc. But we finally made it. First look at the town kinda scared me. There was just a bunch of like Rasta(as in like Jamaican/Rastafarian) places to eat and it was all rainy and dark and I didn't know my way around the town. I always get a little disoriented in the dark, so I would've LOVED to have arrived earlier but Oh well!

Our hotel room (Oh all the hotels have 3 people in them and not 4....sublte difference from the U.S) looked like a 4 year old campground room. The walls were lime green and turquoise with pink accents. I secretly loved it because it looked happy. But I was scared of the bed that it might not be clean. oh well, JUST EMBRACE IT!

The next morning we woke up and thought that someone was in our shower, turns out it was just rain! RAIN RAIN RAIN! And yep, I did leave my rain jacket in GA. Oh well, JUST EMBRACE IT! It was ok though. We got to puddle jump and such, which is always fun for kids of any age.

The main highlight of Saturday was the trip to the chocoloate factory. I say factory, but that is not what I mean. It is a house with open windows in which a old woman and her daughter make chocolote. FROM the cocoa shrub/tree all the way into a chocolate bar, she showed us the entire process and it was fascinating! AHHH. It was all done without machines, well except the grinder used to grind the cocoa beans- but that was turned  by hand so it doesn't really count. Did you know that cocoa comes from a big orange fruit!? SO COOL. I just loved it because I felt like we were in a hut. And the lady was so funny. She would tell us in SPanish and then our translator, a local names fernando, would tell us what she said. (but, I am happy to say that I understood most of it without the translator!)

Then the rest of the day it finally stopped raining and we walked around the town (which was way better in the day time). Then-- BEACH TIME! The people called the place "Playa Negra" or black beach.Well, there really was black sand! It was the weirdest thing but I loved it!!! I heard that the sand was black because it was volcanic, but not sure.

This town had stray dogs EVERYWHERE. So, since like Christmas break Ive had this fear of dogs biting me, and this town definately helped me to get over that. They were just everywhere but were all super sweet

Saturday night we went out to dinner with a bunch of friends. There were liek 14 of us, so we sat at two different tables. I really feel like we have been narrowing down our friend groups. Not that we are not friendly to everyone, but it is just so nice to get a core group :) Love it.  Oh- but after dinner we went to the beach and such. And then got CREPES! IT was the first time I'd had it and it was amazing. Mine had ice cream on top ---chocolate, nutella, and banannas inside. De-Lish.

hotel room that looked liek kids' camp

Just Embrace it--rain

finding, cracking, and drinking coconuts--CHEERS!

Playa Negra- Black Beach- with black sand!

Sunday was actually sunny and super nice! We rode the bus to another beach, but there wasnt much of a beach; the water just came up so much. The current was crazy strong too! We only went about waist deep and it was pulling us everywhere! The boys tried to surf, but this beach was more for professionals. There were tons of local guys out and wow, they were GOOOOOODDD surfers! I feel like it could've been on t.v.

Bus ride back was way shorter compared to the one there :P It was nice. Pretty much everyone on the bus fell asleep for the first hour-hour and a half. Then I got to hear testimonies from two friends. Ahh. There is just something so encouraging about hearing about people's lives; where they have come from and how God plays a part in it. I hope I never lose that joy.

Girls' Bible Study will start tomorrow at lunch! Pray it's a time of blessing!

Mall Adventure

Mitch and Oliver walking to Mall

Yeah mall

umm? Scary tattoo/piercing place

Rachel and Kelsey before the piercing

Looking at the little fishies

the tattoo place-on left

yay nose ring! Before she blacked out....

So, I was going with my friend Kelsey yesterday to get her nose pierced. We had been talking before and she mentioned that she would hate it if a lot of people came and no one else was getting anything pierced because then everyone just stares at HER. Well, I invited one boy, Joey, to come. I told her when we met up, and then she said she invited another boy... WEll, this kept happening until there were 8 of us total! haha. The original 3 girls that were going, plus 5 more boys!

I had such a great time though. I really like walking on the streets with guys because then I don't get cat calls and words like, "hey baby" or "preciosa". YUCK. The word "baby" coming from a stranger just turns my stomach. So, yes, when I'm with boys this doesn't happen :)

So we all walked (in our train of people) two by two down to the mall that is like a 15 min walk. Had to ask a few times and finally found the place that Kelsey's roommate had told her about. It was a tattoo and piercing place and just really creepy looking. Lots of masks, skulls, and black--yet in the middle of a mall haha. The guy spoke English (WOO HOO) and was all business. 10 bucks for the piercing and nose ring! Qué barato! (how cheap!)

We waited awhile for them to sterilize her rings (she said she would wait all day for that). There was a pet store next door and we watched the puppies fight. It was fun. The boys were actually making bets on which puppy would win..aye..boys.

So finally it was Kelsey's turn. They brought her into this little back room all alone. They wouldn't let any one of us go with her!!!! AHHH!! I needed to be there to hold her hand and they wouldn't let me! haha. I felt like a mom abandoning her kid or something...

She came out, and wasn't even crying or bleeding or anything :) Good girl. Then after a min she looked at me and said ,"I feel dizzy..."Well...that was bad. She started to walk and her legs to just like buckled underneath her. She was swaying around like a crazy girl! I grabbed her and with the help of Ben got her to sit down. It was funny because her eyes were open and we kept saying "Kelsey, sit down" and she would reply "what? where?". ahah. She sat and the guy working brought her some alcohol to smell and a pack of sugar to eat. Crazyness. Then after a min  or two she jsut snapped out of it and was like "what happened?" Lol. Oh WELL. It made the day a lot more interesting. She was fine, but we all thought it would be a good idea to get some ice cream cones :) (that's always a good idea to me!). It's cool because the McDonald's has a little food stand ONLY FOR DESSERTS! WOW.

Then dance class last evening. It was fun! Im getting pretty good at Merengue and Salsa, although it's quite the butt workout. The teacher is so cute. She speaks English but throws her little Spanish phrases in a lot. And if you do not move your hips in Salsa, well, she will come and move them for you! Some of my guy friends came and I danced with them some. Normally I dance with mostly girls, which is really fun, but having an actual male partner was a nice change. haha.


Yep that was my day yesterday :) Had my midterm today in Spanish and I think I did good! We shall see though :)


Now, onward to Puerto Viejo, the beach! (I heard it was raining though...I hope not!)