Arenal

I went to Arenal two weeks ago, so I decided that I should right about it. I know I keep saying things are amazing, incedible etc. but there's a reason for that. Arenal was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been.
The hotel where we stayed was rediculous. It's always a bit of a toss up when we're driving to our destination. Even though every place we've stayed has been really nice, I just always get a little worried. But when we pulled up to this hotel, I literally gasped. When we came, they had fresh fruit juice for each of us, and then we piled into the car to go see Arenal volcano. Although it wasn't erupting when we were there, there was smoke, so that was really cool.
I've already said that the hotel was beautiful, but I feel like I should explain. The gardens were incredible, and full of orchids, ginger, palms etc. Also, alsmost all of the pools and all of the hot tubs were fed by natural springs. There was also this big garden area where they had fenced in area for crocodiles, and a house for tropical frogs, butterflies and ants. And when I woke up the next morning, and stepped outside, I had an amazing view of the volcano.
That Saturday, we went horse back riding through the mountains. I discovered that I really like horse back riding; i even got to gallop. I don't know, it just felt kindof natural. Needless to say, the view continued to be breathtaking.
We also climbed down to a waterfall. We got to swim in the frigid pool of the waterfall. It was rocky and freezing and there were fish and it was absolutely amazing.
I should also mention the food at the hotel. I've posted my new and deep love of ceviche, and this place had the best ceviche I've had yet. I had it everyday I was there. All of the other food was delicious as well, but ceviche always deserves it's own sentence.
I should also note that something that really added to the trip was that my parents could share the experience with me. It was wonderful to see them, and I was so happy to be able to share this part of my life. Not to mention I missed them.
So, all in all, a really fantastic trip. Everyone should really come to Costa Rica at some point in their lives.

Spanish

So, I know I already wrote today, but I wanted to talk about this, and I felt it should be a seperate entry.
Anyway, looking at where I was a month and a half ago, I can tell I'm really improving. It's a great feeling, looking and seeing how far I've come. My writing skills have gone through the roof, and I've become more comfortable than I've ever been.
All that being said, I am nowhere near where I want to be. As much as I've become a better writer, and I've gotten better at speaking, I still make a bunch of mistakes. It's insanely frustrating and exciting all at the same time. I remember towards the beginning of my trip, someone asked me how hard the course work was. As this is my eighth year studying Spanish, the course work wasn't that hard. Writing a paper, or speaking for 10 minutes or doing grammar homework doesn't faze me that much. But, if you look at just living and communicating in a foriegn country as homework (which it kind of is), the course work is exhausting. I get so proud of myself, because I almost always understand people when they talk to me; but when they talk to eachother, I get about a third of it. Ugh. I think when people decide that they want to learn another language, they don't really realize what they're getting themselves into.

Halfway

So, last yesterday was my 55th day living in Costa Rica, and I have 54 days left (including today). I am over the half way point, which is wild. It's not so much that it's wild that I've been here this long, it's more that I'm only half way through. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that I'm only half way through. I keep thinking, that I'm going to be leaving soon, and that I'm running out of time here, but really, I'm only half way through.
I think it has something to do with paseos. We are going to take a total of 5 paseos (little trips). We've gone on three, and we have two more to go. I think I feel that the because I only have two left, I don't have any time. I'm glad to know that's not the case.
Can you tell that relief seems to be a theme of this entry.
My parents are coming in two days. I think it's wild that they are comeing at almost the exact halfway point. A lot of times, someone will say, "Oh, how convinient/interesting that x is happening at this time," and the response is "it's not convinient/interesting at all, I planned it this way." I'm pretty sure that's what happened. Anyway, I'm really excited.

100% Adventure

Last weekend, my group and I went to Monteverde. It's a medium sized settlement up in the mountains that was settled by Quakers. When you are traveling there, you have to go on a lot of mountain roads. You know in those old cartoons when someone would be traveling up a mountain, and they would loop around it on these roads that were just cut into the sides of the mountains. Well, they were roads like that.

When we went to Limon, it seemed like we were doing things the whole trip. That was probably because our hotel was on the beach, so if we didn't have anything else to do, we would go to the beach. This trip was not like that. We really only did anything on Saturday. That being said though, what we did was amazing.

I wouldn't say I'm a thrill seeker, but I'm not that scared of hights, so sometimes I really enjoy things that involve hights, like roller coasters and, as I just discovered, zip lining. It was thrilling. I always thought it would be the most amazing thing to fly. When I was younger, and had a greater interest in Science (sorry dad) I thought that if I ever became an inventor, I would invent wings. Unfortunately, I am no Daedalus, so I had to settle with zip lining, but I can imagine it would be a close second. You are literally souring above tree tops and in between mountains. Thrilling is really the only word you can use.
Now, I don't have a "Bucket List," but if I did, these are things I could cross off:

• zip lining
• repeling
• seeing a spider as big as my hand
• seeing a moth as big as a small bird
• going to a Quaker service (it's really something everyone should try)
• meeting a founder of a town
• touching a humming bird.

Now, maybe only the first two and the last would actually be on my bucket list, but the others are still cool.

San Jose

So, I feel like I have been to San Jose often enough that I can write about it. Being that I love the city, it is hard for me not to like San Jose. I just really like the bustle, noise and energy of a city, and being that normally I would be in Mount Vernon right now, I am more than happy to be in a city. The first couple times I went, I enjoyed it simply for the reason that I got to be in a city. But after the first couple times, it got a little old. How many times could you look at the same church, or the same theatre, or go to the same artisan market. The answer is not many.

But last saturday, almost everyone decided to climb a mountain. Now, I have had the experience of hiking up a few mountains, and I hated it every time. Needless to say, I did not want to walk up a mountain just for the thrill of it. It's just not my cup of tea. So instead of hiking, my friend and I decided to go to a museum in San Jose, under "Pigeon Park." Now, I've never been to Italy, so I don't know how many pigeons are in St. Mark's Square, but what I can say is that there are more pigeons here that I have seen any where else. Anyway, we went to the Gold Museum. It's called the Gold Museum because it has a bunch of old gold artifacts from the natives of Costa Rica. It was really interesting. After that, we had planned to go to the National Museum, but by the time we found it, it was closed. The street it was on though was really lovely. It had really old pretty houses, and it was on this wider brick road. When Sarah and I looked down the street, we saw a coffee shop.

Now, I feel like I should take this opportunity to explain that Sarah, Emily (two friends here) and I have been looking for a good coffee shop since we got here. It's harder than you think. We found the easy coffee shop (good coffee but not a lot of atmosphere,) but we were hoping and searching for atmosphere, and we finally found it, not a stones throw away from the Museum. Also, at the end of this same road, there was a really pretty park.

By the time we had sufficiently explored that area, it was about 6 o'clock, and was pretty dark. It was beautiful. The city was starting to light up, and there were street performers that weren't just clowns (which there are a lot of.)

When my mom talks about Cleveland, she will often say that if you're bored, it's your own fault, and I'm starting to get that impression of San Jose. We went to the theatre about a month ago, and it was wonderful. I've also been to artisan and food markets. Between all of these experiences, I can hardly wait to see what else this city has to offer.

Estoy Quemada

So, I'm burned, but in the end, it was totally worth it. From Friday to Sunday I went on a paseo to Limon, and by paseo to Limon, I mean I spent three days at the beach. I mean, we did stop at Limon, but there's nothing much to say about it. The road that the hotel was on was kind of a backroad that was full of potholes, so we had to slow down about every 2 minutes. Every time we would slow down and somewhat close to a hotel, I would think "okay, this is it," and some of these places were not places I would feel comfortable staying in. After about a half an hour we arrived at the hotel. Oh my lands, was it beautiful. When you picture a hotel on the beach, this is the type of hotel you picture. There were big glass doors opening to a little personal deck, and a beautiful courtyard. It was less the a two minute walk to the Caribbian coast. Beautiful sand, clear water, reefs with octopus equal amazing.
There is a lot of wild life and exotic flora in the area. The hotel had a big bird full of about a hundred parakeets. There were plants there that you buy post cards of, and I got to see a few wild monkeys. I also got to hear wild howler monkeys, which kind of sound like loud gasping/yelling old men. By far though, the most exciting thing that happened though (at least with regards to wild life) was that I got to see a wild sloth. It was the only wild animal that I really wanted to see, and now I can check it off of my list. All in all, a successful weekend.

Happy Forth of July

Hello everyone, I'm sorry it's been so long. Now obviously it is not the forth of July, but it is the Costa Rican Independence day. It's a tradition in Costa Rica that the children make lanterns and have a small parade with them the night before independence day. Though I am not a child, I did make a lantern, but instead of having a parade, I spent the night in the hospital with a friend. He'll be fine.
Last Saturday, we went to Orosi and Cartago. While there, we visited a beautiful cathedral. I love seeing difference in cathedrals in different parts of the world. Instead of stone, they used a lot of wood, and everything was painted. We also went to the ruins of the first church in Costa Rica. It was surrounded by trees and there were plants growing on the walls. Normally I try not to think things like "We're both under the same moon." But it's hard not to be in a place like that and not think that people sat here 500 years ago, or that when they looked out, they saw the same mountain that I saw. It was incredible.
I feel bad that I haven't mentioned food yet. Before I left, I would laugh when my dad would say "you're going to eat rice and beans for the next three months." I shouldn't have laughed. I am lucky though, because I love rice and beans, but they eat it with everything. One night, my family got Pollo Campero for dinner, and they served it with rice and beans. They've made pasta, and though I didn't eat it like this, they eat it with rice and beans, all mixed together. Just a big plate of pasta, tomato sauce, rice and beans. On Sunday night, I tried civiche for the first time. For those of you who don't know, it's white fish that's prepared by pickling/fermenting (I don't know which term to use, probably pickle) the fish in lemon juice. There is also red and green pepper and cilantro. I don't think it's taken over as my favorite food, but it's certainly been added to the list.

I can't add pictures right now, but I will as soon as I can.