Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in poetpride's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, October 17th, 2009
9:14 pm	Crazy Day! Well, let me just say that I have been doing a good job of sticking to my dance classes! I have gone four weeks in a row!...until today. :( However, I had every intention of going to dance class! I was completely dressed and ready to go. Unfortunately, while I was cleaning up after lunch, I slightly lost track of time. So, I ended up a smidge late for the bus. I decided to run to the bus stop and hope that the driver saw me and would stop...its happened before, why not? Well, as I was running, my clumsyness reared its ugly head. Yup! I definitely tripped in the middle of my tiny street (not the main street) and ate it! I fell so hard that my whole body was just laying on the ground. Although I was in some serious pain, the whole thing was hysterically funny to me! I have not fallen like that in many many years! I think the last time I really fell was from that tree swing coming back from UOP my junior year in high school. Does anyone remember the awesome scratches I had up my right arm, fresh for prom the following week?? I sure do!! Anyway, I couldn't get over my stupidity, so I layed there for about five minutes. Seriously! Then, a very nice man came up to me and asked if I was ok or if I needed any help. I told him that I was ok. My house was less than 300 meters away. At that point, I decided that it was time to get up. I take a look at my knee, which now has a hole...yes, a HOLE bigger than a half-dollar. When I got up, it was just white. About ten seconds later, it filled with blood and began to gush down my leg...que gross! Then I look at my hands. Both of them have a fair amount of blood flowing profusely from them as well. Good job Cheryl! Way to scar up your body a week before you are supposed to be in a wedding!!! ;D So, I stumble my battered self home. Katherine sees me, giggles a bit when she realized that I am ok, and asks me what happened. I told her and she brought over the bandages, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, cotton, etc. The two of us clean and bandage me all up in about 30 minutes. Then, she looks at me and says "Awe, look at you...Do you want a beer?" Hahaha! Yes! She gets me a beer and the two of us spend the rest of the day out on the balcony chatting. I called Alex to let him know that I was not going to make it to dance class, then I just sat with Katherine for the rest of the day and we chatted over some beers. It was great! Completely unexpected and the exact opposite of my plans for the day, but we had a fabulous time! Maybe that is a hint to me that I should slow down and relax a bit more... Current Mood: giggly Current Music: "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins (Comment on this)
Monday, October 5th, 2009
8:43 pm	Recent Updates Well, in the last few weeks since my last entry, a few pretty major things have been going on. 1) I just got a new student. She is a private student that is not attached to either of my two jobs. I am not usually a fan of private lessons, but I figured that I could use the money and the experience. She actually turned out to be a fantastic woman! Her name is Ana Cecilia and we have some great conversations!! She has a daughter who owns a Mexican restaurant in Tennessee with her husband. Her son lives in Taiwan (I forget why...terrible, I know). We also meet up at Pops, the ice cream shop right by my apartment. She decided that it was the best location for both of us. It works for me! Although I do get too many desires for ice cream when we go there twice a week to have our class...oh willpower, please hold on!! 2) Alex and I started taking dance classes together. We have gone to three of them already. We are learning basic salsa, merengue, and cumbia moves. It is a lot of fun!! I might actually be able to dance when I get home!! How crazy would that be?? Also, the entire class is in Spanish (obviously) and I actually understand! :) 3) I have had two more classes with Catalina in Atenas. I am absolutely in love with this area. It is so quiet, clean, safe, and beautiful. We've talked about it for a few weeks now, and I finally committed to moving. I am so sick and tired of living in the city that I just have to get out. Trust me, this was not a spur of the moment decision. My apartment sucks, its dirty, it floods, we don't have a stove, microwave, or oven, the toilet cannot be fixed (it literally screams for about 15 seconds every time you flush the toilet...including the middle of the night), the refrigerator is either too hot or too cold at all times (it does not quite understand what it means to stay the same temperature all the time), I desperately want to see the REAL Costa Rica (with nature, animals, clear skies, etc.), and I am sick of being so close to the city and dealing with the traffic every single day (even if I am only on a bus and not driving through it myself). So, I talked to Catalina and we spent all day Saturday with her boyfriend looking for apartments. We found a few that would work, but one stood out WAY above the rest. I moved on Sunday, the 4th. It is actually a house with a friend of Cata and her boyfriend, Isham. The house is awesome! I have my own room, my own bathroom, my own HUGE walk-in closet, a front porch, a front yard, a back porch and a back yard, a FULL kitchen (yes, folks, I finally have an oven, a microwave, and a stove!!), and a big living room! Also, Katherine, my new roommate, is awesome! We are both very laid back, but decently clean people. We have different schedules and habits, so we don't step on each other's toes or anything. We just get along really well and we can talk for hours!! I am incredibly happy with my decision! The ONLY downside to living in Atenas is that it takes an hour to an hour and a half to get into the city every day. However, it is a long-distance bus, so the seats are big, comfy, and they recline. So, I just get on the bus every morning and fall asleep for an hour on the way to work. Then, I do the exact same thing on the way home. :) Also, the view out the window from the bus always makes me happy. Seriously, when I lived in Sabana, it would take almost 45 minutes a lot of days to get into the city. Now, its only a little over an hour. I am more than willing to sacrifice an additional 20 minutes or so in order to live in a safer, quieter, more beautiful area, for less rent! You don't have to twist my arm! Check it out!! This is my little Atenas, Costa Rica family. The first one is Katherine and Marley. Marley is a 14 year old border collie that Katherine and her husband brought from Canada about 5 years ago. ( Katherine and Marley ) This is Dulce...sitting on MY bed...as usual. Haha! She is a stray that Katherine took in about a year ago. ( Dulce ) This is my street. ( Calle Alvarado 1 ) ( Calle Alvarado 2 ) This is the main park in Atenas. ( Park ) This is the view from the park... ( The View ) Catalina and I have class by the pool (pretty much in the middle of a forest) a lot! Its just so much nicer than being cooped up inside the house. :D ( Pool Forest ) ( The Pool ) The street leading up to the pool... ( Pool Street ) So...Do you approve of my move?? :D Current Mood: grateful Current Music: "All Shook Up" by Elvis Presley (Comment on this)
Friday, September 18th, 2009
8:37 pm	Goodbye Nicole!! Thursday night...my last night to see Nicole before she heads back to the US. Sad!! She wanted to get together with everyone from Job #1 (that's how I met her...I don't think I mentioned that) and Russell (because she met him a few weeks ago when we went out together). So, we all go down to a little restaurant/bar that is near the office. We took tons of pictures (coming soon) and joked, reminisced, chatted, etc. It was a good night! Short, but fun! ( Me and Nicole ) ( The Group! ) ( Nicole and Russ ) ( Nicole and Steve ) ( A Pilsen Commercial... ) ( Nicole and Matt ) } ( Nicole and Steve ) ( The Final Group ) Current Mood: energetic Current Music: "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
7:45 pm	Castro's Since I got here, everyone keeps asking me to go out salsa dancing. Well, if you know me even a little, you are quite clear on the horrific dance skills that I possess. I am pretty much an embarrassment to the human race whenever I dance. No need to try to make me feel better, I have accepted it. Anyway, I finally decided to go last night. My good friend Nicole is leaving Costa Rica on Saturday and we need to have a few outing before she goes. It is sad to think about, but I don't know when I am actually going to see her again. :( So, we joined many teachers and students from Job #2 at Castro's. This place is really really cool! It is two floors of salsa dancing madness, topped by a third floor for all of your karaoke needs, and many bars all around for any beverages you feel the need to consume. Excellent! Basically, I danced my little heart out!! I think the best thing about salsa is that the man leads! I mean, if I look like a fool, its HIS fault! How great is that?? Actually, I danced with several students and teachers who are ridiculously good at leading, so I don't think I looked as terrible as I usually do! I had so much fun!!! Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: "Hey Jealousy" by Gin Blossoms (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
7:21 pm	Roller Skating! So, its a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon and several teachers and staff from Job #2 agreed to meet up in San Pedro to go roller skating! OMG I have not gone skating in YEARS!! Although I have not put on a pair of skates in years and years, it is extremely popular! The day is divided into about 5 sessions or so. Each one was completely packed!! Crazy!! A bunch of people were supposed to come, but most could not make it. No worries, though. Only the coolest kids could make it!! It was Tiffany, Ramon, Alex, Matt, Annette and her son, and me. We danced, skated, played games, sang to old 80's tunes (apparently the Costa Ricans LOVE Michael Jackson!!! and not just since he passed away...), and had an amazing time!!! We even taught Matt how to skate! He had never been skating in his life and couldn't even lift his feet when he started, but now he is a PRO!! Pictures coming soon!!! Current Mood: pleased Current Music: "Love Me Do" by the Beetles (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
5:33 pm	Atenas Today I had to make up some hours for Catalina's class. Because we have missed a few classes lately, we have to make up the hours outside of our normal class time. So, we decided to have class at her house in Atenas. She has always told me about how beautiful it is where she lives. She hates the city of San Jose and she, along with her boyfriend, moved to Atenas a few years ago. They also have 6 dogs and 3 cats...which you can't really support in a small apartment in the city. Anyway, she told me where to catch the bus and that it would take about an hour to get to her house. No worries. So, I brought my book and my ipod and headed to the bus stop. I waited about 15 minutes before the bus came by. The entire ride was gorgeous! I didn't even read my book because I spent the entire ride looking out the window!! Everything was so green!! Catalina was waiting for me when I got off the bus. It was a beautiful day outside...not hot, not cold. Everything was so quiet too! I guess I have spent so much time in San Jose that I got immune to the noise and I lost a sense of what real quiet is. I mean, there were people around and cars (I wasn't in the middle of nowhere or anything), but there were no trains, no car horns, no trucks, etc. It was just calm and beautiful everywhere. Her boyfriend drove us about five minutes to their house. Wow...do they have a lot of dogs! The moment I walked up to her house, they all started barking because they did not know me. I thought I was going to die! I mean, I just said all of that stuff about everything being so quiet and calm, then I meet Cata's dogs! Haha! After a few minutes, they calmed down and got used to me, though. Everything went back to normal. We had our class, then went to lunch at this little pizza place at the end of her street. However, we got burgers...haha! It says Pizzeria on the outside, but we got burgers because they are faster and easier to make and I had to catch the bus back home. The bus only leaves Atenas once every hour on the weekends. Unfortunately, our burgers took much longer than expected. We had to get them to go because I had plans to meet some friends that night. I needed to catch the next bus if I wanted to get there on time. When the burgers finally came, we grabbed them and ran out the door (we paid before they arrived at the table...no, I did not skip out on the bill!!). Apparently, that was still about 20 seconds too late. I missed the bus. Well, the restaurant owner saw Cata and I running down the street like idiots trying to catch the bus. He jumped in his car and came after us. He offered to drive me down the hill after the bus until we could get to a bus stop and it could pick me up! Cata has known this guy for a while, so I got in and he chased after the bus! About 15 mins later (you can't drive very fast down that road because they are windy) we caught the bus. The guy would not even let me pay him! It was so nice!! I could not believe it!! Well, I caught the bus, and stared out the window all the way back. I made it in time to meet my friends and everything was great. Moral of the story: Atenas is marvelous!! ( Atenas 1 ) ( Atenas 2 ) ( Atenas 3 ) Current Mood: calm Current Music: "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
2:14 pm	The Madness of Panama!! (9/4 - 9/7) A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, Alyssa, from Job #2 sent me an email saying that she needed to do her visa run before the end of September.  I just went to Nicaragua so I did not NEED to go, but honestly, do you really think I could turn down a weekend in another country??  No way!  So, I told her that we should go to Panama because neither of us has been there yet.  We began asking around to see who else wanted to go with us.  Two of my friends, Matt and Nicole, from Job #1 said that they would like to go too.     Unfortunately, Alyssa's grandfather passed away about two weeks ago.  So, needless to say, she was not going to spend the money going to Panama right after she headed back to the States for the funeral.  I don't blame her at all.   Nicole just decided to move back home after spending about 9 months in Costa Rica.  So, she needs to save her money for her flight home.   Anyway, it ended up being just me and Matt going to Panama.  No worries, though.  He is really fun!   The night before we left, Matt and I went to our friend Deeley and her boyfriend's hostel here in San Jose.  It was a BBQ and Toga Party!  Random, but so fun!!  Anyway, they have been here for about a year and know the owner of a very cool spot in Bocas del Toro where they suggested that we stay.  They also gave us a bunch more advice to prepare for our trip.   Thanks guys!!   Friday, September 4 Well, the first bus was scheduled to leave at 6am from San Jose to Sixaola (the Costa Rican city on the border to Panama).  Unfortunately...I kinda slept in.  Matt was at the bus station at 530am, as planned, but I was just coming out of my sleep coma around 545am.  Once I realized what an idiot I was, I called Matt's cell phone on Skype to apologize and figure out what we could do to fix this.   As it turns out, we could not have taken the 6am bus even if we wanted to.  It was completely sold out, except for standing room.  There is no way that we were going to stand up for the entire 5.5 hours to the border.  No, no, no!  Unfortunately, the next bus to Sixaola left at 10am.  So, we decided to catch the 7am bus to Limon, which is about two hours from the border, then we could just catch another bus to the border from there.  No problem!  This also gave me time to get my lazy ass to the bus station...   I arrive at the station at about 630am and Matt already had our tickets to Limon.  Great!  So we get on the bus and try our best to sleep for a few hours.  Well, the bus was pretty old and rickety, so this did not work out so well.   About three hours later, we arrive in Limon.  Its a very busy, pretty big city (definitely not as big as San Jose, though).  We are searching around the bus station for the terminal that goes to Sixaola...its not there...no joke!  After a momentary freak-out, we decide to ask someone.  We learned that the Sixaola terminal is just in a different bus station.  Hooray!  We get to wander to the other side of town to find it.  It really wasn't that far, but it was a bit of an adventure to get there.  Pretty much no one knew exactly where it was.  One guy said 400 meters south and 200 west...another guy said 400 meters west and 200 meters south...so we started zig zagging in order to make sure we found it.  We asked a few more people and got some general directions.  Eventually, we found it.    The next bus to Sixaola was scheduled to leave at 11am.  It was about 1015, so we had no problem waiting.  Matt and I wandered around until we found an ATM so that I would have dollars (they use dollars in Panama...crazy!)   So, now we get on the next bus...try our best to sleep because we are still exhausted...Nope!  No such luck!  This bus was worse than the last one!  OMG the bus was even smaller, more crowded, rickety-er, and I think it stopped every ten meters!  The trip that should not have taken us more than 2 hours took about 4.  It was miserable!  Oh well.  We got to see lots of beautiful scenery on the way!  :D   We arrive at the border around 3 and cross fairly quickly because I am pretty damn clever!  Haha!  I got some advice from a friend before we left.  He told me that when we cross the border in to Panama, they will ask for tickets or something that says that you will leave Panama within the next month.  (Tourists can only stay in Panama for 30 days at a time...its 90 days in Costa Rica.)  Anyway, he told me that they look at them, but they don't check very well.  The easiest thing to do is to make a flight itinerary that shows you leaving the country.  So, I slightly doctored the itinerary that I had from my flight into San Jose from LA.  I even looked up real flight times and numbers...then I made a copy for Matt.    If we did not have them, we would have to go back to the Costa Rican bus station and buy a bus ticket with a date on it saying that we are leaving...which would be either a waste of money, or would require way more forethought about our return trip home, which we were not prepared to do yet.  Haha!  Most of the people crossing with us had to do that.  Bummer for them!   ( Me crossing into Panama )   ( Matt in front of the bridge to Panama ) After crossing, we found a taxi to Almirante, the port city that has water taxis that take you to Bocas del Toro.  This was another 90 minute ride...my but was not happy with all of the sitting that I was doing!  It was a taxi van, though.  We made friends with the other passengers.  There were two Americans named Jorell and Jamie, and a Columbian guy named Felipe.  Everyone was very cool and they made our ride go by much faster!   Once we got there, we all hopped on a water taxi (another 30 mins, by the way).  However, the trip was gorgeous!  The water was a beautiful blue in some places, and a clear green near the land.  All of the islands were covered in greenery and tiny houses.  The water was very calm, so it was a very smooth ride all the way there.   ( Water Taxi )   ( Jorell, Jamie, Felipe, and Matt waiting for the Water Taxi )   ( Calm Water )   ( Buildings on the Water )   I forget what they are called, but on our way, we passed countless little "land-masses" of trees.  They are not really land, but I am not sure how the trees grow.  They are just giant masses of tree roots that grow on top of each other and grow more trees.  Beautiful!   We arrive on Isla Colon and begin looking for the place where Deeley and her boyfriend told us to stay.    ( Big Kahuna )   ( Big Kahuna 2 ) We got our rooms, showered, changed, etc. and headed out for some food around 6 or 7pm.  Everything was pretty cheap.  We ate at this very very tiny restaurant with only two tables.  Basically, the chef chooses about 5 different things that he will make that day and you choose from that list.  I ate mahi mahi pasta that was pretty damn tasty!  While we sat and ate, we watched a whole table of crazy Americans discussing the difficulties of learning Spanish vs. English (even though none of them could speak a word of Spanish).  It was quite entertaining!!   We finished dinner around 930pm and we were absolutely exhausted.  I almost hate to admit it, but we went to bed before 10 on a Friday night.  Haha!  No biggie, we had a whole weekend of fun filled times ahead of us...gotta rest up!   Saturday, September 5 Since we went to bed so early, and since it was so ridiculously hot there, we ended up waking up around 730am.  We got cleaned up, dressed, etc. and headed out for breakfast around 8am.    We ate at this cute little place called OM Cafe.  It served regular breakfast and Indian breakfast.  Of course, I decided to order something normal...just a simple pancake, and it was pretty bad...edible, but pretty bad.  Matt ordered some crazy Indian breakfast and he really liked his food!  When am I gonna learn to just order what the place is known for instead of what I want??  Hopefully one day...   After breakfast, we bought tickets for an all day tour around the islands.  It was LITERALLY $15 for an entire day of adventures from 930am until 5pm!!  Absolutely amazing!!  Oh and our friend Felipe from the water taxi yesterday was on the same tour!  Random! Matt and I bought some snacks before we got on the boat.   ( Snacks ) Here was a nearby boat...we couldn't take a picture of our own boat...sad!   ( Boat )   Our first stop was Dolphin Bay.  We floated around for a while looking for dolphins, taking pictures, and watching them swim around and jump through the water.  Very cool!!   ( Dolphins!! )   ( More Dolphins!! )   Then, we went snorkeling.  OMG I saw purple coral!!!  How cool is that?!?!  I really wanted to take some home, but I decided that was probably not such a great idea...and it probably would not have made the trip home anyway.  It was awesome, though!!   The whole time we were snorkeling, I kept running into people because I was looking down at the sea floor instead of at wherever I was going.  Matt kept finding really cool things and he would call me over to check them out.  Fantastic!  Then, I started following a few fish, just to see where they would take me.  They actually lead me over to some awesome stuff!   I have no idea how much time had passed, but eventually Felipe, Matt, and I looked up and realized that it was just the three of us in the water.  Oh well!  I wasn't done yet.  They can all wait for me!  Its not like we were running out of time.  :D  Then, a while after, I look up and even Matt and Felipe were in the boat.  Ok, fine.  I will get back in the boat now...   No worries, though, because SURPRISE we went to another good snorkeling spot!  I honestly had no idea, but I was so excited!!  However, no one wanted to snorkel as long this time, so before I even knew it, I was all alone again.  Haha kinda funny, actually!   We got back on the boat and headed to lunch.  OMG those thieves!  They took us to this spot where there are absolutely NO other restaurants around.  We HAD to eat at this restaurant that was super-expensive!  Arroz con Pollo (rice and chicken) in San Jose is about $4 in San Jose and probably $3 in Panama.  However, this freaking place charged us $10!!  That was one of the cheapest things on the menu!!  Matt and I refused to give in, though.  We just bought one plate of arroz con pollo and split it.  We are so cheap these days, its awful!!  Haha!   Then, while we were waiting for everyone else to finish, we relaxed in some hammocks on the dock.  Nice way to digest, just sayin!   After lunch, the tour took us to Red Frog Beach.  On the way, we passed by the edge of a forest, where there was a perezoso in the tree, just hanging out.  One of the kids on our boat starts shouting to him in Spanish that he should do something because it was his job!  He called him an "oso perezoso" (lazy bear...by the way, the word perezoso means lazy.  Haha!)   ( Oso Perezoso )   At the beach, we had to walk about 10 minutes down this path to get there, but it was FABULOUS!!    ( Red Frog Beach ) The sand was so soft and the water was incredibly blue and clear!  We ran into the water immediately!  After a while, we got out, relaxed on the beach for a bit, read a book, etc.    ( The Beach ) Matt built a sand castle.  He named his cute little kid as the king of the castle, but the kid did not want the responsibility!  Haha!  Unfortunatley, once the water entered the moat that he made, the whole thing kinda collapsed.  Oh well!   ( Matt's Castle )   We got in and out of the water several more times before we had to head back to the boat to finish the tour.  (By the way, Matt and I were not attached at the hip this whole time.  There were several times when he was on the beach and I was in the water, or we were talking to people separately, or whatever...its just easier to say "we" because we did both do all of these things...just not simultaneiously...haha!)   On our way out, Felipe found a mama perezoso with her baby perezoso sleeping in a tree!  We literally could haved them!  As much as I wanted to steal them both and put them in my bag, we decided to leave them alone so that they could sleep though...I bet they had a busy day!  Haha!   ( Perezoso Family )   On our way out, we saw this cool-looking jelly fish!   ( Jelly Fish ) Once we left the beach, there was another snorkeling stop.  However, no one wanted to get off the boat.  I think everyone was over it at this point.  I did not NEED to get in, I was ok without it.  I am not complaining.  If someone else would have gotten in, I definitely would have joined them, though.   When we got back to Isla Colon, we said goodbye to everyone and headed back to get cleaned up and shower again.  While I was waiting for Matt, I was just sitting on a hammock and I saw this guy trying to speak Spanish to the girl at the front desk.  I decided to help him because he spoke English.  He was actually really nice and we ended up chatting for a little while.  His name is Patrik, he is from Switzerland, and he has been traveling through Panama for about three weeks now.   After Matt came out, we all chatted for a bit longer, then Patrik joined us for dinner.  (In order to avoid the confusion of having a Pat and Matt all night long, I switched Matt's name to Mateo...I kinda like that better anyway!)   So the three of us went to dinner at this tiny little Mexican place.  It was cheap, tiny, and tasty.  I was definitely happy with our choice!  Once we left the restaurant, who did we run into??  Felipe!  So he joined us for the evening too!  Oh and Matt is Candian by the way...so, as Crystal put it, we were like the beginning of a joke!  Haha!  There was an American, a Canadian, a Columbian, and a Swiss guy...   Everyone said that there was a really cool club party going on at a bar on a different island.  On our way to the dock, we ran into Jorell and Jamie (small island, I guess!).  So, we paid $1 for the water taxi to take all of us there.    Awesome!  The whole place was outdoors, on a dock, because the weather is so beautiful.  There was even a hole cut into the center of the dock, that they used as a pool.  People were jumping off a little tower that was built next to it.   After we got tired of that place, Jorell and Jamie went home, but the boys and I went to the next dock party.  Apparently they were everywhere!  We got tired and headed to bed pretty late, but we had so much fun!!  Before separating, we decided to meet Pat at 10am in order to go to the beach all day Sunday.  Yay!   Sunday, September 6 Mateo and I woke up around 9am, meet Pat at 10am, chat with the girl at the front desk about the best beaches to go to.  She told us that we should check out the Pueblo de Bastimentos because it is a really cool little village that is more real and rustic instead of being as touristy as the island we were on.  Then, she said that we can take the path to the other side of the island and go to a beautiful beach.  Cool!   Before we headed to Bastimentos, we wanted to get some breakfast.  We found this awesome restaurant called Lily's that sells "Killing Me Man Sauce".  Haha we did not try any, but it sounded fun!    ( Killing Me Man Sauce ) I ordered Lily's version of french toast...it had cinnamon and a bunch of nuts on top!  Yum!  The restaurant was beautiful too!  Right on the water!! Then, we catch a water taxi that takes us to Bastimentos (the name of another island).    ( On the Boat with Matt )   ( On the boat with Patrik ) The village is really neat.  Everyone was very nice to us.    ( Bastimentos )   ( Bastimentos 2 ) After walking through the village, we start to look for the path to the beach.  A few locals point the way for us.  Once we get about 5 minutes in, though, we just hit a house.  We don't know where else to go.  So, we assumed we made a wrong turn.  I asked one of the ladies again and she says that we were right.  OK cool, turn around and go back again.  We see a few tourists come out of what appears to be someone's back yard.  Yup!  Thats the path!   ( Someone's Backyard )   Whatever, so we start climbing.  I get to the top of the hill and take a bunch of pictures while Mateo and  Pat keep walking.  They are trying to be gentlemen and wait for me, but I just keep disappearing and taking pictures of the awesome scenery around us.    ( Our Path 1 )   ( Our Path 2 )   ( Our Path 3 )   ( Our Path 4 )   ( Our Path 5 )   ( I'm in the Rainforest!! )   Well, we were all so distracted by nature that we were not looking at the sky.  About 20 minutes into our walk, it starts to rain...which quickly turns to pouring!  Mateo tells everyone to put their valuables in a plastic bag that he happened to have in his backpack.  Then, we decided to keep going.  We were already 20 minutes in, the beach couldn't be that much further and it would take us forever to get back anyway.    So, we keep walking through the rainforest, getting wetter and wetter and wetter...and the ground beneath us is also getting wetter and wetter and wetter...which means muddier, slipperier, and grosser!  Once the mud sucked up my sandals for the third time (we were only wearing beach clothes and sandals because we only expected a short jont over to the beach like yesterday...not an all-terrain hike through the depths of the rainforest during a storm!), I decided to just take off my sandals and carry them.  It sounds terrible, but it was actually safer to walk barefoot because at least I could get my footing to be more stable than slipping around in my cheap sandals.  Eventually Mateo and Pat did the same.    It was so unexpected and nasty, but so hysterically funny the entire time!!  OMG we could not stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation!  I just kept imagining that if I were to fall and eat it in the middle of the rainforest, I would have laughed so hard!!    Mateo decides that he wants to keep the rain off his head, so he grabs a giant leaf and holds it over his head...he called it his "umbrella".  Pat found an "umbrella" for himself a few minutes later.  They offered to get me one, but I was having too much fun laughing at theirs that I just did not need one.  We just kept trekking along, trying not to fall, and listening to the nasty squish sound that our feet made every time we took a step.   About an hour or so later, we finally see the sea!  It was absolutely worth every single nasty, squishy, dirty step that we took to get there!  (Wizard Beach, by the way.)   ( Wizard Beach )   ( Playa Wizard )   All of our stuff and our clothes are already muddy and drenched, so we were not worried about where to put anything.  However, we did find a random bucket in the forest, so we used that to cover the valuables (cameras, phones, etc) from further damage.  Then, we just ran into the sea.  The water felt so warm because it was colder outside from the rain and we were already wet.  The air was definitely was NOT cold by any standards, though...I just wanna put that out there.  It felt perfect!!   Maybe 20 minutes later, the rain finally started to lighten up and eventually stopped completely.  The three of us decided to get out of the water and ring out our clothes so that they might possibly have the chance to dry.  We hung them over logs and sticks.   ( Our Camp/Clothes Drying )   ( Finally Relaxed! )   ( All of Us )   ( One More... )   Our day continued with lots of getting in and out of the water, reading books, taking pictures, etc.  Then, Mateo looks over to our left and sees these two random horses!  We don't know where they came from or what they were doing there, but they definitely got their own photo shoot!   ( Horses?!?! )   Mateo says "hey, take my picture with them!" He gets about 20 feet away from them, then tries to get closer...they start to run away!  Haha!   When they get back and more comfortable, I decided to try.  I walked up slowly and they were a bit hesitant, but I got some pictures much closer!  As the day went on, I was actually able to pet one of them!  Very cool!!  However, they were a bit weird because they were just standing and staring at the water for HOURS!!  I don't know if it was the first time that they had ever seen waves or what, but they just did not move!   ( Me and the Horses )   ( I Touched One!! )   ( EXTREME Close Up!!! )   After the horse photo shoot was over, a little dog wanted to hang out with Mateo and Pat while they were reading...just making friends with the locals, I guess!   ( Matt's Dog )   And a big crab...   ( Crab )   Before we left, Mateo decided to be a bit primitive.  He found a chayote that he had never tried before.  We have them in San Jose, but he wanted to try it.  So, I have some pics of him trying to break open the chayote with a stick, then walking it over to the water to wash it off, then trying to eat it.    ( Breaking the Chayote )   ( Washing it off )   ( ¡Qué Gross! ) THEN, he made a hat out of his "umbrella".  He grabbed some roots and made string, then put them under his chin and tied the two sides of the leaf to it.  Haha!    ( Boys and their Umbrellas )   ( Matt made a Hat! ) Then he decided to go "spear fishing"...   ( I got a stick... )   ( wait for it... )   ( Hi-yah! )   ( sad! ) Next, he decided to add a few leaves and make an entire "Rain Coat"   ( The entire Rain Coat ) Maybe my dog wants one too!   ( Dogs ) Group Photo on the way out!!   ( Adios Playa Wizard! ) He even walked almost half way back up the path with his "umbrella" on!!   ( Hiking back )   Our feet squished and squashed their way all the way back to the village.  The sandals came off pretty early this time because we were now "experienced".  That sensation of fresh, dirty, mud between your toes is something unforgettable, let me tell you!!  Que gross!!   ( Dirty Feet! )   Once we got back to the village, we were just a bunch of dirty-looking gringos wandering through town.  A woman stopped us on the street and offered to let us use the faucet that she had in her backyard so that we could clean up!  So nice!!   We took another water taxi back to Isla Colon, got cleaned up, etc.  A little while later, we met Pat for dinner.  It was another really cool restaurant right on the water!  I think that almost every single restaurant, bar, club, etc was on the water...just because it was so easily accessible.   ( Dinner on the Water )   After dinner, we met up with Felipe again randomly.  So weird!  The four of us found a new bar to check out and spent most of the night there.  It was good times!  Then, we exchanged emails and info with Felipe and Pat before going our separate ways.  Sad!  Gotta catch the 8am taxi back to the mainland to head home...BOO!!   ( Colombia, Canada, Switzerland, USA )   Monday, September 7 Our final day in Bocas del Toro began with a super-creepy wake up call.  Basically, the door kept opening and closing for a while....then Mateo finally got up to figure out what it was and it was the morning guy coming to wake us up...weirdo!   We grabbed all of our stuff and headed out...no time for breakfast!  Sad!  Oh well.  We took the water taxi 30 mins back to the mainland, then a regular taxi back to the bus station.  However, this time we got on the right bus!  It went straight from the Panamanian side of the border to San Jose!  Of course, it had to stop at the border, everyone had to get out, show their "flight itineraries" saying they are leaving Costa Rica within 90 days, check the luggage, get passports stamped, etc.  Then, it was a nice smooth ride all the way back to San Jose.  OMG sooooooooooooooo much easier than the way there on Friday!!  We got back around 330pm.   Amazingly fantastic and unforgettable trip!!  In case you did not get the moral of this story: VISIT PANAMA!! Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: I'm with you - Linkin Park (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
4:50 pm	San Jose Feria Nicole and I went for a walk about 30 minutes from my apartment. The feria is open every Saturday and has a RIDICULOUS amount of fresh fruit!! Mountains upon Mountains!!! ( Fruit 1 ) ( Fruit 2 ) ( Fruit 3 ) ( Fruit 4 ) ( Fruit 5 ) ( Fruit 6 ) There is also a flea market there. Lots of stuff to see, eat, and check out! ( Flea Market 1 ) ( Flea Market ) ( Flea Market 3 ) Then, we decided to stop for some food. Gallo Pinto (Rice and Beans...), scrambled eggs, and sausage. The eggs and sausage were tasty!! :D ( Breakfast ) There was also a guy there making shaved ice. He was literally shaving the ice. I know that I sound spoiled, but I have never seen it done without a machine... ( Shaved Ice 1 ) ( Shaved Ice 2 ) This guy is drinking the juice out of a coconut. That is extremely common and quite yummy!! ( Pipa ) Before we left, Nicole and I got some fresh squeezed lemonade! ( Lemonade ) Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Big Bang Theory (Comment on this)
Monday, August 17th, 2009
3:05 pm	Poas (8/16) So, since the trip was postponed from last weekend to this weekend, we are FINALLY ready to go to Poas. Hooray!! The best part was that we didn't even have to take a bus!! Eli's cousin's boyfriend (haha yeah, thats what I said...) William, drives a taxi van. He picked everyone up and drove us there for free! :) So, on Sunday morning (yesterday), we went to Poas, a volcano about 2 hours outside of San Jose. The three of us were picked up first. ( Bus Stop ) Then, we drove to Escazú to pick up a few of Eli's cousins: Ana (William's girlfriend), Marta, Maria, and Maria's son Mario Esteban. Then, we drove into the hills of Escazú to pick up Eli's other cousin Flori. Yes, Marta, Maria, Ana, and Flori are all sisters. So, we chatted the whole way up the volcano, grabbed some snacks and drinks at a little store on the way up, then parked at the entrance to the national park. Hee hee, we cheated the system a bit...Costa Rican's get into all national parks for the equivalent of about a dollar. All foreigners have to pay about 5 dollars...no joke! So, William told the people at the gate that we were all Costa Ricans and he just bought all of our tickets for the cheaper price. Yay! Once we parked, we all entered this HUGE national park. It was really cool because Mario Esteban is really interested in rain forests and nature, so he knows a lot of random facts about everything! Also, he was able to look around and find all kinds of little animals, insects, weird plants, etc. that I never would have noticed if I had been walking around there without him. Awesome! ( Exploration 1 ) ( Pig´s Leaf ) In case anyone is curious, Poas has the biggest crater ON EARTH!! Just thought you might like to know. :) We hiked all the way up to see the crater, which smelled HORRIBLY of sulfur! Yes, I know that I should have expected that, but it was WAY worse than I ever expected! Especially since I have such a horrible sense of smell! I cannot imagine what it must have been like for someone with a normal nose! It was really cool, though! There was a fog that would come and go across the crater. So, if you waited long enough, you could see it, but not all the time. It was almost a surprise whether you would see it or not! Haha! ( Crater 1 ) ( Crater 2 ) ( Crater 3 ) Well, the hike is definitely NOT done at this point. We still have to see the lake! Yes, there is a lake at the top of the volcano. It was beautiful, actually! We did not go swimming or anything, but it definitely was a sight to see! ( Lake 1 ) ( Lake 2 ) ( Lake 3 ) Then we hiked all the way back down and checked out some more plants, animals, and insects thanks to Mario Esteban. Good times! ( Exploration 2 ) ( Exploration 3 ) ( My Big Leaf ) ( Exploration 4 ) When we got back to the van...it was time for lunch! The only issue was finding a good location. So, we all got back in and looked around for the perfect spot. Unfortunately, it started to rain! Picnics in the rain are not usually very successful... ( Taxi Van ) ( The Girls ) A few minutes later, we spotted it! The perfect spot! It was a little abandoned house! How much better could it get? We had a roof, walls, a table with benches, and window sills for extra seating! Our tummys were rumbling like crazy by this point. As soon as we got there everyone jumped out of the car with their prize dish and ran to the house through the rain. In less than ten minutes, the buffet was ready. We had hard boiled eggs, fresh pineapple/watermelon/strawberries/etc, bean dip, chips, potato salad, pasta salad, and oh so much more! Everything was fabulously tasty! I cannot even accurately describe it! ( Shelter! ) ( Picnic 1 ) ( Picnic 2 ) After our picnic, we headed back down the volcano to civilization. About halfway down, we reached the coffee plantation. You could LITERALLY smell coffee in the air! Although I personally think that regular, black coffee tastes like dirt, I LOVE the smell. It was amazing! So needless to say, we had to stop at the cute little cafe that was on the plantation. All of the coffees were made fresh from their own coffee beans. I even drank coffee there! I mean, I just had to! :) I liked it a lot! ( Plantation 1 ) ( Plantation 2 ) Group Picture!! From left to right, we have Eli, Marta, William, Ana, Flori, Maria, Mario Esteban. Then on the bottom is Meagan and me. :) ( The Awesome Group!! ) We chatted for about an hour at the plantation coffee shop before driving the rest of the way home. It was a long day, but fabulously fun! Here are some more pictures from the drive home. Yay! ( William and Ana ) ( More Girls! ) Current Mood: hyper Current Music: "Such as it Ends" by Ludo (Comment on this)
Monday, August 10th, 2009
4:34 pm	My first trip to the mountains! (8/9) Well, it has been a while since I have gone anywhere. I have become really good friends with Elizabeth (Eli), my next door neighbor, recently. We chat at least two or three times a week. She has even chatted with Saul on the webcam a few times! Haha! AND she is going to help me make zucchini bread in her oven soon! (since I don't have one...) She has invited me to her family lunches that they have almost every Sunday at her parents' house in Santa Ana. They try to get the family together as much as possible and they are all ridiculously sweet!! I have only gone three times, but each of those times, we usually sit on the front porch for about an hour or two while Eli's mom makes lunch, coffee, tea, etc. Her garden is awesome! But nothing compared to my mom's garden!!! :D Then everyone comes in and we chat around the table for a while longer until everyone decides to go home. The whole event takes about 4 hours. Its good times! Anyway, we had a family gathering for just the cousins one time. Eli drove me out to Escazú to meet her cousins who don't usually come to the family dinners...I guess they are the other side of the family or something, I don't know. So I got to meet all of her cousins and a few friends. That was A LOT of fun too! We all had such a great time that we decided to plan a trip. And they realized that I had not seen a volcano yet, so they had to fix that... :D THEN everyone got really excited and we decided to make it a pot-luck day! Everyone agreed to bring a different dish and then we would have a picnic lunch on the volcano! Unfortunately, a few different things came up, so most of the cousins and other participants could not make it to the volcano. So, we postponed the trip to next weekend. Oh well! To compensate, Eli, her cousin Marta, and I decided to go to the mountains instead. I have not been there yet either! I suck, I know! Anyway, Eli drove us up into the mountains of Heredia. It took us about an hour and a half to get up there. During this time, we all just chatted and giggled about many random, ridiculous things. So fun! On the way, we saw a truck parade. I have no idea what it was for, but there were TONS of semi's in a line, decorated with balloons, ribbons, name plates for the trucks, etc. It was really weird, but so fun to see!! ( Truck Parade ) We went to a cafe in this adorable little hotel. It had several different little cabins that looked like they were perfect for a honeymoon. Each cabin was a different, very bright color. The whole place was in the middle of the forest. If they did not previously know that this hotel was there, I have no idea how they would have found it! Even once we got there, there was absolutely NOTHING in all directions!! Beautiful! ( Hotel 1 ) ( Hotel 2 ) Pig was there too!! :D ( Pig at the Hotel ) We went inside and checked the place out. Apparently it was very different from how Eli and Marta remembered it. They said that they were hoping to take me somewhere a lot cooler, but I was excited with what I saw! Everything was gorgeous! I could have sad there all day and just watched the animals and plants doing their thing. ( The Group ) After leaving the hotel, we drove around and looked at the forest, the very very few houses that were up there, and just the general nature around us. I was completely in awe at how beautiful it was up there. I have spent so much time in the city that I really have not gotten into the nature of Costa Rica, which is crazy because that is why most people go to Costa Rica. I realized how limited my experience has been. Yes, I have gone to a few different beaches and traveled a bit, but for most people who come for only a week or two, they tend to see WAY more stuff than I have. Its kind of ridiculous, actually. I just need to get out of the city more. After exploring for a bit, we found a tasty little soda (its a small restaurant that is family owned and usually serves very very good, very very cheap food...they are EVERYWHERE in Costa Rica!). We even had this weird little dessert that Eli and Marta always ate as kids. Its like a popsicle made from milk, chocolate, and rice. Very weird, but very tasty! Of course, by the time we finished, we ate WAY too much. Haha! That tends to happen when everything is so cheap! So, we decided to walk or fatty-selves around for a while before getting back in the car. We found this gorgeous little church overlooking the city. It had an amazing view!! We also walked to a pulperia that was hidden in a corner. A pulperia is like a corner store. They tend to have everything that you could ever need, but they have a maximum capacity of about 4. Haha! We chatted with the owner for a few minutes and bought some water for the ride home. Our excursion concluded with some more good conversation all the way home. Those ladies are so much fun! and just plain hilarious! Thanks Eli and Marta! :D ( Ladies + Pig ) Current Mood: refreshed Current Music: "Jack's Lament" by All American Rejects (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
1:56 pm	The adventures to, in, and from Nicaragua... (7/25-7/26) Before I begin, let me preface this entry by saying that I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing or even where to go. Everyone that I talked to about my trip to Nicaragua said that we should go to one of the touristy, party cities. However, I was not really into that, so we decided to find a slightly more mellow location. Jane and Gabriel have crossed the border into Nicaragua several times because they have lived on tourist visas in Costa Rica for a while. For those of you who don’t know, I am going to remind you what the purpose in our little vacation is and what a tourist visa is… Anyone who enters Costa Rica as a tourist (someone who is not a resident, or does not have a work visa) MUST leave the country every 90 days. Honestly, no one really checks this (especially if you are not from Central or South America), but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, my 90 days is not up until August 12th, but Jane’s is running out, so I figured that I would just leave early and go with her anyway. I mean, why not take advantage of traveling to another country with a good friend when I can? Anyway, it’s now bright and early on a Saturday morning, July 25th. I meet Jane and Gabriel outside the apartment. We have to catch the 6am bus to the border. Unbeknownst to us, we had to chase down the bus that would take us downtown to the bus station. Haha! I think that we missed at least 2 buses on our way! Pretty ridiculous! Anyway, we made it to the station in time and we claimed the back three seats so that we could all sit together. The ride was pretty long, hot, sweaty, and crowded. I tried to sleep for a little bit, but it did not really work out so well. Pig had a pretty fantastic time, though! He had a personal photo shoot all weekend long!! Pretty much anywhere that you could possibly take the little guy, he posed without complaint! I think the best part was that Gabriel loved him so much! That kid never wanted to let Pig take a nap! Haha! Just wait and see… First of all, here is Pig's official personal photographer, Gabriel! ( Gabriel ) And here are his works of art... ( Pig 1 ) ( Pig 2 ) ( Pig 3 ) ( Pig 4 ) ( Pig 5 ) ( Pig 6 ) ( Pig 7 ) About halfway to the Nicaragua border, our bus broke down. Yup! As if the ride was not taking long enough, let’s just pull over for a little while and hang out on the side of the road! That sounds like fun to me!! ( In Need of Roadside Assistance! ) Oh well…we got to chat it up with some cows while we waited! By the way, I think that the Costa Rican cows are the weirdest cows I have ever seen!! Check out the skin under their chins… ( Cows 1 ) ( Cows 2 ) ( Pig and Cows! haha ) About a decade and a half later, we FINALLY made it to the border. It is POURING rain!! There is thick, nasty, wet mud everywhere. We were definitely not looking forward to walking through that in order to cross the border, but you gotta do what you gotta do! However, the line is ridiculously long and we are hungry. Jane said that there is nowhere good to eat for quite a while, so we might as well eat before we cross…and let the line go down a bit. We went to this little restaurant that was very cute and empty. Arroz con Pollo!! Yum! ( Arroz con Pollo ) While we waited for our food, Gabriel showed me around the restaurant and the little farm in the back. (He has been there so many times already that he knows exactly what to see…even at this tiny restaurant!) There was a goat, several roosters, chickens, and some dogs. Poor Pig... ( Run Pig Run! ) After lunch, we trudged back through the mud...Welcome to Nicaragua!! Haha! ( Bienvenidos a Nicaragua ) Once we finally crossed the border, (covered in mud!) we took a super-long, super-cheap taxi ride into Rivas, one of the main cities. We decided to look around there for a while before we headed over to the Island of Ometepe where we wanted to go. Of course, we look totally awesome wandering around this city with our huge backpacks on. This is NOT a touristy city, by the way, so we just look foolish…not that I cared in the slightest! ( Backpacking in Nicaragua ) ( Church ) ( Jane and Gabriel at Church ) We found a really cool church facing one of the main parks in the city. We sat there for a little while and had some ice cream. When we were done seeing the city, we hopped into another taxi and headed over to the lake shore. The Lake of Nicaragua is HUGE, by the way…you should look it up! We bought our tickets for the ferry, but it did not leave for about another hour. So, just to kill time, we walked around for a while. We played on the beach bordering the lake and we found a tree with real monkeys! I mean, they were pet monkeys chained to the tree (which was sad), but it was still pretty cool to see them. They were using their chains as vines and swinging all over the place! ( Monkey ) ( Pig getting some sun... ) After about an hour, we could finally get on the ferry. It was a pretty long ride, but it was smooth, beautiful, and we had a lot of fun! ( Ferry Fun 1 ) ( Ferry Fun 2 ) ( Ferry Fun 3 ) ( Ferry Sunset ) ( Ferry Fun Four (FFF) ) Gabriel even made friends with the captain and a few passengers. He made sure to have them pose with Pig! Good times!! ( El Cap-I-Tain! ) ( Pig's Friend, the Captain ) ( Pig's other friend...some lady! ) Eventually, we arrived at our destination. The island was very mellow, quiet, cute, and absolutely NOT touristy at all! Perfect! We found a little hotel to crash for the night, then headed out to dinner. Check out how cool this hotel is!! ( Hotel 1 ) ( Hotel 2 ) We ate at a little pizza place up the street. The three of us toasted with our beers and grape juice, laughed, told some random stories, broke a glass, and made merry for about two hours. ( Toast! ) When we left, we wandered the city for about 20 minutes before we were ready to fall into the deepest sleep of our lives! We were exhausted!! The next morning, we woke up to some crazy hot heat! I thought we were going to suffocate in our room it was so hot!! Immediately, we got out of bed, showered, and headed out to breakfast. I had the BEST pancakes I have had in AGES!!! It was a bit random that I was eating amazing pancakes in Nicaragua, but it’s true. :D ( Mmmmmm... ) ( Love Pancakes... ) After breakfast, we walked around town for a bit longer. We did some souvenir shopping, chatting with a few locals, took LOTS of pictures, and just had an all around good time. We did not even do anything that was specifically memorable, but the day was fantastic! This is a cool little store that we found in town…Jane bought some shoes here. ( Shoe Store ) Here is a neat view of the main street. ( Some street on Ometepe ) Aquí you can see a view of the lake from the island. ( Lago de Nicaragua ) Cute little house in town! Its yellow, so I thought of Aubrey! :) ( Aubrey's House ) Unfortunately, we had to catch the 4pm ferry off the island and begin the ridiculously long trek back home. :( Bummer!!! The ferry was very similar to the previous one, but still fun! Oh the pictures we took…haha! Here is Jane checking out one of the TWO volcanoes that are on this island...in the middle of a lake. ( Jane's view ) And Pig found a lifesaver...just in case anyone needs him, he is ready! :) ( My Hero! ) When we crossed back into Costa Rica, it was not raining, but there was still quite a bit of mud. We got all sorts of dirty and muddy all over again before heading back to the restaurant with the animals and awesome arroz con pollo! Haha! (When you find something good, stick with it!) Goodbye Nicaragua...Hello Costa Rica! ( Welcome Back! ) Fortunately, our bus ride back was not as long as the first one…and the bus continued to function the entire way! Hooray!! We got home very late on Sunday evening and I completely crashed!! I have to recharge my batteries before work tomorrow. Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Nada...sad! (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
11:30 pm	Puerto Viejo (6/26 - 6/28) At orientation for Job #2 last week, I met several really cool people.  Everyone has been very friendly, helpful, and fun.  So, one of the new teachers, Russ, asked everyone what they were doing that weekend.  Almost everyone had something to do, but I was free.  So, the two of us decided to get out of town for the weekend and head to the beach.  Neither of us had seen anything on Costa Rica's Carribean side (Manuel Antonio is on the Pacific side), so we decided on Puerto Viejo.   I had class with Catalina on Friday from 8-10am, but I told Russ that I would meet him afterward.  I scurried home after class in order to finish packing my backpack for the weekend.  Russ met me at my apt at noon and we headed out on the 130pm bus.    We spent the entire bus ride chatting and getting to know each other because I really did not know much about him before.  I know that sounds terrible that I just agreed to go away for the weekend with a person that I did not know, but I had already spent the interview the week before, and all three orientation days with him.  I did not know everything about him, but I knew enough to tell that he was a good person and I felt safe spending the weekend with him.   Anyway, he is 55 year old guy from Boston.  He has three daughters and a son.  He and his wife divorced a few years ago and he just decided to escape from the crazy lifestyle that he had been living and try something new.  Russ arrived in Costa Rica about 2 months before I did.   The bus rest stop was in Limon.  We did not see much in the 20 minutes that we spent there, but it was enough time for us to stretch our legs and have a beer.  Haha!  The total ride took about 5 hours...bleh!!   Everone that we talked to about Puerto Viejo said that the best beaches and the cleanest hotels are further down the main road from the bus station.  (The entire city of Puerto Viejo is on the same road.  The bus leaves you at one end, where most of the tourists, clubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc. are.)  So, we decided to take a little walk with our backpacks to find out how much hotels will cost further down the road.  Also, Russ refused to stay in a hostel, which is what I am used to when I travel, so we had to compromise and find a cheap hotel.  Haha!  After about an hour, we found a clean, cheap, hotel that we could both agree on.  :)  It was called Hotel Mango!   By the time we got to the hotel and settled in a bit, it was too dark to see the beaches or take any good pictures.  So, we decided to just wander back to town and see what we could find.  We found a really cool little restaurant that had the greatest Sangria!  It also had really good food, which was surprising because most of Costa Rica does not have anything super-exciting to eat.  As long as you don't get your hopes too high, though, you are ok.  The key: keep your expectations very low!  In all honestly, I don't know if this restaurant actually had good food or if it was just because of my low expectations that the food was so tasty.  I don't care, though, because I was happy!  :D   While we were sitting there, we chatted some more and struck up a converstation with some people sitting at the table next to us.  We talked about the lifestyle here vs. the US and about politics and all sorts of stuff.  It was good times!   The rest of the night, we just wandered the town and checked out the shops...they were open surprisingly late!!  Also, my favorite part of the whole trip, we found Mari.  OMG she is my new favorite person ever!!  She was a little old lady who stood at one of the intersections in Puerto Viejo with her portable bbq and cooked chicken, beef, and pork skewers.  They were less than $2 a piece!  They were by FAR the tastiest things that I have had since I arrived in Costa Rica!!  Mari and I even exchanged phone numbers so that she could bring me fresh fruit and skewers the next time she is in Puerto Viejo!!   And so ends night one... ________________________________________________   On Saturday morning, we woke up at around 730 or 8am because it was so hot in our room that we just couldn't stay there anymore.  Its ok, though, we wanted to get our day started anyway!  :)  When we woke up, our first thought was food.  We put on our bathing suits under our clothes, grabbed a few things to be out for the day, and hit the road.  We wandered until we saw this place called Rockin Jay's.  This place was ridiculously cool!!  It was a hostel and a restaurant right on the beach.   We wandered around for a bit and took a bunch of pictures.  There are no rooms in the hostel, everything is tents!  I am not so into sleeping in a tent if I don't have to, but the rest of the place was cool!   All over the restaurant and hostel, there were mosaics, paintings, and just weird stuff all over!!   ( Rockin Jay's 1 )   ( Rockin Jay's 2 )     ( Rockin Jay's 3 )   ( Me and Russell at Rockin Jay's )    For breakfast, we ordered a fruit crepe and breakfast burritos.  OMG more amazing food!!!  I think our weekend in Puerto Viejo was collectively the best food I have had in two months!!    Also, Russ decided to get us a cocktail to go with our breakfast.  However, this was not just any cocktail...it was centenerio (Costa Rican rum) and orange juice.  That sounds normal so far, but when I tell you how he ordered it, you will understand how amazing it was!!  Haha!  He ordered (direct quote here): "[insert super-white accent here] jugo de naranja yyyyy centenario en una bbbzzzzzsssshhhh bbbzzzzzsssshhhh bbbzzzzzsssshhhh" (as he motions to shake a blender)  HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  I think that had to be the funniest moment of the entire trip!!  Maybe you don't think it is quite as funny as I did, but I swear it was priceless!!   After breakfast, we decided to rent a moped for the day.  It was getting a bit irritating to keep walking 30 minutes back and forth between the hotel and the rest of the town.  Also, we really wanted to see some of the other beaches and other potential cities along the beach. Us and the Moped! ( Me + Bike ) ( Russ + Bike )   Well, Russ used to fly jets in the Navy, so he was convinced that he could drive a moped.  Oh boy...jk.  He struggled a bit at first, but he figured it out pretty quickly.  Once he knew what he was doing and he seemed like a relatively safe driver, I hopped on the back.  We rode up and down the main road all day.  We stopped at any beach that struck our fancy and swam.  Then, we would get out and travel to the next beach.  It was amazing because once you got out of the main area of town, there was literally NO ONE around.  We had all of the beaches to ourselves.  Fantastic! ( Beach #1 ) ( Beach #2 ) Between the beach and the street was the forest.  Crazy! ( Forest ) ( Beach Forest ) ( Crazy Crab ) ( More Forest ) ( Me on the Beach ) ( Beach 2 )   Around 3pm, we decided to just keep heading down the road to see where we would end up.  We found a small town called Manzanillo that is right on the border to Panama.  We snacked and chatted on the beach there for about an hour.  Then, I wanted to try driving the moped for a while...and failed miserably.  Haha I almost fell over and I could not have been going more than 10 mph.  I am awesome like that, I know.  After that, I bought a really cool necklace from a little girl selling jewelery on the street, and we headed back to Puerto Viejo...but we stopped at another random beach before we got there!  Haha!  We couldn't resist!! Here are some pics from Manzanillo: ( Manzanillo 1 ) ( Manzanillo 2 ) ( Manzanillo 3 ) ( Us Again )   Our second evening was similar to the one before.  We ate more amazing food, had a few drinks, wandered the town, danced in a little club for a bit, visited Mari at least 4 times (pretty much every time that we passed her going anywhere, we had to stop and buy a skewer and chat for a bit!), then headed back to Mango. _________________________________________________   Sunday morning began just as early as Saturday...still hot and muggy!  We remembered seeing a fun-looking breakfast spot on the road out of town, toward Manzanillo.  So, we decided to eat there.  Unfortunately, we could not find it again, so we turned around and went back to town.  :(  Oh well!  We found a brightly-colored little shack of a restaurant that was run by a few people who could not have been much older than me.  The food was unbelieveable...yet again!   We still had the moped until 2pm, so we made the best of it!  We drove back up the street to our favorite beach that we found on Saturday.  Until about 12, when we had to head back to the hotel to get our stuff and to town to return the bike, we swam and layed out on that beach! Here is Russ on the bike on the path in front of our hotel room. ( Hotel Forest )   Once the moped was back, we just hung around in town with our backpacks.  There are a TON of little shops all over the place where you can buy some crazy tourist stuff or some really neat hand made jewelery, decorations, paintings, etc.  This is a picture of Raquel's booth, where I bought a really cool painted feather that I put up on my wall! ( Raquel ) We spent about 2 hours shopping, checking everything out, and eating more of Mari's skewers.  I even took a picture with her! ( Mari )    Then, we went back to the first restaurant for some more swesome food and sangria before we hopped on the 5pm bus back to San Jose. ( Final Sangria ) I slept the whole way back!!  However, before I crashed out, I exposed Russ to some Avenue Q!!  Haha!!  He definitely feel in love and he wants to go see the musical when he gets back to the states!!  Guess what, Crystal!  We have corrupted another one!!!!!!  :D Current Mood: dorky Current Music: Sounds of the Internet Cafe... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
9:39 pm	One of my WORST days in Costa Rica... OMG today was TERRIBLE!!!  As if I don't hate Thursdays enough as it is, lets just go and make it worse, shall we??   So, I wake up at 5:30am on this gloomy, rainy morning.  I put on some clothes, make myself a super tasty bowl of oatmeal (sarcasm, btw), and jump on the bus by 6am.  I get out to my first class, then to my private class that I have afterward.  Fine.  No major problems except that I hate the buses in San Jose, no surprise there.  Then I head home for a few short hours.   Well, about 20 minutes before I need to leave for my night class, it starts to rain...again.  However, it does not just rain, it DOWN POURS!!  Seriously, more horses and cows than the last time!!  It rains so hard that it actually cloggs the drainage pipes and floods our apartment.  No joke!!  The entire entry way, Meagan's room, and half of the living room and kitchen are just covered in water.  Awful!!   Then, just as quickly as it started, the rain stopped.  It MIGHT have rained for 20 minutes, no more than that.  However, those 20 minutes managed to flood our apartment.  Oh and guess who does NOT even have a mop to clean that business up...US!!  Nope, no mop, not even towels.  We have about three small cleaning towels, thats it.  Well, a normal person would take this as a hint and call the office and cancel class for the day.  Well, in case you were not sure, I am not normal.  I cannot do anything the easy way.  So, I look at the mess for a bit longer and say, "well that sucks, but I have to go to work" and so does my roommate.  We both leave everything exactly where it is and we leave for work.   Well, apparently this was the wrong decision because every possible thing that could have happened to me did.  I walk to the bus stop, where there are literally about 35 people waiting for the bus.  This NEVER happens!  At most, I will wait with about 4 other people.  Well, I guess because of the rain, everyone wanted to take the bus.  When it gets to our stop, it is already full.  There is not even standing room!  However, the driver lets about 4 new people on.  Yup!  I get to wait for the next bus.  About 10 minutes later, the next bus comes...same story.  Another 5 people get on.  You have got to be kidding me!  It is not even raining anymore!  Another 15 minutes go by...I know I am going to be late, but I still have to go to class.  So I wait for bus #3.  This one is pretty full, but somehow the rest of us manage to get on.  I am standing the entire 45 minutes that it takes to get in to the city.  Usually this ride only takes 30 minutes, but traffic was AWFUL!!   I finally get off of this clown car that we call a bus, and speed walk over to my next bus stop.  Oh yeah, that bus is completely full too.  Here I am, waiting again...Bus #2 comes and I am able to hop on.  Great...NOT!!  The bus goes about 5 minutes outside of the city and stops.  Dead stop.  We are sitting there for about 20 minutes without moving at all!!!  No one can even get out and walk because we are in the middle of the road and the driver refuses to open the door.  So, we just wait.  Another 20 minutes goes by and we are finally on the side of the street, so we can get out.  Me and about 10 other people decide to walk.  About 15 minutes later, I arrive at the car dealership.  However, it is definitely about 5:50pm...my class started at 5pm.  Awesome!!  It turns out that a bridge going to Heredia (another major city outside of San Jose) was seriously messed up by the rain and no one could cross it.   Needless to say, the class was cancelled.  So, what do I get to do??  Walk across the street and hop on the bus back into San Jose.  Fun!!  (sarcasm...yet again...in case that was not clear by now)  :D  Yay!  The traffic is not quite as bad in this direction, but it is still rush hour.  It takes another hour and a half to get home...to the flood that I did not feel like cleaning up earlier.  Almost forgot about that, didn't you??  I sure did!!   To sum up my evening: my apt flooded, I was a dumb ass and left it that way so I could go to work, I get stuck on the bus for 2 hours - in order to NOT have class - then get back on the bus for almost another 2 hours, and come back home to the same flood that I was trying to avoid.  Absolutely Horrendous...   Current Mood: cranky Current Music: Te Busque by Nelly Fertado (Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
5:10 pm	New Job! On Friday the 19th, I had an interview.  Soluciones Idiomaticas was just not giving me enough hours.  I guess I cannot complain too much because most ESL teachers out here are lucky to get 20 hours, which is what I am working right now.  However, if I can get another few hours from another company, why not?  I am used to working more hours anyway, so it won't hurt me.   My interview was more of an orientation than an interview, to be honest.  I felt like all four of us in the room already had the job.  The manager and guy who we talked to for about three hours, is very very honest.  He does not take bull shit from anyone and he does not expect anyone to give it to him.  I like this guy already!!  This company teaches a completely different type of language aquisition.  They keep all explanations to a minimum.  There is no reason that you need to know what a past participle is in order to say "I have been to Paris."  This completely makes sense.  Do any of you know what a past participle is??  Or how about an auxiliary anything??  I definitely did not know most of these terms until I started teaching, so don't be ashamed if you don't know either.   Anyway, he explained how the company is completely different from other language institutions.  First of all, they have a regular rotation of teachers.  This is a great idea for several reasons: 1) Students are exposed to several different types of accents and teaching styles.  2) If for whatever reason, a student does not like a teacher, they just send the manager an email and that teacher is taken out with no questions asked.  This shows excellent customer service and no one's feelings get hurt because no one ever knows why there was a rotation.  Rotations happen all the time!  Sometimes you might be with a class for a few weeks.  Other times, you might just be covering for a day.  3) With the rotation of teachers, it is WAY easier to give teachers the time off that they want.  He understands that most teachers are in Costa Rica to explore, learn Spanish, travel, etc.  Now, it is easy for them to do so.  VERY COOL!!!  It also helps when finding coverage if a teacher has to call in sick or something.    However, in order for this rotation to work, the company created syllibi for every single class at every single level.  No joke!!  When working for this company, you don't have to make any of your own lesson plans.  Because making lesson plans, creating an organize syllibus, and being completely responsible for anyone's language learning is  extremely difficult to do well without a LOT of experience, there are several people in Switzerland who created all of the lesson plans.  As a teacher, all I have to do is walk in, look at the class folder to see where the previous class left off, and start up at that same point.  It works out fantastically!!   After the interview on Friday, we were told that we have to attend three days of orientation before we can begin teaching.  They were on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 9-12.  However, I had class every day until 9, and it takes about 45 mins to get to the office.  So, I just came late and everyone was totally ok with it.  Everything worked out nicely.   On the first day of orientation, I had no idea where I was going.  There are two different offices - one in San Jose and one in Santa Ana.  My interview was in San Jose, but the orientation was in Santa Ana.  So, I took a taxi.  I arrived at about 9:25am.  I was just in time for a demonstration of the new teaching styles.  The manager gave us the very first 1A lesson in Japanese.  Without using a single word in English or Spanish, all four of us learned how to say "This is a pen/paper/book."  "Is this a pen/paper/book?"  "That is a pen/paper/book."  All in about 15 minutes...and I STILL remember all of it!!!  It was amazing!!   The second day of orientation, I got on the wrong bus to Santa Ana.  Instead of getting on the freeway and passing right in front of the office, I took the bus that went through the hills.  Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, I arrived around 11am!  There was nowhere to get off the bus that would have allowed me to get back to civilization.  So, I had to take the bus all the way to the end.  Then, I had to ask around until I found the bus stop that would take me in the opposite direction on the freeway in order to get back to the office.  It was terrible.  Its ok, though.  The manager understood and got me back up to speed.   Today was the third day of orientation.  We did some class observations.  I watched pieces of three different classes.  It was really cool to see this new teaching method in action.  Then, they explained that the company usually starts all new teachers out with a few hours for the first week.  No one watches you or criticizes you because he understands that this can make anyone self conscious and unable to teach properly.  So, they rely on feedback from the students about the teachers.  If he does not hear anything from the students, this means that they like you.  Apparently Costa Ricans are not the type who will say anything about things that they like...but they definitely complain when they are unhappy about something.  As the weeks go on, if everyone is still happy, you will get more and more hours.  We each started out with about 4-6 hours for next week.  I am super excited!! Current Mood: energetic Current Music: Nada by Juanes (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
6:18 pm	Father's Day Another lazy Sunday!  Yay!  However, today is not just ANY Sunday, its Father's Day!!  So, let me just give a little shout out to all of the Dad's out there.  You are all awesome!!  Hooray for Dads!!  Especially mine.  He is awesomely fantastic!!  He can always make me smile, no matter how crappy I feel.  He is always there when I need him.  He is definitely ""my hero" and the "greatest guy of all"!!   Unfortunately, in case you were not sure, I could not be with my dad for Father's Day.  :(  So, we had to compromise.  Aubrey, Robyn, and Scott all came to the house to celebrate together.  When everyone arrived, Mom called me on Skype.  I was able to be part of Father's Day via the webcam!!  I watched him open all of his gifts, and we all giggled and took pictures as if I was really there!!  No joke, we took pictures!!  Hahaha!!   Check them out!! ( Fathers Day Besos )   ( Strike a Pose ) I love you Dad!!!!!!  BESOS!! Current Mood: silly Current Music: Nada de Nada by Pastora Soler (Comment on this)
Friday, June 19th, 2009
5:27 pm	First full week of Classes My schedule of classes sucks.  I just want to put that out there.  Every day I have a class from 7-9am and from 5-7pm.  On Thursdays I get a bonus class from 10:30am until 12:30pm.  Hooray!  It ends up being 20 hours per week, which is not bad for a teacher.  Most teachers don't get more hours than that unless they work for separate companies.  The only thing that is a bit weird is that I am taking over ALL of my classes from a guy named Jon who just decided to head back to Pennsylvania after about a year in Costa Rica.  So, all of the classes are already about 3 months into their program and the students are used to Jon.   My first day of classes was quite interesting.  It was 7-9am teaching an advanced class.  The lesson was about technology.  I began by discussing different electronic devices, cell phones, the internet, etc.  When we got to the vocabulary section of the lesson, one of the new words was "pop-up."  Julio looks up at me and asks what a pop-up is.  So, I tell him that if you are typing an email on the computer or looking something up on the internet, then something just appears out of nowhere...maybe it is an advertisement trying to sell you something...like shoes.  Then he shouts "Hot Girls!"  The whole class starts to laugh.  Then, we spend about 20 minutes discussing porn on the internet because all of the vocabulary could be related to porn..In the meantime, I spent the entire two hour period singing "The Internet is for Porn" by Avenue Q in my head.  If you have never heard of this song before, you MUST check it out on youtube or itunes or something because it is the funniest song ever!!  Unfortunately, I did not think this song was appropriate for my very first class.  :D   Most of my classes are taught to Auto Star employess.  Auto Star is a major car dealership in the La Uruca area of San Jose.  The only thing that sucks about working there is the commute.  I have to leave my apartment at 5:55am in order to be at the bus stop by 6 (it is right on the corner by Pops).  Then, I hop on the Sabana Estadio bus that takes about 30 minutes to get to San Jose.  Then, I have to walk about 8 blocks to catch the Leon XIII (Don't ask me why it is called that, cuz I certainly don't know).  Then that bus takes about 20 minutes to get to Auto Star.  This is of course, on a good day.  If there is traffic, it can take MUCH longer.   After my first class, I head home.  There is nothing else to do in La Uruca.  Guess what!  I have to take the same bus route all the way back...killing another hour of my life.  When I get back home, I change into my running clothes and run for about an hour or so in the Sabana.  I am already awake, why not?  Then I take a shower, do some errands, hang around the house, cook lunch, etc.  Around 3:55pm I have to start all over and head out to class again.  On Monday nights, I work with a woman named Rita.  She is very sweet and I teach her at her office in Barrio Cordoba after it closes.   It takes me another two buses to get there and two buses to get back.  Anywhere I go, I have to stop in San Jose because there are not really any buses that leave from anywhere else.  :(  So, I get home around 8:30pm.    Tuesday morning, I do the whole damn thing over again!!  I have an elementary class in the mornings at Auto Star.  This class is a real challenge for me because we are supposed to teach the entire class in English, and with gestures, drawings, etc.  You are supposed to speak as little Spanish as possible.  It is very difficult to explain new verb tenses in English to a group of students who do not speak much English.  It is a good class, though.  The students try really hard!   After this class, I go home, run in the park, run errands, cook, etc. until I have to hop back on the bus and go BACK to La Uruca for an Intermediate class at Auto Star.  I think this is my favorite class.  All of the students are really funny and really smart.  The have a very cool energy in the class that makes it a lot of fun!  After I finish this class, we all head back to San Jose, so we can hop on the bus together and chat all the way into the city.  Then, I get home around the same time.   Wednesday is the same as Monday.  Thursday is a little different from Tuesday, though.  After my elementary class at Auto Star, I hop on the bus back to San Jose, then I walk about 10 blocks to the Guadalupe bus.  It takes about 30 minutes on the bus, plus about 15 minutes walking through Guadalupe to get to my private class with Pamela.  She is really cool.  She has the cutest son EVER!!  And he is so smart!!  My class with Pamela is more like a conversation than a class.  Good times!  Then I head back to San Jose, and back to my apartment for a few hours before going back out to La Uruca.  I take TEN buses on Thursdays...quite a long day...   Other than the weekends, Fridays are the best days.  I am still teaching Catalina, the girl who works the front desk at Soluciones Idiomaticas.  She is so much fun too!!  After her class, I have the whole day and weekend off!!  Yay!!   Well that's my week.  I hope it did not stress you out just from reading it.  Long story short: my classes are great and a lot of fun, but the commute is TERRIBLE!!! Current Mood: tired Current Music: The sounds of the rainforest... (Comment on this)
Monday, June 15th, 2009
7:01 pm	Manuel Antonio for the weekend!! Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica...WOW!!  I have not seen very many places in Costa Rica, but I am sure this is going to be one of my top 5 places to go!  The weather was perfect, not too warm and not too cold, the people were ridiculously nice, the sun was shining, and the water was absolutely perfect. I left at 12:30pm Saturday morning from San Jose because I went out the night before and I was way to lazy to get myself up.  It was a four and a half hour bus ride.  I was admiring the scenery and listening to music the whole way, so it was really not that bad of a trip.  Once you leave the city, virtually everything you see is rainforest for about an hour.  It was a very windy road down a mountain full of trees and animals.  Beautiful! The rest of the ride was a mixture of greenery, a few small towns, farms, etc.  Still nice to look at...definitely something different from the city that I have seen every single day for the past five weeks. Yes, I went by myself.  The few people that I have met here so far were busy this weekend, and Meagan did not feel like going anywhere.  She went to the beach the last few weekends in a row.  I can understand.  Honestly, I did not mind going by myself at all! Anyway, I get to Manuel Antonio at about 5pm.  I step off the bus and see a hostel right by the bus stop.  Sure, why not?  It was only $12 for the night.  I walk in and check out the rooms before I pay (I may be willing to take the risk and stay in a hostel, but I am not stupid!).  It is two rooms with 5 bunk beds each.  Yup! 10 people staying in each room!  Oh well.  Everything was clean and I did not bring anything of value, so I was not too worried.  Once I paid for the room, the girl at the front desk gave me my sheets, and I went downstairs to make my bed.  Immediately, some people started talking to me.  There were two girls who were on the same bus as me.  Their names were Athena and Sophie.  They just finished a study abroad in Monte Verde.  Now they have a few weeks to just wander the country before they go home.  I hung out with them most of the time, but there were plenty of people at the hostel to talk to! Outside the rooms, on the patio, there was a kitchen and several long tables put together end to end, to make one REALLY long table.  Everyone was sitting there, playing cards, talking, having a few drinks, and having a great time together.  However, before the sun went down and we sat around for a few hours, Athena, Sophie, and I wanted to do some exploring. This is a picture of the hostel...and the amazing view! ( Backpackers (the name of the Hostel) ) Here is the main street in Manuel Antonio.  You really can't get lost because there is nowhere to go that is not on this street...my kind of town!!  :D ( Street ) This was our first glimpse of the water... ( First Glimpse ) Here is a restaurant with an airplane in the middle...random, I know.  Very cool though!! ( Restaurante Avion ) About half an hour later, we made it to the beach! ( Manuel Antonio 1 ) Once the sun went down, we decided to find something to eat.  Our many many roommates all recommended this restaurant across the street from the hostel.  It had really tasty and really cheap food!!  Gotta love that!! Then, we joined everyone for some chatting, card-playing, eating, drinking, and merryment.  That is how I spent the ENTIRE night...sitting around with 20 people I have never met in my entire life and I will probably never see again.  It sounds weird, but it was so much fun!  Everyone had a story.  Some people just took time off of work to wander around Central and South America.  Others did not have a job at all.  They were just there to do some exploring and soul searching.  I met a German guy, a Dane, a French girl, two Israelis, and a bunch of Americans.  There were a few people teaching English like me too. The next morning, everyone got up pretty early.  Those rooms get really hot with 10 people sleeping in them.  We woke up around 7, made some breakfast, and headed to the National Park.  Everyone says it is the most beautiful park in all of Costa Rica. ( Parque Nacional ) Just in case you were curious about EXACTLY where I was, here is a map!  You are welcome!! ( Mapa ) Before we even walk in the front gate, we see Howler Monkeys!  It was amazing!  They were everywhere!  Not as close as the monkeys the fam and I saw in Gibraltar, but it was still cool!  The Ticos even have blue ropes above the street all over the place so that the monkeys can cross without using the power lines. ( Monos!! ) Once we got into the park, we began to see three-toed-sloths.  Such a horribly ugly name, I know, but they are so cute!!  In Spanish they are called pedazosos...that is a much better name.  I think I will call them that from now on!  Don't you just want to grab him and give him a big hug?? ( Cuddly Pedazoso ) This was a baby bat that we saw hiding in this ginormous leaf. ( Baby Bat ) Now, you can see some of the crazy plant life all around the park! ( The Path ) Bamboo!!! ( You know what a Panda has for lunch?? ) It does not look like it from these pictures, but this trip was actually EXTREMELY exhausting!!  We hiked around for about two hours before we even got into the water.  In case you did not notice yet, I was wearing a pair of Payless flip flops...NOT good hiking shoes!  I almost fell and died several times because of those stupid shoes!  Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to take pictures during the hike.  You will just have to believe me.  The best part was that we kept hiking in order to find better beaches with less people (we got greedy, I suppose).  Someone told us that the best beach was at the end.  However, we did not realize that we were hiking in a large circle.  After a certain point, we just started heading back to the entrance again.  Awesome!  So then we had to walk back around to a beach.  Haha!  Oh well!  It was sooooooo worth it!! ( Playa 1 ) ( Playa 2 ) A mini crab... ( Crab ) ( Playa 3 ) ( Playa 4 ) This is Sophie, Athena, and me before we jumped into the water. ( The Backpackers ) ( Playa 6 ) ( Playa 7 ) ( Playa 8 ) ( Playa 9 ) ( Playa 10 ) ( Playa 11 ) Around 3pm, we finally left the beach.  There were several little shops outside of the park that I wanted to check out.  Everything was hand made and super cheap...and I desperately need some decorations for my room!  Unfortunately, the ATM machine was broken and there was nowhere else for me to pull out money.  :(  I looked around for about an hour at all of the things that I would have bought.  At 4:45pm, it came time to head home.  Another four and a half hours back to San Jose.  Gotta get some rest before my first day of regular classes starting at 7am Monday morning!  I will let you know how it goes... Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: Push - Matchbox Twenty (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
5:00 pm	A 5 hour walk through the Center of San Jose Ok, here we go!  San Jose is a pretty big city, so bear with me.  Haha and this is only a small portion of it!  :) First of all, let me explain how San Jose is layed out.  Avenida Central (Central Avenue) and Calle Central (Central Street) are the two main streets in San Jose.  They are perpendicular to each other.  The whole central area where they meet is a long walking street with lots of shops. All of the odd numbered streets run south from Calle Central and all even numbered streets run north.  Then, all of the even numbered avenues run west of Avenida Central and all odd numbered avenues run east.  It is a very nicely layed out system, but no one actually uses it!!  Jerks!!  However, every few streets are labeled, so it helps me keep my sense of direction in tact.  :D We begin our fascinating tour at Parque Merced, one of the main locations to catch buses in San Jose.  Almost every bus stops here because it is only one block from the beginning of the walking part of the center, which is about 10 blocks long.  Virtually every major park in San Jose (and I am told that it is the same all over Costa Rica...we will have to wait and see) has a church or cathedral one one side.  This is Church of Merced.   ( Parque Merced ) A few blocks down, literally a block from the intersection of Calle Central and Avenida Central is Central Park (appropriately named). First we have some very cute little metal guys that decorate one side of the park.   ( Metal Band ) This is a giant monument in Central Park called El Kiosko del Parque Central.   ( Parque Central 1 ) Next to the Kiosko, is a mosaic with Costa Rican flag on it.   ( Parque Central 2 ) The church that faces Central Park is the Metropolitan Cathedral.   ( Catedral Metropoleano ) This was a really detailed theater that also faces Central Park.   ( Parque Central 3 ) Here we have the National Theater.  It is one of the most common landmarks around the city.   ( Teatro Nacional )   ( Teatro Nacional 2 ) This sign says that I can see a show at the National Theater on Tuesday afternoons for less than $1!!  This is offically on my to-do list!   ( Teatro Nacional 3 ) The back of the theater is painted teal...I am not sure why.  I want to know what this part is, but no one knows.   ( Teatro Nacional 4 ) Avenida 4, another walking street.  It is also called the European Union Way.  I did not see any EU buildings around, but I assume they must be somewhere!   ( Avenida 4 )  The church at the end of Avenida 4 is called La Soledad.  ( La Soledad ) This fine looking plaza is called the Plaza of the Arts.  Needless to say, there are several very cool pieces of artwork all over this plaza.  They are all labeled with the artist's name and the date. ( Plaza de los Artes 1 ) ( Plaza de los Artes 2 ) This is a thank you to the girl who designed the statue above... ( Plaza de los Artes 3 ) There were several little mosaics like this all over the plaza too. ( Plaza de los Artes 4 ) Around 3:30pm it started to rain.  So, I decided to take a break for lunch.  I found a cute little restaurant called Ave 2.  I ate arroz con pollo (chicken and rice...not very adventurous, but there were veggies in it and I ate them!)  They were playing the Ecuador vs. Argentina soccer game.  I ate, watched Argentina get their butts kicked, chatted with the waiter for a while, then headed back out after the rain slowed down a bit. Oh! And at the restaurant, there was a sign that said "Disculpe, en este restaurante son prohibidas las escenas amorosas. Gracias." Basically it means no PDA (public displays of affection - as they say in school) allowed here.  I just thought it was funny that they would need a sign at a restaurant that says that! Anyway, here is my tasty arroz con pollo!!  Mmmmm!! ( Arroz con Pollo ) Here is another church at the end of a park, but I was unable to find the name of either one...sad! ( Nameless Church :( ) Next up is another large open plaza, just a block from the central walking street.  It is called Garantias Sociales (Social Guarantees).  ( Garantias Sociales ) In Garantias Sociales, I found the Reunion Point (I assume that it is for protests and things of that nature). ( Punto de Reunioin ) This is a very detailed building that I thought was beautiful.  I have no idea what it used to be, but now it is a movie theater.  They are playing Terminator Salvation right now.  In case you were curious, some of the movies are up to date here, but others are WAY behind!!  Milk just came out about three weeks ago...no joke! ( El Cine ) On Calle 5, I saw these next two buildings.  I really liked both of them, but I don't know what they are. ( Cool Building 1 ) I think this one is a house. ( Cool Building 2 ) As we continue this very adventurous tour, we find ourselves in Parque Morazan. ( Parque Morazan ) Then I got excited...Can you guess why?? ( Parque Espana 1 ) These pictures are a bit fuzzy because it was getting dark out.  This park is super tiny, but beautiful!! ( Parque Espana 2 ) ( Parque Espana 3 ) ( Parque Espana 4 ) ( Parque Espana 5 ) The Cultural Center of San Jose is right next to Parque Espana. ( Centro Cultural de San Jose ) This was a very intricate underpass mosaic near Parque Espana. ( Underpass Mosaic ) And here we find the Temple of Music...also next to Plaza Espana. ( Templo de la Musica ) This is a wall of art next to the Temple of Music.  It says "We save the Earth." ( Salvemos la Tierra ) These are few two other mosaics across the street.  One is on the backside of the other.  However, I am not sure why one of the little girls has hair and the other does not... ( Girl on Swing 1 ) ( Girl on Swing 2 ) And to top off our tour, I found the casino!  Whew, I was almost getting worried that I would not be able to gamble away my HUGE paycheck every week!!  Good thing I found it!  Haha! ( Casino ) I hope you enjoyed this tiny glimpse into the streets of San Jose.  I did, but after five hours, my feet were ridiculously tired!! Current Mood: chipper Current Music: Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
3:37 pm	My Daily 6.5k Workout Recently, I have decided to start running again.  There is a really neat path through the park that I run on every day.  A few years ago, Powerade sponsored a race at the park by my apartment.  They carved out a path throughout the whole park that winds around the soccer fields (all 5783498549845 of them!!), around the pool, the basketball courts, the lakes, the art, etc.  It is called the Circuito Powerade. ( Circuito Powerade ) Every kilometer, there is a different sign that says something else about exercise and how it is good for you.  The total distance is 6.5 kilometers, which is just over 3 miles.  So far, I ran/walked on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and today.  However, I took it pretty easy today and I scurried around with my camera in order to A) give my little legs a break, and B) show you the path, and more awesome pictures of the park!  :) My apartment is on the corner, between km markers 1 and 2.  So, the first marker I actually get to see is the second one.  It says "Physical activity is healthy, practice it."  The path is everything between the blue markers on the ground.   ( 2 km ) And these are a few kinda nifty things I see between 2km and 3km. ( Nifty 1 ) ( Nifty 2 ) ( Nifty 3 ) And this is a really cute little village for kids.  Everything is tiny!!  The even have street lights!!  (The truck in the back is full-sized, though) ( Kids 1 ) ( Kids 2 ) Ok, and here is 3km.  It says "Do 30 minutes of physical activity daily."  ( 3 km ) Not much between 3km and 4km.  Just lots of trees and things that you have already seen.  Here is 4km.  It says "For your health, for your life, for those who you love, do physical exercise." ( 4 km ) After that, there is a whole bunch of playgrounds all in the same area.  It is really cute, but I feel like it should be a bit more spread out.  Oh well.  It looks crazy with these little play areas in the middle of the forest! ( Playground ) A very cool looking tree!!  (Are you tired of looking at trees yet??) ( Cool Tree ) More art around the lake: ( Art 1 ) ( Art 2 ) ( Art 3 ) Here is 5k.  It says "It is time to rehydrate." ( 5 km ) More art: ( More Art ) This is the plaque that talks about the International Festival of the Arts that was in San Jose in 1998. ( Plaque ) Here is the 6k marker.  It says "Sports improve your quality of life." ( 6 km ) Here are the basketball courts.  The hoops say "Enjoy the sport of your choice." ( Basketball Courts ) The Finish Line!!  6.5 kilometers!! ( Finish Line 1 ) ( Finish Line 2 ) However, that is not the end for me.  Haha!  Here is the 1km point...just before I leave the park.  It says "Look for your next challenge on the road." ( 1 km ) And some crazy kids climbing all over that piece of art that looks like whale bones.  I just thought this was funny! ( Crazy Kids ) Current Mood: pleased Current Music: Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon (Comment on this)
Monday, June 1st, 2009
9:32 pm	This past week... So, I know that it has been a while since my last entry.  Unfortunately, it has also been a while since I have done something worthy of a livejournal entry.  A few things here and there, but nothing worth an entire entry.   As you probably already know, I have quite a bit of time on my hands lately.  I only work on Friday mornings from 8-10am.  That’s it!  Since I arrived, I have not been doing much of anything with myself except try to figure out the ins and outs of the Costa Rican lifestyle, wander around the area that I live so that I don’t feel lost every time I leave my apartment, get to know my neighbors and my roommate, and sit around watching TV in Spanish.  I will start working about 25 hours per week on June 15.  That is when I take over all of Jonathan’s classes (Hooray for another John!!).  I am not sure how long he has worked here because I have not actually met him yet.  However, we will chat a bit this week while I am doing some observations of his final classes.  All I know so far is that he is leaving and can no longer teach.   Anyway, on top of not having a job to go to every day, the rain has been keeping me inside.  I try my best to get out as often as I can.  Unfortunately, when the sky just opens up around you and starts raining horses and elephants (they are bigger than cats and dogs) outside, it is not ideal for a nice stroll in the park.  Therefore, I take all of my walks, ride the busses, and wander around as much as I can before it starts to rain.  Then, I do stuff around the apartment, call home, mess around on the internet, or walk over to my neighbors’ apartments.  The complex is covered, so I am not really going outside.  :)    That’s generally what I do on a daily basis.  If you have been keeping up with the lj, you would know that I have had some adventures in between.  I am not a loser doing nothing ALL the time!  However, that is my general routine.   This past week, I realized exactly how much nothing I have been doing.  So, I made a few decisions.  Since I have so much free time, I am going to be productive.  First of all, I am sick and tired of eating quesadillas, pasta, toast, eggs, etc.  I realize that it has not been that long, and all of those things are actually quite tasty.  To be entirely honest, if I had to, I could live on only those things for quite a while.  However, as I was saying, I have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands.  Therefore, I have decided to teach myself to cook.  Sorry Mom!  I really wish that you could have been the one to teach me, but I never had any time at home to make anything.  I was always running around and I never seemed to have any free time to do anything at all.    Anyway, I started out by looking on the internet for things that I can make without an oven or a microwave.  If anyone has any recipes for things I can make using only a fridge and a stove, I would GREATLY appreciate it.  Both meals and desserts would be fantastic!!   :)  Super-simple things or more difficult things would work.  I have to start simple and I can work my way up to the more difficult ones.    This week, I MADE my own bbq sauce!  I found a recipe online and I did it.  I bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, put them in the skillet, and added bbq sauce.  It was quite tasty, if I do say so myself!  Then, I made chicken pesto pasta.  Yes, it is pasta again, but I had to cook my own chicken…which makes it cooking, so there!  I made rice a few days ago.  I am planning on doing a stir fry tomorrow!  Yum!   It is silly that I am getting so excited about this, but that’s just what I do.  I have several other recipes online that I am planning on trying out as soon as I go to the store.  Meagan is really happy that I am cooking too.  She goes to work all day, then comes home to food on the table.  I hope she enjoys it because it won’t last long!  As soon as I start working regularly, she will either have to wait for me (because I already told her that I like cooking and I really don’t mind doing it) or she will have to fend for herself.   The second thing that I have decided: I started running again.  Since it does not rain in the morning, that is the perfect time to get outside and exercise.  At the park a few years ago, Powerade sponsored a race.  They carved out a path throughout the whole park that winds around the soccer fields (all 5783498549845 of them!!), around the pool, the basketball courts, the lakes, the art, etc.  Every kilometer, there is a different sign that says something else about exercise and how it is good for you.  The total distance is 6.5 kilometers, which is just over 3 miles.  I ran on Saturday, Sunday, today, and I will walk it tomorrow in order to give my little legs a break.   After my workout, I walk back to the apartment and I am super-excited for my cold shower.  Not only am I getting a good workout, but now I will not be complaining about the cold shower!!  Yay!!   What else is new??  Meagan went to go visit some friends in Samura this weekend, so I had the apartment to myself, which was very nice.  I like having a roommate, but at the same time, I also like the time to myself.  We are hoping on taking a trip to Manuel Antonio (a beach city) this weekend.  Unfortunately, the bus ride there is about 5 hours!!  Bleh!!  The nearest beach to us is about 2 hours, but everyone says that it is not very nice.  Before the rainy season gets any worse, I would like to see a Costa Rican beach.  Even if it rains, at least it will be hot and sunny in the morning!!  :)  So excited!!   Well, I guess that’s all for now.  I miss you all!! Current Mood: indescribable Current Music: The neighbors cheering for a soccer game (Comment on this)