Life on the back of a scooter in Brasilito

Last weekend me and three friends decided to go to Guanacaste for the weekend which is a region of Costa Rica that is supposed to have some of the best beaches...We picked the beach Brasilito to get to but that was the extent of the planning...however things worked out great! Got to Brasilito and found basically the only hostel/hotel and got one room for about 15 dollars a night per person. Headed down to the beach that was right off the hotel property. My one friend decided to splurg on a scooter/moped for the weekend so we could check out the other beaches in the area and have fun driving around...I called dibs on the first ride and didnt really get off the rest of the weekend, we drove around and it was so cool to see the countryside up close, he also taught me how to drive and after a few tries I got the hang out if it and went on a few little adventours on my own...It was an awsome feeling driving it and really would love to get my motorcycle liscnece one day. Back at the beach saw a guy driving some horses down the beach so we ran up to him and talked down the price of horse riding a bit for that evening. We told him we all could ride and would like to run on the horses he said we could "un pocito"....un pocito actually meant basically galloping full speed down the beaches and streets almost the whole time! I have never been that fast on a horse, and definatly the first time I have had to hold a horse back they all loved to run and race each other! It was incredible to run across the beach with no poeple and just me and my two friends and our guide. Got to see the sunset, some cool birds and monkeys to. Had one collision with my friends horse that got spooked but por dicha stayed on haha but it was the crazyest funnest ride ive ever had. Got back quite exaughsted but had relaxing night just hanging out on the beach playing with the local dogs and talking. Next day went to playa conchal which is a beach of crushed seashells for sand, it was so preety every handful of shells was filled with colors and different shapes and sizes of shells and it felt great on your feet and made the ocean water very clear. I had brought my snorkling gear and there was a great little cove to see fish really up close I saw a cute little eel and an octupus! Hanged out in the calm water and played lazy log with my friend where you jsut let the wave bring you back and forth to the shore...later we hopped on the scooter in our suits to go to another beach Playa Grande...about a half hour ride through the mountain and coozing Petunia (the scooter) up the hills we made it to the beach...one of the longest beaches ive seen without a lot of development and the waves were huuuge! Tried to catch some waves but was preety rough so we headed back. Got a very yummy dinner and had to get my last scooter ride in that night...it was really cool to see all the stars and we turned the lights off on and stopped in the road since there was no cars to see the stars....ahh it was a great weekend proboly my favorite weekend trip thus far. After a fast week at school I am leaving again this weekend to a reserve where we are goign to volunteer helping with sea turtles! More soon!

Semana Santa

I am back from a very fun week with my dad..Got the bus to the airport very early Saturday morning and managed paying the tax/immigration stuff successfully and found dad in the panama airport…went to the first hotel in panama city where I rediscovered the comforts of airconditioning, hot showers, TV and the best bed I have ever slept in…next day went on very small plane to bocas del toro…it was actually really cool to be able to see the cockpit and watch the pilot eat lunch and put up a cover over the window to block out the sun apparently seeing the sky isn’t that important haha but got great views from the plane of the panama canal and all the islands…Bocas del toro: stayed here for three days the hotel was run by an American couple and was an interesting atmosphere you ate with all the other guests every day which was often seafood and other dishes im not very used to but it was a cool experience…went snorkeling and scuba diving everyday and saw awesome coral fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, stingrays, and a barracuda that kept staring at us so I tried to hid behind my dad for that one…got to see dolphins as well which I looooved ill never get enough of seeing them…also went to a basically private island one day felt like I was on survivor it was just thi tiny island and you could just go snorkeling right from there…tried to get some Spanish practive in with a couple from spain and one of the scuba guides in bocas very interesting noting the different words, accents, expressions and stuff that is different in every country for example in CR I only use usted to refer to everyone and I don’t think I have ever heard anyone use Tu form but right away in panama the first cab driver used tu! Anyway played lots of pool, monopoly and enjoyed the tv at the hotel…back to Panama city where we saw the canal and old city…I really liked seeing the old city very different from anywhere I have been in cr or anywhere…than back to Costa Rica!! I was in love with both of the hotels we stayed at in CR got to hang by the pool and go in hottub and ohh I miss the beds so much already! Anyway went white water rafting at pacauri river defiantly one of my favorite parts of the trip it was absolutely gorgoese and the rapids were really fun our guide was really fun he liked to push me off the raft when it was safe to swim and used a spanglish mix since in our raft was a couple from san jose…but def saw some of the coolest views of CR jungle so far…Friday went back to heredia and went to dinner with my dad and my costa Rican family to pizza hut! It was nice to be able to do something for them and see them in a different atmosphere…enjoyed my last morning with room service and sitting in the hot tub. All in all it was a great vacation…demasiado divertida….THANKS DAD

Last Post before Semana Santa

I am very very excited for semana santa aka spring break! I am meeting my dad in Panama and going to Bocos de Toros for a few days which I hear is beautiful and than back to Costa Rica. Im sure I will have exciting pictures and posts when I get back but let me backtrack back to my weekend trip to Cahuita which is a beach on the Caribe side…got up at the usual 4:30 am meeting time and made our way on the bus…saw some great views and talked to a girl from London who actually had to stand/sit in the aisle for four hours because there were no seats. Got to Cahuita and found our hostel…all very very different from Man. Ant..less touristy more chill…the rooms were like 5 star compared to our other hostel there was private bathrooms and even a fridge! Went to playa negra..we thought we were at the wrong place cuz there aws like no people but it was soo cool the beach itself wasn’t as preety but the water was so clear and the waves ended up being great for riding so as usual that’s where I spent my day while most of the group sunbathed…I constructed my own rootbeer float and found another nice place for dinner and enjoyed time in the hammock outside our room…next day went snorkeling which was awesome we went to 3 different parts of the reef… I was first one in the water and last one out everytime glad I had experience though cuz the guide gave almost no directions but he let us touch a sea cucumber and said if we see a shark there not dangerouse?! Saw great, colorful fish andlots of other stuff that I obvi don’t know the name of…so later me and my friend Kayla went on a search for cheap horseback riding we went to 2 places and we both only had like about 20 bucks…we talked the price down from 50 dollars to about 30 dollars for 2 and half hours of riding…we met our guide and got to go just the two of us plus our guide on preety well maintened horses…it was INCREDIBLE…got to gallop top speed down the abondened beach and felt like I was in the movie Black Stallion…rest of the time was at an awkard trot pace but it was so so cool went down all the little streets, jungle, and beach…stopped at one point and our guide took out his machete and gave us each a pipa…the green coconuts you drink the milk out of..asked him some basic questions in Spanish, he was preety shy but nice and really happy he let us run on the horses…so that was Cahuita trip…past weekend hanged around heredia have found a nice little running route although the weather is now changing and is extremely hot in the morning and rained for the first time this afternoon. Have my first group project tomorrow where I have to speak in front of the class of native Spanish speakers but hopefully it will not be to bad I am making some friends/aquiantences in classes although it is hard to find time out of class to do things. I think that covers it up till now! Hoping I make my way to Panama without to much stress or turbulence in the tiny plane!