Fines de Semana en Heredia

Well I have been hanging out in Heredia for the past two weekends due to ridiculose amounts of homework but had some cool day trips that I can share! I went to parque de diversions (amusement park) with a friend and we got very lucky that it did not start to pour until the bus ride back although it looked very iffy the whole time we were there. We are both complete wimps with rides and this park doesn’t even have big rollercoasters but we found ourselves with the like 3-5 year olds on the kiddie rides..the first ride we had to separate cuz adults aren’t allowed to sit together but we had a blast! We went on mini rollercoaster, drove like there pretend antique cars that neither of us could control very well, mini drop machine and a water ride that was our favorite also went into a part called ciudad Antigua and saw chickens parrots, buetiful horse, goats, rosters and I think an iguana? Anyway very different from parks in the us defiantly not as many safety precautions but much simpler…it was a really fun day trip and we made it saftley from san jose to heredia and ate aat pizaa hut!

Next adventure Volcan Barva:
This was a trip arranged through the program which i always try and do cuz i love spending time with the program staff and its more spanish practice and i dont have to worry about planning!
So we took a bus to the last stop up a mountain and began our very long trek that was basically straight up an extremely steep hill for about 12 kilometers...I stated out in front with lots of energy and ended up in the back with a walking stick haha but the views were incredible of farm land, finca, and you could see the whole central valley we were also extremeley lucky that is was a beautiful day since it is now rainy season...made it to the laguna of the volcan and than continued up to the highest view point we all collapsed and really enjoyed our packed lunches...on the way down i suggested we play a game so we made up stories and played alphabet games...all very fun trying to do in spanish...about 45 minutes down it started to rain and a random car stopped and all 10 of us sqeezed into the guys van so we wouldnt have to walk the rest of the way....definatly one of the hardest hikes ive ever done but it was lots of fun! That night went out to an Argentinian restraunt in San Jose with my friend and next day went to the pool right by my house! Now that i only have 4 more weekends i hope to be traveling for the rest of the time here so more updates to come!

Saving Leatherback Turtles!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to participate in an amazing experience going to a reserve to learn about and help the endangered species of leatherback turtles. The leatherbacks are one of the most ancient species in existence dating back to the time of the dinasours, they are in danger of exstinction from egg and meat poachers as well as fishing nets and all the other destructive human forces. While egg poaching is illegal mayn restruants still serve turtle eggs some of which are legal some are not, so if you ever see turtle eggs on a menu don’t order them! Anyway this trip was organized by my program and my group went with a group from UCR. Went on a little boat to get to the reserve and met the people who work and live there. There were girls from Spain and France and the coordinator was from England. I was so impressed by the passion they all have for the work they do. They live without all the modern conviences (electiricy) they are used to in an extremely harsh climate to help this species. Every night they patrol the beach for 4-6 or more hours to proctect the turtles from poachers, tag and measure the turtles they come across and move eggs and make new nests in safer grounds. First we learned more about the turtles and learned how to make nests than divided into patrol groups. I went at 8 at night with 4 or more other students and our leader was a girl from Spain. It was very cool to get to talk and listen to the different accent and words that are very different from Costa Rica Spanish, I tried to adjust to using the tu form and saying vale basically every other word. We walked for at least an hour without seeing anything except turtle tracks of false exits (when the turtle comes to shore but does not lay eggs) these we had to erase with our feet and sticks so poachers would not know the turtles were there. We finally thought we foudna turtle and all got excited and tried to get behind where it would see us after waiting a few minutes we realized it was just a big rock! The beach is completely dark and we only use the red light to see when there is a turtle so the whole night it is easy to trip over rocks, branches, fall in sand pits plus dodge the big waves…buut we finally found a turtle who was making a nest. It was definalty one of the coolest things ive ever seen..to get to experience watching this ancient animal lay her eggs in her nautral habitat was just incredible they truly look like they could be in Jurassic park, just watching her make the nest and listen to the noises she made was soo awesome. We measured her, took her eggs and me and my friend went to make a new nest..you have to dig through the sand as far down as you can which gets very tiring and then redeposit the eggs. It was so cool to feel the eggs there soo different from like chicken eggs and to know that there were baby turtles inside! We could look up at the sky while we were sitting in the sand and see a few shooting stars! After the exhileration of seeing andhelping our first turtle we continued on and saw at least three more and did a lot a lot more erasing of tracks…I got to help measure another turtle and really appreciate how big they are if they hit you with one of their fins you could really get hurt. we finally were on our way back after 6 hours of walking the beach when it started to down poar annd we found another turtle even though our shift was supposed to be over 2 hours earlier once you find a turtle you cant leave it. We finally did make it back and passed out in our sandy, wet beds. Next day went walking around the property with a girl from France where we heard howler monkeys, saw poison dart frogs, snakes and butterflies. Went in the ocean in the afternoon and All very exausghsted from night before we waited for our shifts that night to start. Tonight my shift was at ten and with a new guide named Scott who was from England. It was nice to have a little break from Spanish and of course enjoyed the English accent very much, was albe to learn a lot more about the reserve and turtles from him since I could actually understand everything he said. He was super interesting and outgoing I was the only one that kept up with his walking pace which could really have been a jog so we were able to talk a lot about the work and condiciones here. However we found a turtle right away and I volunteered to take the eggs. I got right down next to the flippers and tail of the turtle and almost fell in the nest many times grabbing all the eggs, there were over a hundred and had to get them all before she started to cover them. Was carrying the bag of eggs away when we found another turtle! So we had to split up so we could make new nests and get the new eggs as well..i went to work making a new nest for the first eggs we got and buryed and counted them. We came across a lot of turtles and por dicha did less erasing..were walking back just talking when we saw a white light across the beach which means leave bc there are poachers however than we realized we might have accidently walked past the reserve! At the same time we found another turtle, scott went to look for mark posts to figure out where we were but couldn’t find any..we radioed back to the security guard and finally after some miscommunication and scott using some interesting spanlish with ltos of English curse words mixed in go him to shine the flash light from the reserve…we were actually past the reserve about ten minutes and in poacher territory..we had to leave the turtle b/c techinaclly it was not our land. Got back completely covered in wet sand and passed out again. Next day all just waited around to be able to be in the nice cool bus and sleep. Made it back to san jose and I went out on my first solo adventure in the city to find a friend from highschool who was staying in san jose for one night on he way to el Salvador…asked police men for directions but luckily found the hostel without a problem, had a nice dinner and catch up and finally got back to my bed in Heredia! I still have some fly and misiquito bites to remind me of the weekend but all the work was soo soo vale la pena (worth every second!). Definatly a once in a life time experience I will never forget.

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!

clases

Been hanging around Heredia these past weekends getting more into school work so thought I would describe my classes a little.
Spanish Class: Obvi a necesity here, its the one class with just exchange students from the program, I love my teacher its nice having a younger teacher which I have never experienced at AU.
Dibujo 1: Drawing which i thought would be easy and a break from all the spanish but since only actual art students take the class it is kinda intense...but I have a few poeple in the class that I talk to and ride the bus back with so I enjoy that. The profe is nice, he likes to practice his english with me.
Apreciation of Dance: Probobly my favorite class...the profe is a dance teacher here and weve done such cool exercises...breathing, meditation, walking exercises to learn to like have correct weight distribution and release tension, we used our hands to like tell a story to music and hopefulyl will be goign to see dance production here or in San Jose. His flexibility and comfort with his body is amazing, I am jealuse.
Social Construction of the Body: Women's study course that is definatly the most challanging b/c I am the only exchange student in the class and everyone knows eachtoher but there are 2 students that are very nice and helpful...the readings for this class are soo cool its intersting to see latin american women's perspective on issues like machismo, feminism, sexuality, I am surprised of how liberal and analytical the authors and students here are, somehow I thought America was like the only country that really had a strong movement in these areas but definatly not. Have another class that is very similiar and forget the name of it but it is also very good, it is very frustrating not feeling capable of particpating in the classes beacuse all my brainpower is beign used to even understand the basic theme of the conversation there is no way i have the time or energy to formulate my own opinion, but hopefully this will get easier with time, I am very worried about the tests and presentations I have coming up but I am trying my best.
Spinning class! I am a member at the gym close by and go to spinnins class once a week, i really look forward to it actually we listen to t.a.t.u remixes and good spanish music. I tried one aroebic class and it was fun but they go really fast.
Ive spend alot of time in the program office this weekend trying to set up volunteer work and gettting my credit card back from the stupid atm machine that ate it, and its been nice talking to the women of the program, they are so sweet and helpful and i think it is great how bonded they get with the groups.

Soo thats my update for now, going to Nacional Festival de Boyerros tomorow in San Jose with the group and hopefully will have some new pictures to add s

Clases

Been hanging around Heredia these past weekends getting more into school work so thought I would describe my classes a little.
Spanish Class: Obvi a necesity here, its the one class with just exchange students from the program, I love my teacher its nice having a younger teacher which I have never experienced at AU.
Dibujo 1: Drawing which i thought would be easy and a break from all the spanish but since only actual art students take the class it is kinda intense...but I have a few poeple in the class that I talk to and ride the bus back with so I enjoy that. The profe is nice, he likes to practice his english with me.
Apreciation of Dance: Probobly my favorite class...the profe is a dance teacher here and weve done such cool exercises...breathing, meditation, walking exercises to learn to like have correct weight distribution and release tension, we used our hands to like tell a story to music and hopefulyl will be goign to see dance production here or in San Jose. His flexibility and comfort with his body is amazing, I am jealuse.
Social Construction of the Body: Women's study course that is definatly the most challanging b/c I am the only exchange student in the class and everyone knows eachtoher but there are 2 students that are very nice and helpful...the readings for this class are soo cool its intersting to see latin american women's perspective on issues like machismo, feminism, sexuality, I am surprised of how liberal and analytical the authors and students here are, somehow I thought America was like the only country that really had a strong movement in these areas but definatly not. Have another class that is very similiar and forget the name of it but it is also very good, it is very frustrating not feeling capable of particpating in the classes beacuse all my brainpower is beign used to even understand the basic theme of the conversation there is no way i have the time or energy to formulate my own opinion, but hopefully this will get easier with time, I am very worried about the tests and presentations I have coming up but I am trying my best.
Spinning class! I am a member at the gym close by and go to spinnins class once a week, i really look forward to it actually we listen to t.a.t.u remixes and good spanish music. I tried one aroebic class and it was fun but they go really fast.
Ive spend alot of time in the program office this weekend trying to set up volunteer work and gettting my credit card back from the stupid atm machine that ate it, and its been nice talking to the women of the program, they are so sweet and helpful and i think it is great how bonded they get with the groups.

Soo thats my update for now, going to Nacional Festival de Boyerros tomorow in San Jose with the group and hopefully will have some new pictures to add s