Tico Mentor Weekend

Greetings ! 

I have been here for 54 days now , and I have mixed feelings about how to feel this far in the game. I have been missing home lately , wouldn't call it home sickness quite yet , but when I'm bored .. which is more often the not .. I want to talk to some one from home .. Im like I should call my mom ! or my brother or my friend ! it's all the spare time !  I need structure! AHHHH The amount of spare time here is overwhelming , but in a good way , I try to talk my self into believing that I don't have to feel guilty about sitting and doing nothing .. to be worry and commitment free. 

Any how , every weekend here has been an adventure.. I have not spent an entire weekend in San Jose since I arrived which is beneficial , because its best to take advantage and visit as many places as possible when you're in a foreign country. This weekend Im headed to Bocas del Toro in Panama , which i'm very much looking forward too.. 

Last weekend we went to Sarchi, which is a town in the Province of Alajuela known throughout Costa Rica for its beautiful and intricate arts and crafts. Although we didn't go to check out the crafts, we went for a Tico mentor weekend hosted by the international club. Which is really an effort to build connections between the locals and internationals. We stayed at a Ticas home which was beautiful , had a bonfire or "fire camp" as she called it we roasted marshmallows and played drinking games... can't forget the Bongzilla which was this massive six-way funnel ! 

Camp fire & Marshmallows

Roomies & Bongzilla

The house we stayed while in Sarchi

We also visited these nice waterfalls, for the day on saturday. The water was freezing and it would have been appropriate for me to pack my water shoes but none the less I enjoyed my time there. We had a bbq and had fun in the water .. meanwhile battleing with my un expected period arrival ! UGHHHHH. They said this was a weekend filled with surprises ?? Thats about the only surprise I received? lol maybe I was just being a brat, you could tell they tried hard to plan for us a special weekend and put alot of thought into everything-its the thought that counts . 

                   One of the students made this video .. which in my opinion makes it seem like we had a BLAST when in reality everything was just okay .. but that is the beauty of video editing and photography! Its an awesome memory of the weekend and she did a wonderful job! shouties to Sophie ! , who by the way is a magical mixture of Bahamian and Tica ! We had a fun convo about my adventures in Baha , which I still adore and miss ! Wahh.  The tica who hosted us in her home is actually lebanese, lived in Venezuela and just recently moved to Costa Rica. Always an amusing story to tell ! I love it . 

Heres the video ! courtesy of Sophie !    

Ciao Bella & Mariachis

Bella ! 

I ruined this photo!

So I'm sure many of you are wondering why this post is titled Ciao Bella.. (which I stole from Cam because I thought it was cutesy. ) But On monday this week it was a sad little day, Bella didnt die! shes live and well but we gave her away to our tico dads grandparents who live on the beach in Herradura. 3 dogs in the house was just becoming too much going on, we have all grown affectionate of Bella, some more than others ( Anabel not so much) but she was literally an explosion of energy who liked to poop in our shower! lol She has  grown soo much since the day we got her, and overall she was a healthy puppy and a joy to be around. It was pretty sudden , that we found out she was going away.. It was kind of a push and pull, we were all convinced she was going home with Cam, who was basically her mom lol .. but after a LONG and emotional talk through .. and I mean LONGGGG she decided it would be best for bella to go to Herradura. So we're back to 2 dogs, things are way more quieter now .

Me & kenneth (Tico dad) dancing Merengue!

On the brighter side monday we had a graduation extravaganza for my Mama ticas graduation in her Masters degree. We had her friends and family over for some bbq and drinks and a Mariachi band also !  My tico parents can salsa and bachata like no other ! tooo cute ! I want all of us to go out dancing one night ! It would be fun ! They met dancing at a local club her called Castros bar, how cute is that ? They dont dance as much anymore because they are always so busy , and obviously Monse always wants to join in lol  was a blast ! we danced and jammed out to the Mariachis and sang to some backstreet boys, yes even my mama tica ! lol She had a real fun time, realll fun with the Guaro ;] lol aka the wine ! it was awesome. Monse wants to know when we will be having another fiesta !

Bailando

My Tico parents chefing it up !

Puerto Viejo- Caribbean adventure

As of Today I have been in Costa Rica for 45 days. and have yet sooo many things to see and do but ...

This weekend all six of us roommates .. and 75% of the gringo population at veritas headed to Puerto Viejo.

Puerto viejo is in the province of Limon , which is on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. It was about a 4 1/2 bus ride there, but I had heard many great thing about it , so I was excited.

All 6 of us at the beach !

Me & my dear Hammock

 upon arrival , I knew I loved it there. We felt like we were in Tego Calderon Music video , dirt roads, people riding bicycles with the baskets in front and dreadlocks were the common hairstyle everywhere. It had a very rasta- laid back style and I loved everything about it. We stayed at a hostel called Rocking J's which I'd like to think of as a circus-like estate. Aside from the traditional dorm style or personal rooms you could sleep in tents or sleep in a hammock. There was artwork EVERYWHERE.. and I mean every single thing was a sort of mosaic. It was funky , at first I wasn't sure how I felt about it.. but after I had learned to love it for what it was. for just 7$ a night I had my own hammock for my slumber and a locker for my valuables. It was quite the experience. Hostels are just cheap places where you can rest your head and keep your things as you go out and explore the surroundings. also a great opportunity to meet people from everywhere, I love bumping into people from all over the world that go backpacking through the world. My hammock neighbors were two 19 year old boys from London and that night we met two Canadian guys who had just come in from panama. Discovering the who what when where why's about people is always an interesting topic and good conversation starter.

After two days of going to the beach, delicious food (for the most part)  and bar hopping it was time to part ways with Carribean paradise. If I some how miraculously ended up in Puerto Viejo again , I'd be quite happy <3 I would say as of now it has been my favorite!

I have officially booked my trips to Panama & Nicaragua for March ! Also Tonight we are havng a Fiesta ! for MY tica moms graduation in getting her Masters Degree in Comm. ! woot woot  get the grill going, few drinks with friends and family & Were even gonna have a mariachi ! Can't Wait .

Manuel Antonio- Where the Monkeys at?

On Friday Me Anabel and Elisa took an adventure to Manuel Antonio. Which is a beach in Punta Arenas a little further than Jaco, about 3 1/2 hours. Once we got there we were I was literally melting into a little pool of sadness, I NEEDED WATER! We got off along side the beach. and I instantly knew that I liked the vibes here, it was the perfect balance between touristy and locals. We were strolling around trying to find out Hostel, National backpackers, which was a quaint little area with a pool, until we saw the dorms.. where we'd be sleeping for the night. Lets just say it was probably the equivalent of a prison cell. Minimal light, bunk beds with a mattress the size of cot, and sleeping next to strangers! Fun times !

We walked around the town, and beach. Found an american-ized location for lunch  thanks to a kind national park guide, who really all they want is to get you to go on a tour, but there we had Burgers, massive ones. Que gringas! We were told that there would see monkeys everywhere.. well let me tell you now that I saw about ... zero ! I was like where are all the monkeys ?

Bus to Quepos

After surviving a night of the grueling heat in the dorms, & the possibility of getting eaten alive by mosquitos with literally one little fan in the corner.  We got up & ready for the beach. & check out. We also visited the National park, which should really be called the national beach, because its a huge park with about 4+ beaches ... they were really pretty. But by the time that we went we wanted nothing to do with sand or salt water, so we just walked around and checked out the beaches and trees.. lots of trees. We saw a raccoon, an iguana and like 1 1/2 monkeys .. The heat was unbearable. UGH.

BATIDOS! Yum.

So once we saw all that Manuel Antonio had to offer , we took a local bus to Quepos. which we had discovered the night before where we went on a search for Batidos & met a friendly man who made yummy batidos !for 285 colones it takes you to the neighboring city. In Quepos we had lunch , and waited for our bus home .. luckily Anabel found a way to convince the bus company to let us get on the 3pm bus instead of 5pm. So we got home to San jose so much earlier. I was pooped. The sun had drained any possible energy within me .. and I had spent every colon.. /dollar on me . So I was VERY ready to come home to my Tica home stay.

But overall Manuel Antonio was a pleasant place, definitely my favorite beach thus far.

Cute Little picture I took while at the national park.

100% Aventura

This weekend I went to Monte Verde , our last excursion with ISA. It was by far the most different of all the places we visited. Monte verde is a mountain locale with a spin-filled, nauseating  drive up the mountain. There were plenty of hills and dirt roads, our walk into town was a rough 10 minutes lol . It definitely had a country side- mountain- town feel to it. Which I liked because I despise being in really touristy locations. We stayed at the El Establo mountain hotel it was a beautiful place.  The hotel is so big and it is much colder up there. no bathing suits or sunglasses needed! It was a race against the sun every evening, because I could never manage to see the entire sun set. #BUMMER  I love sun sets in costa rica.. its something we always take for granted back home. The sun setting means the end of a day, and the sky transforms in to various colors, it's really just the greatest.

We went ziplining ! which was really the greatest part about the trip. Ziplining above and through the trees was incredible. We went on the longest zipline in Latin america, as well as the grand finale , the Mega Tarzan bungee swing! Once we finished the 12 lines we reached a long wobbly wire bridge , at the end were two men waiting to strap us up to the bungee swing. once your all strapped up at the waist they tell you to hold on, open the small gate door and basically push you off lol. you free fall for 148 feet until the bungee catches and your swinging around like Tarzan. It was awesome... I'd definitely do it again. Im very sore but  this was well preparation for  my bungee jumping experience , that I plan on doing before I leave here. just the thought of it gives me goose bumps, but I want to be able to say that I did it so it's on my to do list!

Me and Anabel also took advantage of our free time and went on a coffee tour in Monte Verde. It was very interesting , I learned more than I anticipated.  We went to el Trapiche, where they showed us how coffee is grown and processed, I learned so much about coffee, its actually incredible.. did you know that its a fruit? and that it gets all its flavor from the roasting process? I learned about dark roast and light roast, and how coffee is a huge source of income for countries that mass produce coffee. We also learned about sugar cane and cocoa beans. It was an enriching experience, the farm is family owned and our guide was knowledgable and awesome.

Now that morning classes are over, I find myself with a very large amount of spare time. I have class at 1pm everyday which can be a blessing and a curse. Today me and Anabel took an adventurous walk , to no where specific.. but we found many interesting locations. So thats our new thing... exploring San jose. When were bored indoors, it feels so guilty! not taking advantage of  the weather and time here.