Spring Break 2013 -Nicaragua

Believe it or not i'm pretty tiered of writing down every single detail about my trip lol or maybe I just didn't find nicaragua all that exciting .. maybe its a combination of the two ! but this post will be mainly pictures, so here you go :]

We set for Nicaragua bright & early 

Touring las isletas

Me & Tyana @ el Mirador de Catarina

In The Capital , Managua

Granada

Our hotel in Granada

Playa San Juan del Sur

Elizabeth x 2 & Tyana

"chillin in VIP" Lol

Discovered Quesillo &  fresco de cacao YUM!

Dan, Tyrese, Me, Cory & Colleen

Monkey !

Orchids

Not good bye, see you later.

Tica grandparents in the Chevy Nova

Semana santa is here , and the final count down is really becoming FINAL... Im going home in 10 days .. T E N days. Its really an inexplicable feeling having to leave this place I've called home for 3 months, knowing I have a real life back in Boston ...

Dona Mercedes getting ready for the beach

Today I had to say my first permanent goodbye, which was to my "tica grandparents" dona mercedes who has grown in my heart so fondly that I love her like she was my very own grandma. Never have I enjoyed being in the company of elderly people like i enjoy sitting around the table having a cup of coffee with dona mercedes, dona mencha ( the neighbor) and don edgar.


Me and Anabel went for our last beach adventure to herradura, because we had promised mercedes we'd come back. WE brought her little dresses , and I gifted her my fedora and staple vera bradley satchel that I have worn every single day of my life in an jose. and as usual she prepared us mounds of food and fruits, always so hospitable. We went to the beach in the evening and watched the sunset , as she told us stories about when she first moved to herradura and how the whole family would come to the beach and campout with bonfires and tents. She's such a joy to be with, it really hurt me to have to part ways, and even more to know that she may or may not be around when I ever decide to go to Costa Rica and thats something that she isn't in denial about either. Anabel and I 's hearts would melt when she'd mention it. before she left she said "make sure you don't forget us" and Im tearing up as I write this... ( hold on a second as I compose myself ) ** lol

Humble abode in Herradura

but , any how, its impossible to forget such a beautiful soul. someone who has demonstrated exactly how life should be lived , with family , with unconditional love and worry free even in the toughest of times, working hard for yourself and for those you love.

After an eternal morning in the sun me and Anabel came back for lunch and kept our eyes on the clock as we knew the time was approaching to set on our way back to San Jose. They drove us to the bus stop in their antique chevy nova and dona mercedes got out of the car and gave us a hug and kiss, as i held back my lil bitchy tears telling her we'd miss her. What really breaks my lil heart is that later this evening  My tico dad said he had just gotten off the phone with his grandma and that she said that once we left she began to cry and didn't want us to leave. Isn't that just darling ? how we just grew so close over the course of a week or so ?


That's love and appreciation right there, and whether or not we meet again i'm so very glad to have crossed paths.

Don't think just do it ! Bungee Jumping

So on Saturday I did the craziest thing I've ever done in these 20 years of life .. I went bungee jumping! Since  I set foot in costa Rica I knew I was going to be petrified of doing it , and that I was probably going to cry but that I HAD to go bungee jumping before I left. I'd go to bed at night thinking about it and I would cringe and I was thinking to myself  "how in the world am I gonna pull this off?"

As the end of my study abroad experience came closer , Anabel & I finally booked our reservations at Tropical bungee. We managed to convince to get Mason , a classmate of ours to join us and help us keep our cool on the shuttle to the bungee office. The day had come ! As i signed my life away I was taking deep breaths, trying to convince myself I was gonna be okay , and then thats when we arrived to the bridge with the platform and my jaw dropped .

We were joined by Karrie, James & Doreen on this adventure . Doreen and James were a power couple from NYC and when I say power couple I kid you not .. a optometrist and a anesthesiologist ! They were young and ready to take CR by storm as was Karrie who was on spring break from LA , but she's from Connecticut. I couldn't have asked for a better group to have gone bungee with !  

the bottom ! Rio colorado 262 Ft.

Tropical bungee is in Naranjo, Costa Rica .. about an hour from San Jose. It is one of the top 10 best bungees in the world , with a 262 ft free fall. yes, 2 6 2 Feet ! We were greeted by jump masters Willy and Berto who were great ! They made sure we were aware that were were first off safe - and secondly gonna have a great time! They were very encouraging, especially Willy , because God knows I was ready to get off that platform and cry when the time came to jump.

Anabel didn't do much thinking... as she went first ! she got suited up , was trembling like crazy , once up on the platform she dint even give them a chance to count down ... she dove off  right away ! Lol
she got that over with real fast ! I , on the other hand went last ... (at least I knew that this equipment was working properly , since everyone else survived lol ). I got up there and made a mistake .. I looked DOWN ! I was freaking outttttttttt ! But there was no turning back ! I had to jump off .. I wiped my sweaty palms off on the side of my jeans , closed my eyes ... and just jumped off on the count down. before you realize it you're hanging upside down.. and losing a shoe.. yes i lost a shoe ! lol this was the comical part of the experience. I was just laying there upside down laughing at what I had just done.

For those few seconds you just have to shut your brain off, and go for it. The drop is only like 3 seconds and the whole experience is about a minute long , but it feels so much longer than that as your falling full speed, face first towards rocks trees and Oh, a River ! lol
 Bungee jumping is PURA VIDA TO THE MAX! 100% adrenaline for sure. Once you get it over with you cant believe yourself and you feel capable of all things on earth !

Here in Costa Rica I have experienced what it means to be alive in all shapes and forms. That feeling you get when you inhale deeply ad fill your lungs, and the satisfaction regained when you exhale..

how often we take it all for granted. Every breath is a new opportunity

When I first arrived in Costa Rica and told my Tico dad I was contemplating bungee jumping he encouraged me to do it , he told me " that knot you feel in your stomach , an those butterflies you get when your falling .. thats nothing but you feeling ALIVE"

So here I am Alive and Well . and loving every second of it .....

Anabel, Mason & I

Simplicity is happiness

Playa Herradura

Playa Herradura

This weekend the original plan was to go to Montezuma ... but that plan was short lived because were broke and hate being on a bus for long periods of time. Any how ... we(Anabel & I) decided that we would go to Herradura, which is right next to Jaco, our Tico dad's grandparents live there in a little home and had invited us , so it seemed right that now that we were in need of the beach and somewhere to sleep we take advantage.

Mamon Chino ! Yum

Dona Mercedes and Don Edgar , are the cutest little couple of grandparents. They have lived in Herradura for about 15 years now, once they decided to retire and leave San Jose. They have been together since they were 18, and have 4 kids. Since retirement don edgar left his mechanic shops and home to his children and they send them money each week to get by. They live a humble lifestyle , in a little house that looks like i could have somehow constructed it myself. when we first arrived I thought to myself " oh lord where could we possibly be sleeping in there?" but the truth was we were comfortable from the beginning. Even though they live so humble and poor , they are willing to share all that they have and they live happily without a single complaint. Not to mention that they are very healthy,for people there age.  We were fed various times a day while  there like we were their own family, and spent hours conversing about life. I tried so many new fruits  and had plenty of rice !

Upon arrival we were offered a plethora of fruit and they took us to the beach. Herradura is a low key beach with less tourism than Jaco. Although you can tell that americans are certainly trying to develop tourism and real estate there. We went to "Los Suenos" resort village ... and there was a man flying in to his villa on a HELICOPTER ... not to mention the shit ton of yachts ! It was a lovely place to say the least. I enjoyed myself so much.. (without a single drop of alcohol. lol ) Me and Anabel even told her that we'd come back next week for our spring break, before we head over to Panama and Nicaragua. We spent plenty of time at the Auto mercado .. using their wifi and buying snacks. Aside from that we were either on the beach roasting, Anabel trying out the topless tan fad and me trying to not get trampled by waves. We even took a bus into Jaco one evening and went to a fair and watched the sunset.

Sunset in Jaco 

How could I forget ? This is where Bella is ... She's so big, We barely recognized her from how much she has grown. I couldn't really tell if she was more or equally hyperactive than when she left our house in San jose.They also changed her naem to Luna, which was awkward because thats the name of one of our dogs back home, but what ever makes them happy! shes not ours any more, although she still responds to bella sometimes. She's a trouble maker , thats for sure! Driving them a lil crazy, but she's a funny pup. they enjoy her company , because they're dog they have is very old ... im surprised it still walks lol . her name was Osa.. she stayed to her self. which was reasonable because she's 15 years old .. which is super duper old in dog years.

All in all , I had another amazing weekend for about 1/3 of the money that I would have spent in Montezuma. I still can't fathom how lucky I was to cross paths with such an amazing family. It saddens me to know that they are so old, because I want to come visit them one day when I return to Costa Rica. I want to be just like dona Mercedes when I get older, happy, optimistic and healthy. I'ts evident that in their simple lives on the beach they live happily and grateful for all they have... thats how it should be.

 

Pura vida, is my kind of vida ♥

I've been delaying this post , because I wanted to include pictures... Laura was supposed to post them ... but yet they are still not up. So those will be here on a later date .. Enjoy.

Now I am down to 27 days left in Costa Rica.. and I know that from this moment on every second counts. But no matter what I know life's ways will lead  me back to this place.. but I sure will miss it. Certainly not the showers -_- lol but any ways .... the purpose of todays post ... WHITE WATER RAFTING. 

I have never been , so I was super scared I was gonna get tossed off the raft into the rapids and drown under  a water fall and that idea was just re-inforced when I signed the waiver lol but that wasn't the case at all. It was super fun and thrilling experience, the rapids weren't as mean and ugly as I had anticipated.

We had to rise and shine at 6:00 am and waited for the shuttle to come pick us up, our guide was super awesome his name was Miguel, he gave us the 411 on what the day was gonna be like. I was so impressed at how good these tour guides are are translating and switching back from spanish to english, practically making it look effortless. They provided us with breakfast and lunch which definitely was a plus. We had to drive about an hour to the river from San jose and 30 minutes from the tours base to the top of the river. Once we got all geared up we got assigned to a tour guide that would ride down the river with us, we were also in a raft with two guys one from Texas and one from Connecticut they were real chill . Glad they weren't weirdos because the tour would have been so AWKWARDDD lol. Our guide showed us all the commands for rowing and we were well on our way.His name was Manuel, i'm pretty sure i drove him crazy because i'd stop rowing so that I could take pictures haha.

Rowing isn't my thing anyways, it hurt my arms and fingers also the sitting position in the raft which was pretty interesting also was not comfortable , but it was all worth it. The mountains and canyons we rowed by were so beautiful. There were tons of little  waterfalls and rocks galore. I felt like I was in Jurassic park or that scene in pocahontas where she's rowing in her canoe singing? I had to blink twice a couple times and ask myself " is this real life? "

It was incredible. and although the weather wasn't perfect it still didn't bring us down. we got stuck in a few rocks which was pretty funny but our guide knew what he was doing. we Rowed for about 3 hours and it went by pretty fast, this tour was all about the Pura vida. And I loved it .. I got a shirt .. at the raft base during lunch ... it says Challenge yourself, you only live once. Yolo .. is so much more significant when your in paradise :] 

Family Dinner

 

Tuesday Evening When I arrived from Panama , it was like the angels from heavens had pre-planned this... But my family was preparing a massive meal of our Favorite dish ! CHIFRIJO! with our fav. Dessert which is Mariela's secret microwavable brownie !

Max's Parents along with his friend Dennis are visiting from the states, also for the first time in what felt like for ever , every single one of us roommates was present at dinner at the same time... so it was a special dinner. Among the Roomates we have a never ending for love for Chifrijo, Im not sure if I had explained this dish before but its a traditional meal here in CR, but my Tico dad adds his own twist to it with the Tortilla bowl and the tomato skin roses & sliced avocados. Its beautiful & delicious.

photo Cred. To Cammie

It was like fate placed us all around the table that evening. It was a 13 person dinner with food to go around for us all , seconds, and even thirds ! It was such a joy.

What I loved and appreciated the most was all the love and hospitality my host parents put into this meal. We made a toast, with our Imperials and Horchata drinks, to have all crossed paths and it was then that it hit me how lucky I was. My Tico dad said this little speech and it was so cute.  It's incredible how so many strangers can congregate around the dinner table and unite as a family.

I never have family dinner at home , every one just comes and goes. The energy around the table was great, so sad that soon I will have to part ways from Gallo Pinto,Chifrijo, Barbudos,Salsa Lizano,Chile relleno, Jugo de mora the list goes on!!

I just wanted to dedicate this post to the amazing people I have encountered in Costa Rica , and how continuously my blessings appear in disguise, that evening being in form of a special 13-person-family dinner <3

Why Do we need to take a water taxi ? Bocas Del Toro

Oh myyy, Happy March ! 

So much has happened since I last posted , and I am so overwhelmed by the fact that I have 4 weeks left here.. I have officially set the count down on my phone til home. Today is exactly 30 days!

Its really bitter sweet, because I feel like I still have so much to do & see here 

but then again I am pretty ready to go home. Im stuck in the middle ;[ 

But Any how on Saturday , we took off for Panama ! Which was hard because I packed incorrectly , I made the biggest mistake and didn't check out the weather forecast. It was cold, gloomy & rainy .. pretty much the ENTIRE time .. but any how-

preparing to Snorkel"

I had initially signed up to go to Bocas Del Toro in Panama for the experience, I didn't want to be so close and miss out on the opportunity! I thought we were gonna be on the coast some where... but I had done absolutely no research on Bocas, so when we crossed the border .. (Which is a VERY interesting process) and were waiting for the water taxi I was soo confused!  So I ask " why cant we just drive to the hotel, I don't get why we need a water taxi" .. That was probably the most ignorant thing I could have said because guess what ? Bocas Del Toro is on an ISLAND! ouch ... lol I wonder How stupid people think I am ? lol Oh well. Here are pics of the bridge we had to cross ! This creepy bridge we had to cross to get from one border to another! so two times I had to endure that thing, its not safe by any means !

Regardless of the disastrous rain , that ruined our dolphin watching and snorkeling tour (on which I injured my foot on).  But  I definitely still made the best of it. Well I paid for it duh.. and How many times am I really going to be in Panama? I loved it in Bocas, its similar to Puerto Viejo In Costa Rica.. but at the same time SOOO different. The vibe there is distinct. Its a very traditional, locals everywhere. Panama uses Dollars and they have souvenir shops like every other place that welcomes tourists, but never did I feel like it was too "Americanized".

Some of the people I met in Bocas ! @ Iguana

Al & the cartoon Hamburgers @ book bar

I met so many people that travel Internationally just to come to Bocas, some people come and never leave. I Met this man that moved with his wife about a year and a half ago from HOLLAND! to open a restaurant , how awesome is that ? I met guys from Germany, England, Argentina, New York,Texas and Connecticut ! Me and Ashley met this interesting man , Al, outside of the Iguana bar , he was for sure a "free spirit" he moved from Connecticut Last year and started a band, being practically homeless.  He invited us to the "bookstore bar" to watch his band , so I was like okay, this guys band is probably a freak show ... they probably do 12049 drugs before there shows lol. But the next day we went over and his band was actually GOOD. I genuinely enjoyed there stuff! and He remembered us ! he thanked us for coming ! shout out to AL in Bocas !

I also met this man from Argentina, Named Matias.. I was telling him about how I'd practically sell my liver to be able to fly to Argentina to reunite with my best friend, because flights are so expensive. Definitely not my type but a nice little man and he spoke english and the awesome spanish accent. For three days he was My lil boo, I just love talking about different cultures, I always have so many questions ! we are now "email friends" lmfaoo .

Overall I would SOOOOOO return to Bocas, or Panama in general. Who knows maybe I'll return during spring break? We shall see... I want to visit Panama city also, which looks splendid .

Sweet Love Bocas <3 We shall meet again :-*

Coming up ... White water Rafting ... & Bungee Jumpinggg ! AHHHHHHHHHH