Beautiful Views to Lighten the Mood

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!" -Dr. Seuss

To stick with the Dr. Seuss theme, just a quote to express how I have been feeling lately. Because I had been so caught up in seeing new places, struggling with the language, and doing a ton of homework, I had not been able to notice how much I miss my fiance, family, and friends. These last couple of days have been almost unbearable, though. I have finished basically all of my work. My Spanish is at a level that I do not struggle at all anymore... and I am more or less accustomed to living in Costa Rica. I think I am just ready to get home to the ones I love. It was refreshing, though, to go on a trip to Orosi. With these pictures, you'll probably be able to see how my stress was relieved.

This small church is also considered a museum. It is a beautilly subtle church... more or less maintained for years and years. It is the oldest church still in use in Costa Rica... and the second oldest church in general. It was built sometime in the 1700s.

View from the front of the church. Historically, only the Spaniards and the wealthy could enter through the main arch. The smaller arches (a little hard to see) were used for the poor and indigenous people... they literally had to crawl to get into the churchyard to hear the service.

Although the church was beautiful, it could not top the lunch we had. We traveled up to a lookout point in Orosi... it was amazing. Our hostmoms packed us all little lunches and we had a picnic overlooking this...

I just wanted to note again that these photographs are from members of my group (especially Mallory, Emily, and Erin). I want to thank them again for sharing their photos with me and all those who read my blog.