A Week Full of Traveling (Part 4)

This is a little out of order... I am still waiting to steal my Grecia and Sarchi photos from Emily. =) Today, to finish off our weekend, we went to Los Chorros, a park known for its 2 waterfalls that you can swim in. We hiked through the meadow to the waterfalls. In order to go into the water, though, you had to walk through some of the most jagged rocks ever in bare-feet! It was slightly terrible, but so cool that you couldn't even care that much. The waterfalls were amazing, as were all the other views, but the water was freezing! It was absolutely beautiful and something that I had never seen before. It was the perfect way to finish up an awesome weekend with my group.

A Week Full of Traveling (Part 3)

I guess since the trip was focused on the coffee, you would be interested in seeing what that was all about. I was actually really impressed with the factory we went to. It was very interesting to see the entire process of coffee- I had never put any thought into all the steps, machines, people, and money put into what people drink almost every morning.

It all starts like this...

View from the top of the factory.

And then you have coffee. =)

A Week Full of Traveling (Part 2)

All the way in the clouds! =)

Llano Bonito. So when I was told we were going to visit a Coffee Farm on Friday, I can't say that I was too excited. I mean, I don't even like coffee. Boy, was I in for a surprise! In order to get to the farm, we traveled through some of the most beautiful mountains you can imagine along a windy path. The trip to the farm was my favorite part of the day- I saw some of the most beautiful, breathtaking views! These pictures do not do it justice, but you can get a general idea.

A Week Full of Traveling (Part 1)

Eating our cake!

Adrienne didn't want to get her hair wet...

I apologize for not blogging during the week, but I have been so busy traveling! Because we did so much traveling, I am going to break up the blogs into the different places I visited. On Wednesday, as a very kind break from our classes after finishing our final projects for a course, we had the opportunity to travel to the beautiful Punta Leona. Even though it was sort of a rainy, crummy day... we had a great time. My whole group played a soccer game on the beach, then jumped into the ocean to cool off. We visited some beautiful pools in the resort here as well. A day full of swimming and soccer was just what I needed on my day off of classes. After this, we went to a cute little restaurant that is set up in the forest. Little did I expect, there would be monkeys jumping around the roof and sneaking in to steal the food. It was a delicious buffet with a lot of the American foods I had been missing so much. It just so happened to be one of my group member's birthday, so we were surprised with a giant cake. One of the monkey jumped down and stole a piece of the cake right off the table! It was an awesome day with a lot of surprises!

Yes, I did cause a car accident today.

Well, the title says it all. Today I was walking down the main street where I was being hackled by taxi and truck drivers, but nothing too unusual. Next thing I know, a man driving his car slows down and is driving at the same pace that I am walking. He is yelling in a deep voice, "Machita, Machita" and inappropriate things that I will leave up to your imagine. Instead of the usual 2 yells and drive away, this man was persistent. I appreciate his dedication. He seemed to have completely forgot about the road in front of him. I tried to hand gesture at the car that was stopped in front of him, but he was not interested in my help. He then crashed into the car in front of him. Instead of the normal reaction of shock, anger, and fear after a car accident, he decided to maintain his screaming at me. Perhaps he was yelling curses about me causing his accident, but, regardless, it was funny. Another feather in the hat, I guess.

All Work, No Play, and a LOT of Rain

So, I know I have not blogged all week, but that is because I really have nothing too thrilling to talk about. Halloween, in my opinion, was basically a bust. I had a sweet costume and all, but the whole of Costa Rica did not seem to have the same approach to the holiday. People were dressed up, but it seemed to be more of an excuse for the men to cover their faces and act more inappropriately. Other than that, I have just been working all week. One of my first final presentations was yesterday, so I had been working to get all of that stuff together. I did a lot of my final paper research and writing this week so that I could be sure to get some good travel time in over my last few weeks here.

There was also a terrible flood in Escazu, a town in the mountains not too far from San Jose. Because of the extreme amounts of water, a ton of rain caused landslides Wednesday at midnight. A lot of people are still missing and many were found dead; it has been marked as a national disaster in Costa Rica. Because of all the rain and problems caused by them, we were not able to travel anywhere this weekend. We tried to make the best of it by taking advantage of the extra work time to ensure free travel time over the next few weekends, though.

Today I watched the final football game of my fiance. It was nice to see him end on a great game with a big win, but it also left me with a very strange feeling. I am starting to realize all the "lasts" that will be coming up in the next few months for us. I cannot believe it is my senior year of college! What an overwhelming idea. I will not be able to feel that same pride in the bleachers again until I have my own kids out there playing some day. All in all, growing up is weird.

Sorry I don't have more exciting news of wordly travels this week. Tomorrow there is a recycled art fair in the city that I am really excited to visit. Next week, if the weather calls for it, we have a class trip to the beach on Wednesday and a class trip to a coffee farm on Friday. If everything comes together, I will also be visiting Monte Verde over the weekend. I am sure I will have a lot more exciting news and pictures for you coming up!

Museo de Ninos =)

Children's Museum!
The floor shook like an earthquake.

Dancing Lights

Spaceship!? Creo que siiii!

It has been another busy week in Costa Rica. Some of my beginning classes are wrapping up, so I've been working hard on my final papers. This doesn't mean we couldn't have a little bit of fun, though... For my Conversation class, our topic of discussion for the day was "childhood"... and where better to focus on childhood than at the Children's Museum!? That's right, a group of 18 Gringos showed up at the Children's Museum... and enjoyed the exhibits more than the kids! All in all, it was a lot of fun... and I actually found some quality ideas for my future classroom. =)

On Thursday we also visited the Hunger Strike against the building of the mines. Only 2 men remain because the other ones became so ill from not eating that they had to be rushed to the hospital. On Thursday, the poor guys had not eaten anything for 21 days (Can you imagine!?). We had gone to see them about 2 weeks ago... and they looked quite a bit more pale and tired. They feel very strongly for their cause, and my whole ACM group is supporting them. On Tuesday, my music class is all going to put on a concert for them and to raise more support. Look it up and "Like" them on Facebook!

Tonight is going to be an interesting night, for sure. We are all going to a Halloween party at one of the local clubs. There are prizes for the best costumes... hope someone in my group wins! I will be dressing up as Barbie (which is easy because I'm one of the only blondes in Costa Rica, haha). The only light-haired guy in my ACM group has red hair, but he is going to be Ken anyway. We also have Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, a pineapple, and a pirate in the group. We will see what the others come up with today. I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures.

I can't believe how quickly my time in Costa Rica has flown by. There are so many things I still want to do and see here, but I only have 34 days left! I have a feeling I am going to be really busy and have a lot to fill this blog up with in the next 34 days. Until next time... =)