Back in Iowa

I woke up this morning at 7:45 am. It would be 6:45 am in Costa Rica, which is what time I'd wake up to get ready for class. I need to stop waking up that early! I slept awesome in my bed. I had breakfast with Mom and Dad. We had scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, homemade bread with Guava jelly that I brought home, a banana, and chocolate milk. I love American food!

Dad already assigned me some work to do, so I better do some of that today. I also have to do laundry and unpack. Later I'm going over to Cody's new house and he's grilling hamburgers. I have been craving a hamburger for a month! :) And I think I'm going to make Snicker salad. Oh how I've missed Iowa food.

Things I missed about the US:
- Being able to flush toilet paper
- The people, family, friends, Cody, and Cubby
- Good meat
- Chocolate milk
- Harry Potter
- English
- Water pressure in showers
- My bed
- Not having to put on bug spray before going to sleep
- No cockroaches, bugs, spiders, lizards, etc. in my room
- My cell phone
- Cooking and baking
- Not having to wear 100 SPF sunscreen to walk around the neighborhood

Things I liked about Costa Rica:
- Laid back atmosphere
- Spanish
- The culture
- My mama tica
- The mountains (my favorite)
- The excursions
- Exercise, sometimes (walking up mountains a lot...)
- Healthier food
- Cheap movie theaters
- Fresh bread and jelly
- Fresh pineapple!
- Fresh fruit drinks
- Pura Vida (it means happy and pure life, a good life)

It was a great experience and I'm so glad I went! I would like to visit Costa Rica again for a vacation. There were a few places that I wanted to visit but I ran out of time. I will be back, Costa Rica! My favorite excursion was by far rafting. It was so much fun. The good thing is, I can go rafting in the US! I will definitely be doing that again. It was a very fun month, but of course I'm glad I'm home. Thanks for following along with my blog! :)

Back to Iowa - 6/4/2012

I got up this morning at 4:45 am, but I didn't sleep very well because I was so nervous for the flight, customs, leaving, etc. I got my bags and stuff together then went out to the table to say bye to Argelis. She made me coffee and gave me crackers for breakfast. We sat at the table for a while and talked until the taxi came at 5:30 am. She walked me out and said bye to me. I got a little teary-eyed, but I was ready to go home.

It took about 30 minutes to drive to the airport and it cost about $30. I walked in the airport, paid my $28 tax to leave the country, changed my colones to dollars, then went to the American Airlines desk and checked in. I was allowed to have a 50 pound checked bag. My bag weighed 49.5 pounds. :) Next I went through security. Longest line ever. Security to travel overseas is heavy-duty. Before I got on my plane, everyone had to be scanned with the hand-scanner and then everyone's carry-on bags had to be checked.

After that, I had an hour and a half until my plane was supposed to leave, so I ate some breakfast ($6 for a muffin and orange juice) and walked around the shops.

The flight went well. It took about 3 hours and 45 minutes to get from San Jose, Costa Rica to Dallas, Texas. On the plane, we watched the movie We Bought A Zoo on the TVs. It was a pretty good movie. We also got breakfast. I had some french toast, a croissant, orange juice and some pineapple. It was plane food... enough said.

I saw highways and interstates from the plane window in Texas. That's something that's not really in Costa Rica! My flight landed around 1:30 pm (Iowa time). I had to pick up my checked bag, go through customs again, re-check my bag, and go through security again. I had about an hour until my second flight left, so the first thing I did was get an Aunt Anne's soft pretzel with soft cheese. Yum!!! I also turned on my cell phone right when I landed. It hasn't been on for a month! It feels awesome having a phone again.

My plane home went well, too. It was a really small plane and it only took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to Cedar Rapids from Dallas. I looked out the window of the plane and saw corn fields! I never thought I'd be that excited to see fields again. When I got off the plane, there was a big sign of "Welcome to the home of the Iowa Hawkeyes" with the I-O-W-A flags on it. Welcome home!!! :) I went down the escalator and Mom was standing there waiting for me. Dad and Cubby were waiting in the car with a Diet Dr. Pepper. So nice to be home!

Right when I got home, Cody came over and we had dinner. We had cured porkchops, fluffy mashed potatoes, homemade bread, corn, cole slaw, chocolate milk!, and mom's homemade rhubarb crisp and ice cream. I was in heaven... so good. I had to help a little bit with the dishes, too. I got spoiled in Costa Rica because my mama tica did all of the dishes, cleaning, and laundry!! Back to real life, I guess! I showed some pictures and watched TV, then went to bed. I missed my bed! I slept AWESOME in it.

Last Day in Costa Rica - Sunday 6/3/2012

Today is my last day! I slept in for the first time this entire trip. I slept until 8:30 am. When I woke up, I packed so that I could have the rest of the day to do stuff. For breakfast, I had bananas, watermelon, scrambled eggs, cheese bread, guava jelly, and coffee. It was a great last breakfast! Bethany, Argelis and I all ate together. It was nice getting to talk to Argelis before I left!

After breakfast, Kaydee, Bethany and I went to San Pedro Mall. We paid $3 to see the new Snow White and the Huntsman movie with Kristen Stewart. It was actually really good! I liked it. The movie theater was FREEZING, though. I think I got frostbite. It's better than being hot, I guess. After the movie, we just walked around and stopped in some shops.

When we got home, I packed some more and picked up my room. For dinner, we had rice and chicken, tortilla chips, refried beans, and some kind of juice. I always like the rice and chicken. Sara, Bethany, Argelis and I were the only ones that were home to eat dinner. Everyone else was out of town. Argelis usually never eats with us because there is no room at the table, so it was nice being able to eat with her!

After dinner, Bethany, Sara and I went to a little store near the house and bought some ice cream. I got something called Trits. It's a little ice cream sandwich with a grahm cracker cookie around it. It was really good! Then we went back home, I finished up my packing, said my goodbyes to Sara, Mario (who had just gotten home), and Bethany. I went to bed around 9:30. Carley and Angela came home around 10. They knocked on my bedroom door to say goodbye to me, but apparently I was sleeping through all of it! So I didn't get to say goodbye to them, but at least I can Facebook them and say bye.

Argelis and I.

Carley, Sara, Angela and I at dinner. This was a couple of weeks ago.

Saturday 6/2/2012 - Isla Tortuga

This morning I woke up at 4:30 am. So early! For breakfast I had a bowl of fruit loops and some coffee. Argelis sat at the table with me to eat breakfast because she called a taxi for Kaydee and I. Kaydee came to my house and we left at 5:30. The taxi took us to the Holiday Inn downtown San Jose. It took about 15 minutes to drive there. When we got there, there were a lot of tourists waiting at the hotel for the Bay Island Cruise bus, too, so I felt a lot better once I knew that it wasn’t a scam!

When the company bus got there, we paid on the bus since our professor made the reservations for us. It cost us about $78 each. It’s a great price for a great day! It took about 2 hours to reach Puntarenas, which is on the Pacific coast. From there, we got off the bus and went onto a boat called the Great Bay's Princess for 2 hours to get to the island. It was sort of like a small yacht. The first level was only for the staff, the second level was air conditioned with the bar, tables, and bathrooms, and the third level was the pool and tables.

There was also a group of 4 guys that played music the entire trip. They didn’t really sing, they just sang sounds like “ba da da dum.” But I enjoyed it! We also got fresh pineapple and watermelon, ceviche (gross), and fruit/water juice.

When we got to the island, we paid $12 for snorkeling right when we got there and went snorkeling. There was a really big group, probably about 25 people, so it made snorkeling terrible. Everyone grouped together and I kept getting kicked with flippers! And the water was really dark, so we couldn’t see any fish unless they were at the surface. The fish we did see were all the same type of fish, too. Overall, snorkeling wasn't that good. :(

When we got back from snorkeling, we ate lunch. We had rice, chicken, fried fish, salad, potato salad, champagne, green beans, and carrots. Then, we walked around the beach and took a lot of pictures and then swam in the ocean. The water actually wasn’t that cold. I heard that the Pacific Ocean was colder than the Atlantic Ocean, but it wasn’t that bad! The floor of the water, though, was all rocks. It kind of hurt, but at the same time it was like a massage for my feet.

It was a very nice and relaxing day (after snorkeling). On the way home on the boat, it took another 2 hours to get to land. This time, we sat on the front of the boat on some lay-out chairs with a group of young girls that are also studying abroad. We also got to watch the sun set from the boat over the mountains. It was beautiful. I took pictures, but obviously the pictures don’t do it justice.

On the bus ride home, we got to watch the movie Flicka on the TV’s. When we got home, the bus dropped us off at the Holiday Inn. There was a POPS Ice Cream shop right next to the hotel (how convenient)! So of course we stopped and got ice cream before we went home! I got brownie dynamite and it was delicious.

When I got home, I ate dinner. For dinner, we had Chinese take-out again. I didn’t have any of the noodles with the nasty sauce this time, just the rice and the rangoons. Bethany, Sara and I also watched part of the movie Elektra in Spanish. I didn’t catch most of the words, but it was still fun to listen to Spanish. I went to bed around midnight.

Last Day of School

It seems like I've been here forever, but it feels like just yesterday I wrote my "First Day of School" blog! Today for breakfast, we had gallo pinto, scrambled eggs, coffee, bread, and that blackberry jelly again. No fruit this morning!

Today in class, we got our final exams back and our final grades. I got 100% in the class! :) Then we watched a movie called "The Whore and the Whale." They watch very interesting and inappropriate movies in this country. The movie was really bad. We watched it in Spanish with English subtitles. During the movie, I felt my desk and body shake. I thought that my professor or Jack, who were sitting next to me, was kicking my chair on accident. Turns out, it was a tremble!!! Like a small earthquake! After the movie, my professor asked if we felt the tremble. I had no idea it was a tremble at the time. But I felt it and I was so excited once I knew what it was! Now I can say that I've felt the earth move. It was such a weird feeling.

After class, I got money out of the ATM for the last time. I also talked to Victor for the last time. He can't take me to the airport on Monday morning, so I'm going to have to take a taxi. My plane leaves at 8:30 am and I'm leaving the house at 5 am.

Bethany, Carley and I went to a smoothie shop nearby (not the green building) and I got a strawberry banana smoothie with some ice cream. It was good! We also stopped by the bakery and got a quick calzone-type thing with ham and cheese which was our lunch.

We went home and rested for about an hour, and then went to the artisan market one last time and got some souvenirs. After the art market, I stayed home and rested. I still didn't feel that good after yesterday's McDonalds, and I had to get up really early the next morning. After dinner, I rested some more, then Kaydee, Grace and I all went to the bar Los Profesionales. The "Gringo" bar. It was a lot of the students' last night, so almost everyone was there. I was there from about 9:30 pm - 10:45 pm. It was nice saying goodbye to everyone. But it was such a weird feeling knowing that I will never see them again! When I got home, I went straight to bed.

Final Exam

This morning for breakfast I had pineapple, coffee, scrambled eggs, bread, and blackberry jelly instead of guava jelly. I didn't really like it. I wanted my guava! :)

In class today, we celebrated Bethany's birthday that was yesterday, and Raychael's birthday that is tomorrow. Our professor brought us a chocolate and strawberry cake with coffee. It was so good! Our teacher is so nice. A few days a week, too, she leaves class for a couple minutes and comes back with pieces of candy, like butterscotch, cinnamon, rootbeer barrels, or mints. After eating cake, we reviewed the homework and she taught a quick lesson on the history of Latin America.

Next, we took our 30 minute break and then took our final exam. It was comprehensive, so it covered all of the verb tenses. It had 4 parts of fill in the blank and write sentences. Then, we had a 150 essay about what we think the world would be like if something were different. We had to pick a scenario, and I chose if there was no internet. I said that it would be good because people would need to be more intelligent because they couldn't rely on the internet for all of the information and that there would be more personal relationships. But I said life would be more difficult because work and school would be harder, traveling would be more difficult, it'd be harder to have relationships with people that live far away, etc.

After class, Brandon, Bethany, Chelsea, Raychael and I went to San Pedro Mall to hang out for a little bit. We ate at McDonalds and I had a chicken sandwich and fries. Note to self: don't eat McDonalds in Costa Rica. I got really sick from it. An hour later, I was at home in bed. I'm feeling a little better now, but still not the best. I rested today for about 5 hours. I took a quick nap then laid in bed and watched a movie that my professor gave to me to watch. It's called the Motorcycle Diaries. I watched it in Spanish with English subtitles. It was pretty good! It's about 2 young men that travel South and Latin America to study leprosy. It's just about the lives of the people in America in the 1940s and 50s. I guess it's a real story, too.

For dinner, we had potatoes, beef, and rice and beans. Then tonight, some of the roommates went to McDonalds to get ice cream after dinner. They asked me if I wanted to go along, and I said I'd had enough McDonalds for today..

No homework tonight! I am officially done with my 4 week Intensive Spanish class. It was a great class. I learned a lot and had fun! It was a great experience studying abroad. I am definitely going to miss the small class size! You just can't beat a class of 6 students.. I learned so much because of the more one-on-one teaching style.

Men in Black 3

This morning for breakfast we had froot loops, bananas and pineapple, coffee, bread and jelly. Today in class, we finished the class presentation and I also gave my Salsa presentation. It went really well. At the end, Raychael and I demonstrated how to dance the Salsa. We made the 4 other students in class do it, too. It was fun!

This weekend, I want to do something since it's my last weekend, but most students are leaving the country on Saturday and some others want to go somewhere for the entire weekend. I only want to be gone on Saturday so that I can spend Sunday here with the family and packing. So I asked my professor if she had any suggestions, and she recommended Turtle Island. There's a company that takes care of everything for you for an entire day for about $80. I'd be gone all day on Saturday, but for some of the time I'd be on a boat and then at the island for a few hours. Kaydee and I want to go, so we asked her how to make reservations. Apparently we had to call the company and make reservations. But, neither of us have phones and the people would talk WAY to fast for us. My teacher was super nice and called the company for us on her cell phone and made the reservation for us! So this weekend we're going to Turtle Island :) Hopefully it's fun!

After class, we were supposed to have that ambassador meeting, but no one showed up. Instead, Kaydee and I went to San Pedro Mall again. We ate lunch at Wendy's because we only had a little while until Men in Black 3 started at the theater. The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles, and it cost $2 to get in. It's cheap Wednesday! The movie was actually kind of funny, even though I haven't seen the 1st or 2nd movies.

Then I did some homework. I had 1 page of homework, a written essay portion of my final exam tomorrow, and then I have to study for my exam tomorrow. My professor said it was easy and it's mostly just application. My written essay was 200 words about a how Japan's population is decreasing and they need more workers. Apparently, to get more workers, they built human clones that are robots. Weird!

Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti, salad, and home-made chocolate cake with ice cream for Bethany's birthday. The cake was delicious! But the spaghetti not so much. Their beef just has a funky taste to it..

Tuesday 5/29/2012

This morning for breakfast we had eggs, fruit, coffee, and bread and jelly. In class today, we reviewed the subjunctive and reviewed the homework. We also started a class project about the visit to the cloud forest. We just had to work as a class to come up with a powerpoint and presentation about the trip.

After class, Kaydee, Grace, David and I ate at the green pizzeria for lunch. I had a ham and mushroom pizza with a fresh pineapple and cas smoothie. After lunch, we went back to school to meet up with Brandon and Chelsea. We got a taxi and went to the Children's Museum downtown San Jose. It cost $2 to get in and we were there for about 2.5 hours. The museum was pretty fun! It had a lot of interactive exhibits. It had an exhibit about the colonization of the Americas, how the indians lived, children's stories, bubbles, scientific exhibit, etc. Plus, I could actually understand most of the descriptions that they had displayed because they were written with little kid language and words! :)

After the museum, I did homework at home for a while. I had to do a few pages of homework and then finish my Salsa dancing presentation. For dinner, we had rice with hot dog bits in it, potato chips, and tamarindo juice. A few nights ago, I had tamarindo juice at a cafe and I had no idea what a tamarindo was. So, I asked my mama tica and she couldn't explain it very well. When I got home today, she got all excited and said "come here!!" She had bought a tamarindo for me to see. It was just the insides of the tamarindo. It was seeds covered with a goo, it kind of looked like dates. We tried it and she said "Good, isn't it?!" I hated it. It was really bitter and too sweet. It had a weird taste, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. So I said "Yes, very strong flavor.." So she made it for dinner. Hopefully we don't have to eat it again!

Wizard's Chess at the museum!

Monday 5/28/2012

This morning for breakfast we had pancakes, coffee, mango and watermelon. The pancakes were really good! In class today, we reviewed the subjunctive and practiced it. Eugenia also brought in a few sculptures of the different Virgin Marys so that we could talk about them for a little bit.

I have 2 articles to read for homework tonight with some questions to answer about them. I also have a presentation due Wednesday about the dance Salsa. For that presentation, I am partners with Raychael.

Today after class, Kaydee, Nijie and I took the bus downtown. We ate at a small restaurant, I don’t remember the name, but it was okay. I had a huge plate of chicken and rice, a drink of mixed fruits and water, and a bun. I didn’t like the chicken, so I picked all of that out. The meat here is not that good!

Nijie stayed downtown, but Kaydee and I walked back to Veritas. We had no idea where we were going, but we would see something that we recognized, and so we would keep walking until we saw something else we recognized. And we made it back! We didn’t even have to ask anyone for directions J

On the way home, we stopped at the Super Pacifico store by the green pizzeria by my house. I bought a new umbrella for $5 and an ice cream drumstick. It was pouring, so good thing I bought an umbrella! I liked that little store. I wish I would have found it earlier.

When I got home, I uploaded all of the rafting pictures from the CD to my computer. The pictures are awesome! I’m so glad we bought the CD. I’m also so glad I did rafting! I want to do it again! Rafting was probably the best trip I've been on here.

Then I did my homework. It wasn’t that hard, but one article about Afghanistan had a lot of new vocabulary, so it took me a little while to read through that article. I also skyped Mom and Dad. Dad was wearing the same Ely firemen’s breakfast shirt as I was! Later, when I skyped Cody, he was wearing the same shirt, too! My roommates thought it was hilarious. They said it must be an “Iowa thing” that everyone wears the same shirt!

For dinner, we had a stew-type thing with beans, carrots, pork, and potatoes, salad with mango, and rice. Argelis sat down with us at the end, and Mario and Osael bought her a Tres Leches cherry cake for her birthday since they weren’t here to celebrate it with her last weekend. She was so happy! The cake was okay. Tres leches isn’t my favorite! It was kind of spongey. We also took a lot of family pictures because everyone was there.

White Water Rafting

This morning I had to get up at 5:15 am. It was so early! But the sun was already up here. I had a bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast. Finally, a breakfast like I'd have in Iowa! Kaydee, David and I met at school, which is where the company bus picked us up. The company was Exploradores Outdoors Costa Rica. We didn't go with the school this time on the trip, just us 3. On the bus, there were about 20 other people from around the world that were all going rafting, too. It took about 2 hours to get to the Pacuare River. It is the river of the green macaw. But, we didn't even see any. This river is the 5th prettiest river in the world to go white water rafting in. It was gorgeous!

There are 5 classes of rapids. 1 is the easiest, 5 is the hardest. This river had a lot of 3s and a few 4s. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was be. It was more fun than scary! When we got to the river, they gave us a safety lecture. They explained what to do if we fell off the raft. Someone could either pull you back in with their paddle, you could hold onto a safety kayak while they bring you to the raft, or the guide on the raft will throw you a rope and pull you in. They also told us what to do if we fell off and got trapped under the raft. Hearing that that even happens made me a little nervous. They said that if you fall off, turn so that your back is to the current and put your feet and legs up straight so that they don't get smashed by the rocks. The water was pretty shallow with a ton of rocks.

Next we ate a big breakfast. We had gallo pinto, scrambled eggs, toast, pineapple and papaya, coffee, and smokies. To raft, I wore my swimsuit, shorts, tshirt, and tennis shoes. It felt so weird wearing tennis shoes in the water! We also had to wear life jackets, helmets, and each of us had a paddle.

We drove up the mountain for 30 minutes to get toward the top so that we could raft down the river. We started at 250 meters altitude (820 feet) and we ended at 60 meters (197 feet).

Then we got split into groups for the rafts. There were 6 people to a raft and a guide. In my raft was Kaydee and David from Veritas, Davis from Bermuda, and Cathy and Lance from Florida. Cathy was originally from Brazil. Our guide was Arnoldo. He has been rafting for 5 years I think and kayaking since he was about 10. He kayaks in international competitions and is trying to get into the olympics. That's pretty cool! He was awesome. We got in the raft and stayed on shore while he gave us instructions and we practiced the commands. If he said "forward," we all paddled together at the same time to go forward. Another command was "stop," where we just put our paddles on our laps. "Lean in" means to stop paddling, grab the rope on the side of the raft, and lean in toward the middle so no one will fall out. "Right side" means that the raft might tip, so everyone jumps to the right side and grabs the rope to prevent it from tipping. Same with "left side." "Get down!" was my favorite. It means that there is a huge rapid coming up. We stop paddling, grab the side rope, and squat down in the raft to prevent from falling out. We did that quite a bit!

After a rapid on the river, there was a portion that was smooth and didn't have any rapids. That was nice so that we could rest and prepare for the next rapid. At one point, my tennis shoe came untied and I bent down to tie it during the rest period. I told Kaydee to let me know when the next rapid was coming up. She said, "um... Erin? I think you need to get up now." I look up and there's a huge rapid coming up. Good thing I got up when I did, or I would have been thrown off the raft :)

We rafted for 2 hours, then stopped at a part of the forest and had lunch for about 30 minutes. We had chips and salsa, lemonade, pineapple, tortillas with lettuce, ham, and vegetables, and a peanut mixture. In the forest there were 3 pigs running around. It was funny watching some of the people react to the pigs. They had no idea what to do with them! They're definitely not from Iowa.

After lunch, we rafted again for 2 hours. We switched sides of the raft, though, so that one shoulder wouldn't hurt more than the other. My shoulders and arms are so sore right now! It felt so uncomfortable being on the other side, it took awhile to get used to it. No one fell off of our raft. But, there were a few times where there was a long enough rest period in the river that we could get off of the raft and swim. It was weird swimming with tennis shoes on! The water was actually pretty cold. It was also really brown and gross. Yesterday it rained really hard, so a lot of dirt and mud went into the river. Later, the guide told us to give him all of our paddles. We stood up in the raft and made a circle. We held onto each other's life jackets and stood up through a rapid on the raft! I almost fell out but someone caught me, thank goodness! It was a lot of fun!

I was sad when it was over. It was a lot of fun! I bought a CD with pictures that the guides took, so hopefully they are good! Tonight for dinner we had baked potatoes, chicken, rice and fried plantanes. It was really good.

Yesterday when I got home, I put my wet umbrella in the porch of the house to dry off. Apparently, someone stuck their hand through the bars/gate of the porch, shut my umbrella, and stole it. That's what my mama tica said because I can't find it anywhere. When I got up this morning, it was gone. Who would want to go through that much work to steal an umbrella?!?!? I'm mad just because it's rainy season and now I have to go an entire week without an umbrella. I'll try to buy a new one tomorrow.

Poas Volcano

This morning I got up at 5:45 am to get ready for my trip. It's so early! My mama tica didn't make breakfast for me this morning, so I had a small bowl of cereal and I went to the bakery nearby and grabbed a donut. I don't remember the last time I had a donut.. it was fresh, too, so it was really good. It's my mama tica's 72nd birthday today.

Kaydee, Grace, David and I left school at 7 am with Victor, the tour guide, to go on our trip. We all fit in Victor's personal SUV, so no bus this time! It only took 2 hours to get to our destination. On the way to Poas volcano, we stopped at a coffee plantation. It was huge! And of course, I got a cup of coffee. Black with milk. Delicious! The coffee plants were about as tall as a full grown corn stalk. I learned that coffee plants can live and produce coffee beans for 15 years! And, the coffee beans are only picked once per year. Once! Victor said it's usually around October. They also have to pick them by hand, there are no machines or tools to help them.

After the plantations, we went to Poas volcano. Poas is an active volcano with the 2nd largest crater in the world (after Japan). We first went to a museum about it. It talked about the 5 different kinds of forests in Costa Rica: rain, dry, cloud, humid, and I can't remember the other one. There's also a Ring of Fire (no Dad, not Johnny Cash!). There volcanoes in the world make a circle.

From the museum, we walked up a path to the crater. Once we got to the top, it smelled so bad. It smelled like rotten eggs! Someone said it was because of the amount of sulfur in the volcano. There was also a ton of smoke pouring out of the crater. It was breathtaking how big it was. It was a weird feeling knowing that there was lava right underneath me!

Next, we walked up a path to go to the Botos Lagoon. It's 400 meters in diameter and 14 meters deep. The water temperature is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I thought it would be warmer! And the altitude we were at was 2,620 meters above sea level. It was actually harder to breathe because we were up so high. The lagoon is an extinct volcanic crater that is filled with rainwater. It still has traces of acidity so only a few algae and microorganisms can live in it.

Then, we went to La Paz Waterfall Garden. It was about a 40 minute drive to get there from the volcano. First, we ate a huge buffet lunch. It was at a resort that was about $150 per person to stay there. We got it for cheaper since we didn't stay the night there. For lunch, they had french fries, pizza, garlic bread, fresh pineapple!!, watermelon, rice, chicken, tacos, salad, platanos, and rice pudding. It was pretty good!

After lunch, we went to the animal reserve at the resort. It was kind of like a big zoo. We saw butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes (including really poisonous vipers and rattlesnakes!), monkeys, frogs, and parrots. We also saw toucans. The toucan actually sat on my arm! We saw mountain lions/cougars/pumas, too. I had no idea that mountain lions are also called pumas and cougars. It was huge and scary. It's weird to know that we have them in Iowa! We also saw jaguars. We saw baby ones that were about the size of a normal house cat. They were so cute! Then we saw the mom jaguar. She was HUGE. Her nose alone was about the size of my fist.

After the animal reserve, we hiked through the forest on a path and saw 3 waterfalls. We couldn't get near these waterfalls because they were too dangerous, but they were really pretty. It was raining, though, when we went to see the waterfalls. We got soaked even though we had an umbrella and rain jacket. Then, we drove home. When I got home, my mama tica's family was here since it's her birthday. I walked in the front door to the living room and her whole family just stared at me. So of course I said awkwardly "...Hola!" :)

Sara and I just ate dinner. It was so good! We had a rice and chicken casserole, ham and cheese (with cream cheese) sandwiches, salad with mango in it, and chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. Yum!!! Argelis was telling us how she went out and danced with her family. Apparently, there was a really old man there who didn't want to dance because he couldn't even walk. She said that if she would have even touched him, he would have fallen over. She thought it was the funniest thing ever. And tonight she was wearing the bracelet that we got her.

Drinking coffee on the plantation!

Poas volcano.

The lagoon.

Brother Bear

Before breakfast, Bethany and I gave Argelis her birthday present since her birthday is tomorrow and we're not going to be here for it. She loved the bracelet and cake. I think she really appreciated it.

This morning for breakfast, we had awesome food. We had gallo pinto with scrambled eggs, coffee with milk and sugar, pineapple, bananas, mango, cheese, and bread. She forgot to put my favorite jelly out, so I had to ask her for it :) Of course I'm going to have guava jelly with my bread in the morning!

In class today, we gave our presentations about the Virgin Mary. I think everyone's went pretty well. One group had made a video of their own, with pictures and they sounded out a story. It was a good idea. I got my midterm exam back today, too. I got 100%! I only have 1 more presentation and 1 more exam to go. And only 1 more week of classes!! It seems like I've been here forever, but it's gone by pretty fast. Today we also started learning about the subjunctive. I already learned it in my other classes, but it's a good review. In Spanish, there is only so much you can learn. Then you get to a point where all you can do is practice. I'm at that point where I just need to practice.

After class, I paid for my trip to go white water rafting on Sunday. There are only 2 others besides me that are going. It's not with the school, but the school is setting us up with another company. So there will be other non-Veritas students rafting with us. Hopefully it's fun. It's weird not being gone an entire weekend on an excursion. This is the first Friday night that I've actually been in San Jose! (Besides the very first night).

For lunch, Grace, Kaydee and I went to a pizzeria called El Mana. I had a personal pan pizza with ham and mushrooms. It was really good pizza! Elias, my host mom's son, said that it's one of his favorite pizza places. He was right, it was delicious! And cheap, so that's always good.

Kaydee and I checked out 2 movies from the library to watch. One was El Dorado, and the other was Brother Bear. Yes, both are kids/cartoon movies. But we were hoping to watch them in Spanish :) We thought they would be easier to understand. Right now, we probably speak Spanish like we are 8 years old. We're getting better, though! El Dorado didn't work, so we watched Brother Bear at Kaydee's house. But, strangely, it didn't have an option for Spanish audio or subtitles, so we watched it all in English. Oh well, it was still cute! (Amy- I spy something with a vertical log... tree!)

I left Kaydee's house at 3. Not exaggerating, right when I walked out of her from door, it started pouring. It's terrible walking home several blocks in the rain! I did have an umbrella, but the way it rains here, you get wet even if you have one. It rained from 3 until about 8 today.

Tonight, I had nothing to do, so I watched a movie on my laptop that my professor gave me. I don't have homework this weekend, so I couldn't do that. The first time I actually have free time to do homework, I don't have any! I watched part of a zombie movie with my tico roommates (the American girls are gone) and then ate Chinese take-out for dinner. Their Chinese is a lot different here. They use a really weird strange sauce on it. I did not like the taste at all. Also, their pork here is bright/hot pink. I didn't eat the meat.. Then I packed for my trip tomorrow, and now I'm going to bed! Good night!

Los Juncos

This morning for breakfast, we had that chocolately cereal again with bread and my favorite jelly. Delicious! My class left for the cloud forest called Los Juncos today at 7:30 am. It took about an hour to get there on the bus since it was in the mountains near San Jose. Our class went with the Advanced Conversation Spanish class. There were probably 20 of us total.

When we got there, we walked up a path to a little shelter. There, we all ate breakfast (again!) :) We had fresh pineapple, watermelon, bananas, apples, bread, and a chocolate cake type thing. My teacher also brought brownies, but they seemed a lot healthier than the brownies I make! They didn't really taste like chocolate, but they were okay. While we were eating, the guide named Juan Carlos gave us information about the forest, in Spanish of course. It's his private forest that is about 20 acres large. He's been trying to inform people about how important it is to conserve the forest.

After breakfast, we walked in the forest for about an hour and a half. The humidity was about 100%, so there were tons of clouds and we were so high up in altitude that we were walking in the clouds. Irazu volcano is really close to the forest, and I believe the last time it erupted was in the 1960s or 1970s. When it erupted, it spouted ash for 2 years, and it killed a lot of the trees and plants in the forest. Some of the trees that died have another tree that started to grow on its old trunk. (Below is a picture). Also, there was still ash on the ground in the middle of the path. It was black, and when you picked it up between your fingers, it just felt like sand. I can't believe that ash is still there after all these years!

In the forest are toucans, quetzals (birds with 2 really long feathers for a tail, about 1 meter), monkeys, wildcats, etc. A pair or quetzals have a nest really close to the path that we were on. The guide looked to see if they were there, but neither of the parents were there for some reason. So we couldn't see the birds. There were also extremely old tree ferns. The forest reminded me of Jurrasic Park. Apparently, the plot of Jurrasic Park was supposed to be set in Costa Rica. It started to rain while we were in the forest, but there were so many trees I couldn't even feel the rain! But as we got closer to the edge, it started to pour. At the end of the trip, we planted 4 trees and a ton of seeds. It was a fun trip!

Today it was about 80 degrees F, with about 76% humidity. It was a really nice day! It wasn't too hot, and it didn't rain very much. But, it is the beginning of the rainy season here, so it usually rains every day or every other day for a couple hours. I've learned my lesson: bring an umbrella with me everywhere!

After our trip, we got back to school and Bethany and I worked on our presentation that we have to give tomorrow about the Virgin Mary of Cuba. It's our mama tica's 72nd birthday on Saturday, so all of the kids are going to be home tonight for dinner to wish her a happy birthday, since no one is really here on the weekends. Bethany and I stopped at a nearby bakery and got her a slice of chocolate cake. She's diabetic, so hopefully she can still eat a little piece! :) We also got her a cute little bracelet from the artisan market. She loves jewelry. We were going to get her a bouquet of flowers, but we can't find any shops with flowers here! I wish we had a Target or HyVee to just go in and get cheap flowers!

After that, I wrote my presentation that I have to give tomorrow.

So we didn’t give Argelis her present tonight because she made a great dinner with desert, but all of the kids were there so she couldn't eat with us because there wasn't enough room. We had chicken chalupas (hard shell tacos with refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and chicken), beans and rice. It was very good. I want to make them when I get home, they seem easy! She also gave us pie/cake and some ice cream. Yum!

I paid for my trip this weekend. We still get to go with only 4 people, yay! We might also go white water rafting on Sunday.

Here's the tree that I described above.

See how cloudy/foggy it was?! This picture doesn't do it justice.

Look, I found a leaf as big as me!! :) (or as big as mom's hair! - Paliseades)

The Avengers

This morning's breakfast was awesome. We had gallo pinto (rice and beans), scrambled eggs, pineapple, banana, coffee, and bread with my favorite jelly. Delicious! I am going to miss the breakfast here. In class today, we did arts and crafts :) We had to make a big poster of our "ideal school." We got to draw, color, cut pictures out of magazines and glue them on the poster, etc. I don't remember the last time we did crafts for class! For our ideal school, Leo Dicaprio and Johnny Depp were professors, George Clooney was the dean, Beyonce was our dance class instructor, we had a room for naps, we were right next to the beach, and free fresh fruit for lunch every day. Sounds pretty good to me!

After class, Kaydee, Kayla, Grace and I went to the cafe that I went to last week. This time I got rice, chicken, salad, and tamarindo juice. I did not like the juice at all! Then Kaydee and I went to San Pedro Mall across town. We went to the movie theater in the mall and saw The Avengers in 3D. It was $6 per person. It would have cost $12 per person in Iowa! It was a good movie! After the movie, we got a McFlurry and walked around the mall. We needed some American time! The mall is really nice and looks kind of like an American mall. I want to visit the mall again before I leave! We might go to another movie this weekend.

I couldn't recruit another person to go on the volcano/coffee plantation tour with us this weekend, but Victor said that we can go with just 4 people. So hopefully everyone still wants to go because it sounds awesome!

Bethany and I just got back from the store Pali. We had to buy some apples for class tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that our class is going to the cloud forest Juncos. We're going to learn about how Juncos is conserving the wildlife and trees. I think we also get to plant some trees and seeds, so that should be fun! See Dad, I like to do yardwork sometimes! :) Anyways, each student is bringing a little snack so that we can all eat together at the forest.

Tornado?

For breakfast this morning, I had coffee, scrambled eggs, and sweet dinner rolls with my favorite guava jelly. I have to find some guava jelly when I get home. It's delicious!

In class today, I got back 2 of my assignments. There are no grades on them, but only "Muy bien!" (Very good.) I think I'm doing pretty well in class. Today we talked about the future tense again and got assigned a presentation that's on Friday. It's about the Virgin Mary of Cuba. It's a group presentation and my partners are Bethany and Raychael.

After class today, Kaydee and I went to talk to Victor at the Tico Viajero (Travel) office. There is no excursion lined up for this weekend. A lot of students want to go off on their own to go to a beach to lay out. I am not a huge beach person and would rather do activities than lay on the beach, so Kaydee and I are trying to get a few people to go on a one-day excursion with Veritas. We'd go visit 3 waterfalls, Poas volcano (the 2nd largest volcano in the world), a coffee plantation, and a place with a ton of animals, kind of like a zoo. They have monkeys, snakes, macaws, toucans, lions, etc. I think it'd be really fun, but it might be hard to find enough people to go. We need at least 5 people, so hopefully we can recruit enough students!

Then we ate at a Soda near school. A soda is like a US diner. I had nachos and guava juice. The nachos were pretty good. I prefer guava in jelly, not a juice. :)

I came home and rested. I sleep and rest so much here! I think it's just because it's always so hot, we eat a lot less and better here, and we have to walk everywhere. Then I did some homework for a while.

Tonight for dinner, we had rice with chicken, a salad, and bread. It was pretty good. I am going to ask my mama tica how to make her rice with chicken. All of the roommates were at dinner tonight: me, Bethany, 2 girls from Arizona, 1 girl from Honduras who's been here a year, and 2 tico boys from Costa Rica who have been here over a year. Bethany and I were telling everyone about the tornadoes in Iowa. They don't get them in Arizona or here, so they knew very little about them. We showed them YouTube videos of the Parkersburg tornado (F5). They couldn't believe how scary it was, how much damage it caused, and that people died in the tornado. One of the boys actually asked, "They don't go through cities, though, do they? Because then you'd have to rebuild the city." He was shocked that they ruin everything and we have to build everything over again. The girl from Honduras asked where we go for a tornado, we said we go downstairs and that a lot of houses have a special "storm cellar" or room for tornadoes. And we told her that if you're driving, you're supposed to get out and lie in a ditch so that the tornado hopefully goes over you. She thought that was amazing that we lie in a ditch instead of trying to drive away. But she did ask if cows will float around the tornado like in the movies since we live in Iowa with a lot of cows.. haha I laughed at that one.

Costa Rica doesn't have hurricanes, either, since the country is so close to the equator. They do have earthquakes, though. The population of San Jose, the capital, is about 2 million (including surrounding towns). The population of Costa Rica as a whole is about 4.5 million people. Costa Rica is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined. They're democratic and 70% of the people are Catholic. People seem very religious here.

I'm going to bed early again tonight. Hopefully resting enough will help clear up my allergies! By the way, I hear a bug in my room and I can't find it. Hopefully it stays out of my bed!! Buenas noches!

Monday 5/21/12

Today wasn't that eventful. For breakfast, I had a chocolatey cereal and fruit. In class, we talked about the future tense and practiced it. After class, a group of 6 people and I went downtown. We went to the art market and ate at a small diner. I had a hamburger and a pineapple smoothie. The hamburger was not good at all... it's definitely not Iowa beef!

I came home after that and did some homework. My allergies are acting up from Monteverde this weekend. I guess there was a lot of pollen and new trees that I'm not used to! It's hard to breathe and I'm all stuffed up, so I just rested today.

For dinner, we had a vegetable soup. It was basically just a broth with a few carrots and rice, but it was good! We had beef with the soup, too. Again, not the same as what I'm used to. We also had chayote (it's the name of the vegetable that I've had before and didn't know the name of it). It's green and tastes sort of like zucchini, but it doesn't have much flavor. I like it! And, we had corn on the cob (kind of). It was really small, white, and had tiny tiny grains. It's not Iowa sweet corn! But apparently they have sweet corn here, too.

Tonight, Bethany, the 2 girls from Arizona, and the 2 Tico boys talked for quite a bit. They were teaching us popular Costa Rica phrases. It was good Spanish practice. I went to bed early tonight, I didn't get much sleep over the weekend!

Ziplining - Sunday 5/20/2012

This morning we got up at 6 and ate breakfast. We had eggs, toast, and a tiny bit of fruit. At 7:30, we left to go ziplining. I was so nervous and scared! I was worried that the line would break, that I would go too fast.. I was worried about a lot of things. We ziplined with a company called 100% Adventure. It really was an adventure!
We got there and we had to sign wavers saying that we wouldn't sue the company if we got hurt or died. Yeah, that made me feel a ton better... Then the guides put our equipment on us. We needed a harness around our waist, a hook, a helmet, and gloves. One of the guides showed us a demonstration and gave us instructions. The guides would hook and unhook us to the lines. To go down the line, we had to hold onto the ropes with our left hand, and put our right hands way behind us on the line. To brake, we had to pull ourselves up on the line. It was a lot harder and a lot more exercise than I expected.

We had 2 practice platforms, which were really small and not too high up. Then came the real thing. There were probably 10 platforms that we did, which is 10 lines that I ziplined. The first one I was pretty nervous for. After that, I was okay. But, the lines kept getting higher and higher. The last one was the highest. So I kept getting more relaxed because I was used to ziplining, but then as it got higher, I got a little more nervous.
To get to some of the platforms, we had to hike up a trail that was uphill in the forest. Another workout! My legs were burning. After the last zipline, we had the option of doing the Tarzan Swing. I didn't want to do it at first. To do it, you walk on a wobbly suspension bridge over the forest. The guides hook you up to a rope that connects to your harness on your waist. Then they open the gate and you jump off the platform. You free-fall and then the rope jerks you up, and you swing back and forth like a pendulum. I had my harness off and everything because I didn't have the sudden urge to jump off a bridge. But everyone else did, so I did too. Peer pressure! I am so glad I did it though. I was screaming the entire time, but it was an adventure!

**On my facebook page, there are 2 videos. One video is of me ziplining. The other is of a girl in my group doing the Tarzan swing. It's not me, but I jumped right after her.

After that, we went back to the hotel, ate lunch at the Treehouse Cafe (I had pineapple juice and a BLT and fries), and then we went on the bus back home. When I got home, I just relaxed and went to bed early. It was a long but exciting weekend! Best trip ever.

This is what I had to jump off of to do the Tarzan swing. It was really high!!

Is this horse young? - Saturday 5/19/2012

This morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel at 8:00am. We had pancakes, pineapple, orange juice, and a banana. At 8:30, Kaydee, David and I went horseback riding to La Fortuna waterfall. The rest of the group rode the bus there. A guide from the horseback riding company picked us up at the hotel then drove us to the stable. There were people in our group also from North Carolina and California, so there were about 12 of us in our group.

We got assigned horses, and mine was named Leas. She was pretty small with blond-ish hair and was really pretty! I didn't realize it was hard to get on a horse!! There were 2 guides, Rudy and Joelle. They gave us instructions on how to handle the horses, and where we were going to go. We rode 1 hour to the waterfall, was at the waterfall for 1 hour, then 1 hour back on horses. We started to ride, and I just knew that my horse was young. When I told her to slow down, she'd speed up. When I told her to go left to avoid the trees, she'd go into the trees. So I asked the guide, and he said she was only 6 years old. It was just my luck to get the pony.. :) Leas had a friend, too. Every time Leas would get away from this one horse in the group, she would either speed up to catch up to her, or move to be next to her.

The path to the waterfall was sort-of through the forest and next to Arenal volcano. There were a ton of hills and a few creeks to cross. The hills by the creeks were made of big rocks, so I was afraid that my horse was going to slip and fall because she was clumsy to begin with! Some of the time, Leas would start trotting up or down the hill, so I was holding on for my life. At one point, she actually started full-out running. Not trotting, but running. It took me a bit to get her to slow down. I think she just slowed down because she got tired, not because I told her to. We reached the waterfall and put the horses in the shade near the trees. Then, the group and I went down to the waterfall. 458 steps to the bottom, on a path through the rainforest, very steep. The waterfall was so beautiful. It's probably the prettiest thing I've ever seen. There were rocks everywhere, so it was dangerous for your feet and ankles because they could slip and get caught between the rocks. Thankfully, that didn't happen to me. The water was FREEZING. It felt good after riding horses, but it was so cold. I only stayed in there for a little bit.

Then, we had to climb back up the path. 458 stairs up a steep mountain path. Worst thing EVER. But, now I can say I've climbed a mountain. We rode the horses back to the stable, then went back to the hotel. We had a quick lunch, then got on a bus to go to Monteverde, the rainforest. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, then we had to go on a boat/ferry on the water to get to the mountains where the forest is. The ferry ride was about 1 hour. It was a beautiful ride. We were in the middle of the body of water surrounded by mountains and the volcano.

When we reached land, we took another bus for about 2 hours to get to our hotel by Monteverde. The bus ride was so scary. We had to drive through the actual mountains, which are extremely steep and made of loose gravel. To make it worse, we were about 1 foot away from the edge of the cliff, with nothing stopping us if we fell. Just an open cliff. That lasted for about 2 hours. My heart was beating so fast the entire time! To make it worse, he would swerve to avoid potholes, then get even closer to the edge.

Finally, we made it to the hotel alive. We ate at a restaurant/bar down the mountain (yes, we had to climb down and up the mountain to get there) then went back to the hotel and slept. My legs are so sore!!!

La Fortuna waterfall from the top of the path.

On the ferry to Monteverde.

Volcano - Friday 5/18/2012

Today I had my midterm exam. It wasn't too hard, but it was a ton of writing and short essay questions. At least it's over with! I left for Monteverde, the rainforest, at 1:00 today. There was a group of 11 and we had a small bus this time. The bus ride there was about 4 hours.

We got to our hotel at Arenal Volcano around 5:30. It was right next to the volcano. The volcano was huge!!! And it's an active volcano, so at night you can see the lava and smoke at the top of it. But it was really cloudy tonight, so we couldn't see the lava.

We went to the hot springs tonight. They were beautiful and so cool! We went to a resort to go to them. It was called Baldi Resort. Hot springs are naturally heated hot tubs. They're heated from the heat of the volcano. Some of them were too hot that we couldn't even go in. There were a ton of pool-sized hot tubs. There were probably at least 20. It was so relaxing, we were there for about 3 hours.

At the resort, we also ate a huge buffet dinner. It was delicious! We had pork, fish, salad, fresh fruit, soup, bread, rice, beans, cake, fruit juice, and chocolate covered strawberries! The resort costs $140 per person per night, but we didn't stay at that hotel so we got it for cheaper. But it was so fancy!
We left the hot springs around 10 pm and went back to our hotel. We had to get up early the next morning to leave for Monteverde.

Happy birthday Cody!

Arenal volcano outside my hotel.

The hot springs.

Thursday 5/17/12

I have a test tomorrow for midterms. I'm almost halfway done already! Today in class we had our presentations. Mine went pretty well! After class, Kaydee, Niji and I went to a cafe near campus. I had a chicken wrap with fries and a smoothie. It was good.

After lunch, I came home and packed for my excursion this weekend. Then I studied for my test the rest of the night. But, I did have dance class from 8 - 9:30. They're still fine, but they're getting kind of boring. We do the same dances every time. I wish we'd do something different! After dance class, a few of us went out to a bar called Los Profesionales near my house. A group of about 20 Canadians have been here for 2 weeks, and it was their last night. We only stayed for a little while, then I had to come back and get some sleep for this weekend!

He came to visit us in our house.

Dos Pinos

This morning was a tough one. I was so tired! It was hard to stay awake. Last night after dance class, Carly (one of the new girls in the house) and I accidentally were showering at the same time. So, the electricity shut off in our bathrooms. Argelis was asleep, so I couldn't ask her for help, and the other students didn't know how to fix it. So this morning it still wasn't fixed and I had a freezing shower. It was so cold. Since the shower is run on electricity, it couldn't get hot. But, I fixed it with the breaker, so hopefully the water gets warm today!

For breakfast I had eggs, bread and jelly, and bananas and watermelon. Today in class we talked about the movie that we watched yesterday, then reviewed the future tense and did some listening activities. For class next week, we are going to a rainforest :) Field trip! I don't remember the last time that I had a field trip or watched a movie in class, or the last time a teacher had brought the class treats. It's awesome!

After class, Kaydee, Grace and I went to a little restaurant near school. I had a slice of pizza and afterwards we went to Dos Pinos, a really famous ice cream place here. I have barely had any kind of sweets since I've gotten here. I needed some American food!! I had a caramel ice cream. Yum!

Then, we went to Pali to get some snacks for during the week. We got some apples and crackers. The snacks are so limited here. All they really have are crackers or cookies. Kaydee bought a can of Off bug spray, just a normal size, and it cost $8. Expensive! I am nervous to see how much sunscreen is, because I need some. I also found 2 bakeries near my house. They have bread, pastries, sweets, pop, juice, everything!

Tonight I just did homework. I have a presentation tomorrow and I needed to write and practice that. I also had a few sheets of grammar homework. I don't like all of this homework! For dinner I had beans, rice, and a soup thing with sausage, potatoes and carrots. It was really good! I am for sure going to miss her cooking when I go home.

Caramel ice cream at Dos Pinos.

My schedule for this weekend's excursion!

Spoon

This morning for breakfast I had eggs, bread and jelly, pineapple, and coffee. Today in class we watched a movie called Arrancame la Vida. It was about 2 hours long, in Spanish, about a girl who lived in Mexico. She married at age 16 to an older general, probably about age 35, in Mexico. It's about her life and how women were treated in the 1930s. It was a good movie, but a little akward to watch in class because there were a lot of sex scenes and nudity... No way could we get away with watching that movie in the US!

Today I paid for my trip to Monteverde this weekend. I'm officially going! I'm excited. After class, a group of 3 of us went downtown San Jose to go to the museum again, and today it was open. It cost $4 to get in. It was pretty cool. There was one part where we got to go in an actual tower of a castle, which was part of the museum. There were lots of butterflies, too. We had to go to look at the Indian art because I have a presentation over that on Thursday.  I have to explain now nature influenced indigenous abstract art. I didn't get very much information from the museum, so we'll see how that goes!

For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Spoon. (The Spoon family!!) :) It was pretty good. I had a strawberry smoothie (made from fresh strawberries), a chicken wrap and some french fries. And I didn't get lost on the bus this time!

I wrote a lot of my presentation tonight when I got back home from Spoon. But, I found myself sleeping on my laptop a few times.. oops! I should have taken a nap. For dinner, we had chicken, carrotts, a new vegetable that I have never had before, rice, and lemonade. The vegetable was big, green, and cooked so it was very soft. It didn't have much flavor. I'll have to find out what it was.

I just got back from dance class. Class is always so fun! Tonight we practiced the merengue and salsa again. I'm getting better. It's hard! The people on TV make it look so easy. It rained from around 1 today until 8. And when it rains here, it usually pours. It was actually storming today with thunder and lightning. So we took a taxi to dance class. Before Costa Rica, I had never taken a taxi. Now I take them quite a bit. But it's hard to tell taxis where to pick you up and where you want to go because there are no addresses or street names here. You can say "I want to go to the old church," even if the church isn't there anymore. You're just supposed to know it was there. It's extremely confusing.

This is a stone sphere. A lot of them are really big. A lot of these were found in Costa Rica in 1939 and they were made by indigenous people of Costa Rica. But, they're perfectly round and smooth. It's a mystery to how they were made so perfectly, especially since it was so long ago, and why they were made.

A part of downtown San Jose. And yes, it did rain. Just look at the clouds!