Last night on the beach in santa teresa
me and pulga
probably after a violent galloping session
piglet following a dog, absolutely precious.
Kevin and Andrea following our guide
Santa Teresa Beach
Our hostel
Our hostel kitchen
flowers in a downtown market
the university
With our zip lining instructor
Flowers on the walk from the tree back to the hostel
Andrea and Chris higher up than me
The view looking down
Me climbing
Andrea climbing the crazy tree
Andrea and I at the bottom the the tree
Cows along the million mile walk
The Bar at Chanchos
Andrea and I with our hard earned drinks
Cabina in Cahuita
Reggae Bar in Cahuita
Chris fixing the stupid pink bike
Hammock at the cabina in cahuita
Black sand Beach Cahuita
^ My class minus Molly M and Keith July? Seriously? Well those of you hanging out on the edges of your seats waiting for the latest installment…I hope you moved on.
I’m going to try and deliver a chronological update but we’ll see. Well, scratch that, I can’t remember one bit what I did more than 20 days ago exactly. But here are the important notes:
1. We finished classes. Thank goodness. Half way through we had to start going to class at 8am instead of 9 because with the schedule the way it was, we weren't going to be in class for enough hours to qualify for the ones needed at KU. So we started that and it really wasn't bad at all. During that extra hour we just did activities or played games or just had light-hearted conversation. We had about 6 papers due ranging from a paragraph to 4ish pages and I did well on them, A or B on all. We also had 3 in class presentations and one debate for the conversation chunk of the grade. I did one presentation over Laura Moriarty, Chris and I did a group presentation over why KU is the best college ever, the debate was over war...and my final presentation was with Chris and Marcy over the importance of being bilingual. I got a 92 every time...at least it didn't get worse? Therefore, i ended up with an A in both classes and am quite pleased to be adding 6 hours of A to my GPA.
2. Cahuita. Three weeks ago we went to the Caribbean coast to a little town called Cahuita. It was an interesting little town, dead because of the rainy season, and very Rastafarian. We had made a reservation at a place called Cabinas Algebra, and the lady told me that there was arranged transportation from the bus stop to the cabin. So we got into the bus station and had lunch and waited around for the shuttle or van or what have you. After about 30 minutes a little scrawny man walks up to me holding a sign with my name and the cabins name on it so we followed him to the parking lot...to a 2-door -1980-something-maybe Honda civic-maybe saab on wheels. There are 5 of us, PLUS him, 2 of us males over 6 foot WITH luggage... That was cozy.
We got to the cabin and the lady made us fresh fruit juices and while talking to her we realized that they were not Costa Rican, or Latino, or American... they were German. Angry Germans. (We needed you Emily). She got snappy with us for not really talking to her much despite the fact that we had no idea what the hell language to speak to her in. So we chugged the juice and went to our cabin. It was cute, 2 bedrooms, a kitchen and 2 baths with a huge porch with two hammocks. We lounged around for a bit, hammocks are heavenly, and wandered to the beach. The sand was black! and there was absolutely not a soul in site in either direction on the beach. After confirming that the beach existed we decided it was time to eat and chris, Kevin and I decided to go into town the the grocery store to get stuff to make in our handy dandy kitchen. The guy at the cabin had mentioned earlier that they had bikes we could borrow free of charge, so we inquired about said bikes and he led us to the garage. There we 3 bikes, perfect, 2 blue 1 pink, perfect BUT the pink one was the tallest...not so perfect for Chris ha-ha. Anyways we headed out and about 5 minutes in Chris' chain came loose. So he fixed it, hands covered in oil and we proceeded on, only to have it happen again, fixed it, and then... it broke into pieces. Poor pink bike. So Kevin decided to walk it back and Chris and I carried on, only to have my chain come loose twice. Chris was able to fix it both times however. So about 25 minutes later we arrive at the grocery store, soaked in sweat and oil. The store was about 15 degrees hotter than outside so we were miserable. Chris tracked down a sink and I tracked down dinner. Ended up with pasta, cheese, bread, peas and carrots and i cant remember what else, and a well-deserved bottle of Cahuitan Rum and juice to pair with it. We rode back, downhill the whole way and put the groceries away and headed to the beach. It was pouring but we swam anyway and it was a ton of fun (no lightening). Went back, cooked dinner, which turned out delicious, and showered, got cleaned up, drank the rum (sick. wrenching stomach aches from the sweetness) went out in search of better entertainment, found a Reggae bar with sweet music and ended up eating more instead of drinking due to the wretched rum. Spent the whole second day on the beach in the sun. We all got fried. It was rough. All in all, good weekend, our first one away without supervision went well, we all survived and made it back home to lay in our beds, covered in aloe, lesson learned.
3. Monteverde. A week after Cahuita we went to Monteverde, which is north and in the mountains/rainforest. This time, without a plan; no reservations, no activities planned, nothing. This was a good idea. seriously. We got off the bus in the middle of town and were greeted by a man saying stay in my hostel stay in my hostel. So we did. It was a really nice little place with a tourist info center in the front that sets up all kinds of activities for you. And when we got off the bus he was saying 10 dollars a night and by the time we paid it was 5 bucks a night. Glorious. So we settled in and asked the guys working up front what there is to do at night there and all fingers pointed towards Chanchos, a bar not too far from our hostel. We walked there, walked too far, walked back and went into a tiny little whole-in-the-wall joint with chill music and lots of tables and chairs and a space made into a dance floor. Erick, one of the guys at the hostel, told us to go up to the bartender, Chancho, and say he sent us and get a free shot. Turns out everyone gets a free "welcome shot" but we'll let Erick think he's cool. So Andrea and I are sitting at the bar, take our welcome shot that tastes like a blueberry slushy, and are talking to Chancho who speaks english quite well. Then he asks us if we want to come back behind the bar and DJ for him because it is getting busy and he is the only one working and we said sure! Well in a matter of minutes, "Hey Molly, can you grab those gentlemen their beers, they're 1000 collones each." So... I did, and kept doing, all night, beers, mixed drinks, shots... and Andrea took the money and he gave us free drinks all night for helping. It was a blast and how many people can say they bartended in a foreign country? I know 2. Soooo after that we went home and went to bed.
The next day we went to the store and got stuff to make breakfast, made it, ate it and had zip lining appointments at 10:30 but they gave our spot away to a huge group and we were postponed until 1:30. So we decided to go out in search of this tree that the other half of our KU group had found the weekend before. Its an ancient tree in the rainforest that another parasitic tree has over hundreds of years hollowed out by eating its insides. The parasitic tree is similar to a ficus (sp?) tree and makes basically a ladder inside the tree. (Don't worry, I'm adding pictures incase you all are lost). So we asked the guys at the front desk where it was and he basically described a simple 15 minute walk with one turn. He forgot to mention it was straight uphill THE ENTIRE TIME. It took us an hour and i've never been so tired. So of course we get to it, and have to climb it despite the fact that my legs no longer work. So we started and Andrea flew up it and i started after her, only to freak out and go back down. I made Chris go in front of me so that I would know where to step. We made it up and sat on top of the rain-forest. It was amazing. We could see so far, and the ground was so far away. We were filthy and covered in dirt and you have to climb the tree barefoot. So we just sat up there for awhile making it worth all the effort and it definitely was. So we made our way back down and out of the forest to commence our hour long walk back. It was nearly harder to walk downhill being that was trying to control a pair of spaghetti with feet. AND then, it started to pour. It felt amazing but created a lot of mud. We made it back, semi-rinsed off and headed out to meet the group for zip lining. We took a shuttle to the site and had to wait out the rain, or actually the lightening. It finally ended but it was freeeeezing. So we started and the first one was just for practice and led directly to the second, which was longer, and fun, but then, THEN, we had to HIKE to the third. My legs no longer functioned at this point and it was awful, and there were 14 cables. It was worth it I can say now, but i just wanted to sit down and never get up at the time. But we did all 14 cables, including one that was a repel straight down and i still dont know if i was in control of my speed or the guy at the bottom or gravity but it was terrifying. After that we hiked yet again to what they call the Tarzan swing...basically free falling off of a ledge, into the rain-forest with a rope around your waist. And the guys were like Ok, we're pushing you on 3. yeah right, thats what the ear piercing lady said, and all the doctors with their shots, So i was dreading 2, they pushed on 1. It was the craziest feeling ever. Well, we survived that and went back and passed out for the best nap ever. Then we shopped and ate and shopped and showered and ate and went to a bar called amigos, which was okay, we weren't behind the bar or anything...
We left the next day and prepared for the last week of school!
4. Going out in San Jose
Andrea and I went out a couple times downtown San Jose and it was a lot of fun. It is definitely fun on a Monday night when you're the only two girls for miles. Didn't pay for a thing, but don't worry mom(s) we used our heads, made some friends, danced a little ethnic jigs, turned down a lot of invitations to dance ethnic jigs, and went home in taxi at a reasonable time.
5. Shopping downtown
We went shopping on the main street behind the university the day we "graduated". Ate cheap pizza, got some fun stuff, enjoyed being free from school. We also went downtown the next day with Chris and Kevin's host mom and she showed us where all the cheap spots are and wouldn't let us buy anything until we had compared all the prices, so we're going back today to do our final purchasing.
6. Pick-pocketing
Friday after our graduating and pizza eating and shopping I was feeling quite pleased with the world. oops. Chris and I were getting on the bus at the stop we use every time to come back from school or shopping. The bus pulled up and a man was in front of me and motioned as to let me go in front of him, standard gentleman move, thought nothing of it, assumed Chris was right behind me, got on the bus, walked to the back, sat down, looked out the window and saw that Chris was still outside the bus. He was behind two girls and one of them had dropped something and he was helping them look under the bus and behind him, was the same man who let me go in front. So still naive and happy i sit waiting for Chris. He finally gets on the bus and sits down and says holy crap, i almost just got my wallet stolen! He had felt it move so he put his hand over it and left it there until he got on the bus. Then he told me that the two girls in front of him, like the man who let me pass, were all wearing black, and that they were acting weird, and that the one lady got on the steps to the bus, then changed her mind and walked back down, forcing Chris backwards into the man, who apparently then tried to take his wallet, failed, then the second lady dropped all of her change, which is what i saw, forcing Chris to bend over for the man's second opportunity to take the wallet but chris' hand was still on it. Mission failed, none of the 3 got on the bus and I stared at that man sending him the evil eye as the bus drove away, STILL too stupid to check my purse. Chris and I thought we had come out on top of this situation, 2 americans not owned by professional pick-pocketers. WRONG. I got home, talked to my host mom, changed into comfy clothes, decided to take a nap, went to get my phone, my iphone, out of my purse to use as an alarm clock. you guessed it. Gone. Long gone. No mystery as to where either. Luckily he didn't take my wallet and especially surprising that he didn't take my camera that was side by side with my phone. Good day turned bad real quick.
So that was Friday, and that night we tried to go out to celebrate being done with class, and went to a jazz cafe with great live music, had a glass of wine but couldnt take it, i was too mad. And Andrea was in a terrible mood as well because the ATM ate her debit card and she had no money. We went home and went to bed just happy for the day to be over.
7. Santa Teresa. Sunday we left super early in the morning to go to the pacific coast. We went by taxi to the bus, bus to a ferry, ferry to another bus which landed us in Santa Teresa. I was looking forward to the beach erasing my terrible mood but it didn't start off too well. Chris had been sleeping on the bus with his camera on his lap, stood up, walked out of the bus and it had fallen off. He went back less than 10 minutes later to find two guys cleaning the bus and they hadn't seen it. yeah, right. So still downtrodden, we went to check out the beach. beautiful, white sand, not black and the waves were pretty big. We went and ate and I had a delicious fish sandwich. We played in the water for awhile then the boys went and got stuff for dinner and we ate then went to bed pooped. The next morning we got up to go check out the beach early because the waves were supposed to be huge. They were, the beach that was about 500 feet wide the day before was now nearly non existent and was COVERED in surfers. We were too scared of the waves so we just laid out for awhile. Then Andrea wanted to go to the bank to see what she could do about getting money off of her dad's credit card since she no longer had her debit card, but Chris and Marcy had already walked to the bank earlier and it took them about 45 min each way...so, Andrea and I rented a 4-wheeler. It was only 10 bucks more to rent it for 24 hours than 7 hours, so we did. it was a blast we rode down to the bank, had no success with the money plan, ate at a really good restaurant, found some dark chocolate which is rarer than rare here and were happy. Went back to the beach played around, laid out and just relaxed. We made some more food, watched a movie ate some popcorn, it was a good evening. The next morning, we got up early to go horseback riding! We were really excited. We met them next to the beach and picked our horses, mounted them and started riding. No instructions, no helmets, no rules. My horse was Pulga, which is spanish for flea, because she was the smallest, quite appropriate for me, I thought... turns out Pulga has napoleon syndrome; she wanted to run, she wanted to be in the lead, she did NOT want to listen to anything I wanted. So I got quite the beating from that, my legs were too short to properly stay in the stirrups so i was gripping on with the tops of my feet, which now have raw spots, and i also couldn't stand up in the stirrups like everyone else to give my legs a break, because my legs were already completely straight while sitting down.. Oh well, it was a ton of fun and i can say in galloped on a horse on the beach of costa rica. We went back, changed and headed back to the beach, got some more sun and then went back to eat. Lounged around, packed and said goodbye to the beach because our bus was leaving the next morning at 5:15. Took the same rigorous set of transportation devices as before to get back, slept as much as possible and arrived back to San Jose, sore as can be, but pleased with our final vacation for the trip. And now! the 3 hour plane ride will seem like a breeze compared to 5 hours or more of traveling sans AC, efficient space and my bag at my feet due to fear (legitimate fear) of thieves.
So there, that was the last leg of my trip in a nutshell. It took me about an hour and my alarm clock is just now going off to wake me up even though i've been up for 2 hours because the sun comes up at 5:30 here, and the world is all up by 7 and are not afraid to let everyone know it. Oh well. Pura Vida.
see you all the day after tomorrow!
