So we had to be at school at 6:00 in the morning.  Let’s just say I’m not so much a morning person.  Everyone else was looking a little tired too.  So we head out in the bus.  I took some Dramamine and woke up at the border (Dramamine, fabulous invention).   We got out, filled out customs forms and such and got our exit (Costa Rica) stamps.  Then we had to walk across the sketchiest bridge ever, like, no joke, scariest experience of my life.

Sketchy bridge.

So we go across, and get our entrance (Panama) stamps.  We get back on the bus and continue on our way.  I fall asleep again, go figure, and wake up at the docks.  We were headed to Bocas del Toro which is an island.  We all piled into a ferry boat to get out to the island.

The very crowded ferry boat.

On the ferry ride to Bocas (note the weather).

Still on the ferry. Sky's getting clearer!

Bocas from the ferry (blue skies!)

So we get to the hotel, and it is super hot outside so we decided to go for an afternoon swim.  We meet some of the girls that are in a different city but with the same study abroad program.  We click with them, and spend the rest of the weekend together.

Getting ready to go out.

So we dance the night away, and jump in the pool to cool off before retiring for the evening.  The next day we decided to explore the island by ourselves and not do any of the optional tours offered.  So as we were wandering, we took pictures!

Kendylle and I.

Self-portrait while walking.

We came upon this nice looking resort, and knew that they had a nice beach so we walk straight through the hotel like we own the place to the beach and go swimming.

A restaurant/bar? we didn't stay long enough to find out.

By this time (it was a long walk), we started heading back and stopped at this lofted restaurant to grab some food.  There was the cutest doggie ever that lived there!

Puppy kisses!

The food was probably the best meal that I have had in Costa Rica to date.  It was the right combination of delicious, and savory and not too heavy.  We got back to the hotel and had a nice quiet evening in because we were exhausted.  The next morning, I decided to go on one of the optional tours and can I tell you it was the best twenty bucks ever!  We did an island tour meaning we took a boat and went to different islands to see different things.  The first stop was Isla de Pajaros (Bird Island).

Bird Island. Look how gorgeous the water is.

There were lots of birds, but this was the only one I caught on camera.

The next stop was Bocas del Drago (Mouth of the Dragon).  We were allowed to snorkel here, and holy cow, this was the best snorkeling ever!  I went in Hawaii and it was nothing compared to this.  Sadly I do not have a waterproof camera, so yall don’t get to enjoy pictures of that excursion.

I am such a dork.

Snorkeling again. I'm on the left with the yellow snorkel.

Where we ate lunch

After we ate lunch, we headed to Playa de las Estrellas (Beach of the stars) to hang out with the starfish.

Playa de las Estrellas (doesn't it look like it could be a postcard or something?)

Starfish!

The underside of a starfish.

They suction cup themselves to you, its awkward feeling.

After Playa de las Estrellas, we headed back to the hotel and had a quiet evening in the room.  The ride back to San Jose was decently uneventful.

That evening some of the girls from a program in a different city and I went out to see Gran Torino with them.  Can I just say that that movie is the most depressing movie ever especially when we were in the mood for something chick-y and upbeat.

The next day I was off to Nicaragua and ohhhhhh what a (mis)adventure that was.

The ride to Nicaragua was about six and a half hours, fairly uneventful.

Welcome to Nicaragua.

Border patrol stamped my passport crookedly and messed up my nice design of stamps.

So we get to Granada (the oldest colonial city in the western hemisphere) at around 8:30 at night.  We find a taxi and tell him the hostel where we have reservations, he doesn’t know where it is so we go to the hostel district of the city to try to look for it.  We can’t find it, so we go to the hostel where we have reservations for the second and third nights we’re staying there.  Well they don’t know where the other hostel is, so we decide to just stay there for the night.  There was, however, only three open beds in the room, and we were  five, so we pushed the beds together to make one big bed.  Because Granada is NOT in the/a central valley like San Jose, it was ridiculously hot, including after dark.  The room was too hot, so this is where I slept.

The hammock I slept in.

ANYWAYS.

So the next day we were wandering around Granada, and we found a hostel that looked a little bit nicer to where we would all have our own beds(!)

The Bearded Monkey...our hotel for the second and third nights.

We moved all of our stuff and headed to the town square.  As we were walking to the centro for lunch, we saw a man on the other side of the street.  When he saw the five of us Americans approaching he ran across the street (to the side that we were on), sat down, proceeded to pull down his pants and started masturbating to us as we walked past.  Honestly, did that really just happen??? Yes, yes it did.

So we walked around a little, see the city, take some pictures and eat lunch.  The rest of that day was fairly uneventful, but here’s some pictures:

A tower.

A church.

Another church in the centro.

Inside the aforementioned church.

The gazebo in the middle of the town square.

Anyway, the rest of the day went off without hitch.

The next morning, we went to a little cafe in the centro for breakfast.  My friend Olivia hadn’t eaten a little bit of her beans and rice.  Some little Nicaraguan boy asked if he could have it, and I said “no.”  I don’t know how much yall know about Spanish but “no” in Spanish is “no” meaning that there should’ve been no miscommunication.  Well the kid invites himself to sit down and starts eating.  I tell him to go away and leave us alone, at which point he calls me all of these obscene names (that I shan’t repeat for the sake of keeping this blog somewhat clean) like I wouldn’t be able to understand what he’s calling me.  He leaves and I’m pissed, so I’m ranting about this kid when this bilingual tour guide says that he would help me beat this kid if I ever see him because of the sheer amount of disrepect the kid was showing.

We did some shopping before heading back to the hostel for the night.  That night was Super Dave’s birthday (he was a worker at the hostel) so everyone decided to go out to the bars.  I skipped because I had to be up really early the next morning to catch the bus back to San Jose (I’m glad I did).  One of the girls in the group had had a little too much to drink, and on the way back to the hostel, got lost (it was a whopping block and a half away from the hostel), and was mugged at knifepoint.  Her purse was stolen with her passport, credit and debit cards, cash, and replacement Ipod (she already had one stolen during the first month of the program).  She started chasing after the guy screaming “you can have it all, just give me my passport,” so he threw her passport.  She picked it up and stopped running.  A taxi drove by a couple seconds later, and returns a little while later.  The taxi driver had a nightstick and had gone and gotten her purse back.  It was torn to shreds, and the cash and the Ipod was gone, but the mugger hadn’t checked the little zipper pouch where her cards had been, so at least she got those back.

The next morning, our tickets said that we were scheduled for the 7:30 am bus.  Well, you’re supposed to be an hour and a half early to check in, and yada yada yada, so we woke up at 5:00 am and were at the bus stop by 5:30 (we didn’t know how long it would take to walk to the stop).  Well we try to check in and the guy says you can’t check in–you’re too early.  Apparently when the ticket said 7:30, it meant that the bus left Managua at 7:30 and would be in Granada at 8:30.  Yeah, that’s right, waiting 3 hours in the bus stop at an obscenely early hour (fabulous start to the day).  So we finally get on, and start our journey home and all is well until we get to the border.  Since this is Easter Sunday we’re traveling on, the border is packed.  There were probably thousands of people there.  All in all, the border crossing itself was a three hour process between getting exit stamps from Nicaragua, entrance stamps in Costa Rica, and getting checked by customs (it only took less than 30 minutes on the way there).

Only some of the people trying to cross the border.

So, we eventually get past the border and we hit traffic.  Fabulous.  As if, the trip wasn’t bad enough, lets add an extra hour or two due to traffic.  All in all, the supposed six and a half hour journey was almost twelve hours.  Not a fan.

So anways, it took several attempts/weeks to finish this.  I applaud you if you’ve made it to here.  Check back for the final installments (even if I’m already home).

Last week and this week are pretty much death.  It’s down to the wire and instead of having one super stressful week, I have a super stressful week + two days this week.  This is why I haven’t updated recently.  I have been super bogged down with not only final tests, projects, and presentations, but I am also trying to figure out classes for next year, finding an apartment for next year, figuring out summer classes, finding a job that will work around summer classes, deciding whether it would be best to get and apartment for the summer or commute to Omaha everyday for 3 months–all of this from about 2283.265 miles away.

After Tuesday of next week, it’s all about living it up before I go home next Saturday.

That’s just crazy to think about.  There’s so much I want to do here still.  I still want to go to Guanacaste (the northwestern region– gorgeous beaches), go to monumento nacional arqueologico guayabo (and hike around the ruins from 800 AD), climb Mt. Chirripo (you can see both the Pacific and the Atlantic at once–one of the very few places in the world it’s possible to see two oceans at once), go deep sea fishing (mucho dinero), cliff jump in Montezuma (45 feet tall), and not to mention get more tan.  Sadly, at best, I’ll get to go to Guayabo and hike the ruins… there’s just not enough time and too much work to be done. 

It’s just so unfathomable that I have to go back to the real world.  I don’t have any plans for this summer as far as working or living arrangements go.  I know I’m taking summer classes in Omaha so it’s either commute every day or get an apartment.  I’ll be starting my junior year of college in the fall and have no idea what my major is (that’s not entirely true… I’m officially declared a Spanish major, but I want a double major and have no idea what I’m going to study… all I know is that it’s going to be a long 2 years.

I’m in Costa Rica, living the life, going to classes, going to beaches and jungles and seeing animals I couldn’t even imagine existing outside of zoos.  And in 23 days, I’ll be back in Nebraska, going to classes and working. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my family and friends, I miss driving a car and having a phone.

But honestly, Costa Rica? Nebraska?    Beaches/mountains/jungles/volcanoes? Corn/cows/soybeans/husker fans?

Not exactly the most difficult choice.

Do I have to go back!?!?

So we were supposed to meet at 7 am so that we could all leave together (my Enviro Impact class was teaming up with the Ecology class and we were going together).   So sleepy-eyed we stumble onto the bus, and head out.  About an hour and a half later, we stop at a dam to talk about water and energy production.

The Dam.

The lake is covered with lillies. You can see a little bit of the dam off to the right, and off to the left (you can't see it), there was a little restaurant where we ate breakfast (spectacular view).

So we ate and were on our way again.  Climbing up through mountains on winding roads (with no guard rails, yikes!).  We got to La Marta and settled in.

Our little house in La Marta.

We ate lunch and set out on a hike.  I’ll let the photos explain it.

Alyke, my professor talking about a banana tree.

A sketchy bridge. Only three people allowed at one time.

The remains of an old coffee plantation.

There were bats in the ruins.

Yeah, I walked about three feet from this guy, no big deal. Alejandro (the ecology professor) thinks it was about two meters long.

The view from the top of the lookout point.

A recent landslide cleared this slope. In the future, it will be reinhabited with trees, but for now, all that's growing there is shrubbery.

More greenery.

A stream running through the park.

A little waterfall so clean you can drink it...

...so I did.

It got warm...

...so we went swimming.

The walk back to the house was a little unpleasant, but oh well.

I combined the hikes from Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning into one big photo mess, I hope that’s okay.

Now, I guess I’ll backtrack.  After the hike we went back and got cleaned up to go into a nearby town to watch the futbol game (Costa Rica was playing in Mexico, and two of the girls on the fieldtrip are Mexican and wanted to see the game).

The town set up a trailer with a sheet on it and prjected the game in the town square.

After the game (we lost 2-0), we went back to the house and had dinner and roasted marshmallows over candles in the dining room because we were too tired to walk back to the coffee ruins for a bonfire.  Everyone went to bed early as they shut the power generator at 9 pm.  We hiked the next day as well and headed back to the city, sweaty, sick of green, and happy with the whole weekend.

Friday night a group of Gringos were supposed to get dressed up and go out to dinner before the symphony.  We were meeting at the front of the Teatro Nacional at 6 so we could go to dinner together (we all live in different parts of the city).  So Sarah and I had planned to go together but we get on at different bus stops so we tried to plan it so that we could get on the same bus… Well we failed, she got there way before me and took the bus ahead of the one I was on.  Sooo, here’s this tall blond girl, wearing a bright green and tyedye dress (I stick out a little) walking through the streets of downtown San Jose, by myself.  So I get there and we waited for a couple of the other people to show up.  We ended up going to El Patio, a restaurant not too far from the theatre.  I had pasta with pesto sauce and it was phenomenal.

Sarah, Me, and Josh at dinner (I look kind of crazy).

Anyways, so after dinner we headed over to the Teatro Nacional for the symphony.

The stage set-up at Teatro Nacional

The first piece they played was by Mendelssohn and it was really good.  Then they stuck a grand piano in the middle of the stage and some guy came out and started talking in very Gringo-y Spanish.  He was from the United States, is one of the most decorated piano players of this time, it was his birthday, and he was going to sprinkle Beethoven’s Cadenzas into Mozart’s Concerto No. 20.  Can I just preface this by saying that musicians who are so passionate in what they do (which is almost all of them) are the most inspirational thing.  Anyways so they all start playing and I could not take my eyes off the pianist.  He was so absorbed in the music, it overtook him, and I could tell that this is what this man was put on this earth to do.  It just smacked me in the face because someday I want to find something that I am that passionate about.  I’m sure it has taken thousands and thousands of hours of practice and frustration to get there, but that is what I want.    It was absolutely phenomenal.

The rest of the symphony went well, the music was beautiful but the pianist had easily stolen the show.

After that, we went to McDonald’s for ice cream (everything else was closed), and went home early to pack for my field trip to La Marta.

Let’s see, where did I leave off?

Thursday I still on the mend, but still not well, but went to class anyways.  Relaxed Thursday night.

Friday I went to volunteer at the hospital then left for Puerto Viejo (again).  Friday night we went out for pizza and went to bed early (we wanted to catch the 6:45 bus to Manzanillo).  It rained alllllllllll night, and was still very threatening looking when we went for breakfast at Bread and Chocolate (phenomenal food).  It rained a little while we were at breakfast so we decided to take the 11 oclock bus back (so we wouldn’t have to take taxis back to our houses once we reached San Jose).  So basically I went to the beach without actually going to the beach.  Saturday night, I stayed in the house.

Puerto Viejo sunset.

It rained later that night.

Why do I always ruin pictures?

Sunday after wandering around downtown for 40 minutes, Jennifer and I finally found the bus stop to Volcan Irazu (Irazu Volcano).  So we hopped a bus up the volcano and holy cow, amazing views.

Monday I didn’t do anything fun, class was canceled and I wanted to go to the beach, but I couldn’t find anyone to go with.   OH! I worked on a project, forgot that exciting part of the day.

Tuesday I had class all day.

Wednesday,  I worked at the hospital all day and met a girl who,  I swear, is my twin.  We don’t look very much alike, but dang, we have the same personality.  She wants me to travel with her for Semana Santa (Holy Week, we don’t have classes or have to volunteer).  To my knowledge she is taking a bus up to Guatemala (60 hour bus ride through very unsafe countries, no thanks).  And as awesome as that sounds, I’m busy part of the week, and, well, 60 hours on a bus.  Enough said.  I hope to travel with her some, even if it’s just for a weekend.  Wednesday night we went out to celebrate and birthday at Van Gogh’s.  It was way fun.

Thursday I went to class, then attempted to go buy tickets for the symphony, but it was closed.

Today is the symphony.  We’re getting dressed up and going out to dinner beforehand.

This weekend, I’m going to La Marta for a nature hike with my environmental impact and society class.  No electricity after 7 pm!!!

Stay tuned for details.

Monday, I had class, then came home and read all day.

Tuesday, St. Patrick’s day, I went to class then went with a bunch of kids in the program to an Irish Pub and listened to great live music.

Today, I was supposed to go to the hospital and volunteer all day, but I’m getting pummeled in the face by either a cold or allergies.  My sinuses feel like they’re about to explode, my nose is running, and I have that awkward “I need to sneeze tingle in my nose, but can’t sneeze or get the feeling away” feeling.  My roommate and I hooked up the TV and watched the news together (the first time I’ve watched TV here).  Other than that, I slept, read, and watched movies all day.  I read all day in Spanish.  Now there’s a mosquito buzzing around my bed and I can’t catch it.

That is all.

It’s bed time.

Hope everyone is well back home.

Well on our way Carlos debriefed us on safety procedures and what to expect (we were, after all about to face class III and IV rapids *class V are for professionals only and VI are deadly*  yeah, I’m super hardcore like that).  He also told us that the river we were rafting was one of the top 10 rivers in the WORLD to white water raft (I swear, this country is amazing).

After being sufficiently debriefed, we arrived and were divided up into rafting groups.  We donned our safety gear (life jackets and helmets), and got ready to start down the river.  In my raft, it was three people from Veritas University, and three ISA kids (Melissa, Olivia, and I), as well as our guide, Mauricio.

Our ride down the river was 30 kilometers (18 miles) and lasted three and a half hours.  There were parts where we were allowed to get out and float in the river including between two canyon walls.  We saw toucans fly overhead, and other birds nesting on the riverbanks.  We stopped and had lunch and it started sprinkling, but cleared up, as we were getting back in the rafts.

The guides thought it funny to pull people off the rafts as they passed in the raft, so a couple girls on my raft got pulled in, our guide pulled some people in, but no worries, it was all in good fun.  Our guide kept splashing me and one other girl so during a calm part of the river, we ganged up and pushed him off the back of the raft.  It was a good time.

All in all it was a successful trip (no major injuries, just a couple minor bruises), and I wish I would’ve taken a waterproof disposable camera because it was phenomenal.

Anyways, here’s some pictures…

Olivia and I in the bus on the way.

Rafting. I'm in the back right corner.

I'm under there...somewhere.

I'm in the back right again.

I had a busy weekend last weekend and returned home to have no internet access, so here is a very long awaited recap of the last 12 days (yes, it really has been that long).

Wednesday I volunteered all day, which was okay.  The ladies I work under are somewhat cold so it’s not always the most fun job, but whatever.  At the hospital everyone finds their niche.  Some people like the babies, some like the older kids, personally, I like the “game room” (which I just learned is NOT call the toy room, haha).  I hang out with the little asian woman in the game room watching the equivalent of “Good Morning, America” and doing work for the labratory until a nurse calls and says that there’s a kid that wants to go to the game room.  It’s my job to go pick the kid up from their wing/room/bed, and take them there and play with them.  Anyways the 7 hours went fast and I got several compliments on my flip-open Optimus Prime watch (granted, they were from young boys, many of whom would thoroughly enjoy owning  a watch that cool, thank you very much).

About half of the kids in the program were leaving Thursday for Nicaragua to renew their Visas (Since we’re only here for a semester, we can’t get student Visas… We had to enter the country as tourists which only gave us a 90 day Visa.  Our program, however, is longer than 90 days, so as to avoid problems while exiting the country, to renew our Visas, we have to leave Costa Rica for three days).  Wednesday when I got home, I had made plans for the weekend to go to the beach, but when my friends went to book the hostel, there was only room for five, and I was the sixth person to express interest in going.  I could’ve gotten a hostel bed by myself in a different hostel, but I was not about to spend my birthday weekend alone in some hostel, thank you very much.  So I made plans with a different group of people to go to a different beach.  But, again, the hotel had room for four, and I was the fifth and there was no way I was paying for my own hotel room.  Sorry.  Between the trip to Nicaragua and the two beach trips, almost no one was staying in San Jose for the weekend, and I decided that staying alone in San Jose being bored all weekend just wasn’t what I wanted to do for my birthday.

So I got online, found a super cheap flight (only $20 dollars than my whole trip to Panama *the original “renew my visa plan”*) and decided that I was going home for the weekend.  Home, yes, Nebraska.

The plans got finalized at midnight (technically) Thursday morning, and the plane left at 8:00 am.  I didn’t sleep that night, left the house at 5:00, and was ready to go.

The flight to Phoenix was long, and we plane, the people, and the luggage weighed too much so we had to stop in Mazatlan, Mexico to refuel.  We got to Phoenix, and Caitlin, my best friend from high school, and her friend Cory came and picked me up for my 7 hour layover.  I hadn’t seen her in over three years, so it was lots of fun hanging out with her again.  We went shopping and I bought (for my sister [who had no idea I was coming home]) a prom dress (we online shopped together and picked one out, but when she went to look at it again, it wasn’t on the website anymore, well I found it in her size, at Macy’s, 50% off, SCORE!).  After the mall, we went to PB Loco (a store devoted entirely to peanut butter *Costa Rican PB is awful*), and got sandwiches, then to Sprinkles (a cupcake store), then back to Caitlin’s new apartment.  It was a very fun layover.

Some things never change...

Cute!

Airport shot as I was leaving.

So after being in Costa Rica for 2 months, and Phoenix for seven hours, I headed home to chilly Nebraska.  My parents met me at the airport and I slept most of the way home.

My sister was working at a youth retreat all weekend, so she was gone when I got home, but was coming home at 5:00 the next morning to shower.  I hung her dress in the bathroom where I knew she would see it with a note that said “Come wake me up!”.  So 5:05 in the morning I get a knock on my door, my sister looking dumbfounded hugs me.  She tries on the dress and it looks flawless on her (score!).  We talk for awhile and then I go back to bed and she showers and leaves for the retreat.

After I woke up for the day, I headed up to Omaha to see all of my Creighton friends before they left for spring break.  My friend James was at work at the front desk of a res hall, so I walked right on in and his jaw dropped (seriously, I wish I could’ve filmed peoples’ reactions– Bianca did a happy dance, and Anjali was dumbfounded).  Then, I went to visit the people in the office where I do my work study (it was so nice seeing everyone again).   The rest of the day was spent surprising people who had no idea I was in the country and catching up with friends.

Bianca, my roommate, and I.

Saturday morning, I drove back to Lincoln (I spent the night in Omaha, in my old dorm room).  Got ready and went to go help out at the youth retreat Andrea was working at, where I got more dumbfounded looks, and lots of hugs from lots of people who had no idea.  After that, my parents, my brother, and I went out for dinner (first time seeing my brother in two months), and I went to bed early as I was getting sick (thanks, chilly Nebraska).

Sunday, I went to church then out for coffee with Shelbi (she has lived across the street from me my whole life and has and always will be my partner in crime).  We got caught up and exchanged birthday presents (hers February 9, mine March 8).

I'm still awestruck that I am more tan than Shelbi.

After that I went home for a big, all family birthday dinner, complete with Coldstone ice cream cake!!!

Me and my mommy!

Ice cream cake!!! Chris, me, and Andrea (my siblings and I).

After dinner, everyone kind of went off and did their own thing, so I went to hang out with some of my guy friends whom I got to know a long time ago through the same retreat that I had worked at the night before.

Tim, me, Dustin, and Josh.

I flew out at 6:00 the next morning, had another 7 hour layover in Phoenix where I hung out with Caitlin again.  This time we just kind of laid around and napped and chatted because we were so tired.

I'm a duck, quack quack! (Some things never change.)

Tuesday was a decently unexciting day, had classes went home and relaxed.

Wednesday I volunteered all day.

Thursday I had class then went home and read all day.  A couple friends and I went out to Caccios (a bar) to celebrate Katie’s birthday where we met up with Matt, the guy who arranged our Bungee Jump.  He said the guys at the Bungee place want to have us back.  I’ll update you about that when I know more.

Friday I volunteered and then went shopping with Jennifer.  Well apparently, Friday was the day to wander around downtown San Jose, because on our way there, we saw Jorge (a kid in our group, who said he had seen lots of the ISA kids downtown), Jennifer and I went to eat out on the balcony of a Japanese restaurant and heard our names being called.  Joe, Elizabeth, and Tiffany were on a balcony across from us getting drinks.  We looked down just in time to see the Emilys and Katie walk by.  There were also people dressed like a giant tree (a man on stilts) and a butterfly.  I’m still not entirely sure why…

You never know what... interesting things you'll find in downtown San Jose.

Elizabeth, Joe, and Tiffany across from us.

Saturday is a completely different story that merits its own post, so I shall do so when the pictures are posted. 

Don’t have internet access at my house and can’t put pics up from  this computer.

I didn’t forget about you guys!!!