Curu Bioluminescent Tour/ Montezuma

     This past weekend, I went to a place called Curu. It is a wildlife refuge and national park. Curu is

located in the Nicoya peninsula, which is in the northwest area of the country. It took us a 2.5 hour bus ride to the coast, where we caught a ferry to the other side of the bay. The ferry was around an hour or so, and then it was about 20 minutes to our hotel in a small town outside of the national park. We left San Jose at 5 am in the morning, and arrived at the hotel around 10 am.
     Soon after arriving, we headed out to the beach in Curu where we spent the majority of the day on the beach. We also went exploring around the park to check out all of the cool animals! Daniel and I decided to explore the trail where we found a beautifully blue river. Did we dare to swim in it? Of course. The current was a little strong, but nothing a swimmer couldn't handle that's for sure. We jumped in and swam to a small island close to the other side. When we looked back, we noticed a sign facing the other direction. Daniel points it out and said to me, "Wouldn't that be funny if that sign said: beware of crocodiles?" I thought about his question for a minute, and realized there was a significantly high chance that, that could be written on that sign.

     The moment I realized what we were in for, I jumped back into the river and climbed out on the other side. I was in no mood to play with crocodiles! (Yes, later that day, we did indeed find out that is what the sign read.)
     Around 5 pm, we packed ourselves in kayaks and boats and headed to another beach down the coast. This is where the bioluminescent tour took place. We hung around, went swimming, at some delicious and fresh fruit until it got dark outside. Once it was pitch black outside, we ran ourselves back into the open ocean and went swimming in glowing water. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. The movement of the water (from your hands or body in general) made the plankton illuminate like fireflies in the ocean.
     The next day we went to Montezuma to go swimming in waterfalls. We hiked up the river to one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen! In it, were people jumping in and swimming around. My friend Daniel told me that above that waterfall, was another one, even larger, and you could jump off of it from the top. We gathered a small group of 4 of us and began the dangerous hike up the side of the first waterfall.
     When we arrived at the top, I couldn't even explain to you the beauty I saw. There was indeed a

larger waterfall, with a ton of crazy people jumping off. I didn't participate in that. At the top of said waterfall, was another smaller one and a small pond like body of water. We went swimming (the boys went jumping off the crazy, huge waterfall) in the pond, and jumped off the half-sized waterfall at the very top. They even had a tarzan swing from an overhanging tree, which was a lot of fun! Around 11:30 in the morning on Sunday, we began our trek back to San Jose the same way we came. Back in the bus, to the ferry and finally the bus once more.

Lima, Perú

     This past weekend, my room mate, Tasia, and I went to Lima, Peru! This story begins back in January when we found our plane tickets. One evening, our tico papa told us about some cheap airline tickets. It then took us an entire 3 hours to find the perfect tickets. Tasia and I were so excited to have found 100$ plane tickets to Peru, that we wanted to press "purchase tickets" at the exact same time. So we did. HORRAY we thought, until Tasia received an email saying her ticket could not be purchased and that she needed to call the company. After plenty of time speaking with them on the phone, she was forced to purchase a different return ticket, leaving a full 24 hours before mine. This meaning that I would have a full day in Lima on my own.
     Thankfully, the next morning, Tasia woke up to an email saying that they had opened another seat

on my return flight, and that they were holding it for her for only a few hours. She was forced to try and buy the ticket during class. But, of course things were not working out in our favor, and her mom had to purchase the ticket for her, because her card kept getting declined for whatever unknown reason. The tickets were finally purchased the next day, and we had the same return ticket!
     On the day of departure, Thursday, March 12th, we were loaded with excitement! So much we couldn't contain ourselves. We received an email from Kayak.com saying that our flight 'may be delayed' about 35 minutes. We checked with the airport and it read that our flight was on time. Our tico friend Adrian, picked us up for the airport and we arrived around 2:00 pm. We walked in, checked in, printed our boarding passes and paid our exit taxes. We walked up to security, only to be turned away for the first time to complete some paper work. We turned around, completed the paper work and tried again. Still, no. We needed to do more. Finally, they let us pass to get our bags checked. I make it through fine, as does Tasia. Except for her bag. The security officer pulls aside her bag, only to find a handful of rocks that she had forgotten to removed since our last excursion. We laughed and quickly moved on.
     We went to find our gate and get comfortable since we still had a little while until we were able to board the flight. We unloaded along the wall next to some wall chargers to keep our technology fully functionable. As time passed we noticed some cloudiness that looked like fog outside of the windows, soon to find out from Adrian, that a volcano had just erupted... What did this mean for our flight? A lot. Adrian convinced us that everything was fine and

that it happened all of the time (which was a lie). We quickly came to understand that this was the worst volcanic eruption in over 20 years. It was nearing 5:15 (our departure time), and our plane was still not at our gate. We went up to the desk for some information, and all they could tell us was that our plane was still in San Salvador, and that we were delayed. We thought, oh that cant be too bad, a flight from San Salvador is only, give or take an hour, and that we would be on our way soon.
     Around 7 pm, we received a message from Tasia's mother, asking why we were sitting in a closed airport... We quickly questioned the desk, "What is the latest update?" The man at the counter says to us, "Well the airport is closed and we are going to hopefully reopen at 8 pm." How long were we sitting in a closed airport before we knew? 3 entire hours. Not one announcement made, or anything. Our flight even still said, ON TIME!
     With growing anger, we returned to our seats to relax and watch some movies. 8:00 pm arrived and people start filing themselves through the gates of the door. We returned to the desk again, and he says to us that we are all leaving. What does that mean!? We found ourselves waiting in line at immigration. They start checking peoples passports to verify, who even knows at this point. They ended up just giving up on the mass of people and letting them through.
      Next, we got in line to wait and see if and when we were going to be able to leave for Peru. We waited for around 2+ hours. It turned out that the airline opened up a new flight for the next morning at 9 am to Lima, Peru. It seemed to be working out in our favor, because we were now getting a direct flight instead of having a layover. And on the bright side, we were only going to be losing 4 hours of the time we originally had in Peru. Adrian returned to pick us up from the airport and took us home.
     The next morning, we caught a cab back to the airport at 6 am. When we walked in the doors, already having our tickets in hand. A lady from our airline company stops us, and tells us that our flight is now cancelled (AGAIN!) and that we have been rescheduled for 2 pm. We march ourselves up to the desk, demanding answers. The airline again told us that the airport was closed, and that they were still unsure when it was going to re-open, and that their hopes were that it will open around noon. Thankfully, they changed our return flight ticket to Monday, instead of Sunday, free of charge, giving us even more time that originally planned in Lima.
     We sat ourselves upstairs in a little café, along with every other person who was waiting for the airport to open. You can only imagine how many people were scheduled to be on flights between 6-Noon. The news channels brought in their camera crews and started interviewing people throughout the airport, and I even made it onto national television! I wasn't interviewed, but my tica family told me that they had a camera set on me for a solid amount of time! It was pretty cool to hear. Just as it begins nearing noon, we heard that the volcano was yet again, erupting. As our patience shortened we stopped a police officer to see if he knew any more new information, and asked if he could confirm this repeating volcanic eruption. And he did confirm it. When we asked him "Do you know when the airport will open?" He responded with, "The only thing I can tell you to do, is to pray." Now, coming from a policeman, this was probably the worst news we could even fathom hearing. So, we prayed, both in Spanish and in English.

     Sure enough, at noon, the airport opened and we filed ourselves through security one more time. We found our gate, and made ourselves comfortable. Although, we noticed that there was only a handful of people waiting outside our gate. Tasia got up to assess the situation, so she went upstairs and asked someone, only to find out that they changed our gate, and failed to display that information on the monitors. We moved our belongings upstairs, began talking to an older couple and explained to them all of our trouble along the way. The women looks at us and says, "From a mother's perspective, I'm going to advise you to turn around and go back home. If this volcano keeps erupting, you aren't promised a return flight home on Monday. That means you're just going to keep missing your classes." Tasia and I sat down and thought long and hard about what to do, and we both agreed that we have come this far, we couldn't turn back now.
     Around 2:30 our flight starts to board, and we couldn't be any more ecstatic! We thought, this is it, we are really leaving for Peru now! Shortly after that thought, they start DE-BOARDING OUR PLANE! Why? Because there was a gasoline leak and they needed to call the firefighters to come and assess the situation! We thought this was the end, we thought, we are not going to Peru, it's all over with. The man at the desk announces that it will be at least 30 minutes before we can begin boarding again. So we sit back down and think long and hard about our troubles.
     Finally, around 3:45 they board our flight and we are off to Lima, Peru for the weekend! When we arrived in Lima, our friend Daniel (whom we were meeting there), had a taxi there waiting for us. Which was nice to have after all of the ruckus the last few days. That night we walked around and explored the city for a while. We needed to exchange our money for soles, which is the currency in Peru. Tasia started at an ATM that allowed her to request an amount of money, but then tell her that her transaction was cancelled. She tried again. The same thing happened. So we tried a different ATM, still not working. She tried about 4 or 5 ATM's before she called it quits.

     The next morning, Tasia checked her bank account to find that $1000 US dollars was withdrawn from her account. Even though she didn't receive any money from the ATM's, each time she requested an amount of money, it withdrew from her account.
     For the rest of the day, Tasia and I parted ways to explore the city on our own! Tasia took advantage of her day by doing a food tour! I went with Daniel and his dad on a tour of the city, on a double decker bus. We also went around to different restaurants to try all different kinds of yummy Peruvian food. Peruvian food is by far the best food I have ever tasted! We went to a couple places for ceviche, and I was really nervous at first because I don't like seafood that much (at all really!). Ceviche turned out to be one of my new favorite snacks! I even tried the octopus!
     The next day we didn't have any plans, so we took a trip to a few museums around the city as well as a chocolate tour! This was a lot of fun because we got to try all different kinds of chocolate and even make our own. Lima is really well known for their museums, because they have one for every kind of person. At night, we went to a famous restaurant and had the most delicious food.
     Monday morning we had to head back to San Jose, Costa Rica. We were extremely sad about leaving but found it in God's grace that we are able to be traveling the world.

Adios for now Lima, I will return! 

Granada, Nicaragua

     The last weekend in February, I spent the weekend traveling to the North of Costa Rica, to a famous city called Granada in Nicaragua. There are many famous things about Granada, for example, it's brightly colored colonial styles buildings. EVERYWHERE! Granada is Nicaragua's 6th most populated city, and is historically the most important. Granada was founded in 1524 by Fransisco Hernandez de Cordoba ostensibly the first European city in mainland America. This was by far one of my favorite weekends abroad. It wasn't a beach, it was completely a cultural experience and I loved every moment of it! I went with a smaller group, around 18 of us. We left San Jose, Costa Rica around 11 am on Friday. We took short bus ride to the bus station where our group piled into a large coach style bus that would take us all the way to Granada, Nicaragua. The bus ride was supposed to last around 6 hours. Our bus left the station at 12:30 pm, meaning we should arrive in Granada around 6:30. Unfortunately, the bus ride took a little long than expected because of a street riot that was happening in Guanacaste. We stood still in traffic without movement, for 3 hours. Thankfully, I was able to sleep through the entire thing, and was only informed of our standstill when we reached the boarder (way behind schedule). 

     Something interesting that would rarely ever happen in the United States would be to exchange money with people on the streets. At the boarder, we were bombarded with men who told us to exchange their money with them, and we did (only because our tour guide, Luis, said that we should).

     After immigration and customs, we hopped back on the bus and drove another 2 hours to Granada. Here, we took another private bus to our hotel. We finally made it to the hotel around 11 pm. This was 12 hours of traveling, you could only imagine how tiring that was. 

     The next day we left early in the morning for a quick tour around the city. We went to an abandoned hospital that has been falling apart for centuries. It was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen! After that, we packed ourselves in our bus and headed to the Masaya volcano. Here we took a quick tour of museum and then headed out on a journey of a lifetime! We walked several kilometers to an underground bat cave! It was a little freaky at first, but I quickly adjusted! Our tour guide pointed out that there is a skeleton looking object projecting out of the wall. [ It looked like a dinosaur! ] They've taken DNA samples several times over, but have never found any matches for any kind of animal, so they aren't technically allowed to say that it is a dinosaur skeleton... but between you and I, we are all pretty sure it is! 

     After that, we took a hike up the volcano to see the inside of the crater, and man oh many I've never seen such beautiful sights. So much nature! Luis thought that it would be a good idea to race me up the side of the volcano, lets just say I won by... a little bit! 

     Granada is a city on the shore of one of the largest lakes in all of Central/South America. We later had lunch on the side of a mountain over looking said lake. Following lunch we set out to the home of an artesian where we watched him make clay pots! One of our groupies got to try it and she actually did really well! Before the market closed, we headed to the artesian market of Granada where I found great deals on a couple of really cute shirts! Time to start checking off my gifts for friends and family! 

      The next day we gathered for breakfast in the hotel and soon after headed to a boat tour around the lake! Here we saw all sorts of interesting buildings and a few monkeys! One of the girls in our group even got to feed him some bread! This was a really interesting and informative experience where we learned all about Granada's amazing history. After the boat tour we got to take horse and buggy rides around the city where we learned even more about the city! 

     If any one ever has a chance now, or in their lifetime to travel to Granada, it is HIGHLY recommended. It is a beautiful and safe city that you're sure to enjoy! The locals are some of the most friendly people I've met so far!

My First Futbol Game!

     Last week was my final week of my second class. Time is surely flying by! I wish I had more time here, I am most definitely not ready for my return home. I am officially half way through my study abroad experience and I could not be more thankful to have had all of the experiences I've had thus far. There's been a lot happening here in San José the past few weeks: there is always so much to do! School has been keeping me very busy, and my last class kind of kicked my butt a little bit! As most classes do, we all became very acquainted with each other and time progressed. Conveniently, as my February course came to an end, I found out that 5 out of 8 of us were continuing on to our next class together. 

     Everything has been simply amazing. Adventure after adventure! I've made several Tico friends here in San Jose, and I hope that I'll have the opportunity to return back to Costa Rica for visits in the future! 

     The week of my birthday was kind of interesting. I officially broke up with my boyfriend of over two years. Aside from the slight heart ache, I had the best birthday of my life! My friends took me out to dinner, and of course for some celebratory 21st birthday drinks. I've made so many close friends here that I really hope to keep for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, all of my best friends here leave at the 3 month mark. 

    I went to my first professional soccer game! It was a really interesting experience, and I learned a ton of new Spanish phrases. For the most part, they were pretty vulgar! Here in Costa Rica, as well as most other Latin American Countries, take 'Futbol' extremely seriously! The game we went to, was supposed to be the most intense game of the season: Saprissa versus América. Saprissa is the nations ranked number one team for Costa Rica, and América is the number one ranked team of México. Costa Rica's biggest rival in soccer is Mexico, so you could imagine the intensity of the crowd. You could compare the rivalry to Michigan vs. Michigan State, only hundreds of times more crazy!
      The day after the soccer game was my 21st birthday! It was a really interesting experience celebrating such a huge birthday (according to the USA), in a country that celebrates their big birthday at 18. It was also interesting because my boyfriend broke up with me that day. I was out to eat with my two best friends here and he called me and that was it. Needless to say I was hurt, but having such amazing friends and being in the most beautiful country on the planet set the stage a little different. My friends took me out and helped me celebrate, leading to one of the best birthday I have ever had. I couldn't imagine having celebrated with any other people.
     The great thing about studying abroad is meeting all sorts of new and incredible people. I've made the most amazing friends on this journey, and not having this experience would not have pushed me to be the person who I really am, and I couldn't thank the CMU study abroad office, my parents, my friends at home, my friends here, and most importantly myself, any more. I hope each and every people who has this opportunity, jumps at it in full force. I will soon return home a changed woman, someone stronger, someone who can stand on her own without the help of others.

PURA VIDA CHICOS! 

La Comida

     Buenas tardes chicos! Life is amazing here in Costa Rica! I've truly fallen in love with almost every aspect about life here. I'm officially starting to think in two different languages. It's getting a little more difficult to write in english, without wanting to finish my sentence in Spanish. I've been getting a lot of practice, talking to friends, my family, the staff at school and around the city! 

     Let's talk about the food here a little bit. I'm sure if you know anything about Costa Rica, it's probably that they eat a lot of rice and beans, and this couldn't be any more true. I've eaten rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner in one day before. Before I got here, I was never a big fan of beans, but being in a new country, I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave them a chance. They actually turned out to not be so bad! They are definitely growing on me, even though they still aren't my 'food of choice.' 

     The picture to the left is a meal from one of the two 'cafeterias' at VERITAS. It contains a steamed vegetable mix, fresh salad, strip steak, and of course, rice & beans. This is one of the best meals I've had here in Costa Rica. One thing I've noticed, is that they all like their meat cooked well-done! It's something that I have grown used to, but I'm definitely missing my medium cooked steak and burgers back home! For the most part, the food is not much different that it is in the States. Costa Rica is a very Americanized country, especially compared to some of it's surrounding partners.

     The past weekend, I planned on staying in San José, but I ended up making a day trip to Jacó. Jacó is a popular town directly west of San José on the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, it's known as central Americas prostitution capitol. I have a friend here, whom is doing an internship with a program that helps these women who are ready to get off the streets and get back into society. I've learned a lot about the topic since this trip and continue to learn more and more each day. It's really nice to hear about programs that are helping these women and their children. 

     This weekend, I plan on taking my first trip to Puerto Viejo! Most of my friends have already been, and said it was their favorite trip! I am so very excited for this opportunity. I went to get my bus ticket today for the trip tomorrow, and ended up taking a little journey in the process. My room mate and I took a cab to the bus station where I was told I could only pay in cash. I only had enough money to get one ticket and a cab ride home. Unfortunately, I was buying two of my friends tickets as well since they couldn't make it. Tasia, my room mate and I, went on a search for an ATM to get some cash. While we were looking, we ran into an older couple who greeted us with, "Hello! Do you speak english!!?" They were ecstatic to find out that we did. They were lost, and we gladly helped them find there way using our improving Spanish!  It was really great to run into some US Citizens that weren't from our school, and being able to help them ask for directions for where they were going, gave me some incredible feeling. HORRAY for speaking Spanish!

Reflection Hour

     Last week was my 1 month mark for being in Costa Rica. When I realized this, I immediately filled with so many emotions; Happy, sad, accomplished, worried, amazed, excited, and so much more. I couldn't decided how I really felt! Luckily, I was one of the people who were the exception to the homesickness curve. I have only felt so excited to be here the entire time. As much as I miss my friends and family back in the States, I just love everything that I have here, and I am so thankful for all the friends I've made here thus far. It makes it so much easier to know that other people are going through the same obstacles as me, whether it's with school or what to do next weekend. 

     I've officially finished one class, like I mentioned in my last post, I did extremely well! The class that I started last week is definitely already a challenge though. I learned a lot in my last class, but I know that I will learn so much more in this one. I already feel like I've learned so much! I just pray that I will do as well as I did last month! I had my first quiz yesterday, and I have my first oral exam tomorrow. It's crazy because I have to talk for 15 minutes about my experiences here thus far. While I have so much I could say, I fear that 15 minutes of talking by myself will be more than I can handle. Already, this coming Friday, I have my midterm. It's crazy to think that classes are only 4 weeks long, and that this one is already almost halfway over. 

Handstands during the sunset at Playa Hermosa

     Since I've been here, I've not only learned a lot of school related material, but I have also learned so much about myself. I truly believe that I will come home a brand new person, because I already feel myself changing into the person that I was meant to be. I've made friends that aren't in the same 'social status' as I am, I've done what I wanted to do regardless of what the people around me wanted to do, I've made my own decisions, I've developed into an individual person, rather than a follower of the crowd. 

     I've made a few mistakes, but I've also made plenty of great decisions. I love my life here in Costa Rica, and I really wish I could just continue my life here forever. 

     This past weekend, I went with a small group of people, whom I didn't know well (or really at all), to Playa Hermosa & Jacó. These beaches were really cool, because they have black sand instead of white. This is because of the volcanic ashes that come from nearby volcanoes. This ended up being one of my favorite weekends, because I stepped outside of my comfort zone and went along with some other people. I can easily say that on this trip, I made my best friends here in Costa Rica, and now, I hang out with them just about everyday.  On the way back to San Jose, the bus driver stopped the bus at this adorable fruit stand. All of the workers were surrounding you, giving you free fruit to taste. I've never tasted such delicious and interesting fruits in my life! 

Bocas del Toro, Panamá!

     This past weekend I traveled across the southeastern border from Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro, Panamá! Bocas del Toro is a province of Panamá. Its area is compromised by the mainland and nine main islands. We had the luxury of staying in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago on Isla Colón. In order to get to our hostel on the island, it took a two buses, a boat and our own two feet to get there. The first bus took us from San José, all the way to the Panamá border. I've never quite experienced anything like the border between two countries like I did here. It was a set of 3 offices [1 on the Costa Rica side, and 2 on the Panamá]. Each office had a different purpose. The first office on the Panamá side, we were required to pay 3$ in taxes to enter the country, and then 3$ again when we left. The second bus ride, was about 45 minutes to the taxi boat. Then, the taxi boat took us about a half hour to get to the island, where we walked through town to get to our hostel. A hostel is a bit different from a hotel. The major difference between the two would be privacy, as well as a dramatic difference in price. While no hostel is the same as the next, there is usually a shared kitchen, and living space. Hostels tend to be more social than hotels, because of their open concept. There are rooms, just as in a hotel, but with several beds [typically bunk beds] in each room. 

     We arrived to Panamá on Friday evening, around dinner time. We all dropped our bags off in our room and scurried out to find something to eat! After that, we had the night to ourselves to explore the town. The next morning, we all met in the common area around 9 am to leave for snorkeling and Starfish Beach! We hopped into a taxi boat that took us out into the ocean for us to do some snorkeling! It's safe to say that I've officially been chased by a jellyfish! This was pretty cool, I got to see a ton of sea creatures in every color imaginable. After some time in the ocean, we made our way to Starfish beach. I can easily say that this is the most beautiful beach I have been to, ever! The colors were vibrant, the water was as clear as day and atmosphere was in general, up  beat and fun! We spent the afternoon here relaxing and playing catch with a football and a frisbee in the water, meeting new friends and having a good time! 

     What I loved most about this place, is that you needed to take a taxi boat any where you wanted to go, for places not on your own island. This made waking up at 7:30 am the next morning for the beach not so bad, because I knew I was about to hop onto a boat. I really enjoyed the boat rides, because each way I claimed the bow of the boat, or the very front. I sat in the front, with the wind in my face catching the beautiful sun rays and just taking in all of the breath taking views of Panamá. That evening, we set out to a place called Aqua Lounge. This is by far the coolest place I have ever been too. It's a restaurant built over the water, with decks surrounding the back. They had a trampoline and giant holes in the deck for people to jump in and swim! I didn't take part in the swimming, because the unknown of the ocean in the dark is a little to much to handle for me. Although, watching from the side while everyone tried to walk the tight rope over the water from one side to the other was highly amusing.
     On Sunday, we went to Red Frog Beach, which is part of a national park. Again, the views were amazing, but I guess what isn't beautiful about Central America? Unfortunately,

the weather this day was back and forth with sunny and cloudy, with some occasional rain. But that didn't stop us from having a ton of fun! Sunday
     School is going really well! On Friday, I finished my first class [Advanced Spanish for Health Professions]. I received 100% on my final exam and ended the class with a 95%! I couldn't be more excited! On Tuesday, I started my second class [Advanced 1]. I can already tell a huge difference between the teaching styles of 'elective' Spanish classes, and required courses. It has only been two days and I feel like I've learned so much! My new professor is 32, and looks like she could be 25. I've noticed that people here age extremely well! She talks at what I think is a wonderful pace, and thoroughly explains everything! I'm really excited to see where my Spanish goes in this class!

Here are some more photos from Panama!