The Long Overdue Update

Where to begin?  I guess I’ll just go chronologically, starting with the weekend trips, and then I’ll give some updates on my life in and around San Jose.

Volcan Arenal from the lookout

Arenal/La Fortuna: This place was beautiful.  The volcano was amazing and while I did not get to see it erupt lava, I did see it erupt some smoke on the way there.  We stayed at Los Lagos, which was a very nice hotel that had hot springs and hiking trails on the grounds.  This is the only place where I’ve seen a hot water pool, and it was great!  Also, the hike to the lookout spot leads to an amazing view of the volcano, including a seated area to watch from.  The view for the sunset was spectacular as well, but I was definitely grateful for my bug spray!  I also went canyoning (aka rappelling down cliffs and waterfalls) and had a blast!  I am definitely spending a lot of time making my body move past the instinct to back away from cliff sides, but don’t worry, I think the instinct is still there as the first time going over the edge is still the hardest part.

Canyoning

Manuel Antonio: This is where I was during my first week here and it was still amazing, but I definitely saw more animals this time around.  I decided not to do any special tours on this trip and instead stuck to hiking in the park and relaxing on the beach.  Oh how unfortunate ;) Just a few minutes after entering the park, we were lucky enough to see a sloth just feet away from the main path.  As I later heard on a night tour in Monteverde, seeing sloths moving in the daytime is very rare so I guess we were even luckier than we thought.  I also saw raccoons raiding the trash bins, and monkeys stealing food out of people’s hands.  Even weirder was watching them eating and drinking out of containers that they clearly knew how to use.  Like when I was here before, it rained a lot in the afternoons so that led to a lot of hotel relaxing and hanging out, too.  Also, I revisited El Avión and maintain that the not-so-cheap (though not bad) prices are definitely worth it for the quality of the food, the view, and the plane sitting next to you.

Sloth

Monkey drinking a juice box

Monteverde: This is where we were supposed to go with ISA that first weekend when the rains caused most of the main roads to close.  This was also the first weekend that we did not have an ISA excursion (those are done).  I used the recommendations in Let’s Go Costa Rica and on Hostelbookers.com to choose and book beds at Cabinas Vista al Golfo and they were definitely good ones.  It was clean and the people at the front desk were very helpful with planning tours.  There were also a few good hangout spots, including a section of ceiling-hanging hammock chairs and a beanbag room with a TV (though they were having trouble getting all of the channels as I learned while frantically trying to find the last Giants game against the Phillies).  They also provided a pretty good hostel breakfast, including fruit, cereal, toast, and eggs.  We chose to do a Canopy + Hanging Bridges tour with Selvatura and it was definitely better than the canopy tour in Tamarindo.  Cheaper too.  The cables were longer and higher, and the forest was denser and greener.  We also got to do a Tarzan swing at the end (more practice ignoring the instinct not to jump off of tall platforms).  That night, I did a night tour with one other girl.  Why someone with arachnophobia would decide to do this is beyond me, but I did.  We saw a sloth, two snakes, two tarantulas, a frog, a massive ant colony, and plenty of other bugs here and there along the way.  I also learned how to lure tarantulas out of their holes as I witnessed from about 3-4 feet away (yikes!).  The guide put some saliva on the end of a stick and poked it near the tarantula so it would think there was an animal nearby to eat and it came crawling/pouncing out.  I also learned that my waterproof jacket and shoes and water-resistant pants were essential purchases as they kept me dry until my pants finally couldn’t resist the water anymore near the end of the 2 hour tour in the rain.  The next day, we went to wander around in the Monteverde Nature Reserve and made it up to the Continental Divide.  The park is beautiful.  Everything is green and the views were spectacular.  It was also surprisingly empty.  One last note: If you get motion sickness or don’t like being able to look over the edge of a cliff as your bus leans over it while turning then you might want to ensure that you pass out on the bus ride to Monteverde.  They even sell license plates that say, “I survived the Monteverde road”.

Hanging bridge

At the Continental Divide

This past weekend, I stayed in San Jose so now I’ll move on to the local updates and goings on...

ISA: Excursions are done so now we’re on our own for traveling.  They are doing some cultural activities in the afternoons, but so far the one museum trip they did was during my class.

Daily Activities: I am now done with my Spanish class and just have my electives left for the rest of the semester.  My ecotourism class is going on a field trip to Tortuguero this weekend, and to Montezuma the first weekend of December.  My dance class has gone on one field trip to a salsa club and will be going on another one this Wednesday.  If you can’t tell, classes here are horrible (please note sarcasm).  I started my volunteer job (ELAP through ISA) last week at the Ejercito de Salvacion (Salvation Army).  I am working at a daycare center for underprivileged children, specifically with the super young ones.  I can’t tell exactly how old they are, but I would guess in the 1.5-3 range.  They are adorable, but definitely get crazy sometimes.  The small space for the number of kids and the mostly broken toys don’t help, but they all seem perfectly happy with it.  It is unfortunate that there are not enough teachers to separate the kids into more specific age groups, as some of the activities that the teacher uses are above the heads of some of the kids.  However, even with the help of my friend and me, I don’t think it would be possible to split them up.  I think the teacher takes a break as soon as we get there and I don’t blame her.  I don’t know how she does it alone.

Spanish Class Field Trip: One Friday, we went to see an artisan where he works and visited the Peace University.  The artisan shop was cool, as we got to see his workshop and talk with the man who lives and works there.  He is in a wheelchair and is missing a leg.  His house is small and not the nicest place, yet he seems completely happy.  The Peace University was interesting, but not worth the tour.  We didn’t know our 45-minute tour cost $5 per person.

The artisan

Tamale Festival: When I told my Linguistics professor that I was staying in San Jose this past weekend, he told me about La Fería de Tamal in Aserrí and said that I should try to check it out.  He said it is a good, free cultural experience in a town in the mountains outside San Jose.  My roommate and I went on Saturday and I loved it!  There were plenty of tamales as well as a lot of artisans selling their crafts.  I even found churros rellenos con dulce de leche!!!  Those are churros filled with dulce de leche, the caramel-like substance I became obsessed with in Argentina last summer that I have also found at the grocery stores in San Jose :)  The town also had an amazing view into the valley between the mountains, and was just a cute little town.  It was nice to see how easy it is to take a bus out of the city for a few hours.

Mmmm tamale :)

Halloween: Since I learned that they do not celebrate Día de los Muertos and they actually kind of do celebrate Halloween here, I decided last week that I had to dress up.  It is basically just a bar-holiday here, so no kids trick-or-treating in their cute kid costumes, just adults in the same kinds of costumes they wear in the states (ranging from prepackaged and skimpy to legitimately well-done).  Anyway, I was trying to decide what I could do with a black dress I already had.  After getting through the easy things like witch or cat, I stumbled upon penguin.  So that’s what I did :)

With my roomie on our way out