Best Weekend Ever

What I'm doing: This past weekend could not have gotten any better! From start to finish, it was amazing!

Friday, October 12th

My weekend started on Friday because I skipped Spanish to go with my host brother to the institution he works at. He teaches English there 5 days a week. We left the house bright and early at 6:20am because he works in Grecia, which is 45 minutes away. We got there and he introduced me to the other English teachers. He does not work at a high school, but rather an institution ran by the government. He said there are some English classes, some business classes, etc. Lots of different classes there.

I started off in his classroom, but then one of the other English teachers wanted my help in her class. We played some games, and I talked to them about who I was and what I was doing in Costa Rica. They were learning about summary vs. paraphrasing. I was in their class for 40 minutes before I went back to Juan Manuel's class.

They were learning about directions, so he had them get into pairs and create cities. They had to name the streets and put restaurants, churches, public bathrooms, and other places in their cities. Juan Manuel had to leave to make copies, so I was "in charge" of the class for awhile. I walked around and helped them with vocabulary and talked with them. I love getting to know new people and practicing Spanish and English with them. One of the groups even named a street after me!

The class goes from 7:30am-12:30pm, with a half hour break inbetween. After they made the cities, we walked around and got "tours" of each city and practiced giving directions. Juan Manuel also played a video called Gringo Pinto. It has lots of slang words and talks about giving directions to white people who are visiting Costa Rica. I wish I understood what it said...

Once the class got out, Juan Manuel and the other English teachers and I went to the mall for lunch. While we were there, there was another mini earthquake. Juan Manuel did not feel it, but me and the rest of the teachers did. I was chatting with the other teachers about life, and they asked me how old I was. I replied that I was 20 and they said, "You are so young!" After a 45 minute lunch break, we had to be back in the school until 3:30. We talked and I met a few other ladies there who were visiting. I loved being in the classroom, and I wish I could miss class more often to help out in his classroom. I love helping new people and practicing with them. I feel like I am really impacting and getting to know new people.

Saturday, October 13th

We left at 6am to head to the beach...I thought I would sleep a little bit in the car, but I was too excited to sleep! I went with Ashli and Chandler. My host brother drove and one of his friends, Manfred, came with us as well. We went to a beach near Guanacaste, on the Pacific side. The drive to the beach is 4 hours long. We stopped several times, including one to take a picture by a giant ox! I have no idea why it was on the side of the road, but it was funny. My host brother did not know either.

We finally got to the beach and it was beyond perfect paradise. I thought last weekend in Manuel Antonio was pretty, but this beach was even better, and more deserted! We set up camp under a tree, and the boys wanted to go snorkeling. We layed and talked and read while they went in the water. A little while later, we switched with them and went in the water. It was perfect to just float and talk. Chandler is scared of fish, so just getting her in the water was a big deal. All of a sudden my brother runs to the water and says, "Do you see what's in the water?!" All three of us run to the shore because we thought it was something right next to us. He really saw a whale in the distance...haha. He had never seen a whale before! It was flicking its tail and splashing in the distance. So beautiful.

We got out to let the boys get back in the water when it started to rain. We put all of the stuff in the car, and Juan Manuel ran back into the ocean. We were already soaked, so we followed. (Don't worry, there was no thunder or lightning this time!) The rain looked beautiful hitting the ocean water. I have never swam in the ocean while it was raining. In Oregon it is way too cold for that. The rain stopped after 15 minutes.

My host brother, Chandler and I decided to swim to the island. There is a cave in the island that you can climb to! We swam there, which was a little tiring. Juan Manuel had to help us get onto the island because there were some rocks. It was totally safe, though. Chandler watched the boogie board that we used while my bro and I climbed to the cave. It was a decent sized cave that had lots of bats in it! We swam back and I was SO exhausted. The boys played in the water some more as Ashli, Chandler and I ate beans, tortillas and apples for lunch. Meal of champions. Here's a picture of my host brother climbing the island. I did not get any pictures of me climbing it.

Chandler, Ashli and I changed our clothes behind two towels, which was another adventure. And then we went to Juan Manuel's uncle's house to shower. He lives in the town of Tamarindo. After showering we walked around the cute town. There were some stores that we looked in. We got smoothies and chatted for awhile. Next to the smoothie place was a crepe place. We got a nutella and banana crepe, and it melted in my mouth. SO delicious.

We drove back to the first beach we were at because we were going to look at turtles! Juan Manuel's uncle has been giving tours for over 22 years. He was the one who had the trail in the mountain made. It was around 7pm and very dark. We had to use special red flashlights that don't confuse the turtles. We hiked through a mountain for 10 minutes to get to the beach on the other side. Our guide did the whole thing barefoot, which I thought was crazy.

We got to see one momma turtle making the nest. She was flicking sand everywhere. The Uncle was not with us, so we left that turtle to go try and find him. Evidentally you are not supposed to leave a turtle once you find one, because there might not be another one the whole night. We ran back to the same turtle later because she was going back into the water. There was another tour there with a different guide. The tour had lots of people in it, including children. They were using real, bright flashlights and chasing the turtle. Our guide told us the momma did not get to lay her eggs; she probably got scared with so many people around. Hopefully she went back to lay her eggs another night. Lots of the other tour guide just want to show the people the turtles, and get the money. They do not care about the wildlife, which is very sad.

We sat on the beach while waiting for the uncle. He tried to find another turtle for us to see, but there were not any more. I loved just sitting on the beach, though. There was no moon, so we could see the stars soo clearly. There was a storm far off in the distance, so we got to see lightning flash across the sky far away. The waves were glowing, too, which was incredible. There is a special plankton that makes them glow. The uncle told us it was a sign that the beach was very clean, and had pure water. It was magical to watch. Although we did not get to see any other turtles, I was so content. Getting to see so much beauty in one day was amazing. Chandler and I had a great conversation about God and how He works in lives.

We left the turtle beach around 8:30pm. The uncle took Ashli and Manfred in his car, and Chandler and I rode with Juan Manuel. The road was full of potholes so we tried to save the car a little by dividing the weight. The three of us had a great conversation about God, as well. How little we felt on that beach, and how magnificent God is. Those connections and conversations will stick with me for my whole life. Too often we waste our days talking about things that don't matter. I hope that I can work on having real, true conversations with people more often. That's what we were made for. :)

We ate dinner at a place on the side of the road, and left to head home around 9:30pm. We still had a 3 hour drive ahead of us...I love riding in the car, though. We listened to worship music and tried to sleep. Once we got back to San Ramon, Juan Manuel had to drop everyone off at their houses, so we did not get back to ours until 2am. So, incredibly, late. It was such a perfect day, though. Filled with fun adventures, and good conversations, and memories that I will never, ever forget.

Sunday, October 14th

After getting only 4 hours of sleep, I got up early to go to Zarcero with Ashli and her host mom! The drive to that city is very pretty through the countryside. We got to the town (around 40 minutes away), and walked around the gardens. I was very excited to be there because it was on my list of places to see! I saw a picture on Pinterest over the summer, and knew that I wanted to come visit.

There were trees and plants that were made into many different types of shapes. Some were faces, some were animals. My favorite was the dinosaur! There was also a house of flowers. The gardens would be a perfect place for a wedding. It was sunny and beautiful while we were outside exploring. Ashli's host mom had packed some fruit for us, and we sat outside under a tree and ate it.

Then, her mom told us mass was starting soon, so we went to that as well. I wanted to see and attend a Catholic mass while I was in Costa Rica. The church was absolutely stunning, but the mass itself was very boring and dull. A lot of sitting down and standing up. The pastor talked really fast, and it was difficult for me to understand what he was saying.

After the service, we went to brunch at this cute restaurant. I ordered a sandwich and it was very yummy. It was great practice for my Spanish to talk with her host mom. We discussed the topic of mass. Her mom said it was about money, and how it's not really our money, but God's. You cannot take money with you to heaven. It was fun to spend time with some new people and practice my Spanish.

After we got back from Zarcero, I took a 4 hour nap...this weekend was exhuasting but so worth every moment. :)

Monday, October 15th

I went with Sophie, one of my friends from the English class I help with on Thursdays at church, Mariah, and a friend of Sophie's whose name is Richard. Richard has a girlfriend from England, so he wanted to practice his English like Sophie. We met at the bus station at 10:30am, so I got to sleep in. Even then, my body woke up at 6:30am. I tried to sleep in until 7:30, but even that was difficult.

We first traveled to Naranjo, where we had to transfer busses. We stopped by the church in Naranjo because there were cute turtles in a pond outside the park. Naranjo is similar to San Ramon, but it is not very pretty or exciting. We then got on another bus to get to Sarchi.

Sarchi is a very touristy place with lots of gift shops. I got to do some shopping, which was nice, but my favorite part was the ox carts. The carts were SO beautiful. It must take the people a very long time to finish them. We went to an artisan place, but there were not very many shops open. A lot of the shops were destroyed from the earthquakes, which was sad. All of the pottery was broken on the ground. :(

We then walked to the main center of town where the world's largest ox cart was! We took lots of fun pictures, and then went to lunch. I had a yummy meal of corn, egg, chicken, rice, beans and salad! It was $6 for the whole thing, but I could not finish it. There was so much food!

After lunch we took both busses home to San Ramon. I loved spending the day with Sophie and Richard. They are both so nice, and it was fun to help them with English as they helped us with Spanish. God continues to place the best people in my life here!

What I'm thinking about: What a perfect weekend full of fun adventures. Hope you all had just as fun of a weekend as I did! I am very thankful I had a good weekend because so much happened back at home in Oregon. I missed a fun family party, and it was homecoming/alumni weekend at my university. I am blessed to have such great family and friends in Costa Rica as well. :)

Con mucho amor.