La Fortuna & Puntarenas

What I'm doing: I just got back from the most amazing trip to Nicaragua! But first I am going to write about the weekend before I left because it was very fun.

Saturday, November 3rd

We went to la Fortuna, which is a very touristic area near Volcan Arenal. There were 10 of us who went; the other 5 girls in our group went the weekend before. They told us which bus to take and which company they used. At first I was sad that we did not go as a large group, but it was really fun to spend some time with the other girls that I do not normally get to hang out with.

We caught the 5:30am bus and got to la Fortuna at around 8am. We found Red Lava company after wandering around for a bit. They said they would give us the same package of zip lining, repelling and horsebackriding for $35. It was $5 cheaper than our friends because our group was so large. The van was going to pick us up at 10am, so we had time to grab breakfast.

A van came to pick us up, and we stopped by a hotel and two other girls joined our group. We went to the zipline place to get suited up and ready. The first line looked scary, and you could not see the end of the line...my hands were sweaty and I hoped that I could handle the 9 line course.

It was like we were flying! I normally went in the middle of the group. There was a guide at the beginning waiting for us at the other side, and there was a guide with us at our side as well. Some of them were pretty long and fast, others were a little slower. One time I did not make it all the way to the other side, so I had to turn around and go hand-over-hand to the end. Once we made it through all the ziplines, we did repelling.

I have repelled once when I was in 6th grade at camp. It was scary but not as steep as the one we did at la Fortuna. You are supposed to stop yourself as you are going down, but I was going to fast and had some trouble stopping myself. I felt like I basically fell to my death. But I survived.

Next came the horsebackriding. Two summers ago my family and I were in Yellowstone and we went horsebackriding, but the horses just walked at a slow pace and we got to see all the nature around us. They do things a little differently in Costa Rica. My horse was running SO fast. I thought I was going to fly off, and my throat hurt from screaming so much. Rocks were flying everywhere and the horses do not go in a straight line. It was quite the adventure, but I am really glad I participated and did all of the activities.

We also did some shopping there and got smoothies when we got back to the main town. We caught the last bus home to San Ramon and arrived around 8pm. Such a fun and full day of activities that we planned all on our own!

Sunday, November 4th

After church, Mariah and I met up with Brayan and his brother Derek to go to Puntarenas for the afternoon. It took us around 1.5 hours to get there by bus. Puntarenas is on the beach where many cruise ships stay. We got to see one while we were there; this also means there are many vendors and knick-knacks to buy. I did not purchase anything though, since I knew things in Nicaragua were probably going to be cheaper. We took pictures on the beach while it was still sunny.

We also got a churchill. It is a shave ice/fruit sort of mixture. Winston Churchill liked to go to Puntarenas and order it, so it got named after him. It was super yummy and different from anything I have tried before.

We went and sat on the beach to watch the sunset and talk. It was super good to practice Spanish and have good, meaningful conversations. Both the boys are very funny, so Mariah and I were always laughing. We grabbed pizza later in the evening and took the last bus home. I am constantly amazed at the wonderful people God has placed in my life here. So, so blessed. My facebook status on Sunday night said this:

 

It's perfect weekends like this with family and friends that make me realize that I do not want to leave Costa Rica...

 

 

Con mucho amor.

Everyday strangers

What I'm thinking about: I meet so many people every single day in Costa Rica. The store owner that told me my Spanish was good, the guy at the shoe store who sympathized with Chandler and I as we waited for Mariah to pick a pair of shoes, the aunt I met once at Angelica's first communion party, the one student who talked to me in Juan Manuel's class.... All of these people I will probably never see again, but they have impacted my life.

from: here, here and here

Con mucho amor.

My Week

What I'm doing: This week has been full of fun activities! Nothing out of the ordinary special, but just those little things that make you appreciate life.

Wednesday Mariah and I went to church, which was really fun. We sat inbetween Kari and Rachel. We stayed after the church service was over and talked with Tina and her daughters for awhile. I did not even realize how long we were there until my host mom texted me and said, "where are you?!" I am always surrounded by wonderful people who care about me.

Thursday was a rainy day. There was more rain than usual because of hurricane Sandy. The other Spanish class did not have class that day, so I was a little disappointed that we did. Our teacher just disappeared. When she returned she had a whole thing of hot chocolate for everyone in class! It was SO nice of her!

Last night Mariah came over and we went to the mall and got popcorn. We watched The Mask. When it was done, her and my brother and I were all just talking in my room. He was telling us stories from his life. I swear he is one of the wisest people I know. We always have heart to hearts at night. Sharing experiences and life with people is one of my favorite parts about Costa Rica.

What I'm watching: My host brother was shocked when he kept listing off movies and I kept saying that I had not seen them. It is funny because the same exact thing happened over the summer with one of my coworkers. He was so surprised that I had not seen so many popular movies. My brother decided that we need to have lots of movie nights before I leave. We watched Inglourious Basterds on Sunday night, and The Mask last night. I thought The Mask was going to be a scary movie, but my brother kept telling me it was not. I didn't exactly believe him... It was funny but silly. I fell asleep through a small part of it, though. Whoops!

My favorite one that we watched this week was Patch Adams. We watched it on Thursday night, and it was SO good. Made me cry, but it also has such a good message. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

• When Patch is talking to God after a difficult time in the movie: "So answer me please. Tell me what you're doing. Okay, let's look at the logic. You create man. Man suffers enormous amounts of pain. Man dies. Maybe you should have had just a few more brainstorming sessions prior to creation. You rested on the seventh day. Maybe you should've spent that day on compassion."
• "See what no one else sees. See what everyone chooses not to see... out of fear, conformity or laziness. See the whole world anew each day!"  
• "All of life is a coming home. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don't even know you're walking in circles. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place."

What I'm listening to: I love Christian music, and listening to it in Spanish is even more magical. Worship is such a wonderful way to connect with God. One of my friends showed me these few new songs that I love.

• El Aire De Tu Casa - Jesus Adrian Romero
• Solo Cristo - Hillsong
• When God Ran

This afternoon is a huge first communion lunch for Angelica. I really hope that I can understand what is going on and that people will talk to me. Tonight is youth group, and tomorrow is church! Hopefully tomorrow afternoon Chandler and I will go shopping too. I am having shopping withdrawls. :) Hope everyone else has a wonderful weekend.

Con mucho amor.

You have never really lived...

What I'm thinking about: I have not posted many quotes in awhile, so here are some that I have been thinking about lately. 

from: here
Why wish upon the stars, when you could pray to their creator?

from: here

from: here

"Life is everything. Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God. And while there is life there is joy in consciousness of the divine. To love life is to love God."

from: here

Hope these brightened your night.

Con mucho amor.

About My Weekend (finally!)

What I'm doing: This past weekend we had a field trip, I went to an intersting family function, celebrated one of my host sister's birthday's, went to San Jose, and hardly slept at all. :)

Friday, October 19th

We left bright and early at 6:30am for our field trip to Miravalles. It is a volcano in the Guanacaste area. We were supposed to go to Arenal, which is way prettier I think, but they wanted to take us some place less touristy...go figure. The first place we went to was a geothermal energy place. They take the vapor of water and put it through a turbine that creates energy. We got a tour of the place, which was interesting. We had to wear closed toed shoes, hats, and glasses.

They have to separate the water and the water vapor, so that is the all the water behind us in these next few photos. It is the water draining out.

We also got to see the big turbine thing and all the pipes everywhere!

After visiting the geothermal place, we went to our hotel to drop our stuff off and eat lunch. We stayed at Thermo Mania, a very touristy place. There were lots of pools and the staff were all so kind. After lunch we went to a wind plant with large windmills. We had a talk there, which I thought was very boring. I learned about wind energy in high school, so it was not as interesting for me. It was also pouring down rain and we did not walk around and see anything.

When we got back to the hotel, Mariah T. and I went and got hot chocolate and had a heart to heart. :) I am so lucky that I get to be on this trip with such amazing people! Then we went in the pool with our Spanish teachers and all the girls. We played 10 fingers and practiced our Spanish. The water is warm because it's thermal water. Here is what the place looked like, so pretty!

That night we ate dinner, and did some kareoke (I did not sing, only listened). I went to bed at 9pm, though. I am so tired all of the time here! I kind of wish I would have stayed up longer to spend time with people, but that's okay. I am stuck with all them enough. :)

Saturday, October 20th
We got to sleep in until 8am, which was really nice. After breakfast we took some pictures of the sun and how beautiful the place was!

Then, we split up into two groups to go to las Hornillas. What are those you might ask? We put mud on our faces. It felt a lot like Yellowstone, but I loved it. It smelled just like Yellowstone, too, just like sulfur.

Then, we went to a "waterfall" to wash off the mud. It was more of a man-made dam, but it worked.

When we got back, we had to wait for the other group to go, so we hung out in the pool. Lunch was really yummy fish. Then, we left to head back to San Ramon. It was not my favorite field trip, but I felt like it was very educational. We learned a lot about alternative forms of energy.

I was so tired when I got back, but that was just the beginning of my adventurous evening. Kristin, Chandler, Sydney and I had a movie night. We watched P.S. I Love You, and ate popcorn and smores. Kristin's host brother also hung out with us, which was really funny. I got back to my house at 11pm, when my host sister texted me. She said they were having a party with all their cousins across the street from my house. I had my sweatpants on, but I changed and headed over. Little did I know what I was getting myself into...

There were probably over 20 people there, all around my age. Everyone was drinking and smoking and hanging out. I met another girl from a different program that I talked to for awhile. One of the cousins, Jose, came over and talked to us. I was so happy he did, because I felt like I belonged a little more. I hung out with my host sis a lot too, Fabi.

It was fun to listen to the conversations, but it was a little hard to follow what was happening sometimes. After being there for 2 hours, my host brother and his girlfriend showed up. I have never been so happy to see them; I felt like they were angels! I talked to Juan Manuel's girlfriend, Kristal.

Around 1am, we left to go sing. This is the second time they have done this. Everyone piles into a car and goes to sing to all of the aunt's and uncles. ALL of them except probably 4 got into ONE truck! I thought it was going to scrape the ground when it was driving. I went with Juan Manuel and Kristal. We went to 3 houses before leaving the large group. It was quite the adventure haha. I thought my family get together's in the U.S. got a little crazy sometimes, but definitley can't compare to Costa Rica family reunions. :)

Sunday, October 21st
Started off by going to church with my family. Mariah G. came along too, and the service was amazing. Walter, the husband of my oldest host sister, spoke first. He talked about being a light in a dark world, which seems to be a theme of mine here. :)

Then, we went to lunch for Fabi's birthday. We went to the same Colombian restaurant we went to on independence day. The other time we went, it was just 5 of us, and I had trouble following the conversations. They talk so quickly and I have a hard time hearing. I thought I would understand so much more this time, but that was not true... There were over 10 of us, and I had noo idea what was going on. My meal was very yummy, but I felt so discouraged.

When we got back, I just went into my room for awhile and worked on some homework. We had chocolate cake for Fabi's birthday and it was VERY delicious. My oldest sister, Andrea, made it. Juan Manuel asked me if I wanted to go with him to San Jose. We decided to go and have a movie night at his girlfriend's house. Mariah came with me. We watched Inglourious Basterds with Juan Manuel, his girlfriend's brother and another friend from church, Brayan. It felt so nice to just relax and watch a movie. After the movie, Juan Manuel had to drop his girlfriend off at her job at the hospital.

We went with the other boys to McDonalds to get some dinner. We discovered that McDonalds delivers...I could not believe it! Mariah and I thought it was SO funny, that we made Brayan put down his food to take a picture of us with the carry out bags.

Then, we went over to my oldest host sister's house. Andrea and Walter live in San Jose with their little baby. We chatted and played Creationary. It is a lego game where you have a certain amount of time to create leggo shapes. It was really fun. We did not get back home until past midnight. But it was so much fun to spend time with everyone. It made me feel a lot better after the disaster during lunch time.

I am constantly blessed and amazed at the wonderful people God has put in my life here in Costa Rica. I really feel like the luckiest girl around. Except there is a really good quote that says, "I am not lucky, I am blessed." I really believe that is true. :)

Con mucho amor.

Earthquake #4

What I'm doing: Last night there was another earthquake... It was almost as strong as the first one on September 5th. It was the fourth earthquake that I have felt since I've been here. Is it weird that I am getting used to earthquakes?

Last night Mariah, Sydney, Sarah and I went over to the church for dinner. The pastor, Jonathan, his wife, Tina, and his family had to move into the church after the big earthquake because their house kind of fell apart. There is a little apartment area over the church, so it works out perfectly. They have 4 wonderful daughters who range from 16 years old to 6 years old. We ate chili for dinner, which was soo yummy. In the middle of the meal, the floor started to shake. Tina was yelling, there's an earthquake. We all went outside. It was super long, and for one point I thought I was going to fall over when we were walking. After the shaking stopped, we all went back in and finished dinner. Both my host brother AND sister texted me to see how I was doing.

We had ice cream and cookies for dessert. Jonathan went to play futbol, so all of us girls cuddled on the couch and watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It was such a perfect evening to talk and get to know them. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful church family. I feel so welcomed and I know that I can go to them for anything I need!

It was an interesting coinsidence because earlier that day Juan Manuel saw a cockroach. We had seen 2 cockroaches on Saturday night. He told me, "Are you scared of earthquakes?" And I told him only sometimes if they are really strong. He said his Grandma used to say that when the cockroaches came out, that was a sign that an earthquake would happen. And then it did that very evening...very strange.

Last night I kept waking up while I was trying to sleep, thinking there were aftershocks. All the time I feel like the ground is shaking, which probably is not a good thing. But friends and family, know that all of the time I am safe. I have so many people looking out for me, so there is NEVER any need to worry (especially you, Mom). :)

Con mucho amor.

The Little Things

What I'm doing: Last week was filled with the little things of life that makes me appreciate everyone I have met here in Costa Rica. The first thing is my little cousin. She is 9 years old, and loves coming over to talk to me. Last Sunday her and her brother came over and we played cards! I taught them slap jack, and we played a verson of spoons. They loved playing slap jack! I felt bad, though, because she gets in trouble for being over here all the time! She told me she had a dream about me; that we were in my room talking and there was an earthquake. I was hiding on my bed and she was telling me it was okay. Too precious. :) It is her first communion on Saturday, and I want to get her something! Maybe a cross necklace? Now I just need to find one in San Ramon.

Second, is my host mom. I am so lucky that I got placed with the host family that I did. We have been reading the bible together some nights. I read it out loud, and she corrects my pronunciation. And then we talk about the passage. Last week we read her favorite books from the bible. We read Psalm 23 and Psalm 91.

Third, is coffee dates with my friend Sarah. We had not seen eachother in three weeks because we are both so busy! We met at Aromas Cafe and had hot chocolate and a brownie last Wednesday. It was so nice to catch up and have a heart to heart. After Aromas she introduced me to her host mom and we walked around the University of Costa Rica before church started. I am so lucky that I have gotten to know her over the past month.

I will write more later about my weekend events!

Con mucho amor.