The End

          I just finished packing my bags and everything is set to go for my departure tomorrow. I have decided to write one final blog while I am still here in Costa Rica. I have mixed feelings about leaving San Jose. Looking back, this month has gone by fast; however, I am way more ready to leave Costa Rica than I was when I left Peru. I believe that every experience abroad is beneficial: being here has reminded me what it’s like living in another part of the world, I have been able to learn more Spanish, and although being away from home is a struggle, it’s definitely good for the soul. Since I arrived and as the days have continued to go by I have noticed how many homeless people there are here. They sleep on the streets and literally pick through people’s trash, eating leftover food and taking anything they can get. Seeing this really does break my heart. Moreover, this trip more than ever has made me realize how blessed I am to live in America. Costa Rica is rather dirty: the streets are filled with trash, pollution can be felt in the air, bugs lurk throughout the house, and mud can be found everywhere because of how much it rains. Also, Costa Rica is a dangerous place to live. Just yesterday the citizens of San Jose began strikes against their government. A few main streets were barricaded and hundreds of people holding signs marched to the center of San Jose in protest. While working out I saw a story on the news about a murder that happened last night and over the weekend and into this week police have been lining the streets pulling over any black car is search of some suspect.

            On a more positive note, I will miss some things about Costa Rica. I truly do love speaking and learning Spanish and will be sad to see everything back in English again. Also, it has been awesome experiencing the climate and wildlife here. How many people do you know that can say they went zip-lining in the jungle? Or was able to see an actual volcano with smoke coming out of the top? Above all, I will miss my host family and the other UNK students. Our host family has been nothing but hospitable and kind these past four weeks. They bend over backwards at our every need and you can just tell by their mannerisms that they really do love hosting foreigners. Also, I will miss living with Nicki, Amanda, Jen, and Liz. When you live with four other people, there is always someone to talk to, watch a movie with, or go on an ice cream run to POPS. Between the five of us, we have had our fair share of unfortunate events; however, we are always able to laugh them off and lift each other up.

My roomies and I! :)

            Every since I returned from Peru I have had this desire to go abroad after I graduate and help others. Believe it or not, in less than a year I will hold a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Spanish and some big changes will be happening. After coming to Costa Rica, my mind has shifted a little bit as to what I want to do. However, I’m trying my best to relax and “let go and let God.” I know He will point me in the exact direction I am supposed to be. So, this means one of two things: this could be the end of me ever living abroad, or a year from now all of you might be reading a different blog about my newest adventure! Either way, thank you so much for all your support while I have been away!

                                                                        Mary

Random Happenings

A few exciting things have happened since the last time I blogged. On Wednesday classes were cancelled so we could all take a day trip to see a volcano and spend some time at the hot springs. It was a four hour trek before we actually reached Volcán Arenal, but it was awesome to be that close to a real volcano. You could even see the smoke emitting from the top of it! After taking a few photos, we said our good-byes and headed to the Baldi Resort. This five-star hotel had five different hot spring pools that were heated by the nearby volcano. One of these pools even had three slides you could go down. The slides were a little bit crazy and some students got fat lips and bruises from them! After we were done swimming, we ate at the buffet on the resort. The food was good and we were all stuffed as we loaded the bus for our four-hour return.

            We didn’t have any trips planned for this weekend and the girls and I thought it would be a great opportunity to stay put and enjoy San Jose. After eating some much needed McDonald’s for lunch on Friday, we went back down to the center of San Jose and finished our souvenir shopping. Saturday was spent getting pedicures and watching movies at nighttime. My favorite activity of the weekend was going to Cartago on Sunday. Cartago is another province in Costa Rica that is about a 30 minute bus ride from where we live. In Cartago is a beautiful basilica that we were able to take pictures of and spend some quality time in. We got back home last night in time for dinner and afterwards finished off our relaxing weekend by watching a movie.

The Basilica

People making their pilgrimage to the altar

            Today marks my final week here in Costa Rica. It seems like we have been able to do so much in so little time: zip-lining, going to a National Park, seeing a volcano, enjoying the Hot Springs, going on a City Tour, listening to a nice relaxing performance at the National Theatre, attending a soccer game, etc. I feel so blessed and grateful to have been able to have all of these experiences. Although Costa Rica is nothing like Peru, I still believe all experiences abroad are worthwhile. This trip started off on somewhat of the wrong foot and it didn’t seem to get any better as the days went by. However, rather than reflecting on everything that has gone wrong, the past few days I have been trying to focus on all the special, God moments: The kind taxi driver that warned us to never walk in the dark-always call a taxi beforehand. Being able to sit inside a beautiful basilica. The kind man who gave us directions and was extremely helpful. A woman who actually smiled at me in passing.

Mary

Costa Rica vs. Panama

Waiting for our bus!

           Tuesday evening we ate dinner early and then were on our way to meet up with the other UNK students to watch the soccer match between Costa Rica and Panama. It was just our luck that it started raining right when we decided to leave. We had been warned at school earlier that day to not bring umbrellas or coins because they were not permitted inside the stadium; the reason being that people would throw these objects at the players from their seats in the stands. We decided to carry our umbrellas with us anyways in hopes that we could leave them on the bus and pick them up after the soccer game.

The madness outside the stadium before the game!

            We sat in traffic for about an hour and a half before finally arriving at the game. There were people everywhere when we hopped off the bus. We finally made our way to the entrance gate only to be told that we were in the wrong section of the stadium and would have to walk to the exact opposite side before we would be allowed inside. At this point, it was a downpour, we were umbrella-less and were a huge target to any robber out there. As we tried to make our way to the other side of the stadium we were greet by complete chaos-mud was lurking everywhere, people where grabbing onto the fence and trying to chimney their way around, and our group continued to become separated as time went on. By the time we made it to the East side of the stadium our group had shrunk down to 5 girls. We first had to walk through lines where security men checked us. We then had to make a mad dash for this Coca-Cola tent where everyone huddled together waiting to go to the next station in the process. After making sure all five of us were together again, we made another mad dash to the next barricade where people took your ticket. We finally entered into the stadium, located our seats, and sat down. Some people tried to sit on the edge of their seats since they were all wet; however, Molly and I just embraced the wetness because at this point we had been outside in the pouring rain for a good 45 minutes or so.

            Throughout the first half, no goals were scored. The event that attracted the most attention was a poor worker who fell walking down the stairs. This worker was carrying a tray filled with drinks to sell to fans when he slipped going down the stairs due to the rain. He happened to fall directly in front of where the UNK students were sitting. We looked up and noticed that at the ends of certain stands there was a stretcher with a red light that flashed accompanied by a paramedic. We tried to do our best to get the attention of this man. However, it seemed like an eternity before someone finally came to help. And, when the paramedic did finally come he came and examined the man and then had to go back up the stairs to find additional help so the process was quite lengthy. I felt awful because the employee appeared to be in a lot of pain and it took quite some time before he was finally taken away.

            At halftime Molly and I decided to go on a hunt for these blow-horn things. A lot of people in the stands had them and they were awesome. Unfortunately for us, they were only sold outside the stadium. So instead, we went ahead and bought donuts. The second half of the game started and four minutes later Costa Rica scored!!! Three minutes after that Costa Rica scored again making it two to zero. When the clock hit 90 minutes signaling the end of the game, the rain magically decided to stop. However, becoming soaking wet was totally worth it because the game was awesome!

            You would think our little adventure would end there, but things really started getting crazy when it was time to exit the stadium. After the game was over, a fight broke out on the field between Costa Rica and Panama. The UNK students were told it was time to leave and so we all started filling out.  When we reached the top of the stairs, Molly asked if I would take her picture. I snapped the photo real quick and the two of us went to join the rest of the group. Unfortunately, everyone had magically disappeared in the time it took for me to take the photo. Molly and I tried walking fast in hopes of catching up to them, but they were nowhere in sight. We decided as long as we stuck together everything should be fine. We made our way out of the stadium into the crowd of 40,000 people. We decided that the fastest route would be grabbing onto the fence and shimming our way around everyone. Mud and people lurked in every corner and we did our best to avoid both. We finally made our way to the street and Molly turned to me and asked if I remembered how to get to the bus. I told her that I hadn’t really paid attention when we were walking because I didn’t think we would ever be in this situation. She had the same thought so we decided we would head in the direction we thought we came from. After crossing a few streets we saw a bus. Neither of us thought it was actually the one with UNK students; however Molly decided we should just try taking a peek anyways. Luckily we did because it happened to be the right bus. Molly and I were jumping up and down with joy because we were so relieved. We climbed on the bus and then sat back and enjoyed our traffic-filled ride back to our part of town!!!

Walmart

          

We made it!!! :)

          At this point, many of you are probably thinking that I should just give up on ever making it to Walmart. Well, sometimes I can be a determined girl and I really just wanted to see what Walmart looked like here. So, on Monday afternoon the 5 of us girls set out once again in hopes of actually finding it. They say the third time is the charm so I was optimistic. We took the 20 minute walk to the bus station and climbed on a bus. This time, Nicki made sure to ask the bus driver if we were going to pass by Walmart because we were not going to make the same mistake for the third time in a row. The bus driver confirmed we would pass by so the five of us paid the fare and stood towards the front of the bus because it was packed. After literally being on the bus for 20 seconds Fin and Liz were calling my name because they could not understand what the bus driver was saying. I made my way to the front of the bus only to discover that the bus driver was trying to tell them that we would not actually drive by Walmart. We had no choice but to get off the bus and figure out a different plan.

            Once we got off, frustration really set in. How did the bus driver not know that we were going to pass by Walmart? Why was he so confused? Or did he actually know exactly what was going on and was trying to rip us off? Well, it was time to cut our losses and stay positive about the situation. The girls were trying to figure out which bus would actually lead to Walmart when I decided that I was going to walk regardless of if they came with me or not. I decided that the only way I was going to make it to Walmart was on foot. The girls decided to join me and every 10 minutes or so I would ask a random person on the street if we were going in the correct direction. Every person confirmed we were indeed heading towards the right way; however, they all looked at us like we were crazy. People kept telling us “Se falta muchisimo,” which basically means we had a long way to go. One woman even tried telling us that we were still 2 to 3 kilometers away-we were well aware of this fact; what this lady didn’t realize is that no matter what bus we would try getting on it would not lead us to Walmart.

The stray dog that lead us to Walmart

            After walking for 10 minutes or so we soon discovered that the majority of our hike would be via a highway. What a sight we must have been-five American girls with their umbrellas walking along the side of the road. Oh, and not to mention a stray dog found us and decided to join us on our trek. We left our house around 3 P.M. and finally arrived at Walmart around 4:25 P.M. The Walmart in Costa Rica looks very similar to the ones in America; the main difference is that all the signs are in Spanish. We made our way throughout the entire store before deciding it was time to head home in order to make dinner. Although it wasn’t the most amazing thing in the world, I am glad we finally made it to Walmart!

It basically looks the same as Americas' Walmarts

Manuel Antonio

            Friday after class we headed to Manuel Antonio which is a famous National Park here in Costa Rica. We were told in class that day that although Manuel Antonio is only 82 miles from San Jose it would take us four hours to get there. As we drove towards the park, we soon discovered why it would take four hours; everything was extremely hilly. It constantly felt like you were going up a mountain and then going back down. This of course led to carsickness for some and a happy arrival at our hotel four hours later for all.

            Saturday was spent actually exploring the park. If you are a citizen of Costa Rica you can enter into the park for free; however, for foreigners it costs $10. We then went ahead and spent the extra $5 per person to get a tour guide to show us around for about an hour or so. We were able to see some really cool animals through the tour guide’s telescope. My personal favorite was the rainbow grasshopper that you can see in the picture below:

            There are four beaches within the park and we chose one and stayed there for the duration of the afternoon. The water was nice and warm and the waves weren’t as huge and dangerous as they were in Jaco. While a group of us were actually in the water, we made sure at least one person was sitting with our belongings. The raccoons found within the park are notorious for stealing your things and while we were on our tour we saw “the robbers” take a few things more than once. If you are lucky, the police in the park will see the raccoons grabbing your bags and blow their whistle and chase them away; however, more often than not if you leave your belongings then don’t expect to have 100% of your things when you get back. After a few hours we decided to pack up and head back home. We took a different trail back that led us to this water area with signs warning not to swim in it because there are crocodiles. Consequently, they have men in boats waiting to transport you to the other side of the water. However, some people didn’t want to pay the extra money and thought we should just trying swimming across. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for saving money, however, I felt like it was worth the few extra dollars to avoid being eaten by a crocodile. But, I became outnumbered and before I knew it we were all taking off our shorts and shirts and holding our bags above our heads as we waded through the water. Luckily, the crocodiles stayed away.

            This morning we woke up and the girls decided to go lay out on the beach; I decided I had already had enough Vitamin D and would just chill in the hotel room. I went for a little run but kept it short because of the humidity here. Even when you are just walking around it feels like you can never catch a breath of air. On top of the pollution and dirt that is always felt here in Costa Rica, the humidity basically guarantees a feeling of death. I couldn’t help but think of my mom the entire time I have been here in Manual Antonio. I think this place would be the death of her. Our room has become infested with ants, they have no clean towels to shower with, no ice (let alone no clean water) and if you saw the kitchens where they cook your food in here you would choose not to eat. But being here truly does make you appreciate what you have back home. The first thing I want to do when I get back to the states is walk outside and actually breath in fresh, non-polluted air!

                        Happy Father’s Day!!!!

                        Mary

Snake!

Monkey!

Crocodile!

Raccoon!

Nicki, Amanda and I!

My 21st!!!

This past Friday I turned 21! I wasn’t expecting that we would really do anything because Friday was a travel day to Manual Antonio National Park. However, I was sitting at the table Thursday evening doing my homework when all of a sudden the girls and my host parents filed in singing “Happy Birthday” with a cake and masks. I was so surprised and felt so special!!!! The girls and my host family even bought me gifts. The girls gave me an umbrella since the one I bought here in Costa Rica really doesn’t work. My host parents gave me these guayaba flavored jelly cookies from CafeBritt. That evening we continued the celebration with cake and ice cream after dinner. Friday morning I woke up only to find balloons everywhere! Liz and Jen had woken up at 5 a.m. and blew up all the balloons and placed them throughout the house. They had also hung up “Happy Birthday” banners all throughout the house. After getting dressed, I walked downstairs only to find a decorated table filled with “Happy Birthday Hats” and these noise maker things. My host parents once again presented me with a gift-it is a necklace with a key on it. My host mom told me it symbolizes the entrance into this new phase of my life. She told me that she wished me many blessings and a life filled with happiness. It was so sweet of her!

            The girls and I then headed out to school with our backpacks and weekend bags for our trip to Manuel Antonio. At our break time I was again surprised when I was presented with a cake from our school and singing from the UNK students. I then received an additional gift of being able to skype with my parents from back home. Although the skype was in and out and cut off after 20 minutes or so, it was so nice to see everyone. I was greeted by exciting news from all: John passed his Driver’s Education course and will be able to get his license right when he turns 16. Dave and Annie have officially booked the church and will be married May 31^st, 2014. Finally, Paul and Katie informed me of their engagement earlier that morning. My family was sitting in our computer room skying me and would soon head out to the farm to celebrate its 125 year anniversary. I wish more than ever I could be home this weekend to see all me extended family and join in the celebration!

            We arrived at Manual Antonio late Friday afternoon and the girls and I got ready for a night out. I was surprised, touched, and blown away when I walked into the hotel lobby and saw that all the students from UNK would be heading out to dinner to celebrate. As usual, it was pouring as we tried to find a restaurant to eat at. We climbed on the bus and eventually found a nice pizzeria. We were planning on going out after eating, however, the rain put a damper on everything and we just decided to head home and hit the hay because we had an early day ahead of us.

The UNK crew and I!!!

            I cannot thank the four girls I live with, my host parents, and the other UNK students enough for helping celebrate my birthday. Liz, Jen, Amanda and Nicki went through a lot of work to make my day special. They went above and beyond in all aspects and it makes me realized how blessed I truly am. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I am so blessed to have each and every one of you in my life! I may not have been able to celebrate my 21^st with my blood relatives; however, I was able to celebrate with my Costa Rican family!!!

My roommates and host parents!

My parents!

The girls bought me a new umbrella for my birthday!

Unfortunately, this is what happened when I
tired opening it!

All four of us tried folding it back in!

I thought I might have already broken my brand-new umbrella!

Luckily, my host dad saved the day!

The morning of my birthday! Liz and Jen woke
up at 5 a.m. and decorated the house!

My birthday cake from the school!

Going out to dinner with Katie and Molly!

Photos from Zip-lining

Getting ready to go zip-lining!!!

The group of UNK students!

This is me, after almost finishing a line!

This is the moment I realized I didn't break enough and was
about to run into the tree in front of me!

Nicki and I on the two person line!

Zip-lining Superman Style!

This was called "The Tarzan." 

This is me at the beginning of the superman line!

Always on your Guard

This is my umbrella that doubles as a weapon.
As you can see, a few wires hang down and one side
kind of tilts in! But hey, it's better than nothing!

            On Wednesday afternoon Amanda and I made our way back to the house so I could shower before our little Walmart excursion we had planned. Neither of us had tried opening our front doors before and it was a struggle to say the least. We have a front gate door that you have to open, a normal front door, and then an anterior door that are all dead bolted. I couldn’t figure out how to open all the doors so Amanda decided to try her luck at it. We were about 5 minutes into this process when we heard a man come up behind us. I was so alarmed that I couldn’t even understand what he had said. All I knew is that I had my umbrella and I was ready to attack. I turned around with umbrella in hand not knowing what to expect only to find our host dad standing there. He felt bad that I freaked out and I was a little embarrassed; however, better safe than sorry.

            I hopped in the shower really quick and 15 minutes later we were ready to go. I should probably warn you all that this was our second attempt at going to Walmart. The first time around we climbed on the wrong bus going in the opposite the direction of where we wanted to go and by the time we figured it out we didn’t have enough time to go before dinner. This time around we again received explicit directions from our host mom and headed towards what we thought was the correct bus station. We reached Plaza Cristal, climbed on a bus and were on our way. I was a little weary as we continued on our bus ride because I began to notice that we were heading in the same direction we went the last time we attempted to go to Walmart. Thirty minutes later, we ended up in the heart of downtown San Jose and were eventually told we had to get off because it was the last stop. We discovered that once again we had indeed climbed on the bus going in the opposite direction. We then spent another dollar and got on a bus heading back to the exact same spot we had started. At this point, it was rush hour and took double the time to get back to our starting point. We arrived back to our original spot around 5:30 and decided to head home because it would be a 30 minute walk and dinner was at 6 p.m. No worries, I have hope that someday we will see Costa Rica’s version of Walmart!

Living it Up in Costa Rica!!!

Amanda and I next to the Pacific Ocean
with the sunset in the background!

This past weekend the group of UNK students traveled to Jaco. Jaco is a beach town here in Costa Rica right near the Pacific Ocean. We left Friday after classes and were greeted at our all-inclusive resort by some fruity beverages! I spent the weekend swimming in the pool and ocean and just enjoying life. One really great aspect of this trip was that it allowed me to get to know other students from UNK a little bit better. Our house in San Jose is located at least 30 minutes away from everything-school, Plaza Cristal, and all the other students’ houses. Therefore, we never meet up with anyone at nighttime because it is too dangerous. However, this weekend was the perfect opportunity to get to know some of my fellow peers a little bit better!

Our failed attempt at making a pyramid!

My housemates: Liz, Jen, Nicki, Amanda, and I

            We got back from Jaco on Sunday afternoon and as we walked home we passed POPS. POPS is an ice cream shop that I kept hearing people rave about. Well, I couldn’t wait any longer to try this place out myself so we made a quick stop to POPS and it was definitely an awesome decision. I can’t decide if the ice cream was just absolutely amazing or if it was the fact that I hadn’t eaten sweets for a week, but I could not get enough of it. The following day after class the five of us decided to shop around the mall because we needed to pick up a few things. Right when we arrived at the mall we ran into the TCBY shop; we literally didn’t even hesitate for a second before purchasing ice cream. Then, later the night after dinner Nicki made the comment about how she could go for ice cream again. Before we knew it the five of us decided to go for it. We even convinced our host mom to join us! Which means I had ice cream three times in a 24 hour period of time!!!

An example of one of our awesome breakfasts!

            Another awesome thing that happens every morning is the breakfast our mom prepares for us. I honestly look forward to it every single day. It is simple, yet always spectacular. We have not had a single dish more than once-we’ve eaten eggs, pancakes, toast, banana bread, etc. Alongside this main dish always comes fresh fruit. And let me tell you, it is the bomb!!! Normally it is a mixture of different types of fruit: pineapple, mango, banana, watermelon, etc. Our host dad was telling me tonight that right now the fruit in Costa Rica is a lot more expensive and not as tasty since it is “winter.” In wintertime the strong rain hurts the growth of the crops which causes this problem. I was shocked by this information because the fruit here tastes incredible and it is so cheap compared to the United States. You can buy three HUGMONGOUS cartons of strawberries for two dollars!

            Something that hasn’t taken me long to adjust to at all is having my laundry done for me. Our host mom does our laundry twice a week! It is so nice just walking up the stairs to find our nice, clean laundry sitting on the couch waiting for us!

It's so nice coming home to clean laundry! 

            Today, this awesomeness only continued when we left classes an hour early and headed to the National Theatre to watch a performance. The performance featured a guitar, violin and drums. The music was so peaceful and really put me at rest! After a nice dinner and spending some quality time with my host dad watching the soccer game, my day is complete!

                                                ¡Pura Vida!

                                                Mary

Parting the Red Sea and Red Hot Chili Peppers

After class on Wednesday all the UNK students loaded on a bus and headed out for a tour of San Jose. Our first stop was at Dr. Rafeal Angel Calderón Guardia’s house. He was a previous President of Costa Rica and everyone loved him mainly because of how much he was able to help the people of Costa Rica. He became a doctor and saw patients for free. He also built tons of schools, hospitals and libraries. Our tour also included a stop at the National Museum, the National Theatre, and the Gold Museum. The National Theatre was beautiful; there were paintings all throughout the walls and ceilings and tons of statues everywhere. The seats in the actual theatre are still the originals and above the main floor seats are specific booths for highly esteemed people, such as the President. Towards the end of the Theatre tour I was getting a little bored and antsy and that is when Nicki, Amanda and I decided to try and imitate statues (see attached photos). This idea continued with us at the Gold Museum and we spent our 45 minutes of free time snapping photos rather than admiring what the museum had to offer!

            After our city tour, we got dropped off just in time to meet the pouring rain. We attempted to wait in line for a bus; however, it was five o-clock and everyone was trying to get on the buses and traffic was horrible. We decided it would be quicker to walk home and didn’t think we would get too wet. Well boy were we wrong! We came to discover that after 10 plus minutes of pouring rain your umbrellas really can’t do much. At first, all of us girls tried to avoid the puddles; however, it soon became pointless. As we continued walking, the puddles became bigger and bigger and cars and buses had no choice but to soak us. It was literally like what you would see in a movie when a person is walking on the sidewalk in the rain and there are huge puddles near the side of the roads and a bus would come from behind and drench the person. We reached our house after 30 awful minutes of pouring rain. The only thing that was dry when we got home were our faces; literally everything else was soaking wet-our shirts, shorts, shoes, bags, everything inside our bags, hair etc. Then, to top things off we all had to go back out in the rain in order to exchange our American money for colones. In order to do this, we had to walk to Plaza Cristal which was another thirty minute hike. I was really hopeful that the rain would let up a little bit since it had been down-pouring for about an hour or so at this point. However, we had no luck and continued to try to part the Red Sea on our way to change over our money. In the midst of all this chaos, I did learn something: those ditches I described earlier between the sidewalks and streets are supposed to help with flood control; however, after literally 10 minutes of downpour they are useless.

            After our eventful afternoon, we were all starving when dinner time rolled around. Our mom cooked us a traditional meal: rice and beans with coconut milk on top. We were all enjoying the meal when Amanda made the comment that the food was a little spicy for her liking. Her face quickly changed a few shades of red due to the spice and all of a sudden Nicki said, “Amanda you are sweating!” After this things really went downhill. Tears started rolling out of Amanda’s eyes and all of a sudden the spiciness caused her sinuses to open up and everything was going straight our her nose. After the whole ordeal was over and Amanda was able to compose herself again, we discovered she had eaten a chili pepper. Needless to say, Amanda was a little apprehensive to have a second helping of the dish but after a little encouragement she went for it. Unfortunately for her, she consumed yet another chili pepper and everything happened all over again: the tears came and her sinuses were released yet again. In the end, we all were able to make it through the meal and it was interesting trying this new food!

                                                Mary

Zip-lining

            Today was one heck of a day!!! The group of students from UNK headed on a two-hour bus ride to the jungle to complete a zip-lining course. We strapped into our harnesses, heard the two-minute or so safety talk, and were on our way. I was a little nervous for the first run, but from then on out I thought it was awesome!!! The scariest part for me was the fact that we had to brake ourselves in order to land smoothly on the platform. This meant that you released your dominant hand from the pulley that was securing you and actually grabbed the line above you and held on tight in an effort to slow yourself down. I found this scary not only because if you didn’t break properly you were more than likely going to hit a tree or some other object, but if you accidently forgot and placed your hand in front of the pulley instead of behind your hand was toast. As you zipped from line to line the view was amazing. Everything here is so green since if often rains for an hour or more each day. We were literally flying above all sorts of tropical plants and could even hear birds and other insects chirping. The people who work for the company were great! They were super funny and joked around a lot. On the third line we went on, the worker would wait until you had zipped down for roughly five seconds and then he pulled the line you were zipping on up and down so that you began bouncing in the air! We completed eight different lines before arriving at our “surprise.” This “surprise” was a Tarzan jump in which the workers from the company literally pushed us off and we swung high in the air from side to side. We then had three more lines before a little break. At this point, our group split into two and half of us went to eat while the other half went to complete a different course.

            After completing the first 11 lines, we were two hours into the course and everyone was tired and sweaty. After you complete a line, you have to make your way to the next one which requires some hiking in the rainforest. This uphill feat was no walk in the park. Also, the heat and humidity really didn’t help the situation. When presented with the choice of lunch or round two, I opted for the latter because zip-lining on a full stomach did not sound like a good idea to me. The lines on the second course were even longer and higher above the group than the first. This time around, in addition to hiking up the jungle you also had to climb a few levels of stairs. This meant that you hiked until you saw the staircase that you would zip-line from. When you got to the staircase, you secured yourself to a line to ensure that even if you did fall on your way up the steep stairs, nothing too drastic would happen. The course started out with a “partner jump.” This just meant that you zip-lined alongside a friend. After completing this line we hiked uphill and strapped on some additional gear so we could experience the “superman” technique. This meant that we would be flying down these lines on our stomachs. We were about to face our longest and steepest line yet. The man strapped me in and I was quite frightened. I asked if there was anything I could hold onto and he told me it is best to just cross your arms in front of you. Before I knew it, I was on my way. At first, I was a little scared because since you are lying on your stomach you could not see anything above or in front of you; you could only see below. At certain points it felt like I was going to run right into trees or even at one point I came super close to hitting ground. However, I safely landed and made my way to the next line!

            After our adventure we had some lunch and then hopped back on the bus for the two-hour ride return home. Our zip-lining experience was amazing and I couldn’t help but think of my brothers as it happened. I know that the three of them would love doing something like this! Tomorrow afternoon right after class we will have a city tour of San Jose. I am super excited to see what all is located down in the centro. Then, on Friday afternoon we will live for Jaco. Jaco is a resort located right next to the beach that we will spend the weekend at.

***Just a little tid-bit: My blogs will all be posted at once. I have no internet at my house and when we have activities going on right after class I never bring my laptop to school because it is too dangerous to walk around with. Therefore, even though I am currently writing this on Wednesday night it will not be posted till Friday at the earliest (or else Monday if we end up not having internet at the resort)!

***Also, one other cultural difference is the fact that at grocery stores you are not provided with plastic bags when you check-out. The cashier scans your groceries, places them on the belt and then the customer is expected to pick them up off the belt and put them back in their cart. The customer then either carries their groceries in their hands to their car or pushes their cart to their vehicle and empties them that way.

***We were supposed to get the DVD with all the photos from zip-lining by Friday (today). However, in true Latin American style it will still be awhile. So…I will upload the photos once I get them!

Mary

Nicki and the Running Man

See how this weird light just shines through???

Well, last night rolled around and low and behold, the light came on. Nicki and I were talking and doing homework on the couch outside the two rooms upstairs when Amanda went to hop in the shower. She just happened to glance in Nicki and I’s room as she passed by and all she had to do was say Nicki’s name and we all knew the light had returned. I honestly have never seen Nicki move that quickly before in my life. She ran down the stairs with her hands flailing in the air to go get the other girls from Nebraska. Then, within 10 seconds Nicki had made it back up the stairs and was pointing at the light and yelling, “I TOLD YOU SO! I TOLD YOU SO!” at all of us. Although I did see first-hand that Nicki was right, I still wasn’t scared. However, Amanda, Liz, and Finn had all turned to “the dark side” and were a little creeped out to say the least. At this point, theories started surfacing about what this light could be. For instance, one theory was that there was some sort of alien that had put a spell on me which is why I acted completely unbothered by the light and that also explains why I was unable to wake up the night Nicki tried to show it to me. After all these conspiracies surfaced, I still wasn’t convinced of this mystery and so the three of us (Amanda, Nicki and I) decided to further investigate. After all this hype, we were a little disappointed to discover where this light was coming from (and you will be too after reading the next sentence). The “light from above” simply occurs when Amanda (who lives in the room next door) has her light on. When Amanda turns her light off, the light in our room also disappears.

Since we had finally figured out what exactly the light was, everyone was able to get a good night’s sleep and wake up bright and early today. We ate breakfast and attended class as usual. During my history class, I was able to learn a lot of interesting information about Costa Rica. I don’t want to bore you all to death with countless details so I’ll just list a few:

-Costa Rica is divided into seven provinces which are further divided into 81 cantones which are further divided into 400 districtos which are further divided into thousands of different barrios (neighborhoods). I live in the province of San Jose!

-1991 was the first time the indigenous people of Costa Rica were able to vote.

After class on Tuesday we decided to drop our backpacks off at our house and then go in search for the Plaza Cristal. This plaza has already served as a meeting spot a few times and tomorrow morning it is where our group will gather at 6 A.M. to go zip lining. Our host mom told us countless times that “everyone” knows where the plaza is. Well, we tried finding this exact plaza yesterday and we asked at least seven people none of whom knew where it was. When we got back from class today our mom gave us the directions one last time and sent us on our way. We were told to take a left at Parque Freses and when we arrived at what looked like a small park, we couldn’t decided if this was the spot we were supposed to turn at. I went up to the security guard that kept watch over the park and asked him what the park name was called. He told me it was his first day of work and he didn’t know. I then asked him if he knew were Plaza Cristal was only to find out that he didn’t. Well, Nicki decided to take this problem into her own hands. We saw a man running for exercise across the road and even though there was traffic, Nicki jetted across the street. By this point, the man was a little ways ahead of us and as Nicki was running to catch up with him she started screaming “Tengo una pregunta.” (I have a question). She finally caught up to the man who seemed a little frightened. He didn’t even stop running so Nicki just ran beside him as she asked for directions to the plaza. Much to our surprise, HE KNEW WHERE THE PLAZA WAS!!!!!! We followed his directions and were lead straight to the plaza!!!

After this adventure, we started home and walked into a house filled with delicious smelling food. We chowed down and then showered. Now, it’s time to hit the hay because we have to be at Plaza Cristal tomorrow morning at 6 A.M. for our zip-lining adventure!!!

Mary

We got this fruit from a street vendor for free. It tastes like a sour apple
and after you take off the outside covering it has a weird, squishy texture.

The outside of our school! (It looks a lot nicer on the inside)

The hallway of our school!

This is my "classroom" for my conversation class!

Amanda enjoying her cereal that tastes like a
 Hallmark store. Gross!

Our new church!