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