Jaco/San Jose!*

Where to begin from this weekend? Thursday was complete madness...A lot of the volunteers had the day off because it was a holiday but I had to go in because obviously orphanages never close. I was planning one leaving my project by 4pm so that I could make sure Cat, Blake and I could catch our bus that was scheduled to leave at 5pm for Jaco. However one of our volunteer coordinators, Manny decided to drop in on my project and had us there until 435...I literally ran back to Maximo, grabbed Blake and Cat, jumped in a cab and just barely made our bus! Needless to say I was flustered. The bus ride was only 2 1/2 hours though so it went by relatively quick. 

Once we made it to Jaco we realized the hostel we were staying at is literally the definition of "pura Vida" in Costa Rica. Ill just say that the owners of the hostel are free spirits...So continuing, we got the keys to our room which luckily had A/C and we all changed and went over to the other part of the house where every one was. We ended up drinking there all night... It was a bit of a shock to realize that I was the only person from the United States in the hostel. I was surrounded by Canadians, Australians, Swedish, Dutch, and English. I can't decide if that was more of a culture shock than just being in Costa Rica. But it was such a fun night! We all stayed up so late and all got a long really well. 

Friday morning Cat and I got up early and headed to a breakfast place near our hostel. We then headed to the beach... It was no where near as nice as Manuel Antonio but it was still amazing and I'm not going to complain about being at a beach! We met up with Blake later on and watched him surf for awhile and grabbed a few drinks by the beach. It was a perfect afternoon. Since it was going to be our last night with Blake the three of us went to an Argentinian restaurant downtown Jaco. It was delicious. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and shared our meals... Unfortunately due to the day drinking we were all beat. We decided when we got back to the hostel we would take a "half hour nap" well, that turned in to a 3 hour nap and Cat and I woke up at midnight... We tried to get Blake up but he wasn't having it. So Catherine and I stayed up and drank for awhile which was fun. We always find random things to do together. 

Saturday we went out for breakfast and hit the beach early to watch Blake surf again.. But since we had fell asleep for half the night on Friday we decided to day drink with Blake before we left him in Jaco. It was a good weekend and I'm glad we all got to spend it together out of the city! It sucked having to say goodbye to another person especially my roommate. But I know we will all keep in touch.. 

The bus ride home from Jaco seemed to take forever. But I was so anxious to get home to meet my new roommate! When I arrived at Vicky's I was greeted by Ruby. Shes 27 years old from Washington D.C and I'm pleased to say she knows a bit more Spanish then I do. (yay!) unfortunately, she is only here for the week...we stayed up for awhile Saturday getting to know each other and I really do like her. I wish she was staying longer. 

I invited Ruby to join Catherine and I Sunday to San Jose to explore the markets and down town. So Sunday that is what we did...I showed Ruby the way to Maximo and we went down town, did some shopping, took pictures (Ruby is a photographer so I will be showing everyone her pictures when I get home! She is amazing)! Us three also got lunch and enjoyed a little Sunday Funday drinking. Once we got back to our place Sunday night, Ruby and I practiced some Spanish on an application she has on her phone and got to know each more. I'm looking forward to hanging out with her this week though, it is nice to have a girl roommate. 

We've actually already made plans for this week. Wednesday night we are going to take Ruby out to show her the bars around here.. Thursday after volunteering we are going to go back to Jaco and hopefully stay in the same "Pura Vida" hostel for the night and go out there and Friday beach day. We wanted to go to the beach with her and Jaco is the closest.. We will be coming back Friday night because Saturday morning a group of us want to do the 3 in 1 tour which is we take a bus from Maximo and do ziplining, hot springs, volcano and hiking tours. From what we've been told by other volunteers it's a must. So, it's Monday morning and my next weekend is already tentatively planned... No wonder the days are going by so fast.. 

Speaking of which, this marks the beginning of week 3 in Costa Rica! I can't even wrap my head around it. I miss the people I got to know who left this past weekend but am looking forward to meeting more people this week. I'm also already looking forward to the weekend with a new group of people! It's cliche but...I know this trip is already changing me in so many ways. I am as always so thankful for everyone's support and I miss and love you all like crazy! 

Lets see what week 3 has to offer :)