Puerto Viejo Weekend

Another great weekend for the books! This weekend as mentioned previously we went to Puerto Viejo, which is on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. From San Jose it is about a 4.5 hour bus ride, so it is not too bad of a drive! We left on Friday morning around 10am after a long night out...We all slept most of the drive. Catherine and myself were joined by three of our other friends Aslak, Killian, and Austin this weekend. We soon found out that two of our other friends were also in Puerto Viejo when we walked down the road and saw Liz and Roberto walking down the road, so we had a decent size group. Of course, the perks of staying in hostels is we always meet so many other people so it was a great weekend away! 
Friday (late) afternoon when we got to our hostel. Our hostel was really cool too, we were basically located in the jungle and there were monkeys and sloths that were surrounding us...Unfortunately I know none of you will believe me because my pictures don't do justice and you can hardly make out what they are. They are hard to capture on camera when they are so high in the trees and then when they would come down closer I never had a camera or any thing on hand...I'm hoping I get some good pictures of the wild life here that I've been enjoying so every one can see what I mean. I did however, see the biggest, nastiest spider of my life thus far in Costa Rica. I took a picture of that...So enjoy on FaceBook. Catherine and I decided to hit the beach that was right across the street from us while the boys checked in to their hostel (they stayed a little ways down the road). There are a lot of stray dogs in Costa Rica and they are all pretty harmless but they love attention so we had about three follow us to the beach...The dogs started digging in the sand immediately and to Catherine and I's surprise crabs were being tossed out of the holes and then flung on to the sand where the dogs chased them around the beach. It was hilarious! That kept us entertained for quite a while. 
We met up with the guys at the restaurant attached to our hostel. We stayed at El Tesora and this bar we went to is called Tasty Waves. It is run by a bunch of young guys who moved to Costa Rica after a few months of traveling and they feel in love with Puerto Viejo. These people don't make it easy to want to leave Costa Rica. After that we all got ready to go out for the night. Catherine and I headed down to La Roca, the other hostel down the road where the boys were staying. They had a good group of people at that hostel too so we had a lot of fun there before we decided to go out. We ended up going in to town and hitting some of the bars that are located directly on the beach, we met up with some people we had made at Tasty Waves earlier too. The end of the night concluded with us finding a small cove where the reef is and where it is super shallow to go swimming. That was a good time. We also all rode bikes while we were in Puerto Viejo...You know how people say "Oh, it's just like riding a bike"? Well here's the thing, you do forget to ride a bike at first...Well at least I did and after, I don't know roughly 10 years of not riding a bike I drove myself right in to a ditch...Don't worry, I got better after that...But it was like I didn't know what to do and it was way too funny at the time. 
Saturday we actually slept in some because we were hurting from the night before..Catherine and I decided to go get breakfast at a nearby restaurant because we didn't want to try to make it in to town. After that we kind of went on a little hike through the jungle to get back to our beach where we told every one to meet us. The beach in front of our hostel is where all the surfers go, so it was really cool to get to hang out on the beach and watch them all day. The waves were massive so it was pointless to even try to swim in them unless you were surfing. Catherine, Liz, and I all went in to town later on in the day to check out the stores and every thing...Per usual we saw the same kind of stores one after the other but it is a cool little down town area. We ended up just staying at La Roca to drink on Saturday night with every one because we were so tired. This past week in general had worn all of us out pretty much so we wanted to take it a little easy. We just had pizza and drinks and relaxed the whole night which was absolutely perfect in my book. 
Sunday we decided to go out a waterfall tour with this really cool chick we had met on Friday, Manta. It was just $10 to go to this amazing part of the jungle and see these awesome waterfalls that we got to be in. There were jumps, waterfalls you could sit under, and we even had home-made mud masks..How fancy are we?! Unfortunately, I had a bit of bad luck when climbing one of my lasts rocks of the day to jump off....I slipped after many of us had been climbing up the last waterfall so the rocks were very wet and fell into the water below me only to land on the rock that we are suppose to miss hitting when we are jumping. *Don't worry friends/fam I am ok* Just badly bruised in places. My knee is the only thing that is really bad so I got really lucky. I'm not writing about this to worry any one I just want to document the things that happened on this trip and since I know I am going to have a little bit of issue getting around this week until my knee feels better I figured I would mention it now. But as I said, no need to worry. I plan to wrap my knee and take it slow. :) Our bus ride home went rather quickly back to San Jose which was good, I made it home around 8:30pm. 
I had a good conversation with Vicki when I got home as well and she gave me some ice for my legs. I really am going to be sad when she leaves on Tuesday. She told me that she is leaving at like 9am so I'll make sure I am up to say bye and help her with anything before she goes. She is such a sweet lady and I hope that every thing works out for the best with her sister. 
This also marks my official last week of volunteering before I travel! I cannot believe how fast the time is going....I know I say this almost in every post now but it's true. So much of me wants to stay in Costa Rica longer while the other half knows I need to go back and be responsible. I have met so many wonderful people here and have learned so much in such a short time about not only myself but about this culture and about other people. One of the guys at Maximo has been going out with us a lot and helping me with my Spanish, only letting me speak in Spanish while he practices his English....So look at that I got myself a private tutor. But it's been very beneficial for me! :)
I'll update more this week when I know what I am doing for sure on my travel week since I won't be updated that whole week while I am away. Again, family and friends please don't worry about my waterfall incident, I am fine :). It was a good weekend despite the injuries and I am fortunate it wasn't worse! Looking forward to seeing all of you when I return! 

Week 4!*

Can't believe I am about to have my one month anniversary in Costa Rica! It has been a crazy week here! 

Quick update about my home-stay. Currently I don't have a roommate and I also didn't have anyone with me at my project on Monday. Surprisingly, it went well though. The kids and I made masks out of construction paper and ribbons and colored outside most of the afternoon. I was very happy that they all worked on a project with me and made my life a little easier. Tuesday and Wednesday I had another volunteer join me from another project which helped me out a lot! I also talked to my volunteer coordinators about the dates that I am going to be taking off and they were really supportive of it. They know how beautiful Costa Rica is and that every one should get to experience as much as possible while they are here. I talked to the head volunteer coordinator Kim a lot today about places to go and what to do. Tentatively, Catherine and I are planning on going to Puerto Viejo this weekend which is on the Caribbean side and closer to us...The week that we are going to travel, starting May 3 we are going to head way over to the Pacific side and go to Tamarindo which is close to a lot of other cities such as Playa de Coco and Hermosa. So we are thinking about spending 4-5 days in Tamarindo. We have to plan out everything but I'll keep every one up to date. 

I also talked to Kim today about Vicki and the situation with her sister in Rhode Island. At the moment Vicki doesn't know if she is going to change her flight for the 30th of April or not because it is so expensive to change the flights and she already has a ticket for May 13th. If Vicki did decide to go early her daughter, who I've met many times before and who lives next door would come to Vicki's and stay here with me while I am here instead of traveling. Vicki's daughter also speaks a little English so it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Although, I'd love for Vicki to stay here with me the whole time I am here...Family is the most important thing and I want her to be able to see her sister. I hope that everything works out for her.

Monday was Catherine and Blake's birthday. Blake was still in Cuba on Monday but we decided to all take Catherine out to celebrate her birthday. We all met up for drinks/dinner at one of our favorite spots in San Pedro Mundoloco. Krista happens to know the owner of the bar as well and he gave us some free shots for Catherine's birthday which was really nice of him! After we ate dinner a group of us all met up and went down to San Jose to this place called Cortel. On Monday nights they have a live band and the place got pretty packed. It was a lot of fun! We ended up staying until close so I think Catherine had a successful birthday. :)

Tuesday we went to this Italian restaurant close to Maximo after our projects to meet up with Ruby before she heads back to D.C on Wednesday morning. I've been dying to try the place so it worked out perfectly that she wanted to go there! We had a quick dinner after work and caught up on Ruby's travels. I am glad that she got to experience so much in the little time she was here! I'll miss her as my roommate but I'm glad I got to know her this past week! Safe travels home Ruby :)

Wednesday Blake came back in town for the night. A group of us decided to hit bar street here. I actually invited out one of the Tico's that work at Maximo. He isn't a volunteer coordinator but he works for Maximo and always hangs out with our group of friends. We made a deal that he would help perfect my Spanish if I helped him with his English. Needless to say I bit off more then I could chew and he would only let me speak in Spanish the entire night. It was actually really helpful and I felt pretty good about myself when he said I did pretty well with my Spanish. It helps to practice with someone who can speak it fluently and it was a free Spanish lesson. Thank you Yensi! :) This is why I love to meet new people in this country, especially ones that are helpful like that and honestly want to help me learn as much as I want to help them learn, it's fun. Needless to say last night was a good night for all of us and I'm glad we got to see Blake again!
Catherine and I took Thursday off from work so that we could spend Blake's last day with him. We decided to go down to San Jose to the markets again and do a little shopping. We also had to go get our bus tickets from Ricardo at Trans Leo for our trip to Puerto Viejo on Friday afternoon. We both really want to find the sloth sanctuary that is near Puerto Viejo this weekend because it is suppose to be really cool. They even let you hold baby sloths...How cool would that be!?
I'll update every one about this weekend once I get home but wanted to do an update this week before I left. Speaking of which...I found out the final plans for my last weeks of my home stay in Costa Rica.
Vicky told me that she is in fact leaving for the United States on April 30th. Her sister just isn't doing well at all...I feel horrible but I am so happy that she got her flight changed so that she can go be with her. Vicky's granddaughter actually came over the other night and helped translate some. Vicky asked me if I wanted to change my home-stay to somewhere else and I said no, that if it made no difference to her I would like to stay in her house while she was away because it feels like my home now...I think that made her kind of happy, I hope. Her daughter, Ana as I mentioned previously lives next door and will be coming over to Vicky's to make breakfast and have dinner with me and so on. Luckily, Ana only has to do that for a few days for me since I will be traveling starting May 3rd. But, there are going to be, I believe three other people that are coming here on May 5th so Vicky told me that I have to move out of my room because it is the only one with three beds and she wants those three to be together but that I can pick any other room in the house. I think I am just going to move across the hall before I start traveling to the single bedroom, I'll only need it for a night or two any way. I wish Vicki was going to be here with me before I left Costa Rica but family is the most important thing and I hope that her sister gets better...I'm just happy Vicki gets to see her. I'm going to make sure to spend some quality time with Vicki before she leaves on Sunday and Monday and to make sure I thank her for every thing she has done for me the past month. I'll miss her very much. 
I'm excited for this weekend though and getting a chance to go see the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. I heard it is absolutely beautiful. Fingers crossed for good weather since we are walking right in to the rainy season! I still cannot wrap my head around that I only have a little more then 2 weeks left here! I'll update every one again once I get back from Puerto Viejo this weekend!

Half Way Point-End of Week 3!*

Just wanted to do a quick update for week 3! This week has gone by so fast again..Granted I take Friday's off from work so they do move quick but it has been a busy week. Monday and Tuesday were my typical days. Go to Maximo, run some errands, plan for the afternoon with the kids, and head off to my project. This week I've been lucky to have 3 others with me on the project. Usually it's just me and one other person so it helps lighten the load of all the kids wanting me at the exact same time! My new roommate Ruby is actually with me on the project this week so it's been a lot of fun! She is super out going so it's fun to plan things with her and the kids really love her. This week we are working on arts and crafts. Ruby and I are having the kids make pinatas  this week! One of my favorite little girls at the project got adopted last week, Sofia! It makes me sad that she isn't there any more but I am so happy that she has found a loving home. I hope all of the kids at Pani get to have that some day. I'm really starting to grow attached to them...I know it will be hard to say goodbye to them in a few short weeks. They are such a resilient group of kids because despite all of their backgrounds they always manage to have a smile on their face. They are truly some of the strongest people I know. 

Photo Credit: Ruby Melton

(Far left to right: Daniella age 3, Suygen age 9)

Photo Credit: Ruby Melton

(Daniella, age 3)

 Just wanted to share a few photos that my roommate Ruby had taken at the orphanage we work at this week. Just to give every one an insight as to where it is I am Monday-Friday. As I said before these kids are truly amazing and it is such a wonderful experience getting to see them every day (even though they drive me crazy some times haha). 

On Wednesday night we all decided to get a group to go out to "Bar Street" in San Pedro. It is one our girlfriend's last nights in town and since we are going to Jaco Thursday night this will be the last time we get to all go out together. We also wanted to take Ruby out to show her all the bars since she is only here for this week. We ended up meeting quite a few characters at the bar on Wednesday...I had a drink called a "Gringa Killer" maybe I shouldn't be so enthusiastic about downing a drink labeled something white person killer. Whoops. Oh well, it was all in good fun. We all had a good time together even though it was sad to say good bye to one of my girlfriends.

Thursday night after our project we *BARELY* caught our bus to Jaco. Literally, we need to start planning better for San Jose traffic...This incident we ended up getting out of the cab half way through a traffic jam down town and running to our bus...It is amazing that we even made it!! We decided to just stay at the same hostel we had last week because it is super close to the beach and near most of the bars down town. Also, it is Catherine and I's first trip with out Blake so we decided to make it easy on ourselves and go to a place that we know for sure how to get too....Especially in the dark! Once we got to Jaco we were given a warm welcome by the people at the hostel who were still there from last weekend and from the hostel owner herself. It was fun. One of our friends from last weekend who is quite possibly the best chef and drink maker greeted us with fruity drinks and home-made chocolate and cake. YUM! We decided to head out to the bars for awhile but were slightly disappointed when we realized that Jaco is not all that crazy on Thursday nights and more tourist come in on the weekends...Oh well, the four of us girls had fun and dodged some crazy ticos. We also managed to get free drinks at some ladies night at a bar we stopped in. Success in my book. After the bar, we decided to head back to our hostel where we were greeted with more food/drinks from our French Canadian friend. Probably one of the most interesting people I've met so far in Costa Rica and by interesting I mean he is bordering on a little insane. He's a good person though and always is looking out for other people. So thank you again Frenchy for all the yummy drinks and food! I know we all miss your cooking already!

Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast at Cat and I's favorite American place...It's called Sunset Breakfast and it is right near the beach. It really is just good comfort food and makes me miss home. After we ate the four of us went to the ocean. Krista and I were in the surf most of the morning before it started to down pour on our walk home....We were soaking wet the entire afternoon and had to sit on a bus in all of our wet clothes. Needless to say we weren't the happiest of campers on the bus ride home...It didn't get any better either when we had to catch a cab back to Cedros and the traffic was insane! Took us almost a 45 minutes to get home when it should only take roughly 15 minutes tops. Yikes. Vicky was already in bed by the time we got back to the house and I felt bad that she woke up so she could feed us...Sorry Vicky, love you for waking up for us and for always taking care of me!

Saturday morning we had to be up super early to get to Maximo by 6:30am to catch our ride to the 3 in 1 tour. It was just a small group of us...Ruby, myself, and a new volunteer Michelle who is only here for the week. It was quite the day. We started out at Canopy San Luis where we zip lined the rainforest! It was possibly the coolest experience I've had in Costa Rica thus far. We then waited for our bus to come pick us up from the Canopy tour and we went to lunch in Fortuna where we had a traditional Costa Rican meal (rice, beans, chicken, ext). We met a few people from Turkey who were pretty interesting to talk to as well. They could speak some English so we could communicate a little bit with them. After lunch we took another hour bus ride to Baldi Hot Springs/Volcano Arenal. The hot springs were not exactly what I was expecting because these are the man-made ones. I want to go up north further to see the ones that are natural...I am not complaining one bit though! It was nice to be in a hot spring after a long morning. It was also really cool because we were so close to Arenal which is the active volcano in Costa Rica. It hasn't erupted in many, many years but is still considered active. The clouds were covering it most of the afternoon when we were there but when we all got ready to go up to dinner on the roof of the hot springs place the clouds had cleared away, giving us the most perfect view of the volcano! I have to say it was one of those times where you just sit there and question how anything like this could be real...And how unbelievable it is that I am here seeing this. None of us were too excited about the long bus ride home. The roads here are less then great and have a lot of twists and turns. We were also not in a traditional bus that I'm use to...It was a smaller tour bus and we happened to be sitting in the back so we felt every bump, it was a brutal 3+ hours. We didn't get home until about 10pm which made for a very long day but it was so worth it. I posted some pictures of the weekend to Facebook, so take a look! I personally feel as though the pictures can't do it justice but you get the idea. :)

After a long weekend I think I am going to be taking today (Sunday) to unwind. I need to sort through all my clothes and get a bag for laundry ready. It is also Ruby's last morning here before she continues her travels to Playa de Coco. I'm so jealous! I want to go up north further and go to the beach for a few more days. This morning at breakfast, Vicky started telling me some rather sad news...Her sister is sick with cancer. She was planning on going to the United States on May 13 (two days after I leave Costa Rica) to visit but told me that she is now going the 30th (I have yet to figure out if it is the 30th of this month or if it is the 30th of May that she is going...Something I have to try to talk to her about later today or ask my volunteer coordinators tomorrow). I feel so terrible! Also, she told me that I am not getting any new roommates until May 5th. Which, it doesn't matter too much to me at this point if I don't have a roommate the next two weeks because I know I am always so busy and in and out of the house but it is nice to have a friend with me. She said there is a group of 6 people that are coming on May 5th...The only thing is I am planning on traveling starting May 3rd until I come home on the 11th. I have so much I have to talk to my volunteer coordinators about and also talk to Vicky about. So I'll keep every one updated when I sort every thing out. 

Tomorrow is Catherine and Blake's birthday! So we are planning on going out tomorrow night...Well to celebrate Cat's birthday that is. Then on Tuesday Ruby is coming back to town for the night before she flies back to D.C on Wednesday so a group of us are going out to dinner on Tuesday night. Then Wednesday this week Blake comes back to town for a night before he leaves to go to New York and we are going to celebrate his birthday then too! It is already going to be a crazy busy week, not to mention Cat and I are planning on doing some tours this weekend....Maybe going to Puerto Viejo and checking out the scene up there away from the beaches. Then the following week will be my last week at the orphanage and Catherine and I will be planning our week trip of venturing to the Caribbean side. So much is happening before I leave and I hope that I can keep every one updated as much as possible. I'll update more once I know what is going on with my home-stay as well. Hope to know more this week about what is going on or if I am going to be changing houses if Vicky leaves on the 30th of this month for the United States. Please keep Vicky's sister in your thoughts...

Just to wrap up this post...I cannot believe that this marks the end of week 3 and the start of week 4. Where has the time gone? This means that I only have two more weeks with my kids and then a week to travel before coming home. It seriously blows my mind how quick time has been passing for me here. I'm glad that I have been able to meet so many people and cannot wait for the second half of this trip! I know that Catherine and I have already tentatively starting planning for the remaining weekends and the last week that we are using to travel together before I go home...So I can only imagine that these next 3 weeks are going to go just as quick. As much as I miss my family and friends at home...Costa Rica has given me a second family and a second home. I really feel like I have found my footing here and I plan to take full advantage of my new found comfort in this country for the remaining weeks that I am here! :)

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 :)

Weekend Plans

Well, today marks the start of my weekend! I decided to take Friday off this week from volunteering so that myself, Catherine, and Blake could all go to Jaco, a beach a few hours away to spend Blakes last days in Costa Rica with us! Cat and Blake didn't have to work today because it is a holiday here...But since I work in an orphanage it is never closed. That's fine with me though, one day off this week is plenty! We are taking a bus from San Jose at 5pm to head to the beach so we will still get to Jaco relatively early Thursday night and be able to explore a little bit and get unpacked at our hostel. We decided to do a 3 person private room which is costing us $30 for two nights just about the same price as the last hostel we stayed in which is nice! Not bad at all. Friday morning I know we will plan to wake up pretty early, get some breakfast and spend most of the day at the beach...Catherine and I are going to come home on Saturday late afternoon and possibly go out in San Pedro before headed back to our host families. 
It is going to be so weird coming back to San Pedro/Cedros without Blake though. I've got use to him being with Catherine and I...I'm hoping that I get another roommate on Sunday or Monday though. It would just be nice to have someone else at Vicky's with me. 
The kids have officially exhausted me this week! Now that they have got to know me they want me to do every thing with all of them at the same time. So hard! But it is fun. I am happy to have two other volunteers with me this week to help me out and come up with things for them to do. I know my Mom has asked me to talk about some of the things we do with the kids...So far we have made paper chains, done a lot of coloring, we made puppets, we have made some bracelets, and played a lot outside. The kids really enjoy coloring...and jumping on top of me all the time. They are a good group though it is just hard to get every one on the same page when their age varies quite a bit. The youngest is a month old and the oldest is 12. So you can imagine how hard it is for every one to get along the whole time together. I've just kind of learned to roll with the punches with them though...Even if we do plan to do things it usually works out a lot differently then we would of thought. I learned quickly that markers were not a good idea, seeing as last week I came home covered in marker and half the little girls had marker all over their faces....Whoops! Some people have suggested paint but I must say I am hesitant after the markers fiasco! 
It's kind of hard to communicate with the kids so I find myself sticking around the real young ones who don't speak much Spanish or English and we play outside on the swings or color a lot. I am getting to know the older kids better though and they work on English with me and help me with my Spanish. There is one boy there that corrects my Spanish all the time, Which I am thankful for. Haha
If any one has suggestions on games or activities to do with my kids while I am here I am open! I'd love any ideas!
Catherine and I found out yesterday that we won't be able to do the Turtle Program because the first week of May is completely booked and we have to give them time in advance for us to even get in....The minimum amount of time at the turtle program is two weeks...It's a bummer but I think what I am going to do is take off my last week from volunteering and go and travel around Costa Rica...Hopefully Catherine will join me since I am assuming she will need a break from volunteering just as bad as me. She's here for 10 weeks so it would be a good break in the middle of her stay. Don't get me wrong I absolutely adore the kids that I work with...It is just a lot and some days are obviously harder then others...I think the last week off will be well deserved! 
Since I am going to be out of town this weekend, I just wanted to update every one with what my plans are and will update again once I get home from the weekend. Missing every one so much!! But I am happy that things continue to get easier...Maybe not with the language barrier but Costa Rica feels more like home to me and I am very thankful for it! 

Second Week!

Ok, I'm finally ready to admit it. The first week was really tough and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to do it. There were so many highs and then there were lows. The language barrier has been a real test and just the overwhelming amount of things that are thrown at you the first week can really throw you off. Not to mention, it is a huge culture shock.

Luckily, every one that I have met/become friends with at Maximo have all been in the same boat their first week of the trip. Some have had it worse then others while some of us are lucky enough to never feel like they are isolated because they can speak Spanish. 

So now I am happy to report that every one that I talked to was right and after your first weekend in Costa Rica and you start your second week, every thing becomes so much easier. The kids I work with at the orphanage are excited to see me because they got to know me all last week...They look to me when the new volunteers arrive and count of me to help them do things which makes me feel like I can make progress with them as the weeks continue. It makes me feel like I am doing a good thing by being here. Also, as I mentioned in previous posts once you accept that you can't understand the language or speak it and express things you want too...It does get easier...

It helps that most of the other volunteers all feel the same way. So we all carry a certain bond with one another...An understanding that we are the outsiders in this country and that we aren't going to fit in the way we would like too all the time. It also helps when we can plan our weekend trips during this part of the week, gives us something to look forward to!

This weekend, well Thursday evening I think Catherine, Blake, and Catherine's house-mate Christa are going to go to another beach about 2 hours away, Jaco (pronounced ha-co). It isn't as nice of a beach as Manuel Antonio but every one seems to really love it that we talked to. It's more of a surfing atmosphere...So who knows maybe I'll learn to surf while I'm there! (Yeah, right). We are planning on staying in another hostel which we will have to book most likely today and latest tomorrow. We are taking Friday off of our volunteer work as well. We will be staying Thursday and Friday night in Jaco and then come back Saturday morning because Blake will be checking out and leaving us :(. Catherine and I also want to go check out the Artisan Market downtown San Jose on Saturday when we get back....Sunday there is a tour through Trans-Leo (our tour group that is affiliated with Maximo) to go the Hot Springs in Arenal. It is suppose to be beautiful! I'm very excited and am planning on getting some more information on that tour today or tomorrow as well!

Something that I cannot forget to do today is pick up my laundry from the laundry mat near Maximo. Blake and I both desperately had to get our laundry done...I am currently sitting in a highlighter yellow shirt because that is one of the only clean shirts I have here. We were too late to pick up the laundry yesterday so we have to go this morning. Whoops!

I also cannot believe I only have 30 days left in this beautiful country. I have so much I want to do in such little time! Eeek!

So with that said....

Off to another busy day in Costa Rica!!

Manuel Antonio!*

Buenos Noches! 

Where do I begin with this weekend? I have to say that this weekend away solidified that I made the right decision in coming to Costa Rica. It is amazing to me that no matter where we are all from and no matter what age we have so much in common with each other. As most of you are aware, I went to Manuel Antonio this weekend which is a beach 3-4 hours north of San Jose with three other volunteers. I went with Blake, Rachel, and Catherine and I must say that although I feel we are all intelligent on our own when we are together we become the most dysfunctional foursome in the world. As Rachel says "dididiots" for those of you who are unaware of this wonderful catch phrase it stands for "dumb idiots" and is pronounced 'did-idiots' (you're welcome in advance because I know this might of become your new favorite catch phrase). 

Before originally leaving this weekend for Manuel Antonio, Blake booked our hostel online for the wrong date...We should of known that we we were setting ourselves up for some bumps along the way haha. Any way, instead of writing down all the countless ways us four made idiots out of ourselves I decided to keep those things personal. Sorry friends and family, I'm not going to let it be that easy to make fun of me! 

I will say that all of us did a HORRIBLE job of planning our budget for the weekend. For instance, I didn't have my debit card this weekend and I forgot that we had to pay for the hostel in cash once we arrived to it Friday night so half of my money was gone before the weekend even truly started. Luckily, we all looked out for each other. :) 

But back to the beginning of the weekend...Friday, after work I met up with Catherine, Blake, and Rachel at our volunteer center. We had to take a cab to the bus station in San Jose. It was all our first times at the bus station here and we walked in where we were greeted with stares from every direction possible...Should be used to it by now but I think it is going to take more than a week to get over the constant staring from the Tico's. It was funny though because we just stood aimlessly in the center of the bus station. Oh well, once we got on to the bus the ride went by pretty quick and we made it to our hostel. I will say that I was impressed by how chill and how pretty well kept it was. Us four had a private room ($33 for 2 nights--can't beat that!) and it had air conditioning...So amazing. It is so hot up the coast and doesn't ever cool down so it was so nice to have AC. It was also nice just to have us four in a room because the guy that runs the place said that there were 55 people staying there! There were only two bathrooms where we were too so our showers could take no longer then 30 seconds before someone was knocking on the door to get in. Oh well!

Saturday morning we got up fairly early and decided to head down to the beach...We asked a few people in the hostel how bad the walk was down or if we would should just take the bus. Since we were all on a pretty strict budget we decided to walk and because one of the girls there said it "wasn't that bad" HA! Yeah, it was the longest, sweatiest, walk I think any of us have ever been on...Why we decided to not get on a bus or take a cab half way through is beyond me but it was a very "scenic" route so to say and we saw a lot of monkeys on our walk. It was pretty cool. Once we got down to the beach we immediately jumped in to the water to cool down....The ocean felt amazing even though it did kind of feel like bath water. We all put on 60 SPF and were in the shade a lot of the time. The sun is so strong down here! Needless to say, despite re applying SPF all day we came back with some pretty bad burns. OUCH! It was worth it though. We had a few drinks on the beach and mostly just enjoyed relaxing and talking. It was exactly what I've been needing after a long, overwhelming week. If there is anything I wish this program would change it's the fact that they throw us right in the our volunteer work. I feel like they at least need to give us a couple days to get acclimated but that's just me. 

Saturday night we decided that we wanted to go somewhere for dinner that had a view and a happy hour. Seems like a simple task but of course for us four we always made things more difficult then need me. We all decided to kind of put ourselves together for once and get a little dressy...We all regretted it when we started walking to find a restaurant and were sweating through our clothes...Once we found a restaurant that did in fact say it had a happy hour and a great view we were pleased. They did have a great view but instead of ordering off the "Happy Hour" menu that naturally just consisted of mostly local beers, we splurged on Pina Coladas! They were worth it, so none of us minded just funny because the whole weekend we kept saying that, "We need to keep our priorities in check" AKA we needed a happy hour to save us some money which ended up back firing. After dinner we got back to the hostel where we all finished up some wine and beer we had bought and talked more. It is amazing how close you get with people especially in this kind of setting because we all came here alone. Our dynamics together actually worked out really well too. It's fun being with people who are as easily sarcastic as I am and who just are all going through some of the same things despite any age differences. What brings me too bed time at the hostel. Our room had two bunk beds in it. Rachel was on the top, I was on the bottom of one and the other Blake was on top and Catherine was on the bottom. For whatever reason a few lizards had made their way in to our hostel room...One wasn't very big but it ran across my bed right before I was about to sit down on it. Naturally I freaked out. So did Rachel. Then of course we saw another one near her top bunk...We decided to just laugh it off and not panic and try to sleep but that didn't happen. Blake and Catherine both fell asleep no problem but Rachel and I heard some noise and literally we both jumped up and she came flying down from the top bunk and in to my bed...Yes, Rachel and I shared a twin bed. Haha we are so ridiculous, as if we thought that was going to save us from a lizard running across our face. Haha, these of course are the things that make some of this trip so memorable and why our dysfunctional group had such a good weekend!

Sunday we left pretty early to go back to Quepos (where our bus would pick us up). We didn't have to get our bus until 2:30 but we were down there nearly 3 hours early! We got breakfast and lunch down there which was nice and we all just sat and talked about our weekend. It actually made the time fly which was nice. We all spent half the bus ride sleeping too. Once we made it back to San Jose we realized that half the cab drivers are still on strike here and one guy had us in his cab without the meter running going off in Spanish about something that we ended up just making him pull over and we literally ran out of the car to another one. It was insane really. I feel like it took Blake and I so long to get home...Vicky had dinner ready for us when we walked in which was nice and we had another guy here, Theo? I believe is his name...However, he just left this morning to go to the turtle conservation project. So it is again, just Blake and I this week. I hope we get someone in here next weekend though because Blake is leaving on Saturday morning most likely to go finish traveling Costa Rica (alone) then off to a few more places before he heads back to Australia. 

It hit me last night that this weekend was the last time I was going to see Rachel for 2 weeks until she comes back for one night before going home...And that is if Catherine and I are even in town. This is also the last week I have with Blake. It's really sad because we all got so close this past week and now people are picking up and leaving...I now understand what everyone says when it starts getting sad when your friends start leaving. Once again, I am so thankful that I have Catherine here with me for the remaining 5 weeks! :) 

Today I also get new people to my project, I believe...At least I hope I do because I don't know how to manage all those kids on my own. I don't even know how to manage all those kids with some one else with me half the time! Haha. I'm sure it will be fine though. 

I think Catherine and I are going to talk to Maximo today about going to the Turtle Conservation project the last two weeks of my time here. Hopefully we can get in and get in to the same program together! I also am going to take laundry in this morning with Blake before we head out to the volunteer group. All my clothes are getting destroyed here from playing with the kids and traveling to the beach...Might have to make a trip to the store this week. 

Also, Catherine and I decided we are going to try and do some trips during the week, at Trans Leo (our travel place) next door they have stuff going on all week so we might do a night tour or something like that this week...Also, we think we are going to take Friday's completely off from our projects so that we can travel for a full 2 days before heading back to San Pedro. It's our time and we want to use it wisely, especially if we do go to the Turtle Conservation project because you can't travel while you are there! I just want to see as much as I can and Catherine is in the same boat so at least I will always have a travel buddy. At least now we know how to budget better for trips too, after this weekend. I hope! :)

Second week starts now!* Miss you and love you all!

Here are some pictures from this weekend!