Well, it had to end sometime. And after 6.5 months, 6 countries, and 20 new stamps in my passport...I'M HOME! At the moment, I am extremely overwhelmed, but definately happy to be back safe and sound.
It's been an incredible, wonderful, amazing adventure, and now I will have to force myself back into the real world. But being away for so long definately made me appreciate the luxuries of home...like tap water, and showering barefoot, and putting toilet paper IN the toilet. Exciting stuff.
I'm home for all of August before heading back to Boston, so anyone who is around should expect to see my smiling face soon!!
Thanks for following my journey with me!!
Time to start planning my next trip...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Almost at the end...
Hi again from Peru!
It´s hard to believe, but I have only 3days left in this lovely country, and of my trip. I can admit that I am looking forward to coming home, but I am not ready to face the real world again quite yet.
This last week has been exciting and fun and a little chaotic...I first spent 3 days white water rafting, which was definately not the best thing for my health, since I was pretty sick, but it was a blast. We would raft all day, then set up camp alongside the river for the night. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so the night skies were absolutely incredible. The amount of stars was amazing, and we could see the milky way perfectly. Very cool! And let me tell you...wetsuits are very humbling. Man oh man, I thought I had been getting fit being so active in peru, but wetsuits are very unforgiving to those extra few pounds. So I looked verrryyy sexy for 3 days. Back to cusco for a night or 2, and then the plan was to do to the Ausangate trek, which is 4 days and 3 nights, mostly on horses. It is supposed to take you to some of the most beautiful views in Peru...mostly snow-capped mountains, so its verrryyyy cold. Long story short (this is another one that you just have to ask me about), the company we picked was terrible. The horses were crazy, the guides were awful, and it was just not good. My friend Roni was thrown off his horse towards the end of day one, which we used as our excuse to turn around the next morning and get the hell out of there. It was unfortunate that we didnt make it to the views, but it started snowing on the first day, so I managed to see at least some snowy mountains! Quite an experience, camping in the winter and hiking in the snow...and I dont think I need to do it again. And riding horses for so long is painful!!
So now i have 2 more days to relax in Cusco, and then its back home! I´m really looking forward to seeing everyone so soon!
mucho amor!
It´s hard to believe, but I have only 3days left in this lovely country, and of my trip. I can admit that I am looking forward to coming home, but I am not ready to face the real world again quite yet.
This last week has been exciting and fun and a little chaotic...I first spent 3 days white water rafting, which was definately not the best thing for my health, since I was pretty sick, but it was a blast. We would raft all day, then set up camp alongside the river for the night. We were literally in the middle of nowhere, so the night skies were absolutely incredible. The amount of stars was amazing, and we could see the milky way perfectly. Very cool! And let me tell you...wetsuits are very humbling. Man oh man, I thought I had been getting fit being so active in peru, but wetsuits are very unforgiving to those extra few pounds. So I looked verrryyy sexy for 3 days. Back to cusco for a night or 2, and then the plan was to do to the Ausangate trek, which is 4 days and 3 nights, mostly on horses. It is supposed to take you to some of the most beautiful views in Peru...mostly snow-capped mountains, so its verrryyyy cold. Long story short (this is another one that you just have to ask me about), the company we picked was terrible. The horses were crazy, the guides were awful, and it was just not good. My friend Roni was thrown off his horse towards the end of day one, which we used as our excuse to turn around the next morning and get the hell out of there. It was unfortunate that we didnt make it to the views, but it started snowing on the first day, so I managed to see at least some snowy mountains! Quite an experience, camping in the winter and hiking in the snow...and I dont think I need to do it again. And riding horses for so long is painful!!
So now i have 2 more days to relax in Cusco, and then its back home! I´m really looking forward to seeing everyone so soon!
mucho amor!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
MACHU PICCHU!!
I DID IT!!!!!!
I dont have the time or energy to do the last few days of my life justice, but it has been incredible!! In a nutshell, I spent 3 days biking and trekking, and then day 4, I awoke at 4am, sore and tired and excited, and hello Machu Picchu! So incredible and amazing and beautiful. And we climed Wayna Picchu (if you look at the typical postcard picture of machu picchu, there is a really tall mountain in the background...thats wayna picchu). Hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but so worth it and amazing. You sit at the top, overlooking Machu Picchu, and you really feel like youre on top of the world. The 4 days were just awesome, and now I am back in Cuzco for a day or 2, still sore but finally clean! Tomorrow or the day after we leave for a 3 day white water rafting trip, which will hopefully be stellar and hopefully NOT give me pnemonia.
I cant believe my flight home is in 10 days!! not ok! but at least im making the most of the time i have left!
I dont have the time or energy to do the last few days of my life justice, but it has been incredible!! In a nutshell, I spent 3 days biking and trekking, and then day 4, I awoke at 4am, sore and tired and excited, and hello Machu Picchu! So incredible and amazing and beautiful. And we climed Wayna Picchu (if you look at the typical postcard picture of machu picchu, there is a really tall mountain in the background...thats wayna picchu). Hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but so worth it and amazing. You sit at the top, overlooking Machu Picchu, and you really feel like youre on top of the world. The 4 days were just awesome, and now I am back in Cuzco for a day or 2, still sore but finally clean! Tomorrow or the day after we leave for a 3 day white water rafting trip, which will hopefully be stellar and hopefully NOT give me pnemonia.
I cant believe my flight home is in 10 days!! not ok! but at least im making the most of the time i have left!
Monday, July 13, 2009
So winter means that its actually cold? Who knew?!
hola hola!
since my last post, i have been quite the busy traveler. I made it back to Lima and met up again with Evya and some of his friends. We spent that night in the city, and got up the next morning to head to Ica, about 4 hours south. There was some sort of transportation strike so it took us an extra bus and an extra hour or two, but not too bad. Ica is bascially just desert and massssssive sand dunes. (In general, the geography and landscape of peru is truly spectacular. You leave the city, and suddenly its just sand and the Andes. Very impressive, words cannot do it justice so you all need to wait for pictures). So in Ica we went sandboarding, which is exactly what it sounds like, and is probably one of the stupidest and one of the most fun things i have done. About on par with my waterfall jump. You basically get in this car/truck/strange contraption thing that zooms a million miles an hour up through the sand dunes. Its just like a roller coaster ride! You then have to actually board down the dunes, which are gigantic. Most of us couldnt ever do it standing up, and we did it sitting down and on our stomachs, which was the most fun. I ate more sand than is healthy and almost a week later, i still find sand in my hair, but I broke no bones and made it back onto solid ground in one piece. The next day we wanted to go to Pisco, about 2 hours away for a boat tour, but because of the transportation strike, we couldnt go. So instead we did a wine and pisco tasting tour (pisco is the national drink). Fun day just relaxing. The 9th in the evening we got on our 19 hour bus ride to Cusco. 19 hours and lots and lots of drugs later, we made it. The ride is intense, you are basically winding through the Andes for hours and hours, right on the edge, basically thinking you are going to fall off at any second. Buttt I will admit that it was a gorgeous ride and quite the experience. Now i´m in Cusco, which is amazing and beautiful and adorable and COLD. The days are sunny and warmish, but at night, so so so so cold. I had to buy lots of alpaca stuff, since I have almost nothing warm...my head is still in central america! We spent our first afternoon walking around, and the next day we did the Sacred Valley tour, and saw lots of Incan ruins. This afternoon yana and tito arrived, finally!! it is SO nice to have yana with me! And tomorrow, we begin a three day trek to Machu Picchu!!!! I am so excited and terrified, and cant wait. Cross your fingers that I actually make it.
Heres hoping that my next post begins with ¨I DID IT!¨...
since my last post, i have been quite the busy traveler. I made it back to Lima and met up again with Evya and some of his friends. We spent that night in the city, and got up the next morning to head to Ica, about 4 hours south. There was some sort of transportation strike so it took us an extra bus and an extra hour or two, but not too bad. Ica is bascially just desert and massssssive sand dunes. (In general, the geography and landscape of peru is truly spectacular. You leave the city, and suddenly its just sand and the Andes. Very impressive, words cannot do it justice so you all need to wait for pictures). So in Ica we went sandboarding, which is exactly what it sounds like, and is probably one of the stupidest and one of the most fun things i have done. About on par with my waterfall jump. You basically get in this car/truck/strange contraption thing that zooms a million miles an hour up through the sand dunes. Its just like a roller coaster ride! You then have to actually board down the dunes, which are gigantic. Most of us couldnt ever do it standing up, and we did it sitting down and on our stomachs, which was the most fun. I ate more sand than is healthy and almost a week later, i still find sand in my hair, but I broke no bones and made it back onto solid ground in one piece. The next day we wanted to go to Pisco, about 2 hours away for a boat tour, but because of the transportation strike, we couldnt go. So instead we did a wine and pisco tasting tour (pisco is the national drink). Fun day just relaxing. The 9th in the evening we got on our 19 hour bus ride to Cusco. 19 hours and lots and lots of drugs later, we made it. The ride is intense, you are basically winding through the Andes for hours and hours, right on the edge, basically thinking you are going to fall off at any second. Buttt I will admit that it was a gorgeous ride and quite the experience. Now i´m in Cusco, which is amazing and beautiful and adorable and COLD. The days are sunny and warmish, but at night, so so so so cold. I had to buy lots of alpaca stuff, since I have almost nothing warm...my head is still in central america! We spent our first afternoon walking around, and the next day we did the Sacred Valley tour, and saw lots of Incan ruins. This afternoon yana and tito arrived, finally!! it is SO nice to have yana with me! And tomorrow, we begin a three day trek to Machu Picchu!!!! I am so excited and terrified, and cant wait. Cross your fingers that I actually make it.
Heres hoping that my next post begins with ¨I DID IT!¨...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Peru!
Happy 4th of July, from Peru!!
I believe that this is my first 4th of July out of the country, but a bunch of Americans...and some Brits...and I are having a BBQ bonfire on the beach tonight, so it feels a little bit like we´re home!
Anyway, I finally made it to Peru, after one cancelled flight and a million hour layover in San Salvador. But I arrived in one piece, and my friend Tito met me at the airport. I went back to his house in Lima, we hung out for a bit, and then I proceeded to pass out and sleep until NOON! I have no idea where that came from, but I havent slept late in months, so I guess my body needed it. We had lunch with his family, which was nice to practice my spanish for an extended period of time, and then we spent a few hours at the orphanage where Tito volunteers, which was nice and interesting to compare to the orphanages that I volunteered at in Guatemala and Mexico.
I then took an overnight bus 9 hours north to Huanchaco, a small beach town where my friend Kate from my Costa Rica trip is spending the summer. It has been FANTASTIC just hanging out and catching up, and all we do is talk about Costa Rica, which really makes me miss it and all of our friends.
The weather has been a nice change of pace...its winter here, and definately much colder than its been for me since January. I´m wearing long sleeves, and drinking tea, and taking hot showers! Exciting stuff. I do miss the sun, but its nice to not be sweating 24 hours a day.
So all is great with me. I cannot believe that its already July...the time is flying by, and I know that these next few weeks are going to go by even faster. But i´m just trying to enjoy every minute and take advantage of the time I still have left!
I believe that this is my first 4th of July out of the country, but a bunch of Americans...and some Brits...and I are having a BBQ bonfire on the beach tonight, so it feels a little bit like we´re home!
Anyway, I finally made it to Peru, after one cancelled flight and a million hour layover in San Salvador. But I arrived in one piece, and my friend Tito met me at the airport. I went back to his house in Lima, we hung out for a bit, and then I proceeded to pass out and sleep until NOON! I have no idea where that came from, but I havent slept late in months, so I guess my body needed it. We had lunch with his family, which was nice to practice my spanish for an extended period of time, and then we spent a few hours at the orphanage where Tito volunteers, which was nice and interesting to compare to the orphanages that I volunteered at in Guatemala and Mexico.
I then took an overnight bus 9 hours north to Huanchaco, a small beach town where my friend Kate from my Costa Rica trip is spending the summer. It has been FANTASTIC just hanging out and catching up, and all we do is talk about Costa Rica, which really makes me miss it and all of our friends.
The weather has been a nice change of pace...its winter here, and definately much colder than its been for me since January. I´m wearing long sleeves, and drinking tea, and taking hot showers! Exciting stuff. I do miss the sun, but its nice to not be sweating 24 hours a day.
So all is great with me. I cannot believe that its already July...the time is flying by, and I know that these next few weeks are going to go by even faster. But i´m just trying to enjoy every minute and take advantage of the time I still have left!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
HONDURAS!!
Hello beautiful people.
Today is my last day in central america, and while I am super excited to get to Peru, it definately feels very strange. I sent Mae home with my guidebook, after she reminded me that I wouldnt need it anymore. I didnt like that. But let me back up...
I hung out for a few days in San Pedro, the 2nd largest city in Honduras, and is nothing special. Met an awesome Canadian though, Sharon, which was nice since I wasnt really alone after that. Mae finally came, with a broken foot (which she neglected to tell me beforehand, which was lovely), but we took it easy and had lots of fun. There were many adventures to be had...Honduras is not nearly as developed as Panama and Costa Rica, and getting things accomplished is always a challange. But the slow and relaxed pace is part of its charm. We went first to Copan Ruinas, which is an adorable colonial town that I fell madly in love with. We wandered around, and the next day went to Mayan ruins, which were very cool. That afternoon we did a 3 hour horseback ride tour through Copan, which was beutiful and fun, and we got to see Hondurans going about their daily lives. Next was Lago de Yojoa, a really beautiful lake. While we never actually made it into the lake, since we had gotten on the wrong bus and ended up a bit too far out, we still had a very relaxing day reading and tanning and looking at the prettiness. Next day we went to Pulhapanzak, an incredible and GORGEOUS waterfall. It was 43 meters high...dont worry, I didnt jump from this one!! So all in all, it was a great time with Mae, and it was so nice to see a friendly face from home. And she brought me starbucks, which was HEAVEN.
Back in San Pedro, I met up again with Sharon, and we spent the next few days in Santa Rosa and Gracias, two more colonial towns that are so cute and lovely. Of course, day 2 of our journey the coup takes place (i dont have the time or energy to explain, you should all have CNN), but other than having the bus schedules a bit slow, no electricity for a few hours, and a 9pm countrywide curfew, we didnt notice too much change, and enjoyed our time in some much cooler climate. And talking to locals about the government, country, and situation has been so interesting. Yesterday we did an awesome and intense hike to and then through a mountain, then at night went to hot springs to relax. Amazingness. For everyone who kept asking me ´ummmm why honduras??¨ now I have an answer. It is beautiful and relaxed and friendly and while it is also very poor and underdeveloped with a long way to go, I have loved my time here.
With that in mind, however, today I definately felt the effects of the coup. VERY long story short, we had to leave Gracias to get back to San Pedro today...Sharon has to get to work, and I have my flight tomorrow morning. I wont get into the details but make sure to ask me about this day when Im back home...suffice to say that campesinos who support the president got pissed, so they decided to block all long distance buses throughout the country. It ended up taking us about 7 different buses to get back to San Pedro, and many many many extra hours. It was definately an experience. Then we get back, and I find out that the airport was closed yesterday...everything is supposed to be back on schedule now, and heres hoping I make it out of here tomorrow without problems.
This time next month ill be home!! get excited. although I can add that while I was in Copan with Mae, our beautful dog passed away. Our family definately is smaller and sadder now, and as much as I love you all, you probably know that she is why I usually come home. So that definately put a cloud over the end of my trip, and if I end up staying abroad and skipping out on senior year, just blame it on marabelle!
on a happier note, i have a layover in costa rica tomorrow, which excites me a lot! I get to use up the last of my costa rican money that I found in my bag, and be back for about an hour :)
Today is my last day in central america, and while I am super excited to get to Peru, it definately feels very strange. I sent Mae home with my guidebook, after she reminded me that I wouldnt need it anymore. I didnt like that. But let me back up...
I hung out for a few days in San Pedro, the 2nd largest city in Honduras, and is nothing special. Met an awesome Canadian though, Sharon, which was nice since I wasnt really alone after that. Mae finally came, with a broken foot (which she neglected to tell me beforehand, which was lovely), but we took it easy and had lots of fun. There were many adventures to be had...Honduras is not nearly as developed as Panama and Costa Rica, and getting things accomplished is always a challange. But the slow and relaxed pace is part of its charm. We went first to Copan Ruinas, which is an adorable colonial town that I fell madly in love with. We wandered around, and the next day went to Mayan ruins, which were very cool. That afternoon we did a 3 hour horseback ride tour through Copan, which was beutiful and fun, and we got to see Hondurans going about their daily lives. Next was Lago de Yojoa, a really beautiful lake. While we never actually made it into the lake, since we had gotten on the wrong bus and ended up a bit too far out, we still had a very relaxing day reading and tanning and looking at the prettiness. Next day we went to Pulhapanzak, an incredible and GORGEOUS waterfall. It was 43 meters high...dont worry, I didnt jump from this one!! So all in all, it was a great time with Mae, and it was so nice to see a friendly face from home. And she brought me starbucks, which was HEAVEN.
Back in San Pedro, I met up again with Sharon, and we spent the next few days in Santa Rosa and Gracias, two more colonial towns that are so cute and lovely. Of course, day 2 of our journey the coup takes place (i dont have the time or energy to explain, you should all have CNN), but other than having the bus schedules a bit slow, no electricity for a few hours, and a 9pm countrywide curfew, we didnt notice too much change, and enjoyed our time in some much cooler climate. And talking to locals about the government, country, and situation has been so interesting. Yesterday we did an awesome and intense hike to and then through a mountain, then at night went to hot springs to relax. Amazingness. For everyone who kept asking me ´ummmm why honduras??¨ now I have an answer. It is beautiful and relaxed and friendly and while it is also very poor and underdeveloped with a long way to go, I have loved my time here.
With that in mind, however, today I definately felt the effects of the coup. VERY long story short, we had to leave Gracias to get back to San Pedro today...Sharon has to get to work, and I have my flight tomorrow morning. I wont get into the details but make sure to ask me about this day when Im back home...suffice to say that campesinos who support the president got pissed, so they decided to block all long distance buses throughout the country. It ended up taking us about 7 different buses to get back to San Pedro, and many many many extra hours. It was definately an experience. Then we get back, and I find out that the airport was closed yesterday...everything is supposed to be back on schedule now, and heres hoping I make it out of here tomorrow without problems.
This time next month ill be home!! get excited. although I can add that while I was in Copan with Mae, our beautful dog passed away. Our family definately is smaller and sadder now, and as much as I love you all, you probably know that she is why I usually come home. So that definately put a cloud over the end of my trip, and if I end up staying abroad and skipping out on senior year, just blame it on marabelle!
on a happier note, i have a layover in costa rica tomorrow, which excites me a lot! I get to use up the last of my costa rican money that I found in my bag, and be back for about an hour :)
Monday, June 29, 2009
COUP!
well, you all got my ¨im not drowning in a flood¨ post, and then the ´i didnt get killed in the earthquake´ post...here is my ´i survived the coup´ post!! I´ll post a real honduras update soon, but lots of people have been sending me messages and making sure im alive...i am indeed alive and safe. it has been very interesting, but all of the action and riots and craziness is in tegucigalpa, the capital, and im hours away from there. if you have no idea what im talking about, turn on the news, its really interesting stuff.
i love latin america!! thanks for all of your concern and love :)
i love latin america!! thanks for all of your concern and love :)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Hola from Honduras!
God damn this country is hot! But I have arrived safely in Honduras! I have until the 21st until the fabulous Mae arrives, so I am hanging around San Pedro Sula until that glorious day. Spent alllll day walking around and hunting for air conditioned places to go. There is supposed to be a really nice walk out of the city that I hope to do tomorrow...im trying to stay busy and active.
I cant belieive that Panama is over, I had an amazing 3 weeks. It really is a wonderful country that I highly recommend to cheap travelers on a budget and those with bushels of money. There are things for everyone to enjoy and its beautiful and so fun.
I will be in Honduras until July 1st, and then I fly to Lima for my last month. My plans are coming together and I am super excited for the rest of my travels...which are going by so fast, I cant believe how the time just flies! I have no desire to get back to the real world...if everyone could just come visit me...and bring me my favorite foods...i would be all set. Lets make that happen!
lots of love.
I cant belieive that Panama is over, I had an amazing 3 weeks. It really is a wonderful country that I highly recommend to cheap travelers on a budget and those with bushels of money. There are things for everyone to enjoy and its beautiful and so fun.
I will be in Honduras until July 1st, and then I fly to Lima for my last month. My plans are coming together and I am super excited for the rest of my travels...which are going by so fast, I cant believe how the time just flies! I have no desire to get back to the real world...if everyone could just come visit me...and bring me my favorite foods...i would be all set. Lets make that happen!
lots of love.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The travels continue
Hello from Panama!!
Everything is fantastic and I am thinking about staying in this amazing country for a very long time. I spent about 5 days in Bocas del Toro, a delicious Caribbean beach town that definitely started my trip off right. I was alone but met so many awesome people...not to mention the dolphins, starfish, snorkeling, deserted beaches, gorgeous scenery, perfect tanning weather, and very fun bars. It was wonderful. I then took an overnight bus to Panama City, where I met up with Evya that night. We have been having a great time in the city...i took him to the canal and other areas i went to last time i was here, and it was really nice to be able to find my way around and know where i was and what i was doing. We also ate dinner at Hooters one night, since I had never been before. Absolutely hysterical...and the wings really are so yummy!! We then went to San Blas. I actually have no words to describe those 3 days...it was without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Picture an island in the middle of the caribbean, smaller than a football field. Throw in some wooden huts, hammocks, palm trees, coconuts, white sand and perfectly clear water. It was that idyllic fantasy island that doesnt really exist...except that it does exist, and i found it, and was there!!! Just amazing. An indigenous group, the Kuna, live on the islands, and it was great to speak to them and learn about their way of life...they are fiercely independent and have such interesting lifestyles....it was paradise and heaven all rolled into one. If anyone is looking for a great vacation spot...its relatively cheap and really a once in a lifetime experience. Even though I want to go back lots of times!!! I cant wait to show you all pictures of the island!
Now we are in David, a city near the Costa Rican border. A few days here and in a nearby area, Boquete, to be outdoorsy, and then back to Bocas to end our time in Panama.
Love and kisses!! Keep in touch everyone!!
Everything is fantastic and I am thinking about staying in this amazing country for a very long time. I spent about 5 days in Bocas del Toro, a delicious Caribbean beach town that definitely started my trip off right. I was alone but met so many awesome people...not to mention the dolphins, starfish, snorkeling, deserted beaches, gorgeous scenery, perfect tanning weather, and very fun bars. It was wonderful. I then took an overnight bus to Panama City, where I met up with Evya that night. We have been having a great time in the city...i took him to the canal and other areas i went to last time i was here, and it was really nice to be able to find my way around and know where i was and what i was doing. We also ate dinner at Hooters one night, since I had never been before. Absolutely hysterical...and the wings really are so yummy!! We then went to San Blas. I actually have no words to describe those 3 days...it was without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Picture an island in the middle of the caribbean, smaller than a football field. Throw in some wooden huts, hammocks, palm trees, coconuts, white sand and perfectly clear water. It was that idyllic fantasy island that doesnt really exist...except that it does exist, and i found it, and was there!!! Just amazing. An indigenous group, the Kuna, live on the islands, and it was great to speak to them and learn about their way of life...they are fiercely independent and have such interesting lifestyles....it was paradise and heaven all rolled into one. If anyone is looking for a great vacation spot...its relatively cheap and really a once in a lifetime experience. Even though I want to go back lots of times!!! I cant wait to show you all pictures of the island!
Now we are in David, a city near the Costa Rican border. A few days here and in a nearby area, Boquete, to be outdoorsy, and then back to Bocas to end our time in Panama.
Love and kisses!! Keep in touch everyone!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
let the adventures begin...
Its been quite the week...everyone left me and i had to say goodbye to my host family, which was really upsetting, but then my real, american family arrived... with two good friends from home...and everything has been fantastic. We went to coffee and butterfly farms the first day, then headed to Arenal volcano, where we saw lava running down the side of the volcano and did the hanging bridges through the rainforest. Next was Monteverde, to the cloud forest and zip lining!!! We also spent a rainy day at a cheese factory, a bat cave, and an orchid garden. Interesting combination but very informative and fun for indoor activities. Now I am in Manuel Antonio, for the third time but im NOT complaining. Love this beach. It's unfortunate that the rainy season started so it rains every afternoon, but its been so much fun and everyone is having a great time. And this vacation has totally ruined me for my kind of travel...I am being very spoiled and very pampered and staying in the most incredible hotels and resorts. So going back to hostel life and eating rice and beans every meal to save money will be interesting.
But the family leaves wednesday morning and I head to bocas del toro, panama, for some beautiful beach time. REALLY excited, as long as the weather behaves itself.
Thats all for now! And since these are my last few days in costa rica, heres one last PURA VIDA!
But the family leaves wednesday morning and I head to bocas del toro, panama, for some beautiful beach time. REALLY excited, as long as the weather behaves itself.
Thats all for now! And since these are my last few days in costa rica, heres one last PURA VIDA!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Nicaragua
Nicaragua was great. Went to Granada and Leon, two colonial towns, and Masaya which is known for its markets. Lots of walking around and relaxing. We also went to the house where Sandino was born, which is now a library, and to the Lago de Nicaragua which was really beautiful and also looks over Granada.
Two friends got food poisoning so we werent very active after that, and didnt see as much as we wanted to. But it was really nice to spend so much time with my friends before everyone leaves, and it ended up with Paul's mother putting us up in the Hilton for one night, since she felt bad that he was sick. Then, since this is Latin America, Kate and I just smiled at the young guy working there and we got a major discount and ended going back for our last night. Not exactly how we wanted to experience Nicaragua, but whatever, it was pure luxury. It was such a strange contrast though, Nica is so poor and the poverty is evident from the minute you cross the border. It's the Central America that I was used to before coming to Costa Rica, which is so much more developed. Definately a major shift. Crossing the border with all of the swine hype was also fun, and let me tell you, all of us still have verrry rumbly stomachs. Made me appreciate so much more the fact that we can drink the tap water here. But oh man...the beds at the hilton are delicious. And I took two baths. TWO. And wore a bathrobe and had a poolside pina colada at noon. Not how I travel, especially in this part of the world, but I'm not complaining. And I was so clean. It was heaven.
Had one final this morning, and our last one is tomorrow. crazy. Attempting to study but I just dont want to! One more day of work and then playtime for like 11 weeks. I'll take it :)
Two friends got food poisoning so we werent very active after that, and didnt see as much as we wanted to. But it was really nice to spend so much time with my friends before everyone leaves, and it ended up with Paul's mother putting us up in the Hilton for one night, since she felt bad that he was sick. Then, since this is Latin America, Kate and I just smiled at the young guy working there and we got a major discount and ended going back for our last night. Not exactly how we wanted to experience Nicaragua, but whatever, it was pure luxury. It was such a strange contrast though, Nica is so poor and the poverty is evident from the minute you cross the border. It's the Central America that I was used to before coming to Costa Rica, which is so much more developed. Definately a major shift. Crossing the border with all of the swine hype was also fun, and let me tell you, all of us still have verrry rumbly stomachs. Made me appreciate so much more the fact that we can drink the tap water here. But oh man...the beds at the hilton are delicious. And I took two baths. TWO. And wore a bathrobe and had a poolside pina colada at noon. Not how I travel, especially in this part of the world, but I'm not complaining. And I was so clean. It was heaven.
Had one final this morning, and our last one is tomorrow. crazy. Attempting to study but I just dont want to! One more day of work and then playtime for like 11 weeks. I'll take it :)
picture: Lago de Nicaragua
Sunday, May 3, 2009
theres time to work but now its time to play
I've spent this weekend cooped up with my computer and tons of readings, completing way too many papers and a final exam. Clearly, that was too much work for me to handle, so I decided that it was just about time to get another stamp in my passport. After all, its been like 3 weeks. So i'm off to Nicaragua tomorrow.
Expecting a lovely trip, then we come back, have a few days to study for our last 2 finals...and then the program is done. I am totally not prepared to say goodbye to everyone and to Costa Rica, so I'm not really thinking about that yet.
I hope that you are all enjoying the beginning of spring and have time to enjoy the nice weather. :)
Expecting a lovely trip, then we come back, have a few days to study for our last 2 finals...and then the program is done. I am totally not prepared to say goodbye to everyone and to Costa Rica, so I'm not really thinking about that yet.
I hope that you are all enjoying the beginning of spring and have time to enjoy the nice weather. :)
Monday, April 27, 2009
3 weeks left...but whose counting?
I cannot believe that I am so close to the end of my program. I feel like we just got here and like i've been here forever, all at the same time. It's been such a fantastic semester/vacation and I can't imagine not seeing my friends every day and not calling Costa Rica home anymore. Thank god I still have 10 extra weeks to travel, or I would really be a mess.
Speaking of my summer, my plans are finally coming together. May 19th-27th the fam comes, June 2nd-18th or so i'll be in Panama, then I'm heading to Honduras, then Nicaragua, then Peru, and then home. Should be pretty sweet. Anyone and everyone is still more than welcome to come.
This past weekend I went to Manzanillo on the Caribbean coast...small little town, just relaxed on and explored the beach. Somehow got sunburned, yet again, but at least i'll be nice and brown when my family comes.
Spending the rest of my time here working on papers, presentations, and final exams...hopefully with a quick trip to Nicaragua thrown in.
A big FELIZ CUMPLEANOS to my dad and Yana...hope youre both having a great birthday, wish we could be celebrating together.
more besos to everyone!
Speaking of my summer, my plans are finally coming together. May 19th-27th the fam comes, June 2nd-18th or so i'll be in Panama, then I'm heading to Honduras, then Nicaragua, then Peru, and then home. Should be pretty sweet. Anyone and everyone is still more than welcome to come.
This past weekend I went to Manzanillo on the Caribbean coast...small little town, just relaxed on and explored the beach. Somehow got sunburned, yet again, but at least i'll be nice and brown when my family comes.
Spending the rest of my time here working on papers, presentations, and final exams...hopefully with a quick trip to Nicaragua thrown in.
A big FELIZ CUMPLEANOS to my dad and Yana...hope youre both having a great birthday, wish we could be celebrating together.
more besos to everyone!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Buenos Aires!!
Hola everyone! I'm back in Costa Rica after a lovely spring break in Argentina. Buenos Aires is such a pretty, green, clean, beautiful city...the anti San Jose, if you will. It was so nice to see Alyssa, and we had a great time running around the city with Amy and Kate, two of her friends from school. We walked and walked all over the city, which has tons of parks and monuments and fountains and awesome architecture and flowers, etc etc. I also had the most delicious beef of my life (forget the farm post where I said I wanted to be a vegetarian...such a lie) and incredible italian, indian, and chinese food. And lots of Malbec, one of my favorite wines to bein with, but of course its extra delicious in its native country. Saw lots of tango dancing, went to a tranny club (gooood times), and went to a Jesus amusement park. There really are no words to describe the Jesus park, but suffice it to say that its called "Tierra Santa," or literally, "Holy Land," and is supposed to be set up like Jerusalem. There is a 30 foot Jesus and live shows of the creation, birth, crucifixion, and ressurection. So blasphemous. Amy and I took super inappropriate pictures. I really cant describe it though, you just need to see pictures to understand the glory. It was absolutely ridiculous and wonderful.
I also saw Evita's grave, which was cool, and read the first half of the first Harry Potter in Spanish, which made me proud. All in all, it was just a great week, and I really want to get back and go to other parts of Argentina. For now, I'll suffice by speaking like an Argentine, even if I don't want to.
There was also an evening where we had a bottle of wine before dinner, then decided to go to a Russian restaurant. The owner sent over a bottle of wine, then another, then joined us with his friends, and by 4:30am, they had opened 4 bottles of wine, didnt let us pay for dinner, and paid for our cab ride home. It was a hysterical evening which included my attempting to speak English, Russian, and Spanish all within one conversation, which made my head hurt. It also included my sister and I calling our displeased parents at 1am to tell them how much we loved them. Gotta love what 5 bottles of wine will do.
Back to reality...or at least, reality in Costa Rica. Finally realizing how litle time we have left here and how much work we have to do in the next month. A bit overwhelming, but it will all work out, i'm sure.
ALSO. IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH: my summer plans are coming along, and I officially need a travel buddy for June 18th or 19th to around July 10th to do Nicaragua and Honduras. They are cheap and wonderful countries with so much to do and see and explore. If you at all have the time or money, now is the time to let me know. I promise to keep these plans as solid as possible. Also, I would bet that at this point, my mom would secretly pay someone to keep me company. soooo think about it. and come play!! everyone tells me how jealous they are of my travels--so dont be jealous, be a part of it!
Furthermore, I am pretty much at the halfway point of my trip, and hardcore missing New York, Boston, and everyone from home. So keep sending me updates about home and keep in touch.
I also saw Evita's grave, which was cool, and read the first half of the first Harry Potter in Spanish, which made me proud. All in all, it was just a great week, and I really want to get back and go to other parts of Argentina. For now, I'll suffice by speaking like an Argentine, even if I don't want to.
There was also an evening where we had a bottle of wine before dinner, then decided to go to a Russian restaurant. The owner sent over a bottle of wine, then another, then joined us with his friends, and by 4:30am, they had opened 4 bottles of wine, didnt let us pay for dinner, and paid for our cab ride home. It was a hysterical evening which included my attempting to speak English, Russian, and Spanish all within one conversation, which made my head hurt. It also included my sister and I calling our displeased parents at 1am to tell them how much we loved them. Gotta love what 5 bottles of wine will do.
Back to reality...or at least, reality in Costa Rica. Finally realizing how litle time we have left here and how much work we have to do in the next month. A bit overwhelming, but it will all work out, i'm sure.
ALSO. IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH: my summer plans are coming along, and I officially need a travel buddy for June 18th or 19th to around July 10th to do Nicaragua and Honduras. They are cheap and wonderful countries with so much to do and see and explore. If you at all have the time or money, now is the time to let me know. I promise to keep these plans as solid as possible. Also, I would bet that at this point, my mom would secretly pay someone to keep me company. soooo think about it. and come play!! everyone tells me how jealous they are of my travels--so dont be jealous, be a part of it!
Furthermore, I am pretty much at the halfway point of my trip, and hardcore missing New York, Boston, and everyone from home. So keep sending me updates about home and keep in touch.
Friday, April 3, 2009
spring break
Happy April!!
I'm finally on spring break! And in about 8 hours, I will be on my flight, headed to Buenos Aires to visit my sister! Im so excitedddddddddddddddddd!
Happy Passover/Easter to everyone! Love and miss you all.
I'm finally on spring break! And in about 8 hours, I will be on my flight, headed to Buenos Aires to visit my sister! Im so excitedddddddddddddddddd!
Happy Passover/Easter to everyone! Love and miss you all.
Monday, March 30, 2009
heaven
I had mac and cheese today for the first time since i've been abroad.
It was absolute heaven and I felt that it needed to be shared.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
La Finca
This weekend we had a group field trip up towards the Carribean coast of the country. Friday morning we headed to EARTH University, which is an awesome university that focuses on agriculture, the environment, sustainable development, etc. We learned about the programs and the school...the coolest thing that they do is go into rural communities in the area and teach them how to implement all of these things into their farms and their lives, to become more sustainable and advanced and yada yada. It's an international university with students from all over the world, who then take what they have learned and usually implement the new ideas in their home communities. For example, we had dinner with a bunch of the students, who talked with us about what they do and then did traditional dances and songs and demonstrations from their home countries. I met an indigenous woman from El Salvador who is studying at EARTH so that she can go back to her farm and teach her mother how to become more sustainable for the future generations. It was really cool stuff, definately research it if youre at all iterested. It was really awesome. We also went to a banana plantation to see how they are grown, then saw how they are cleaned and packaged. We also saw how they make banana paper, since they dont want to waste anything. Its a huge and very demanding process...appreciate the bananas that you eat! The plantation we went to sends roughly 95% of their bananas to Whole Foods in the USA...so you have probably all eaten one of the bananas that I saw growing!
We stayed in their dorms for the night, then got up at 5am to eat breakfast and head to an organic farm for a few hours. I dug a trench and shoveled and planted and carried heavy bags around and fertilized soil...it was fun and exhausting, I dont know how people do it every day. After lunch we went to a chocolate plantation...i ate cacao right from the tree and sucked the chocolate beans and got eaten alive by mosquitos. The woman who runs it also made us chocolate milk which was incredibly delicious.
We then headed to local farms, to stay with the families who run them. It was such a fun experience!! I got to pet a chicken (who are super dirty and really dont like to be touched at all) and I milked a cow!!!! I also chilled with a pig who is going to be slaughtered on May 1st. I was invited back to watch the fiesta but I declined. I got to chop and whack things up with a machete and I planted a tree and fished for Talapia and then ate some of it for lunch...beforehand, I had said that I don't eat much fish but I would try it. Well, the mom didnt want me to be hungry, so when we came back from fishing, I saw her plucking feathers off of a newly killed chicken. aka my lunch. I know its the cycle of life and all of that jazz, but I secretly now want to be a vegetarian. Oh and we got up at 4:30am to see the sunrise since we were actually on the right coast this time, and walked to a river and ate eggs from the chickens running around us and stepped in tons of cow shit and got really really dirty. It was awesome.
So it was a really interesting weekend. But now i'm super tired and back to work on a paper and a presentation and study for an exam...all of this by Thursday, but then begins spring break! (although it sort of feels like i've been on vacation for 2 months now...)
:)
We stayed in their dorms for the night, then got up at 5am to eat breakfast and head to an organic farm for a few hours. I dug a trench and shoveled and planted and carried heavy bags around and fertilized soil...it was fun and exhausting, I dont know how people do it every day. After lunch we went to a chocolate plantation...i ate cacao right from the tree and sucked the chocolate beans and got eaten alive by mosquitos. The woman who runs it also made us chocolate milk which was incredibly delicious.
We then headed to local farms, to stay with the families who run them. It was such a fun experience!! I got to pet a chicken (who are super dirty and really dont like to be touched at all) and I milked a cow!!!! I also chilled with a pig who is going to be slaughtered on May 1st. I was invited back to watch the fiesta but I declined. I got to chop and whack things up with a machete and I planted a tree and fished for Talapia and then ate some of it for lunch...beforehand, I had said that I don't eat much fish but I would try it. Well, the mom didnt want me to be hungry, so when we came back from fishing, I saw her plucking feathers off of a newly killed chicken. aka my lunch. I know its the cycle of life and all of that jazz, but I secretly now want to be a vegetarian. Oh and we got up at 4:30am to see the sunrise since we were actually on the right coast this time, and walked to a river and ate eggs from the chickens running around us and stepped in tons of cow shit and got really really dirty. It was awesome.
So it was a really interesting weekend. But now i'm super tired and back to work on a paper and a presentation and study for an exam...all of this by Thursday, but then begins spring break! (although it sort of feels like i've been on vacation for 2 months now...)
:)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Semana Fantastica!
I can’t believe that half my time in Costa Rica is already over. I’m very happy, and for reasons that will be discussed shortly, I am also finally very tan. It’s been good times all around.
Get comfy, this is going to be a long one.
2 weekends ago my friends Tom, Lauren, and I decided to go to Uvita. It’s a small, remote little town that took lots of time on rocky, dusty roads to get too. But it was absolutely worth it. There is a national park there which has spectacular, practically empty beaches, and some cool wildlife. It’s known for dolphins and mainly HUMPBACK WHALES! But unfortunately, the tours to see the whales were super expensive, so we opted to skip them and just explore. And explore we did! Everywhere we went was at least a 30 minute walk in the hot hot hot sun…and for some reason, I always found myself doing these treks in my flip flops and without water. I think we walked 15 miles, easy, over this one weekend. But we ended up at a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole, which again, was totally empty. We also found a bamboo forest which was incredible and I want one in my backyard one day. And on a failed attempt to walk to a mangrove swamp (that we don’t think actually exists), we found another totally empty beach to play in. Our hostel was awesome with tons of hammocks everywhere, free coffee 24/7, and bunnies, so needless to say I was in heaven. We also did a pretty intense hike to see the sunset one night…I thought I was going to pass out halfway up the mountain, but I ended up getting the most incredible sunset pictures, and it really sounded like we were in the middle of the jungle. I took a video just so ya’ll can hear the amazing wildlife around us. There was even a howler monkey in the background. Pretty sweet stuff.
So we return home Sunday night, and I’m totally exhausted after our weekend and 8ish hours on a bus. I walk into my casa around 9:25, ready to make some tea, do some reading for the upcoming week, and go to bed. Yet I had no such luck. At 9:30, my phone rings, and mamatica says it’s for me. I pick up and hear tons of voices in the background, yelling all at once for me to come over to Monroe’s house. I was totally beat, but she lives next door so I went.
Now let me backtrack for a second. My friend Kate had a friend from home, Christina, coming to visit, and they were going to skip the whole week to go to Manuel Antonio, the beach I went to my first weekend here. She had already told our professors that she wouldn’t be in class, and everything was taken care of. They were planning to stay with our friend Meagan, who was already in Manuel Antonio since her family was up visiting. A few of us were going to meet them in another beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, Montezuma, the following weekend.
More background: there are 12 of us on the program, and we’re split up into 2 programs, human development and environmental sustainability. I’m in the human rights program.
Ok so back to Monroe’s…I walk in to find Kate and Christina, and then Jeff, Paul, and Monroe…everyone from the human rights program, except for Tom and Meagan. (Tom is responsible and Meagan was already planning to skip the week to be with her family).
“Rachel, this is Christina, Christina, this is Rachel.”
“Hey. I thought you guys were going to Manuel Antonio?”
“The airline lost Christina’s luggage, so we’re leaving tomorrow. Oh, and everyone is coming. We’re all skipping class this week and then we’ll still head to Montezuma for the weekend. You in?”
And that’s how Semana Fantastica began.
After only a little bit of coercion on their part, I ran home, unpacked and repacked my dirty clothes, told my laughing hostmom—who kept saying “how wonderful…you’re only young once…so beautiful…oh when I was young…see as much as you can…enjoy” and things of that nature. I passed out cold, and the next morning we went to our one class of the day, and then right to the bus station.
Manuel Antonio is one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. The area is touristy (in fact, I’ll be going back for a third time with my family in May) but so much fun and really beautiful. And I LEARNED TO SURF!!!! It’s my new favorite thing, and I can’t wait to rent a board every time I’m on a beach and play! And I flirted shamelessly with the instructors and ended up getting us lessons for less than half the price. I just had to then say that Jeff was my brother so that they would stop harassing me. But it was so much fun!!
After three days in Manuel Antonio, and getting extremely tan, we left early Thursday morning for Montezuma. It took hours on a bus (that got lost for 2 extra hours), to a ferry, to another bus, but we finally made it. The entire time there was really great…nice beach, relaxed and fun but absolutely filled with gringos on spring break. I ended up getting a pretty bad cold for a few days and missed the adventure the first night where my friends thought it would be a good idea to go swimming in the ocean at night…their evening ended with Jeff getting stitches after slicing his hand on a glass bottle of cerveza that he was holding while falling on a rock in the water. Next day was all beach and then salsa dancing at night. Saturday we hiked to the three waterfalls in Montezuma, its main attraction. The first one is a pretty little stream that’s very easy to get to, the 2nd one is much bigger with a rock about 10 feet up that you can swim to and jump off of. The third one, however, was about a 40minute, very rugged hike (again, in my flip flops and without water), but we made it. There’s a swimming hole and then the waterfall, which falls into another swimming hole about 40 feet below. Lesson #1: always listen to Lonely Planet guidebooks, which are my bible. Lesson #2: never listen to Paul (the same Paul you all read about from my Panama post…). But alas, even though the book says not to jump from this waterfall, there were tons of people doing it, and Paul had heard from a couple at the other waterfall that it was “totally awesome.” So we jumped. 40 feet. Let’s just say that my leg, arm, and derriere are still really purple. Kate is even more colorful than I am, after landing pretty much on her back. The fun part was hiking back down after all of this. So when we got back to San Jose on Sunday afternoon, I still had a cold and had lost my voice, and I was limping from the fall. Kate could barely move her back, Jeff has his stitches…we were all broken. But it was so fun!! Our teachers were a little displeased, as was the director of the program, considering the fact that only one person from our program stayed for class, but everything blew over way easier than we expected. We have no classes on Fridays, so we only missed 3 days. And hey, I learned to surf! Can’t get that kind of education in a classroom. Life lessons just have to be experienced firsthand!
And we are back now, working hard for the next 2 weeks until our spring break. So Semana Fantastica was really just a dry run…a pre-spring break, if you will.
This weekend we have a group field trip to stay with rural families on a farm, where I am hoping to milk a cow and get dirty. But it will be nice to be with the whole group and to not spend any money for a whole weekend.
Off to study. Also, I saw Gran Torino last night, which is a great movie and Clint Eastwood is super badass. ALSO, I am about to finish reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, which is one of the most inspiring and amazing books I have ever read in my life. It’s reminding me of why I want to do the work that I want to do, and that anyone can make a huge difference in the world. Every single person should have to read this book. So read it. All of you. It’s really incredible.
Abrazos y besos a todos!
Oh, and the pictures above are all from Uvita. I’ll post the surfing ones soon since they’re awesome!
Get comfy, this is going to be a long one.
2 weekends ago my friends Tom, Lauren, and I decided to go to Uvita. It’s a small, remote little town that took lots of time on rocky, dusty roads to get too. But it was absolutely worth it. There is a national park there which has spectacular, practically empty beaches, and some cool wildlife. It’s known for dolphins and mainly HUMPBACK WHALES! But unfortunately, the tours to see the whales were super expensive, so we opted to skip them and just explore. And explore we did! Everywhere we went was at least a 30 minute walk in the hot hot hot sun…and for some reason, I always found myself doing these treks in my flip flops and without water. I think we walked 15 miles, easy, over this one weekend. But we ended up at a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole, which again, was totally empty. We also found a bamboo forest which was incredible and I want one in my backyard one day. And on a failed attempt to walk to a mangrove swamp (that we don’t think actually exists), we found another totally empty beach to play in. Our hostel was awesome with tons of hammocks everywhere, free coffee 24/7, and bunnies, so needless to say I was in heaven. We also did a pretty intense hike to see the sunset one night…I thought I was going to pass out halfway up the mountain, but I ended up getting the most incredible sunset pictures, and it really sounded like we were in the middle of the jungle. I took a video just so ya’ll can hear the amazing wildlife around us. There was even a howler monkey in the background. Pretty sweet stuff.
So we return home Sunday night, and I’m totally exhausted after our weekend and 8ish hours on a bus. I walk into my casa around 9:25, ready to make some tea, do some reading for the upcoming week, and go to bed. Yet I had no such luck. At 9:30, my phone rings, and mamatica says it’s for me. I pick up and hear tons of voices in the background, yelling all at once for me to come over to Monroe’s house. I was totally beat, but she lives next door so I went.
Now let me backtrack for a second. My friend Kate had a friend from home, Christina, coming to visit, and they were going to skip the whole week to go to Manuel Antonio, the beach I went to my first weekend here. She had already told our professors that she wouldn’t be in class, and everything was taken care of. They were planning to stay with our friend Meagan, who was already in Manuel Antonio since her family was up visiting. A few of us were going to meet them in another beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, Montezuma, the following weekend.
More background: there are 12 of us on the program, and we’re split up into 2 programs, human development and environmental sustainability. I’m in the human rights program.
Ok so back to Monroe’s…I walk in to find Kate and Christina, and then Jeff, Paul, and Monroe…everyone from the human rights program, except for Tom and Meagan. (Tom is responsible and Meagan was already planning to skip the week to be with her family).
“Rachel, this is Christina, Christina, this is Rachel.”
“Hey. I thought you guys were going to Manuel Antonio?”
“The airline lost Christina’s luggage, so we’re leaving tomorrow. Oh, and everyone is coming. We’re all skipping class this week and then we’ll still head to Montezuma for the weekend. You in?”
And that’s how Semana Fantastica began.
After only a little bit of coercion on their part, I ran home, unpacked and repacked my dirty clothes, told my laughing hostmom—who kept saying “how wonderful…you’re only young once…so beautiful…oh when I was young…see as much as you can…enjoy” and things of that nature. I passed out cold, and the next morning we went to our one class of the day, and then right to the bus station.
Manuel Antonio is one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. The area is touristy (in fact, I’ll be going back for a third time with my family in May) but so much fun and really beautiful. And I LEARNED TO SURF!!!! It’s my new favorite thing, and I can’t wait to rent a board every time I’m on a beach and play! And I flirted shamelessly with the instructors and ended up getting us lessons for less than half the price. I just had to then say that Jeff was my brother so that they would stop harassing me. But it was so much fun!!
After three days in Manuel Antonio, and getting extremely tan, we left early Thursday morning for Montezuma. It took hours on a bus (that got lost for 2 extra hours), to a ferry, to another bus, but we finally made it. The entire time there was really great…nice beach, relaxed and fun but absolutely filled with gringos on spring break. I ended up getting a pretty bad cold for a few days and missed the adventure the first night where my friends thought it would be a good idea to go swimming in the ocean at night…their evening ended with Jeff getting stitches after slicing his hand on a glass bottle of cerveza that he was holding while falling on a rock in the water. Next day was all beach and then salsa dancing at night. Saturday we hiked to the three waterfalls in Montezuma, its main attraction. The first one is a pretty little stream that’s very easy to get to, the 2nd one is much bigger with a rock about 10 feet up that you can swim to and jump off of. The third one, however, was about a 40minute, very rugged hike (again, in my flip flops and without water), but we made it. There’s a swimming hole and then the waterfall, which falls into another swimming hole about 40 feet below. Lesson #1: always listen to Lonely Planet guidebooks, which are my bible. Lesson #2: never listen to Paul (the same Paul you all read about from my Panama post…). But alas, even though the book says not to jump from this waterfall, there were tons of people doing it, and Paul had heard from a couple at the other waterfall that it was “totally awesome.” So we jumped. 40 feet. Let’s just say that my leg, arm, and derriere are still really purple. Kate is even more colorful than I am, after landing pretty much on her back. The fun part was hiking back down after all of this. So when we got back to San Jose on Sunday afternoon, I still had a cold and had lost my voice, and I was limping from the fall. Kate could barely move her back, Jeff has his stitches…we were all broken. But it was so fun!! Our teachers were a little displeased, as was the director of the program, considering the fact that only one person from our program stayed for class, but everything blew over way easier than we expected. We have no classes on Fridays, so we only missed 3 days. And hey, I learned to surf! Can’t get that kind of education in a classroom. Life lessons just have to be experienced firsthand!
And we are back now, working hard for the next 2 weeks until our spring break. So Semana Fantastica was really just a dry run…a pre-spring break, if you will.
This weekend we have a group field trip to stay with rural families on a farm, where I am hoping to milk a cow and get dirty. But it will be nice to be with the whole group and to not spend any money for a whole weekend.
Off to study. Also, I saw Gran Torino last night, which is a great movie and Clint Eastwood is super badass. ALSO, I am about to finish reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, which is one of the most inspiring and amazing books I have ever read in my life. It’s reminding me of why I want to do the work that I want to do, and that anyone can make a huge difference in the world. Every single person should have to read this book. So read it. All of you. It’s really incredible.
Abrazos y besos a todos!
Oh, and the pictures above are all from Uvita. I’ll post the surfing ones soon since they’re awesome!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Procrastination is truly an art form. And I am a master
So I have hit midterms, despite the slighly underwhelming amount of work I have done so far. All of us are surprisingly (or maybe not so) unprepared. And now some friends and I are having a study sesh for our 9am test tomorrow...too bad one is on skype and facebook, one is checking espn for the latest scores, and i'm blogging. We did study for a little while and all of our books are open! Its just...boring. And still, i'm more worried about which beach I want to go to this weekend. Rough life.
Last weekend I went to Cahuita, on the Caribbean coast. Very cool, laid back little town. Unfortunately it rained all weekend (seasons are opposite on the 2 coasts, so now its the rainy season there). Didnt get to go snorkeling or work on my tan, but I realized that if my worst weekend consists of my hanging out on a hammock with some good friends and a good book, and lots of rest, then i'm doing OK. We still went swimming in the rain, and used our few sunny hours to go to the national park. I saw a sloth! And 2 really cool snakes and awesome crabs...and a shit ton of mosquitos that ate me alive. It was an arduous trek through mud at some places...at times I was covered up to my knees. And at one point, I waded through a river up to my chest, my bag and camera held over my head for dear life. I guess hiking through a national park right after massive quantities of rain isnt the best idea. But pura vida, it was a good time. We also swam pretty much in a rip current...crazy waves, I almost drowned again a few times. I should really stop doing that...
Oh and I finally got my cavity filled yesterday so i'm all done with dealing with costa rican dentists. I am officially in love with my doctora and I am determined to make her my regular dentist. So I'm going to start a fund: "send rachel to costa rica every 6 months to get her teeth cleaned, hang with mamatica, and then go to a tropical destination for a few days." I'll work on the name...but I am accepting donations. I will have the cleanest teeth known to man...and I'll be the only person who hardcore looks forward to going to the dentist.
And now I attempt to be a real student and actually study. Then I just have to pick a destination for my weekend and get myself back to a sunny beach. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.
Last weekend I went to Cahuita, on the Caribbean coast. Very cool, laid back little town. Unfortunately it rained all weekend (seasons are opposite on the 2 coasts, so now its the rainy season there). Didnt get to go snorkeling or work on my tan, but I realized that if my worst weekend consists of my hanging out on a hammock with some good friends and a good book, and lots of rest, then i'm doing OK. We still went swimming in the rain, and used our few sunny hours to go to the national park. I saw a sloth! And 2 really cool snakes and awesome crabs...and a shit ton of mosquitos that ate me alive. It was an arduous trek through mud at some places...at times I was covered up to my knees. And at one point, I waded through a river up to my chest, my bag and camera held over my head for dear life. I guess hiking through a national park right after massive quantities of rain isnt the best idea. But pura vida, it was a good time. We also swam pretty much in a rip current...crazy waves, I almost drowned again a few times. I should really stop doing that...
Oh and I finally got my cavity filled yesterday so i'm all done with dealing with costa rican dentists. I am officially in love with my doctora and I am determined to make her my regular dentist. So I'm going to start a fund: "send rachel to costa rica every 6 months to get her teeth cleaned, hang with mamatica, and then go to a tropical destination for a few days." I'll work on the name...but I am accepting donations. I will have the cleanest teeth known to man...and I'll be the only person who hardcore looks forward to going to the dentist.
And now I attempt to be a real student and actually study. Then I just have to pick a destination for my weekend and get myself back to a sunny beach. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.
Monday, March 2, 2009
ummmm hi March? Where did you come from?
So I thought that I was doing pretty well, but apparently I dont update my blog enough and i'm getting yelled at. So this one will be relatively pointless, but if those of you who are apparently living vicariously through me will be happier, than here you go.
This past weekend was pretty chill...Friday we had a group trip to a coffee plantation. It was super cool to see what a huge process it is, and I definately appreciate the jillion cups of coffee I have every day a little more. And we got to sample about 10 different types of coffee...and chocolate covered coffee beans! Needless to say, I was wired for hours, but it was soooo delicious. I wanted to buy some, and clearly I needed to do my research and make an educated decision. There is also a butterfly garden at the plantation, which was really beautiful. I think that I'm going back to the same place with my family in May, which will be fun...and more free coffee!!
Yesterday as the snow began to fall back home, I was lying on a beach. It was close to home, just a day trip, and we all officially realized how spoiled we are. We complained that there was too much sand and it was too touristy and the waves were too rough (ok this last one is legit, I almost died a few times getting caught under massive waves and being flipped upside down and around. But all in good fun). And then my friend referred to our time here as a 'vacation,' and it took us way too long to correct her.
Other than that, life has been pretty tame. Back in classes and then this weekend I will finally make it to the Caribbean Coast, to a beach and national park (Cahuita, for those of you who google pictures of where I go). Supposed to be amazing, and I am very excited.
Lots of love to everyone back at home...I am getting to the point where I really miss good American food, so if anyone can send me some wings from Sutters and a bagel with cream cheese from David's Bagels, that would be wonderful. mmmm or some of my moms matzah ball soup for the cold nights that it hits 50degrees (i actually am wearing a sweatshirt as I write this...). Or some good italian food...and some pizza from NY and chicken parm...
alrighty then. i think thats all.
keep those e-mail updates coming. and for those of you who keep promising to get skype, its time to get on that.
:)
This past weekend was pretty chill...Friday we had a group trip to a coffee plantation. It was super cool to see what a huge process it is, and I definately appreciate the jillion cups of coffee I have every day a little more. And we got to sample about 10 different types of coffee...and chocolate covered coffee beans! Needless to say, I was wired for hours, but it was soooo delicious. I wanted to buy some, and clearly I needed to do my research and make an educated decision. There is also a butterfly garden at the plantation, which was really beautiful. I think that I'm going back to the same place with my family in May, which will be fun...and more free coffee!!
Yesterday as the snow began to fall back home, I was lying on a beach. It was close to home, just a day trip, and we all officially realized how spoiled we are. We complained that there was too much sand and it was too touristy and the waves were too rough (ok this last one is legit, I almost died a few times getting caught under massive waves and being flipped upside down and around. But all in good fun). And then my friend referred to our time here as a 'vacation,' and it took us way too long to correct her.
Other than that, life has been pretty tame. Back in classes and then this weekend I will finally make it to the Caribbean Coast, to a beach and national park (Cahuita, for those of you who google pictures of where I go). Supposed to be amazing, and I am very excited.
Lots of love to everyone back at home...I am getting to the point where I really miss good American food, so if anyone can send me some wings from Sutters and a bagel with cream cheese from David's Bagels, that would be wonderful. mmmm or some of my moms matzah ball soup for the cold nights that it hits 50degrees (i actually am wearing a sweatshirt as I write this...). Or some good italian food...and some pizza from NY and chicken parm...
alrighty then. i think thats all.
keep those e-mail updates coming. and for those of you who keep promising to get skype, its time to get on that.
:)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
CARNAVAL!!!
I don't even know where to begin. Thursday night, 5 of us left for Panama to celebrate Carnaval. 15 hours on a bus went by relatively fast, and at 5am we were there! Of course, when we go to our hostel they didnt have our reservation...but after walking around until 6am and watching the sunrise while doing so, we finally found a hostel and passed out until 10am. We then headed to the Panama Canal, which was totally anti-climactic. It is definately an amazing feat of engineering and the history is cool, but seeing it was not quite what we expected. Or it may have been the exhastion...so we went back to the hostel, hung out, and then headed to Carnaval. Dancing, drinking, drunkenly ending up at McDonalds with my vegetarian friend, where we shared a chicken sandwich (her half with bacon, i might add. but as she shouted out... "vegetarian is only a title!!! I can eat meat if I want!! leave me alone!") and felt gross in the morning. excellent.
We soon find out that we are staying in like...the shadiest part of Panama City, and everyone we meet or run into or see from afar tells us how dangerous it is and to be careful. again, excellent. Saturday we somehow ended up in Panama Viejo, the old part of Panama City. We roamed around an artisan market and chilled in a field looking at ruins (where a couple came up and told us that we were in a dangerous area. i swear to god, we totally felt safe...apparently Panamanians do not.)
shit...i forgot that my mom reads this and i gave her the cliffnotes version...hi mom. stop reading. sorry.
We spent the afternoon shopping downtown since panama is so unbelievably, amazingly cheap...my friend bought a dress for 99cents. That night we went back to Carnaval, and our evening was...eventful. Buy only by proxy, through our crazy friend Paul who manages to become a shitshow every single weekend, without fail. My friend Kaitlyn and I decided to leave before the rest of our group since we were so tired, and got back to the hostel around 3am. At 4:30am, we are woken up by our dear Pablo, asking us for money since he had none to pay his taxi and had been separated from the rest of our group. We then realized that the very scary and angry cab driver was standing in our doorway...this was to Paul's surprise as well...thank you, hostel, for telling the nice man what room we were in. The next morning, I proceeded to steal a delightful blanket from them to make up for it. But very long story short, Paul's night involved accidentally picking up a hooker, accidentally trying to pay for a 60cent beer with a $100bill and having it ripped in half, getting lost and walking for 3 miles looking for a cab, and then you all saw where that ended up. goooood times.
Sunday we went to Casco Viejo, another old part of Panama City that is supposed to resemble old Havana (ps, going to Cuba is like my new obsession. don't think it will happen on this trip unless I win the lottery, but I want to go so badly! Learning about it is just not the same as going...so that trip will happen sooner than later). We walked around for a while, it was a beautiful area, and then went back to Carnaval, where we caught the awesome parade, tons more dancing, and just a little more drinking. It started to pour, and everyone just danced and went nuts, soaking wet and having an amazing time. Carnaval consists of people just throwing confetti and shaving cream and god knows what else all over you...so the rain was a nice touch and kept us semi-clean. I will definately be putting up pictures of Carnaval soon. We then headed back to the hostel of some friends that had met us in Panama, changed, showered, and headed to the bus stop for another 16 hour ride. Except that the bus broke down at 4 am and spent the next 7 hours on the side of the road. The ride ended up taking a full 24 hours...but we all made it back alive, and hey, we got to see the sunrise again. so now we're back for the longest week everrr, since none of us are quite recovered yet.
Wow...reading back on that just made me laugh...quite an experience. And thats not even everything...i love this trip. and Panama.
Classes are still good and interesting, and this weekend we are doing a bunch of day trips and staying close to home.
hey sweet...i think i just figured out how to post pictures on here...if i was successful, the picture is of the panama canal. the ones from carnaval are a lot more exciting, and ill get them up soon.
hope all is well at home! off to "study" for a quiz tomorrow. Pura Vida!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
casi una mes! que rapido!
I can't believe that i've already been here for almost a month, but at the same time, I feel like i've been here forever. I definately feel at home now, and I am totally comfortable in my new life. Marielos, my host mom, never stops feeding me, so i'm going to come home very gordita. I joined a gym to hopefully keep that from happening...too many trips to the beach and too much time in baithing suits for me to get fat. Last weekend at Playa Conchal was amazing...like, "holy shit i found paradise" kind of amazing. At first glance it looks like a normal, beautiful, sandy beach, until you look closer and step onto the 'sand...' because its not sand, its billions of conch shells. Most of them are ground up into tiny pieces, but they are all shells. I'm bringing home a bottle filled with them! We also saw a howler monkey, which was super badass.
This weekend we're hanging around home...went to some museums in San Jose, went to a small town called Heredia thats about 11kilometers from San Jose to walk around and explore a bit. Went out last night to sort of celebrate valentines day...or Dia de los Enamorados, as it is called here. I also talked to my drunken mother who called me a little shit...that made me really miss home. Speaking of home, a big felicidades to my smartypants sister who keeps getting into grad schools. I have decided for her that she is going to Tufts so that way we can hang out in Boston. Oh, and I booked my flight to Buenos Aires for early April to visit her, which I am verrryy excited about!
My other big adventure has been dealing with dentists...thanks to my lovely dentist back home who clearly cannot put in fillings and who hopefully does not read my blog. Sooooo I have to get a cavity re-filled, hopefully tomorrow. But I first went to the clinic at my university, where I felt very proud of myself for dealing with everything in spanish. Once I was told that yes, I did need my cavity refilled, I decided to find a private dentist (everyone at the clinic were students, and my guy had braces and couldnt have been more than like 12. Yana, I swear to god, if it wasnt for you I wouldnt have let them near me or my teeth. But I just pretended that it was you and your fellow students and let them do their thing), and everything should be taken care of soon. But it was nice to know that I can pretty much deal with any situation, completely in spanish, and feel confident about it. Hopefully I remember the words for "help," "novacaine," and "no, I don't want it extracted." That last phrase is actually in one of my phrasebooks, and my friends very lovingly told me that I should probably memorize that one. Thanks guys.
I'm trying to think of any other adventures that I've had, but life is pretty low-key right now I'm just enjoying the weather, the people, pretty much everything. My family is just about ready to book their trip to come visit at the end of my program in May...I am super pumped to show them around Costa Rica and have them get a little taste of my life here. Anyone who wants to tag along, I'm sure you can hide in a suitcase.
Hasta luego...
This weekend we're hanging around home...went to some museums in San Jose, went to a small town called Heredia thats about 11kilometers from San Jose to walk around and explore a bit. Went out last night to sort of celebrate valentines day...or Dia de los Enamorados, as it is called here. I also talked to my drunken mother who called me a little shit...that made me really miss home. Speaking of home, a big felicidades to my smartypants sister who keeps getting into grad schools. I have decided for her that she is going to Tufts so that way we can hang out in Boston. Oh, and I booked my flight to Buenos Aires for early April to visit her, which I am verrryy excited about!
My other big adventure has been dealing with dentists...thanks to my lovely dentist back home who clearly cannot put in fillings and who hopefully does not read my blog. Sooooo I have to get a cavity re-filled, hopefully tomorrow. But I first went to the clinic at my university, where I felt very proud of myself for dealing with everything in spanish. Once I was told that yes, I did need my cavity refilled, I decided to find a private dentist (everyone at the clinic were students, and my guy had braces and couldnt have been more than like 12. Yana, I swear to god, if it wasnt for you I wouldnt have let them near me or my teeth. But I just pretended that it was you and your fellow students and let them do their thing), and everything should be taken care of soon. But it was nice to know that I can pretty much deal with any situation, completely in spanish, and feel confident about it. Hopefully I remember the words for "help," "novacaine," and "no, I don't want it extracted." That last phrase is actually in one of my phrasebooks, and my friends very lovingly told me that I should probably memorize that one. Thanks guys.
I'm trying to think of any other adventures that I've had, but life is pretty low-key right now I'm just enjoying the weather, the people, pretty much everything. My family is just about ready to book their trip to come visit at the end of my program in May...I am super pumped to show them around Costa Rica and have them get a little taste of my life here. Anyone who wants to tag along, I'm sure you can hide in a suitcase.
Hasta luego...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
not quite jealous enough?
Google "Playa Conchal Costa Rica."
Thats where I'm going tomorrow.
...life is pretty sweet.
Also, for anyone who hears about the flooding on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, I live nowhere near there, and we purposely changed our trip this weekend to go to the Pacific Coast instead. (Costa Rica has both coasts, so you can head a few hours in either direction and end up at either the Pacific or the Caribbean. In fact, there is actually a volcano here that, if you climb to the top on a clear day, you can see both bodies of water!)
But anyhoo, i'm fine and not drowning in a flood.
Thats where I'm going tomorrow.
...life is pretty sweet.
Also, for anyone who hears about the flooding on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, I live nowhere near there, and we purposely changed our trip this weekend to go to the Pacific Coast instead. (Costa Rica has both coasts, so you can head a few hours in either direction and end up at either the Pacific or the Caribbean. In fact, there is actually a volcano here that, if you climb to the top on a clear day, you can see both bodies of water!)
But anyhoo, i'm fine and not drowning in a flood.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wait, we actually have to take classes?
So this was our first week of classes, and so far, they all seem really interesting. It's going to be more work than I expected...mainly because I expected to lay on the beach for 4 months under the guise of "studying" abroad...who knew that they would acually make us go to class?
But now that we're getting used to a schedule, it's nice to have a bit of a routine during the week. My program is about various topics focused on latin america: justice, development, human rights, gender, poverty, politics...it's really interesting! 4 classes, one a day mon-thurs, and then 2 of those days we also have spanish class. Then we get 3 day weekends every week, which is stellar!
Last weekend we went to Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park (we didnt go directly into the park, but we went to the beach there). It was GORGEOUS and my first taste of a Costa Rican paradise. The beach was beautiful, and there were monkeys!!!!!! monkeys!!! So exciting. And we cracked open coconuts and drank them...basically, I'm never coming home. It was great. This weekend we decided to stay a bit closer to home...tomorrow i'm having a lazy day-- sleeping in a bit, relaxing, walking around our neighborhood. I don't actually live in San Jose (which is nice since it is super sketchy at night), but I live in a smaller suburb of San Jose called Curridabat, like 20 minutes from downtown by bus (with traffic, it can take over an hour...). Saturday is the annual Palmares festival, which is basically the Costa Rican version of Carnaval, and its only an hourish from San Jose. Its just like a 10 day party, and Saturday is the last day so we thought we would check it out. Sunday a bunch of us want to explore markets and maybe a museum downtown (during the day, of course).
So i've been busy and happy. Everyone in my group is great--we all get along really well and have a lot of fun together, so it should be a great 4 months. Just dont ask me about the 2 months after that, since I spend hours and hours with my guidebook trying to plan a trip, and yet nothing is worked out yet. BUT this week I should be booking my flight to visit Alyssa in Buenos Aires for spring break, which I am super excited about! But if anyone is serious about backpacking with me this summer, shoot me an email with when you can come, how much time you have, and what country you want to do (preferably nicaragua, honduras, el salvador, belize, or guatemala) and we can plan together.
For those of you who keep asking, I promise to post pictures soon. It's just hard having internet so sporadically, which I will stop complaining about in every post. But google "quepos beach costa rica to see where i was last weekend. Also, ya'll keep asking me about my life, which is obviously more exciting than yours right now...but that doesnt mean I dont want to hear about life back home! Please update me and keep me posted; i'm very far away (but not so far that you cant come visit easily!) and hearing about home makes me happy.
Let me see...what else can I say? ummm I promise to eventually come home, i'm sorry that its a blizzard in NY and Boston while i'm sunburned, I found out today that there are 42 ingredients in a McDonalds chicken nugget (fun fact of the day), coffee is delicious here and im way more addicted than ever, i still enjoy rice and beans since i really have no other choice, i eat tons of fruit every day and it is sooo delicious (everyone should try guanavana juice, just dont ask me what it is or how to find it in the states), my host mom is adorable and I love her, everyone here is really stoked about Obama which is exciting, and basically, all is fantastic.
Stay warm!
But now that we're getting used to a schedule, it's nice to have a bit of a routine during the week. My program is about various topics focused on latin america: justice, development, human rights, gender, poverty, politics...it's really interesting! 4 classes, one a day mon-thurs, and then 2 of those days we also have spanish class. Then we get 3 day weekends every week, which is stellar!
Last weekend we went to Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park (we didnt go directly into the park, but we went to the beach there). It was GORGEOUS and my first taste of a Costa Rican paradise. The beach was beautiful, and there were monkeys!!!!!! monkeys!!! So exciting. And we cracked open coconuts and drank them...basically, I'm never coming home. It was great. This weekend we decided to stay a bit closer to home...tomorrow i'm having a lazy day-- sleeping in a bit, relaxing, walking around our neighborhood. I don't actually live in San Jose (which is nice since it is super sketchy at night), but I live in a smaller suburb of San Jose called Curridabat, like 20 minutes from downtown by bus (with traffic, it can take over an hour...). Saturday is the annual Palmares festival, which is basically the Costa Rican version of Carnaval, and its only an hourish from San Jose. Its just like a 10 day party, and Saturday is the last day so we thought we would check it out. Sunday a bunch of us want to explore markets and maybe a museum downtown (during the day, of course).
So i've been busy and happy. Everyone in my group is great--we all get along really well and have a lot of fun together, so it should be a great 4 months. Just dont ask me about the 2 months after that, since I spend hours and hours with my guidebook trying to plan a trip, and yet nothing is worked out yet. BUT this week I should be booking my flight to visit Alyssa in Buenos Aires for spring break, which I am super excited about! But if anyone is serious about backpacking with me this summer, shoot me an email with when you can come, how much time you have, and what country you want to do (preferably nicaragua, honduras, el salvador, belize, or guatemala) and we can plan together.
For those of you who keep asking, I promise to post pictures soon. It's just hard having internet so sporadically, which I will stop complaining about in every post. But google "quepos beach costa rica to see where i was last weekend. Also, ya'll keep asking me about my life, which is obviously more exciting than yours right now...but that doesnt mean I dont want to hear about life back home! Please update me and keep me posted; i'm very far away (but not so far that you cant come visit easily!) and hearing about home makes me happy.
Let me see...what else can I say? ummm I promise to eventually come home, i'm sorry that its a blizzard in NY and Boston while i'm sunburned, I found out today that there are 42 ingredients in a McDonalds chicken nugget (fun fact of the day), coffee is delicious here and im way more addicted than ever, i still enjoy rice and beans since i really have no other choice, i eat tons of fruit every day and it is sooo delicious (everyone should try guanavana juice, just dont ask me what it is or how to find it in the states), my host mom is adorable and I love her, everyone here is really stoked about Obama which is exciting, and basically, all is fantastic.
Stay warm!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Setting in
Hola familia y amigos!
Everything is still great...we don't start classes until Monday, so we've been busy getting settled, having orientations, getting to know one another, and of course, speaking spanish and planning trips. Tomorrow a bunch us are getting up before sunrise to head about 4 hours away to a beautiful beach, which I am very excited about!
If you want to come visit me, you better like rice and beans with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm getting used to it though, you learn to enjoy it.
I thought that being here would make it easier to plan my summer backpacking adventures, but it's actually getting harder since I keep learning about new places that I want to go! I definately need to cut out some countries and spend more time in each...Central America has so much to offer and there are so many options. Evya, we have some planning to do!
Everyone needs to keep me updated on their lives back home...I miss everyone, and its definately been an adjustment not having internet in my house. Once we start classes I should have wireless access Mondays-Thursdays during the day, but other than that, I have to harass my friends who have internet, and I feel bad about doing that too often. But i'll figure it out, so bear with me!
Con mucho amor,
Raquel :)
Everything is still great...we don't start classes until Monday, so we've been busy getting settled, having orientations, getting to know one another, and of course, speaking spanish and planning trips. Tomorrow a bunch us are getting up before sunrise to head about 4 hours away to a beautiful beach, which I am very excited about!
If you want to come visit me, you better like rice and beans with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm getting used to it though, you learn to enjoy it.
I thought that being here would make it easier to plan my summer backpacking adventures, but it's actually getting harder since I keep learning about new places that I want to go! I definately need to cut out some countries and spend more time in each...Central America has so much to offer and there are so many options. Evya, we have some planning to do!
Everyone needs to keep me updated on their lives back home...I miss everyone, and its definately been an adjustment not having internet in my house. Once we start classes I should have wireless access Mondays-Thursdays during the day, but other than that, I have to harass my friends who have internet, and I feel bad about doing that too often. But i'll figure it out, so bear with me!
Con mucho amor,
Raquel :)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Oh, hey summer. It's been a while
Hola from Costa Rica! I'm wearing flip flops and a T-shirt as I write this, and I could not be happier. My host mom is fantastic, my house is beautiful, and did I mention the sunshine? I live on the same street as a few other people in my group, so we spent the morning walking around our neighborhood (which is lovely and safe, mom), and now we are of course watching Obama. Tomorrow we see our school for the first time and head out of the city for 2 days for an orientation. I dont have internet access in my house but almost everyone else does (of course), so I should be able to find a computer to use every few days, and at school we supposedly have wireless. But after a very long day yesterday (waking up at 2:30 am was special), I am happy to say that everything is wonderful, my spanish is damn good, and I am very very content in my new home.
Thats it for now...more updates to come soon.
Happy Obama Day!
Thats it for now...more updates to come soon.
Happy Obama Day!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Bring on the sunshine!!
Hola everyone!!
As most of you know, I am all packed up (well, I will be soon...) and I'm heading to Costa Rica! I'll be studying in San Jose for 4 months, living with a family and taking classes. Mid-May when my program ends, my parents and sister are 100%, definately, without a doubt coming to visit me, and then I decided to stay for an extra 2 months and backpack around Central America! For everyone who wants to join me on my travels (and that should be everyone reading this because you all love me and flights are reeallly cheap so no excuses), the plan is to head up to Mexico or more likely, Guatemala, and then spend June and July making my way down to Peru, where I fly home from July 29th. So pick a country that you like (Honduras, Nicaragua (sorry mom), Panama, El Salvador, Belize, or Guatemala), and I'll make sure to get there.
I have to keep this blog for school, so you will be getting very regular updates from me, whether you like it or not. Once I get there safely on Monday, I can let you all know my address, where I expect packages and mail daily. My skype name is rklein108, so GET SKYPE if you dont have it, add me, and you won't even know that I'm gone.
For those of you who have been to Costa Rica or cental america, keep sending suggestions and tips.
I'm super excited but I will miss you all! So please keep in touch!
The next post will be from my new home, in the sunshine! But enjoy the snow in NY and Boston...I do feel really bad for you all :)
Besos, abrazos, y mucho amor!
As most of you know, I am all packed up (well, I will be soon...) and I'm heading to Costa Rica! I'll be studying in San Jose for 4 months, living with a family and taking classes. Mid-May when my program ends, my parents and sister are 100%, definately, without a doubt coming to visit me, and then I decided to stay for an extra 2 months and backpack around Central America! For everyone who wants to join me on my travels (and that should be everyone reading this because you all love me and flights are reeallly cheap so no excuses), the plan is to head up to Mexico or more likely, Guatemala, and then spend June and July making my way down to Peru, where I fly home from July 29th. So pick a country that you like (Honduras, Nicaragua (sorry mom), Panama, El Salvador, Belize, or Guatemala), and I'll make sure to get there.
I have to keep this blog for school, so you will be getting very regular updates from me, whether you like it or not. Once I get there safely on Monday, I can let you all know my address, where I expect packages and mail daily. My skype name is rklein108, so GET SKYPE if you dont have it, add me, and you won't even know that I'm gone.
For those of you who have been to Costa Rica or cental america, keep sending suggestions and tips.
I'm super excited but I will miss you all! So please keep in touch!
The next post will be from my new home, in the sunshine! But enjoy the snow in NY and Boston...I do feel really bad for you all :)
Besos, abrazos, y mucho amor!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
