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!

terremota!!

I felt my first earthquake today!!!

pimp.

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.

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.
:)

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!!

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...

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.