Passport Renewal... iiiiin Paradise =)

Well, well well.. where to start. A lot has changed again since I last wrote! For starters, I am no longer working with first grade. They were seriously the most rambunctious, undisciplined class I have ever worked with! It made sense to me, though, after I found out that Jessica (my cooperating teacher) wasn’t actually the first grade teacher. Their actual teacher had just quit like 2 or so months ago? And Jessica is actually the school psychologist, but knew the most English so she was just kind of thrown into the mix. I could tell she had a lot on her plate and was super stressed out (and I think the kids could tell, too), so it wasn’t the best situation for me. The first graders literally got their desk changed at least once every other day. So, last week my supervisor from the States was here and I got observed last Tuesday. She told me that it isn't really worth my time to work with a class as undisciplined as them (even though she said I did a very good job handling it all.. literally about 8 students stood up in the middle of my lesson to ask if they could go to the bathroom, 6 walked to the board to point out a letter, 5 were talking and not participating, seriously, nonsense) and since Jessica is so preoccupied it just wasn’t a good learning atmosphere for me. Barb, my supervisor, wants me to get a good teaching experience and not just experience in how to discipline a classroom and since I only have a couple weeks left, she decided to switch me. So I am now just with Marlen (who I absolutely adore! She is such a great cooperating teacher!) for the entire day. I work with her still in fourth grade and now in third grade as well. I haven’t gotten to work with third grade much because I had to leave Costa Rica to renew my passport (will get to that in a bit!) but they definitely had quite the welcome for me! They were always asking Teacher Marlen when I was going to work with them because “they know I play games with the fourth grade”. We switched into third grade after lunch, so Marlen had me wait outside until they were all settled. She then had me walk through the door and I have honestly never felt so welcomed and loved in my life haha As soon as I walked through the door they started the, oh so popular, “OLÉ” chant.. “ole, ole, ole, ole, teacher, teacher!” And this was all happening while they were standing on chairs, clapping their hands, jumping around, and singing so loudly! It literally went on for like 5 minutes, which then they proceeded to tackle me into the board with a giant group hug. It was pretty adorable. I will have to take my camera to school soon to take some pictures of my classrooms and of my students, too. But then I wasn’t at school for the next 3 days because I had to get my passport renewed =)

And this is where paradise comes into play! When coming to Costa Rica, we got a 90 day visa upon arrival. (this was where we had to show that we were going to be leaving the country within 90 days and all of our airplane stuff happened! Haha) But, Meghan, Kelly, and I have 15 week placements, which puts us in a predicament of having to stay in Costa Rica for more than 90 days. We were told that we had to leave the country for at least 72 hours to be let back in a get another 90 day visa upon arrival. We had heard that Bocas del Toro (islands right off of the coast of Panama just south of the Costa Rican border) was absolutely beautiful! So we decided to he ad there for our renewal! Brianna and Amber joined in on the fun as well! And let me tell you, it was QUITE the experience. We started out by leaving our house at 6:30 AM to head to San Jose to find our bus. From there it was a 5 and a half bus ride to the border.. from THERE we were all shoved off the bus (but told to leave our stuff on the bus) and towards some little building.. this was where we got our passport stamped to leave Costa Rica and then had to walk across a BRIDGE to get into Panama hahah And this would be the bridge that we walked across!

After that we got our stuff off of the bus and got into a van taxi for yet another hour drive to where we got on a boat. We got on the first boat (about a half hour) that took us to the main island.. and then we got on another boat (about 20 minutes) to take us to the island that our hostel was staying on. And after about 10 hours of travel, this is where we got dropped off!

We had no idea where our hostel was.. where to go.. how to get there.. and to top it all off, the boat taxi driver didn’t have “any change” and said we could just pay him the 20 to cover it.. no thanks Mr. So he walked with us to our hostel (only about 5 minutes, thank goodness) so we could get change and pay him. We were finally in our hostel and ready to relax! So we went down to the little restaurant and had dinner, some wine, and relaxed in hammocks and played ping pong!

Brianna and Meghan laying in a hammock in our hostel!

The next day it was raining, but we decided to head to the beach anyway! We actu ally ended up having a blast playing in the water in the rain. We hung out for a while and then went back to eat lunch. While we were eating, it ended up getting nice and sunny out! So we headed back to the beach and hung out there for the remainder of the day and chatted with some guys from Denmark for a while. We then just hung out at our hostel again. Bocas Bound, the name of our hostel, is actually the only place to stay on the island we were on. Isla Bastimentos is the “beach island” and has four different beaches on it and is much more secluded than the main island. So we really only had our hostel/restaurant to hang out in at night, which really wasn’t that bad. The next day we headed out on a boat/snorkel adventure! We took a tour of the islands on the boat and stopped at beaches along the way to snorke l.. it was beautiful! Well, for a while anyway.. towards the end the waves got pretty huge and at first I was at the “I am nervous so all I can do is laugh” stage and then we got a nice big wave into the boat, all of our stuff drenched, and I turned around to see the captain and his “helper” quickly trying to scoop water out of the engine. From there it was over for me. I was freaking out and just had to close my eyes shut nice and tight and wait until our next destination. We have some videos of this little adventure that are definitely quite amusing now, but in the moment.. boy oh boy was I nervous. It didn’t help that our boat was just a little wooden one either! =) haha We started at our drivers "pueblo" for a bit first and then continued onto different beaches around the island. Most were super secluded and we were the only ones around! The water is so clear and gorgeous here that the snorkeling is really just fantastic. It was a very lovely day on the ocean under the sun! I wish I could spend all of my time here just traveling to pretty beaches haha

This is Coya Coral, where we snorkeled.. the water so SO clear and SO many fish!

Cool tree =)

Pretty island on our boat tour!

Snorkel Gear!

The next day, Brianna and Kelly had left, so Meghan, Amber, and I just hung out on the beach ALL day. It was the most beautiful day we had while we were there. After a while, Meghan and I went to explore this little point and took some of the most beautiful pictures!

On the lookout point at Red Frog Beach

I really love the water

We then packed up our stuff and headed to the main island for the night. I

t was Halloween and when we were planning we thought it would be a little bit more fun to be near the “action” of the main island. We wandered around for a while and ended up finding a place that was showing the Vikings game (Amber is from MN) so we sat down for a daiquiri and to watch the end of the game! We then showered, went to dinner, and went out for a little bit.

We didn’t do anything too extravagant because we knew how long of a journey we had in front of us! So, we woke up the next morning to a beautiful view and headed off to the boat docks.

It all worked out, because Meghan and I got restamped and another 90 day visa for Costa Rica! (My passport actually looks a bit used now! =) haha) and so ended our lovely passport renewal in Paradise… I would absolutely LOVE to go back someday!

Our hostel!

First thing we see when walking out of our trail onto the beach!

Me, Brianna, Meghan

I could probably put up like 100 more photos, but for those of you on facebook, they are on there already! Otherwise I will be putting them on the picasa site soon! (hopefully!)

We got back Monday afternoon, and let me tell you, waking up for school on Tuesday was definitely not the easiest of tasks! But it’s easier to wake up knowing that I have a great cooperating teacher to work with and that I really enjoy both of my classes! Who would have thought, me in middle elementary school! Not me, that’s for sure! So school Tuesday and Wednesday, but then today we didn’t have school. So on a more serious, sad note, The Central Valley (where I live) and Pacific Slope regions of Costa Rica have actually been declared a “yellow alert”, which is the second of the three alert levels, because of all of the rain that has fallen. It has basically been raining non stop since we got back on Monday and it has caused landslides and road closures and many people to evacuate from their homes. Thankfully here in Tres Rios, we haven’t experienced anything but heavy rains and wet roads. I believe the closest landslide was about 45 minutes away. So please keep Costa Rica and myself in your prayers! It was caused by Tropical Storm Tomas (now heading towards Jamaica I believe) and a low pressure system colliding. It hasn’t rained much yet today, so I am hoping that the systems are moving in opposite directions and that the heavy rains have passed.

On a lighter note, only 2 and a half weeks left of teaching and I will officially be ready to graduate! Two of the girls have already left to go back to the States because they are done teaching; it definitely made me a little bit jealous! But I still have a couple of more beaches here that I am going to enjoy seeing before heading back and gearing up to face the cold and snow!

All of us Costa Rica student teachers before starting to leave for home!

Okay, enough! ayiyi! Enjoy! =) Love and miss you all so much!

Brace Yourself..

..this is going to be a long one. Where to begin, I suppose from the beginning! The long weekend started by me nearly having a panic attack. Josh and Hannah had called and they were in San Jose waiting for their rental car, yippee!! =) They told me they would call when they had the keys and they knew the color and when they were going to be on their way! So they called and I figured it would be an hour for them to get to my house. (I walked out to the main road to wait for them by the cemetery so I didn’t have to try and give them directions in a country that doesn’t have street signs =) haha) Anywho, I waited.. and waited.. AND waited.. and started to get a bit nervous around the hour and a half mark, so I called my host mom. She told me not to worry and to wait just a bit longer.. thankfully, they showed up about 15 minutes later, but MAN was I starting to freak out.. and also didn’t realize how many silver cars are in this town. Anywho, we went back to my house where Emilia had a delicious lunch prepared for us! Emilia, in Spanish, told Hannah and I that we don’t look much alike because Hannah has “a round face, bigger nose, and Chinese eyes” hahahha After a nice lunch, we were on our way! Josh and Hannah had printed off directions and I kind of knew where we were going.. OORR not. Let’s just say none of us like San Jose. Actually, I really dislike San Jose. Driving here is ridiculous and I warned Josh of that when he suggested renting a car, but we survived and got onto the road we needed to get to Manuel Antonio. Hannah slept through most of the beginning of the drive when the views are pretty cool (of course, the one who has never left the country! Haha) It’s a bummer, though, because it gets dark here really early and we were getting into Manuel Antonio after 6, when it will obviously be dark. However, we did see an awesome sunset on our drive and of course had to stop and take pictures.

When we got into Manuel Antonio it was dark and kind of raining, so finding our hotel was an adventure. We had to keep driving up this hill and I eventually didn’t have service, so that was a bit scary. We finally found the hotel, got checked in, put our luggage away, and headed to dinner. We went to the restaurant across the street called La Cantina and got some FABULOUS blueberry margaritas and some delicious food to go along with it. After that we headed to BamboJam (I think that is how it’s spelled.. haha) which is a bar that was recommended to us by one of the workers at the hotel. We ended up meeting some locals, including Dennis (who will later teach us to surf) and Betzabe, who was working the door when we got there and who ended up spending the rest of our vacation with us! After the bar closed, we ventured over to a Casino, weird right? And then just headed back to the hotel.

The next morning we woke up to an unbelievable view (we had a panoramic ocean view room, unbelievably gorgeous), but not so great news. Grandma Jeanne had passed away that morning. Mom had been updating me on her health, and I knew she wasn’t doing the greatest, but it still isn’t news you ever want to hear. I kind of knew that she might pass away while I was in Costa Rica, but again, definitely news I did not want to receive while being here. However, it was definitely a blessing to have Josh and Hannah there with me when I did get the news, otherwise I am not so sure I would have been okay. Skype is such a great invention to have because the 3 of us were able to talk to mom and Rach and what not the whole weekend. I highly debated heading home to be with my family, but I am rather home sick and decided that if I went home, I wasn’t so sure I would come back and I didn’t want to have to repeat student teaching. Grandma left us with a ton of awesome memories to cherish forever and she is in a much happier place now. Mom told us that she passed away peacefully in her sleep just like she wanted to. I was also able to talk to most of my family on Skype the day of the funeral (Thank God for technology, right?) Mom told me all about the funeral and that she would save the picture boards and everything that was said. It’s a little bit weird to think about the funeral and everything, but I am happy that I will get to know a little bit about it. Rest in Peace, Grandma Jeanne.. I will love and miss you forever!

So from there, again, it was nice to have Josh and Hannah with me this whole time. We met up with Betzabe and headed down to a little restaurant right by the beach for breakfast. We hung out by the beach all day and then met Betzabe’s daughter, Amanda, who I automatically fell in love with (of course)! She is 6 years old and a great ball of energy! We headed to our hotel pool and just hung out there for a while. Hannah ended up falling asleep around 7 (Josh, too) and when I tried to wake them up, there was no moving! Josh ended up waking up a little later and did some work, but Hannah was OUT. She did get a tad sun burnt though, so I will give her a little credit.

The next day, we headed down to the beach again and decided to take some surfing lessons. There are always tons of people trying to get you the best deal and offer you different prices; it’s a bit annoying. Dennis, who we met the first night, came over and sat by us for a while. While he was there, his friend Marcos came over and he introduced us and told us that he was the best surfer and we should take lessons from him. Josh ended up talking to someone and we got lessons from Marcos. When I took lessons in Jaco they had us do the sand surfing, too, but I swear they just make tourists do that to laugh at them! We ended up surfing for a while and then just hung out on the beach some more, rough, I KNOW! =) Then we got ready for dinner and met up with my friends. Everything we ate all weekend was pretty much delicious, I won’t lie. After dinner, we all headed back to our hotel room for a little bit to hang out before we went out. While we were sitting there, Josh goes.. ‘uhh did anyone just feel the room shake?’ We all were like no? I had just thought Meghan moved around on the bed or something. Then, the room DEFINITELY shook. I had no idea, but I late had a message from my mom that said, “Heard about the earthquake, they said there were no injuries, hope you are okay!” NO WAY! I thought. Pretty cool that we experienced an earthquake and really had no idea! Haha We then went back to BamboJam (where Betzabe was working) to meet up with her and the other people we had met so far. We spent the night dancing meringue and somehow getting VIP in all of the bars? Thanks Betzabe! =) The next morning we woke up to go zip lining.

We were all in a bit of rough shape! Haha but we made it through.. and we finally saw.. MONKEYS!! So many of them it was ridiculous! Ever since I went zip lining in Monteverde, it is all I want to do. It is such a cool thing to be zooming through the canopies of a rain forest I just can’t even explain it! After the zip lining, it was back to the beach again! We ended up meeting a lot of people the past couple of days, and they were all at the beach every day, too. Amanda (Betzabe’s daughter) ended up coming a little bit later and I have not had that much sand in my suit in YEARS! She is such a ball of energy and I just played with her all day long. I seriously LOVE getting reminded of how much I love children and spending time with them day after day. I am definitely going back to Manuel Antonio before I leave to see everyone we met and to play in the sand with Amanda =) Every time I went back into the ocean to clean myself off, she would come and bury me in sand right away. We went digging for rocks, buried each other, and played in the waves. I love bringing out the kid in myself! After that, Hannah, Josh, and I went out for one last nice dinner before they had to go back. It was extremely hard to say good-bye to them, considering the circumstances, but it obviously had to be done. After they left, I went back to the beach by myself (didn’t feel like being around anyone really) and fell asleep listening to music. Marcos came over and made fun of my Spanish for a while and I played with his dog “Manchas”, so that all cheered me up a bit. It was SUCH a long bus ride home, but all worth it in the end.

When I got home, I headed straight to bed in order to prepare for my new school! I am at Sistema Eduvativo Bilingue Virgen de Pilar (a mouthful, I know). The school is about a 25-minute walk from my house and I actually really enjoy starting and ending my school day with a nice walk! (Don’t worry mom, it’s down a main road the entire time). I am actually splitting my time between 1^st and 4^th grades. Who would have thought that I would student teach in 4^th grade AND…. I love it! The school does their days half in English and half in Spanish. So I am with both grades for the English parts of the day. What is really cool about this school is that they don’t just do a certain subject in English, but they do all subjects in both languages. So I am working in language, spelling, math, science, reading and oral English. Here is my schedule for the week:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:35-8:20	4th P.E.	Prep	4th Reading	1st Math	4th Values
8:20-9:00	4th Reading	Prep	4th Reading	1st Math	4th Math
9:00-9:20	Recreo	Recreo	Recreo	Recreo	Recreo
9:20-10:00	4th Science	1st Language	4th Language	1st Spelling	4th Spelling
10:00-10:40	4th Science	1st Language	4th Language	1st Spelling	4th Spelling
10:40-11:20	4th Science	1st Language	Prep	1st Spelling	4th Spelling
11:20-12:00	Almuerzo	Almuerzo	Almuerzo	Almuerzo	Almuerzo
12:00-12:40	1st Reading	4th Math	1st Science	4th Oral Eng.	1st Language
12:40-1:20	1st Reading	Prep	1st Science	4th Oral Eng.	1st Spelling
1:20-2:10	1st Reading	Prep	1st Science	4th Oral Eng.	1st Spelling

It is quite the schedule, but so far I am enjoying it quite a bit! I never thought I would say that I love 4^th grade, but I actually really do! It may be that my cooperating teacher is awesome and makes me feel so welcome and is very helpful, but I am enjoying the children, too. However, it is SO weird to see them take out cell phones during break and see the little girls take out mirrors and combs. ALSO one of the little boys yesterday whipped out some deodorant after recess, I laughed a bit. Of course all of the little girls are so curious about me and want to learn English more so than the boys. They are constantly asking me questions about my favorite color, food, animal, etc. They always comment on my eye color and hair color, it’s pretty cute. Also, the first graders were SO excited to have me in their class, too. They ask me hundreds of questions all at once and ask me everything about the United States. I have had a whole week here now and already feel really comfortable. When my advisor had told me about the school, she had mentioned that “the noise is incredible.” I was really unsure of what she meant, until I got here. The school is pretty small and open and in the middle of everything is the soccer field where they have gym class and what not. I can literally hear everything that everyone is doing in the school, the noise IS incredible. But, I kind of like it anyway! It is definitely already a lot more work than the Montessori, but that is expected since I am in an actual elementary school, and a private one at that. They have to make weekly plans, write what they ACTUALLY did during the week, and at the end of every month turn it into the director of the school. Since it is the end of their school year right now, I will be working with the students on reviewing for tests and I think I will actually be here while they are testing, too. Speaking of, they had taken some tests last week and they got them back while I was here.. I have never seen 1^st graders so excited to get tests back and to compare grades, pretty crazy. Today was a celebration because it was the school’s 10^th Birthday! The day was spent with lots of food, music, and soccer playing. I have never seen so much soccer playing in my life. Literally every free moment they have, most of the kids are out playing soccer. I didn't get a chance to really take any pictures of my school or anything yet, but as soon as I do, I will get them up.

I now only have 5 and a half weeks left to teach and 6 and a half weeks left in Costa Rica. Unbelievable how fast time is flying. This weekend and next weekend we are staying around Tres Rios because we need some rest and want to save some money. The last weekend of this month we are going to Bocas del Toro (islands off of the coast of Panama) because we need to renew our visas. Google it, it looks like a ridiculous paradise that’s for sure!

But, I think this is enough for now. I warned you it would be long =)

Josh, Hannah, and I at dinner.
Coming in on one of the zip lines!
Beautiful sunsets here (view from our room)

Love and miss you all SOO much! But I know I will be home very soon! ALSO I know I have said it before a lot.. but I have a lot of time this weekend to actually put the rest of my pictures on the Picasa website! tata for now! =)

Where one road ends, another begins

Or should I say another two roads begin?
To start, last Friday was my last day at Kid's World Montessori. Which means, I am half way done student teaching! It is crazy how fast time flies! The kids, of course, threw me a little going away party. We had snacks, listened to music, danced, and Gaby had them go around in a circle and tell what their favorite part about me being there was. Most of them said they liked me helping them with numbers and English, but one little girl told me she liked my blond hair to play with =) It was very adorable. They also each colored a picture of themselves with me and put them together into a little book for me to take back to the States with me. It is SO cute, and pretty much all of them gave me a lot of yellow hair. haha
It was definitely a sad day saying good bye, but I was ready for a new school. In Costa Rica, and especially at the Montessori, they spend a lot of time on extra curricular activities and practicing for the numerous programs or holiday events that they have going on here. At my time there, they were already practicing for their Christmas Program and it took up a big portion of a lot of days, so I felt like I wasn't doing much besides just sitting there and watching.
My next placement was called Las Huellitas (The Footprints). However, when I got there on Monday, I realized it was more of a daycare.
OKAY so in the United States for my licensure (birth-6 grade) it is possible to do a preschool student teaching, as long as it is a split placement with an older level. When I had originally gotten my placements, I thought it was going to be fine because I was in the Kinder at the Montessori and Pre Kinder at Las Huellitas. Little did I know that in Costa Rica the grade levels go: Pre Kinder, Kinder, Prepatory, and then 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades and so on. I got a little worried towards the end of my placement at the Montessori because the teachers were all telling me that Las Huellitas was more of a daycare. I decided to just go and see what it was all about before making an decision. Turns out, it is definitely just a daycare, and the kids were younger than the ones I was working with at the Montessori. I decided that I didn't want to risk finishing my placement there and coming back to the States just to be told that I didn't do the right placements and had to do more student teaching. (How not fun would that have been?!) So I quickly contacted my adviser and we switched my schools right away.
So new road number one was very short traveled, I just spent Monday and Tuesday there, but still a good experience. None of the teachers spoke English to me and I realized how much better my Spanish actually has gotten and the children were adorable! If it was up to me, I would have stayed there because I just absolutely love the little ones =)
New road number two began today! The school I am going to be teaching at for my last 6 and a half weeks is Virgen del Pilar. It is a bilingual school about a 25 minute walk from my house. (There is a bus, too, but the walk goes right through the center of my town and is very nice!) I walked there today with Emilia to meet the teachers and see the school. They aren't sure yet, but I will probably be working with 1st and 2nd grades! I am very excited, because I do really enjoy those grades! The school is very cute and they actually do all subjects in both English and Spanish. The students have half of their day in English and the other half in Spanish. It will be a great experience for me and hopefully I will be able to implement a lot of my own ideas when teaching and what not! I would be starting tomorrow..
BUUT .. Josh just called and they are HEREE!! just waiting to get their rental car!! They are coming to pick me up and then it is off to Manuel Antonio until Sunday!! I am very excited to spend some time with some of my family.. and I guess being on the beach will be nice too!
Love and miss you all!!
I will be sure to blog with PLENTY of pictures when I get home on Sunday! =)

Hot Springs, Horses, and Canopies

This weekend's adventure was definitely much different than the last! Instead of beautiful beaches with white side and clear waters, we were off to a volcano and a cloud forest! This weekend, Amber and I left bright and early Friday morning to head to the Arenal Volcano (I think the most "famous" volcano here in Costa Rica) We had booked a hostel online and wandered around town for awhile trying to find it. We walked past one place about three times before we went in because it had the name of our hostel on a sign but also a different name. We told the lady we had a reservation and she didn't ask my name, had no idea how many nights we were going to be there, no idea how many people, and we just plain got a terrible impression from the place. After she brought us to our "room" she told us she didn't have a key for us.. YEAH after about 3 minutes of contemplation we left and went to a tourist place, got on the internet, canceled that one, and looked up a different one. We ended up at a cute little hostel called Hotel Dorothy with a very welcoming man named Carlos that greeted and helped us out right away. He told us that if we could be ready in about an hour he would take us to Baldi Hot Springs (a resort made in the hot springs of Volcan Arenal) from 1:00-3:00, pick us up to take us on a hike of the Volcano from 3:15-6:00, then back to Baldi Hot Springs for some swimming and dinner until 9:30. The lunch that was included, was FANTASTIC!!! We each got to chose an appetizer, so I had heart of palm salad, then garlic sea bass with veggies and cheesey mashed potatoes for main course, and a delicious cheese cake for dessert came out as soon as we were finished! It also included a delicious mango smoothie! I attempted to take a picture of the sea bass, but it just didn't up too great. However, the picture of the excellent cheesecake dessert showed up just fine =) So after we had our fantastic lunch, we wandered around the place for awhile and let our stomachs digest before heading off to the volcano hike. We went to a place called Arenal 1968. It is called that because, obviously, the name of the volcano, and then in 1968 there was an eruption so bad that it destroyed three small villages.
This website talks a little bit about the eruption, I'm sure you could google more to find out all about it!

http://www.arenal.net/arenal-volcano-1968-eruption.htm

On our tour, our guide stopped and told us all about the plants and what they are used for, such as making mosquito repellent, helping with fevers, curing diabetes, etc. It seemed as though every plant had some sort of purpose in natural healing, it was pretty cool. And then... our tour guide ate termites.. EWWW.. they were "natural" and apparently are full of protein and taste like carrots. He told us that if we were ever stranded that we could eat them and be fine. Then we hiked up further to the volcano and saw huge boulders of lava rock that destroyed the villages, it was pretty crazy. This is apparently one of the "smaller" boulders that crashed through the villages. It was seriously crazy seeing all of this and realizing that just 40 some years ago it was three villages. We continued hiking up and went to two view points of the volcano, very pretty.

I was kinda bummed that a cloud was covering the top of the volcano, but still pretty cool!

That night we headed back for some dinner, time in the hot springs, and just 1 drink.. they were 8 DOLLARS a piece.. our tour guide told us that during "high season" drinks are like 11.00 or 12.00 dollars.. ridiculous! The hot springs ranged in temperatures from 52 to 152 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously the one that was 152 degrees was not for going in, more or less just for show and for people to feel, it was INSANELY hot. So we hung out there, met some fun people, and headed back to our hostel for a good night sleep!The next morning we were off to Monteverde (a town not too far away but up a lot higher) to meet the other girls! Now, we didn't just hop on a bus to go over there, oh no. We started by getting picked up from our hostel, drove down to Lake Arenal, took a boat across Lake Arenal (gorgeous views), walked up into the woods, and got on our horses!! My horse's name was "Rocky Balboa" oh dear goodness were my first thoughts! Turns out he was 4 years old, has been doing this trail for awhile, and was a very gentle, fun horse.

Our horses were buddies and were constantly "joking around" on the trail! It was pretty entertaining and made it a lot of fun!

Rocky seemed like he was bored and liked to go "off-roading" with me and tried going down a trail he wasn't supposed to! He was always going back and forth along the trail and fighting over the lead with Amber's horse. Our guide also had a VERY adorable little dog that came the whole way with us! She was sooo cute and added to the adventure. Another thing that added to the adventure was the SNAKE we saw just hanging out in the middle of the path. I thought that horses were spooked by snakes, but thank goodness we just trotted right on over that snake.

Yeah, the guide took this picture. NO WAY was I going back.Amber and I in front of Arenal Volcano

Our horse back ride was about 3 hours, and manoman was my behind SORE! Definitely not used to riding horses, that's for sure! When we got to Monteverde, we took a nap =) The girls and I went to grab some dinner, then went to get some wine/chocolates, and just sat in the hostel talking until we all hit the hay. The next morning we woke up to go zip lining through the canopy of the Cloud Forest in Monteverde. Unreal. I have never been zip lining before, so I was a bit nervous. But, wow, it was such an amazing experience! I brought my camera, but it was impossible to take pictures of my views from the zip line. There were 11 lines, a bridge, a repel, and a tarzan swing. The tarzan swing was so fun! They didn't really tell us what we were getting into until we got to the top. I took a video, and I will try to put it on here, but basically we walked up a bunch of stairs, the strapped us in, told us to hold onto a rope, and PUSHED us right off.. we went FLYING up to the top of the canopy and then back toward the platform we were pushed off of. It was quite the rush and I would definitely do it again! Another cool thing was the very last line we got to "superman". So instead of just sitting like a typical zip line, we were hooked up by our butts and backs and we "laid down" so we looked like superman flying through the sky. The views were so pretty and we actually zip lined through the clouds, pretty cool!

We got a little bit dirty!With two of our guides, they had fun messing with tourists!

It was quite the eventful, fun weekend, and muuuch different than our weekend at the beach! My next big adventure begins a week from Wednesday when JOSH AND HANNAH GET HERE!! I am definitely very excited to see them and spend time with them on the beach and I am definitely taking them zip lining!
Last week at placement number 1, onto placement number 2 next week!
My internet works a lot better now and I will be adding plenty more pictures to the Picasa site.. miss everyone so much!