Well the day has finally come when my fantasy has to come to an end! :( I will be leaving my tica house in t-minus 7 hours and going to the airport. I will be leaving the great country of Costa Rica at approximately 9:30am and hopefully all goes well! I am praying to God that we all make it safe and sound back home to our wonderful families and friends. I cannot wait to see all of you when I get back! I miss you so much! I have had an amazing past 2.5 months here in Costa Rica and I am glad I got to come. I am sad to leave my family and friends here, but it is something that has to be done. I know I will come back and visit as soon as I can! Yesterday I finished all of my finals and I think I passed all of my classes which is awesome!!! :) I am a free woman... for 17 days...then I start school again, but hey I love school so it is all good!! :) I should return home in Boise at approximately 11:58pm tomorrow night if all goes well, so let's all just pray that things go well and I make it back safely and on time! :) Good bye Costa Rica! I will miss you very much!

OMG!! As of this moment! I have 2 days 1 hour and some minutes until I arrive back in Boise! I can't believe this summer here in Costa Rica is almost over!! What an experience it has been! I have met some amazing people and had some amazing experiences! I can't even believe it! I am so glad I came here this summer, even though I miss being home a lot, this has been a wonderful experience! :) Well Monday was the last day of normal class, then at 7pm 8 of us from the group walked from San Jose to Cartago! Lizzy and I walked faster than everyone and we walked the whole way in like 4.5 or 5 hours! It was an intense walk let's just put it that way...uphill and downhill, with literally hundreds of thousands of people! It was insane, but it was really cool! When we got to the Church (Basilica) in Cartago it was all lit up and beautiful!! We were so exhausted though that we just got on a bus and came home! Lizzy and I ended up getting home at 2:30am and we were so tired! Then Tuesday we didn't have school because it was a national holiday (a day to give thanks and praise to the patron saint in the catholic church, la negrita). So Patri, Dani, and I went to have lunch and spend the afternoon at a friends house! It was pretty fun except I was so tired and had a hard time concentrating on the Spanish! haha then I had to study that night for my final that I had in Composition this morning! I did well on it so that was good! Now I just have 2 presentations left tomorrow and a dance class and then I will be done with "summer school"!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited if you couldn't tell! hahaha I started packing today and OMgoodness i have sooo much stuff! Tomorrow after all my stuff is done I will come home and try to finish packing, but I think that my family is having a going away party so I will have to say goodbye to everyone which will be sad! :( We shall see how the last day in Costa Rica goes! I hope it is a good one!!! :) Wish me luck on my time here and my journey home on Friday!!! :)

Well this last week went by pretty fast thankfully! It has been a long one though! I pretty much just went to classes this last week and hung out with the family and my friends. Friday Lizzy, Jessica, James and I wen to San Jose to buy some last minute souvenirs and it was actually pretty cool. We found a new store call "La Casona" and it was filled with tons of fun things. If I had lots of money I would have spent it all there. Then this weekend I just decided to stay home because we have so much homework and I wanted to spend it with mi familia tica! Yesterday mi padre tico came all the way from Guanacaste just to take me out to dinner before I left. I didn't know this till this morning when he had already left. How sweet is that!? I didn't even get to say goodbye though because he left so early! :( I feel really bad, but it was so kind of him to do this for me! Today my friend Lizzy came over for lunch. She wanted to meet my family and this was one of the only chances she was going to get. It was really nice of mi mami tica to let her come and we enjoyed a delicious lunch of meat, rice, and mashed potatoes! The rest of the day is going to be filled with homework because I have so much due really soon! This next week isn't going to be any shorter than last week. I have so much to do in the next 5 days before I come home it's crazy! Tomorrow is our last day of normal classes and after dance class at 6 the USAC group is going to walk to Cartago for Virgen de los Angeles. It's a day to celebrate Costa Rica's patron saint. There are tons of people that walk from all over Costa Rica to celebrate this event so we are going to have the experience too and walk with them. It is approximately a 4 hour walk from San Jose to Cartago so that will be fun! Then we have no classes Tuesday because that is when the actual celebration happens. Then Wednesday and Thursday are finals and Friday is when I fly back home. So pretty much there is a lot to do in the next few days so I better get crackin' and finish my stuff so I can enjoy my last few days here! :)

Nicaragua!

Well this past weekend was quite the experience! First of all my friends Lizzy and Jessica went with me to Nicaragua because we had a long weekend! We left Friday morning at 9am from San Jose on the TransNica bus! It was a very nice bus compared to other buses we have traveled on here in the country. We had air conditioning and everything! :) It took about 8 ish hours for us to get there, crossing the boarder and everything. That was interesting! After getting stamped out of Costa Rica we had to wait for like an hour before we got our passports back saying we were stamped into Nicaragua. On our trip we stayed with a friend of Lizzy's named Anna! She and her family were so sweet to us and it made the whole trip so much better!!! :) Friday night we just hung out and we ate Pupusas. They were pretty much some type of a tortilla with beans and cheese in the middle. They were sure delicious! Saturday we went to the beach called San Juan del Sur which was like 30 minutes away in a taxi. We spent the day there eating, playing in the ocean, talking, and walking around the city of San Juan del Sur. It was very touristy but it was also very beautiful. Then we went to Anna's grandpa's house to hang out there and check out the lake that he lived by....yes there was an ocean on one side and a lake on the other...it was crazy but cool! Her grandpa lives in a legit 3rd world house....Brick/cement walls with dirt floors and sheets used as doors. plus it was just plain old school looking. Oh the shower was just a square brick walled structure and a pipe just barely tall enough for me to stand under and it was outside...so cold! Her grandpa is a tailor so he had an old school peddler sewing machine. It was really cool! After we hung out there for awhile we had to go back and do homework :/ boo, but since we didn't do our homework before we had to do it Saturday night. Anna's mom made Nicaraguan tamales and they were absolutely delicious! Sunday we went to the city of Granada which is very touristy also, but it was a nice city to look at. It is the old capitol of Central America so it was very historical. Then we went to Masaya to the huge market there and we spent tons of time and money there on some really awesome things! I very much so enjoyed this part of the trip since it was obviously the part I looked forward to the most! ;) hahaha but it was a great experience! The bus ride there and back was a whole other story in general. I'm pretty sure they have never seen white, blonde girls in their lives because 99% of them stared at me! I was slightly uncomfortable, but I couldn't really do anything about it so yeah! We just hung out on Sunday night because we were exhausted from all the traveling and shopping from that day. Then today we had to catch the bus at 9am to come back to Costa Rica. Praise God that we made it through the boarder and back okay and we made it home safely! It was a 9 hour bus ride back to Barva today so I was so bus sick and tired when I got back! When I got home I had to shower so I was less disgusting from sitting on a hot sweaty bus all day and I had to finish my homework so I can pass my class! It was an amazing trip and I am so glad I got to experience it, but honestly I am glad I live with the host family I do here in Barva! Nicaragua was really nice, but it is definitely 3rd world and they don't see too many white blonde tall girls! As of right now I only have 11 days...or 10 days starting tomorrow until I leave Costa Rica! I have a lot to do and little time to do it in so I guess I better make the most of it!! :)

Well thankfully this week has gone by really fast! :) Yesterday I had quite the experience! I had to go to the doctor for a swollen bug bite thing on my face and that was interesting. It was actually really good! The doctor spoke English so that made it better... and there is nothing wrong with me except she gave me a cream to keep it from getting and infection and to help the swelling and today it is a thousand times better!! :) Tomorrow Jessica, Lizzy, and I are going to make a grand adventure across the border to Nicaragua! We were going to stay in hostels and I was slightly scared, but Lizzy talked to one of her Nica friends and she said we could stay with her so that makes the trip a lot safer! We are skipping class (which is totally fine because everyone else is skipping too hahaha) and leaving Heredia at 7am and leaving San Jose at 9am. I am very excited and I hope that it is an amazing experience, but I guess we shall see! We will be there till Monday because we have no school Monday...it's some kind of a religious holiday so that is awesome! :) I am soo excited! So our long weekend will hopefully be amazing! Starting tomorrow we only have 2 weeks left here in Costa Rica, which is only 14 days!!! OMG I am getting sooo excited I can barely stand it! Well I need to pack and do homework before I leave tomorrow! Lots to do!

Well today is kind of a memorable day...actually no not really. Anyway 2 months ago from today I was on a plane flying here to Costa Rica and 17 days from now I will be on a plane back home to Idaho! I am soooo ready to be home! I mean I love being in Costa Rica and I am having the time of my life, but I miss everyone back home! I have a lot planned out to do until I get home so that will make the time fly right by! This week is going well so far, but I have a ton of homework for my class every day which is no bueno! but when we have tons of homework during the week we don't have homework on the weekends, which is awesome!!! :) The only bad thing about this week is that there have been a ton of sick people so that is poopy! and an American girl I met 5 weeks ago (and is in a different program) is leaving on Friday so that is sad, but I'm glad I met her! I have a lot to do and a lot of Spanish to practice in the next 17 days so I better get crackin!!! ;) hahaha

Well thankfully this week has gone by sort of fast! Classes have been going okay, I just have a lot of busy work and a lot writing that I have to do, but for the most part it is good! There are some interesting people in this new group and that is all I am going to say about them for now at least! It is only week 2 of this second 5 weeks and we already have a midterm tomorrow and it isn't supposed to be until next week, but oh well I guess. I can't change the teacher's plans so I'll just go with it! I am supposed to be studying right now, but unfortunately I am not! :/ Today was a good and bad day! It was just a normal day, except it's Daddy's birthday and it's the little girl I baby sit, Paisley's birthday today! I am very sad that I didn't get to celebrate with either of them! :( I called Paisley to wish her happy birthday and it's the first time I have heard her voice in almost 8 weeks and I almost started crying! I miss that little bugger so much! :( I am supposed to skype Daddy later after they get back home so that will be nice to see him and wish him happy Birthday! I just wish I was there to celebrate!

So we only have 3 actual weekends left! This weekend some of the group is going to Jaco and Manuel Antonio. I decided that I am running low on money and don't need to spend it on a trip I don't really want to go on so I am going to hang out here for the weekend! My host sister, Dani, comes back on Saturday anyway so I figure I should probably hang out with her a little since she has been gone for two weeks and I will be gone the next two weekends. So I will just be a house bum or something, but a break will be nice! :)

This 5 weeks is going to be very consumed with homework! My composition class requires that I write a lot, which is definitely necessary to better my Spanish writing skills. I'm also taking a Latin American Culture class and it is only 1 credit, but we have way more work than we should! It will help with my Spanish because it is taught in Spanish, but we definitely shouldn't have this much work for this class! Oh well I guess! Anyway for the 4th of July some of us gringos went out to dinner and had pizza and talked about all of the amazing adventures we have been on! It was pretty fun, but I definitely missed the fireworks and the family picnic! :( It's okay there is always next year! :) Lizzy and I have started going to the gym again after our week long break and it feels so nice to workout again! I love going to our step class on Tuesday with our awesome instructor Pablo! He is so hilarious and totally kicks our butt! I love it! :) Today was a good day! I went to class, worked out, came home and did homework and ate lunch with my host mom, went back to school for orientation (again), then went out to dinner for a friend's 21st birthday! It was so much fun! We had some Sake Plume or something like that and it was delicious! Overall we had a good time! One more day of classes until our group field trip! :) WOOOO!!!

Yesterday I hung out at home and just kind of relaxed! Then at 3pm I went to a wedding with my host mom! It was at the Catholic Church! The wedding was very beautiful, but I understood nothing! :( Then we went to a wedding reception! That was really crazy! We danced and ate so much but it was really cool!! I had a great time! I'm glad I got to experience my first Costa Rican wedding!!! :) It was a good experience for me even though I didn't understand much it was still fun! We didn't get home until last night at 11pm! It was such a long day, but it was good! :) Today is my last day of vacation before I start my second 5 week session! I am just going to hang out today and pretty much do nothing, but that is okay! Tomorrow is orientation at 8am so I will then have my schedule of classes and what I have to do for the next 5 weeks! Should be good! :)

On Friday, Mom, Alli, and I hung out at home all morning helping my host sister Dani get ready to leave on her trip to the States! Then we checked out my school again and I took them to the open food market! I think they were pretty impressed by how big it it and that it is open every day! After that we went to San Jose one last time so they could check out the National Museum! It was actually really cool! It was a whole history about Costa Rica and some of it's culture! It down poured the whole day, but besides that it was fun! When we returned home, I asked my host mom if Dani had made it to Miami yet and she hadn't heard anything. Like 5 minutes later she got a call from her sister that said Dani and her cousin Kim never made it! My host mom slightly freaked out! So mom, alli, and I did our best to do everything possible to try to figure out what was going on! Finally after a few hours of trying to figure everything out my host mom's sister called and said they had finally made it through customs and immigration! It was a huge relief for all of us! So then Mom and Alli got packed and we all went to bed! They had to leave at 3:45 AM, which was very early and not very fun to wake up at, but it was okay! I had such an amazing time with them and I'm glad they got to come! :) It was a great week vacation for all of us!!! :)

On Tuesday Mom, Alli, and I made it all the way to the bus terminal and we took the bus to Puerto Viejo! It was a nice long 4.5 hour bus ride, but we were up front so no one got sick and we got to see all of the beautiful scenery! When we arrived in the Caribbean all of us got super hot and sweaty because it was so humid there! Once off the bus this guy took us to a hostel which was actually pretty nice! It had air conditioning and cable which was cool! So we put our stuff in the room and alli and I headed straight for the beach since it was like 100 feet from our room! Awesome!! :) We pretty much just hung out Tuesday and walked around the town a little bit. We went to bed about 10pm because we were all so tired from the long bus ride and the heat! On Wednesday we went on a tour! We first went to this Jaguar Rescue Center where we got to see all of the nasty disgusting snakes (YUCK!), lots of adorable animals like Monkeys (which I go to hold!), sloths, this raccoon type thing, a green tree frog, a wild cat of some sort but I'm not sure what it was, and lots of other things! It was so cool!! After that we went to this indigenous woman's house to watch and see how they make cocoa into chocolate! It was a small demonstration but it was fun! Then we got to try it and it was very natural and disgusting, but still fun! After that we went to this waterfall! It was so beautiful! We drove up the mountain a little ways then we had to hike through the jungle for like 5 minutes until we got there! Alli and I got to go swimming in it and it was so cool! The scenery was beautiful too! Mom didn't want to go swimming so she just took pictures and talked to the guide so it was all good! When we were walking back I didn't have my shoes on because I didn't want them to get wet, and I was being so careful not to fall, but unfortunately I am the one that fell in the water and got my shoes and all of my clothes wet! It was very graceful on my part but it was whatever! When we got back our driver had found pineapple and coconuts for us to eat! It was fresh from the tree and it was sure delicious! Then we went back to Puerto Viejo and went back to the ocean! We just hung out Wednesday afternoon and shopped and ate dinner and had a great time! Thursday we went to the ocean in the morning, then got ready and shopped and hung out until 4pm when the bus came to take us back! We rode the bus for another 4.5 hours last night and made it home by about 9pm! When we got home my host dad was here so we hung out with the family and then Ruben came over to say goodbye to mom and alli! My host sister Dani is leaving for the States today at noon so everyone is making preparations for her to leave! Mom, Alli, and, I are going to San Jose to the National Museum today and to the food market and to my school so they can see some last minute things before they leave back to the States tomorrow too! It has been a very exciting break and I have very much enjoyed my family being here! I will be sad to have them leave tomorrow, but it will only be 5 more weeks after they leave until I go home too! :)

Family Time!

Well these past few days have been a blast! My momma and sister arrived on Sunday at some awful hour (6am)! They made it safely to Barva where I live! Once here they took a short nap then ate some breakfast with me and my family! I took them on a tour of the city of Barva in the morning then we all ate lunch together! After lunch my host sister Dani and I took them on a tour around Heredia! We went to the University but it was closed so we just looked at the buildings! Then we went and saw central park and the stores/shops close to the park! Alli wanted some awesome shoes from BestBrands so we went there and she bought some shoes! Then they were sort of tired so we all came back and hung out at my house with my family! I did a lot of translating for my host mom and my family, but my host sister Dani did really well with her English! Mom and I also did a lot of explaining in English and Spanish about how to go through customs and whatnot! Then my cousins came over to meet my family so it was quite the day for them!!! Then Monday I took mom and alli to San Jose. We were going to go to the National Museum of Costa Rica, but it was closed so we went to the Artesian Market where they loved it so much and almost bought it all! It was really fun! They got to experience the big city which was pretty crazy but fun! :) After our adventure we made it back to Heredia and decided to get smoothies and go home! The family friend Ruben came over to meet them which was fun because mom and alli could speak English to him! It was really nice! I think they had a good time with my family! My host mom is so sweet and makes them food all the time! It may not be a lot but it sure is delicious!!! :)

This week is finals week, which means it's the end of the first session and almost the end of 5 weeks!!! :) We have all been studying and doing homework and finishing projects at the last minute because honestly there is no other way to do it! ;) hahaha Yesterday we got to take our last whole group trip to a place called Sarchi! It was just a little town with the biggest ox cart in the whole wide world! Unfortunately we didn't get to stop and take pictures of it because some of the group just wanted to go shopping in this really cool place! It was really decorated and pretty in this town! Everyone was very friendly too! :) Tonight we are going to some kind of dance performance with our dance teacher! I have no idea what it is, but it should be fun! Tomorrow almost all of the group leaves for the Southern Costa Rica tour, which I'm not going on. I am totally okay with that because Mommy and Alli will be here in a few days! I can hardly wait!!!! Also tomorrow is the last day for the people who are only staying 5 weeks. So it is goodbye to Julia, Amy, Stephanie, and Sarah. Sonja and Ana are moving to Puntarenas so that is sad too, but there will be four of us left here and we are getting more people for the second session so that will be good! Since everyone is leaving I will just have to entertain myself for a couple of days before my family gets here! Maybe I will go to the gym and drink more smoothies!!! ;)

Well a lot has happened since last Thursday! This past weekend some of the girls and I went to a place called Tortuguero. It was quite an adventure. There were 7 of us that went, but only 3 of us made it on the first night (Friday). That was pretty intense, but a fun experience! We took a few different buses to get to a place called Pavona, then we had to take a small passenger boat through these different rivers for about an hour to get to Tortuguero. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It was so green and there were tons of different kinds of trees and animals and different villages that were so cute! When we got there we checked into this really sketchy hostel place. It was extremely hot and had cockroaches and other kinds of creepy crawly bugs. The three of us (Lizzy, Sonja, and I) just hung out and ate dinner and walked around the little town. The people we so nice and helpful! We also signed up for a morning tour! Saturday morning at 6 AM we went on a canoe tour through the national park there! It was absolutely amazing! :) We saw so many different types of animals, like birds, little crocodiles (I don't remember their name), butterflies, monkeys, poisonous frogs, iguanas, and so many trees and vegetation! I don't even know how to explain how magical it was! Then we went to the beach for part of the day and finally met up with the other girls! We all just hung out on the beach and what not. The best part of the whole trip besides the canoe tour was on Saturday night! We all got to go on a turtle tour! It's not turtle season so we didn't know if we would see any. We walked in the complete darkness on the beach for about 30 minutes and finally saw some tracks which meant there were some turtles around! about 15 minutes later we were all stopped because there was a momma turtle trying to find the right place to lay her eggs! Unfortunately she didn't like the place she picked so she didn't lay her eggs, but we all got to see a giant sea turtle! It was seriously bigger than the turtle at the Boise Zoo! It was huge and she was so sweet and I just wanted to pet her but unfortunately we couldn't. I was just excited that we got to see a turtle! That was the only thing I really wanted to see on the whole trip and I got to! :) Sunday morning we all went to the beach again for a bit before we had to travel home! It was seriously the best weekend ever before our finals! I'm glad we got to go! :)

Our homemade tortillas which were very delicious! The Cathedral of Los Angeles in Cartago!

Well nothing really exciting has happened the last few days! I've just been going to school and doing homework a lot because mi amigas y Yo want to to a place called Tortuguero this weekend! It is supposed to be a beautiful place up in the northeastern corner! I really would like to go so I am really hoping we can get it together to go! :) Other than that we have just been doing a lot of school work because as of today we only have a weeks worth of classes left so we have a lot to do in that short amount of time. Oh something really awesome...One of my assignments for my conversation class was to create a presentation about Idaho because my teacher had never been there so I did. I made this really awesome powerpoint for her with pictures and info about the coolest places in Southern Idaho and she loved it! She said that she would have to come visit Idaho in the future because it looks like such a cool place! haha How awesome is that!!? Anyway only 10 more days until I can see my momma and my sista!!! :) I am sooo excited! It will be a great and much needed break!

Well I have been a slacker for the past few days! Sorry everyone! Well let's see, what have I done these past few days..... Well Thursday afternoon for my history class we went to a museum called Museo de Cultura Popular! It was a really cool place and it used to be the home of a former president of Costa Rica and his family or something. It was a very interesting place with a lot of history! While there we got to make homemade tortillas! That was really fun, but we are definitely not tortilla professionals! Then we got to eat picadillo with our tortillas (it was basically chopped potatoes with meat and some type of sauce...delicious!) Friday I went to class then hung out at home for a while than my host sister, Dani, asked me if I wanted to go watch her do ballet! I went and it was so cute to see her do it! She has only been doing it for 5 months and is pretty good! :) Then I went to a bible study just down the road from my house and it was awesome! I understood most of what was going on because I had my English bible so that definitely helped me out a lot! Then Saturday I watched a movie with Dani and Ruben and it was an awful movie! but it was fun to hang out! Saturday night Ruben and I went to church with our bible study friends at Monte de Dios! It was a college/teenage service and it was really upbeat and fun! I enjoyed it! This morning Ruben and I went back to the same church for the morning service and it was just as upbeat and awesome as Saturday night! I like this church I think, but I definitely did not understand most of it! I will have to practice the songs or something because I could not sing in Spanish at all....but it was still fun! Tomorrow starts the beginning of week 4! That means I only have two weeks left of this session and only 14 days until my family comes to visit!!! Yay!!! :)

Ayer nosotros fuimos a Cartago! It's a place southeast of Heredia! We drove for about an hour then we stopped and ate lunch at what I thought was a Mexican restaurant! Well they had some Mexican food, but it was mostly hamburgers! I ended up having a double patty hamburger with ham and cheese in the center of them. It was quite interesting to say the least! It wasn't gross, just different! After lunch, we went to the big Catedral that's in the city! It was so gorgeous! There is a tradition with that church where every year on August 1st people from all over Costa Rica walk to Cartago to go to the church to either give thanks, ask for healing, bring offerings, etc. There are supposedly thousands and thousands of people! Carlitos said that we should get a group together and walk to Cartago together on Aug 1st. So that is a possibility for now! After we left the church we drove back to San Pedro and went to this huge mall there! Unfortunately we found this amazing shoe store that was soo cheap and nice that we all ended up buying at least one pair of shoes... It was a fabulous store! ;) We all had a good time and I enjoy our little afternoon adventures to different cities! This is definitely a beautiful country and there is so much to see! Today I finally finished my last midterm so that is good! Now I just have like 2.5 weeks left before the end of this session and only 17 days till My Mommy and Alli and possibly Scottie come to visit!! Yay!!! I cannot wait! :)

Taking summer classes is not very fun, even in Costa Rica! I am definitely not a fan of taking midterms for 3 days! :( no bueno!! Oh well! Yesterday we had our dance class and we are supposed to be learning dances of Latin America...well instead of our normal class we had a sub instructor! Well she was this really extravagant black girl who taught us how to really shake our booties! ;) it was sooo much fun, but so not the type of class you would expect for Latin American Dances! haha Anyway I'm off to study some more for my Examen de Espanol! :)

Ayer, mis amigas y yo fuimos a San Jose por un concierto! Fue muy divertido!!! :) Pero llovio todo el concierto y nosotros estaban fuera! It was really wet and cold but it was fun! I've never been to an outdoor concert in the rain before! What a new experience! After the concert we came home and put on warm dry clothes! We saw two bands: Percance y Hombres G. Percance is a local Costa Rican band and they were good! Hombres G is a band from España! They were good too! Besides being wet and cold it was a fun time! :) Today is a pretty relaxing day! Mi hermana y yo vimos una pelicula: The Last Song. It was in Ingles pero it had Español subtitles! It was good! Now off to study for mi examenes para mañana!

Well I had my first real adventurous day ayer!! :) Mis amigas y yo fuimos a San Jose solo! It was soooooo much fun! We had to find the right buses and ask for directions and everything all by ourselves! It was quite an experience! We didn't get lost and we met a new friend who was so sweet and wants to practice her English with us while we practice our Spanish! How cool! :) We went back to the hippie market and walked around San Jose and then we ended up eating Peruvian food which was pretty delicious! My friend Lizzy's family is from Peru so she exposed us to something very new! We ate these things called Cancha which is pretty much toasted corn, then for dinner we had Pollo a la brasa con papas y ensalada and Lomo saltado. The first one was chicken roasted with something with fries and salad! It was really good! The second one was meat sauteed with tomatoes and onions and soy sauce I think, mixed with fries and rice! It was interesting, but it was pretty good to! Lizzy ordered this drink called Chicha morada and it is this purple drink made from purple corn! It was the weirdest thing ever, but it tasted pretty good! Then we had Peruvian cookies which were delicious, but I don't remember what they are called! After our lovely dinner we found our way to the train station and took the train back to Heredia for the first time! That was pretty interesting I must say! Overall it was an exciting day! We are supposed to go to a concierto in San Jose tonight, but who knows if we'll go!

Yesterday was a pretty chill day! I slept in for a little bit then got ready and did some homework, went to Historia and clase de baile then came home and hung out, talked to my mommy and messed around on the computer! Today I get up and start getting ready for class then get a message that says I don't have class today! Awesome, but dang because I already got up and got ready...oh well! I guess I'll do some homework and hang out for awhile! I have no idea what I'm going to do today, but maybe I'll go exploring or something! Who knows!

Hippie Market=AWESOME Day!!!

Today we had class like normal, then right after class the USAC group went to San Jose! First we had lunch at some Thai restaurant...not my favorite, but I survived. It is supposedly the best or something, but I wouldn't know the difference! After lunch we went to el Teatro Nacional, or the National Theater! It was so beautiful! I wish I could watch plays and symphonies and all the other shows there! It was so mesmerizing! I'm sure my mommy would have loved it too! After seeing this magnificent sight we walked down to the Hippie Market! OMG is all I have to say....just kidding! It was seriously the best/coolest place we have been! I mean we have been to some of the most beautiful places ever, but this was just amazing! There was sooo much stuff and I couldn't contain my happiness! I can't wait to go back! I want to have everything, but unfortunately I cant! :/ It was a great experience though! If anyone wants anything let me know! They have pretty much anything you can think of so just let me know so when I go back I know what to get! :) After the Market we drove back to the mall in Heredia and had frozen yogurt! It was almost or maybe better than in the States! I didn't know that was possible, but it was a wonderful experience! :)

The beach!! :)

This weekend was quite exciting! Friday we went to a coffee making place here in Barva called Cafe Britt! It was a really cool place and we all enjoyed some delicious coffee (even though I hate coffee)! Then after that we went to Poas Volcan which is an active volcano close to Heredia! It was really cool to see the whole thing, but I was slightly scared too! The volcano itself was just really smoky so that was okay! There was also a lagoon on the other side of the mountain and that was beautiful! I enjoyed that greatly! On Saturday the USAC group grove up to a resort place called Punta Leona! It was gorgeous! We had a white sand beach where all of us got sunburned and now look like lobsters! We also did a canopy tour which is basically zip lining a bunch of times through beautiful trees and such! We pretty much just played on the beach and in the Pacific Ocean and it was great weather and everything!! :) I enjoyed myself greatly! :) Now it's back to school again! Oh the joys of college!

Today the USAC group went to a place called Cafe Britt! It is a coffee plantation/roasting/making/i have no idea exactly place! it was really cool! We got to tour the whole place and see how coffee is grown and made, then we got to try coffee and chocolate! It was soo delicious...well minus the coffee part! haha After that we went to a little restaurant and had lunch which was really good then we drove to Poas Volcan, which is an active volcano mind you! It was pretty fun and a very amazing sight to see, but I was slightly frightened! It was cool though! After that we drove back and went to the mall to this pizza place and had pizza together. I can't wait for tomorrow! We are going to Punta Leona, which is a beach on the Pacific Ocean side! I hope it isn't too rainy and 'cold'. Maybe I'll get a sunburn...I hope not but then I would get tan! ;) haha It will be a grand adventure!!! :)

I am starting to understand Spanish better, but not completely! I still just do the nod and smile thing, but eventually I will understand everything! Yesterday the group went to Piratas del Caribe pero fue en Ingles con subtitulos en Espanol. It was pretty exciting but I was soo tired! We also went to a huge market inside this building and it was soo cool! I am going to an outside one on Monday and I'm soo excited! I cannot wait! Tomorrow we are going on an adventure and we don't have school so officially I have finished my first week of school in Costa Rica!!! Congratulations to me! ;) haha

Oh My Goodness....That's all I can pretty much say about yesterday and today! I had a good 21st birthday with mi amigas! We might have had a little too much fun last night because we have all decided that drinking on a Tuesday night then going to class at 8am is a terrible idea. It has been quite the day to say the least! I did have a great time, but I missed all of my family and friends back home! I'm very sleepy so I will write more and post pictures later!!! :)

(picture on Top) My host mom, Particia (in the back), my host sister, Daniela (in the blue), and a family friend/translator, Ruben, after finishing the puzzle of Boise that I brought them! (picture on bottom) Daniela y me at the Monte de la Cruz (mountain of the cross) ayer (yesterday!)

Universidad Nacional (UNA)

Hoy es el dia 4! It was also my first day at school! I only had one class this morning, which was Español! It was pretty good and my teacher is super nice! I've also decided that Spanish books are sooo expensive and I dislike buying them :( Mi madre took me to la universidad hoy pero I had to take the bus back home by myself :/ Thankfully I made it safe! Mi madre told me to pretty much chill when I got home so that's what I'm doing! I have la clase de baile this afternoon and I'm pretty excited about that :) Maybe I'll try to post pictures for everyone this afternoon! I miss everyone back home! Hope everything is going well!

So I ended up going to the mall yesterday, which was huge and there were so many people it was crazy! I guess that is expected for a Saturday! Today they are taking me to a mountain...I'm not sure which one, but it is supposed to be really cool! I'll talk lots of pictures to show everyone!

I'm still enjoying myself, but one thing I'm still having a hard time with is the fact that you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet! Their sewers or plumbing is really bad so you have to throw it in the garbage. It sounds really gross and it kind of is, but that's just the way they live.

I found out yesterday that we have una tortuga (Turtle)!!! I love turtles soo much! His name is Tortue. We also have un conejo (rabbit), dos perros (dogs), y un gato (cat). I have no idea what the rabbits name is, but los perros nombres son Moli y Luna. El gato nombre es Pelusa! It is quite interesting, but they are all nice so that's good! More to come about my exciting day today! :)

I started off my day with eating rice and black beans. It's a traditional Costa Rican meal! My host mom, Patricia, gave me a huge plate and I definitely couldn't eat it all. It was interesting to say the least. It wasn't gross, just different, especially for breakfast. Then Patricia took me on a Bus to Heredia to the Universidad (UNA) for my orientation. I met all of the rest of the USAC students and adults in charge, which was nice! They are all very sweet and we had a good day today! We toured the campus, talked about what to expect, and I learned where the market is! I am sooo excited to go there so I hope it's as good as they say! :) I also picked out my classes....I'm going to take Intermediate Espanol, Conversacion de Espanol, Historia de Americana Latina, y Biles de Americana Latino (I get to take dance class for both sessions YAY!). After orientation my host sister, Daniela, came and picked me up. We rode the bus back to our casa, but I'm pretty sure I am going to get lost on Monday :/ This afternoon Dani and I are going to the mall, I think anyway, so we will see what that is like! So far my spanish sucks, but I'm really hoping that it will get better sooner rather than later. For now I'll just smile and nod and say Okay!

COSTA RICA!!!

I'm in Costa Rica!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! We landed in a huge rain storm but it's very green here!! I met some awesome people already and I love my family!!! I have a host mom who is so sweet and cooks amazing and I have a host sister that is really cool! She took me all around the town (Barva) and I met so many people I don't remember their names. I also met a Tico (Costa Rican) who knows English and Spanish and he has helped translate which is nice for being here for the first day! Tomorrow is orientation so we'll see what I will be doing the rest of the summer!

Airport!

Well I am officially checked in and about ready to board! Two days of flying will finally get me to my destination...Costa Rica! Wish me luck!! :)

AHHHHH!!!! Less than 24 hours left before I leave! Wow time has really gone by fast! :/ Hope my suitcase isn't too heavy! haha

Only 8 more days until my fabulous trip to Costa Rica begins! So much to do and so little time to do it in! :/ I am getting really excited!