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!!! :)