Costa Rica
It's been a while since I've written anything on here, and I've heard that my adoring fans are desperate for an update on my exciting international travels. And so here is COSTA RICA:
On the plane over I sat in the window seat next to a blind man and his wife who argued constantly, there wasn't a 5 minute stretch where they were just speaking like normal human beings. When we got into the airport and had our passports stamped Emily and Hannah were so excited, and the Costa Rica stamp is a pretty one; all black and oval-y. After our bags were all loaded on to the top of the bus and covered in a not so rainproof tarp (I discovered this later, when I realized that my clothes were all wet) we all hunkered down for the three hour drive from the airport in San Jose to a smaller city called Guapiles where we were staying at an "eco-friendly lodge" affiliated with the Lutheran church (ILCO in Costa Rica, which stands for Iglesia Luterana Costariccense) called Centro Manu. Manu was very nice, practically surrounded by rainforest with little two to four person cabins in a circle and a large dining/meeting area in the front. Hannah, Emily and I stayed in one cabin and Melanie joined us later (passport troubles to horrifying to explain). Matt's girlfriend, whose name I am blanking out on, dubbed us the naked cabin because of a conversation she overheard through the paper-thin cabin walls. Our cabin shared a wall with theirs, Matt's girlfriend, Dakota and...Marcy? I feel bad for forgetting these peoples' names. Actually, to tell you the truth I never learned everyone's. The cooks, there were two, made the most amazing food ever, every night. Emily and I fell in love with "Gallo Pinto", basically red beans and rice, but something about the Costa Rican-ness of it made it just so much more yummy. Also Natilla, which is this creamy, sour cream like stuff that you eat with lots of things, like Arepas (kind of like pancakes, but again better). Dakota took down the recipe for the Arepas, and I'll have to remember to get it from her. We spent a lot of time at Manu, and also in a community called San Martin, where we painted benches, built a fence and dug a trash pit. We did lots of other activities with the kids there too, like the water fight that Emily regretted later, when her shoes wouldn't dry, and just hanging out. One of the things that most amazed those who didn't speak any Spanish was their ability to communicate, even through that barrier. Those kids at San Martin, and the kids at the other communities we visited barely spoke a word of English, but they still communicated, and we still communicated with them. That's the beauty of friendship. Like Hannah's friend (lud, I can't remember anyone's name) who used a lot of gestures, or little Nicol, who was just so so cute. We went to an orphanage and I fell in love with a 3 month old baby named Erica. Emily fell in love with her older brother, he's about 2. If we were older and could afford it I'm pretty sure those babies would be ours right now. We went to a Volcano on our last day in Costa Rica, and while I wouldn't call it exciting it was definitely a fun thing to do. We all took pictures of it, and of us standing in front of it. The air was so much cooler, a lot less humid, up in the mountains and that's where Hannah and I have decided that we're going to live when we move to Costa Rica.
On the plane over I sat in the window seat next to a blind man and his wife who argued constantly, there wasn't a 5 minute stretch where they were just speaking like normal human beings. When we got into the airport and had our passports stamped Emily and Hannah were so excited, and the Costa Rica stamp is a pretty one; all black and oval-y. After our bags were all loaded on to the top of the bus and covered in a not so rainproof tarp (I discovered this later, when I realized that my clothes were all wet) we all hunkered down for the three hour drive from the airport in San Jose to a smaller city called Guapiles where we were staying at an "eco-friendly lodge" affiliated with the Lutheran church (ILCO in Costa Rica, which stands for Iglesia Luterana Costariccense) called Centro Manu. Manu was very nice, practically surrounded by rainforest with little two to four person cabins in a circle and a large dining/meeting area in the front. Hannah, Emily and I stayed in one cabin and Melanie joined us later (passport troubles to horrifying to explain). Matt's girlfriend, whose name I am blanking out on, dubbed us the naked cabin because of a conversation she overheard through the paper-thin cabin walls. Our cabin shared a wall with theirs, Matt's girlfriend, Dakota and...Marcy? I feel bad for forgetting these peoples' names. Actually, to tell you the truth I never learned everyone's. The cooks, there were two, made the most amazing food ever, every night. Emily and I fell in love with "Gallo Pinto", basically red beans and rice, but something about the Costa Rican-ness of it made it just so much more yummy. Also Natilla, which is this creamy, sour cream like stuff that you eat with lots of things, like Arepas (kind of like pancakes, but again better). Dakota took down the recipe for the Arepas, and I'll have to remember to get it from her. We spent a lot of time at Manu, and also in a community called San Martin, where we painted benches, built a fence and dug a trash pit. We did lots of other activities with the kids there too, like the water fight that Emily regretted later, when her shoes wouldn't dry, and just hanging out. One of the things that most amazed those who didn't speak any Spanish was their ability to communicate, even through that barrier. Those kids at San Martin, and the kids at the other communities we visited barely spoke a word of English, but they still communicated, and we still communicated with them. That's the beauty of friendship. Like Hannah's friend (lud, I can't remember anyone's name) who used a lot of gestures, or little Nicol, who was just so so cute. We went to an orphanage and I fell in love with a 3 month old baby named Erica. Emily fell in love with her older brother, he's about 2. If we were older and could afford it I'm pretty sure those babies would be ours right now. We went to a Volcano on our last day in Costa Rica, and while I wouldn't call it exciting it was definitely a fun thing to do. We all took pictures of it, and of us standing in front of it. The air was so much cooler, a lot less humid, up in the mountains and that's where Hannah and I have decided that we're going to live when we move to Costa Rica.