Zip lines and volcanoes

Apparently I am not much of a blogger, cause I really hate updating this thing. Anyway...

Last weekend Kathy and I went to San Jose for most of Saturday. We left early and took a bus into the city, then went to a Democrats Abroad meeting (we love them, and they love feeding us great food). After the meeting, which lasted 2 1/2 hours, we toured the city and shopped. San Jose is really not a very exciting city. It is poor and dirty, and everyone warns you to keep your purse guarded at all times. Since I tend to ignore information like that, we toured through the Market as if we owned the place. The market is a little like the Market in San Antonio, but with less order and tighter hallways. We ordered a crazy dessert (for lunch, of course) that was made with a cherry slushy mixture, powdered milk, and a thick sorbet that tasted a little like pumpkin pie. It was an odd combination, but amazing.

Sunday we took a tour of an active volcano, then drove through the rainforest. They showed us a couple of waterfalls, including the one in the opening of Jurasic Park. We had a breakfast in a little restaurant in between, then drove to a river and put us on a motorboat after serving us fresh fruit (they really worry we are going to starve). The boat took us to a farm where we had lunch, then with a full stomach they suited us up for zip lining and plopped us on horses that took us to the forest. Kathy and I ended up with a huge group of guys in Costa Rica for a joint bachelor party, who screamed and swore more than Kathy and I put together as they glided through the trees. We had two guides that amazingly safely hooked us up to the lines considering that neither spoke a word of English. One guide was a little too worried that my chest strap was not tight enough, but since he was sharing his water bottle with me I didn't mind the constant adjustments. The day ended with Kathy and I taking a public bus from one of the worst areas in San Jose after dark, which was a little unnerving but we made it back with all our money.

I really must just brag for a second and say that I am living in absolute paradise. Every morning I wake up and go downstairs to find a plate of fresh Costa Rican fruits, along with freshly squeezed orange juice and Costa Rican coffee. I am pretty much running on Costa Rican coffee by now, and I do not think I will ever be able to drink anything else when I return to Missouri. By mid-morning, after our second breakfast, I am on cup #3. This is necessary in order to stay alert for 5 1/2 hours of Spanish class, especially since I am the only student in my class. During the lunch hour, I lounge in a hamock and look out over the valley to the mountains. I am now a firm believer that every school should have a hamock break at some point during the day.

Next post I will try to make more interesting. Hope everyone is enjoying school and work!

I'm here!

Sorry I haven't updated since I got to Costa Rica on Saturday. My password has an ' in it, and apparently the Spanish keyboards do not. Anyway, I got in on Saturday afternoon and met my host family. The husband speaks English, so I can talk to him and ask him questions. They have two little kids: Marie and Federico. I am at about the same level as Federico since he is just learning how to talk, although I think he still understands more than I do. Another student in my program was also there to greet me. Kathy speaks English, but is actually from Taiwan. Saturday we went to downtown Santa Ana for...get this...an Onion Festival!!! For anyone who doesn't know, I have a bit of an obsession with onions, so I took this as a good sign. I am slowly learning enough Spanish to at least understand my host mother, which I guess is the result of 5 1/2 hours of class a day. It goes by fast since every two hours we have a meal. They eat all the time here, so now if I got longer than 3 hours without eating I feel like I'm starving. Ugh. Last night, Mark, one of the other students (there are only 3 of us right now, it's awesome) invited us to an Obama Fundraiser hosted by Democrats Abroad. Kathy and I got there an hour before Mark showed up, so it was totally awkward since you had to be on a list to get in. The group consisted of a bunch of middle aged and retired Americans, mostly from the East coast, that had moved to Costa Rica in the last few years. I heard someone say that the gathering cost $3000, and there were no more than 20 of us there. Needless to say, I'm sure my donation was the smallest of all. We got to drink lots of good wine and eat amazing food, watch the PA primary results roll in, and chat (in English!) with Americans.

My First Blog...aw

I have never blogged before, but I figured this would be easier than writing emails to everyone while I am in Costa Rica.

I leave for Santa Ana, CR, on April 19th, and return to Missouri June 14th. I'm hoping it will be eight weeks of living in paradise. The reason I am going to Costa Rica is to earn the language credit needed for my masters at Baylor, and I figured it would be a lot more fun than sitting in a classroom in Waco for the summer. From what I hear, it's a pretty laid back program and country, which is what I need right now. Tortillas and tequila, here I come!