Monteverde

This weekend was one of the best yet! We went to Monteverde on Saturday. We hiked through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and when we hiked up into the clouds you could see the continental divide. The cloud forest is a type of rain forest that was much more dense and humid than any other forest we’ve been to so far. After the hike, we went to our hotel for dinner. It was gorgeous and called Fonda Vela. The room we stayed in was huge; there was a king size bed and another full bed, a sitting area and a bathroom and this was for 3 of us! The view from the room was really pretty as well. Afterwards we relaxed in some hot tubs and went to bed early because we had to get going on Sunday at 7am.


Sunday we went to the Selvatura Adventure Park where we did a canopy tour of the rainforest by ziplining. I was so terrified before the first zipline because of my fear of heights but I did it and it was really fun! It was cool to be able to just fly over and through a forest. The we did 13 ziplines, the last one was 1 km long. Afterwards we went and saw hummingbirds and butterflies of Costa Rica at the park.


We went back to our hotel for lunch and got back on the bus to head towards Guanacaste. On the way, we stopped at a coffee shop and learned about the process of Costa Rican coffee at Monteverde. The dark roast coffee at Monteverde is amazing, it is so smooth, almost chocolaty. I even bought some :)


We arrived at our next hotel that night and ate dinner. After dinner we went into the hot springs that the hotel had. There were 4 pools. The first with a slide and much cooler but the others were much warmer. The water is heated by the volcano which is just so cool. It was like being in a giant hot tub.
The next morning we went to Volcan Miravalles and went horseback riding. We stopped at a certain point and hiked up into a waterfall. This was so incredible. We were inside the waterfall, it was so beautiful. Afterwards, we rode the horses back and ventured off to the natural hot springs of the volcano that were muddy. First there was a 200 meter slide that we rode down a few times and afterwards went into the muddy hot springs. After we were all cleaned off we went back to the hotel for lunch and headed back to Santa Ana. I still can’t believe I am getting credit for this. In summary of this weekend: I hiked through the clouds, went ziplining, rode horses, hiked into a waterfall and relaxed in hot springs. This is the best semester ever.

The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you :)

Hola!
So rafting on saturday was a BLAST. It was so much more fun than the first time we went rafting. There were so many more rapids that were longer and harder. It was a thrill. I think I am addicted to rafting now. Sunday was the presidential election in Costa Rica and they elected their first female president, Laura Chinchilla. It was really neat to see election stuff here. People gather in the streets and have huge tables out in front of schools where voting takes place with their select candidates. They also drive around in cars, honking and holding up huge flags of the candidate they are supporting. It's so wild. I was walking to Don Jorge's house the other day and I waited almost 15 minutes to cross a simple street because there was parade of cars going by campaigning for Laura! It was neat to see it all.

Sunday was also the super bowl, which we did watch here! We had a party at one of the houses, it was really fun. We all brought dishes to pass--american foods. Monday a group of us girls went shopping. There is this store called Pequeno Mundo and it looks like a hardware store inside but they have really cute clothes! Tuesday, I had class early int he morning but afterwards a group of girls and I went to Escazu, a nice area about 15 from Santa Ana, on bus and...drumroll please...we got piercings! I got my nose pierced (don't be mad parents, it's classy) and so did another girl. We went to the same place that a few of my friends from last years trip went, so it was definitely sanitary! I'm really excited about it.


Today, we went to San Jose for the day. We went to a few museums, including a modern art exhibit which was really neat. We went to the Teatro National which was so beautiful. We learned a lot about the indigenuous tribes of Costa Rica and a lot about the history. Afterwards, we had literature class and coffee. I can't express how much I love the coffee here. Tonight I went to my first choir rehearsal, it was really neat! There are about 25 people in the choir, it's a good size and Don Jorge is a great director. Well, I'm going to get to bed. We are going to Monteverde this weekend which includes horseback riding, ziplining (I am TERRIFIED)/canopy walks. I'm excited none the less. Hope everyone is doing well! Nos vemos! ~Nora

Just a day in the life

I'm sitting in a coffee shop right now, enjoying a Cafe con leche while updating my blog. We found a coffee shop called Zuka Cafe about 10 minutes from our house that has delicious cafe and free wireless internet. It's so nice; a piece of home. It's this cute little shop, very European looking which has coffe, sandwiches, paninis and salads. I am in heaven. There is a corner of the shop that has a couch with a few ottomans and a chic carpet. It is just so wonderful.


On monday, we went Rafting down the Pacuare river. It was such a thrill. I did not think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. They were level 3-4 rapids and this saturday we are going rafting on the Rio Pascua which has level 4+ rapids. I'm so nervous but SO excited. On Monday, we were divided into two rafts, and no one fell out, we had no accidentes! Our rafting guide was hilarious as well! Constantly doing tricks and making jokes. I think it was my favorite thing we've done in Costa Rica thus far. I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait for this saturday!

This week has been pretty relaxing. We only had 2 classes yesterday, which was fabulous(we usually have 3 on wednesday). So instead of class some of the girls and I spent the afternoon exploring parts of Santa Ana that we hadn't seen before. This is how we found this Cafe shop :)
I had voice lessons with Jorge today. They went really well and I am going to start going to his choir next week. I think taking lessons with him is going to help me so much. He is so musical, he is really a renaissance man.