Friday, Saturday ziplining

WOW! What a great weekend it's been down south! I didn't realize that I hadn't posted since FRIDAY, so I have a bit of catching up to do!

FRIDAY

No classes on Friday ever!!!! I have ALWAYS wanted to not have class on Friday but have never been able to work it out, and I finally get to! And I'm SO THANKFUL!!!!!

I slept until 8:30 or so, then walked to another student Morgan's house so that we could go on a watch hunt! I brought a watch down here, but I wanted one that was a little more sporty so that I could wear it all the time and not worry about it being so nice that it would get stolen. We walked the streets of the downtown area for a while and went in multiple stores. We noticed that a lot of stores here are all-inclusive, meaning that you can walk in a store to buy a TV and come out with a new outfit or something. Now I know that at somewhere like Walmart or Target back home this would be normal, but San Ramon has no Walmarts or Targets. So it was a bit interesting to see that. We finally found a legit jewelry store and found some watches we liked. I got a pink sports watch (yes, dad, I know pink is not practical, but it was/is cute!). We were there mid-morning, so downtown was hoppin! We stopped by a bank on the way to Morgan's house, and then we headed back. I got back home around 11 or so. I then relaxed a bit before my mom cooked lunch. I think we just had rice and beans again: they are starting to make more frequent appearances at meals.

After lunch I got dressed and packed because the group had planned to meet at school to go check out some waterfalls a few miles up the road. We arrived at school and everyone decided not to go because it was about to rain. Some played soccer in the POURING rain, probably one of the heaviest rains I've seen since I've been here! Some of the girls got some string and made bracelets. Morgan and I walked around campus to take pictures of the University and of whatever else we saw that was photogenic! I have some pretty pictures of flowers that I took. We then stopped in where the girls were making bracelets and all spent some time talking. Soon everyone else joined, smelly and wet. Some of us waited around to meet a tico for coffee - this experience taught us that "tico time" not only means showing up late, it also means not showing up at all. Tico friend never came for coffee. So we enjoyed our cafecitos and talking at a cafe across the road from school. We then all headed back to our respective homes after deciding to meet up at the park around 8.

At home I took a shower and waited anxiously for dinner, which unfortunately brought the first thing I have tried in Costa Rica that I have not liked. It was like a tortilla made from corn somehow, but it was not very tasty. My family here loves them and poured this sour creamish sauce allllll over the tortillas for better taste, they said, but even with that I was unable to eat even half of it. Luckily they do not get offended if you don't like something...all you have to do is say so! Fortunately, my host mother made some HOMEMADE CORNBREAD, straight from the feasting tables of HEAVEN. This cornbread is AMAZING, with the taste of regular cornbread but just enough sweetness to make you chew it a little slower, and a little more than you normally would.

After dinner I headed up the street to meet Kelley and then we headed to the parque with some of our other estudiante friends. We basically just hung out there and talked, walked around and absorbed all the sights and sounds of the fiesta. There was a horse show going on, and the horses all would come out into the middle of the street one at a time and do a trot or strut or something. It was fun to watch. We headed home a bit before twelve so that we could all get an adequate amount of sleep for the next day's activities.

SATURDAY

I had been looking forward to Saturday for a while! We all had to arrive at school around 9 am to get on a bus to head to Puntarenas, about a 45 minute drive. We went straight to our first destination for our canopy tour - aka ZIPLINING through the forests of Costa Rica!!!! The group studying in Puntarenas (also through USAC) was also there to do it. Their group is much bigger than our group of 15: They have around 60 students in their program. I like our smaller size because we all have a chance to really get to know each other better. We got fitted for equipment and such, and some of us payed a few extra dollars to be able to do the "superman" zipline (will explain later). They split us up into 2 big groups, and about half of our group from San Ramon was with part of the group from Puntarenas. We had to hike through the trees a bit to get to our first of 8 platforms. They explained the proper technique to us, and then it was just a waiting process till we each got our chance on the first (and fastest!) zipline. It was SO MUCH FUN! The views were incredible and we all had fun just spending time with each other. The superman zipline was the last. They switched the harnesses so that we would be suspended by our backs instead of our waists, and we were able to stretch out to fly like superman! By far the BEST of all the ziplines!!!!

Some of the other students in my program, all waiting anxiously for our first zipline

Me on top of the mountain before heading down our last zipline, SUPERMAN
(can you see the ocean in the background?)

I was suspended by my waist with my arms out in front and my legs stretched out behind me, flying through the air like superman at the speed of light!
Okay, maybe not that fast, but it was a pretty speedy zipline!

They had fresh fruit waiting for us afterwards. It was DELICIOUS - fresh pineapple and watermelon. We were SO hot and sweaty after ziplining and walking a lot between platforms - the humidity was ridiculous, probably worse than it is back home, and it was MUCH hotter there than it is back in San Ramon. We were fortunate enough to get on an AIR CONDITIONED bus to ride to our lunch spot about 30 minutes away. It was the first time I had felt AC since the plane rides down here. It was fine for a while, but then it was too much and it was TOO cold! We watched Michael Jackson videos on the TVs on the bus on the way down there. I never have really watched his music videos or listened to his music, but he is an awesome dancer!