First off, correction on my last post, it was Drake Bay Resort :) My bad. And I will forever miss that place. Today wrapped up the last day or my "vacation" as classes start tomorrow. Last night for our last dinner they had some good old fashioned American spaghetti and I was very grateful. Though I have to say I am really surprised that I have loved all the food so far. There are some odds and ends I wanted to add on here before I completely wrap up the story of Drake Bay. On the day we went to town, we had to cross this cool little rickedy bridge and it was actually really funny watching some of the girls go across while the guys rocked the bridge. This picture of me on the bridge is very Marry Poppinesque :)

We also got to walk by some ancient bamboo, it was so huge!

Last night I actually got some sleep which was pretty amazing. My poor roommate got pretty sick one of the nights and though she didnt mean too, she kept me up for most of the night. Then I dont know if it was a monkey or just a really obnoxious bird that decided to make right outside our window its permanent residence, but it was not a pretty little bird sound. It was like a painful loud chirping/groan that had me considering taking up hunting every night and every morning really early. But last night, oh yes. It was finally some much needed sleep. So many people that went on the horse ride had never actually ridden a horse before, and they didnt so much as even give us a crash course on horsery, they just threw us on them then took off. Being the mastermind that I am, I didnt have much trouble and my horse was a great horse, but so many people where having so many issues, it was so funny. So this morning, everyone at the breakfast table was sitting down gingerly on bruised tailbones from not riding properly. I was definitely among these people and we were poppin asprins like candy. Kevin said the statement almost perfectly. "I woke up this morning and it felt like the horse had ridden me instead of the other way around." So true sir lol so true.
While we were trekking around the beach yesterday, Tico showed us a plant that they call here the tick plant and its because it looks normal and green but as soon as you start to rub it or damage it, the inside is bright red and looks like blood on your hands. Tico was my makeup man and put some on me as blush and eyeshadow. I got back to the beach and everyone was like, OMG Whats wrong with your face! Thanks guys.

 Its amazing here how fruit just grows everywhere. Any time we are walking anywhere, our tour guides will just yank a fruit out of a tree and have us try it. Mangos grow like crazy everywhere here and so do the coconuts. I have had so much fresh coconut, its been awesome.

Baby coconut tree

We had a boat ride then a long bus ride back to our homestays but now I am home safe and sound. Maria cooked a delicious dinner and we had a full on whole dinner conversation!!! That, mis amigos, is a huge deal! Albeit it was extremely broken and not fully understood on either of our part, we definitely conversed and I started feeling a little less bad about my spanish skills :) She was all motherly and told me to always go out with friends because some of the people here will try to take your wallet and your cell phone and was telling me if I go out drinking to not get too drunk and always take a taxi. So cute. Now we are just chilling in comfortable silence watching Costa Rican lottery. Life is still pretty amazazing. I am starting to miss home a little bit, but I cant too much, its still too amazing here. Pura Vida!

Sad day. This was my last day here at the Blake Wilderness Resort but man let me tell you, it was definitely the best :) To start off, there was pancakes for breakfast, sweet sweet pancakes. Then right after breakfast we took a boat to the closest town to go horseback riding!!! It was soooooooo much fun! By far one of the best things I have done in my life is going on a horseback ride through the tropical jungle. I really dont know what to say other than if I had the opportunity, I would do this every single day of my life. My horse was a great horse too, though I didnt catch its name. In fact they wouldnt tell us the horses names they would just say, "Its whatever you want it to be." Which to me makes it sound like they were hookers but maybe thats just because I live in Nevada. Mi caballo was very good tempered and rode really well. I kindof fell in love with him and wanted to keep him.

Awesome selfie

We went on a nice ride through town then headed on a road for a while. We ended up in a really nice river where we went swimming, which was much appreciated because I had no idea riding a horse can get you so sweaty.

On our way back one of the horses was having a hard time because his feet were hurting, I guess the owners have so many horses they cant afford to put shoes on them all. It was the horse Katie was on and we felt so bad for the poor thing so we got the information about how much it costs to get four horseshoes, which is only about $15, and we decided that when we get into the big town, we are going to buy some shoes and have our guide take the shoes and make sure they get put on those horses. At the end of our ride, we got to take the horses to the beach and ride them really hard in the sand and holy cow it was just so much fun!!! However, one of my stirrups decided to break completely off right in the middle of a full on run and I came so close to biffing it but I held on like a freaking boss and crossed the finish line like Viggo and Hidalgo. After the horse ride we had a BBQ lunch and had some fun with my underwater camera.

Then we headed to another beach and Tico showed me around the tide pools and I collected some amazing pieces of coral and shells and all manner of ocean fun. We caught a lot of crabs, saw macaws and Costa Rican racoons, and learned about different shell fish in the pools. I tried some termites, which are everywhere here, and they taste just like minty sagebrush, its the weirdest thing.

Dinner later and I am assuming a lot of dancing will take place. I am still not very good at it but I am getting better with practice. Until next time!

Really nothing too new to report for today, it was a complete torrential downpour all through last night and until about 2 today so our morning plans were canceled and we all just kind of relaxed in our rooms reading and sleeping. I feel a little guilty saying I was bored while here in Costa Rica but the rain was so bad no one was going outside. We talked to a man who has lived here since 2009 and he said in all that time, he had never seen it rain so hard. While waiting for the rain to stop, I was reading my book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It is a true story about the Ten Boom family who helped harbor Jews until they were caught and sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust. Its a truly amazing story about how Corrie kept her strong faith throughout all her struggles and it had me bawling like a baby, thank God my roommate was sleeping! Haha but it is such a great book. After lunch, we took a little hike to the nearest town and I must confess, I bought A LOT of chocolate. I have been craving a Snickers since I got here and I got three of them :) And some cookies and some ice cream...yeah I went a little sugar crazy. Then back home, in the pool for a bit, dinner, and now blog. Not a lot but tomorrow will be horseback riding on the beach if it doesn't rain!!! Fingers crossed!!!!!

Last night there was a crazy loud storm that was thrashing water everywhere and booming thunder and lightening but the morning was this beautiful fog covered wonderland so the slightly sleepless night was worth it. I have been so excited here, they actually serve pancakes for breakfast, along with of course beans and rice, but the unlimited pancakes are better than IHOP quality. After breakfast we got on another boat ride to Corovado to take a 2 hour nature hike and another little hike to a waterfall. The hike wasn't very vigorous, which anyone who has ever gone on a hike with me knows is a great thing, and we got to see all kinds of wildlife! I got to see some poison dart frogs, which lay their eggs either in the water or on leaves above the water and when the tadpoles hatch they either drop into the water from the leaf and start to develop or the mother collects them on her back and takes them where they need to go. It all just depends on what species they are but we actually got to see one carrying its tadpoles! We also saw a Ibis Blanco, some Howler monkeys, a ton of Macaws, some Toucans, an Owl Butterfly, and lots and lots of different kind of vegetation.

Owl Butterfly

Look at the buttress roots!!!

White Ibis

Macaw

Leaf-cutter ant hill

Im not one to go on about plants but the animals were so cool. We also got to see a leaf-cutter ant home. These ants were a favorite of my Ecology teachers and for good reasons. They are farmers :) They gather plant leaves and take them home to a whole underground nest of fungus. They feed the fungus the leaves and in turn they feed on the fungus. The fungus farms can get to be really large and the ants take extremely good care of them with little ant  babysitters. Along the beach here there are hermit crabs EVERYWHERE!!! As some of you know, I freaking love hermit crabs so I am in crab heaven! They are on the beach, climbing the trees, all over all the buildings, its great. We have even been fortunate enough to see clumps of hermit crabs feeding and it just looks like a big happy crab orgi.

Our tour guide was nicknamed Tico so he was with us on the boat and told us all about the history and mapped the area out on a sand map for us.

Tico the tour guide

 After our hike and lunch at some random hotel on the waters edge, we played a big game of soccer and I just have to say, I was literally the worst person on either team. Not that that will surprise many of you, sports have never really been my forte but I honestly surprised myself with my lack of skill. But it was still a lot of fun :) We boated back to our hotel and I took a walk along the beach collecting little tid bits for my mom (I miss you mom!!!) while rocking out to my Ipod. So far, another pretty great day and we havent even had dinner yet!!!

(P.S. this was all written yesterday but the internet here is really sketchy so I had to wait until today to post)

Hola! Life is completely amazing. Yesterday we woke up to a delicious breakfast at our hotel. Stray dogs are everywhere here but that are all relatively tame and walking out of the room, there were some just chilling out sleeping in the flower pots.

 After breakfast we headed to the Drake Bay Wilderness Resort. To get there we had an hour and a half boat ride.There were crocodiles just chillin in the water while we boated past. I almost Crocodile Dunn Dee'd it and wrangled me a croc, but I didnt feel like getting my outfit all muddy.

Amanda and I on the boat

Cocodrilo

I just have to say the the Drake Bay Resort is absolute paradise. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. Pictures just dont do justice but I will post them anyway. They have little apartment cabins and I am sharing one with Adrean, who is the only other girl from Reno. The walls all have murals of local wildlife on them and there is a shower with hot water!!! Ah its so hot it is heaven. The view right outside our porch is just stunning. There are hammocks everywhere and a saltwater pool right in from of the bar/restaurant. The ocean is only footsteps away and there are water fountains and ponds with giant koy in them along with hibiscus bushes everywhere. All I hear outside is the beautiful sound of the waves crashing into the rocks. I have decided to never leave.

My mini cabin

The view off my front porch

Me as the albino I am

After we got acquainted with our gorgeous room and new living situation, we went on a 20 minute adventure through the jungle to a beautiful beach. We boogie boarded. Well, we attempted to. We  mostly just got sand in every possible crack and crevice, but I was actually able to ride one wave by the end of it all.

Cocalito Beach

After all the hiking and beaching and all that jazz, we came back and I thought I would just sit and relax in a hammock for a few and I ended up taking the best nap of my life for at least an hour. I usually hate naps but I think I could get used to them here. I got to do some true Tico dancing with Carlitos, he is one of the instructors for the program and he teaches dance. Although I cannot admit to being a great Costa Rican dancer, it was a lot of fun. Dinner was great and life here is pretty fabulous :)

Alright well I  landed yesterday in San Jose, Costa Rica and met most of the people who will be studying at the same university as me. We arrived at 7 pm and it was already dark! It gets dark so early here. Here is a snapshot right outside the airport as we all waited for our but to drive us to San Ramon to meet our host families.

Yes yes my true photogenic self came bursting through that picture but hey, I can help that beautiful smile. We finally arrived at at San Ramon and my host mother Maria gave me a big hug and was just the sweetest short little Tico ever! (Tico is what Costa Ricans call themselves, im getting culturally diversified I am) I told her I spoke very little Spanish and she said,  "Yo hablo cero engles!" So we have a nice little language barrier but I could just tell she was a nice one :) We took a taxi to her house she lives in this completely gated little lot with an amazing mini forest going on in her front yard. The house was really big from what I was expecting and I actually have my own room and bathroom. I didnt have time for taking pictures or even unpacking because we had to get up early so I could catch the bus again to go on my Costa Rica tour. I told her I was feeling hungry and she just popped right in the kitchen and whipped me up some rice, beans, pineapple, and tortillas. Now I kinda know what it must have been like to have a wife in the 20's ;) It was a little odd because while I ate dinner we couldnt really talk to each other so she just literally sat there and watched me eat, and trust me, I ate every bite. From what I could gather from our attempted conversation, she lives there alone with her two dogs, which are huskies, and she has two daughters. One lives right down the street and is an Engineer and the other lives in San Jose and is a Microbiologist. Her house is right across the street from the Universidad, which is fantastic!! I dont even have to rent a bike to go to school. I just hop across the road, which I should note is actually extremely dangerous here. Yielding to pedestrians means nothing here. No crosswalks and if you are in the way of any vehicle, they will just play chicken and win.

So in the morning I got in the shower and I am going to have to learn to enjoy the wonderful cold showers of Costa Rica. Hardly anyone here has really hot water and the water in the shower just never really warms up. Not even luke warm but on the positive side, at least I already have goosebumps while I am shaving so I just get off more hair and the shave lasts longer haha. Then once I was out of the shower Maria had my breakfast all cooked and was out just happily waiting for me to engulf it, which I pretty much inhaled. Muy delicioso! After I was all packed back up and ready to leave for the bus, she gave me a set of house keys because I guess she might not be at her house at the time I arrive from my mini vacay at the Blake Resort. I was pretty surprised she just up and gave me her keys, but I do have one of those "I just want to trust you" faces. Haha. We waited for the bus in front of the beautiful Catholic Church in the middle of the park.

We all piled on the bus and traveled for about 5 hours to get to our lunch point which also had pretty good food. So it turns out I dont actually think I will starve here like I had anticipated. The food all had been pretty tasty. Good thing I like beans, rice, and french fries. They come with every meal.

After lunch we had free time at the Osa Conservation beach. Not only was it amazingly beautiful, but the water was soooo warm!! It was fantastic! I have never actually been in a large body of water that was warm and it felt wonderful. It was so much warmer than my shower too! Thanks to my amazing mother, I have a waterproof camera that I could take right into the water with me and I got some fun shots of people getting smacked pretty good with the waves.

We even played chicken while in the water and I swear we almost drowned the poor guy who was holding me up but he took some pretty hard waves. Aaaaannnndddd of course, on the most important note, my team won :)

A couple of girls found a coconut and broke it open and we had wild coconut and coconut milk. I felt like such a barbarian on the beach!

So after the beach we went a little longer in the bus and made it to our final destination, Sierpe. We had dinner here and I was able to take a very hot shower=HEAVEN!!!! Dinner again was amazing and now I am just writing this blog in my hotel room with lizards running all over the walls. Its been a pretty good day :)

I have someone very special I want you to meet. Say hello to Salad :)

Salad here is my own personal mascot. I bought him a few years ago in Lagoon in Utah. I saw him and even though he really has nothing to do with Lagoon, in any way shape or form, but we had a connection and I had to take him home. I actually almost gave him away at one point because I thought eh, I might not actually ever get to do Marine Biology so maybe I should just give it up. Muahaha not today!!! On my way to one of the best places in the world to learn about Marine Biology and I am gonna rock it! And Salad will be joining me the whole way :) I have already fallen in love with Costa Rica. Seriously look at their money!!!

Sharks and sloths right on the money?!?!?! Oh yes I was born to live here.

As of now, just at the airport in Dallas waiting. Its gonna be great!

 

I leave for Costa Rica tomorrow!!! The eve of my journey, the excitement is building! Im about to burst!! AHGIIKFVNVHGFUIHJBEJGCFJHKBIH whew ok now I feel better. My flight leaves at 8 in the morning from Reno, but I know I am going to be one of those people who shows up 5 hours early just to make absolute sure I make it on time. I have been having dreams of loosing my passport, my I.D., sleeping through my alarm and missing the flight, giant insects eating my family, you know, the usual.