That snake right by your foot can kill a cow…careful.

November 11, 2009

Big volcanoes, canopying over waterfalls, rappelling, mountain views, swimming in rivers, pineapple fields and poisonous snakes…these are among the adventures in store for you should you decide to visit me. We also have Dengue.

A couple of weeks ago I eagerly traveled to San Jose where I eagerly awaited the arrival of my friend Adam. I couldn’t believe it…my first true days of vacation in the 8 months that I’ve been here were about to begin! My brother came to visit in August, but bless his little heart I was working the entire time. This was going to be different. As soon as Adam arrived, we hopped on the first bus to Miramar, a small town in the mountains, northwest of San Jose near Puntarenas, with gorgeous views of the Nicoya Peninsula.

After a night as the only guests at the hotel/resort, our first day began with a 45 minute horseback ride through the mountains, to the start point of a canopy tour that involved 27 zip-lines over waterfalls.


The other people on the tour were really fun, and the guides were fantastic. We ended up getting a ride back to Puntarenas with one of them, which was amazing because I never get to travel in an actual rental car (I’m always stuck on a hot bus that smells like doo doo).


We ended up getting into San Jose too late to catch a bus to my site, so we stayed the night and traveled to my site first thing the next morning. Now I happen to love my jobs and my life here, but apparently following me around my site can be a little tiring. He bravely tried to communicate with my host family, helped me out in both English class with kindergarten and with my adult class, survived my exercise class, and waited patiently during several meetings. I set aside part of our last day to show him the swimming hole that my youth group took me to a few weeks ago. We had a great time and everything was very relaxing with the exception of a surprise visit from a very very long, fast snake. It jumped 3 feet in the air after we crossed it’s path, and then proceeded to slither into the river that we needed to cross in order to get home. The water was above knee height, and over very large, slippery rocks, so I was definitely uneasy trying to get across but we both made it alive and well. Later on we met up with a Tica friend of mine (who LOVES snakes) and when I described the snake to her she gasped and said, “Oooh, those are really really poisonous! They kill cows!” I may wait a while before heading back to that river.



Needless to say, after trying to get 5 days worth of work done in the 3 days that I would be home, Adam and I were both exhausted by the third day in my site, and ready for the more relaxing part of the vacation – La Fortuna, the town closest to Volcán Arenal. The largest volcano in Costa Rica, Arenal is definitely one of the biggest tourist spots in the country. It was my first time really being a tourist here, and I have to say I did not like it. In my town, I am accepted as a member of the community, and it is rare that people try to take advantage of me and my gringa-ness. In La Fortuna, however, they are used to gringos who have no idea what they are doing, and I hated the fact that I had to prove to everyone that I am familiar with the culture here in order to not be scammed or cheated. That being said, we had a great time visiting the volcano, visiting one of the largest waterfalls in CR, swimming in hot springs, going down waterslides that should be illegal, and walking around town to look at shops and try different restaurants (none of the food was a good as my Mama Tica’s).

I love having visitors but man it is hard when they leave! I get rather used to not having people from home around, but then when I get a little taste home I miss everything and everyone so much more when I am stripped of it once more. Don’t get me wrong, it is DEFINITELY worth the pain afterwards to have visitors, but bouncing back into my reality here is a little bit tricky.
Now I am back into the work scene full swing, trying to finish up projects before the end of the school year (December 22) and before my Aunts Mary and Margret, my Uncle Ed and my brother come to visit for their hottest Christmas ever (woot)!