The Christmas season came and went, not suprisingly, without a flake of snow. The green country around me took away the feeling that it was December, despite the amount of Christmas tunes I was pumping out and the Christmas trees in every building and house. On Christmas Eve I went to the church service in the evening, which brought back all the familiarities of Christmas. Inside, where you couldn't tell if it's 75 or 5 degrees, we had a candlelight service with traditional songs and a comfortable warmth of everyone in the holiday spirit. I was housesitting during the holidays, so I went back to their house in Santa Ana for an evening of pajamas, Its a Wonderful Life, wine and chocolates. Although I'm typically a stickler for tradition, this was a great way to spend Christmas Eve as well. Christmas day I spent the day relaxing and watching a huge rain storm rather than the snow storm that was currently hitting Minnesota. In the evening, I headed over to a church family's house for dinner and fireworks... boy do those Costa Ricans love their fireworks! It was a great evening- if I couldn't be with my own family on Christmas, this was certainly a wonderful alternative.
The next day, Saturday, my friends Gwen and Deena came to visit! After much stressing about their flight being delayed due to all the snow coming into Minnesota, they ended up arriving just as scheduled and not a moment too soon. I was so excited to see them and have a week of adventures ahead of me. We started the week off with a bang, going bungee jumping from a 265 foot bridge. Mom and dad were NOT informed of this decision ahead of time, as I knew it would lead to much unnecessary stressing. Better to let them know AFTER I had already survived... and show them the video on their visit. The next day was off to Poas Volcano, which I had already seen but it is one of the more accessible volcanoes in Costa Rica. A quick bus ride away and we were able to walk around and see the crater, a lake and the trails that lead around the park. It was a pretty nice day, we were lucky to have been able to see everything! You never know with the clouds. On Tuesday we headed out to the Caribbean coast for some beach time. First we hit Cahuita for a couple days, checking out the national park there. It's a very quiet, mellow beach. We managed to get robbed by some monkeys in the park... they got Gwen's wallet but we managed to get it back thanks to a helpful stranger and some bartering with pretzels. But those monkeys aggressive! Lesson learned. The next day, New Years Eve day, we headed to another beach just a few miles from Cahuita, called Puerto Viejo. It was a much more 'happening' beach, so we thought that would be fun for New Years. It was indeed! A lot of fancy drinks and new foods were tried, and at midnight we brought in the new decade with fireworks on the beach. A great way to ring in 2010! The next day, sadly, we headed back to San Jose because Gwen and Deena were flying back to Minnesota on the 2nd. It was a busy busy week with a couple great friends, but as soon as they were gone, my parents were on their way!
After a few days to catch up on sleep and work, my parents arrived on Thursday the 7th. They had just come from spending a week in Florida with my sister, so they were being quite the little travelers! But they handled it like pro's. They didn't get much time to rest inbetween trips, as we were off to the Pacific beach bright and early on Friday morning. I decided to save a few bucks and show them the 'real' Costa Rica, we would take the public bus to the beach we were heading to, Manuel Antonio. Somewhere between San Jose and the beach, my backpack managed to get stolen. I suppose it could partially be blamed on me, as I was too trusting and left it on the bus during a bathroom break. Another lesson learned! The bus was hot, packed, and long... to get off and realize all I had was the clothes on my back was not thrilling. But we had a great time despite the rocky start, starting with a tour of the national park there. It was great to take the tour, as we wouldn't have come out half as informed as we were with the guide. All sorts of plants and wildlife for us to see! That night we pulled together an outfit for me to wear and watched the sunset at the beach, followed by a great dinner overlooking the ocean. The next day we got up and headed to the beach. Little did I know that this was mom AND dad's first time in the ocean - what a big moment! I felt like a mother watching from the shore as her children play in the waves. We were planning to head back to San Jose that day at noon, but after a lying bus driver and missed bus, we found ourselves sitting at the bus station until 2. I had vowed that I would not be taking another public bus during mom and dad's visit.
Thankfully, this turned out to be the case. The next morning we were thrilled to find that a Gray Line shuttle would be able to pick us up to bring us to Arenal Volcano. This seemed to make all the difference as I was truely able to set into vacation mode. When we got there we were delighted to find that our resort was adorable and the hot springs were just asking us to come in and unwind. Although it was raining and cloudy so we couldn't see the peak of the volcano, we still tried to make the best of it by using the hot springs and exploring where we could. We took a hike with a guide around part of the base of the volcano, learning the history of it and its major erruptions. We explored the lava paths and, when standing at the top, felt like we could get blown down at any minute. We were thankful to have gone on an early tour and been able to have a lot of the area to ourselves because of the rain. And nothing warms you up after a cold, rainy hike better than....you guessed it, hot springs. A decision to later check out a trail and where it lead resulted in us slipping and sliding down a steep, muddy trail leading straight to a river. Mom was afraid of grabbing onto a vine and finding out it was a snake, while I was just picturing my camera falling into the dark abyss that loomed below. Luckily, we made it down without any incidents and were happy to find a beautiful waterfall and a much more user-friendly trail going back up. Dry clothes warmed us up as we hopped back on the shuttle to return to San Jose.
Tuesday was a work day, as I felt bad leaving the office for so many days. Hmmm, I wonder if I picked up that gene from anyone in my family... :) I brought them along to the office with me in the morning to show them where I work. That evening we headed over to Patricia's for a wonderful dinner and conversation. Well, it seemed the conversation was more of 'mom and dad talk to Patricia, I translate it to Patricia, she says something in spanish, I translate it back'... but I was really happy for them to get to know my host parents and see how I live day to day.
Wednesday it was back into travel mode. As I have mentioned before in my blog, my old pastor from St. Cloud and his wife, Stacey and Flora, are now living in San Jose. They are good friends with my parents, so we went to visit their farm that they recently bought. It's a really big piece of land that they have a lot of exciting plans for. They also have an adorable nearly-1-year-old, Julian, who is a joy to play with - I miss taking care of kiddos! We ate lunch at a great mountain top restaurant before heading back to San Jose. That afternoon and evening was all about naps and just 'being.'
Thursday... our last day! We had arranged to take a tour of Britt's, which is a huge coffee producer in Costa Rica. We got picked up and went out to the farm where there was a very entertaining presentation about the coffee process, from bean to bag. It was certainly not your typical tour, as they were more of 'actors' than tour guides. Mom and dad are stocked up on coffee now, as they could have some shipped back to Minnesota - that should make for some great mornings! We headed back to San Jose that afternoon and got dropped off downtown so we could take a tour of the National Theatre and the gold museum. Both were really interesting - the theatre is GORGEOUS, and the museum told the history and meaning behind Costa Rican money... it couldn't have been a complete trip for mom without a museum stop! We had a great dinner over at Stacey and Flora's before heading back to the hotel for one last night to pack everything up and get to bed early... they had to leave for the airport at 4 am! It was such a GREAT trip, and fully packed. I miss them lots but am so glad they were able to take a trip to come see where I am living and what I am doing!
So, that is my past month and a half in a nutshell. Eh, might not have been in a nutshell... I've never been good at keeping things short. On a shorter note, this morning I faceplanted into cement when I was on a run. I blame it on the terribly uneven concrete that covers the sidewalks here and the equally uneven roads. A few knicks and bruises on my hands and knees, but thankfully was able to just get up and say 'esta bien' to a concerned-looking motorcyclist parked near me. My self esteem was hurt more than any part of my body. Better watch more carefully next time.
Pictures to come soon, and promises to write more often from now on.
Tuesday was a work day, as I felt bad leaving the office for so many days. Hmmm, I wonder if I picked up that gene from anyone in my family... :) I brought them along to the office with me in the morning to show them where I work. That evening we headed over to Patricia's for a wonderful dinner and conversation. Well, it seemed the conversation was more of 'mom and dad talk to Patricia, I translate it to Patricia, she says something in spanish, I translate it back'... but I was really happy for them to get to know my host parents and see how I live day to day.
Wednesday it was back into travel mode. As I have mentioned before in my blog, my old pastor from St. Cloud and his wife, Stacey and Flora, are now living in San Jose. They are good friends with my parents, so we went to visit their farm that they recently bought. It's a really big piece of land that they have a lot of exciting plans for. They also have an adorable nearly-1-year-old, Julian, who is a joy to play with - I miss taking care of kiddos! We ate lunch at a great mountain top restaurant before heading back to San Jose. That afternoon and evening was all about naps and just 'being.'
Thursday... our last day! We had arranged to take a tour of Britt's, which is a huge coffee producer in Costa Rica. We got picked up and went out to the farm where there was a very entertaining presentation about the coffee process, from bean to bag. It was certainly not your typical tour, as they were more of 'actors' than tour guides. Mom and dad are stocked up on coffee now, as they could have some shipped back to Minnesota - that should make for some great mornings! We headed back to San Jose that afternoon and got dropped off downtown so we could take a tour of the National Theatre and the gold museum. Both were really interesting - the theatre is GORGEOUS, and the museum told the history and meaning behind Costa Rican money... it couldn't have been a complete trip for mom without a museum stop! We had a great dinner over at Stacey and Flora's before heading back to the hotel for one last night to pack everything up and get to bed early... they had to leave for the airport at 4 am! It was such a GREAT trip, and fully packed. I miss them lots but am so glad they were able to take a trip to come see where I am living and what I am doing!
So, that is my past month and a half in a nutshell. Eh, might not have been in a nutshell... I've never been good at keeping things short. On a shorter note, this morning I faceplanted into cement when I was on a run. I blame it on the terribly uneven concrete that covers the sidewalks here and the equally uneven roads. A few knicks and bruises on my hands and knees, but thankfully was able to just get up and say 'esta bien' to a concerned-looking motorcyclist parked near me. My self esteem was hurt more than any part of my body. Better watch more carefully next time.
Pictures to come soon, and promises to write more often from now on.
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