Water: -falls, -slides, -falling-from-sky

So this weekend was the first excursion of three that I will be going on with ISA while I am here in Costa Rica. This time we were at Arenal which is one of the large volcanoes here. We stayed at a fantastic resort called Los Lagos that came with all of the great amenities expected here: pool, awesome slides (like the best ever), hot springs, butterfly garden, crocodiles, fish everywhere, frog collection, zip-line, horses, hiking, and of course there was a buffet. So, join me as I talk you through my weekend in a multimedia blog post...YEAH! This time around, you will find the pictures in a short video at the end (I borrowed most of them).

On friday morning, our Heredia crew met at our university where a bus full of students from the San Pedro program. Then, we began the 4 hour drive out to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. Once we got to the resort, all that was on our minds was the pool/hot springs and food. We were on complete sensory overload for sure. There was so much there, and the resort was big enough on the side of a hill that you take a free bus everywhere. It was here that we discovered the slide. There was this crazy slide there that we probably went on like 50 times (or so it felt). It was just constant fun. There were in total three slides at the resort; including one that went into the hot springs. These were definitely highlights of the resort.

Saturday morning was designated towards optional tours. I signed up to go canyoning, and it was probably one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Canyoning is an activity where you rappel cliffs and hike in canyons. In this case it would mean rappelling down water falls and hiking through a tropical rain forest with friends. The day started at 7:20 when we scurried onto a bus that, after picking up some others, went to a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Here, we boarded into the backs of trucks outfitted with benches and tarp roofs to protect from the rain that was steadily falling. These trucks dropped us off in some ranch-like area where we got all of our gear on. Then...we walked. Suddenly, finding ourselves in a more forested environment, there was a wooden platform with cables. We were at the first drop. A 120ft rappel alongside a beautiful water fall. With our hearts beating out of our chests, we all took turns getting hooked up, testing our ropes (and ourselves), and dropping this great distance into a tropical rain forest. We spent the morning hiking and having 3 other rappels. Truly breathtaking, and pictures could never do it justice. This was followed by a great Tico lunch, coffee, and cookies. Outstanding. The afternoon was then spent from the comfort of the pools and springs as rain was falling. That evening was followed by the buffet and more pool time.

At the falls with Kyle, my good friend from DU

Sunday was our final day, and we spent it going to the La Fortuna waterfall. It is a pretty good hike down some stairs to get there, and it is well worth it. There are two falls that are large and impressive in the way that they fit into the lush landscape here. We were not able to swim in the falls, but seeing them was enough for this traveler. This ended our trip, but it sure was interesting. Outside of the amazing things I have already told you about, the weekend was filled with heavy rain, crazy lightning, thunder setting off car alarms, an earthquake, and no good views of the Volcano. Pura vida I guess!

The day that makes every other one look better...

Today started like pretty much every other day that I have been here. I wake up. Eat me some gallo pinto and fruit. Drink my coffee. Leave to go do something.

Every Tuesday we have a weekly program where we do all of the housekeeping for the week as well as planning for our excursion this weekend (which is Arenal Volcano). So, that was super exciting as we planned for our excursion, but there was a distinct moment where I began to worry. Ania (the program director) said that I needed to talk to her after the meeting. When we got back to the office, she informed me that there was an issue with my course schedule. I won't get into details about it all, but it pretty much meant that there would be a big rocking in the way that my course work was going to look like while I am here. After plenty of stress, venting to Youval (who is in Israel), chatting with Kyle, and most importantly, calling my mom; I decided to not take any psych classes here and register in a soccer class.

[Attention: This is where the silver lining is found]
That class is outstanding. It is a whole class that is devoted to learning about the history, rules, and playing of soccer. So pretty much it is PE for grown ups in Costa Rica :). I think it will be a great chance to talk with local students, and also there are a couple of people from the US there as well which is fun. So, after our class we got to hang out, play soccer, and chat; which was much needed after my stressful morning.

Finally, I had one final aftershock of this very rough day. I head a large gust of wind outside that made the power go out. Just a little reminder to not take all of it for granted. Here's to a great hump day tomorrow. Ciao!

Founts: of water and of knowledge.

Well, the title actually says it all. Today I went swimming in a spring-fed pool and had class. Since I am a lucky duck and don't have classes on Monday mornings (or during the day for that matter), I got to go swimming with a great group of people at this place called Ojo de Agua. This is a place with sports fields, assorted courts for tennis and basketball, as well as pools everywhere along with a lake. The cool thing is that it is all fed by a natural spring. That also, means that it is super cold; which can be nice when you are in a tropical climate. We were able to take public buses there (which means it costs less that 3 dollars to get there and only about 2 to get in) and the place was empty because it was a weekday. Truly a relaxing experience there. Afterwards, I returned home and began to prepare myself for my first class with Ticos. My impression of the class: hopefully I will get the swing of things. Pura vida. Time to work hard this week before heading off to Arenal for the weekend.

Unplanned Weekend

So this past weekend was supposed to be spent on an excursion to the beautiful beach at Tamarindo here on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica. However, due to a certain event (see massive 7.6 earthquake on the coast), this trip has been postponed for just a lil' while. So what does that leave little ole' me to do...I don't know! It was just one of those plan-it-as-you-go weekends that comes with traveling. It was a weekend filled with sports and plenty of being outside. Thursday is when my weekend starts, and that makes things pretty darn interesting because, well...it's a Thursday. The day was speant being as relaxed as possible. It included frisbee at ULatina and watching the DNC here on my computer.

Anna, Chelsea, and I

And so, I come to Friday. Oh, glorious Friday. Friday was a big day here in Costa Rica because the Ticos were playing Mexico as part of the qualifiers for the World Cup in 2016. The intensity and national pride was definitely all over the place. I went down to San Jose with my friends Anna and Chelsea so that they could see the city a bit and get a feel. Just so you know, San Jose is very hectic, loud, and just all around crazy. With the added need to dodge people attempting to sell you anything with red/white/blue (the national colors) it was an adventure. We found ourselves in the beautiful park that is situated between the city and the stadium where we could relax for a while before heading back towards Heredia. That night we went out to a local bar to cheer on the Ticos to a disappointing loss, but at least it was all exciting.

San Jose

A beautiful church near Heredia

Saturday was directed with one purpose: walk towards that tall mountain. So I, along with three others, began walking up and out of our city towards the mountains. I'm gonna keep this story short for you since it is full of inside jokes and healthy portion of complaining. All in all, it was a 4.5 hour trip that tested our wits as we were able to see the beauty that is the transportation infrastructure of the country as well as the beautiful plants. And I would remiss to not mention all that is gained by simply spending half of your day in the company of good friends. We celebrated by going to our favorite coffee spot and feeling absolutely spent, and afterwards, I went to eat a .5 meter pizza with my housemate Will (since he is from Chicago, we were both pretty stoked to be getting some).

For my Sunday, I woke up to a message explaining what I would be doing that day from Chelsea (that has become how I operate with my free time). Her host brother took a group of us out to a field to play soccer for a couple of hours as we decompressed and enjoyed the national sport. It was fun because there was plenty of mixing between English and Spanish because while we had some locals as well as our group, we all knew both. Quite a fun time here.

So that is what happened. All killer and no filler; if that is still a thing. It wasn't what was planned but I wouldn't have it any other way. Pura vida. No complaints.

San Jose, Sports, and Sipping

I have no pictures to post today, so don't freak out. What I will say, is that today was a great day to be around here. It started out like all other days of the week with breakfast and Buen Dia on the tv. We had our weekly meeting for my study abroad program where we talked about this coming weekend and the excursion we are going on to Tamarindo on the Northern Atlantic coast of Costa Rica. That excitement was followed by getting student IDs which is admittedly not as exciting.
After all that needed to be done at the university was over, I traveled down to San Jose with my new friends here Will and Leslie. After a quick adventure and some solid Costa Rican lunch, we hopped on the bus back to Heredia. You should be privy to knowing that we had hoped to be back in time to play some futbol with the rest of the students in our program. As our luck would have it, they were walking by as we came off of the bus and we never broke stride. After our trek to get a ball and arrive at the field we set up, met some new Tico friends, and began to play as the normal afternoon rain began. We played through rain barefoot as we were soaked to the bone while having a great time full of skill, slips, and Spanish. After that we all went our separate ways as we returned home to try to stop our bodies from getting too upset at the abuse we put them through. A small group of us then decided to head out for coffee and fruit juice (very common here) to decompress and have a good time. It was a great finish to a crazy day. And now, I look forward to tomorrow when I finally have my first class here in Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

Takin' it to the Streets

Today was pretty straight forward. I woke up. Ate breakfast (which consisted of fruit and a ham and cheese sandwich). Went to the university. Short tour of the city. Find stuff to do.

Yesterday we had aimlessly wandered in a group, but today the people with the ISA office actually walked us around and took us to some cool spots. We stopped by the church in the town center and the market as our two main stops. We got to try some of the typical food which was crazy good. Fresh fruits and so on. Afterwards, me and my housemate wandered the massive mall that is across the street and ate at the spot in our university. While we were there, the girls from another college were playing against girls from ULatina, so we got some entertainment to go along with our lunch (complete with orange and carrot juice).

Not much to speak of...tune in next post!

This is what my day was like...

Groups of Gratuitous Gringos

Today was kind of the first day of this whole program. This morning I walked to the university with my Tica mom (Lilliam) and my housemate Will (they call him Guillermo). We had an orientations session down in San Jose with the other abroad programs that ISA hosts in Costa Rica. There we got to hear more in detail what to be expecting throughout the program as well as the usual type of talk about staying safe and using common sense here. While there I was reunited with a strange man named Kyle (by strange, I mean that he is one of the guys that I live with back in Denver). After it all was done, we came back to Heredia and returned to our houses for a bit before a group of us went out to see Heredia a bit more. Now, in case you were wondering, walking around the town of Heredia with 9 people on a Sunday is quite a site...especially when we are a bunch of gringos. If you ever get the chance, I would advise you to go in a much smaller group. Also, when 6 of those people are girls from the US, the cat calls never cease, and boy that was that a sight to be seen. However, it was nice to finally get a feel of the place that I will be calling home for almost 4 months. It really is different than any other place I have been, and that is really exciting and terrifying. I can hope that this is going to become a place that I love to be. Pura vida.

Well...I'm here

I think the title says it...I'm here in Heredia, Costa Rica now, and it is a wee bit different here (who knew?). Today was a fun adventure. It started off with me leaving my house all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with my luggage (that is all red by some weird twist of fate).

Okay, that's a pretty terrible angle

Obligatory photo in front of the gate in Houston

My mom went to the airport since she was headed out to the great state of Colorado. We said our goodbyes in front of the gate as I was about to board.

My mom and I waiting

After a plane ride (that wasn't really all too long) I found myself in a different country. I'm not sure if everyone realized this, but they speak a different language here! I know, what a shocker. The whole speaking a new language has been interesting for sure. It is such a big change from being in a classroom where you can say something in English, and the professor will know exactly what you are saying. Here..well you just look a little stupid.
The family that I'm living with is really nice. I can tell that this is going to go well as soon as I get into the swing of things. Well, I'll leave you with a few pictures of what I am calling home now for three and half months.

Harry Potter has nothing on me

The nice wood pen they gave me