¡That's it!
[Costa Rican slang]
I've been gone all weekend long, so I haven't been able to update my blog. Let's start with Thursday...
Thursday
In my Tropical Medicine class, we did our presentations. My group presented a power point on cardiomyopathy. Last day of la clase de Español! I was relieved, but sad at the same time :(. Our little class of 6 girls and Ronulfo became a family these past 4 weeks. For our last class, we played a Spanish board game and he gave us our notas finales (final grades). I got an A! Woo hoo! We also got out extremely early, so Tien, Caroline, and I headed to Pequeño Mundo to do some bargain shopping! I got a long strapless dress for just $12! Pequeño Mundo is one place I'm definitely going to miss when I get back to Arkansas (Not that I don't love the States:))! We then headed to a nearby outdoor mall and got some Pops ice cream. I ordered the cas sherbert. Cas is a type of fruit that is kind of citrus-y. It's very refreshing! On the way home, it started pouring down rain. And, of course, Tien and I both forgot our umbrellas. So we hopped in a cab and ended up paying a $6 cab fair that would have cost us nothing if not for the rain! Pura Vida, right? Haha. Once I got home, I dried off and got ready for dinner. Some friends and I went to Hooters. Haha, let me tell you the reasoning before you start judging. Nicole works at the Hooters in Colorado and she wanted to see the one in San José. Legitimate reasoning to chow down on some American cuisine, right? We actually ended up staying there for awhile, then headed to a bar called Kongos on La Calle (The Street). Great ending to a great day!
Friday
For Tropical Medicine, we took a field trip to InBio Park. The Park is so cool! Located in Heredia, it presents all the different ecosystems of Costa Rica. We learned quite a bit! Fun fact: Costa Rica is home to stingless bees!
Mariposas!
Only 11 years old!
Stingless bee hive!
After the tour of InBio, our class headed back to Veritas. Nicole and I then grabbed our backpacks and made it to the bus station just in time for our 2 o'clock bus to Puerto Viejo! This past weekend we had no planned excursions, so a large group of ISA students headed to Puerto Viejo for the weekend. Once we arrived, we took a taxi to Rocking J's, our hostel for the weekend. It was such a unique place! It was covered in mosaics!
They gave you the option between a hammock, tent, or room to stay in. Friday and Saturday night I stayed in a tent with Nicole. Sunday night I slept in a hammock. You're also given a pretty big locker to put your belongings. The downside was the bathrooms and showers. The showers were FREEZING cold! It was my first hostel/living out of a backpack experience, and I survived! Rocking J's had a little restaurant/bar inside it with a lot of different types of food. All of it was amazing! After eating dinner, they had a DJ come into the bar, so everyone danced and hung out.
Saturday
Woke up and walked to Puerto Viejo Bakery with some friends where I had a delicious breakfast of a parfait!
Yumm:) It was gorgeous and sunny so we hurried back, changed into our swimsuits, and went out to the beach!
It started getting cloudy around 2, so I walked into town with some girls and checked out some of the little shops. Puerto Viejo is on the Caribbean, so the town is extremely Rastafarian. Organic food, inspirations by Bob Marley, traveling by cruiser bikes, dreads, the whole enchilada.
My new boyfriend...hottie huh?
Kidding!
J (the owner of Rocking J's) lets the hostel dwellers contribute to his mosaic pathways, tables, chairs, etc. So when I got back to Rocking J's, Sam, Nicole, and I decided to take him up on the offer and make our own mosaics! It took awhile, but I enjoyed creating a mosaic of a sun. When we were done, we showered up, ate dinner at Rocking J's, listened to the band, and played some cards.
Sunday
The majority of the ISA students staying at Rocking J's left to go to Bocas in Panama around 7 in the morning, but Jackie, Sydney, and I stayed in Puerto Viejo. The U.S. Embassy still has Jackie and I's passports, so we were unable to go to Panama, and Sydney just wanted to stay with us! We were bummed at first, but the three of us ended up having a ton of fun together! Jackie and I went running on the beach in the morning, then got Sydney and went to Puerto Viejo Bakery again for breakfast! The whole day was sunny and hot! We laid out for awhile and jumped in the lagoons, then decided to rent bikes.
Everyone else in town was cruising with cruisers, and we wanted to fit in :). It only cost 10 mil colones ($5) to rent bikes for a full day! We only rented them for a few hours, but it was still considerably cheap! We rode the bikes all around town, enjoying each and every minute of riding along the Caribbean coastline:). We took a break, got some ice cream, and sat in some tables by the beach. Then we rode back, dropped off the bikes, did a little shopping, and headed back to Rocking J's to get ready for dinner. We went to a delicious Caribbean-style restaurant called Salsa Bravo. We got an appetizer of hummus and french bread, and I had a tropical shrimp salad for my main course. I decided this weekend that I'm in love with Caribbean-style food :)
Today
Sydney, Jackie, and I got breakfast at..you guessed it..Puerto Viejo Bakery! It was just too good! I got banana pancakes (yes, inspired by Jack Johnson).
We went into town, got our bus tickets, and checked out this adorable boutique called Luna May. The style reminded me of Francesca's (I was home! Haha). The owner actually came up with her own dress designs and design patterns. I had to refrain from buying the whole store. I ended up getting a dress with a matching belt that I can't wait to wear!
We then walked back to the hostel to check out, then walked back into town to the bus station. We arrived back in San José around 4. It was a long trip, but I had a blast! I never thought I'd be so happy to see a bed and have a hot shower when I got back to Emy's house!
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