Puerto Viejo beach trip - so much fun!

I had a blast with the ladies at the beach! We spent the first night walking around the town getting to know the local vendors and shops. We had a delicious meal of "Rice and Beans" (White rice and black beans fried in coconut oil, a specialty to the caribe food) at a place called Elena Brown's.

Our accommodations were nice and worth the price. In the morning, Mara and I took a walk on the beach and took a swim for a few hours. Absolutely glorious! I have had so few moments where I have ever been so content. In the night we went out for dinner (more rice and beans!) and dancing :) I got my fill of meringue, real Latin style. One thing that was hard to get used to while being on the Caribean side was the shear amount of sweat I produced. I have never been in a place where simply sitting outside causes me to have sweat dripping down my face. Not to mention dancing - my fair looked like it was wet by the end of the night (luckily it was raining!).The next day we went to the beach again and had a lazy day in town. Delicious food (Curry tofu) at a super great restaurant called MonLi and open mic night at Lazy Mon.

The flowers by our guest house. Muy Bonita!

The ocean! Incredible!

Some random horses on the beach. The guide was totally hamming for the camera.

A "friend" by our guest house. His only redeeming quality is that he was reducing the number of mosquito that could potentially bite me. 

The three amigos (minus me) walking to the beach.

Tired puppy after a swim found Mara's short too cozy to not have a little nap on them.

Adorable child chillin' at the beach.

Pineapple smoothie, humidity, Caribbean = Ecstasy. 

Dreadnut coffee was delicious!

Beach adventure time!

Gringa jumping pictures~!

The gecko in our room right before it pooped!

My $5 manicure :)

Off to the beach!

The girls and I have a four day weekend so we're off to Puerto Viejo! This small town is in the Limon province of Costa Rica. We are taking the public bus there (which will cost roughly $8 each way :)

We are staying with a woman who has renovated a house into a jungle guest house. It is only $15 a night and 5 minutes away from Playa Negra, a beautiful black sand beach.

With all of that said, I won't be on the internet for four whole day (woooo hoooo!). Pictures and stories sure to follow :)

http://www.puertoviejo.cr/

Adventure to Cartago and Cachi

Today Mara and I took an adventure out to Cartago to visit the very famous ruins and church. We took a bus from out town of Tres Rios and stopped somewhere near the town center. We then walked around for a bit and happened upon the ruins. They were quiet beautiful. It was hard to imagine them as ruins of a church as there was all the hustle and bustle of the city.

The church was built many times only to be destroyed many times by natural disasters. In 1910, an earthquake happened causing the latest reconstruction to collapse. It was then decided to cease all construction and what is left are the ruins of the church.

While taking pictures I was leaning against the ruins. Low and behold, I could have been eaten by the world's largest moth!

These boys thought it was so funny to see a tourist. So I just had to take their picture!

It is said on a foggy night in Cartago you can see the headless ghost of a priest roaming the ruins.

We weren't really sure why this sign was there... or what it really meant.

Mara and I outside the ruins.

Never thought in my wildest dreams I would go to Costa Rica and see Patrick Starr (a SpongeBob character) spray painted on the side of a delivery truck.

We then traveled to the very famous Basicillica de Los Angeles. There holds a statue of the "black virgin Mary" that has a lot of folklore behind it. On August 2, people from across the country pilgrimage to this church to ask for help from the virgin, some even on their knees. We witnessed people shuffling on their knees toward the front of the church today as we sat to take in all of its beauty.

After the church, we took a taxi to Cachi, a small town with some more famed ruins that was recommended to us by our house brother. The taxi driver went one way, but the road was closed. After much discussion with a random man on the sidewalk he decided on the best way to go. Something you should know about Costa Rica, the road conditions are "not up to code" and the drivers are all competing for the Daytona 500. There were many "Mi dio"'s said under my breath as the driver would careen around a corner on a one lane road. We witness many beautiful ravines and coffee plantations as we drove into the Orosi valley. Our driver however, did not know where the ruins were so we ended up driving to Cachi... but the ruins are not actually in Cachi. So we drove back towards Cartago, asked a few other random people, then finally came upon the beautiful national park where the ruins reside.

Typical "graffti" in Cartago. It was very artistic and beautiful.

The Orosi valley.

Sharing my snack with a friend. He was so skinny!

Cachi (Cah-Chi) Ruins

My friend wanted in the picture too.

Largest air plant I have ever seen!

Here is some information about Cachi http://www.govisitcostarica.com/region/city.asp?cID=194

I learned a new word... Terremoto!

I just woke up probably 5 minutes ago (8:45 our time) because my bed began to sway back and forth. So I have officially experienced my first Costa Rican earthquake :) It lasted probably 10 seconds. It says it was a magnitude of 7.9. I was far enough away that it did not effect me as much I think. I just woke up and got into the doorway of my bathroom. My house mom was very worried but I think she was realized when I came out smiling and said "well, I am awake now! So much for sleeping in!"

You can see where it originated here http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/at00m9vsu9#summary

Weekend aventuras!

On Saturday the girls and I ventured into San Jose via autobus. We found some interesting things along the way and had a adventurous day. Upon returning to Tres Rios we found the most delicious Soda and had some empanadas con frijoles y queso. Muy delicioso!

Tres Rios Mountains

El Quaker es Muerto

La Porta

En el Autobus

Empanadas Fresco con frijoles y queso

Mara and I were very excited!

Today we walked around the local mall and stopped to have some coffee. We are very spoiled by our house mom, who even on her day off supplied us with a delicious breakfast of oatmeal con leche y frutas con yogurt. As you can see I have a very minimal Spanglish vocab right now. Very day she asks me which nueva pallabras (new words) I have learned. She is a very patient teacher, and I much appreciate it.