Whoops!
I forgot to do a blog post last week. So, this one will have to be extra long.
Classes have just been winding down in preparation for Semana Santa (what I'm on right now). And that's basically my spring break. The weekend before Samana Santa I head out to Bajos del Toros with a new group of friends: Caroline, Shruti, Edwin, Ben, and Sebastian. I know, all new names. But Bajos was wonderful. Its a valley of waterfalls and rivers and all sorts of natural wonders. The waterfall we hiked to was so tall! I climbed the mossy wall next to it pretty far into the air. It was only afterwards that I saw a "no climbing" sign. Oh well, I didn't die. The water was frigid as well. I didn't swim, because I didn't have my suit. But those that did came out blue. The valley that stretched out from the hilltop we climbed was amazing. Its wild to just see really lush green mountains rise up out of basically nothing. That what happens when the whole country is a volcano range.
The next day a ton of us went to the San José Wine Fest. There was wine tastings from Spain, Chile, and even one from Portugal. The funny part was It was raining! The whole time actually. So all the festival people were huddled under the few tents they had set up. Even with getting wet, I felt very fancy sampling wines with my peeps. There was also a tattoo bus there. Thats right. A tattoo shop in a bus. Dylan and Harley got little wine cup tattoos, and Caleb got a pretty big pineapple on his leg. It was a hoot and a half.
Classes this past week were long. Mostly because I've been waiting for Semana Santa to start. I did get to present on deforestation and reforestation throughout the world. Check out: One Tree Planted. They're a wonderful organization focused on reforestation projects on just about every continent. Also, I debated fish farming in Marine Bio. Peeps, if we invest in fish farming, it can be better. Wild caught fishing is depleting the oceans at an alarming rate. Thursday I had my first field study in Eco and Pop. We headed to a shaded coffee plantation. Meaning the coffee is grown in a more natural forest setting, with other trees/ plants/ grasses and such around. Its much better for the environment, and the workers on the farm. We munched on sugar cane, which was sweet (literally ahaha).
BUT. The fun stuff now.
My mom is here! It took a bit for her to get here for spring break. A plane broke on the runway of SJO, and she got rerouted to Miami, and had to come a day late. But even with that set back. We've had a killer time so far. My mom got to meet my abuela! My abuela made us Olla Carne, which is this banging stew with potatoes and corns and such. They both really liked each other. My mom got my abuela some cute plant pots and mascara, and my abuela in turn gave my mom a really cool flamingo bag. I'm gonna miss my abuela this week. We headed out to La Fortuna first (third time there for me haha). Our hotel was cute. The outside photographed beautifully. We just chilled the first night, because traveling was a bear. But we did get to enjoy live music at the Lava Lounge in La Fortuna.
The second day tho! It rained SO MUCH. But it was ok. Because we were on a (mostly) covered coffee/ chocolate tour. Our tour guide was really cool. He explained the process of growing both coffee and chocolate, and the history of each in Costa Rica. And then, the fun part. We SAMPLED different coffees and chocolates. I loved the more bitter 70% chocolate. We could add in like peanuts or cinnamon or coconut with the tastings as well. I ground up cacao and sugarcane too. We tried some sugarcane rum at one point. That stuff tasted rough. But yeah, we learned how to make a proper cup of coffee. I'm gonna be so pretentious when I get back. Watchout everyone.
That afternoon, surprise surprise, it was still raining. So we treated ourselves to a Spa Day. We got the lovers massage package lmao. But the massage ladies were great. We got mud masks, and they really worked out the knots in my legs and shoulders. It was quite relaxing.
The third day was the most adventurous. We went RAPPELLING down WATERFALLS. The first one was nearly 200 ft tall. The views from the descents were breathtaking. At one point, we got zip lined into a controlled free fall into a pool. They called this the "monkey drop". I had a killer time. Mom was kinda scared, but she powered through it and I think she had a ton of fun too. The pictures from it are pretty funny.
That afternoon I convinced my mom to go hiking as well! We went to El Silence Mirador for some great views of the volcano. I felt like a mountain goat, climbing over the rocks and such. As always, Arenal Volcano was awesome. Even if the rain clouds were covering the top.
The yesterday was somewhat of a travel day. We headed out from La Fortuna (after getting some really good coffee) on our way to Tamarindo Beach. But, to break up the travel, we went on a sloth tour. We had to reschedule because of the aforementioned flight situations. But our wonderful tour guide let us go at a different date. It was so fun! We saw toucans, two AND three toed sloths, frogs, birds, and ate some bananas. I loved it and the nature was beautiful.
The rest of the Tamarindo journey was pretty uneventful. We got to our resort all good. The resort is beautiful. It has a lovely pool and clean beach. The rocks around the shore are GREAT. I found crabs and mollusk and little sea urchins all throughout the tidal pools. I'm gonna find a brittle star before I leave, mark my words. But yeah. Long post. Good stuff. And a whole spring break to look forward to.
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