My Last few days~

So I am just now blogging about my last few days because we lost internet at my house!

Wednesday: pretty uneventful, we had class twice in one day, yuck, definitely not one of my top 10 days in Costa Rica!! We were going to go to watch our friend, Jimmy, play soccer again, but his game was canceled~dang it!

Thursday: Our last dayyyyy! :( Our last day was definitely a great one, we went to a research institution that had the different areas of ecosystems found in CR. We saw some animals (even a sloth!) and their natural habitats. The institution was a beautiful place and they do a lot of awesome things there. Here is their website, http://www.inbio.ac.cr/es/default.html, don't worry, there is an english tab, right at the top! :D After our trip to INBio we went back to San Jose, and Ash and  I got some KFC. We topped off the day with a nap and then hung out with our good friends, Jimmy and KP (pronounced caw-pay).

Friday, our day to travel home! :( We left our CR house at 8:00 am and heading to our university for the last time. We loaded up the bus with everybody's suitcases, which had way more items in them then before ;) and headed the airport. While at the airport, my empty bottles of coke got confinscated, I am sorry Bailey!!, as well as the beer I was bringing home. ahhhh nuts. but it's okay, our flight from CR took off on time and before leaving  I enjoyed a nice $6 cheeseburger and $3 small pop from burger king. Good time! ha We made it to Houston and then found out our play was delayed to KC. Happy to say that by 2 am I was in my own bed! Nice to be back Iowa!

My overall trip: awesome. This trip is one the best things that I could have ever done for myself, because of it, I truly believe that I have grown not only in an educational aspect, but I have definitely grown as a person and have developed more confidence in myself and the ability to leave a small town and experience something different and new. I cannot  wait to study abroad again, (soon) for a longer period of time. Even though I missed my family and friends, it was worth it, this was one of the greatest opportunities I will ever have.

My Last Tuesday!

Today was definitely more adventurous than yesterday. ;)
We met at our school at 8 like normal, but NO class!! :D Instead we headed up into the mountains to a rain forest. After another wonderful 2 hour bus ride, we were there! While at the rain forest, 3 tour guides (One was from England, here learning Spanish, we asked him about the royal wedding, he didn't seem as pumped as we were haha) showed us around and talked to us about the ecological things that they were doing. We got to eat a banana grown fresh in the rainforest, it was soooo good! We also experienced another river straight off the mountain, can you say crystal clear water? Love it. While on our hiking adventure we had to go in groups of 3's over the bridge, me, and my friends Kelsey and Courtney went. I was the last person to get over this ricketty bridge and as we are walking I happened to look down and see the tail of a snake. Not too worry, just like our speaker the other day said "When you see a snake in Costa Rica, don't stop to look at it and wonder if it is poisonous, because, it is, RUN." Well let's just say I am a good listener. I shoved Kelsey and screamed SNAKE and we all 3 ran. I am sure it was a site. But I HATE snakes. Lol After the snake incident, we were able to see some really cool ruins, and then hiked back up to the cabin for lunch. It was a gross lunch. Oh man, Paige did not it. I miss Iowa food. Our lunch today was: beans (don't  like), tuna salad (don't like), rice (I am SO sick of), chicken (with a freakin' weird sauce,  I didn't like), and a plantan (sweeter than a banana and fried, freakin' sick). Lol so today was not my day for eating lunch, I am SO excited to go eat at the little pizzeria by school tomorrow, it is so good. And now my mouth is watering...........
So after lunch we headed back to San Jose and got home a little while ago.
Today was definitely a cool trip, even though the bus rides suck, they are when I have been able to see some of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen in my life. Just like today, the view of cloud covered mountains. Some parts of Costa Rica are simply perfect.

My Last Monday Here!

Guys, this was an intense day.
Ash and I woke up, ate breakfast and headed to class.
After class, we came home, walked to the mini market to find lunch (My was popcorn, cookies and a pop--shows how successful that trip was!)
Ate our "lunch".
Attempted to watch a DVD-no luck with the tv and Grandpa def didn't know how to do it.
And took a nap, a 3.5 hour nap.
Woke up, ate some cookies.
It was a good day ;)
HA
and NO CLASS TOMORROW! :D
Just a trip!
Okay hopefully tomorrow is worth your reading. I feel like the author who just killed her whole book with 1 chapter. hahaha but eh its, aight, only 3 days left to read! ;)

Our Last Weekend Here.........!

Our last weekend here, was an intense one. Saturday we went to Monteverde and listened to a speaker and after we went ziplininggggggggggg throught the RAINFOREST!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, it was intense, I got a bruised shin because the first go round I couldn't stop and flew into the metal pole. HAHA. It was a good time, there was about 15 ziplines, a tarzan swing and a superman zipline. Can you say "Biggest weggie ever?!" After we got back from ziplining we had an amazinggg dinner at our hotel and then went out for a night on the town! We even got to jam to some American music in the bar! :D Yay!

Today was spent mostly in the bus..bleck...we had a brief visit to a little crafts shop, where a lady talked to us about how they teach the kids how to sew, etc. After that we headed back to the hotel for another good meal and then off on the road we went. And several hours later we are here! Don't worry guys, on the way home we got to witness cows walking down the highway, felt (and smelled) like home! <3

We only have 4 days left here, I can't believe how fast it has went!

12 and 13th!

The past few days have been pretty uneventful, and I am going to keep it short because I have to get up at 5:40 tomorrow!!!
Yesterday: Yesterday a few classmates, my teacher and I went to a pizzeria...it was to die for!!! After our quick lunch we headed back to the school to hop on the bus. We spent the afternoon at the U.S. Embassy and AmCham (it is the American Commerce). This sounds so weird, but as soon as I stepped in the Embassy I felt at home. After our tours, we went and got ice cream at the famous Pops. :D fabulous. That even Ash and I went to watch our friend, Jimmy, play a soccer game. It was a BLAST! His league is soo good! After we went with him to the bar with Paco and other classmates, and Papíchico and our friend, Bre. (Paco's 20 some year old "dad"..hahaha Paco is 45)

Today: Today we had class, again, then went to a coffee factory. It was really cool to see the machines that coffee is produced with. (Although, this is their off season, so there were no beans going through the process, just already bagged ones) Don't worry,  I bought a bag of it :D We got home late morning so I took a nice long nap!

That's really been all!
Time for BED!
Ziplining this weekend :D

Days 10 and 11!

Well yesterday was pretty uneventful. BUT I did get to skype, with one of my favorites, Joni Clinton and her class. :) So that was a good deal! Ash and I went to school, and afterwards had a grill out with all our classmates and Paco. It was so much fun! Highlight of the day: American ketchup, colby jack cheese, potatoes and onions, and these super fantastic Mexican cookies that Paco made. YUM:) perfecto!!! After the grill out Ash and I came back home and enjoyed a fabulous nap. (definitely the second highlight of my day). That evening we met out with our Mamá's old exchange student who know is married and lives here, and then went out with her friend, Jimmy. At the bar, we met up with Jimmy's friend, Capi. It was so nice to meet guys that weren't CREEPERS. They reminded me of my classmates from high school back home 
:(..which is good I guess! So we came home after hanging with them a couple hours, it was a good time. Looking forward to going to watch Jimmy play soccer tomorrow! :D

So on to today! First class, bleck, but no homework!! Yay:) After class Ash and I went to the market again to get a cute bag and I had to pick up my brother's other present. On the way home from the market we got Mickey D's, again! And then ice cream! As we are walking back this van pulls up beside us and is like "heyyy ladies, cute girls, you want a ride?" okay, we are used to this situation, they say stupid things and drive by. it's whatever...but...this guy just kept driving along side us. by this point, I am kinda freaking out, so Ash and I just stop and stare inside a window store and he is forced to keep driving.ughhhhhh, have I mention how much I hate creepers? THAT man wins the Creeper Award for the day. Hands down.
So anyways on to what's next, we had the honor of listening to this extremely smart, great, guy today. For 3 hours and 15 minutes. Literally. From 2 to 5:15. oh. my. lanta. Did I learn alot? Yes. Was it a little much? Yes. Lol so we finally got home, checked our emails and had some supper. We were hoping for a nap, but since the talk lasted for forever, it was a no go. haha oh well, there is tomorrow :)

Well that is all for now,
pretty uneventful 2 days,
better than a 6.0 earthquake I guess ;)

Day 9!!

Today was good, minus being extremely tired. This morning we went to class and then headed out on the town. Me, Ash and Paco. haha So first we stop so Paco (he is our teacher, by the way, short Mexican, longgggggg hair. bahaha) could get money out of his ATM and off we head for the Post Office. Across from the Post Office, I fell in love. (with McDonald's) yahhooooooooo. ,as we are waiting for our food, Paco fesses up that in the Pharmacy he realized he lost his debit card, in CR, oh boy. So we took our food to go instead and  had to walk allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the way back to the ATM. (Paco had realized he left his card IN the ATM, not just lost it.) So we marched back quickly, (people here like to steal) and when we arrrived, the "guards" there said some nice, honest, lady (kind of a rare find here) had let them know our description. awe. Anyway so we retreived the card! and Ash and I finally could pop a squat and eat Mickey's. :) After we ate we walked back to a resturant that Paco wanted to go to, to begin with! (don't worry, my 2 cheeseburgers, fries and medium drink didn't slow me down any--what?!, I have been craving Mickey's since we got here, not kidding!) So Ash and I thought it would be rude to simply not eat at this cute cafe, so we split chocolate cake, and ohhhhhhhhmyyyyyygoshhhhh. it was soo good:) After our dinner outing we went back to the University, got on the bus and headed to the leather factory. The leather factory was really cool. It had the atmosphere of "family owned". There weren't more than 5 workers working, doing different jobs, but what they make and fix, is awesome. I am definitely happy that we went. :)
Well that is all we did for today,
I am excited to skype with CAM High School tomorrow !
:D
Hasta luego
(see ya later)