Manuel Antonio Y Tortuguero!

So, for the last two weekends I have traveled around Costa Rica for my LAST two weekends with friends. Two weekends ago I went to Manuel Antonio... which is where our food was attacked by monkeys. Silly Monkey, human food is for us. We read before entering the national park of Manuel Antonio that if a monkey eats human food, it throws their digestive system out of whack and can kill them. :( So we were very careful to watch our food. But they did get a little bit of leftover mango and some other people's food!  However they were so cute!!

 

As well as the monkeys' strategic planning attempts, we had a nice lil' iguana come visit us. We had to be careful though because we were told that they were poisonous, especially if they bit us! But that weekend was very nice and relaxing!

Sunrise over the Caribbean Ocean! 

Tortuguero boat tour. Beautiful wall mural

Then.... this past weekend, we traveled to the island of Tortuguero! It was very awesome! It was a nice getaway from the modern world. On this island, there were no cars, no big animals, and no pollution! We did have cell service though, in case we had to reach someone in case of an emergency or something! :) Tortuguero is an island off the Caribbean coast (And I have been told that it is where parts of the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" was shot!)!  It was definitely a nice relaxing weekend! On Sunday we woke up at 4:40am and did two different tours, but first we got to see an amazing sunrise!  The first, by boat. Here we saw crocodiles, monkeys, birds, lizards, etc. It was really cool!  Our tour guide was amazing as well! He definitely knew how to deal with us American students! Then the second, was a walking tour. the mosquitoes were terrible though (and

"Piano Bird" during our boat tour! 

 this is a section of Costa Rica where Malaria is present, so.... we had to be careful) and we did not see too much while on this tour. :(  But it was definitely a good experience! This was our last weekend trip as our group! My housemate and I are leaving, so it will not be the whole gang anymore.  So we took our last group photo (minus one person...so below is the one we took the weekend before!)! I'm gonna miss these guys! I really am!

Last full group photo at Manuel Antonio! 

So I can almost count the number of days I have left in Costa Rica on one hand! I am so very excited to go home, yet very sad to leave as well! But I have come and met some amazing friends! People I will never forget. I have learned so much about myself, learned how to dance like a crazy good person, and improved my Spanish! I think my time in Costa Rica has been a success! :D

I have a Boston accent? Oh look, a Mahching band!

So, especially over the last few weeks, I have learned about my Boston Accent. I have never noticed it while growing up (probably because I was around people from the Boston area), I was usually told I actually had a New Jersey accent when a kid. The other day I was talking to one of my friends, and I said Oh, hey... It's Mahch (March in "Bostonian" spelling)!She called me out on it.  Then in a dance presentation last week I used the phrase "wicked pissah" and had to explain to the class that it means something like really awesome!

Well anyways, onto my real adventures in San Jose,
I have not done too much this past week. I went to the Gold museum this past Saturday.Made some more friends with security guards! It really is a talent of mine I guess! But I do not get in trouble, I just ask them questions, and by no time we're talking like good friends! This last time, my group and I said something along the lines of how we are learning so many new words today, and it will be great to put in our notebook for class. (We then explained to him that we are supposed to write down 10 new vocabulary words everyday) He then asked for a piece of paper, and wrote down 10 words for us, and explained them all for us! So much fun! However.... he wasn't really paying attention to the other parts of "his designated area"...so I hope we didn't get him in trouble!

Then not this Sunday, but the Sunday before,  my friends and I walked around the different parks here, and San Jose had a huge festival all around the city (in these parks)! It was filled with people and different activities! They had people who dressed up as people from different generations, and  from all different countries!  And they had a marching band as
well! That was very awesome!

The last time I saw a 

marching band, I was in it! So it was very nice to actually be in the audience for once! When they stopped right in front of us, they played one of our favorite songs, "Danza Kuduro" by Don Omar! We were quite impressed!



Well, that's all for now! Off to class soon!
Chao!

Largest crater in the world???

Hi all!

Part of the crater at Volcan Poas!

So today a group of friends and I decided to go and see Volcan Poas! It was pretty awesome! Last night I did some research on the volcano. It says "The crater is 1,050 ft. (320 meters) deep. At almost a mile across (1.6 km) across, it's also the largest active crater in the world!..." So it was really cool to go and see the volcano today, and to know a little bit about it as well!
For more information you can check out their website here:

http://costa-rica-guide.com/parks/poas.htm

This weekend also marked the end to another Spanish course!! That means I am only down to one more month here! There are definitely mixed feelings here! I'm looking forward to going home and seeing everyone, and maybe going for a surprise visit to see my grandparents (even though they are probably reading this right now :P )And then going out to school and seeing everyone out there, and getting the most delicious pizza (BBQ Chicken, bacon, ranch pizza) haha!  HOWEVER... of course, I am going to miss Costa Rica and all of it's amazing beauty! I have felt relaxed here at times, have had some amazing times here with my new friends from all over, and have even thought about my future, knowing I'm on the right track... and even realizing how much my high school / school district sucked at teaching Spanish!! haha! But you know what, I still have four weeks left (more-or-less) and I'm going to make it worth it! And work my butt off with my Spanish studies, and make everyone back home in the states proud, and overcome my Spanish deficit that my high school left. 

As well as all of that happening this week... I decided to submit four (4) fotos from mi trip to a magazine back at my universidad! So, I will let you know how that goes and if any of them get picked to go into the magazine!
The photos I submitted were the following: 

Well, tengo sueno, y quiero soñar!

Adios y Pura Vida!