And the rest is still unwritten...

Costa Rica Day 24

I’m in the middle of my 4^th week and it’s starting to feel like I’ve been here forever. Nothing seems strange to me anymore.. and that’s how I know that it’s time to come home! So today, I’m proud to announce that the countdown is at 4 days J

Breakfast was the same this morning. However, I haven’t been getting mango lately but this morning, it was a delicious surprise. I even got ready with some spare time today, so I blow dryed my hair and put on a cute shirt, instead of my normal t-shirt and run out the door look. Not that my cute-ness lasted long… by the time I got to school I was already sweating, so up went my hair in a pony tail. Typical Heredia morning.

School today went well. Nothing out of the ordinary. We went over our homework.. went over a few more things for the test on Friday, and then spent the majority of the day creating a advertisement poster. Right up my alley. Finally, something I’m good at and have definitely done previous projects like this for class. Except, this was in Spanish… minor speed bump. We presented our posters to the class and then hung them on the wall. We then talked for the rest of class and taught our teacher some more English words. We also tried to convince him to go out with us on Friday night… I’m not sure if he was actually thinking about it or only pretending.. but we’ll see!

After class today, we had our last group excursion! Sadness. I love my group and taking adventures with them. Although the bus is still raggedy and cramped and hot and sometimes musty.. this is where most of our bonding has taken place… the many hours spent on that bus together and all the memories we created is something that I will never forget. So today, for one last time together, we loaded the raggedy bus and headed out of town about an hour for La Paz Waterfall. What another beautiful site to see! Incredible views and trail that took us right to the very bottom of the waterfall. The park also had different animals that we were able to see: Humming birds, parrots, monkeys, snakes, frogs, butterflies, a trout lake, baby tiger, and jaguars. I however, skipped out on the snake tour… just something that I really had no care to see. I also skipped out on the frog tour very quickly when I looked around and came eye to eye with an extremely ugly green frog. Not my favorite thing either. But I’m sure you can all guess by now which part of the animal tour was my favorite… of course the monkeys! J

We also got to eat lunch at La Paz today. Along with the restaurant is a resort and spa.. so we were hoping that everything would be nice. And nice, is exactly what we got. The lunch buffet was amazing!! The scenery was absolutely beautiful and I got to have lunch in one of the most beautiful settings ever. On the lunch buffet, American food!! Pizza, hot dogs [with sauerkraut], French fries, ranch dressing, BBQ chicken… oh my! It was absolutely delicious and made the whole hour drive completely worthwhile!

After our tour of the La Paz gardens, we loaded the raggedy bus and headed back towards Heredia.

My leg is looking a little better today. Some of the redness has gone down and my mamatica said it looked smaller today than it did yesterday. I’m still putting the cream she gave me and taking benodryl at night. I’m thinking about just sucking it up and going to the pharmacy after class tomorrow. Although a part of me would much rather wait to get back to the States with a English speaking doctor, I also would feel a lot better knowing that its nothing serious. So I shall report tomorrow on the findings on this thing on my leg!

Since this post is fairly short, I want to share something with you that has gained a great meaning to me while being here in Costa Rica. I used the phrase “pura vida” in a recent post and I want to share with you all the literal meaning and deeper meaning behind the catchy, most popular phrase in Costa Rica.

The most commonly used phrase in Costa Rica is Pura Vida.  Everything in Costa Rica is Pura Vida!  The simple translation is Pure Life but the saying has a deeper meaning to people of Costa Rica, and the travelers who fall in love with this beautiful country. The bank tellers, the restaurant servers, street vendors, and families will all greet you with this saying, as well as to say good-bye. In my short stay, a month that has flown by, I can’t seem to hear or say this statement enough. Used most commonly by Costa Ricans, the phrase has obtained other meanings throughout the years. Most people use the phrase as an expression of a leisurely lifestyle, of disregard for time, and truly living life. Pura Vida [Pure Life] - how simple and wonderful of a statement to live by.

I’m not sure if anything else needs to be said after that. Another day marked off the calendar. I’m off to read for the rest of the night, or atleast until this benodryl kicks in! Thank you so much for all the continued love and support. We’ve made it this far, so don’t give up on me now! Only a short 4 days remain! J

Costa Rica – Pura Vida!