The internet here has been solid up until now. It's extra sketchy so I'm updating this from the school computer (which means no pictures =[). However, I do have some posts to make, so enjoy anyways.
A quick point of clarification as well - in Costa Rica the locals are referred to as "ticas" and "ticos". It's like saying I'm an Austinite... same idea. So I'll probably talk about them like that. Also, there's a running joke about "tico time" which basically just means Costa Ricans are ALWAYS late to arrive somewhere and events are planned around that.
Manuel AntonioI know I use this word to describe everything about Costa Rica but the only thing I can say about Manuel Antonio is that it was BEAUTIFUL. Stunning and breath-taking, it was like magically appearing in some tropically-based movie. The beaches were covered in dazzling white sand and surrounded by thick tropical forest; the water was clear and when you swam out just far enough to ride the waves, in every direction all you could see were bright open skies and a horizon dotted with small islands teeming with untouched wildlife. I really feel like I mistakenly ended up in paradise and we just call it Costa Rica.
We hiked through the park, around a 3 mile trail. Everything was wet and muddy and although we were all thoroughly drenched and sweating bullets, the views from the tops of the mountains and various outlooks absolutely made up for it. In the evening we all went to a fancy restaurant for grub and an excuse to look nice. We went to a couple of bars afterwards to find some good dancing, but we ended the night with spiked cappuccinos and some creme brulle. The next day was way more low-key, everyone just being beach bums and wasting time until our bus left. It was well worth the adventure. =]
Tipico Latino
After class on Monday, we went to our dance classes. We learned salsa and merengue and cumbio... but boy was it fast-paced! I felt like we were in jazzercise or something! After the lesson, we all went home to eat and get ready and then we went out to a legitimate Tico dance club called Tipico Latino to practice our new skills. It was so hard! It was a blast and lots of practice but oh my goodness, definitely not easy. The last Monday we're here, the whole group is planning to go and embarrass ourselves again. =P
Our director just about broke my heart at the end of the night though. Her name is Jessenia and she's a tica who's been assigned by the Sol Education program to be with us on all of our outings, etc. Well we completely love her and don't see her as a director but more as a part of our group. She told us after Manuel Antonio that it doesn't feel like she's working when she's with us. So at the end of the night of dancing, I went to hug her and say ciao and she had tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she realized tonight that we'll be leaving soon and she'll have to say good bye even though she wants us all to stay longer.... (yes, time for a collective awwwwwww). I feel like I'm at summer camp with all of these kids and she's our badass camp counselor and that it'll end too soon - I'm gonna miss this. But there's still plenty of time left so we'll make the best of it. =]
(Photos coming soon, I promise!)
Pura Vida!
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