Monkeys....

So I have not updated in a while...sorry guys! It is a VERY time consuming process, and I don't know how much more I will be able to do it. But to summarize it that has happened recently....

We went to the beach where we saw a pack of about fifteen monkeys as well as a sloth. The monkeys would just hop around the trees and let the people get very close. They are very used to people. The slot was high up in a tree eating some leaves. It was possibly one of the cutest things. Here, a slot is called an "oso perezoso" which translates to "lazy bear". I also went snorkeling and had a chance the feed a huge school of yellow fish. They would just sworm around you and let you nearly touch them. I also was able to dive down to a coral reef and see even more fish and creatures.

We have been playing a lot of soccer with our new friends. It is suprisingly easy to make friends here. I guess it's true that soccer is the universal language!

This week we started working on the school that will be our volunteer work. We have started sanding the walls and getting paint off of everything in order to apply new paint. The kids are super social and very interested in learning about you. Every hour or so we are able to play a soccer game with them.

I have gained a reputation here as the animal person. I have spotted EVERY animal that our group has stopped to look at, even animals well camouflaged and hidden amongst the bush. We encountered a snake under a piece of wood while working at the school and guess who they called to take care of it? This guy! I held the snakes tale and supported his front side with a stick, allowing him to feel in control. I then put him on the other side of a fence where he was free to go. We have been seeing a lot of land crabs recently and they are super easy for me to catch and display, but everybody else has managed to get pinched. I can't upload pics now but I will try to later. Love you guys and hope to blog again soon!

Just photos

Here is another mountain. We were
actually driving through huge mountains.

Here is a bunch of photos with some captions....More are to come,
but i am too tired for more. love yall



Here is a picture of the mountains on the
way to Monte Verde. Below is a
very kind stray dog. He actually
tackled me and kissed me.

Here is a picture of me in my zip lining gear. Thumbs up! (Above)
Here is a picture of a tree with some moss that is very common in the rainforest.

White water and more...

So this week I went white water rafting and zip-lining through the rain forest.......no big deal. But seriously, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had the opportunity to participate in. The jungle is primary forest, which means it has never been touched by humans before. Needless to say, it was BEAUTIFUL. And it's not like a dinky little forest that they are protecting for the heck of it, it is MILES long. Something like 30% of Costa Rica is made up of protected forests. We have seen so many cool animals. I will post their pictures below...

Futbol!

My roomates and I have been playing a lot of soccer lately. We have been playing in a small field with a bunch of Costa Ricans who are very skilled. Believe it or not, us gringos have won every time. It's very fun and rough, and the locals will occasionally call you a "puta" or "maricon", which mean bitch and faggot. But it's just for laughs, nothing serious.

Last night we were walking downtown when we stumbled upon a very drunk man. He preceded to fall to the ground and once he saw us looking at him he yelled "Oye, Gringos! Que me dicen?!", which means, "Hey Gringos, what do you say to me?". Needless to say, we walked away.

This morning we had this really weird version of oatmeal. It was basically water and milk with a little bit of oatmeal bits.....it was pretty bad. But being the polite gringos we are, we suffered through it and shoveled it in. Sometimes I hate being a guest....

Today we went to a local zoo. It is more of a science park that focuses on biodiversity and conservation, so to say it was up my alley is an understatement. In the park animals roam freely, except the dangerous ones, of course. We saw tropical birds, iguanas, poison dart frogs and turtles. The organization really focuses on conservation of Costa Rican biodiversity since it is a very important factor to the people here. The local populace all love the natural world, and want nothing more than to reverse our damage. It would be a dream for me to work with them. Pictures are below.

By the way, we were walking down the street today when we stumbled upon a bar where the people inside were watching the Costa Rica vs Bolivia game. We saw them score a goal and the bar went nuts. Just a cool experience. So below are pictures of the street as well as the zoo...

Here is a pic of the mountains in the
background of the city.

Here is a sign....nothing interesting,
just cool cus it's in spanish. It reads
"Back Pain?"

Here is a "Alto" sign.

Here is a line of leaf cutter ants
that we encountered on the side walk.

This is a really cool flower I saw.
There are a billion more species that
you can see anywhere you go.

This is a palm tree. That hole in the middle
was actually made by leaf cutter ants
that live in the tree. The ants protect the
tree from other tree-killing bugs, and when
you knock on the outside of the tree,
thousands of ants come out ready to bight.

Here is a poison dart frog...

Here is another red poison dart frog.

Here is a palm tree. The spikes are
grown naturally and protect the tree from
predators.

Here is an iguana chillin in the grass...



Here is a butterfly. I have thousands
more pictures of butterflies but
I don't feel like uploading them all.

Here I am!

Here is a Caiman.



Here is another iguana eating some
water plants.

I have a lot more photos of really cool animals, but I will upload them in a later post because it is a very time consuming progress. Love y'all, y pura vida!

Wednesday

Yesterday, Tuesday, I woke up and ate yet another plate of beans and rice with fruit. It's extremely common here to have that plate. We then walked to school, which is about two miles from our house. While walking, you wouldn't believe some of the things you will see. None of it is out of the ordinary, but it is different than anything you will see in the US. There are tons of stray dogs, and you have to watch out for dog poo. The dogs are friendly but are filthy and in pretty bad shape. For instance, we saw one so hungry that it was eating a used diaper.

There are some homeless people around, but no more than in a normal city. You can see where they sleep because they will have mattresses laid about in the grass with an umbrella or some minor possessions. There is a large amount of rubble in the city. Large stones or boulders of cement that were at one time stairs are all over the place.

My classes are very interesting. We are learning about the culture of Costa Rica and common phrases or actions. We have even learned some bad words that are unique to Costa Rica. In my other class we are debating current events. Last night we decided to go outside to play soccer again. We found a small soccer field near our home and found some locals to play with. We had a little pick up game with some ticos and we actually won, us three gringos against the costa ricans. Tomorrow we are going to play with them again because they say they can play on Thursdays at six.

Today we had the same breakfast as yesterday. We also had a quick arts-and-crafts session, as if we were children. Most people didn't like that. Then we went to class and did the same old crap, you know, learned Spanish. I bought a soccer ball at lunch that was actually relatively cheap for a Nike ball. By the way, I saw that the video of the market didn't upload on my last post. The system refuses to upload that video for some unknown reason, but I will keep trying. For now, here are some photos, and more are to come once I figure this dang computer out. Love you guys!

Here is a flower that is outside our house.

Here is a small river that goes through Heredia.
It is filled with trash.

Here is the central plaza. 

4th of july

Happy 4th everyone! It's very weird not seeing anything about the holiday here, only a couple of signs here and there. I will get right to it with an update.... Yesterday we started the day by checking out the university and the LPI office. Then we walked around the city in a really nice tour. To the left is a video of a plaza with a church. There was a band playing there and lots of ice cream vendors. There were also these white pigeons which I have never seen before. There was a fountain and lots and lots of locals. Then we went to an outdoor market that is underneath a bunch of buildings, kind of like a parking garage. You can see the video of the market below. We then went to San Jose to have an orientation that was perhaps the most boring part of this trip so far. We went over safety and all that nonsense. After that we came home and quickly went to the mall to look for a calling card. Unfortunately, most of the stores were closed and finding a card was difficult, so we ended up just using the bank. Then we came home and ate a dinner with their entire family including grandparents and all. They are such nice people and very communicative and they have lots of patience if you don't know how to say something. There is a little girl here called Tammy that is just adorable and wants nothing more than to play with you. However, she is growing in the United States and comes here to see her family. She hates speaking spanish and if you speak spanish to her she will respond in english and insist that she doesn't understand spanish. Today we started with a tour of the university. There is a cafeteria and a small coffee shop there. Then we went to our classes. My teachers are super super nice. I have two teachers, and my second is my favorite. He is from Spain and is hilarious. I am in the advanced class that is composed of eight students out of the fifty, so I feel impressive. We came home and had some great food and now I'm watching tv. I have too go but i'll update this again soon. Bye! Pura vida!

First day in Costa Rica....

I arrived in Costa Rica at the San Jose airport at 2:00. While I was flying in, I could just barely see out the window because I had an aisle seat. But I did see TONS of mountains from the air. They are everywhere, and they are huge. They are nothing like the Appalachians, they begin much more abruptly and are covered in jungle. Other than that, and the jungle that covers everything, it looks very much like the United States from the air. I did see a shanty town, or "slum" about a mile from the airport. The living conditions just looked very cramped and unsanitary.