Cinderella dressed in amarillo

Last week we had culture day at school. The teachers taught us to dance and play some kids games. I of course couldn't dance at all but dominated jump rope.

A couple weeks ago I met my friend Julia and some of her friends at a beach house in Guanacaste. It was a really long beach with huge waves. We had to walk a few miles from the house every day but (being three gringas) we got rides most of the time.


This beach trip felt a little different for me. We had been at this really cool coffee shop for about half an hour when I suddenly just said, "I don't like it here." In this shop, no one spoke spanish, it even said, 'open' on the door. That's not terribly uncommon at the beaches or even in the city but it began to really bother me. There was absolutely nothing tico about this place. Everyone thinks of Costa Rica just as the perfect beaches and take away the culture. Going to the beach is bittersweet.

La conocì en el bus

Last Wednesday I saw Slumdog Millionare (amazing) and then had to catch a bus to downtown San Jose to meet Julia for coffee. I met a girl that helped me get on the right bus and ended up talking with her a while on the bus. I ended up inviting her to coffee and she spent the evening with Julia and I. It was really cool and she and I are going to get together to practice language together. She's from Nicaragua.

This weekend I went to Playa del Coco and went scuba diving. It was really scary, especially Saturday because there was little visibility but Sunday was really cool. I saw tons of cool fish, some sting and mantarays and go stung on the face by a jellyfish. Friday night was the best though because I met a group from Denmark and played soccer with them for an hour or so. Me encanta futbol.

Here's a cool pic of an island we saw. Looks like a monkey!

Nada a una isla.

I went to Manuel Antonio this past weekend. There is a national park that has beautiful trees and cool animals. I saw some monkeys and sloths and cool flowers.
This is a picture of the beach at the end of one of the trails. *Mom Stop reading here*We tried to swim to the point around the far right of this picture but when I tried to climb up on the rocks I got sea urchins in my hand so we had to swim back. We ended up swimming for an hour straight without rest aside from floating on our backs(the water was so salty it was easy to float). I was kind of afraid we would drown or get eaten by sharks.
*Mom start reading again*
This picture is my class having a party. My teacher is the one with the headband. She cooked us some good Costa Rican stuff. I don't remember what it was but it was good. I made sweet tea, haha. I like school.
I gave a bible study in spanish a couple days ago and actually feel pretty good about it. I'm speaking in chapel in less than a month and I'm really excited to share with my peers. You can pray for me as I prepare what I am going to say. I really want the Lord to speak through me. I have been reading from Matthew and Galatians and praying a lot about it.

I want to give a shout out to The Slant. Lindsey Bell=Beyonce.

For my bird loving amiga

Upon the insistence of Kelly Doran I went ziplining this weekend in Monteverde. This is a pic of me coming in. It was absolutely fantastic. When I learned about the rainforrest as a child this is what I envisioned it to be.

There was so much wind on Friday night that I actually lost one of my flip flops and proceded to walk the mile or so back to our hostel with one bare foot.

We saw a Quetzal(This too is for KD)


Sunday I went to Jaco Beach and learned to surf. Finally! All is right in the world.

I have to present a bible study in spanish next week which will be difficult but fun too. I found that it is best for my spanish to stay in town because everyone traveling seems to know english.

Big update: I actually have friends. It's pretty exciting.