Bocas del Toro

Me, Ana, and 8 other boys (body guards!.. ?) traveled to Panama together, and needless to say it was quite an adventure! First of all, I would like to say I felt like Wendy with the lost boys. They were crazy at times, but in the end I am so happy I did this! Panama is very different from Costa Rica. The part that we drove through to get to our beautiful place was very poor and didn't look very pretty. Crossing the border was an experience in itself; after driving since 7 that morning (san jose --> puerto limon --> border of panama / CR) we got out of the bus and WALKED across the border. Of course we needed to do the standard visa stamps, etc, but it was very unofficial. We simply needed proof / evidence that we were leaving bocas (which we purchased with a $12 bus ride ticket back to san jose). Then we were approached by various people on the other side of the border where we found a bus ride to bocas town. To get to Bocas bound resort/ hostel we had to take a 30 minute boat ride. The place we stayed was awesome! We had private sections in our room and the lounge was very nice and clean with beautiful hammocks ( i bought 2 $13 each!). Delicious food for very reasonable prices and it was around $10 a night! We had the beach all to ourselves (this place is not very well known at all). So, we spent all day on the beach. This beach was possibly the most beautiful beach i have ever been to. Firstly, the sand was white. The water was so clear that you could always see your feet, you could see through the waves and during our night swims you could still see through it! We went snorkeling and I saw fish that were black with piercing blue spots (glowing like). There were starfish, and many others as well. I have been snorkeling in great barrier reef, and I do not remember seeing such interesting fish The boys thought it would be a good idea to see if we could do 3 people chicken fights in the ocean (3 people stacked on top of eachother's shoulders). When we accomplished this, we tried 4 ppl! It was crazy, but it almost worked. I was always on the very top and it was really fun! We also did a human pyramid in the ocean (this is what happens when boys get bored lol). Most nights we cooked our own food aka pasta or rice. By the end, I was about to die from pasta/ rice /oatmeal overload. Crazy!!
We ended our stay with a night on the town. We went to a bar called aqualounge for halloween. There were swings that literally swung above the water. A giant hole in the dock was a swimming pool (which I jumped into to swim in the ocean).

White water rafting and isla tortuga

last weekend was one of the most exciting weekends here yet! on friday and saturday, we woke up at around 5 am to catch the bus for our adventures. Friday began with a drive to the rapids. We saw the indegenous people, they had wire cables in the sky above us they used to transport stuff. It was very strange. The day began with breakfast at this cool place that had straw hut type roofs with delicious food; rice & beans, granola & yogurt, eggs, pineapple, papaya. Then later, me and my team headed out to class 3 ish rapids. We had to synchronize our rowing to move effectively. The scariest part was that when the rapids were strongest we had to lift our paddles out of the water and just let the river take us! Our guide was pretty cool (no where near as cute as the turkish white water raft guy though :( ). He did let us jump into the water a lot. There was not much sun out and so it was freezing! (but awesome). I felt so strong!, I was very happy that day. We were surrounded by gorgeous mountains and the area was not very disturbed by humans ; pristine! y muy tranquilo (peaceful), We stopped midway on the river and had lunch under straw huts. Very cool as well. A path led to the bathrooms but also to a gazebo type wooden structure (cool) On the way home, like many times while driving in Costa Rica, there was a massive accident in front of the underground tunnel (it is under a mountain) and we ended up waiting a good 2~3 hours!.

isla tortuga!- took a wonderful cruise ship to the island! 1st delicious cr breakfast at the gift shop. I tried some coffee liquor that I wanted to buy but I do not think i would be able to get it past customs back to the US! It was a very touristy day and the things here were the classic Costa Rican artesanias that people buy. Once we arrived to our cruise ship, there was a tiny pool on it, giant nets that we could sit on and look below at the ocean!, an open bar too! I got a pina colada, and i felt like I was in paradise! On the cruise ship I danced some salsa dancing (all those lessons at CRLA had to pay off sometime yea?)  with my costa rican friend Joao. Once we arrived to the white beach with torquoise water we went snorkeling and saw rainbow fish and a great assortment of others as well. Later i went banana boating and one friend attempted to climb to the front from the back and we all fell off haha. Again we had a cool lunch under straw huts and played some volleyball on the beach. : D
 ^.^

Tortuguero!

<-- view of tortuguero from river

<--- me and erik on a hammock

<-- budda cafe!

<--- budda cafe again!

<-- me and ana on the beach!

<-- view on the river

Soo this weekend I went on an awesome adventure! Some boys in my group organized for the group to go an island en el caribe; Tortuguero! We left the house at 6 am and traveled on two different buses, then needed to take 1 hr+ bus ride to reach the island where we stayed. Coming up by river the place looked awesome! And i really felt like I was no longer in costa rica and now in the Caribbean. We walked through this island to get to our hostel ($8/ a night!) for a nice comfy bed, a towel, and a shower! Also there were AWESOME hammocks everywhere haha. We were a minutes walk away from the beautiful beach that had black sand (from the volcano!) andd  the water was exactly like that in north carolina oak island; warm water with the best waves. The first day me and some friends went out to lunch and ordered veggie pizza and it was delicious! Then we returned and swam in the wonderful ocean. That night.. the biggest rip off ever! We went to tortuguero... island of turtles right? So we agreed to pay $10 to see turtles on the beach. We got all ready and prepared. Then we proceeded to wait for 2 HOURS to see them but.. the guides couldnt find any. Which was fine and therefore we returned to our huts. The next day the guy came around and charged us anyway! (very rude).

The next day we went kayaking in a national park and saww.... soo many monkeys! ; howlers, spider, capuchin. Also, we saw a caimon and my kayak was literally like 3 feet away from him! I finally saw dad's lizard; the jesus christ lizard. This guy walks on water! ( I saw him do it, i was so shocked, he ran across like 2 meters of water).  It was a lovely afternoon. When we returned, we went to the beach more.. then dinner! We went to the budda cafe where I had pasta pomonero?  sooo delicious! My table ordered 2  pitchers of sangria; the best wine i have ever tasted! there were soo many fruits in the pitcher and the cinnamon overtones made it perfect. And after telling all 5 others at my table nooo pina colado and the waitress no pina colado for me she brought one anyway! Best idea ever! sooo good. I drank it very quickly.. hahah. Also i played soccer with the island boys and they were impressed by my minimal skills and kept screaming "chemy chemy! pass the ball  to chemy!". Very fun soccer match. Overall the weekend was so relaxing and peaceful ( we have not had much free time this semester :( but this was awesome! )

San Jose!

So I have been living in San Jose for over a week now. Every day, I wake up at 7.30, eat a delicious breakfast that includes; papaya, pineapple, kiwi, watermelon, and a tiny banana that is better than any banana ever in the states (soo rich tasting and soft!!). Also, pan tostado ( pre toasted bread sooo good!) is also available :D. I take the bus (fee = 200 colones ~ 40cents) with route Vargas Arayas! I arrive at the Costa Rican language academy where i begin class at 9 with a class of ... 3 other people! It is great because we can talk a lot and we have class for 5 hours each day! Then when I get home.. I can speak more Spanish with my host mom (so needless to say lots of Spanish during my days!). So we have a break at 10:30 and every day i eat delicious empanadas! (only 600 colones ~ $1.20!). The outside is fried and crispy dough and the inside has beef, chicken o gallo pinto (beans & rice) accompanied with chile sauce (sooo spicy burns my mouth everday!). There is always different kinds of fruit juice to try. Then for lunch we have 1 hr break when we go either to the mall to eat, or we will go to restaurants very close to school. Today i ate at la Sopa and got pasta, rice, salad, soup, potatoes, y un postre (desert) all for 4 dollars! Very delicious traditional costa rican food.We return from lunch, then have class for 2 more hours, then free time! Every day after class the academy has various activities for us to do. Cooking class of traditional cr food; we made pancakes with yuca ( a potato like veggie) and cheese . There is also conversation class and my favorite... salsa y merengue!! I love dance class because i meet soo many ppl there and it is very fun and easy to learn. I have danced with people from austria, switzerland, belgium, germany aand... Alaska! lol In fact, i really want to take salsa next semester at tulane (so fun!) After dance, I either hang out with my friends a while or go home by bus again. For dinner my and my mama tica eat together, and everynight she makes delicious food ( not as delicious as my real mama of course!). Then at night, i work on hw (we have either an essay or presentation 3/4 days of the week! Afterwards, sometimes me and mis amigos like to sample local bars and go dancing! Life in San jose is very pleasant. The city has many little shops/ restaurants etc all over the place and its cool just to walk around. I am also happy to have my own room (after living with 5 other girls in the same room all semester in the same space as 20 others).

La Selva independent projects!

>-- frog from rainforest cafe!

---- weevil! long snout and playful

,--- los congos en la puento! (monkeys on the bridge)

<-- more monkeys

<--- la perezoso (sloth!)

<--- coati!

<-- leaf cutter damage

Soo I have been very busy lately with independent projects! My group studied leaf cutter ants and the dear enemy effect. We watched ants from 7 -1am and one night when it was raining i woke up at 3 am to watch ants till 6 am!

One night, after a heavy rainfall me and my amigos went out to a trail that led to a bridge over a swamp. the trail was flooded and all the frogs came out to mate. they were so cool! all green and brightly colored, they reminded me of the awesome frog pencil that i bought from rainforest cafe when i was in elementary school. I got very close to them and was able to take some really cool pics!

i may have been the luckiest student (in terms of seeing cool creatures). first of all i would like to thank the la selva bridge, source of many of my finds. first i saw that kinka jou, but he was only the beginning. not only did i witness an additional three kinkajou sightings (1 was lucky enough), but i also saw a sloth several times and once he was actually on the wire of the bridge! he was literally 2 feet away from my face soo cool. he looked grumpy though and no one dared touch him. apparently sloths can be wicked fast in the face of predators, and our instructor mau said they will claw you with their vicious claws. i saw a family of howler monkeys pass across the bridge, the first time with no luck in pictures. the second time, and the last full day at la selva, the family was on the bridge for a good 20 minutes and they were again 2 feet away from my face (nice pics with that as well). there was a baby on a mommy's back. (sooo cute). also, for bug homework this time, i found a weevil (kinda uncommon too) and he was soo beautiful. weevils are under the same class as beetles but they are so much fun to play with! i wanted to keep him as a pet, but he was too beautiful. he would craw on my arm and clamp around my fingers.

today i arrived in san jose. i met my host mom who is a very welcoming motherly type. in my house are two other students, one from germany and one from south africa. i spent the afternoon with the german girl and met some of her german friends. we talked span/ eng/ german (except me). and went to... Mcdonalds! haha at the mall. its crazy that every single food chain cept like 2 there were all usa food chains... kfc, subway, quiznos, etc. for dinner we had some whiskey with our meal? \

La Selva!

<--- monkey<--- peccary :D<--- river in la selva<- took this pic thru the sightascope!! <-- tiny mushrooms

So I have been staying in La selva for 2 days now and have already seen such amazing things! On our first hike, I saw these giant banana spiders all over the trail. I saw my first poison dart frog, he was tiny and I failed to capture a good picture of him, but he was still adorable. I saw an entire colony of coatis! (see picture below for one). Our tour guide had a sight-a-scope and he showed us amazing birds and the quality was awesome! I actually took some pics thru it and they were beautiful! Me and my friend John headed out for an assignment (observe the forest around you and write observations for 30 mins). In the very end of 30 mins, John spotted a white face monkey!! It was incredible and I was soo excited. After that, we saw a total of 5 monkeys in the span of half an hour. Some spider monkeys too (red bodies long arms). Some leaped over our heads. We saw them climb, eat fruit and the entire time I was ecstatic. Last night I climbed to the top of this huge tower that reached way above the canopy of the forest and looked out at the surrounding landscape. You could see lights in far off cities, and a general outline of the landscape. It was incredible as well. Then on my walk back home, I spotted an extremely rare creature of the night... a kinkajou!!  I saw his eyes reflect off the bridge that we cross and he walked down the wire and was literally one foot away from our faces! My proff said we were very lucky because they are rarely seen. Also, this guy seemed interested in us, and kept looking at us and creeping nearer and nearer (although I suspect he was rather scared as well). He was definitely the highlight of my trip so far! sooo cute. I saw some wild peccaries in the forest as well. In comparison to the other students it seems I have been very lucky so far in animal spotting :D.

Cuerici!

el paramo!>gutting the rainbow trout below

reflector flower petals-->

giant mushroom!-->

top of mountain! after camping

So for the past four days, I have been in Cuerici! This biological station is in the mountains and is owned by Don Carlos (very nice man whose eyes twinkle like a Costa rican dumbledore! he acts a ranger for the surrounding forest). It was incredibly chilly in comparison to las cruces (and especially la selva! -the jungle). At night I had 4 heavy blankets and slept in a sweatshirt and pants to keep warm. Don Carlos showed us around the woods and we saw the difference between primary (old) and secondary (newer) forests. Don has his own self run trout farm where he raises rainbow trout and sells them to be eaten. He showed us how he removes eggs from females to breed them. On our last day Don Carlos let us kill some (with bare hands!), gut them (which i actually took part in!), and we ate them for dinner. One day, we went to el paramo, to the elevation above which forests easily. The land becomes shrub-like plants that are adapted to survive at these great elevations (by developing special venetion, tougher leaves, etc). There was even a flower that attracts fly pollinators by having reflector petals that generate heat in the middle. El paramo can change temperature rapidly, going from very cold (due to cloudy high elevation) to extremely hot when the clouds clear out. The whole time in Cuerici, the high altitude caused an increase heartbeat and hiking was so much more challenging!! One time I was foolish enough to try to exercise and run up hill- worst idea ever! At night we had people playing the guitar and everyone in my group singing along, it was very fun!

And probably the most exciting part of Cuerici was when I decided to hike up to the top of the mountain last night and sleep there with 5 other students. Everyone told us we were crazy and were going to freeze (the house was already freezing enough), and everyone thought I'd come back at 3 am too cold to sleep. And although I did not sleep to well on the wooden plank shack, it was totally worth it! The sky was so clear and you could see all the lights on in the town. It was so beautiful, and I felt very accomplished after completing the journey. (Also, I survived the cold!) This morning we saw some bats flying around in front of us on the hike down (we had to get up at 4.40 this morning to get down in time for our 6.00 breakfast!).
expect some pics soon! hope everyone is well
shemi

Last days at las cruces

So I haven't written any entries for awhile. In the past couple days I visited a coffee farm, where we got to talk directly with the farmer. He, his wife, and his granddaughter are the only people that work together to harvest the coffee there! He wants to eventually be able to do all the steps involved to prepare the coffee up to the packaging, because he currently does everything organically, but receives no extra payment from the corporations that buy coffee. This morning we had a plant taxonomy test where we had to identify the family of the tropical plants! It is actually really cool because in order to determine the plant type you need to examine things like smell, texture, oil glands & look for sap that comes out when you cut the leaves off. After my test, I went out to the river again with a bunch of my guy friends and we climbed around on the rocks all afternoon. Last night we went out to a bar in San Vito, where we all danced, attempting salsa , etc. It was very fun and I want to go again tonight since its our last night here! Tomorrow we leave for Cuerci where we will have no internet, no hot water, and it will be extremely cold! I am worried because I am already cold some nights here. The next time I will write I will be in La Selva! (the rainforest!)

pictures of creatures

coati!! i saw one of these jump out in 1 foot in front of me and just chill. Very unfortunately I was alone without a camera and could not capture his cool mask. but it was still awesome

Free day!

Last night we had a fruit lab. Our task was to sample around 50 different fruits and describe them! I tried sugarcane, papaya, passion fruit and many other fruits including noni vomit flavored fruit. It was disgusting and I took a huge bite out of it without any warning. Our professor said that bertie bott's every flavored jelly bean vomit flavor was taken from this fruit.

So today was our first official free day. ( We do not get weekends off or anything, just one free day every 10 days or so). In the morning, I took the bus to San Vito, where I bought high socks for hiking (desperately needed them!). We walked around and ate a coffee shop where I had una tortuga (a turtle) croissant. We came back for lunch and then headed out for an adventure. A small group of us went to go swimming in the river. Being in a river surrounded by jungle was awesome! The water was refreshingly cold and we found a waterfall nearby. I stuck my head under and it was amazing! We hung out sitting in the shallow water on the rocks for a couple of hours. Later, on the hike back, we decided to climb the strangler fig! It was amazing to see how strong the fig held our body weight. Now Im back at our cabin and we are just hanging out and relaxing.
Pictures posted in future

photos and lectures

toucan -->view from the classroom!

metallic wasp!

agouti!moth!

flower for mom! :D

today we went on an intense hike! but now i have class so ill write later
Soo I haven't been writing much about what I have been learning about really. We have very packed days with class and forest hikes. So as far as class goes, some lectures include : the history of Costa Rica, importance of... COFFEE!, dangerous and annoying animals, plant taxonomy with flower parts and identifying various leaves, insect taxonomy for identifying insects of the tropics, restoration lectures and more! So for some homework I have to collect 10 insects and correctly identify them up to family level!

So today on our intense hike we went very deep into the forest.

Las cruces hikes; the garden.

So I have been in Las Cruces since Wednesday night and I have already seen amazing things! Every morning, we start the day with a hike somewhere. Yesterday we walked around the garden and saw banana trees (including red bananas and bananas with seeds that look like corn!). Also, we saw agoutis! They look like they have the butt of a bunny (same size too!) but they are in the rodent family. But actually they are really cute :) My goal is to get an awesome picture of one before i go! Today one crossed my path on the way bk from dinner and i shouted "agouti agouti!!" and he stayed for me, but i had no camera. There are cycads (just like new orleans). The founders of the garden transported many plants from foreign countries (like the fig trees). There were many colorful flowers that look like birds of paradise (pictures to come). Also, my group spotted a toucan in the tree with a yellow beak! He was eating fruitloops, but unfortunately, I didnt get his autograph or picture for that matter.
At night I took a night hike in the dark! (with jungle boots and headlight of course). We were looking for frogs but only found a little inconspicuous brown one. However, I took a picture of a massive toad! as well as a huge spider.  
Today we hiked to the cloud forest and took observations. We examined the forest structure of the trees and took observations for 30 mins sitting somewhere. We had to cross a wild river with our jungle boots, and water got in mine! I went through about three pairs of socks today! I even went running in the rain (because it is almost always raining in the afternoon when we have free time, hikes in the morning). We saw a massive strangler fig tree, leaf cutter ants (actually carrying the leaves they were in the process of cutting), and a beautiful butterfly the same color as my fuchsia raincoat.

drive from san jose to las cruces

Yesterday we drove from San Jose to Las Cruces, our first biological station. The entire countryside is so beautiful; there are forested mountains everywhere, and the cities are built into mountainsides. We stopped at a rest stop, that was very highly elevated and it was freezing!! I had some te con leche (tea with milk) and we watched hummingbirds at their feeders outside. They were so pretty and they had a kind of iridescent green and blue mixture of feathers and they were speedy quick! I got some pictures ill post later when i figure out how.. For lunch we stopped in a valley in this restaurant. There was an incredible difference in temperature, we all took off our sweaters and were still hot! I have to go to my morning walk around the botanical gardens so I'll write more later!!!

San Jose

Yesterday morning I arrived in San Jose at 10:30. The time difference is 2 hours earlier than PA time and 1 hour before NOLA time. After waiting at the airport some about half of the students went to the hotel where we wasted no time before setting out to explore the city! We were all famished and therefore we went to a cute little restaurant where I ordered enchiladas (not a costa rican dish!) but they were still delicious. During the middle of lunch, it started pouring rain outside and the rain was so intense that they had to shut the windows so the place didn't get flooded! fortunately we were sitting in the middle nowhere near the windows. Afterwards we continued walking and went to a park (it was magical! hehe) and got very muddy. We also saw parrots chilling at the playground. For dinner we had..... drum roll..... pizza! Very costa rican! .... jk. But after getting a good 10 hrs of sleep this morning I had a delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, pineapple, mystery juice and.. rice and beans! It was delicious. We had orientation this morning where we learned about all the amazing things we will do this semester. We are going to travel all over and it will be amazing! For the midterm break I have started asking around to see what other people are doing. There is talk of skydiving, suba diving, kayaking, white-water rafting, ziplining... and more! Tune in later for stories of more substance.

Pura Vida! - CR phrase literally meaning " the pure life"