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Adventure at Cañon de la Vieja

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Sunday We got up bright and early to meet our bus at 7. A two-ish hour bus ride later, we made it to Cañon de la Vieja and hurriedly changed into our suits and sunscreen for our tours. Thinking there would be time to reapply sunscreen and a place to stow a small bag, I carried the communal bag through our canopy tour. This canopy tour was a lot different from the one we did 2 days ago. The lines were longer and higher up and we had more views of the river below. It also went very quickly. I thought I would have time to take pictures and then eventually make it to the front and take more pictures but after taking pictures the first round (and missing about 4 people because they sent us so quickly) I was at the back of the line and never made it back to the front. Our guides were fine, but there was very little interaction between them and us. I felt like it was just a job for most of them. At the end they gave us the option to rappel down and then rock climb back up, but I made the d
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Graduation, Canopy, and Kayak

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Sorry it's been a while. We've been a little busy... Friday Friday's classes consisted of a review and then a test :( Not our favorite thing, but a good way to see what we've learned. Plus we all passed and graduated! When we finished with our tests, we had a bit of free time before graduation where we just relaxed around campus. At graduation, we were all presented with our certificates and had to say a little something in front of everyone there. After that presentation, we ate lunch before ziplining! We split into 2 groups and got to do about 11 lines through the forest. Some of the highlights were seeing the view of the ocean from high in the trees, having a snack up and relaxing up in a tree, and definitely the two rappels that we got to do, some of us upside down! (Basically we were dropped straight down from the platform.) It was lots of fun!!! Then we made our way home for supper before meeting up again for drinks on the beach. We went to a restaurant/
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Cooking and Dancing Classes

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Thursday We woke up to a BEAUTIFUL sunny morning! Since we didn't have to be at school till 10, some of us spent time on the beach while others went walking around town. At school, we were split into 2 groups so one group could cook while the other would have a a dance class and after an hour, we switched. The first class mainly learned salsa which was a workout for our calves! We learned that we need to relax and have fun while dancing! The other group was making empanadas de platanos maduros. These are a sweet empanada with cheese in the middle. They got to each make their own and then eat the fruits of their labor. Then, we switched. The second dance group got a little further than the first one and they got to learn merengue after learning some salsa. Hopefully we will get to use our dance skills tomorrow night! After lunch we went to our last normal classes of the week and that's when it started to rain. We've been blessed that it has rained mostly while we've
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CREAR day

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Wednesday It rained ALL NIGHT. We have been under a tropical depression hence all the rain. The sun did not come out all day, but I'm kinda grateful for that. It meant the day was cooler and we had a nice breeze. This doesn't mean we didn't get hot and sticky, but just a little less than other days 😉 We walked through the mud and puddles and streams to get to class at 8 this morning. After our 2nd break (we get 2 15 minute breaks during our 4 hour class periods), the electricity went out in the bottom classrooms and we weren't able to use the air conditioning or smart boards in the upstairs classrooms. So, the classes with students played a game on the upstairs landing - a type of scattergories game. After classes, we got to have a leisurely lunch and explore/shop/walk the beach for a bit before our next activity - volunteering with CREAR. CREAR is a non-profit organization that offers free art, English, and environmental classes to the students in the area since
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Surf Day

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Monday night We were supposed to have a movie night but since it IS the rainy season there was a big storm so we decided to cancel for the night and just chill at our homestays. We needed a good night's rest before surfing!! Tuesday Surfing! We even got to have a little lazier of a morning since we didn't have to be at the school till 9. Most of us went to the beach for a bit to get used to the water ;) We hiked down the beach to Pato's Surf School, got our rash guards and then split into 2 groups for our land lesson. Once we all learned how to surf on land, it was time to head to the water. We had to walk a LONG way with our boards - it was a workout!!! We surfed in groups of 4 working from just having to try to stand when our teacher told us to choosing our own wave, turning the board, getting on, paddling, and deciding when to stand all on our own. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from that because of our long walk (we had to leave our things behind) but th
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The first two days

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Sunday A 3:00AM meet time at the airport and waiting around for TSA and check-in counters to open, we had smooth sailing to Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta we rode the Air Train to find out next gate and get breakfast. After a gate change and a delay (we had to wait for a flight attendant to land), we hopped on our flight to Liberia. I'm so thankful for a smooth layover! On our descent our pilot pointed out the volcano in Lake Managua in Nicaragua. When we finally got through immigration and customs, we stepped outside and were greeted by a wall of heat and humidity. Personally, I was pretty instantly sopping wet. We ate lunch around 3 and finally got to Samara around 6 (after taking a wrong turn) to meet our Mama Ticas and head to our homes to get settled in and sleep. Monday We had to get to school by 7 for a one-on-one placement test. There are so many students this week! We got placed in our groups and had class from 8-12, with 2 breaks. After school, we headed to the ban
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T minus 26 hours

That's right - the countdown has officially switched from days to hours! In about 26 hours, we will be in Costa Rica! Today, I'm sure that everyone is furiously packing, checking their lists, triple checking to make sure that they have everything they need and spending the day in nervous anticipation. I know that I sure am! With all this excitement, I hope I can sleep for at least a few hours before our 2:15AM wake up call.  ¡Hasta luego! Hopefully, the next post will be from beautiful Costa Rica, complete with pictures! Srta. Sauer
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