Rio Celeste

On Friday, all USAC groups from around Costa Rica (Puntarenas, Heredia, and us) got together at this cool private party place nearby to have an end of the year celebration. The place had a soccer field, so we started out with soccer games versus the others. The first game was Puntarenas vs Heredia, and then we were to play the losers and then the winners. We ended up beating both teams and had a blast! I was goalie, and I never let one ball through. Everyone on our team played awesome as well, and we had some really really good goals (throwing in from the sideline and getting headed in the top corner was the highlight). 

Yesterday, a group of us headed to Rip Celeste, this hidden gem of Costa Rica that consists of the bluest blue you will ever see in a natural river. We left at 6 in the morning, and after a very long four hours in a cramped bus we made it. 

The hike starts out through a cloud forest that is lush and green and full of life. The first stop was the waterfall, which was about 80ft tall and so beautiful. Then, you keep walking and eventually get to a point where you can hike along the river and see where the water turns colors. It turns blue when two different creeks from a volcano nearby meet and mix. The combination of sulfur and calcium carbonate are what make the magic happen. 

Despite being in a bus for eight hours and only hiking for a little over three, it was worth it! Nature never ceases to take my words away. This place is so special and definitely one of the coolest places I have been.

Water mixing, turning blue!

Good Company

On Tuesday, we brought our insects in to pin up and identify. It was so much fun and really cool to see other people's insects they collected. Forest Entomology has been such an interesting class and I am so glad I took it. It has totally changed my perspective on nature and has opened my eyes to a new science. 

Cockroach size of your hand.......

Giant morpho butterfly

Most of my collection, with a few things missing

Nick and I porching it at my house, identifying a damselfly

Last night, Francisco came over for some "bocas" and drinks. It was definitely one of, if not the best meals I have had here. All my favorite foods: chicharrones, homemade onion rings, chips and guac, pejibaye, and patacones (fried plantains Sol Food style with beans and pico de gallo on top. By the end Francisco and I were so stuffed. I was actually so stuffed that I could not eat breakfast the next day. I could not have been more happy though, it was such a nice time hanging out with Francisco and my family. Ana's brother came over with his two kids (2 and 4) and he was giving his 2 year old lime juice. It was so funny watching his face pucker up, we were all dying.

Tonight, I went over to my Professor's house (the one from Arizona with his family) with another student (the only other Jew) and we celebrated Hanukkah by lighting candles and eating latkas and gelt. Their family is so interesting and cool; we stayed there for a while just talking about so many different things. It was very nice to just hang out and nerd out; everyone there was so interesting, including their two young boys who are so ridiculously smart! They seem to know every bird and its latin name, as well as insects and animals and whatnot. So, I have officially celebrated Hanukkah in Costa Rica! I know we are early, but next week we will all be traveling and all of us Jews here are on the same level...if you light the candles and say the prayer once, its all good.

Life is Good

The past weekend was pretty rad. I finished my video and went to a reggae show in Puntarenas. Saturday, I slept in nice and late (10am) and then went to Francisco's house for a bit of bike time. 

After that, I headed to Puntarenas with Nick and we met up with a few others over there. After a nice sunset we headed to the concert. We waited in line for a couple hours and then listened to a DJ play music for a couple more hours, but finally Alborosie came out. 

The venue was one of the coolest places I have been to, consisting of a nice sitting area, a good sized stage area (there was even a dance floor that flexed and moved when people danced hard enough), and a giant pool with an island in the middle that extended all the way to the stage where there was water shallow enough to stand in. 

Alborosie was so so good, and the guys after him, Tarrus Riley also had a special guest, Dean Fraser, who is super famous in the reggae world and killing it on the sax!

We went home at around 1am and saw some interesting sites on the way back. Young children playing on swingsets and in playgrounds with their families around just hanging out. I guess its the only time of day cool enough to be outside? Not really sure.. Puntarenas is very hot and humid and uncormfortable during the day, but not unbearable..

Lefty pride!

Chilling around the pool with our legs in

Mid-concert nap? Why not? We had been standing for hours on end..

Just standing in a pool watching a live show

Anyways, we got back to our hostel, slept and woke up at 8:52 to catch the 9:00 bus home. When I got home I went straight to finishing up my video, which I finally did and presented today. Everybody liked it and I actually like it, despite how many times I have watched it. It feels really good to be completely satisfied with something after putting in so much work. I think it is actually my favorite video/project that I have ever made! If I had a better camera, fluid head tripod, and lava mic I think it would be good enough to air. Either way I think the women are going to like it very much and I think it has the potential to help them out.

Today, I went to the feria with my mom. It is so crazy how cheap fruits and veggies are here. There is fresh produce every day grown locally. All we got cost around $20. That is definitely something I will miss about here. It is so right. Healthy local food at cheaper prices and fast food being more expensive. There are so many fewer obese people here. 

Busy Days

As the days are wrapping up, I feel like I am busier and busier but time is going by faster and faster. I cannot believe there is only 3 weeks left before I finish my semester abroad here in Costa Rica. This has been such an amazing experience that I would not trade for anything else. I will take more time to do a reflection later, but it is just crazy how time flies. 

This past week I have been mostly busy editing my video about the women in the village outside of San Ramon. It has been a long but awesome process. It took a full three days just to subtitle it. And then I had to edit. It has come together really nicely though, and I am actually proud of it, considering the equipment I had. I actually like it a lot better than my film I made on military reintegration, which I had a whole semester to work on. This, two weeks. Anyways, I will put that up when its all touched up and completely finished. 

So, besides the video this is what I have been up to this past week. 

A very cool looking diptera

Tuesday night gringo soccer. This was my first time in over a month! The knee held up pretty well too, stoked

Bamboo forest where my termite project is. I was about to abandon the project because there was no activity after 3 weeks, but I have termites now biting! 

We have a photo in my house that is of trees and is panned up like this, but it looks like a painting. Still trying to figure out how he took it. 

Montezuma

This past weekend was so good. Friday two groups of us headed out to Montezuma for a weekend getaway. Getting to Montezuma is a bit of a process and takes 6-8 hours of traveling, including 3 buses and a ferry ride. Montezuma is a little beach town that is super laid back and full of good vibes. The people are friendly there, the beaches are beautiful, and the jungle is full of life. 

1st bus. Listened to Spanish music and spoke in Spanish the whole way to Puntarenas

And here is a nice little video Melissa made of our bus ride!

Breaking the laws hah..

Ferry views

The gals

This is pretty much the whole town. So laid back. During the day there was just this chill vibe. No one is in a rush, people just hang out around the streets relaxing and selling stuff; it was so cool. Impossible to be stressed here.

The first night we got there, it was pouring rain so we had to find a hostel quickly. We ended up in this pretty run down place where we found a baby skunk in the kitchen and we had no running water. Luckily, it was cheap, but we made due and made a group dinner, then just went next door to the bar to hang out. The second night was way more successful, since a hostel nearby opened up. We were on the beach with hammocks, our own bathrooms, and even personal fridges!

One of the coolest things I have ever seen also happened the first night. We went into the ocean when it was dark, and there was glowing plankton throughout the water! I felt like I was in Avatar. The water was filled with glowing spots everywhere, a little larger than grains of rice. We would splash each other and then start to glow! 

Cheap travelers dinner. $2 each.

2nd hostel. Yes.

The first day we headed out to the beach. We hiked half hour down the coast to get to the beach, and passed through nature reserves and other cool places. Although the weather wasn't ideal, we made due and when it started to rain at the beach we would just play in the water. Costa Rica is so so beautiful

Speak no evil!

The group heading out to the beach

We came across this really cool area on our way to the Playa Grande

Walking through the jungle on the way to the beach. Notbad

Family of crocs

The second day I just happened to wake up at sunrise, so snapped a couple shots from our balcony, and then went back to sleep. We then woke up, ate breakfast and headed to this waterfall that I have heard so much about. It stands around 45 feet tall and is literally the perfect setup. This place is definitely one of my favorite spots in Costa Rica. I have a bunch of gopro footage that i will eventually put up, but it consists of a large swimming hole with 10 foot rocks that you jump off of first (theres also a rope swing) and then you float over to these other rocks, where the waterfall is. Once you jump, you can climb back up very easily on the side, and then repeat! I included one video of russ flipping probably around 35 feet down (not from the top). 

Sunrise

This guy has some balls...

All in all, such a great weekend! I made some new friends in Spanish, and danced my ass off, scared myself climbing trees and jumping into the water and got to experience a new place. Couldn't ask for more.