Week in review

Hey, things have finally started happening. The only bad part is that I have been too busy to write about all the things I have been doing! I'll try to fill in the gaps though.

The last few days have centered around school and learning my way around. I can now find my way to school and back all by myself. Oh the taste of independence!

Classes have been going okay. Spanish class bounces between stuff I remember and the stuff I should remember but don't. My Politics class is interesting but weird too. Because there is only one other student, the teacher doesn't exactly lecture. Its more like a two hour discussion which means we both have to participate a lot more than I am used to.

Last Wednesday my host brother took us to the mall to see Transformers! It was fun to get out of the house and go to the mall. My housemate has a six hour break between classes so she has gone downtown twice. However, my break isn't really long enough to go to most places and not be late to class. Plus I have been studying a lot. :( So I had a ton of fun going out. The mall here is exactly like the malls at home. The food court had Mcdonalds, Subway, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. It was hilarious. I think the only difference I noticed other than the spanish was that Mcdonalds offered fried chicken! I'm not sure why since they also have KFC's here but whatever.

No one can tell my mom this, but I haven't worn a seatbelt the entire time I have been here. Not because I haven't wanted to (The biggest cause of death for tourists here are car accidents) but because none of the seatbelts work. Not even in taxi cabs. It sucks because the driving here is insane. People speed, cut people off and the lanes are only suggestions. As in the tour bus will go into the incoming lane for a while even around corners or when an island cuts us off from the right side of the street. It's absolutely an adventure getting anywhere. I think I'm going to try to stop noticing it because there is nothing I can do about it except freak out. 

On Thursday my housemate and I decided that we NEEDED to go out and hit the town. We headed over to this Reggie bar named Raices with a friend and it was sooooo much fun. We were the only Americans there and it was really cool to people watch and just chill for a few hours. I played fooseball for the first time and found out that I have a habit of shooting the ball into my own goal. My teammate was not amused but I thought it was pretty typical of me. 

I don't have my politics class on Fridays so right after my Spanish class ISA shipped us all to the beach! We went to Playa Tamarindo and it was probably the coolest weekend of my life. We got to our hotel around 7:30 and the hotel had a free buffet and traditional dancers waiting for us. (As in they really were waiting for us because we ran a little late. It's amazing what a hotel will do for a group of a hundred Americans.) After dinner, pretty much all of us went out dancing. The hotel had a special where if we went to their club and casino all of the ladies got free tequila sunrises. There wasn't really an area for dancing though so after awhile we headed to a club named Aqua and danced until 3am. Piece of  advice, if you are going to go dancing in a humidly hot location, wear a ton of deodorant. I even put it on the back of my knees and I was still a puddle of goo for most of the night. I don't think I have ever sweated so much in my entire life. 

Dancers

Gringas taking over Playa Tamarindo

Yesterday I woke up late and missed breakfast but I went shopping for a bathing suit. (Because I am the type of person who remembers to bring it to Costa Rica but leaves it at my host family's house) Afterwords I ran into some friends and we went to this hole in the wall Tico Soda and had this huge plate of fish and rice and beans and salad and fried plantains. Oh yeah, and I washed it down with this watermelon juice concoction. So good!

Casado

After eating I realized I was late for the Catamaran cruise so I ran back to the hotel in time to hear that the group had left. I almost had a heart attack before someone told me that loading everyone onto the boat takes almost an hour. I ran down to the beach and still had plenty of time to hurry up and wait. Whew! We all had to crawl out into a speed boat that took us out to the main boat. We fit so many people on that boat that every wave soaked us. At one point I was running my fingers in the water and a girl's hat flew off and literally flew right into my hand. Everyone was amazed at my ninja-like reflexes and there was no way I was going to inform them that it was just really good luck. ^_^ 

Speed boat

Once on the cruise boat we sat around and soaked in the sun for an hour until we arrived at a private cove where we jumped in and snorkeled and swam around. I saw and touched a Puffer fish!!! It felt nubby and look terrified. Poor thing! After swimming I ate my way through another buffet and soaked in more sun as we headed back. There was a free open bar onboard and about four people manning it at all times. I had a Pina Colada and a Mojito and they were excellent! There were no mixes involved so they were a million times better than what I am used to. ^_^ The cruise ended just at sunset so we got to experience (and take pictures of) the sunset over the Pacific Ocean while in the Pacific Ocean!  

I love the Ocean!

Sunset

Oh Jeez, so later on after we got back a couple friends and I went out to this sushi place they had heard about. The food was incredible but the waitress was a BITCH. There is no other word for it. It started when one person at the table ordered a California Roll and the other ordered a Caterpillar Roll. So of course they both ended up with a California Roll. Our friend explained the mix up to the girl who brought us the food and she said she'd fix it. Well then our waitress comes barreling over to inform us that we had definitely said California Roll. She lectured us for almost five minutes about how we had made a mistake and when we tried to disagree she just got more upset. As we waited for our friend's food to arrive we chowed down on ours. Of course not long after she got her food we were done. The waitress actually removed all of the place mats and started wiping down the tables as our friend was eating. It was awkward as hell! Then to top it off, the waitress walked behind me and I felt something splash along my back. I turn around and she was holding Soy Sauce. UGH

Tico Roll

We tried to go out dancing again but after one drink we were exhausted so we gave up and went to bed. It worked out because the next morning I woke up early enough to eat this huge breakfast buffet with pancakes, sausage, Pinto Gallo, Omelets, and five hundred types of fruit. Continental breakfasts do not even come close to this hotels free buffet. I finally rolled myself out of the dining room and headed down to the beach for an hour whole body massage. I feel so young saying this word but seriously, an hour massage under a palm tree, on the beach, listening to the waves. Yeah, it was sooo totally epic. No other words do it justice.

I think this blog is all caught up now! Of course it is now eleven pm and I still have homework to do tonight. :( Oh well, it was worth it. ^_^

Wait, wait, wait! I forgot my battle scars! What? You didn't think this kind of weekend came without a price did you?

Eaten alive!

I have 17 of these suckers! Correction: I just recounted and the total is now up to 23. :( UGH

And before you ask, yes, I did use 30 percent Deet bug spray. Sadly it wore off for about 20 minutes and I got all of these in those few minutes. Such is life.

Pura Vida