Nice failures

Short post because the internet's slow. But we're in Monte Verde, C.R. right now. We took a guided hike to see the lava of volcano Arenal, but we didn't see anything because it was cloudy. Apparently if that happens, the tour company gives a free tour the next day but we had to leave for Monte Verde. The hike ended with a really sweet stop at natural hot springs, which were *amazing*!

Shai and I also tried to go to this cabaret show put on by the Monte Verde community, which was about 2km uphill from our hostel. We left at about 6:30 pm and it was already dark. After climbing up this super steep hill and having no idea where we were going, the fog started to roll in. When the windy road turned from paved to dirt and the sidewalk ended, we paused on the side of the road to check our bearings with our little map. The longer we waited, the thicker the fog got. We ended up just going back. This dog followed us halfway back and almost got run over at least twice. Really, this story is not very good. You had to be there - the fog seriously made everything more ominous! At one point we turned around and all we saw were the outlines of two figures walking behind us, as we're walking along this curvy highway in the forest. Creepy.

Tomorrow I'm going ziplining. I think Shai's going to a reptile museum and a butterfly garden. We'll also go for a hike. We're trying to decide where to go from here, but we're thinking Montezuma, a beach town in the Gulf of Nicoya.

Grinnell's grades are up. That's terrifying.



I'd love to hear from you all so feel free to send me e-mails or comments. (Thanks for the note, Jamie!)

We´re in store for a Volcano

Shai and I left Coralia yesterday and took a 6 hour bus ride to La Fortuna, which is in the northern region of the country and located near the base of the Arenal volcano. This volcano erupted in 1968 after a 400-year dormancy and has been spewing lava ever since. La Fortuna is super touristy, but almost everyone speaks English, which is helpful for Shai. It starts to pour rain here by like 1pm, so I´m not quite sure how the tour is going to go down. I also only packed a pair of sandals, so hopefully nothing gross appears out of the dirt and attacks my feet.



Before taking a tour at 3pm today to check out the lava, we´re going to walk over to a watering hole because it is super hot and humid here! It´s the type of hot where you sweat when you stand still.

Tomorrow we leave La Fortuna at 8:30 am for Monteverde, via a strange route popularly known as ¨jeep-boat-jeep.¨ You take a van to Lake Arenal, where a boat meets you and takes you across the lake. Once you cross the lake, a van meets you at the other end and takes you to Monteverde, which is one of the most popular nature reserves in Costa Rica. I´m curious to see it, mainly since I had read academic articles about the tourism there when I was studying tourism in Costa Rica with my class on sustainable development.

I´ll probably update after Monteverde. I feel like I really haven´t had all that much to update about yet, but hopefully this will soon change, and won´t include stories about getting our stuff stolen at the local watering hole or being abandoned on a boat in Lake Arenal. Only time will tell!

Heredia, Costa Rica

I got into Costa Rica safe and sound! I´m staying with my friend Coralia, who stayed with my family and me in December when she toured Soka University, a college founded by the SGI sect of Buddhism. We had a sleepover last night at Coralia´s friend´s house with her friend and a girl from Soka University who´s studying abroad here. Everything´s going really well! It rains for much of the day. This is a really bland post but I want you all to know that I will occasionally be posting updates about the trip! Tomorrow Shai gets in and I have no idea what will be in store for us after that. It will be exciting, whatever happens.