Costa Rican Farmers Market

Saturday Jessie took Martha and I to the Farmers Market in Guadeloupe. It was one of the most interesting cultural experiences I have had in Costa Rica. Most people are going to the market to buy their families fruits and vegetables for the week. They bring their own carts to help them carry everything they need.

We are being so sustainable bringing our own cloth bags!

There were so many stands lined up next to each other...so much spanish being yelled out to the crowds and so many new tastes that I experienced. Most of the venders would let you sample their fruits and vegetables before you bought them.

The entrance!

10 Rules for A Good Day

A couple of weeks ago our Education Seminar professor gave us a piece of paper with these suggestions to having a better day. I thought I would share them with ya'll!

TODAY I WILL NOT STRIKE BACK:
If someone is rude, if someone is impatient, if someone is unkind...I will not respond in a like manner.

TODAY I WILL ASK GOD TO BLESS MY "ENEMY":
If I come across someone who treats me harshly or unfairly, I will quietly ask God to bless that individual. I understand the "enemy" could be a family member, neighbor, co-worker, or a stranger.

TODAY I WILL BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT I SAY:
I will carefully choose and guard my words being certain that I do not gossip.

TODAY I WILL GO THE EXTRA MILE:
I will find ways to help share the burden of another person.

TODAY I WILL FORGIVE:
I will forgive any hurts or injuries that come my way. TODAY I WILL DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEONE, BUT I WILL DO IT SECRETLY: I will reach out anonymously and bless the life of another.

TODAY I WILL TREAT OTHERS THE WAY I WISH TO BE TREATED:
I will practice the golden rule-"Do unto others as I would have them do unto me"-with everyone I encounter.

TODAY I WILL RAISE THE SPIRITS OF SOMEONE I DISCOURAGED:
My smile, my words, my expression of support, can make the difference to someone who is wrestling life.

TODAY I WILL NURTURE MY BODY:
I will eat less; I will eat only healthy foods. I will thank God for my body.

TODAY I WILL GROW SPIRITUALLY:
I will spend a little more time in prayer today: I will begin reading something spiritual or inspirational today; I will find a quiet place and listen to God's voice!

Arenal on a clear afternoon. Amazing. This was looking out the door of my hotel room. There was even an Observatory Point on the resort property. Jessie, Jessica, and I walked up to what we thought was the Observatory Point but were later told that that wasn't even two thirds of the way there. We were glad to find the shelter that we had found though take in the beauty of the Volcano because the hike up to it was pretty steep and unforgiving.
Los Lagos had three water slides! Two of the water slides went into cold water pools and the third went into one of the "hot springs". Los Lagos is not the home to the natural hot springs but the hot tubs they have are still pretty nice!
We took a walk through the butterfly farm, frog house, and ant farm before going to the pool on Saturday. The ant farm was home to thousands of leaf cutter ants..it was crazy to see! We also saw a crocodile which I was not expecting at the time and it scared the begeeebers out of me!
Self-timed pictures are the best! Jessica (wearing pink scarf) and Jessie are my Spanish classmates and are also in the Education class with me. They are pretty fabulous and tons of fun to hang out with!
When we first got to the hotel we were just relaxing, laying in our beds watching TV in English. Then we got a little antsy, but only had a little while before dinner. Jessie, Jessica, and I decided to have PROM! We took the decorative blankets from the end of our beds and fashioned our own dresses. Our theme=Tropical Asian Fusion. We even got crosages from the boys!

Hummingbirds!

We all learned how to identify four different types of humingbirds by the time we were finished with our experiment. The hummingbird in this picture is of the Fiery Throated species. We caught the birds by setting up mist nets near the flowers they like to drink from. As soon as we realized that there was a hummingbird in the net our TA or professor would immediately detangle them so they would not sufficate themselves. We marked their claws with finger nail polish so we would only collect their pollen once.
On Saturday we hiked to this Mountain Bog. It is the Mountain Bog at the highest altitude in Central America. Because of the high acidity the plants in the Bog have been preserved for millions of years. During our hike we had to romp through very muddy areas. I jumped too short once and ended up knee deep in mud with slime slipping into my boots.
Happy students before we left for our hike to the Mountain Bog! (We were happy when we came back too)

The Smith Family Comes to Costa Rica!

When I went to the hotel to meet Mom, Dad, and Taylor I was so excited! After catching up a little bit we walked to MesoAmerica where I go to school and I showed them around the school building. Then we walked 30 minutes to my Tica house and I introduced my host family to my family! We had a great time drinking fresh juice and even got to eat lunch with my host family! Next I took my family to downtown San Jose and showed them a few of the sights.

After a long trip, a broken down car, and a miscommunication about which hotel we were supposed to stay at we finally made it to Arenal. That night Mom, Dad, Taylor, and I went to watch the lava exploding out of Arenal Volcano.

Friday morning Dad had to go to the airport to fly home but Mom, Taylor, and I stayed in Arenal to go on a zip-line tour. The tour had ten zip lines...one of them was 1 kilometer long! Mom did a good job making it across the first line but then started to brake too much on the next too and decided it would be a better idea to take a "taxi" on the rest of the zip-lines so she could make it safely across! On the last zip-line she was very brave and rode the line on her own! We had a great time zipping on top of the trees and seeing beautiful views of the Arenal area.

Once the group was finished zip-lining we went to an "indigenous village" where we learned about the Male-cu culture and heard one of the men speak in their language. After that short presentation the entire group rode horses back to the reception area.

We had lunch at a local restaurant with typical Costa Rican food then headed to "las cataratas". The hike down to the waterfalls included 480 steps. Walking down was fine, but walking up was quite a trek!

Our night at the Hampton Inn was a sweet treat after a long day full of activity. I was very sad to say good bye to Mom and Taylor at the airport.

Nicaragua Visa Trip..aka the time of our lives!

We spent the first two nights in the city of Granada at a wonderful hotel. Our journey to Nicaragua was an arduous one though-we spent three hours at the border waiting to get our passports stamped. Carmen was continuously told to go to a different window-no one wanted to help us. Finally we did get through and arrived at a hotel with plush beds and two nice pools for us to relax in.

Our first full day in Nicaragua was spent touring an old prison, walking around the active Masaya Volcano, shopping at the market, eating lunch over looking the crater lake, and taking a boat tour of Central America's second largest fresh water lake!

The last night we spent in Nicaragua was spent in San Juan Del Sur--a place where everyone should go on family vacation and stay at Hotel Olas y Pedrias. This is a FIVE STAR! hotel and we were split up into groups of five to stay in HOUSES!! The house that I was in decided to make dinner together instead of going out to a restaurant. The views overlooking the city were amazing and we all had a great time relaxing by the pool and ignoring the piles of homework assigned to us before break.

Spring Break

For the first part of Spring Break Elisa and I traveled 6 hours on the bus from San Jose to Dominical. I have never been as hot as I was on the bus ride and during our three days in Dominical at any other point in my life. Every night I took a cold shower and was so thankful that we did not have hot water. Crazy!

During our time in Dominical we spent many hours on the beach as well as time zip-lining and horseback riding to the waterfalls. Zip-lining in Dominical was very different from Monteverde. The lines were a lot shorter, but faster and much more eco-friendly. Our guides told us all about the woods around us as we walked up to the first platform. The most interesting fact that I learned was you can use Leaf-Cutter Ants as stitches!

After traveling to Dominical I flew from San Jose to Charlotte to surprise Taylor! Taylor seriously had no idea that I was coming home-but everyone else did. While at home I got to hang out with Sarah and Claire as well as my family. Thursday Sarah met my grandparents when we met them for lunch! John-Paul was our trusted choffer to and from North Lake. On our way back home from North Lake we somehow ended up halfway to Columbia, South Carolina!! We had driven an hour past our exit in Charlotte because we were telling stories, laughing and not paying attention to the road.

Saturday I got to watch Taylor play in her lacrosse game against Charlotte Latin and it was AWESOME! Taylor had a little fan club on the sidelines of friends and family.

Coming back was strange. It is nice to be back in Costa Rica where the sun is always shining, but it was definitely hard to leave my family and friends again. I am looking forward to this last month here-there are so many trips left to go on! This weekend I will be in Nicaragua with the whole group for our Visa trip!