Paradise

Nature Trail at the Curu National Refuge. We were promised monkeys but we didn't find any there.
Killer Trail with Matt and Joe. We decided not to go on that one.
Botched Panoramic of part of the Bahia Ballena.
The truly hideous paint job that we completed to try to make the restaurant look better.
Me and Sixto the groundskeeper. He is actually a pretty good pal now. He quit hitting on me.
Beach volleyball on the Isla Tortuga with my German BFF Kerstin.
Me with Starfish, after snorkeling. Behind me is Juan, our guapo tour guide and next to me in Matt, on his way to becoming a little less pasty white.
Monkey.
How lucky am I, right?Joe and Me after our hike to this secluded beach which was supposed to be all white sand..... It was just a lot of rocks.

Settling in

I LOVE IT HERE.

We went to Paradise yesterday, AKA Las Islas Tortugas. Lonely Planet says it has the most beautiful beach in all of Costa Rica. The beach is really small and touristy but we loved it! Joe and Matt (the two guys in the first picture from the last post) and Katrine, a German volunteer, and I went together. We first had to walk through a National Park, where I saw my first monkeys of Costa Rica!!! And then we hired a boat to take us over to the island. The boat tour included snorkeling and fresh fruit! Qual! While snorkeling, I saw a huge Sting Ray and it was so majestic. Then we went over to the island, met up with my BFF Kerstin (a former volunteer who works on the island now), played some beach volleyball, swam over to another beach, came back, ate a picnic, and just soaked up the beauty of the whole day. Along with a lot of sun. We all came back well burnt- the first burn I got since being here.

And last weekend we went on a hike to another beach on the opposite side of the bay! We saw millions of tinnnnny hermit crabs!

Among all the monkeys, crabs and sting rays I have seen, I have also seen several frogs, tons of pelicans, several Macaws and a boa constrictor.
Not so cool wildlife= a gigantic cockroach that was living in my room, the five daddy long legs in my bathroom that I named after each Spice Girl, and all the ants that live in the sugar that provide a little extra protein in my coffee each morning. I am really starting to love the dogs here. There are four and I know all of their names. I spend a lot of time with them, which is probably why my eyes are red all the time, but this is the first time I have actually had a relationship with animals. They take walks on the beach with me and now they even sit calmly with me while I do my yoga (most of the time.)

Another creep-o local is starting to become infatuated with me and from what I can gather, his name is Gravy. Apparently he hasn't yet got the memo that I'm a heart-breaker.

We play a lot of beach volleyball now and when we get too hot we just go for a refreshing swim! I run when the tide isn't too high and swim when the tide is too high. Lots of ejercicio here!

Powdered laundry detergent is the all-purpose cleaner around here. We use it to clean the floors, wash our hands, and do the dishes when we run out of dish detergent. We wash the floors a lot. Probably every other day.

We got TWO NEW CDS so we don't have to listen to JUST Bob Marley! Jethro Tull and Kiss - not bad!

At night, there is plenty of free entertainment. We watch movies some nights, have beach bonfires, learn pool (one local is teaching me pool and Spanish, telling me to keep the cue straight (ni por aqui ni aca) and to hit the ball in el puro centro), we had a party one night with live music and sing-alongs and sometimes we take the bus to neighboring towns for other adventures. I just love spending time with all of the other volunteers, they make anything fun! My two English pals are teaching me new phrases to bring back to the US. They are adorable.

I am trying to ween myself off of using the internet so I will update in another week or two! With more pictures too!!!

Pics of Pochote!

It is taking so long to upload these so here are just a few!

So lucky to have la gripe!

First and foremost, Edvaard is doing great. He made so many friends last week and was so sad to see them leave so soon! But there will be plenty of pictures of him as soon as those friends post them on Facebook and I can relay them to here. I would post pictures but my camera is no longer mine!

Biggest adventure of the week:
After bragging about being completely healthy, I came down with a horrible case of the gripe, AKA Montezuma's revenge, or any other euphemism for stomach problems which cause lots of pain, cramps, and an inability to keep food inside my body. I spent all night awake in the bathroom. How fortunate was I, though, because while awake, I heard some creaking.. And then the doorknob into my room turning. I was pretty sure that I had just heard my roommate rolling around in her bed but then I heard the door creak open. I got up to see why in the hell my roommate would be leaving the room at 4:30 in the morning. It was pitch black in my room so I tried to get my bearings. I walked to the door and sure enough it was open! I looked out the door and thought I saw a figure running away. I scrambled for the lightswitch, hoping to confirm that it was just my roommate who had opened the door and that my brain had just imagined the figure running away. I switched on the light only to find my roommate in her bed, confused as to why I had turned the light on. Someone really did try to break into our room but was scared off! I was trembling and freaked out, but my stomach pains had completely gone away! If I hadn't have been sick, maybe all of our stuff would have been stolen! ¡Qué suerte! We make sure to lock our door every night now.

There is so much wildlife here, it is amazing! Last night I was enjoying the moonlight on the beach when a herd of cows scampered past! The dogs chased after them, barking, which scared the cows into picking up their pace. Also, I have seen so many baby animals, baby cows, baby chickens, baby geckos! And the other day I was walking on the beach when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lot of scurrying. I looked over my shoulder to find hundreds of red crabs. They stopped in my presence. I took a few steps towards them and with each step more and more crabs would dive sideways into their holes. So funny!

There are a lot of very itchy things here though and my skin looks like a warzone of mosquito bites, sun allergy, blisters, and scabs from scratching so much! I cut my nails all the way off so I won't scratch so much while sleeping!

The project is going well. So far we have done landscaping, painting, stucco-ing and cleaning cleaning cleaning! It feels good to be productive!

I have been eating pretty well- not as good as Cecilia's cooking, and WAY more rice and beans, but I still really enjoy all the food I eat. My two new favorite foods are plátanos (plantains) and papaya!

We play pool every night as it is the sole form of entertainment at the volunteer center (the volunteer center IS the restaurant and the music school and the community hangout place). The other night this little Costa Rican kid taught me how to play and I won because of him! He was pretty much a Costa Rican version of Indiana Jones' Short Round (You call him Docta Jones!)

I love all the comments and e-mails, they really help with the homesickness! Thank you so much for all the love and I will do my best to respond as quickly as I can! I miss you all but I have really found a good groove here and it won't be hard to stay at this project for another 10 weeks! The best part about it is being able to ditch out on at least ONE Illinois winter!