CARIBBEAN!!!

The weekend was amazing and it was finally sunny for our beach days! Sam, Emily, and I plan on moving to Puerto Viejo for a few years after we graduate because it is that awesome. Thursday we stayed at La Selva Research Station. We did a night hike and a morning hike (surprise surprise). Thank goodness we are done with hikes... pretty sure I have seen all of the same animals and trees 30 times by now. G-unit and Saul just love them so much. I was able to see a lot of red and blue poison dart frogs - they're really cute, too bad they're so deadly. Some random middle-aged hippie researchers invited us to a 'party' across the bridge. Needless to say, it was not much of a party and we ended up going to bed relatively early. Friday morning we went to the Chiquita plantation. We saw some more banana plants and learned about Chiquita's efforts to become a more sustainable company. During our walk through the botanical gardens, I stepped on a fire ant hill. There were about 20 fire ants biting my left foot... it actually felt like my foot was on fire. So now I have some more bug bites to add to the collection from the Osa... sweet life.


We finally arrived in Puerto Viejo (my future home) Friday evening. We walked around a bit before dinner and checked out the town. The smell of marijuana is present at all times throughout the entire town, I am convinced. The people were all very friendly and I did a bit of shopping - definitely some great jewelry. It was Emily's birthday and her mom met us at the hotel! Her and her friend stayed with us for 2 days before returning to the Marriott. Friday night we all went to the hotel bar for some karaoke. We sang some classic ballads (Alanis Morissette, The Beatles, Donna Summers, etc.) and then headed to Stanford's. We were actually trying to find a bar called Johnny's Place, but we could hear blaring base from across the bay so we had to follow it. Thank goodness we did because Stanford's was SO MUCH FUN! Right on the beach, tables and chairs in the sand, awesome music, strobe lights, fog machine, hot guys, another skanky lingerie show (must be a CR thing)... one of the most fun nights in CR so far.

Saturday morning we went snorkeling in Cahuita. It was the worst snorkeling I have ever experienced - I saw a manta ray and a few not very cool fish. There wasn't even much of a visible coral reef. I heard from Laura, one of the Veritas tour guides, that it was a great place to snorkel. Maybe the fish were sleeping or something, I don't really know. Sam and I had a great time regardless. We connected our life vests and just floated around in the Caribbean for an hour, trying to catch some rays through the clouds. After 'snorkeling' we all went to a nearby island for some pineapple, laying out, and wildlife watching. We finally saw a snake! It was bright yellow and apparently really poisonous. There were white-faced Capuchin monkeys all over the island - they were so cute and not afraid of people at all. They are notorious for stealing things from people - the guides kept trying to get rid of them so they wouldn't steal the fruit. 

We took the bus from Cahuita to Monzanillo, where we stayed Saturday and Sunday night. The hotel was probably the nicest one we have stayed in so far - right on the beach, swimming pool, awesome food. Despite this, I wish we would have stayed in Puerto Viejo the whole weekend because there was NOTHING to do in Monzanillo. Sam and I tried to convince people to take the 30 minute cab ride to Puerto Viejo both nights, but everyone was lame and no one would go. We thought going alone would guarantee getting raped (or mugged at the very least) so we hung out at the hotel. Drinking on the beach is not as fun as it sounds and definitely gets old quick. Some of the guys tried to make a bonfire on the beach last night... it was more of a campfire and it was fun for about 10 minutes. I went to bed before midnight both nights... what a bust. I did have the opportunity to see G-unit get pretty rowdy last night. He was downing shots all over the place... love it. Saturday morning was beautiful and sunny so we laid out for a solid 3 hours. I applied SPF 15 once, which was probably not the best idea, and I forgot to flip over so my front side is pretty sunburnt. Hopefully it will turn into tan asap because it is a bit painful. I'm just happy I was able to lay out on a beach without rain!

After breakfast this morning, we headed back to Puerto Viejo and were able to spend 2 hours doing whatever we wanted. Sam, Emily, and I were very successful shoppers (especially jewelry) and even had time to watch the surfers at the world-famous Salsa Brava wave (located directly in front of Standford's... I think it's fate). We stopped at the cutest little restaurant for some ice cream - I had the green tea flavor and it was delicious! We wanted to stay longer and lay out because it was sunny again this morning, but we had to get back on the bus. That's okay though because I plan on living in Puerto Viejo at some point in my life with Sam and Emily... we'll probably sell jewelry and work as bartenders or something. It will be fantastic.

We have our research papers due Wednesday, along with our presentations and final exam... tomorrow will not be a very fun day. I have procrastinated a bit so I am planning on pulling an all-nighter tomorrow night... reminds me of real school, weird. Some of us are going to Cuartel tonight for the last time (so sad). A really awesome reggae band is playing so I'm excited... I should probably be doing schoolwork, but you only live once and Cuartel is the best bar in San Jose. PURA VIDA!