This last week has passed in such a blur!! The homework load here is getting larger and larger, but it is seeming to go a lot smoother. My fluency has steadily gone up, and my awkwardness around the people here is lessening :).

Before getting into a discussion of my recent adventures, I realized that I forgot to discuss one of the major differences here. They have these little bins next to the toilet instead. I want really sure why that was, so I asked my host Mom about it. Turns out, the plumbing here is very very small, so you are not supposed to put the toilet paper in the toilet. You can ruin the plumbing for the whole house!!

And now adventure time! We have gone to two different volcanoes so far (Poas and Arenal). They were so beautiful <3 Poas has one of the largest craters in the world, and Arenal is still active. Arenal also happens to be perfectly cone shaped!!

I forgot my camera when going to Poas, so unfortunately I don’t have any pictures for here. But it was so beautiful. While we were at Arenal, we did two different side trips. The first was that we went to La Fortuna. It is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen <3. The hike was absolutely killer, but it was worth it :). We went there to swim and in general have a good time. After words, we were all pretty tired and sore, but the second trip made it even more worth it. We went to Baldi Hot Springs. It is a very famous hotel and spa/retreat here in Costa Rica. The water is heated by the volcano and reaches temperatures of 109 F and up. It’s so awesome!!!! The people in the CIS program that I have met since getting here were fantastic. We also made friends with a Tica (Costa Rican) couple here :D. They were so nice and patient while we tried to talk to them. They also spoke pretty decent English for if we got totally lost. We found out first funny sign too. They have signs that say “Restroons” rather than “Restrooms” at the spa!! We had to giggle a little at that!

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This weekend I will be traveling to one of the bigger self-sustaining communities here to work for my Environmental Anthropology class. I am so excited.

Until next time, happy travels!!
~Megan