{The Tranquila Archives}

The last weekend in January was literally packed with things to do.. Friday O ur spanish class randomly took a field trip to a local wood factory called Sr y Sra Ese where we toured the factory and had the option of buying different souvenirs and jewelry made of local woods from Costa Rica.  In Spanish   But it was interesting.  The other classes got to go to the Cartago market and the Children's Museum.  But I'm not bitter... That afternoon we explore the city with Anita, Macey, and Grace.  The city is full of old repurposed buildings like in Charleston, and covered in grafiti.  We walk around San Jose until we get to Parque España.  It is a beautiful park just beside the Jade Museum, which boasts the largest collectin of Jade in Central America.  Why ? I don't know, but apparently it's beautiful ? Graffiti is all over the city, and it gives it character. Spanish Park: A Biological Proje...

The second weekend in Costa Rica our group took us to the waterfall La Fortuna which was pretty amazing.  This was the first time I had ever seen in person a waterfall, and the fact that I got to experience this while hiking in Costa Rica was pretty precious and I relished every second of it.  The hike down to the waterfall was about thirty minutes, and you could smell the richness of the earth around you.  As we sauntered down the path I took several moments to just stop and take in the scene around me.   This is real. life. This is really happening. Don't wake me up. The hike down to La Fortuna At the falls, and swimming in the river The much steeper hike back up The fauna near the volcano We had lunch and dinner in the town of La Fortuna, but for dinner I stayed behind with the guys in the springs because I was enjoying soaking in the water more than I wanted to go back into town.  For lunch we were looking for the ch...

This post is about my second full week in Costa Rica.  I can't say I'm sorry I'm so behind, I'm in Costa Rica!! Oh well ! entonces.. This week the extra-curricular classes start, like cooking, yoga, dancing, and I don't know what else.  I signed up for the cooking class, and the dance class is free after my night classes tues/thurs, so when I'm not tired I stop by to those. Que Chiva! I am becoming utterly obsessed with the Latin Culture. Any culture that regularly includes cilantro and black beans in their diet is heaven in my book.  And we all know how sexy Latin dance is, so that's a no-brainer.  What amazes me so much is the 'theory' of Machismo is so prevelant here, and yet the men are so much more apt to be friendly with one another, dance, even sometimes helping in the kitchen with the dishes, and opening doors; while in the states you have guys who are utterly terrified of such things for fear of appearing to be gay.  Come on guys ! ...