Chasing Waterfalls

Well this weekend has been filled with so much adventure and culture already. We started at 7 am Saturday, and we have yet to stop. However, while I feel we have done so much, there is still so much to do, see, and explore. Saturday morning, we started with a nice breakfast where I fell in love with a new breakfast dish, gallo pinto. Gallo pinto is the most magnificent rice and bean dish with spices and pepper—if it weren’t so high in carbohydrates, I would eat it for every meal.

After breakfast we went to La Paz waterfalls here in Heredia and was it beautiful! Based on the fact that I can’t recall the last waterfall I saw, I’m going to say I’ve never seen a waterfall before. La Paz was sort of like the nature center only more official and it had way more attractions. For example, we saw many mariposas (butterflies), felinas (big cats), bichos (bugs—gross), pajaros (birds), and monos (monkeys). While I hate birds, this happened to be my favorite exhibit because not only was there a beautiful man there, but this beautiful man—Kenneth if you were wondering—put a toucan on my arm. I was very proud to have this toucan on my arm—like extremely proud. I was also freaked out and nervous that it would poop, but proud nevertheless. Lastly, we hiked and viewed many cascadas (waterfalls). Dios mio, they were gorgeous!! Also, in order to see the waterfalls we took approximately 1,000 steps. Therefore, I feel like I don’t have to work out for a while--- not really, but I definitely treated myself to a big helping of gallo pinto Sunday morning for breakfast.

That night, we went out to eat as a group at Pollos y Pizza (chicken and pizza). I personally thought the place had a lot of character because there were dogs running around inside and I like dogs so I felt at home. I ordered casado con pollo (rice, beans, and chicken) and it was very good. Literally everything I have eaten here has been very good. I also ordered guanabana which is a popular Costa Rican drink. The taste is indescribable and incomparable to anything in the United States, but I can tell it has pineapple and milk in it. That’s really all I have--- it’s also delicious.

To end the weekend, we took a tour of our school here in Heredia, CPI or Central Panamericano de Idioms. The campus itself is very small, but it’s very beautiful and a lot of it is in the open (yay, nature!). We also took a tour of the town, San Joaquin de Flores, which is where I will be living for the next week. While by map it looks huge, everything in San Joaquin is at most 20 minutes away if you’re starting from the center of town. I really enjoyed walking about because it’s just different from Springfield and the United States in general. There aren’t always sidewalks and what not, but there is just wildlife all around. There are also dogs everywhere which naturally makes me miss Macy, but don’t worry Macy Shae—none of them are as adorable as you (biased). After our tour of everything we ate, and of course it was good. I’m coming to the conclusion that I was meant to live in Central or South America because I can eat Hispanic dishes and rice and beans with no problem.

Lastly, we met with Jon Le who works with CPI and talked about customs and expectations here in Costa Rica. We had a reflection and lesson planning for our future days at the local schools with Dr. Aram and Mrs. Haynes. And now…. I’m just waiting to meet my host family! All in all this weekend has been filled with so much and it will just keep getting better!