Santa Ana -- old pictures

These are from the second day we were here, when we went on a really long walk above Santa Ana in the mountains,

The main room in Don Jorge and Dona Ana's house in the mountains. 

The Catholic Church - I went for one mass, just to check it out, but I haven't gone back. It is nice to be challenged, but I've decided that I can't even figure out religion in English, let alone be able to get anything out of it in Spanish. But they had cool music!

WOW! That's a little bit of Santa Ana, Escazu, and San Jose is to the left, behind the mountains. 

One of the major roads through Santa Ana. It's really calm here, normally it's lined with fruit vendors or construction workers. See the people on the wall? They are always there. 

And that field to the left is where we play soccer with some of the younger kids! I haven't had the time lately, but it's really fun and a good workout. I am definitely perfect for their skill level. But I scored a goal my first time I played with them! :)

Lunch at the Grand Hotel, San Jose (very old pictures)

This is the chair Pres. Kennedy sat in when he came to CR in 1962, because of the destruction that Volcan Irazu (in Cartago) was causing. It erupted from '62 until '65. 

Volcan Miravalles, Guanacaste (from the weekend before last)

Monteverde (these are from the past weekend)

I had forgotten cashews grew on fruit. That's why they're so expensive, right?

Incredible views from the bus!

Cool tables in Cafe Monteverde

Expensive and a rip off! Coffee doesn't preserve well at all in paper bags, it would have gone wrong in a week. Good thing they can't fool me, I've had my coffee tour already.

All sorts 'a cool touristy stuff we eat right up

Interesting, I should have bought some to see if they worked or not

This darn thing, I forgot the name, kept eating their food!

gorgeous! we saw blue, purple, and green ones. The purple and blue ones reminded me of Bowser, only smaller.

El Teatro Nacional II

We went to see La visita de La Vieja Dama. It was a comedy, but with the message that there are things in life worth more than money. The old dame comes to town and throws a hotel owner and his staff into a whirl. She ends up teaching them the moral of the story. Of course, this is what I got from it. It started out with people on the toilet, so I was able to follow that...but after that I was pretty lost! I was surprised since it's theater and that's normally really easy to follow. I think that's the story line though. 

We got to meet some of the actors in the play afterwards, including La Vieja Dama. I should have made a bet, because I was completely correct in concluding that the actress was really a man! He did a great job though. It was cool to see them in the flesh. Also, at the reception we got free chocolate and other foods! I was a happy camper.

Playa Hermosa -- Guanacaste

Ceramics being painted right in front of us in Guaytil

Making a vase

Cafe!

Trying to get some pictures of the town of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. Almost every bar has the Imperial banner, as it is the national beer. Although we haven't officially covered that in class yet

Pali is a grocery store, the equivalent of our Family Fare. They're everywhere

This is the oldest church in CR, in Santa Cruz, called the Iglesia Colonial de Nicoya, from the 1500's.

It has a distinct Arabic influence, because at the time there was Arabic influence in Spain, and when Columbus came to CR in 1502, a lot of the arquitectura received this type of influence

CUTE!!!!

Our incredible hotel room

We have a little glass bowl! Only swanky hotels have pointless little glass bowls!

Our view

If the bugs hadn't been so bad this would have been lovely

Look! That's a banana boat in the water!

We went snorkeling right straight out off the side of this cove. There is a big rock jutting out of the water called Roca Cara Mono, because it looks just like a monkey head! It should be called Roca Cabeza Mono, but oh well.

I know it's hard to look past my muscle, but try and find those swollen red marks! This is because I got stung by a jelly! Well, technically just the legs of the jelly fish. My profe told me it is the "hilo de oro" or "gold threads". I'm not exactly sure, but it has to be the stingy things on the jelly, that fall off, float around in the water, and bump into people causing the sting marks. I wish I could have gotten a better photo, because you could see the imprints where the threads fell onto my arm. It was pretty cool! Painful, but cool.