Toilet Paper

Okay, so, thus far, I´ve liked pretty much everything about Costa Rica, but...they are severely lacking in the toilet paper area. I don´t think I´ve been to a single bathroom that had toilet paper readily available. They have the containers, but somehow never manage to get any into the containers. It sucks. I´ve discovered that pretty much everyone carries toilet paper around with them. Needless to say, this is something I will no longer take for granted in the States.

Headed to the beach this weekend! We´re going to nearby one called Jacó. I´m pretty pumped because I don´t get to go to the beach that often. I´m just going to sit on the beach, do homework, and ¨marinate¨, as one of my new friends from Iowa says, lol. It´s going to be great!!

Oh yeah, everyone send up some prayers for those at in TN that were hit by the tornadoes, especially Union University, where my best friend attends. The dorms were pretty much destroyed. Wish I was there to help you out, buddy!

Paz de Costa Rica,
Amelia

School begins...

So, my little mini vacation is over it would seem. We started school today, and it appears that I´m going to have my work cut out for me. Everything in Spanish plus tons of homework. I didn´t expect anything different, but chilling in Costa Rica with pretty much nothing to do was pretty awesome for a week, lol. Another sucky thing about school, is that I have to walk like a mile and a half to get to one of my classes twice a week entirely uphill...I better lose some weight or gain some muscle. I have one more class today, so I´m just kind of hanging out until then.

The excursion last weekend was awesome! Fresh pineapple is amazing! Very cool to see the whole process of choosing the good ones to ship out all over the world. One we finished with that, we went to the Tirimbina Biological Reserve which was basically kind of like a resort in the rainforest. It was incredible! We toured an old chocolate plantation there and learned how to make chocolate bars. Very good...lol. The night tour throught the rainforest was amazing, as well. So much to hear and see! We walked on a 900 m suspension bridge about a thousand feet from a raging river. Awesome at night because you could look up and see incredible stars while listening to the roaring river. On Sunday, we went on another river, the Sarapiquí, and did a little boat tour. There are such amazing animals here like iguanas and crocodiles! So cool! After we got back, a bunch of us got together to watch the Super Bowl. It was weird to watch such an American tradition in Costa Rica. The Costa Ricans, or Ticos, couldn´t understand why we wanted to watch it. They like soccer, or fútbol, much better, lol.

So, I have a week of classes and then this weekend I´m going to the beach! I´m really excited! Hope all is well in the U.S.!

Pura vida,
Amelia

Pineapples, Chocolate, and Bats...oh my

Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for the comments! I love getting them! I don´t know how to comment back, so I just thought I would thank everyone in a post! Things here are going well. I had a little trouble with the ATMs but everything is okay now and I´m no longer without money, lol. For future reference, if you´re going abroad, find out which types of banks will work with your debit card. Otherwise, it either won´t work or it gives you American money! Definitely not what I needed...lol.

I´m still learning the lay of the land. Haven´t really figured out bus system at all, but I think I´ve got the taxi thing under control. Funny story, though...another exchange student and I took one the other day to get home, and she decides to strike up a conversation with him. I wasn´t really paying attention until I heard her tell him we were from Canada! Apparently this is a good idea to do because the world likes Canadians a little more that Americans, news to me, anyway...so, we drop off my friend and we´re headed to my place, and the driver starts asking me questions about Canada! Well, I know nothing about Canada, lol, so I basically had to make up stuff about Canada while speaking in Spanish for 5 or 10 minutes. Funny now, but at the time not so much, lol. I did find out that I´m a lot better at lying in Spanish than in English, possibly good to know...

This weekend I´m going on an excursion to the rainforest! We´re going to tour a pineapple and chocolate plantation, and go on a night excursion to see some nocturnal animals such as bats and certain frogs. It should be pretty cool, and hopefully I´ll have something to write about it. Hope all is well!

Peace from Costa Rica,
Amelia