hola...?

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted... I guess life gets away from us sometimes. So much has happened since my last post, and it would take forever to write all of it... so how about a quick break down. I have continued to become more and more comfortable here in Costa Rica. I have gotten to know people better, am settling in (and making changes!) at work and continuing to adjust to my new life. While there have been times that I have missed home, friends and family... overall, I am still so happy with the decision I made to come here.

One of the reasons I came: TRAVEL
I have been given so many wonderful opportunities to travel around Costa Rica! Fortunately, it is really easy to get around here and it especially helps when your roommate and friends have cars! A big group of gringos took a trip to Nosara back in September and it was wonderful. It was quiet, relaxing and beautiful!

For another long weekend, a few girls (Elle, Kim, Jessica, Rachel, Vale and I) got out of town for a nice little trip to Tamaridno (or Tamagringo!). Since it is low season, it really wasn't too busy, but it was the perfect busy for a girls weekend away. We got to surf, enjoy nice dinners, dance and have fun all weekend! We did have an interesting experience with a crocodile swimming in the ocean, yes, in the ocean! Luckily, we were warned about the crocodile before it did any damage to us, but there was an out of town surfer there who can not say the same. We read in an article on the way home that weekend that a man was attacked! We can't believe we didn't see it happen since we were on the beach the whole weekend!

Can you see the croc?

Amazing sunset in Tamarindo

Whale watching: Uvita! Asecol (an organization through work) organized a group tour to Uvita to go whale watching. It was a fantastic deal! We had a private tour bus, private tour and a fabulous time watching whales and lounging at the beach! We were taken out on small boats to see the humpback whales... and we got to see them! It was so amazing! They are so big, its unbelievable. It is something I would like to do again while I am here. We also got to jump off the boat and swim out in the middle of the ocean. There were probably about 20 of us swimming in the water. It was very nice.

Humpback whale!

Cahuita was another great escape. I traveled with Kim, Stacy and Jessica for the weekend to the Caribbean coast. We visited Cahuita which is a small, sleepy town that is home to a National Park. It was amazing, and it turns out, not so sleepy after all. We went into the park and saw monkeys, sloths, birds, a sting ray, a million sand dollars and the clearest water I have ever seen in my life. We had an amazing weekend and managed to make our own fun. When there are 4 gringas looking for a fun evening on the town, it turns out its not too hard to find!

Monkeys!

So beautiful!!!

I feel so lucky to have been on these vacations. Life is not one big vacation, I do work, but I am so fortunate to be able to spend my weekends exploring Costa Rica. Coming soon, I will write more about Life in San Jose, work, you know... the day to day things!