Hello all! I thought I would post some photos and tell about some of the POSITIVE things that happened last week before I got sick! Click to the right to see some new photos of the Caribbean paradise! In our last cooking class we made some fruit tarts- strawberry and peach. It was alot easier than I had expected. We watched some documentaries in my Latin American politics class and had to write some papers on them- so I have been staying busy with school work. We are moving faster in our Spanish class, which is good, but challenging. On Tuesday night we had a dance party for our dance classes at a local piano bar. It was a good opportunity to practice all that we had been learning. I asked my mom to go, since she always says she loves to dance, but never goes out. Her boyfriend, Carlos (who cooks and is around most days) doesn't like to dance, but we took Fernando and my 17yr old brother Mario. I had a ton of fun, but only danced with gringos all night. We are all really improving and I am planning on taking more salsa or merengue when I get home. Reno also has classes for Argentine Tango, which I think would be fun too. My brother watched the girls dance and later he said that I was a good dancer and that he would like to dance salsa with me later! I was so excited! It was a nice night and I feel like it bridged a gap between my family and me a little. Josh, Agata, Eric and I decided to leave on Thurday for the Caribbean. It took about 7 hours to get there, but it was worth it (even for only one day for me!). We arrived at small town Cahuita, and explored the national park the next day where we saw 2 types of monkeys and a picture perfect beach. We also ate crepes that morning- HUGE crepes, filled with delicious fruit. And oh, the pineapple. I don't even like pineapple that much, but it is so juicy and tasty here that I could eat it all day. Wow. We had a Caribbean style dinner- nice change from the normal rice and beans (now it is rice and beans with coconut!). We moved on to Puerto Viejo- a bit of a party town, but still very laid back and fun. We stayed in a really cool, popular hostel that had the option of sleeping in a hammock. We loved it. Then I got sick (see blog below for all my complaining!). I returned here on Thursday and rested over the weekend. My family took me to a family birthday party on Saturday night. It was really fun/funny. This was a cousin I had never met 20th birthday, but I knew her mom (my mom's sis). There was tons of food, even though we had just eaten dinner! They had also rented a karoake machine- everyone grabbed the mike and belted loudly and off key. The mike was echo-y and a little screechy but they all loved it. I have never seen so many people with such a love for singing- without caring at all what they sounded like! Then I had the best chocolate cake of my life. It was covered in this awesome fudge sauce.
That was pretty much it! I am feeling much better. Thanks for all your well wishes!
All my love...