Taxis, Coches y Autobuses

(Taxis, Cars and Buses)

Taxis are actually pretty cheap in Costa Rica and are a great way to get around if you don't have a car and there is no bus stop nearby. Most taxis are red - you know they are legit if they have a yellow triangle on their front door, usually with a number and the city(ies) they work in.

Drivers are crazy in Costa Rica. So are pedestrians. The animals (dogs everywhere) are actually pretty smart though. Basically, it's like driving in America but without the rules. Lane markings are only suggestions, red lights are only suggestions (and there's not that many stoplights anyway) and jaywalking is a normal occurrence. If you can do it, it's okay. The animals for some reason seem to be the only ones who understand that they may get run over and they will wait for a car to pass. The only driving or walking rule in Costa Rica seems to be "don't crash".

So Costa Rica is very green (literally and figuratively) and they do something that I think is really cool in order to be ecologically friendly. They can only drive their cars 6 out of 7 days of the week. If your license plate ends in 0 or 1, you can't drive on Monday. If your license plate ends in 2 or 3, you can drive on Tuesday, etc. This encourages people to walk or take public transportation such as a taxi or bus. And the bus system is pretty good here. Lots of stops to everywhere, and often times the bus will pick up people along the way at non-stops and will drop people off on a side road if they request. It costs 45 US cents to take a bus here.

What I ate:
Desayuno: Eggs (huevos), Gallo Pinto and a Corn Tortilla. And also, coffee. I'm afraid I'm going to be addicted to caffeine when I get back to the US.
Almuerzo: Croissant sandwich with ham and cheese, lettuce, tomato and pesto sauce (Croissant con jamón y queso) and iced tea.

El Fin de Semana

(The Weekend)

This weekend we made a trip to La Fortuna, near Volcan (Volcano) Arenal and then to Monteverde. We arrived in La Fortuna Friday Night

We ate at a place called "La Casa de Hormiga" or "House of the Ant". The food wasn't that great, but oh well.

Then we went to the hot springs. This is the only picture I have of it because I didn't want to get my camera that close to the water!

We went for midnight snacks since so many of us were still hungry. This is what you get when you order ice cream with fruit salad on top - ice cream with jello and mango/papaya fruit salad. I was surprised, but it was good.

 The next day we went and chilled at a nearby river.

We ate lunch in La Fortuna before going on a four hour bus ride to Monteverde. They have these cool ice creams called "Cero Grados" (or Zero Degrees) that are in the shape of a "0". Yummy!

On the way we passed the beautiful Volcan Arenal. And yes, it is an active volcano.

This is how you stay hydrated for the weekend - almost a 2 liter water bottle!

I'm not sure the name of this lake, but we spent almost two hours going around it. Oh, and to imagine our four hour bus ride... image the windiest road with dirt and rock paths, washed out areas, thin areas with no border and sketchy bridges. Then imagine doing it in a charter bus. Let's just say our bus driver was amazing!

While on our drive we passed a monkey who was climbing on the telephone cables.

And then we went ziplining in the cloud forest!

The longest zipline was 1 km long and was exhilarating. If you ever get a chance to zipline, take it! It is a crazy amazing experience!

The Tarzan Swing was the craziest part of it all - they attach you to a rope and push you off a ledge - you free fall for a bit before the rope catches you and you swing like Tarzan. The swing is 196 feet wide! It was crazy but super fun and we were all pumped with adrenaline after doing it!

What I ate (because I feel food is important =P)

Thursday (Jueves)

Desayuno - Pancakes (Panques) with Maple Syrup (Miel de Maple) These were delicious - sweeter and thinner than American pancakes, almost as if they were made with waffle mix.

Almuerzo- Donut (Dona) and Iced Coffee (Cafe frío)

Cena - Something with tuna (atún) in it and of course, rice and beans

Friday (Viernes)

Desayuno- Gallo Pinto, a typical Costa Rican dish than can be used for any meal that consists of rice and beans mixed together with other veggies. I also had eggs (huevos) with hot dogs (perros calientes) in them which we've had a couple of times before, and sweet tostada things and coffee.

Almuerzo - Pizza, Iced Tea (Té frío)

Cena- Garlic Bread (Pan con ajo), Fruit Salad Ice Cream (Ensalada de frutas con helado)

(Earlier I had a papaya milkshake - yuck! Papaya and milk do not go together)

Saturday (Sabado)

Desayuno- Cereal (cereal), pineapple (piña) and nectar of mango

Almuerzo - A burger (hamburguesa) with french fries (papas fritas) and a mango milkshake (batido de mango con leche)

Cena- Pizza, hot cocoa (chocolate caliente)

Sunday (Domingo)

Desayuno- Caramel Filled Muffins, Iced Tea with Peach (Té frío con melocotón)

Almuerzo - Nachos (with ketchup on them... they put ketchup on everything here! Plus it's a gross sweet and runny version of ketchup), Soursop milkshake (batido de guanábana)

Cena - Beef (Carne), Rice and Beans

Monday (Lunes)

Desayuno- A sandwich with ham, cheese, ketchup (salsa de tomate) and mayonnaise (mayonesa). Sandwhiches seem pretty typical for breakfast here.

Almuerzo - Pizza and Iced Tea (it's cheap and right next to school)

Cena - Beef and potatoes, rice, beans and fresco con guayaba (guava in water)

Puerto Viejo Parte 2

(Puerto Viejo Part 2)

Look! A sign just for my family! "Don't feed the monkeys" =D

Dinner on Saturday - Fried plantains, rice, salad and chicken in Carribean sauce (which was amazing!)

They had so many intricate macrame bracelets and necklaces there. I wish I'd taken more pictures for inspiration - but I definitely want to learn how to make these!

On Sunday we decided to rent bikes (it costs about $5 a day here to rent one) and bike around the city. It was fun and nice to see the different places (there's pretty much just one road through the whole city, so you don't have to worry about getting lost). We stopped by the beach fora  little bit and also bought bananas from a fruit stand.

The beach we stopped at

This isn't from Puerto Viejo, but I'm posting it for my plant loving friends out there. This is a real bird-of-paradise (not the fake species like I posted on Monday). This was just chillin' in someone's front yard in San Jose.

So until this weekend, I never really understood UV Index. Or really heard of it. I just knew that I burned easily and that meant lots of sunscreen. Where I'm from, Gilbert, Arizona, has a UV Index (which is sort of a 1-10 scale) is a two. The UV index indicates how strong the sun is - it increases with higher altitude or closer proximity to the equator. The UV index in Puerto Viejo (and most of Costa Rica, because it's close to the equator) is 11+. According to Google, this means that "a fair skinned person can burn within five minutes of being outside". Which means for someone like me... putting 30 SPF sunscreen on twice while at the beach is not enough - I have the worst sunburn I have ever had. (It's four days later and I'm still taking Tylenol for the pain). So here are some tips:

1) Bring sunscreen with you to Costa Rica. Although 75 SPF only provides 2-5% more protection than 30 SPF, it might be worth it if you are fair skinned like me. Also, sunscreen is expensive in Costa Rica (the cheapest I've found is about $13 US for a small thing of it... but it tends to cost $20-$25!)

2) If you're gonna be swimming/snorkeling/at the beach, wear a t-shirt or long sleeves. Trust me, it's worth it. To tell if your shirt will protect you against the sun, hold it up to the light - the less you can see through it, the better. Cotton is also a great breathable fabric for the humidity.

3) Reapply often. Twice isn't enough, even if you wait in the shade for the 15-20 minutes it takes to work. And use a lot of it!

4) Drink lots of water. This is more for post-sunburn, to prevent dehydration. Most people don't think of drinking water while they're swimming in it, but it's important.

Anyways, when I go rafting in a couple of weeks, I'm definitely wearing a t-shirt, if not long sleeves. Next time you travel, take time to look up the UV Index!

Puerto Viejo y más

(Puerto Viejo and more)

I had a long and fun weekend - so prepare for a long post with lots of pictures!

Another picture of my school

On Thursday (Jueves) we went to downtown San Jose. They have Payless stores here!

A typical Costa Rican meal - At the bottom a mix of potatoes, going clockwise, fried plantains (platanos), rice (arroz), chicken (pollo), beans (frijoles) and salad (ensalada).

This is what you get when you ask for an enchilada. This has potatoes inside, and sour cream (in Costa Rica - natilla)

Off to Puerto Viejo!

This was by the bus stop - I just think it's funny they tried to mimic Starbucks

Driving through rainforests

Banana Farm

Views of Puerto Viejo. There are a lot of bougainvilleas here, but also a lot of tropical plants, such as bananas.

The Carribean!

Pretty photos =)

Breakfast on Saturday - Toast with butter, guava jam and cream cheese. Yum!

Coconut Palm

False Bird-of-Paradise Plants

This tree grows grapes

There's a monkey (mono) in the middle of this picture. We saw about 10-ish of them climbing through the trees on our walk to the beach.

It's a bit hard to see, but there is a sloth chillin' in the middle of this photo. I saw three sloths in the wild in the National Forest!

Sloth again - he's looking at you!

This iguana is a master of disguise... he's in the center of the photo and is bright green. Even though I saw him in person (it took a couple  minutes to see him) and I knew I took this picture, it still took me a while to find him!

More pictures tomorrow!! Puerto Viejo was a lot of fun!

¡Baila conmigo!

(Dance with me!)

Yesterday at night my roommate (who lives in the room next door to me) and I went to Dance Class. It was an hour and a half long and we learned Merengue and Salsa. The school is indoor/outdoor, and it had just rained, so it was really humid and because we were dancing so much, we were all pretty sweaty. =P It is really hard to dance for that long! But it was definitely super fun. We learned a couple of different spins with Merengue, and we learned three different steps with salsa, as well as a spin. I like salsa a little bit better because it has more rhythm, but it is fun to learn both of them. We switch partners after every song, so you have the opportunity (I almost just wrote out oportunidad, the Spanish word) to dance with a lot of different people. It was a ton of fun!

Today was another day of classes. Typically, here's how my schedule goes:
Wake up at 6:30, get ready for school, have breakfast
7:45, walk to school (it's about five minutes from where I live)
8:00-10:00 Class
10:30-12:00 Class (It's the same class, we just get a break)
12:00 Eat at the burrito stand next to school. I'm going to try something new everyday.
1:00 On Wednesdays, Cooking Class
3:00 On Wednesday, Conversation in Spanish
8:00-9:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Dance Class

Since classes get out at 12:00, I have time to do homework, talk with my host family and explore Costa Rica. Or even watch television in Spanish. (My goal is to understand it by the time I leave Costa Rica, which is a challenge!) This Friday we are leaving at 1:00pm to go to Puerto Viajo. We will be there all weekend, and when we are there we are going snorkeling!

Today, I had cooking class. We learned how to  make a typical Costa Rican dessert (postre) called Cajetitas de Coco, literally little soft candies of coconut, or basically Sweet Coconut Balls. They are so good and so easy to make. They are similar to macaroons, but they are gooier on the inside. I will post the recipe over the weekend while I am Puerto Viajo.

My friends with their Cajititas de Coco



What I ate:
Cena de Ayer: Hamburger meat (carne) with some kind of white beans, I believe Garbanzo beans (garbanzos), refresca, rice and beans. We also had salad (ensalada) with another new vegetable (verdura) in it called chayote. Slices of it looks like a pear, and it has a similar texture and taste, but with more flavor and less mushiness. It is also less sweet than a typical pear, since it is a vegetable. After googling and asking around, I discovered that chayote is a type of squash that is usually found in Costa Rica.

Desayuno: Cereal, Coffee

Almuerzo: A burrito with beef (carne) and Costa Rican sour cream (natilla) and tomato sauce (basically ketchup - salsa de tomate). The burrito was good, but I didn't like the ketchup on it, it was super sweet. The burrito stand guy offered to put ensalada or salad on it, but I declined. The ensalada at the burrito stand is basically sauerkraut - sweetened cabbage. It seems weird to me that they would put that on their burritos and empanadas and stuff, but it is unique.

Bocaditas (Snack, or literally "little bites")- Cajititas de Coco

Cena: Baked Fish (Pescado) - I don't like fish, but this was delicious! It tasted less "fishy" than fish we eat in Arizona, and the breading had a nice flavor. We also had mashed potatoes. When I asked if they were potatoes or yuca (it's hard to tell the difference without tasting them), they called them "potatoes" and not the Spanish word "papas". And of course, we had rice.

A Costa Rican stop sign