Thanksgiving break part II

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Raemi and Ian got into San Ramon around 12 on Thanksgiving Thursday! We immediately headed to where they were staying, which was about 15 minutes away from the center of town. It was called Vista Valverde, located on top of a hill where you could see everything: the entire Nicoya peninsula, the ocean, Puntarenas, and the lights of San Ramon. It is quite the sight. The owners, Tom and Susan, are a North American couple from Oklahoma. They were very nice and hospitable. Susan is an excellent cook; I couldn’t wait for breakfast each day. It was so nice to get a touch of food from home. : ) We were staying in our own little cabin, with a kitchen, living room and couch where I slept, and a separate bedroom.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner (at one) with Tom, Susan and a few of their friends. The food was excellent. We had the usuals of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing- the whole deal. The Costa Rican style sweet potatoes were my favorite part even though I usually don’t like sweet potatoes. They were made of some kind of Costa Rican vegetable with mango, butter, and brown sugar. Delicious! It was the perfect Thanksgiving away from home. Thanks guys for coming to spend it with me.

Friday morning, at 6:30 am, we had gallo pinto (rice and beans mixed), fruit (pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, banana, and mango) along with a main dish that I can’t remember- but I’m sure it was excellent. Tom and Susan suggested we go to a beach called Dona Ana, one I had never been to. It was a beautiful beach but very crowded. We were only there for about 4 hours, but Raemi and I managed to burn even with sunscreen! When we were getting ready to leave and changing back into our clothes in the bathroom we saw what we thought was a ‘frog bat’. The scary looking thing started to come towards us and as Ian would say, ‘Chased us,’ (not really).

Saturday we had breakfast at 6:30 am again, I don’t remember whose crazy idea that was, but once again we had gallo pinto, fruit and French toast. We went to Puntarenas to do Ziplinig! While we were waiting to head out, a Toucan landed on the deck. Supposedly they bite and it kind of scared me when it would come close to me. The drive up to where you start the zipline was about 30 minutes up a rock road that Raemi and I were surprised didn’t pop the tires of the bus. There were 25 lines, 2 of which were repelling lines and 11 waterfalls. This one was a lot different than the last one I went to which was 11 longer lines. By the end of it, I was well worn out and ready for lunch!

Sunday morning we had fruit, gallo pinto, homemade English muffins, homemade mango yogurt and individual quiches for breakfast. We attempted to head to la fortuna, a small touristy town near the Arenal volcano, but the fog was too thick and we decided it was safer to turn around. We headed back to San Ramon and from there drove the hour to the beach. We had to cut the trip a little short to make it to my school Thanksgiving dinner. It was a potluck and once again, all the food was wonderful. Raemi and Ian were good sports and tagged along as my family: ).

Monday morning a group of Americans or non-costa Ricans who are thinking about moving to Costa Rica, met at Tom and Susan’s place for breakfast and a talk. It was quite interesting getting to listen to what it takes to move to this country over breakfast. While I was at school Raemi and Ian went to the beach again.

Tuesday morning I didn’t have class so after another big breakfast we headed to the coffee plantation in San Ramon. We were hoping to get a tour but no one was there to give tours so we headed to Eco Musas, the waterfall and waterpark that I also took Sam too. When we were Zipling we were given a 20 minute time in which we could swim in the waterfall. We didn’t have our swimsuits on, so Raemi said she would have to go in the next waterfall we encountered. It wasn’t very sunny on Tuesday and since Eco Musas is at a semi-high elevation, it wasn’t very warm either. But, both Raemi and Ian got into the waterfall and both went down the waterslide which left them with road burns on their elbows and arms. I went to my afternoon class while they took a nap. Afterwards we had dinner at Bocoditos and when we returned home with full bellies Raemi and I decided to go for a high altitude, hilly both ways run.

We woke up on Wednesday morning at 5:15 to go for another run before I had class and before they had to leave to the airport- another crazy idea. They took me to class at 8:30, we said goodbye, and they headed for the airport.

I am so glad they came to visit me! It was such a good time and good to see them both. I can’t believe I have less than two weeks left here…Next week is finals! How quickly the time has gone. I am not excited at all to return home to the cold and icky weather, but I couldn’t be more excited to see everyone.

I am really dissapointed my connecting flight from Texas to Oregon has been changed. I now have a seven hour lay-over there and don't get into Portland until 9PM, where as before I was getting in at 4. We have to leave San Ramon by 4 AM and wont arrive home until 11 PM, here time. What a day that will be!

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