Zip-lining Thru The Jungle Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Volcan Turrialba » Turrialba » CATIE By [url='/Bloggers/LaurenB/' class=' [View Full Entry]

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In the United States, a lot of time and effort is put into keeping insects/bugs/vermon out of the house. Whole industries are built around the best way to kill the bug with the least amount of effort--in essence, how far away can i stand with a can of spray and still end its existence. The climate is often the deal breaker. I remember in New Orleans how bold the cockroaches were. They came out in the day, and walked along the sidewalks, and when you thought you had it cornered, they would take off flying. While I was living in Dominica, [View Full Entry]

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Today is gonna be a good day. How do i know this.....because my shower this morning wasnt ice cold. There was a hint of warmth for a fleeting moment. My usual shower is fridgid--no long showers in Costa Rica, mostly because your hyperventilating from the sub-zero temp of the water and your body will only let you do that for but so long. In most of the Carribean and here in Costa they use a thermoheat system--i have no idea what that means, but apparently not much...enough complaining So, things are goinging well. Ive got a daily routine down with [View Full Entry]

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So the month of April whizzed by! How do I sum it all up?! Easter was pretty cool at the Mission. We had baptisms in the river on the new property. Tony was baptized and so were some of the handicapped indigenous residents. Victorino, who's indigenous and paralyzed from the waist down, was carried into the water and held while Hector and Daniel baptized him. It was pretty neat to see. Mom and Dad came for 10 days. I became the 'tour guide' for them. Tony and I drove them around everywhere! They were pampered with massages, a Spa Resort [View Full Entry]

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Hey!! Well, Im here!! I arrived safe and sound and now im sitting in an internet cafe in Turriabal. Carlos (the driver from the company) met me at the airport. Took me to the bus station where I waited fr the bus to Turrialba. The ride was very much like the ride from the airport in Dominica to Ross (for those of you who have been in Dominica--very narrow and curvy) My tico mother met me at the bus station and took me home. She is a cute little lady, doesnt speak a lick of English! Communication was a little [View Full Entry]

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Well, tomorrow I fly to Costa Rica. To live with a family I dont know in acountry where I dont speak the language--Im a little nervous, but excited. Ive been wanting to do a language immersion program for years, and truthfully, this is probably gonna be my only opportunity to do it. Dreams do come true... So after working for the last six months to pay for this adventure, its finally here. I fly into Miami from Washington, D.C. and then straight into San Jose, CR. Someone from my program is picking me up and taking me to the local bus [View Full Entry]

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This weekend I ran the 10km in Puntarenas. It was for the annual 'Sol y Arena' (Sun & Sand) competition. The winners get money..No, I wasn't one of them, but I least crossed the finish line! The first part of the run was hard in getting used to running on sand and plus the sun was setting, so it was still really hot. Apparantly there was around 5,000 runners! There were kids, seniors, the hard-core people and the first-timers like me! My time was 1hr and 30min! Slow and steady!! It was a great experience. I was in shock when [View Full Entry]

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Last Thursday we took a trip to Al Quetzal which is 2 hours from Tuis - a long 2 hours I might add! Almost the whole way there it's a dirt road with huge potholes! We went there to drop off a big donation of clothes and food for the indigenous that live in the mountains. This area is the last drop point where the road stops, after that it's all trails in the mountains. The indigenous walk 4.5 hours to get to Al Quetzal. (This is where we were back on Christmas Eve for a special Christmas activity). We rode [View Full Entry]

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It is Sunday morning here in sunny (well rainy today) Turrialba, today I got up like most days at about 6.30am, had a delicious breakfast, laughed through our daily meeting which I turned up like all days in shorts and a singlet and right now after about eight weeks in Costa Rica I am enjoying my first morning off, sitting in our lovely staff room overlooking Volcan Turrialba writing to you all! So hands down my Raleigh experience so far has been one of the most intense, captivating, motivating and enjoyable experiences of my life. I have so many words to [View Full Entry]

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First of all greetings or Ola de Costa Rica Gosh the theme of this blog entry as you will work out is “diversity”. I could not have been to more diverse places in January if I tried! So this entry starts in my absolutely favourite city in the whole world NYC. I have to say this place gets better and better every time I visit it. I think I have now clocked three visits in the last seven years and feel like there is so much more to see! I did arrive though to NYC tired and emotional after a 24 [View Full Entry]

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