Adventure on a Weekday

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I presented on the medicinal use of horseshoe crabs today in class. I first learned about them and interacted with them at the New York Aquarium. They kinda look like stingrays. Fun facts: they pre-date dinosaurs by about 200 million years and they're not really crabs. They are more related to spiders and scorpions. My main focus of the presentation was on their highly valuable blue, copper blood. Their blood is highly desired in the biomedical industry because it can be used to test for toxins in antibiotics and vaccinations. It clots in the presence of the toxins so that's how one can detect if there's something wrong with the medicine. It's actually required by law that it be used as a standard in testing drugs and medical devices before it gets approved and administered to the public in the US. One last interesting fact is that a quart of blue blood can cost up to $15,000. Pretty crazy.

After presentations, I went to my parents' soda to grab lunch and told them I was going to Jacó since we don't have afternoon class session today :D (because we stayed an extra hour at the Marine Park yesterday so my professor let us have the afternoon today -- uh, how awesome is he?!) So of course, gotta take advantage to travel and explore haha.

I went to the bus station at the end of Puntarenas to take a bus to Jacó with Jazmin and 6 other girls. The fare was cheap: around $2.50. The ride was about 1 hour and 45 minutes long. It was very hot on the bus but the breeze coming from the window as we drove fast was great. I sat with Jazmin and we chatted for majority of the bus ride. She's a cool girl, very nice. I found we have many similarities haha. She's from Chicago 😊 East Coast friend, woooh!

When we finally got there, it was a whole new different vibe and atmosphere. It was shop after shop, restaurant after restaurant. At the very end, you can see the mountains and more green forests. It was definitely a Westernized city. Surfboard shops dotted along the streets too. Pizza Hut, Subways, and more. Many people spoke English and majority of the souvenirs were priced in USD. The girls and I headed to the beach too. We heard Jacó was known for their surfing and night life. And indeed it was, the beach's waves were quite strong. (And there were many bars and clubs on the busy streets).

The rest of the girls settled on the beach as Jazmin and I separated from them for a while to go souvenir shopping. It was fun!! So many different kinds of fun souvenirs but they were more expensive lol. The benches were awesome too. Each street had a few benches and they were all painted differently. I made some cool purchases. I bought a painted wooden wine-holder with a pair of parrots for my brother and his fiancée (love birds lol) and two bracelets shaped as lizards/geckos. We stopped by a bakery to rest and get some Wi-Fi. Then, we headed back to the beach.

I laid there and tanned meanwhile Jazmin went to take a swim. It was so peaceful here. The beach isn't crowded. People are either surfing, tanning, relaxing, or playing soccer with their friends. There was a group of teenage Ticos and Ticas in front of me kicking a soccer ball. It made me really happy. Watching them have fun made me feel like this was home. No stress, no worries. I've gotta be honest. Laying there tanning made me feel uneasy at first. Always living in a fast-paced, high-stress city, I tend to forget to chill and relax. Over head, I see a guy parasailing to advertise haha. There were so many palm trees surrounding me; it was beautiful. I love palm trees.

Soon enough, Jazmin came back. We started taking many pictures. I am super glad I made a friend who has similar interests as me: taking pictures or else she would've been super annoyed with me LOL. We alternated with my Samsung Galaxy phone and her GoPro. We walked along the beach to the other end. The sun was setting as we headed over there. The sunset was gorgeous. And what was unique about this beach was that there was a little stream running through and the sand got more coarse, along with there being black rocks and pebbles. What a wonderful sight. As usual, I took a hundred pics of the sunset 😊 And then we finally left the beach and headed back to the streets.

We bought some more souvenirs and then finally went to eat dinner. I didn't realize the last bus back to Puntarenas was at 7PM; I thought it was a half hour later. When we found out it was, (the girls we separated from before passed by us at the restaurant and screamed out our names, lol. I felt kinda bad that we didn't go back to the beach earlier to tell them we were gonna be away for that long but oh well. They had dinner already and they told us they'd be at the bus stop waiting for us). So after we ordered, we asked the waiter if he can make it faster if possible because we have to catch the last bus back. Luckily, we were the only customers.

Our waiter was super nice and accommodating. He gave us complimentary chip and bean dip first. Then my guanabana smoothie drink came out (it's a tropical fruit) and it was pretty darn good! Jazmin's soup came out and my Hawaiian style pizza came out too. Sadly, I was only about to devour a quarter slice of it but it was bomb. Pineapple, tomato, bell peppers, ham and bacon with lotsa cheese. My stomach just grumbled typing that out. I felt bad we had to ask for the food to go minutes after it came out LOL.. but our waiter didn't mind and he kept a smile on the whole time and said not a problem. When I came back from the bathroom, I saw him packing my pizza AND my drink. Oh my god, he's the sweetest! I wish we could've tipped him but in Costa Rica, all payments include service fees already. Our school director strongly advised us to not tip because we would be changing their customs and culture. Either way, we were in a rush so we paid our bill separately at the cashier's desk, thanked him a lot, and rushed out of the restaurant LOL. Thank god Jazmin speaks fluent Spanish, phew.

When we got to the bus stop, it was already dark. Every restaurant and shop was becoming more lively as they all lit up. The cars were bustling by and music was playing in restaurants and bars. Damn me for always jinxing things...our bus was delayed and actually didn't come until 7:30PM lol. The bus that we got on was a lot nicer than the first one coming here. It felt like coach bus seats. So comfy, especially with the cool breeze blowing in throughout the ride. Many of us knocked out because we were so tired from such a long day.

When I got home, I ate another slice of pizza while it was still fresh haha. Just my luck, as I was about to go shower, the whole area had a black-out. I heard all the neighborhood kids start chasing each other and playing with phones and flashlights haha. So cute. I thought I'd wait it out before I go shower. But after 15 minutes of waiting and feeling more uncomfortable and dirty from my sandy body, I decided to suck it up and use the small flashlight I brought with me. I never felt more proud of myself for bringing these little things with me on this trip. I stuck the small flashlight at the shower door and it fit perfectly. SCORE! :D And of course, there are the two huge ass water cockroaches in the shower stall corner with me. It doesn't even phase me anymore lol.

Each day, I find new things to be grateful for. And you bet, electricity was another one and that flashlight LOL. As I was finishing up showering, the lights came back on. Phew! It was about a 50 minute black-out and I heard it tends to happen every now and then. I'm glad it came back on cause my phone was dying and I don't think I could've slept without a fan in the heat...And I was able to call back my brother to let him know what happened. Funny that today was the first time he called me since I've gotten here and bam, a black-out occurs. What are the chances? Haha.

And that sums up my adventurous week-day 😊 Excited for another 3-day weekend tomorrow! (we don't have class on Fridays). Jacó today, San José tomorrow!

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Photos

Hawaiian pizza with guanabana smoothie