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Published: January 9th 2016
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! 2016 is here!! I can't believe a year goes by so quickly nowadays. It especially doesn't feel like it because it's usually freezing cold during my New Year but it's blazing hot here. I must say it's pretty cool having a hot New Year :P
I woke up very early today because guess what...I'm going zip-lining today at Monteverde Cloud Forest, or
Monteverde Bosque Nuboso!!! How's that for a start to a new year? I met with my USAC friends in front of the school around 6AM. We were able to watch the rest of the sunrise. It was beautiful. Something about being up in the early morning: the air is fresher and cool and everything is just more tranquil.
A few of the students didn't wake up on time so we left without them. It was a long bus ride, maybe about 2 hours almost. Many of us were dead tired because lotta of them stayed up to celebrate the New Year. I made a new friend today: Morgan. She's super funny and we were just fan-girling and at awe with all the beautiul forests and mountains we drove by on our
way there. We also encountered a bunch of cows crossing the road so we had to stop for a bit LOL so adorable. This was when I realized how beautiful Costa Rica is. This is my first time out of town from Puntarenas. Everything is so pure, natural, and untouched here. I love it.
If we weren't sleeping, then we were chatting and cracking silly jokes. I was so happy that I'm in the same program as this amazing group. Everyone is so friendly and funny. And we've became a little community, always looking out for each other, caring about each other's safety and well-being. The bus ride with them to Monteverde got me extra hyped up for the trip. You need to have a good bunch to have a good time 😊
We got there around 8AM. It was empty and we were sorta the first ones there which was great. We got a nice group discount. It was definitely a lot colder and wetter in Monteverde since we were at a higher elevation. No wonder they call it Cloud Forest. Once we got our equipment, we took some group photos and got transported to the forest
area. The workers explained how to zip-line from controlling to braking.
Once we were ready, we all formed a line and hiked up the stairs to our first zip-line station. It was a canopy tour with 18 zip-lines. So. fucking. cool. Some were very short, some were medium, and some were long! It was really scary at first (climbing up the stairs and zip-lining through). I am afraid of heights and yet we were flying over tall trees. But after a few stations, I got used to it and just realized it was more beautiful than scary. I enjoyed the breath-taking views and the mist spraying over my bare face. At each station was a young Tico unhooking and hooking us back up. Most were pretty handsome and friendly, asking where we were from and if we spoke Spanish haha.
Some of the longer ones required two people for a heavier weight to glide through. I paired up with Leah. Those were freaking scary. They took like 25 seconds to get through. But we LOVED IT. After some stations, we had to hike up on the rough, wet trail while there was a light drizzle. Finally, we save
the best for the last: the longest one is a mile long. I zipped through it with Megan, She was in 'superman' position (lying flat on her stomach so like a flying position) meanwhile I was in regular sitting position. It was sooo crazy. I cannot believe I flew over all those amazing luscious green trees along with the wind and rain smacking me from left to right (which was scary btw) but during the whole time, the sight and feeling was so great that I don't think I was scared. It felt like one of those semi-realistic dreams. I asked myself: "Is this really happening?"
After zip-lining was over, we had lunch at the lodge. The food was good 😊 especially after we expended all our energy flying haha. Once we finished, majority of us went back to the gift shop. I bought quite a lot of souvenirs cause they were all very pretty and this was going to be our only time at Monteverde so gotta take advantage 😊
On our bus ride back, we were probably the most annoying group of American kids you can have on the bus. That poor bus driver. He was
so patient and kind with us. We kept stopping for bathroom breaks and motion sickness breaks. I was part of the reason LOL... I started feeling sick from all his twists and turns and the bumpy road. After resting for a bit, he continued driving but stopped at gas station for us so I can use bathroom lol so nice. I started feeling better afterwards. The girls were so caring. Lotta them made sure I was okay and encouraged me to throw it up if I have to. Seriously feel like we're becoming a little family haha.
What was more amazing was that we saw a HUGE, COLORFUL rainbow that I assume most of us have ever seen in our lives. It was so up close and clear in front of us. I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. When we all screamed like crazy, the bus driver pulled over for a bit so we can take photos lmao. He's da bomb!!
My god, it was such a happy happy new year. Feeling really lucky. Spending the first day zip-lining with new friends AND seeing a beautiful rainbow :D
However,
Kaitlyn left tonight to vacation at other parts of Costa Rica 😞 but that's okay because she'll be back in a couple weeks before I leave haha.
Overall, it was a wonderful day. I am so glad I chose to come to Costa Rica to study abroad. Here's a to great start of 2016 and to more amazing memories in these upcoming two weeks here (:
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