Hey guys!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get posting, thus far I’ve been kept very busy. We don’t start class until Monday, but tomorrow we’re starting on our carbon offset project and Sunday we’re going swimming (or at least hiking to, depending on the weather) in the waterfall on campus! I should also be getting started on my reading for class, but that can wait, heh. I know the burning question in your minds is “Allison, what have you been so busy doing?” I’m getting to that. In the meantime you should know I am writing this post from the porch outside my bungalow. Almost everything is made of polished wood, which lends itself to squeaking, but is very pretty. The weather is a bit chillier than most of us students expected (and packed for), but compared to Georgia I’m sure it is wonderful! (HA!) The sky is overcast, and the winds are howling, but there is a kind of tranquility sweeping over the campus. Anywhere else this force of wind would seem violent, but it just seems to be gracefully loping through the campus now and then . None of the buildings are particularly auspicious, there are always birds chirping (or squealing, as the case may be), and everything is close enough together to feel homey without feeling crowded. To the left of my porch I can see part of the pasture where a white horse is currently grazing. Directly in front of me are trees, trees, and more trees, some of which are located on a mountain side. My roommate Amy saw the first capuchin of the trip from our porch on the side of the mountain, apparently that is the place to look for them. To my right I can see the Monte Verde cloud forest reserve, although, as you may have guessed, it is partially covered by clouds. This mountain is where howler monkeys can be heard early in the morning, according to my professors. Dinner is at 6, but the sun sets slightly earlier. If it is too cloudy to see the sunset, sometimes it is moist enough to see a rainbow over campus. In the rainy season they have rainbows almost every day.

Fun fact: UGA’s San Luis Ecolodge (campus) is located in San Luis in the province of Monteverde. Not to be confused with the cloud forest, which is Monte Verde.

If you’re ever wondering what the weather is like here, you can go to http://www.georgiaweather.net/ and on the left hand, click San Luis – CR on the drop down menu for weather stations.

Now, for the backtracking!

I flew to Costa Rica on the 13^th, and despite my flight being canceled everything went pretty smoothly. My mom drove me and David saw me off before security. Margie came over the night before to help me pack. Everyone was wonderful and supportive and helpful. Leaving was difficult, but I managed. Instead of going through Texas our flight went through Miami, which was easy enough. I ate some pretty nasty Chinese food for dinner in the airport. On the flight from Atlanta to Miami, three of us girls were all seated together. For the Miami flight I sat next to an Australian who lives in Paris and was flying to Costa Rica for a meeting. Nice fellow. Also, this hilarious British guy helped me get my carry on bag into the overhead. He said something like, “want some help from a Brit?” Yes, haha! Oddly enough we saw him in San Jose on the way out of town. We arrived at the San Jose (CR) airport at about the same time as everyone else. All of our luggage arrived safely. Customs was a breeze, then we just had to wait outside for 20 minutes or so for our group to get together and to find our driver, whose name was Johnny. We got in kinda late, so we pretty much went to our rooms and went to sleep.

On the 14^th we got up at 6:30 and headed straight for the van. We drove up to the region of El Mirador on the way to Guayabo and ate breakfast at Los Bocaditos de Cielos. We ate fresh cheese, eggs, and rice and beans. Rice and beans are everywhere and in everything. I’m not sick of them yet, but apparently that is the main complaint of most students on the program about the food. I think they call rice and beans gallo pinto, which means “spotted rooster.” Apparently in Costa Rica they take the food leftover from dinner, mix it with rice and eat it for breakfast. Also, the Burger King in the San Jose airport serves it. Weird, huh? The group picture in my second post was taken next to the restaurant. The view was amazing and the food was tasty and really cheap. A cat came to visit us, and I bird watched during most of the meal. Next we drove through Turrialbo, which was interesting. I kept seeing cows grazing with birds that looked like white cranes or egrets all over them, sometimes literally. Stray dogs are everywhere, but they’re usually well fed and sometimes fancy breeds. On the way out we waved at these kids who were on a mountain side, it was so cute! So far almost everyone has been overly friendly. Everyone loves to speak Spanish, and they’re all very helpful, even if it is clear you’re not understanding a word they’re saying. We finally got to Guayabo (http://www.lostcities.us/guayabo/ ), where we wandered around, explored, and learned about Anthropology! We had grilled cheese ham sandwiches with delicious fresh pineapple and watermelon. I bought a few souvenirs from a local potter. It was really cool, the trash cans in the park were divided into recyclables, biodegradables and trash. I guess they compost on site or something, but isn’t that neat? They’re so eco-friendly here, it is crazy. They’re trying to be carbon neutral. On the way back I saw this club called Veulta a Los Ochentas Bar and Pizza, complete with the Back to the Future font! I wish we could go, it looks awesome. I am kinda disappointed, it is nice to have things to do all the time, but I wish we could explore more. I think later on we will have more time. I hope so, at least.

That night we had dinner at Café Mundo. We ordered a package dinner, so I got tea, pumpkin soup (delicious!), penne with sautéed vegetables, caramel onions, a white wine sauce and shrimp, and tiramisu for dessert. It was SO good! And pretty affordable, too! After dinner we all hung out and talked for an hour or so. I was worried about having cool people on the trip, but everyone is really nice and sociable and friendly. We’re also all excited to be here and ready for adventurous fun. Hooray!

On the 15^th we got up at 8am and ate breakfast in Hotel Aranjuez where we’d been staying. It was amazing! Their breakfast area is all open air and they even have a nice little tropical garden in the back with dining tables. A hummingbird flew down while we were eating, and I also saw my first Costa Rica squirrel there. The squirrels look kinda similar, but their bellies are redder and they aren’t as fluffy – or fat! There was plenty of fresh fruit, freshly baked bread with home made jams and butter, delicious rolls, custard cake, star fruit juice to die for, and a station at which you could order an omelet or pancakes. The weather was wonderful, just warm enough without being hot. After breakfast we walked to the National Museum of Costa Rica. We were planning on looking at the anthropological section, but it has been closed since August 2008. Instead we looked at the history portion, which was educational, and pretty interesting. We also got to see metataes and some of the mysterious rock spheres. Then we walked to the Monetary Museum, where we didn’t actually look at money that much. I talked to very friendly security guard and we learned about Costa Rican anthropology history. After that we went to lunch at La Nueva Santa Esmerelda. The décor looked like a taco bell night club, and they had VH1 Classics on blasting hits such as, “Bad Girl,” “Gloria,” Rod Stewart, Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” The Archies, “Sugar Sugar” and “Summer Lovin” from Grease. Oh yeah, and “Ballroom Blitz.” On the other two televisions they were playing (silently) some kind of Costa Rican MTV with Limp Biscuit, Katy Petty and Hillary Duff on it, and TNT with Billy Madison and Loser playing. We then went back to the hotel where Sandy (the Anthro professor) gave us a lecture covering what we missed due to the closed exhibit. I skyped with my mom when I got back to my room, which was awesome! She called Margie on speaker phone, so I kinda go to talk to her, too. My dad got home while she was talking to me, so I said hi to him as well. I have been keeping in touch via email and chatting, but it isn’t the same as actually talking to someone. We went to dinner at Café Mundo again, ordering on our own this time. I got tasty French onion soup, lemonade and flan for dessert. They also bring out breads with olive oil to dip it in for an appetizer – yum! When I got back to the room I skyped with David. He had his webcam on so I could see him while we talked, it was wonderful. Seeing him and talking to people has made me miss home more, though. I think I’m going to limit myself to skyping once a week or so to keep myself from being isolated. I want to get fully involved and comfortable here, and stop missing everyone so much. I’m getting along really well with everyone here, so I’m hoping it’ll fade soon enough. Once classes start on Monday I doubt I’ll have time to think about it. After getting off Skype I packed as much as I could, because we were headed out to campus first thing in the morning!

The morning before last I set my alarm on my phone for 6am, but my phone time was still on GA time so it went off at 5am. Luckily my roommates didn’t mind and we all went back to bed with no difficulties. This morning I set my alarm after changing my phone time and was very careful about it. At 5:11am I got a call, which in my sleep daze I mistook for my alarm. It was an alert message from UGA saying something about HART and meeting at the first building. Then a text saying the same thing. Then a text saying there was no emergency. Sigh. So, that cost me at least like $5 to look at/hear. Then my alarm went off at the correct time. Packed up, headed out, and went to another lovely breakfast in the hotel. Our bus was a little late arriving, but our Spanish professor joined us and we left for San Luis around 7:30. The sun comes up at 6am here and goes down at 6pm, so the hours we keep down here will be quite different, and not just because we’re in school now. I saw two cats in the gardens while waiting for the bus, but sadly we’re not allowed to touch any animals for fear they might follow us around, or bite us. Poor kitty cats and doggies. It takes some serious effort to not do it.

The bus ride was uneventful, except for beautiful landscapes and luggage falling. We stopped at a store on the way, you could see the ocean! The weather was so different there – we drove West first, then North, so we went into dry country then back into rain forest. It was definitely beach weather. We finally made it to campus around noon. We had a half an hour to unload and look around, then got the grand tour. Stables, lime trees (with orange colored limes), plantains, hiking trails, it is beautiful!

I have to go to bed now as I’m the only one still up, but I’ll continue tomorrow with the events from today and the adventures that will undoubtedly ensue tomorrow. I’ll try to get some pictures on here, too.

Thanks for reading, I miss you guys!