Halfway already?! (Part One)

There is a lot of information from the past ten days, so this will be broken up into at least two parts! Look for the next one soon!

It is difficult to believe that I have been here for more than five weeks, and I have less than five weeks remaining in Costa Rica. This past weekend my host family and I welcomed two new roommates, Rosie and Reina. They are wonderful, and we've already spent hours talking. Tonight Rosie and I spent an hour talking with Papa Tica about all sorts of random things, and when we didn't know a Spanish word for what we wanted, we played a little bit of Charades and Catch Phrase. It was so much fun!

I spent the last week--so far the highlight of my time down here--with my family! Yes, all four of them were able to come spend a week in Costa Rica with me on my week-long break from classes. It was a perfect opportunity for a family vacation, something we are not able to do often anymore, as we are all incredibly busy! Since we were traveling around the country, I did not have my computer, and therefore, I was unable to post any new information on the blog. However, I hope to bring you all up to speed on our adventures. It was a fantastic week and we saw so many amazing things!

I love my family! 

Mom and Dad flew in on Friday (after an entire day of delays in Grand Rapids, unfortunately) and visited with one of Dad's old friends, Joan, in Heredia, about an hour from San Jose. I will be visiting Joan this Friday, as I was unable to travel to Heredia due to a prior commitment. Valerie and Caroline came together on Saturday; how lucky they are that both are in Minneapolis for the summer! We met up at Casa Bella Rita, a "boutique bed and breakfast" owned by a couple who formerly owned two restaurants in Battle Creek, the city I grew up in! What a small world! I would give it 11/10 stars!

The sign outside of Casa Bella Rita

When I arrived early Saturday morning at Casa Bella Rita, it immediately felt like home. Steve and Rita, the owners, prepared Mom, Dad, and me a great pancake breakfast before we went into town. Ciudad Colon is a small city, but on Saturdays there is a great fruit market there. It was great to show my parents a little bit of Costa Rican life. They were in awe of how cheap the fruit is! I suppose when it does not need to be shipped 2,000 miles, the costs are significantly less. A banana is about $0.07 in US dollars, and a whole pineapple is about $1.40! I wish the fruit in the US priced that low.

Once Caroline and Valerie arrived, we cleaned up and went to a local restaurant, Zompopa's, for our first family "cena" (dinner) in Costa Rica. The food was authentic and positively wonderful. I have found very few foods here that I have not particularly cared for, but nothing on my plate that evening was included in that short list! We shared some coconut flan for dessert, and it was nothing short of wonderful!

Family dinner at Zompopa's

Sunday morning we set out bright and early with our driver Luis. Luis does a lot of work for Rita and Steve, and he was an excellent recommendation! He speaks English well, as he spent 15 years in the United States working. Luis brought us to Volcán Arenal, where we stayed at Arenal Observatory Lodge. The lodge has an interesting history. It was built in 1987 as a Smithsonian scientific research base when Arenal was very active. Now it is the only hotel within the national park, and therefore it has a spectacular view of the volcano. I cannot believe how close we were! We spent the afternoon hiking on the grounds, and the daily rain graced us with its presence before we came back. We were drenched!

Family photo by Volcán Arenal!

Hanging bridges are popular here

#beautiful #volcano #puravida

Monday morning we took advantage of the free guided nature hike offered by the lodge. Surprisingly, we were the only people with Eduardo, our guide. The following day, he had 40 people show up! We were very lucky to have a private tour. He showed us many different plants, described a little bit about coffee beans, and pointed out a coati, a member of the raccoon family, although I happen to think they are much cuter!

Eduardo, our guide.

Dad and the girls by the waterfall

Did you know this is an unripened coffee bean?