For the Turtles

For some time I had wanted to see and help sea turtles. In Costa Rica there are many efforts to protect them and their eggs from poachers. As it turns out, many of us gringos were excited to help in this effort!

This past weekend 8 of us made the trek to a place called Ostional in Guanacaste. It is a truly interesting story. We were a little put off after we found out they harvested some of the eggs to eat. After finding out more about how their community works made us more comfortable, though. They only harvest in a small section of the beach and they use the proceeds to help the community. Many of their buildings are there because of the profit from selling the eggs. Families native to Ostional also get benefits from the proceeds. It is a unique program that obviously works because the turtle population there is ever increasing! And pretty much everywhere else the turtle population is decreasing.

It was a little bit of work to get there with figuring out transportation and the journey but it was sooo worth it! The food we got fed was amazing, we met new friends from Australia....and we got to see baby turtles and help them into the ocean! I personally saved two babies from the jaws of vultures! Granted we had to get up and walk the beach at 4 on Sunday morning to see them. But saving turtles while watching the sun rise was worth it! The only problem? We didn't have our cameras...ugh. Good thing we met a girl who took our pictures for us and will hopefully remember to email us the pictures! They're SO cute and tiny!

While the weekend was tiring, it was so worth being tired to see and hold baby turtles! As well as bond with friends over the weekend :) Oh, and the bio-luminescence! Gorgeous!
Also, you wouldn't think that walking the beach down and back three times would make you sore..but it does!

Unfortunately I was unable to upload the picture of our little friend...or the scorpion that stung poor Jordan! Needless to say after that we were hesitant to go into our room. Even though we killed it before we went to sleep that night, it didn't stop another one from getting stuck in our sink..ugh. Bad experiences with scorpions!
Other than that though, it was a fantastic weekend!

Olive juice amor, xo :)

Allie

Guess I'll Try This Again!

Something weird happened with one of my previous posts, "Algunas Cosas." We're going to try this again because that one had a lot of pictures and info about my November adventures. (It also involved about 3 hours of work, but you know, that's whatever...ha)

Entonces, here is what I have done since my last SUPER long post...

~Went out to try Hooters in Costa Rica...best burger I'd had in a while!

~Had my house decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving..that was interesting to say the least!

~Visited the Huetiri Tribe (Indigenous of Costa Rica) with my Tropical Medicine class

~Fuimos a Punta Uva with the same class! Sand massages on the beach anyone? Relaxing.

~Took a trip to a school for blind and deaf students...very interesting!

~Helped my mama tica celebrate her birthday..complete with a surprise mariachi band!

~Went to my favorite place in Costa Rica...MONTEZUMA. This place was beautiful..

~Visited the children's museum with my Basic Spanish Conversation class

~Spent my first Thanksgiving away from home...that was a little rough!

~Visited a snake sanctuary (which had HUGE spiders everywhere..gross) and ate too much sushi with my class!

~Visited the Basilica and Ruins of Cartago

~Spent time with my host sisters and friends from church, ate at MickyDs for the first time here, and visited  Hospital Catolica.

I suppose that's enough for this post..just so many things happening and trying to get them all into one post is like impossible!

As of right now I have 11 days left here. It is so crazy how these 4 months flew by. Now I'm just trying to make sure I have all my gifts purchased for people back home and cherish this last bit of time in Costa Rica.

Now that I have seen so many sights and explored, I am ready to go home to my collection of sweats, my dog, my family & friends, and THE SNOW. I didn't realize how much I loved where I live until now. 

I talked about how I spent Thanksgiving here. Most of the gringos were depressed that day because we were away from our families (some for the first time ever) and didn't get our typical food. Plus it was rainy and icky that day! BOO! However, now (at least I am) we're ready for Christmas and much more cheery! For me though, it's hard to imagine a Christmas without snow. Hence, I'm actually looking forward to it! And all of the Christmas-y things I get to do at home.

However, living here for 4 months and then just all of the sudden going home, is something I can't really fathom. It will be odd but at least I have a family here if it gets to the point where reverse culture shock is too strong ;)

Olive juice amor, xo :)

Allie

Esta Vez-Video!

Tonight, decided to try video :)

Don't mind my "brainfarts" I was camera shy! Ha first time..just call me Jenna Marbles...

Allie :)

#1month

As you can see from the title..I have one month left in the beautiful country of Costa Rica! With this fact comes some super bittersweet feelings. I'm sad to be able to count down my time without using months as a reference point. It's weird that this place that I've called home for three months and the friends I have.made be so far away. But it's exciting that I get to go home to my family, my friends, my school, and my teams that I have missed for so long.
I find myself getting caught up in emotions and becoming introspective a lot of the time.
How will I feel when I get home? Will I be completely ok? Will I miss everything here? Will I carry these feelings of hyperawareness with me?
I am doing everything I can do BE HERE..but it's a struggle when I get so excited knowing that I'm in the homestretch! One thing I do know though...this experience has changed my life. And it is shaping me every single day. From the thoughts I have during the day, the people I encounter, the relationships I have, to the experiences and adventures I still have yet to take on...everything is making me answer the questions I have.
Who am I..truly?
What do I want to do with my life and do I want out of it?
Most importantly..How is my relationship with God? How can I live out His will for me? What plans does He have for me?
This last month I feel will be great because I have time for once. But it will also dictate how I function when I get back...because I am making myself be productive and organized yet "tranquila."

Although this isn't much about explaining my awesome adventures here, I felt like sharing some of my thoughts/struggles/feelings. Time away from home really makes me introspective!! Maybe too much ;)

Olive juice amor, xo :)

Allie

...Post...

...Continued from Manuel Antonio...
Finally! On the last leg of this post! This one is a combination of Volcan Arenal and Playa Tamarindo.
The reason I combined them is because I don't have many pictures of either (I will be grabbing from my friends who took pics!) As you know from my previous post, my camera was in the backpack that was stolen from me...and my phone is broken. Allie, for the win!
Another reason I don't have many pictures is I didn't do much at either place.
I need you all to not freak out, but I got assaulted again the night before going to Volcan Arenal. It was traumatic and I'm working the best I can to recover..but I am still kicking people! I'm a fighter and I'm brave. And I have many stories to tell..good ones of course :)
Here goes!
Volcan Arenal was beautiful. We stayed at Hotel Los Lagos..and again, major gringo fest! The hotel was very spread out and had like 5 different pools..some normal..and some very, VERY warm! Hot springs!! I spent about 90% of my time there..and eating at the buffet! All I needed was right there!

We also visited La Fortuna waterfall. It was incredible! It was kinda cold and rainy but that didn't stop us..we swam! After walking down over 400 steps, it was necessary.

I apologize for the lack of pictures...it was gorgeous I swear! Guess it's just something I'll get to remember in my mind ;)

NEXT UP: Tamarindo!

And with this one I apologize as well for the lack of pictures. Tamarindo was beautiful and probably the most relaxing time I have had here. I literally did nothing all weekend. Well, besides eat, sleep, swim, and hang out with my friend Kalina. Honestly, it was incredible! Our hotel was right on the ocean and had three pools. Heaven (have I said that before?) 

Sometimes I have moments where I wish I would have explored more. But I enjoyed the time that I spent in both places and I get to keep those memories for life. So no regrets :)

Thanks for putting up with my three posts today!

I will be better at keeping you updated!

Olive juice amor, xo :)

Allie

...Long...

...Continued from Panama...
Two in one day!? I know, it's crazy. But there are some things that have been revealed lately. One being, I need to just do things and put in the time to do them right. Sometimes in my life I have these great aspirations but I give up half-way or don't put in the work to get a project to be excellent. Well, I'm done with that. Starting with being more dedicated to by blog and in turn, to exploring with the little time I have left in Costa Rica!
Because, people, I have less than 2 months left! AH!
But to get to the point...here are some pictures to describe my amazing trip to Manuel Antonio! This was the first ISA excursion we took...with all 100 gringo students. To say we took over the hotel is an understatement!
Hotel San Bada was flooded with crazy gringos all weekend...it was beautiful. NO! Not the flooded with gringos, the hotel itself...look at this 4 star hotel:

Not to mention the pool on the 6th floor..which I don't have a good pic of :(
Or the view of the sunset..

In Manuel Antonio I had the chance to eat in an airplane, ride horse to a sweet waterfall, sleep in a wonderful bed, play volleyball on the beach, spend the whole day in my bathing suit, view scenery I didn't even know existed, see howler monkeys (right outside out balcony). Que mas? I may think of some later...Manuel Antonio was a marvelous way to kick off our ISA Trips!

Check out this sweet pic of the water fall...or me jumping from it :)

Just jump!

Yeah, this trip rocks :P

....To be continued...