Monteverde and Arenal: Horseback Riding, Volcano

 The town of Arenal. This is our first sight of the volcano. You can see it smoking! Pretty amazing view, isn't it?

We stayed in that hotel for one night. Right out our door was the volcano, no impediments blocking our view. 

Some people shopping at a roadside stand.



My housemate Ashley (with I think my other housemate Nicole!) Nicole, is that you?

With my friend Taisha (Tai) from New JAHESEY

Kiersten and our boat!

It was beautiful!

Sue eating a mango she got at the mercado.

The best foot and calf massage I have ever received. It lasted an hour.

I spy one and only one house! Can you imagine those views?

Maxine and some others sitting on the edge of the boat during the ride.

After the boat ride, some vans were waiting on the other side of the lake to pick us up to drive us along the bumpiest, windiest road that Costa Rica has to offer. Since I had gotten sick on the bus earlier, I was awarded the front seat. Thank goodness. Plus, I got to know our driver, Marcos, a little bit. And yes, we spoke in Spanish!!

 Bye, boat! Bye, volcano! Bye, beautiful lake! Nice to know you...

 The town that Marcos was from. Rio Chiquito! This is the town's school. Also, as we were driving, Marcos pointed out that the dog walking down the street was his and yelled out the car window to a few kids and few friends walking down the street. It was a very small town to say the least. Below in the house with the blue is where the teacher lives (it's across the street from the school).

 ^Aflac

Marcos showing me how Costa Ricans dance when they hear cumbia.

 When we first got to our hotel, we were IN the clouds, you can't see out the window. But the real surprise came when the clouds rolled away....

 I spent quite a bit of time on this hammock. Very relaxing. This is going on my "things I would love to have at my house some day" list.

 My horse's name was Ron Bacardi (not kidding). Of course, you roll the r and say it with a little spanish accent, but I can't say there's a good reason he's named after a liquor. To me, he was a calm and slow horse until the whole crowd decided to gallop at once, we would start to go really fast.

We left later than planned so after about an hour into our two hour planned ride down the town's dirt streets, it began to get really dark. When the sun began to go down, it  was dark, and I mean DARK! There were only small dimly lit street lights every fifty-hundred yards or so. Not to mention, it was raining. So Bacardi and I cuddled and stayed as close to the horse in front of us would allow.

 The family at the ranch really treated us to a feast. There was so much meat offered in different ways: sausage, baked, fried, breaded, skewered, etc. Also you can see rice, salad, corn on the cob, and a tortilla. I have been surprised this was one of the first tortillas I ate on the trip. It is more common to have it with every meal when you are in the rural areas. There were also small appetizers that were essentially balls of spinach and dough, fried, and they were so tasty. I wish I could have some of them on hand when I'm craving a snack. If anyone knows how to make them, I'll put em in my pocket and bring them to school with me!

Arroz con leche for dessert. This one was made with coconut and cinnamon. ¡Muy rico!

 The older girl and little Micaela danced for us wearing traditional clothing. They danced about 4 songs.  One is danced with a boy who plays the roll of a bull. The dance reenacts a bull fight where the woman waves a red bandana and the boy just runs towards it, wherever she may be. No previous experience required. Octavio from our AIFS group put on a hat and danced first. Later, it was Michael who played the part of the bull and Kasey who put on the traditional dress. This was the same dance they performed at the parade in Turrialba for Independence Day.

Here is one video of the dance:

This one, Rebecca, our resident director told us all to pass this around and smell it and see if we can guess what it is....We guessed it was a muscle....any guesses? Lucky for you, you don't have to put your face near it to guess what it is. It's a bull penis.

We had 6 girls stay in one cabin and we stayed up way too late playing Uno. I was half asleep and passing my cards to Kasey who was passing the cards to Nicole to put them in the pile. Kiersten was wrapped like a caterpillar in a cacoon in her comforter. Laura slept through the whole thing and Nicole, Taisha, and Kasey were staying up until the game was over.

When staying in a creepy old rustic cabin, what else do you do other than begin to tell scary stories. You know how it goes: Some girls were egging on the scary talk while others were scared out of their minds. Taisha stood up once, and walked past a window. She screamed bloody murder and jumped on top of everyone on the bed. We asked her what it was and it was her reflection.

 Best housemates ever!!

Please check back for all the details about the zip lining experience! There are some great surprises. I'm going to sleep and won't be coming back until Monday!