Gah I'm so behind! I'm now blogging for a website called Go Overseas as well as The Literacy Center, the organization in Flagstaff that I volunteered with...and today, BridgeTEFL (the organization that got me the job at Máximo and took the IDELT course with) emailed me today and said they wanted to make me a regular contributor!!! Sometimes I tend to take on too much, but blogging is great because I can share my experiences with people around the world, as well as tell my friends and family back home about my experiences. Long story short, I apologize in advance for long lapses on my posts here.
Alright, now back to regularly scheduled blogging!!
The first weekend of February was a long one, since we had our monthly staff meeting on a Thursday. This meant we could actually leave San José early the next morning for Tamarindo, which is the northwestern province of Guanacaste. I went with one of my fellow teacher friends, Carissa, who had actually just finished her contract with Máximo. The bus ride does take forever, since they have to stop frequently to pick people up/let people off the bus. I would say it was worth it with the perfect temperatures and temperate water...Guanacaste is much drier than the rest of the country. Some of the views on the way to the beach made me think we were in Africa!!
No better way to celebrate a long weekend than with views like this:
And this...
Oh, I forgot to mention...we stayed at the cutest hostel ever! We think the owner was from somewhere in Scandanavia somewhere, since the theme was cows and the name of the hostel was "La Botella de Leche" (A bottle of milk). It was cheap, clean, and comfortable with a huge kitchen/lounge area, a TV, pool, rack for hanging towels/wet clothes, and even a washer! If you're in Tamarindo, definitely stay there!!! :)
And it wouldn't be a successful weekend at the beach without a gorgeous sunset!
In mid January, I went back to Jacó with two girls from work, Emma and Chloe. Chloe is a fellow teacher and Emma is on the international team at Máximo as a field manager. We made our way downtown around 11 a.m. and ended up having to wait in line to buy bus tickets. In true Costa Rican fashion, we didn't end up leaving San José until around 1.
We got to the hostel and checked in. Chloe works at one of the hostels in San Pedro, so we ended up staying in the staff dorms. It was kind of funny because it was the three of us and one guy. The bathroom didn't have a door and we had to pour water in the toilet in order to flush it, so we definitely had an interesting time there. The hostel itself was really nice, and about 200 feet from the beach. We definitely didn't waste much time getting there as it was hot and humid...absolutely perfect beach weather!
It was the first trip I'd taken since Manuel Antonio in December and also the first since I returned to Costa Rica on New Years Day. It was a short trip, but nice and relaxing!
