On November 16th, we went on our final field trip of the semester. We went the Guanacaste region in Northern Costa Rica first and continued north onto Nicaragua. Before this semester, I had never ever considered going to Nicaragua, but it really is a beautiful country. We went to Granada, Masaya, Managua, and San Juan del Sur. Luckily we all made it through the trip without getting sick (the water in Nicaragua isn’t safe to drink). We learned about the political revolution in Nicaragua and at the end of the trip had to write a comparison paper on Nicaragua and Costa Rica (I chose to compare the tourism industry in both countries). We visited an active volcano and spent one afternoon on an island. On Saturday, we had to leave the capital, Managua by 6 a.m., because a protest was going to take place that day and we needed to get out of the city before that. Leaving so early did have an advantage to it…we got to spend all day at the beach in San Juan del Sur. The beach was beautiful, but pretty windy, so after awhile a few of us decided to rent an ATV and a scooter. I had never driven either before, but I was ready and anxious to do it. After Marissa taught me the ropes, we took off down the road on the scooter, following behind Roland and Kailey on the ATV. We had a beautiful view of a volcano on the highway outside of town. It was so much fun to be driving on a road myself again after 3 months without a car. Hopefully I didn’t scare Marissa too much with my lack of scooter/ATV driving knowledge. Luckily I didn’t hit anything and we made it back safely. On the way back into town, the sun was setting on the ocean and the sky was an amazing red orange color. On Sunday we exhaustedly made our way back to San Ramón, though we did get up enough energy to have a dance party on our bus at the very end of the drive. Nicaragua was a beautiful country and I’m really glad I got the chance to experience it. The thing that struck me the most there was the level of poverty that exists. It broke my heart to see children begging on the streets in some of the cities we visited, but it was an eye opening and humbling experience.
On, Monday November 23rd, we began our Thanksgiving Break. I got on the 5 a.m. bus from San Ramón to Jacó on the Pacific coast to visit my dad, stepmom, aunt, and other family and friends that had come down to visit. Unfortunately most of their time here was when I was in Nicaragua, but I’m glad I got to spend some time with them for a bit. At 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning, I took a bus from Jacó to San José and then in San José I got on another bus to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side. I think I spent about 7 hours or more on a bus that day. From San José to Puerto Viejo, I sat next to and chatted a bit with a nun from Guatemala who works with elderly in Costa Rica. I was kind of nervous to travel by myself across the country, but everything went very smoothly and I’m glad I got to have that experience. When I arrived at the bus station in Puerto Viejo, Kira and Emily were there waiting for me and I checked into our $8 a night hotel.
The next morning, we got on a bus to the border of Panama. We had to cross a dangerous looking bridge with holes between the wood planks to go between Costa Rica and Panama and get our passports stamped. Then we took a van from there to the water taxi that took us to the islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Panama was a lot of fun and I’m really glad I had the chance to travel there. We arrived on Thursday and luckily our hostel was having a special Thanksgiving dinner that night. It wasn’t like having Thanksgiving at home, but it was nice to be able to enjoy an important American cultural event in another country. One day, we went on a boat tour to a few islands. Even though it was raining, it was still fun to go snorkeling and go to Red Frog Beach, where some little boys try to get tourists to pay $1 to see the frogs they’d caught. The next day, we went to Hospital Point, one of the nearby islands with one of our hostel roommates. The beach was a lot smaller than we thought, so we trekked around in the woods in our flip-flops. It probably wasn’t the best idea, considering the unknown wildlife we could have encountered, but it was an adventure. A man who owns some property on the island gave us a tour and told us some of the history. He and his wife were from California, but he lived in Brownsville, Oregon for a few years. Like I said in my last blog, it is a small, small world. Bocas del Toro is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, so we met lots of backpackers from all over the world. At the beginning of the semester, I couldn’t imagine traveling around like that and living out of a suitcase for months, but the idea of it has become more alluring to me. After listening to all of their stories, I really want to travel through South America and/or Europe now. Who knows where I’d find the time or money, but it would be such a great way to see a lot of the world on a budget. I think I’ve caught the travel bug. After over 12 hours of traveling on Sunday all the way from Bocas del Toro to San Ramón, we were quite exhausted, but the whole week was worth it.
The past few weeks have been busy with finals and wrapping up the semester. The Monday after we got back from Panama, I woke up with conjunctivitis, aka pink eye. My semester abroad wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to the doctor. I stayed home from class and went to a doctor with my host grandma and was back at it the next day. I was pretty stressed with 4 presentations and 3 tests, but I got through it. On Friday the 4th, we went to a local orphanage to spend the morning with the kids and help them decorate a Christmas tree. The kids were all really cute and I had a lot of fun with them. On Monday the 7th, San Ramón celebrated Melocochas de Maria. It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Marias in the town make taffy candy and throw them to people in the street. I went with my host mom, little brother, his friend, and Molly, the other exchange student at my house. It started in the town center and melocochas are thrown into the street. People go crazy trying to catch them and pick them up off the ground. I was too scared to get hit or get my hands stepped on to actually participate. Then the people run around to all the other houses belonging to Marias to catch more. It a very interesting town celebration and I’ve never experienced anything like it. The rest of this last week was spent studying for finals and saying goodbye to professors, friends, and family.
It’s amazing to think how things have changed from the beginning of the semester. I was so homesick at first and the time felt like it was passing so slowly. Now I have no idea where the time went, this semester flew by. This has really been the semester of a lifetime and I have so many memories to bring home with me. It’s so hard saying goodbye to people when I don’t know whether I’ll ever see them again. I’m having a hard time dealing with it. I don’t want to say goodbye to Costa Rica, but I am so excited to go home at the same time. I’m having a lot of mixed emotions this week. I’m so grateful I’ve gotten to have this experience and had the opportunity to see so many beautiful places and try new things. One of the things that saddens me the most is that I don’t know when I’ll be traveling next. I don’t know where I’ll find the time or money or when I’ll get to see another part of the world and travel freely like I had the opportunity to do here. I hope more traveling is in my near future. We shall see.
After learning of a family emergency at home, I can’t get back soon enough. This semester has been amazing, but I’m ready to be back with friends and family, where I’m needed now especially. I ask that you please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers right now.
Thank you for reading! I hope to see you all soon!
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