Muchas Cositas!

So it has been a long time since I have written anything! I can't believe how fast the time has been going by. Here is a quick recap of the past month:::

--My parents, Andy, Aunt Suz and Karl came to visit, it was wonderful. I got to show them my children (the crocs), and in doing so, one of them bit me! I still can't believe this is how they repay me. We had lunch with my Tico parents at the house, and I was mightily impressed with the Spanish skills of my gringo family. Even Mom, in French, had something to add. :)
We went to Volcan Arenal first, it was beautiful. We were able to see the lava spewing from the top while we sat in the thermal bath at the swim up bar, sipping banana daqueris. Awesome. From the breakfast room at the cabinas we could also see the tip, although later in the day it got its little sombrerito, its little cloud halo.
After Arenal we drove around the lake all the way back to Monteverde. It was all dirt, very slow going on windy roads. But beautiful! After about 4 hours of driving, we arrived to Montevede, which is about 19k from Arenal. But it isn't possible to go the short way. Monteverde was awesome, as always. Although I told my family to bring tons of raingear, expect downpours at any moment, etc, it was incredibly sunny and hot. A very different place without the moisture. We were able to see howlers, tons of birds, and Mom saw a fox!
Afterwards, we went to Playa Conchal, in Guanacaste. The beach is not sand, it's all shells. It's in this little lagoony, area, so there aren't big waves and it is perfect to swim around in, and there were tons of fish. The perfect place for Suz and Karl to don their hats and just talk while floating around in the water.
When we got back to Atenas, we had to prepare for Mom, Suz and Andy to leave the next day. I of course got sick and couldn't even say goodbye to them, but when I recovered, Karl, Dad and I still had a few days to hang out together. It wasn't quite enough time to get to Nicaragua or to Torguguero, so we opted to just stay near to Atenas and find little things to do. One day we went on a Rainforest tram in the National Park Braulio Carrillo, which was beautiful. It is a private park where they didn't build paths, they built a little ski-lift type thing so that you can see the forest from the canopy and not from below. It was very beautiful, we saw lots of monkeys and cool trees and plants, which I think are cooler than the mammals. We also spent a day wandering around SJ, and when it started pouring we had a cafe and a lunch in the Grand Hotel, which is very European, facing the National Theater.

--I went to Puerto Viejo with my friends Noelle (roommate, actually), Steven (prounced "Esmit" in Spanish) and William (who from now on will be referred to as Bentley). This was also a great trip. We left Atenas at 4am and were on the beach in Cahuita at 10, after having found a little $4/night hotel near the beach. We swam, lay in the shade, got slammed by waves while body surfing, had cervezas, ate, played cards and watched a bunch of old reggae guys play in a bar. The next day we went to Pt Viejo and rented vespas!!!! The roads have tons of potholes, and although we were cautioned to go slowly, I was on Bentley's vespa and we went crazy fast everywhere. We drove all around, spending all of our beach time at Punta Uva, an amazing little beach south of Pt Viejo. We played in the waves and swam all day, except for driving our vespas down the coast more to Manzanilla and then to have lunch at this tiny place unknown to tourists. It was so good, run by a dad and his daughter, and there were only 3 tables; they had to make another one for us using logs and a piece of plywood and a tablecloth! We drank starfruit juice and had fresh fish for about $3. it was perfect.

--I have just been hanging out in Atenas other than that, I really love it here! Noelle and Steven left, followed by Bentley. But we had a lot of fun, especially when Bentley's mom was here and I went all around with them, to Grecia and to dinner, and we also just hung out up at their pool. I went one day to a little town of Los Angeles to spend the holiday of the Virgen of Los Angeles with my tico family's family, and another day I went to San Carlos to see a biological reserve where they are going to start having volunteers. They rescue animals and help them get back on their feet and then release them back into the wild. So, it is there that I saw a puma, tapir, ocelot, and jaguar. Very beautiful animals. Also, tons of cool birds, warthogs, and monkeys.
Last friday I went horseback riding the whole day. One of the guys I work with, Salvador (the other guy is Esteban) needed to survey the land that the university owns, so we got to get our horses all ready and go! We spent a lot of time galloping in the fields, I loved it. The vistas were so beautiful!!! The whole day was perfect, except when we went under a low hanging tree that apparently was a wasp's nest--I was stung all over my back and shoulders and when it first happened all I could think of was that acid was dripping on me. It hurt a lot. But, otherwise, perfect!!
I have been hanging out a lot with my novio and his family, they are incredible people. Here they use words like mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for boyfriends and girlfriends too, so I have been hanging out at my in-law's a lot. His sisters are great, one of them is 14 and is way cooler than I am, and his sister Marcela is so sweet and funny and we do a lot of cooking together.

I love it here!