Arenal: it sounded so simple

Alright, I hate to rapid fire like this but I have waited as long as I can.  This blog post chronologically follows my very tearful goodbye to my mom...very...very...closely.  USAC had a field trip to Baldi Hot Springs and the Hanging Bridges of the Arenal Volcano planned starting the very same friday that I had to take mom to the airport.  No way was I sending her alone. 
A.  she doesn't speak spanish
B. I wanted to squeeze every last second out of our time together.
 Easy fix, San Jose is closer to the Volcano than Puntarenas, I'll just take a bus from there.  Easy.  Famous last word.

Check it out.

"....I stood watching her walk away, fighting tears.  As she finally disappeared from sight the security guard at the door smiled at me with sympathy and said 'awww, no lloras jovencita' (don't cry little girl).  I gave him a wobbly smile and the "CHING!" it hit me.  Go time."

I asked the guard about how to get to Arenal, he sent me to the bus station.  I was taken to San Jose.  Dropped off in San Jose, sent to look for the bus to Arenal.  Walked around San Jose ALONE asking people where to go.  CULTURAL INSERT:  people in Costa Rica want to be helpful, even if they dont have a clue where something is, they will give you directions.  Very nice people, very scary situation.  I was on a time crunch trying to make sure I met up with my group when they checked into their hotel, I had no idea where I was and I got sent in the opposite direction three times.  The penny pincher inside of me cried a little bit but eventually I grabbed a cab to the bus station.  I am not going to describe to you each time I wandered around completely lost and bumbling, asking anyone and everyone where I needed to be.  Just assume that at each consecutive bus stop I behaved in this pathetic manner.  The bus I thought would take me to the volcano went right past the airport.  An hour lost, but it can't be helped, there are no buses from the airport to anywhere but San Jose.  I was taken to a town I didn't recognize the name of, continued with said bumbling and got on another bus that took me to another town, in which I had to find another bus to take me to another town.  It made me very nervous because I really had no idea if I was going the right way or not, and by this point it was 4:30, I had missed check in, and I had been on buses since 8:00am.  I had $10 to my name, not enough to find a place to sleep, or even pay my way back by bus if I ended up somewhere totally wrong.  I have to add this picture though, the scenery and the climate made me very happy indeed.

Can you believe the colors on that mountain?

On the last bus I was on I met a kind lady named Miriam who knew where Baldi Hot Springs was.  I asked her about taxi fare (nervous about this one!) and she offered to take me for $4.  Thank you!

I arrived at Baldi Hot Springs at 6:00pm....10 hours of traveling by bus, so yes, very thankful to finally arrive.  And you know, it is just stressful not being sure, and being alone.  It was very comforting to see my classmates (even if I was seeing more of them than I wanted to...thank you swimsuit fashion...)  I had 30 min. to enjoy the hot springs and then we had an amazing supper in the resort.  Delicious.

That night we stayed in a cabin resort type place.  Tori is trying "no drink november" so we left the hot tub when she started to feel tempted and went back to my room to drink hot chocolate and talk :) 

The next morning I woke early, took my second hot shower since being in Costa Rica and went to an amazingly delicious and decadent breakfasts buffet.  I love feeling pampered like that. 

From there we traveled to the Arenal Valcano...which you can't really see because it is covered in misty clouds, and went on the hanging bridges trails.  After that we ate lunch and went home...it took us only 4 hours.  How nice :)

We have now arrived to the best and most anticipated part of any blog:  the pictures.

Hanging on a hanging bridge.

View from that bridge you just saw the goofy girl on.  Wow right?

Here is a quick snap of the trail and the backsides of the two guys I walked around with the whole day.  Face viewing shots below 

Remember Johnny?  Well here he is again, looking thrilled.  Our photographer Logan told us to look adventurous...I guess when I think adventure I think...SURFING

And this is Logan, he doesn't look like that all the time, but neither do I for that matter (thank goodness)  However, this is a good picture because it somewhat typifies standard interactions between Logan and I

quite magical no?

This is a terrible picture but look at how cool these trees are!  They are called walking trees because apparently they actually move a little as their roots grow and cling to different parts of land

You have the secret hope that each picture you are in will make you look more like a super model than the last....but I can't wait for that to happen before I post photos on this blog and show you pictures of the humans that I have spent a very concentrated amount of time with this semester.  Let me introduce you....

From left to right:  JD, Joe, and John.  That girl in the middle is me, simultaneously breaking the boy trend, the J name trend, and the blonde trend

This is John Rodriguez, he is a bio-mimicry major.  His first language is spanish because his parents are Venezuelan

Amanda Sailors.  She is so sweet you would think she is from the deep south.

Devin Genovese (which is a really cool last name)  Mexican and Italian...makes me feel pretty good about my tan ;)

Best for last:  Here is Tori's version of "can you take a picture of us?"