The week of the ´lasts´. July 31: The Last Monday

Well today begins my last week in Costa Rica, next week I will be flying home. I have a layover in Newark but then I am heading into Midway. I could not sleep last night at all for some reason, I kept thinking about this week and everything that I have due before Thursday and things I have to do still. I fell asleep on the sofa when we were wathcing tv and then I went into my room to go to bed and found a card and a ring attached from Estephania. It was so cute, I went out groggily to tell her thanks before going back to bed. When I went back in my room to lay down though I was not able to fall asleep...it was horrible. I kept thinking about the cards I need to make and the presents I still have left to give..I have a lotion , soap for my host mom and a waterbottle and cat tractor for Josue but I gave all the other stuff for the girls away already and the other stuff was just extras. I think I might pick up a braclet for each at the store to give with the card. You know how I always ask what´s you favorite color? Well apparently Estephania pays attention because she bought me a pink ring and I will be darned it fits, I dont know how but it does, I have no idea how she knew what size to get. I love my host family to pieces and am like are you going to come visit me'?? I hope they do at some point so you can meet them! I think I get along with my little brother best becuase I have never had a brother. I always tease him and play with his hair and ask about his novia......who incidently broke up with him this week and he was heartbroken. One day she called and broke up with him and then 20 min later at 7 pm he said he was tired and went to bed for the night....aww! We even think we heard him crying..bless his heart. I am trying to pack little by little and am sooo afraid my luggage will be too heavy, we don´t have scales to check either. I am PLANNING on using my backpack and big dufflebag as carryon the dufflebag will be my purse and the other my original carry on. I hope that works because the Jam is heavy and then I have that soap and my PINK hammock. I think it will all fit it´s just the weight that I am worried about......well group meeting about our project so I will blog to ya later. LOVE YA ALL!

Last Weekend in Monteverde July 29-31

This weekend was my last in Monteverde. I wanted to make sure I got my shopping done so I wouldn't forget anything. I still have coffee to get and a few other things. ..Friday we were alll going to go out..I always am like WE ALL HAVE TO GO OUT...Aren't you sad it's our last weekend...its our last Friday to drink as a group and so on. They are always like you said that ten weeks ago that we only have 10 weeks left...haha I did! Anyways I didn't feel well and went home at 4:30 to sleep. Well I was supposed to call Tracee to make plans but I dind't wake up till 7:30 the next morning....15 hours of sleep. Wow my body must have been trying to tell me something. Saturday me and Asia walked to Santa Elena to shop, I got my soap! I love that stuff, we ate at a pizza place and walked home. Oh man did it pour on the way home and i have no rain coat since it was stolen. Well I was cold and wet and pissed at drivers who splashed us and laughed or men that drove by and honked. My shirt was soaked and clung to my skin so you could actually see the color of my skin thru the shirt...finally we got home and I showerd and changed and Asia came over for dinner with my family. Then we all went out. And by all i mean the core 6 plus dan and asia. It was a good time but I didn't want to drink really and told Asia to make sure I didn't. I had 2 pina and malibus and everyone was like wow your drinking so slow, even I am beating you and on and on. We switched bars and Dan had his host mom and host brother Alex with him and they came too. We had previously played pool at Bar Amigos and were headed to Taberna. Cam told some gross stories that are forever embedded in my mind. TMI! I went home around 12:30 with Heather and Asia...lame I know but I didn't feel like a hardcore nite. Sunday, which is today, I went to the reserve to get things and then played soccer with Estephania, Josue, Cameron and his brothers Kenneth and Fabion. It was muddy and rainy and Cameron was being a beast and knocking the little ones over and pushing. It was fun but violent. I am ready now for sleep, lol. I best get Estephania home so her mom doesn't worry! LOVE YOU ALL 9 DAYS LEFT

Friday, July 28

This week has flown by, we got back on Monday night and it´s already the weekend. OUR LAST WEEKEND IN MONTEVERDE. I had an eventful week. I miss my family more now than I could imagine and am ready to make the journey home...even if it means being in the airport all day and then riding another 3 hours in a car. This week was fun because I cooked dinner at the Hotel on Wednesday night and they liked me so much they were like come back at 6:30 am tomorrow? I jumped at the chance and had a great breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs over easy with ham on top and black coffee... all of which I made!

In case you didn´t hear my sorry excuse for an ex messaged me and got me upset...its been a year since we broke up but he still feels he needs to belittle me and call me and my family names. I dont know why it upset me so much that Wednesday when I got it, but it did and I cried. I cooked at the hotel then went to Zumba dance lessons with everyone but with everything thats happened it wore on my nerves and made me upset. While everyone else went to Moon Shiva, I said by and started walking home. Cameron thought I would get a taxi but when I am upset I like to walk things off...so I bypassed the taxis and kept on my way. Well little did I know, he wouldn´t allow that....well I did know because he never lets me walk alone. But after he kept asking what was wrong and I said I dont want to talk about it I thought he would leave me alone...no such luck. But in the end I am glad he did run after me and walk with me to the institute. I just wanted to have an email from my mommy because she always cheers me up. Instead there was none and Cameron tried. At first it wasn´t working but he made me realize I was playing into Trents hand and I must admit the only reason I was so upset was because he talked about my family. Anywho, we got a ride to my house from his friend...the only other man in town with Dreads. The next morning when I woke up I went to cook and had fun. I got to hold the cutest puppy who was only 3 weeks old....and when I thought about the night before I realized how stupid I had been and that he is stupid and is jealous of something...I have no idea what but everything he wrote made me laugh that next day.


Ok, we have a presentation today so I must get ready. I wore my polo green button up today and everyone was like where do your new clothes come from? I swear they say that about everythign I wear even when I wear it numerous times....I wonder what they would think if they saw me at home in my element.....

The amazing rat race meets real world...

I think you can handle the end of our week vacation...but it´s kinda sad writing about the end because I wish it didn´t end...even if there was drama. And drama..oh wow..we had plenty of that to last the entire 10 weeks. Let me see, where was I...oh yes we fell asleep but Cameron aka Archie had just heard everything we said.

In the morning we wake up, decide to go to Cafe Rico for breakfast because the people we made friends with the night before recommended it highly. We walk outside and there is Archie sitting real quiet. We ask him to go with us but he respectfully declined. On the way there we discuss the reason for him not coming and we decide that its because he feels responsible for what happened and feels horrible. We all order a monstracity of a breakfast...french fries, cheese, bacon, eggs, and avacodo was in a basket lined with a banana leaf. Wow, I couldn´t eat it all I felt sooo full. I got orange juice and coffee as well and the OJ was fresh but no sugar added so a lil tart and the coffee was frothy and good. Yum. Before we got our food a sufer hottie - Evan came over and started talking to us. He and his buddies that looked at us when we first got there were going down the coast a lil ways to surf but coming back for a raging party as he put it later that night. Of course we saw a fresh fish the day we were leaving....but we told him we were leaving and found out he was only visiting himself and lived in Playa Hermosa. Oh well...we ate and got full and went to the Lulu Berlu store one more time to get shirts because we wanted some t'shirts and Chili Rojo was out. We did that and went back to the hotel to find the boys packed up and leaving. Cameron stopped long enough to say he was leaving and yell at Tracee without leaving her room to interject. Then they were gone. I decided to run after them because they were leaving us in a strange town for 5 hours alone and I had no idea how we´d find them in San Jose....I don´t know why they didn´t just take our bus and not talk to us or sit by us but noooo they couldn´t. Anyways I run after them, they dont stop. I yell, nothing. I get pissed and turn around and walk away and then Cameron yells my name and runs after ME. Well he felt bad for leaving...really he did. But he was the one Kameron and Craig were following and he needed to be their leader...bullshit. He would leave us a note at the Holiday Inn and we would then know where to find them. And with that he hugged me and left. I went back and we all packed up, paid and went to wonder for 5 hours. There was a market at 2 something we wanted to go to but it ended up not being open prolly till 4. We went to a bar and got Te Frio' iced tea. Watched some of the world cup and waited. On the way to the bus stop my last pair of flip flops broke and I was left with only hiking boots. The bus came a lil late. I got car sick but didn´t puke thank God, same with Tracee....At the bus stop , I called dad to see if he found out anything about a room and he had made reservations at Holiday Inn. We get off the bus and it´s dark and San Jose is scary and dirty. Cab drivers come up to us to take us and we follow one....but he had an umarked car so we did not get in. We got a real cab and then he took us there. He was not a fan of President Bush and he kept pointing out men that were transvestites because he didn´t know if we knew they were not real women. We arrived at the Holiday Inn after what seemed like an eternity and we had to keep telling him yes we want to go there, yes we have reservations...he called us princesses because it´s expensive. We get there and we are so gross looking. I can´t even describe how bad we need showers and how much our clohtes need washed from a weeks worth of wear. The door man stared and I walked to the counter and checked in. We INDEED had a note from Archie waiting and were surprised to find out there were staying there too. We went to our room that we had to have a special key to get to in the elevator, dropped off our things and went to say hi. They had been there for a while and were friendly, we were worried the whole day how they would be when we saw them again. I was angry they left us but happy to see them. We left to go shower and Archie and Tracee went for a talk. I called my parents and Heather showerd then I showered and then I went to talk to Cameron and Tracee showered. Next we went to din din at a casino lounge but it was not good. We went back to the hotel and the boys drank while we watched movies. I was so tired and went to the room with Tracee...Heather had already gone up. I dont remember falling alseep but I slept wonderfully. Wow, real showers, real beds and cable tv! Heaven in Costa Rica.

Sunday we woke up, ate breakfast, and then I went back to bed. Oh lovely, you know how I love sleep. I woke up and actaully felt tired from sleeping toooo much. We walked around the plaza before we left and looked around a bit. We walked to the bus stop after we checked out and Heather almost got robbed. A man unzipped her backpack but she felt it and slapped his hand and he left. We were all strung out in a line and thats why it happened after that we stayed closer together. At the bus stop we all met up...Dan and Uri-his host mom and Anne. We knew now that vacay was for sure over.....the bus ride took what seemed like forever. But we made it back to Monteverde in one piece.

We tried to Ford the River....July 22-24

Well our last weekend trip turned out to be stressful to say the least. It was Cameron, Kameron, Dan, Heather, Tracee and myself. We made reservations Friday for a rental car $80 for two days. We left Saturday morning on the 6am bus to San Jose and got off on the Pan American highway. We waited for 20 minutes or so until a bus headed for Liberia came and picked us up at the bus stop. We all fit into the very back row except for Dan. At one point a man got on and was playing music and singing...i just wanted him to shut up. We get to Liberia wait at the bus stop because its only 10 something and the rental agreement said we´d get the car at 12. We tried to call but the phone was busy so we just got a taxi and went anyways. There was a car wreck so we were stuck in traffic for quite a lil. A semi had flipped and totally burned. After we finally get there we get our van and Dan decides on extra insurance. We take off and are in search of grub but Dan knows where to go. We get to a fish farm'Lagunas CatFish Farm and meet the owner. He´s from the US orginally, in his 30s and a nice guy. He gets our order and sends his mom over to field beach questions. She tells us that we can use their house and she would ask her husband about a price..they decided on 100 dollars for a night for the 6 of us. It was a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom two story house about 200 meters from the beach...with a cable tv, dvd player, air conditioning and so much more. They had a kayak and stuff for snorkeling. We went to the grocery store before heading that way..we followed the lady to the store then the house. We got things to drink for that night, stuff to make pancakes and bacon for breakfast and I got flipflops. Well we go to the house, change and head to the beach. The water is super clear, probably the clearest we´ve seen so far in Costa. Tracee and I head back to the house for the kyak and paddles but we get locked out because the keys dont fit the lock....we wait till the owners come about 10 minutes later and they can´t figure out why out of 4 sets of keys only theirs works. We get in and go down with snorkelying and kayak stuff. We snorkle first and it´s amazing. Rainbow colored fish, bright blue tiny fish, pipecleaner fish, and all sorts of others...I get pushed by the waves into the reef and it hurts. I finally get off and snorkel more. We decide to ask Cameron to come with us to kayak and he agrees so we head off to find a deserted beach. It was amazing. Not one person was there but there were hundreds of purple and orange crabs running all over. We finally go back to the house, shower and get ready for the Guanacaste Fair.

We get there, park and head in. Watch some pathetic bull fights, One was decent but the bulls must have been tired because as soon as they untied the rope that held them in an uncomfortable place theyd run to the corral. Tracee, Kameron and I decided to go on rides, so we got tickets but we thought one ride was 4 tickets but it was one ticket per ride. We went on one that was like a bull but a round circle ride that lots of people went on...it would buck up and down and spin. It was fun. Then we went on another that just swung side to side but fast, forceful and it hurt my legs...this one was not good because for some damn reason I wore a skirt and so that was not good when I am buckled in the seat and at one point my boob popped out...oh golly luckily no one saw and it was up high so no one looked either. We got some fair food: corn on the cob, beef shishkabobs and some other things. We saw fireworks ever! When we left we got to the car and I realized my shoes and rain jacket were not there. STOLEN! Apparently when you shut the front door u have to hold up the handle or it won´t lock and Kameron didn´t do that. I was upset the whoel way back because I get like that when i lose something. I got back and cried a lil and I just wanted my mommy. We get out the alcohol but I choose not to drink and instead just drank cranberry juice. We pop popcorn and sit down to watch PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN 2...we got it at the bus stop earlier that day...Tracee and Cameron spilt the cost of 4$. We all fall asleep during some point of the movie and at 5 am I finally made it down to the bed.

We wake up Sunday and I eat and go to the beach, Dan meets up with me at the beach right about as I was leaving. I stay for a while longer before we both head in. But there was a decent amount of american looking peopel at the beach and one was cute. He waved so I waved back...I got out as they were leaving thinking he might say hi or something but he walked away with his family..he kept looking back but didn´t come back or say a word. Well Dan (the whole weekend I called him dad, or papi) and I headed back, showered and we all packed. We got ready and dropped the keys off at the fish farm and decided to head to Samara.

WOW is all I can say. What was supposed to take 2 hours took over 7 hours. We left at 1 and at Tamarindo took a short break for lunch. I got a cute cute shirt there and enjoyed the town, wish we spent more time there...I wanted to learn to surf. We left and it got dark soon after. This is where it gets good-frustrating. In Costa Rica it is quite normal to drive through water. Even wide amounts or reasonable deep water. We crossed rivers and streams...each time Kameron would get out. get in teh water and see how deep it was and guide us. Approaching the 4th river, he gets out does his usual but stays in the water as Dan attempts to follow his directions. Little glitch is when Kameron walks in teh path and dan breaks hard in the middle of the river to avoid hitting him. We get stuck, in a hole that the tired just dug. We all try to push, including Cameron and can´t move it. Cameron lifts it up to put rocks under the tire but the wheels wont turn. Finally a fourwheeler drives by and Camern flags him down and he comes back with a tractor. GOD BLESS CATERPILLAR....he pulls us out and in short while we can drive. We all are drenched. Kameron lost his shoes in the river and we drive headed to damn Samara. Well we go more and there is a road that splits and we dont know which to take. We take one way and turn around because it seems wrong. Take the other and it is filled with water...no way in hell we are doing that again. We go the other way and go a ways then run into another river. We decide just to go to Nicoya becuase we need gas and we dont even care about Samara anymore. On the way we see a sign for Samara 4 km and decide to try it. It actually panned out..we got there and there was NO places open for food. it was 11 pm and nothing was open. Dan and Heather or as we called them Mom and Dad got a room because they wont stay in the car overnight. Cam, Kam, Tracee and I sleep in the car and get bit up like none other. As I would say...I got bit up like a 2 cent whore. Horses were roaming around in front of us and I just fell asleep. The next morning we got up and moved the car. I stayed in the car and at 7 something realized we were in ffront of a school and they were playing soccer. I saw a cute boy that was adorable and wanted to get a picture of him. They had to go in after a while and I was sad. We drove around to find a store for food and saw them. I asked to get a picture of him and he agreed AWWWW. I got some bomb yogurt-strawberry with chocolate coated cereal to put in it and blackberry juice. I love the juices here!!!!! Finally mom and dad were ready to go and we were on our way...we made it back in 2.5 hours. Shopped a lil and then some more and got on the bus to come home. That was my last adventure.....Now as we speak I am in studio and thinking how fast these 8 weeks have passed and how much I love my family and can´t wait to see them!

amazing rat race meets survivor continued....

Wednesday- we are in Puerto Jimenez thanks to our 7.5 hour hike and our cab driver who is driving with his daughter on his lap. She calls hotels once we get into town, the first can't accomodate all 6 of us. The second didnt impress us, we wanted something not so shitty. Finally we decided on a place called Cabinas the Corner. It was like a bed and breakfast without any food available..bascially a house with rooms to rent upstairs and a place for backpackers that looked like jail literally. They had a cage and everything. We met Matt from the US and he was traveling with a German, which he said we would get to meet later--he was at the hospital. Well we were sooo gross from the hike and so smelly...we all showered and it was luxurious because the shower was cold..however not everyone got cold water. After we were all cleaned up..we all had our stuff in 3 different rooms. We went to dinner at a local Soda. We each said how hungry we were and we'd start with one casado but might get another. Before when she brought our food I made my excited sound and she just laughed because she thought it was funny. We all got some bomb lemonade and pollo con salsa but Kameron ordered after everyone because he ran to the bank and they were out so he got carne con salsa. We ate and were stuffed we forgot that since we had not been eating our tummys shrank. After we ate Tracee and I went back for a nap while the others went to the supermarket and explored. We thought this was the town to stay at for a few days because we were tired of always being on the go. We woke up and thought the others were gossiping about us...maybe they were? We went out to where the smoking area was because it was an outdoor balcony to chill. We met Christian...Matt's German friend and he told us now that Matt was sick and this place was dirty and to leave as fast as you could..they were at 6 am the next day. Then Matt went for injections...this place was infested with Dengue. We told Christian he could come with us to get food becuase we were running to the store and he was so hungry and he decided to tag along. Kameron, Tracee and I made freinds with him but the other 3 wanted nothing to do with him. When we got back we played a German card game with him and I tried to get the others to come hang out but they would not leave the one room that they all three ended up sleeping in. We played Dopplekoff and I am obsessed with it now..if you ever go to GERMANY...get me two decks of playing cards...the ones that have boys and girls not jack and queens. We played and played until Christian was tired...by then Cameron had come out and talked with us and so we all went to our rooms and cameron came in me and tracee's to talk with us. Kameron got his own room somehow. We talked for a while until we all were tired and then fell asleep but we knew we wanted to get a bus ticket out of this place ASAP.

Thursday- wake up in Puerto Jimenez still healthy...went to check on the bus and they said we could not leave until Saturday or Sunday for San Jose. We go to the beach to think of what to do next and a plane flys overhead....we all look at each other and say you want to fly???? We run towards the airstrip and a truck with a dready guy talks to Archie and tells us we can fly, how much and where to go. We go and try to find out if we can indeed leave today. The girls and Archie stay at the check on place while me Kam and Craig run run run to the real airport office to see if we can get it figured out faster and directly. They call another air company and they agreed to leave in like 45 minutes the flight would be at 11:30. I ran back to tell them and they are coming to find us already. It is something like 80 per person but worth it because of room and everything there for 2 more days and the bus ticket was like 10 befcause it was such a long ride. My math doens't add up but take into account getting what Christian and Matt had and having to be in the hospital. They said they were lucky and most had to stay there for 2 -4 weeks...not a chance in hell i'd let them stick me with needles in a third world country. The girls are hungry and decided to check into getting a casado to go...we succeed and it's fricken amazing.We meet the boys at the airport a few mintues after we were supposed to check in. The plane comes in on time and we board....San Jose took less than 45 minutes to reach. On the way we got pictures from the place, some video and a discussion of what to do now that we had 3 days to spare that we had not planned for. I sure didn't want to stay in dirty San Jose and Archie was going to the Caribean...the others weren't sure. I wanted to either go back to Monteverde or with him because I heard good things about that side. We all decide if there is a night bus to Puerto Viejo we'll go...there was..and we got it and went. It was about 5 hours to our destination. It is dark when we arrive and some black Caribean comes and tries to cart us away..he succeeded and we follow him but Heather and I stay to the back not wanting to follow the cracked out loser. The bus stop had people handing out flyers about hotels and we took them and as he's leading us around we are looking at them and decide to ask about them...we end up at hotel rolando. It was cute cabinas with hammocks outside. Everyone from the bus that we saw ended up at the same place. It was $8 per person. We wanted to splurge and went to a sea food place for dinner it was a real place but took over an hour for our food. I wanted fish but when it got to me it was the whole fricken fish and eyes included. Coctails were little and 4 dollars! I had two...sorry guilty pleasure it was finally a tropical place with good drinks. There was live music that resembled bob marley. everyone spoke english or a caribean mix of sorts. We went back to the hotel and the boys go back ahead of us while we looked at stores. The boys steal our hammock and light and we return and are like okay...its no good after that...they are asses and go to the bars without us. We stay and go to bed and chat-girltalk. Archie comes and knocks on our door, rather pounds and screams that he needs cards...then he climbs and shines his huge maglight into our window and screams again. We are awake now but no way in hell gettin up or giving him cards. He mutters something about us faking because we are still in our clothes...we weren't really faking we just sleep in our clothes since we packed light...back to bed

Friday--wake up and decided to go to walk around and look at stores, the boys were already gone. We stalked them and they just passed and waved. We looked at all the stores and waited for the little stands to open along the beach to look at the handmade jewelry...we try to find the boys to eat breakfast and when we do they have already eaten...and are getting beer and going to the water. We decide to eat after kissing major ass to get them to be nice again. We go to a place called Peace and Love Cafe...we all get pizzas--I got ham and pineapple and then 2 pastrys that were the first dessert that I had since being in Costa Rica..I took pictures...It was cheap like less than 3 dollars for all of my food. We go to find and boys and realize the sand is BLACK..i have never in all my years seen black sand. I lay out and still can't believe I am at a black sand beach--its actaully beautiful. Me and Tracee look at each other and decide to roll around in it and coat ourselves...for pictures of course. Then we go into the ocean with Craig to rinse off. The waves are awesome, not too much of a break that pulls you under but big big waves. We go back and lay out some more. Finally we get bored after a while and convince them to come with us to shop at the little stands. I find some really cool stuff and so do the other girls. We kept going back to this one lady and she'd laugh. There was a lot of culture in this little town, we decided it was what we had hoped to find all along. We decided to find this little art shop we saw the night before and we did. It was so kewl...I got a tanktop that said flower power but was a racer back and adored it...tracee got two shirts..she couldn't decide and I am no help. Heather got a piece of art work and Cameron got a spear. We decided to go back and clean up before happy hour. The boys decided not to come and said they would meet up with us later for dinner. They were set to meet up with us at 7:30 where they had happy hour 2 for 1500colones. Thats 3 dollars for 2 drinks. We go off and have our girl night and get appetizers..it was a place called Chili Rojo and was amazing ...we wanted a shirt but were going to wait to see what the bars we went to that night had. Theirs said 'Puerto Viejo- A sunny place for shady people.' I got the humus and pita bread, Heather got some chicken skewers and Tracee got some veggie dumpling things...we all split. I had 3 drinks...one pina colada that was strong and I couldn't take much of and 2 sangrias. Tracee had a Sangria, Mia'thai and a pinacolado and heather had 2 pinacolads and a mia thai. The Mi' thai's were not like the ones at home at all....The boys came and we went to a restaurant for dinner. The girls decided to split nachos and get another drink. I was a lil tipsey from the drinks, the sun and not much food. We went to another bar called Sunset Bar and for some reason things went downhill from here. Craig told us to 'go find your fresh fish and fuck off bitches' apparently he heard us talking earlier about the hottie shortage and was pissed. We in turn are pissed and go somewhere else because this bar didn't have coctails and the manager was 'on his way' and the person there didn't know the specials or prices for anything...we leave the bitchy boys and go to find a bar with good prices. We were basically killing time until the bar with the free pina colado from 10-11. We went to a few places before finally going to Bar In and In and we are sitting there with 3 sex on the beaches when we see Archie walking so we wave frantically and he comes up. He tells us that him and Kam were like so shocked Craig said that and was coming to find us. We chilled for a while then went to Hot Rocks bar for a free beer since we had a coupon from the bus ride. We also get another drink and I chose the Hot Rock which was rum and blackberry and I dunno what else, Tracee got a bloody mary and Heather sat that round out. Welp..its time for a free pina colada...It actaully happened to be multiple ones...from 10-11 I got 3 I believe. By then I had 9 drinks and I was feeling it...we went with Kam, and Cam to this dance bar....they all decide to leave and Me and Tracee sta. We are dancing and having a good time with the locals. We both feel the alcohol and are having fun. We go to look for people to talk to. See Cameron who came back to check on us and he goes to smoke..We continue to look for people and sucessfully find a table of people that are nice and from Cali...I dont remember a lot after this except I left Tracee and am sitting on the beach with Cameron and we keep looking to make sure Tracee is okay and still with the people we were with. All of a sudden it seems like only 2 mintues pass by the entire time because I am tired and falling asleep...she's not there. I tell him we need to go and find her and he suggests going back to look at the hotel. I get back and she's there thank the Lord in Heaven!!!! I was so scared and felt like it was all my fault. She was upset becuase she had gotten lost on the way back and didn't know the name of the place. I apoligised and was crying and they were like its okay..and I was like 'it's not okay!' we went around and around with that for a while. They were like are you okay? and I was like yeah! I am just upset that I left you, I never leave people...and blah blah..anyways we talked about Archie and how they blamed him for splitting us up and getting us seperated in the first place but I still knew it was my fault. I fell alseep but Tracee hadn't yet and she heard the chair move outside our room--knowing that Archie had just heard everything we said about him.


Tune in next time for the continuation of rat race/survivor and now real world costa rica....it gets heated

July 19- Nearing the End

It is hard to believe that 7 weeks have passed here in Costa Rica. I will be home in 3 weeks and busy catching up on what I missed. Can you say food, family, baths, and freinds?? I can! I miss my family so much and am so lucky to have such a great family stand behind me. I can't tell you how lucky I feel whenever you send me packages here! It seems like everytime we go for a hike we end up talking about how we can't wait for.... Mostly its about food...sometimes about the amenities. I can't wait for hot baths--my family I am sure could guess that, but food! I can't wait for my dad's hamburgers,bbq chicken, and even restaurants like cheddars, OG'S, avanti's, chilis, and other places as well...YUMMM! I am getting things ready to leave and wrap things up....it's sad that I dont know how well I will keep in touch with my new freinds that I have made such good memories with. It is the first time in my life I have gone so many places with people I have only known a few months and loved every minute of it.....I still have to tell you about my amazing race...

amazing rat race meets survivor; July 1-9

Saturday-The week vacation was suddenly here. Our half way mark in the semester. 6 of us decided to vacation together without realizing what was in store. Saturday morning we took a 6am bus to Puntarenas. We went to the bank and the boys got some frozen lemonade and we sat and waited for the bus. From here we took a bus to Quepos and then a taxi to Manuel Antonio which was our destination. We were dropped off by the taxi driver at a cheap hotel that ended up not having any rooms so then we walked to Coco Beach for a room. Me and little Kameron decided to hide becuase rooms are per person not per room. Well that did not work so well because when we showed to up to get them and get food the psycho Chinese lady said we were not allowed on the property and so we decided if we weren't even allowed to hang out without having a room there then we should just not stay. She bitched about us sittin on the bed and using the bathroom and wouldn't give them all there money back...she kept 10$ apparently thats what she thought using the bathroom was worth. We kept walking down towards the beach and checking out hotels until we found one that we liked. 10$ per person was the hotel and we decided to get some drinks at a bar and find food asap. Coconuts was our hang out for the day and night. We swam for a little then went back to get ready and go to Coconuts for more coctails. I am not sure the name of the hotel to be honest but we only stayed one night. We slept in 2 rooms one boys- one girls. Our rooms were so sandy when we left.

Sunday-In the morning we took a taxi to Quepos and then our rat race really began. We got on a bus for San Isidro which took all day to get there. These bus rides are interesting becuase they always stop every 10 feet and pick up more people who have to then stand. I dont understand why there are not just bus stops where people go to get on but no, people can be picked up at the side of the road allllll the time. It makes it very hard to fall asleep because its hot, noisy, people smell, and the bus always is stopping. This trip was probably the most memorable because there was a guy with long nails on each finger--we called him crack nails. Then there was a man who was standing by me that kept like thrusting his pelvic region almost into my face, I am not sure what he was doing but I had to turn my head and not look. A lady behind me thought it was a great opportunity to cut her nails and she did and they stuck to my sweaty skin---YUCK! Finally we reached San Isidro and found out there was another bus to Palmar Norte at 7:30 so we went to get a bite to eat since we had not eaten anything but our trail mix we brought and were starving...Pollo Mania it was amazing, I got a chicken sandwich that had bacon and this gooey cheese, yum. Then we headed back to the bus stop and waited; they told us the first bus was full and we would have to take the 8:30 originally but we went early to see anyways. Well we got on thankgod because the place was scary a man in a maroon shirt had a gun on him, so I kept smiling at him so I was not on his bad side, I was so afraid we would get robbed. Well we did get on--as I said--but we didn't have a seat and had to stand for the 3 hour bus ride to Palmar Norte. I sat down in the isle and fell asleep and when the bus took a break at a lil place for food I put my bag up on top in the shelving. After we got off, people warned us not to do that and things would get stolen, so I became paranoid and wanted to get on the bus before everyone else did. I did get on and stood by my bag for the remainder of the trip not letting it out of my sight. We arrived there and found out we would need to take a taxi to Sierpe becasue there was not lodging where we were. So we got in a taxi/truck that took us there and I sat in the back with Cameron and got lots of fresh air, a good view of the heat lightning and a chance to cool off from the bus ride. We got the a place we stayed and it was dark the man honked and a lady came and told us it would be $4/per person . The rooms were nice not anything special and there was a community bathroom. We went to bed pretty fast. Me and Tracee in a room and to be honest I forget now who else was paired up. There were these frogs that at first drove me insane because of the noise they made but finally I got over it and went to sleep.

Monday- we woke up and went to find out about the boat to take us to Drake. They said it would be around $35 dollars and that was the only way to get there. The boat didn't leave till around 11:30 so we went to eat breakfast at a place called Vegas and wait for the boat. The girls didn't eat because we had trail mix but I did get a milk which was warm and gross...A man told us he would take us in his own boat whenever we wanted for the same price, so we took him up on it. It was a beautiful ride, it was just natural stream scapes the entire way. We got to a place with just lots of tree branches that was called a mangrove- it was like nothing I have ever seen before...so beautiful, I do not know how a boat any bigger than the one we were in would have gotten through. We kept going until we got into the ocean and then into Drake Bay...Bahia Drake. We were dropped off at a place that was known for fishing tours and several amenities but it was something like $50/person a nite. Forget that we kept walking and found a tent camp called Vista Bahia Drake, we got two tents that each had a queen bed. It was around $10 a night. The tents were on a wood deck and they had hamocks hung outside the tents. It was perfect for us. We went to the store to get beverages but the place was tiny so we decided to buy a bottle of liquor at the bar. We went to the bar, got some drinks and played pool until the rain stopped. We are used to rain since being in Monteverde for a month. We waited it out and then decided to go back and swim. The water was warm but thinking back on it dirty as hell--there was all this debris floating after the rain and it was brown in color. This dog that we met after we got off the boat followed us all day and even on the beach he sat there waiting and gaurding our stuff. We went back, got dressed and went for Lunner- lunch/dinner our one meal of the day. We went to the store to find ice and soda and then went back to hang out for the nite. I drank some rum and coke even though I don't drink soda....and got sick later. As Tracee would call it - puke and rally. We did get to play never have I ever....I like playing bonding games and encourage it whenever I get a chance. We found out that Kameron did infact have a girlfriend from this game and that everyone but me peed in the ocean today. Earlier in the night right when we all got back and started playing cards there were these bugs that were like mayflies...basically ants with huge wings and they were all over. Cameron, Heather and I went in Heather, Cameron and Craigs tent to wait for the bugs to disappear and quit bothering us....but it proved difficult to see us drink during 'never have I ever' so they kept nagging until we came out. We played by candlelight. That was one good thing about Kameron and his bag of shit he toted around alllllll vacay...Seriously he had a soccerball, candles, canned pineapple....in this plastic bag that he took everywhere. We finished off two fifths of rum between Craig, Heather, Tracee, Kameron and I...Cameron drank his beers *imperial of course*. They rest of the night is a blur, I slept in a tent with Kameron and Tracee and slept bitch....Heather, Cameron and Craig shared a tent but Cameron ended up sleeping out in the hammock in the end---jungle boy. We did get new nicknames....Tracee was Rachel, Heather was Monica and I became Phoebe

Tuesday-We woke up and met Emanuel our boat guy...owner of the tent camp we stayed at. We had made plans Monday upon arrival for him to take us fishing and to Serena in Corcovado National Park, he even made reservations for us. So we head off on our journey into the unknown. The three girls all got sick on the boat. I am truely a Neeley getting sea sick. We felt like shit everytime we got up from laying across the seats. It was torture because when the boys started to fish we slowed way down and thats what made us sick. Cameron and Craig did catch a Mahi Mahi...it was on Craig's hook but somehow it was connected to Cameron's too. Anyways they caught us a fish that would prove valuable later on....We finally got there and got off the boat on this slab of rock that was enormous covering a large area in the water and on the beach...it was slippery as well. We decided to go swimming when we got on land and the water felt glorious. Cameron and Heather chilled up by the edge of the water and he gutted the fish and cleaned it. We arrived at 12:30 at Serena Lodge and paid for the room...tried to make reservations for food for that night but they said it couldn't be done, we had planned on staying the next night and asked for food the next night at least and they said they couldn't, we asked if there was food to buy...NOPE. Luckily the girls had our trailmix and the boys caught the fish! We went to the rooms and it was dark because there is no power until its dark and the rooms smell and the beds just have a foam cover, no blankets or sheets. There are bugs in the room and it smells so bad I just want to gag after everything we'd been through already in the day. I am still weak from puking and dry heaving and the thought of sleeping here grosses me out. I realize I have fire ants all over my bags...then I try to get rid of them and they get on me and I am burning and screaming and not very happy....I decide to air out my bag outside to get them away....Cameron goes to find coconuts and a place for a fire, Kameron and Craig go for a swim, and the girls decide to take a walk. Before we go for our walk though we run into Crocodile Mike and we decide we want to leave that night!! This place was nasty and we didn't even want to spend one night-let alone two. We would have to ask the boys....on our walk we didn't see any wildlife like we hoped...and on the way back it started to storm. We are walking through the trails in the forest and all of a sudden we hear branches starting to fall all around us....RUN! and we did...for a little at least, then we walked back. We got to the 'runway' and walked towards the lodge and they said theres Archie and I thought he was ahead in a hammock but nope he was behind us I guess so I waved at some stranger..ooops. I checked on my fire ant status and kept moving my bag to get rid of more... Well we talked to the boys and they agreed to leave that night. We would HIKE to Carate, we planned to leave at 12am but the park rangers wouldn't allow us....so we decide on 4am. We found some guys that let us use their stove to cook our fish becuase the kitchen wouldn't let us and its illegal to have a fire on the beach. Kameron cooked the fish muy deliciouso...with coconut juice and garlic pepper he had in his bag of shit....We also met some new freinds-geovany and james- that were traveling in Crocodile Mike's company. They were from New York and later in the night Mike drew us a map for our journey. We really were on a rat race...We were in the Osa Peninsula by Monday and we only left Saturday morning. Our July 4th didn't include fire works but it did include puke and rallys. We all went to bed early Kameron hogged his mosquito net to himself, Heather and Tracee were in one, Craig slept on the top bunk...and I bunked with Cameron because he had a poncho liner....and as my family would call it ARMY BLANKET...*Kim you have to remember this because you have the best memory..remember playing cards on Fourth of July on the Army Blanket always in Springfield at icecream socials as well as Peoria*

Wednesday-This morning started out early early early..it was still dark out. We walked in pairs. Tracee and Craig, Heather and I and Cam and Kam becuase not everyone had flashlights. The sun rose about 5 am and was really pretty and soon after we found our first landmark!!! Palm trees on a bluff. We take a break for pictures and drink some coconut water. We continue our hike and later come upon fresh bananas that Archie hacks down with his machete. We eat our trail mix that we have been toting the whole weak and the other girls dump some out to lighten their load. We saw so many spider monkeys on our hike. We kept swithcing from beach to trails because the trail would end or the beach would be too rocky and no room to walk. We had to cross this one river before high tide that was our mission and we succeeded. People made fun of my backpack and called it the keychain because I had my nalgene, towel, illini bag, and sarong hanging from it. We saw white faced monkeys and lots of scarlet macaws, pelicans, and hawks as well. We finally reach the station at 11 and I am dying, my feet kill because the boots had water in them and I had no socks on so I was swishing around in them and hiking for hours....from 4:30 to 11 we hiked and then we stopped for a short swim before we hike one more hour to Carate. The swim was nice but the water was insanely strong. I went in and couldn't stay out because I was so tired but when I tried to come back I was pushed out and kept hitting the rock bottom...I thought I would die but I got in okay. Kameron did not and cut his arms on the rock pretty horribly. So we continue our hike but I am reluctant....my feet do not want to put on the boots at all but I put two pairs of socks for cushion. I walk so slowly that everyone else is far ahead. Cameron waits for me and eventually must feel pretty bad for me because he takes my backpack and carries it and stays back with me. I feel horrible and like a baby..I can carry my own bag it's not the problem my toe nails were what killed with every step. After what seemed like an eternity we made it to Carate and the rest are ahead already getting a cab. We take a picture to mark our arrival. However, there is nothing in Carate but a store and it's closed so we decide to take a ride to Puerto Jimenez which we find out is 2 hours in cab...no water is left and there is no store to get drinks..Well lets go theres no reason to stay. There is a bar on the way and they stop to get drinks..I do not get out because I am in toooooo much pain to walk. It feels like our arrival to Puerto Jimenez is another day in itself so I might quit here.....PUERTO JIMENEZ AND THE DENGUE FEVER.......TO BE CONTINUED

So far we have gone 4 days and have been countless towns all over the country...not only have we not spent more than a night anywhere...we sometimes passed through places all together.

July 10-14

Hola, I know you are all wanting to know about my vacation and soon enough you will. Let's just call it the Amazing race. This week was intense as well. Sunday we got back from the Amazing Race and Monday morning bright and early we had to leave on a hike and overnight stay at Fince Amapala. The hike that I heard was 2 hours turned out to be 4.5 which wouldn't be bad considering what I did last week; however, my big toe nail is black and blue and it hurts to be confined in my boots. The trails were not the greatest and at one point Anibal had to use his machetti to bush wack. The are cool, I need to for sure buy one. Anyways to along the hike we had these things called water apples..yum they are like pears almost, Anibal also found us snot berries which are in the kiwi family. Once you pop them open you suck out the snot like liquid and seeds that are sweet. Once we got to Finca Amapala we walked through the banana plantation and after about 20 minutes more reached the lodge. We rested and did some measurements and then had dinner finally. My tummy shrank over break so I ate more than I should and regretted it moments later- if not the entire night. I went to bed super early and the others continued playing cards. In the morning we ate, took a hike to get GPS data and almost got blown away. The winds were going abour 50 mph according to Anibal. After we hiked back, we got lunch and then took off to get down the mountain. Of course, I got sick on the hike and started puking, Luckily Cameron is super nice and carried my backpack for me and stayed back with me and kept making me drink water and wash my mouth out. Anibal sent me home as soon as we got down and got to the cars. I was thankful and slept the entire day.

Wednesday I still was sick until the evening. I should have stayed home from school because I didn't contribute anything and kept falling asleep during the reserve lecture. I asked to go to the car and sleep after the lecture because they were going on a hike and I knew I couldn't make it. I went home after clas and slept and slept..

Thursday, we had a 7:30 apt at the Monteverde Reserve. We got a free tour since one group is making a handicap trail there. It was neat to hear about the plants and animals and see the difference between secondary and primary forests. Also to learn about the numerous hummingbird species; which I must say get really close and at some points I had to duck in fear they would run into my head. We saw monkeys and birds and lots of kewl plants and trees. Some ferns were prehistoric from the dinosaur times and there as tall as some trees however the bark was not bark but only their vascular system. The stranger figs were neat to learn about as well and how they take over the host tree and years later after the host has rotted away the inner part of the stranger fig is hollow. When we got back from the hike, I made a survey for our group and emailed it out. I felt productive. The 6 of us from our week vacay plus Anibal and Asia went out to dinner and had a movie night at the Institute...XMEN3.

This weekend should be more relaxed since we are all tired still. Tonight we are going out to celecbrate Anibal, Cameron, and Kameron's bdays. The girls are doing our hair and makeup and trying to feel girly for once. WEll I have a lecture in 5 mintues to go to so I will tell you about the Amazing Race soon! It will take a while!