Planear y hacer

Day 3, Wednesday, June 27^th

I have a bus partner! After yesterday, that excites me quite a bit. Alicia meets me at la parada and we take the bus together. I am already more comfortable with the system (who wouldn’t be after getting so lost?), but I still like us being together. At school, I finish writing my telenovela and chat with Hannah and Beth. Morning classes are fine, and soon we break for lunch.

I get a cheese burrito (which is possibly the grossest thing I’ve had here) and discuss with the group our weekend plans. Sara has fulfilled her roll as leader and already talked to the lady here who booked our hotel and told us where to go to get bus tickets. Go Sara! This gets Beth and I to thinking about our weekends. With Hannah, we lay out the following plan:

1. Weekend uno: Arenal Volcano and Hot Springs with the group.
2. Weekend dos: We get one free trip through the school, so we chose White Water Rafting, as it is too expensive to do on our own. We are rafting the Pacuare, a class III/IV river. Alli would be proud. Or she might think us stupid... none of us have ever rafted before. Anyways, it is only a one day trip, so we also plan to visit el Mercado Artesiana en San Jose that weekend and... well, the other is a sorpresa! I’m more than a little excited. The surprise trip is overcoming a great fear of mine... more details when it is accomplished!
3. I am greatly looking forward to this weekend. We are going to stay in a cheap cabin deep in the Cloud Forest of Monteverde. The next day we’ll do a tour through the rainforest and do the across forest Zip Line. Zooming platform to platform, we’ll see the trees at top speed. I’m thrilled.
4. A few people let us know that they’d like to be in on the Panama trip, so we may go ahead and do it this weekend. Paradise. This is the weekend everyone heads home though, so we’ll see if it works out.
5. Beth and I don’t have the last week planned, but it will include at least one trip to the beach and probably Torteguero to see turtles hatch. Who knows what else?

Back in class after lunch, we start a listening exercise, only to have a sudden rainstorm destroy our ability to hear. But Roni has a backup. We play a board game for two hours where we roll dice and land on categories like: songs, rhymes, tounge twisters, grammar, riddles, and sorpresas! Sorpresas is now the word of the week... con fracasito! We’re crazy. The game is super fun, and I get way into it (can you imagine?). I am really good at playing games... I win this one too. :) Before class is over, Roni asks if we have been to the National Museum of History yet. We answer in the negative. He looks at us and then announces we will go tomorrow. But he said it so quietly and without pause that we didn’t believe him. But it is true – we are taking a field trip! Yay!
We’re going on a field trip tomorrow!

Once class is over, we assemble to head to San Jose with Dr. Zambrano... again. We walk around in town, snapping pictures left and right of fountains, lush greenery, and statures that hardly seem in place in the center of this bustling city. The lot of us need money for the weekend, so after some intense sight seeing and picture capturing, we walk toward the ATM we found Monday. We pass by the tourist shop where I want to return on my day in San Jose – a postcard screamed Jeremy to me. ;)

Money handled, Dr. Zambrano herds us to an outside hotel cafe and orders plates of fries, which he swears are the best he has ever had. With evidence in my hands, I have to admit, they are wonderful. But maybe that is because I am not a fry eater. We practice our Spanish (which I am getting more comfortable with everyday!), laugh and act crazy, and Bethany chats up our waiter, who is suddenly anxious to practice his English. He is nice and tells us all about his job and why he loves it.

The people here are so generally nice. Perhaps it is for that reason that I feel so free here. Perhaps it is the traveling. I noticed in Jamaica a difference that I was quick to lose upon return. I am not afraid of being overly friendly or silly or aggressive in my manner; perhaps because I have no thought to see these people again. Whereas at home, I have to deal with the consequences of my actions everyday. It just seems easier to chat up a stranger away from home.

Another factor may be our awesome group, none of which seem truly rude or self-motivated. It is quite amazing feeling so comfortable with people I hardly know. I have Beth and Hannah, but everyone is nice. However, a week is the true test of time; we’ll see how many are still wonderful then...

After our snack of fries and ice cream shakes, the group separates to their buses. Jackie joins Alicia and me on our bus home and misses her stop. We hail her a cab at our stop, but I’m nervous to let her go. Tell him “ponga la maria!” we yell. Once we are comfortable that Jackie will get home, we go our separate ways as well.

The walk home in my neighborhood is not scary, even at night, but I am glad to be home when I get there. I eat the dinner they give me, despite my lack of hunger, do my homework, and make my list of words I have learned: self-teaching. And yada yada until sleep.