I will be posting a slide show of all these pics real soon, but it's very time consuming to upload them all in a large format. But I want to recap this week so far for all my family and friends:
I love it here! I love all the women here, sharing in this adventure with me. All the people working for and with CCS are fantastic. Are casa is so nice and cozy. I am sleeping well. I'm exercising daily and eating healthy... it's amazing.
I'm working with amazing people at CAIPAD. Before my time here is through, I will be posting the "bios" of all the fabulous students at CAIPAD. I really like working with them all, such kind and generous souls---all of them. I get to play games and exercise with them and help them make crafts. It's pretty much the perfect job for me here. I do hope I get the chance to experience something a little different once or twice, but at present I'm very content.
As for adventures, I've had quite a few so far. At the beginning just exploring Cuidad Quesada was wild. Since I speak such little Spanish and understand less when being spoken to, even going to the market for a calling card is tough. But it's cool. The locals see me, the blonde or "macha" and know I probably don't speak Espanol, so it works out ok. And they like to use what English they know too.
At the casa we recieve 3 great meals a day. Spanish lessons. and Wednesday night we had Salsa and Merigue lessons. It was so fun and a great work out too! I certainly have been sweating a lot!
Today was the best of everything so far though. We went to La Fortuna, which is about an hour away. All we were told is that we were going to a farm to milk a cow and learn about cheese. I was game for anything. When we got there we were pleasantly surprise that our tour of the farm consisted of so much more. Not only did we meet some cows, we got to feed them--- we learned all about what makes "a happy cow". We got to milk one. I was lucky enough to be squirted in the face with milk straight from the teet. It was so funny. We all tried fresh milk from our cow friend, "Cinnamon". it was actually really good and warm. Then our guide, the son of the farm owners, taught us how they make cheese. Very interesting stuff! After our lesson he took us on an unexpected tour of the rest of their property, which is nestled at the base of the Arenal Volcano. It was amazing! We "saw" a two toed Sloth. We heard lots of parrots. We were shocked by all the huge ant trails and their shear "ant power". And we saw the red jeans frog (I think that's what it's called)... It was beautiful and oh so poisonous. We hiked all around and just really enjoyed the scenery.
After our tour we were search fresh fruit and some yummy fried cheese, as well as some of best iced tea I've ever had. It was all in all stupendous!
Tomorrow all the ladies and I are headed to Tamarindo for our weekend excursion. I'm sure there will be lots of stories to tell after all that. So stay tuned!
PURA VIDA!
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