Hey everyone,
Hope everything is well over in Farmingdale! Over here in Costa Rica is awesome! I just finished my first intensive Spanish course (Basic 2) and it was surprisingly tough! Today was my first day of Intermediate 2 and it went very well. Also, this month starts electives; I’m taking Selected Topics in Afro-Caribbean Studies, which I’m pretty excited about.
I thought I’d fill you in on amazing adventures the past few weekends. 2 weekends ago, I visited a coffee plantation, went zip-lining, and visited Cataratas (the waterfalls), where I also saw many awesome animals such as tucans and monkeys. It was amazing to see the nature and biodiversity of Costa Rica.
This past weekend, I went to Panama, a 5 hour drive from Costa Rica. When we got out of the bus, it was scorching hot. I’m glad Costa Rica isn’t as hot as Panama, I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. The city that we went to was called Bocas del Toro. We took a taxi boat, about 30 minutes, to get to the city. Taxi boats are necessary here to get to beaches and bars. We stayed in a hostel which was pretty nice!
The next day, went snorkeling at Starfish Beach, and yes, we saw starfish! We learned that if you take a starfish out of the water for more than 10 seconds, it will die, so we made sure not to do that. After, we went to Isla Colon, a beautiful island. There, the water was clear and calm, there was reggae music and hammocks. The life!
The next day, we went to Red Frog Beach..there weren’t red frogs though. The waves were huge but the water was so blue and beautiful. I got a major sunburn there also..but it will turn into a tan and maybe I will look more Tico (Costa Rican)!
Since all of the excursions from my package are done, now I’m on my own. Luckily, there is a lot of public transportation that is cheap, so I will be sure to explore everything else Cost a Rica has to offer! And of course, I will keep up with my studying. I can see a major improvement in my Spanish language, and am so excited to continue learning.
Until next time,
Laura