Hey all!

I finally have some free time to write! Having 4 hour Spanish Intensive classes 5 days a week, it’s tough to get some free time. Since they’re so much work, I treated myself to an excursion this past weekend (I haven’t gone on one in a while!).

Friday, we headed to the town of Arenal, where the largest volcano of Costa Rica is located. From the hotel, the view was amazing! Unfortunately, visiting the volcano up close wasn’t part of the itinerary for this specific excursion, but I was still a site to see.

That night, we went to Baldi Hot Springs. These natural hot springs were like therapy- so relaxing! Each spring was a different temperature, one was 115 degrees!! Almost too hot to handle, but definitely worth it. There was even a water slide into a hot spring. It was kind of scary because it was dark out and I couldn’t tell when the end was coming, but it was a blast. I definitely needed the relaxation of the hot springs from such an intense week of studying Spanish.

Then next day, we went to La Paz Waterfall in La Fortuna. It was huge! I’ve never seen a bigger waterfall in my life. We hiked down about a mile, and swam in the waterfall. The water was the coldest I’ve felt in Costa Rica. The power of the water was incredible since I was so big. The hike back up was killer; we had to rest for about a half hour until we could move on!

That night, we took a boat through Arenal Laguna to get to Monteverde. The views of the mountains and volcano were amazing during the ride. This boat took us to the middle of nowhere to then take a bus to Monteverde, where it was pretty chilly up in the mountains. We got to our hotel which was very secluded from the town. There wasn’t even cellular service!

We got up bright and early Sunday to go to 100% Aventura- a ziplining park. I got to ride the longest zipline in Latin America! The views were spectacular and I felt like a bird. My favorite part of the park was the Tarzan Swing. I walked across a bridge to reach the end where I would get harnessed to jump off. The drop was so fast and steep that I screamed at the top of my lungs and continued to swing around so high seeing the amazing views. It was probably the most adrenaline rush I have ever had!

My weekend was so worthwhile and I’m glad I treated myself. This coming week is my last week of Intermediate 1 Spanish, and then next week starts Intermediate 2. Here we go again!

Enjoy your shorter classes at Farmingdale, and if you ever feel stressed, just think: “At least I don’t have to take 4 hour classes like Laura!”

Enjoy the fall, because I miss it!

Til next time,

Laura