1st day continued---the volcano

We then went to the active volcano Paos. It has I think 4 craters, and we saw one active one and one inactive one (looks like a lake and is called a lagoon). We hiked through the cloud forest whose trees are covered in moss and their growth is dense and also formed by the chemicals from the volcano (sulphur and something else). Paos is a stratovolcano or composite volcano. I think it has a calderas based on my layman's understanding of it. It erupted December a year ago and I think the guide said it mainly shoots rock and water into the air. It was emitting smoke and when we came for a second look after hiking to the lagoon it was totally covered in smoke so it was no longer visible. I was glad we had gotten there when we did. from wikapedia: A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano,[1] is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic explosive eruptions and quiet eruptions, although there are some with collapsed craters called calderas. We hiked to the crater in the 2nd photo below as well as to the inactive volcano (lagoon) also see 1st photo below. We stopped for fresh strawberries with chocolate and sweetened condensed milk (luckily we walked a lot today so hope that didn't set me back health wise!) which were delicious. It was then off to the La Paz Waterfalls and Animal rescue park and butterfly garden which I'll write about in the next post.

My first full day in Costa Rica

I woke up at 5 to shower and leave to meet the tour bus. The family I'm staying with offered to drive me to meet the tour bus at a nearby hotel (they only pick up from hotels). We then spent a while going to various hotels to pick up others going on the tour throughout San Jose. It gave me a chance to see the city a bit. The tour is so amazingly global--I am the only one from USA and others were from Portugal, Spain, Mexico, Columbia, Canada, Switzerland, England, Poland, Germany...and I may be forgetting a few. The greatest number was from Mexico and it was a family traveling together--two elderly moms and their adult daughters I presume and one of them had a 7 month old baby girl. The baby had Down Syndrome and was very adorable and sweet and she had pierced ears. We then went to the Doka coffee plantation which is a fair trade company. Harvest was in the fall through January or February and we had breakfast there. Pinto Gallo is a famous breakfast dish here that reportedly Columbia and Costa Rica both claim they have the best (sort of like coffee). It was black beans and rice and possibly in Columbia it's made with red beans. We toured various stations to show up the steps in coffee processing from what the pickers do, to how they are paid, to how the beans are sorted, quality is checked and they are dried. The highest quality beans are the ones that sink to the bottom when put in water, and they get to be dried in the sun for I think he said 25 days. There are two different shells on the bean one that is taken off through fermentation and another after it's been dried I think. The second husks are used as fuel for the drying equipment that dries less quality beans. Here are some photos from the coffee tour. I will continue this day in the next post!

arrived safely!

I arrived safely and the flight was uneventful though the view of the clouds were amazing! I took lots of photos and am glad I had a window seat. I'm sure the couple next to me wondered why. I was so enamored but I love clouds in all their forms. I saw a lot of farms when flying in. I spent time on the airplane reading up about the area and read the guide the language school gave me. The lines were long at immigration, but they moved quickly and at customs I just had my bags scanned and gave them a form, but that was it. It seems that the FIFA women's world cup may be playing games here because there was a welcome table for them at the airport. The driver from the spanish school who picked me up was really nice and we were able to communicate pretty well in spanish. There were things I wondered about while driving that I couldn't ask about well in spanish (Names of trees, etc.), but it was neat to see a bit of San Jose. It seems like a small city and it reminds me in many ways of Mexico. The family I'm staying with is very nice. All the homes around here in what seem to be the suburbs have outside gates and courtyards/yards in front and back. The mom showed me the house and my room and introduced me to her two young adult children, and to her brother who is helping her husband paint the back patio. I had some water and chatted with the mother and daughter some and then the mom showed me how to walk to Ilisa--the language school. It's only a few blocks away which is an easy walk. There is an elementary school near the language school and it's named after Franklin Roosevelt. I wondered why. There's also a drug and alcohol treatment place that's a landmark on the walk to the school though the mom said it's locked/secure. There are two other girls here in the house who are also students and they are here for 6 months (have been here 4 months). One of them is from Oklahoma and I don't yet know where the other is from. I go on a tour tomorrow very early of a volcano (Paos is it's name), waterfall and butterfly conservatory. The father will drive me to the meeting place which is nice since I need to leave at 5:50am. It rained a little when driving from the airport, and it feels very humid now. I have internet access at the house which is nice so I can try to keep blogging about the trip.

on my way...

I woke up at 3:30am and left the house a bit after 4 to come to the airport. Check in and security was pretty smooth and I didn't even have to take my shoes off or take my computer out of my bag. I have already learned a lesson though. If they say you must check all bags at the gate they don't mean the briefcase with your computer in it. When I realized my error the flight attendant wouldn't let me go get it back from the cart by the door to the plane. When we deplaned in DC it fell off the conveyor belt on to the ground, but all appears to be working which is a relief. I ran into a former Girls on the Run coach at the airport and she and friends were going to Jamaica for UNC's spring break. Lots of UNC students on the way to exotic destinations. I sat next to a nice woman from a college in upstate--Skidmore who was on her way to Guatemala to meet students for a learning experience there. She is a Latin American history professor. I'm now at Washington Dulles airport waiting for the flight to Costa Rica. I plugged in my phone to a funny table like pole to charge it. Our plane from RDU got here early which is great, and I took a shuttle train (subway like) to get to this terminal. So far things are smooth and I am excited!

What this blog is about...

I am traveling to Costa Rica in a few days to study Spanish for a week through a grant from the Public School Foundation in CHCCS. I plan to blog to document my experiences during this trip. I hope to see a volcano and the rainforest, learn about Costa Rican culture and art, and improve my Spanish skills. I will be staying with a host family. I am studying spanish at Ilisa School in San Jose Costa Rica. A coworker studied Spanish there in the past and recommended the school and said the coast guard uses this school for their language training.