It is crazy to think that this past week was my second to
last week in Quepos and my last full weekend with my host family. I know I keep
mentioning how fast the time here is passing by, but I still cannot believe
that after completing this last week I only have one week left in Quepos!
Despite being amazed by how fast the time flies by here in Costa Rica, I
continue to enjoy myself each and every week. Below are the highlights of the
past week (10/14-10/20):
Monday: From
class to class to more class, my day stayed quite busy. This morning I took
Spanish class as normal. I then enjoyed an hour break to rewind and refuel
before our class for North Central in the afternoon. And of course, I attended
Zumba tonight with my Mamá Tica.
Tuesday: Spanish
class today was a bit different than the normal because we had class in the
Backpacker’s Hostel common area. Our classroom was under construction for the
day. After class, I stayed at COSI to work on homework for the week. My Mamá
and I ate dinner together tonight just the two of us because my Papá was
extremely tired and was already asleep. After dinner, the Mexico versus Costa
Rica soccer game was on. This game was a VERY big deal for the Ticans. Costa
Rica ended up winning the game that was a major accomplishment because this was
the first time in 21 years the Costa Rica has beaten Mexico.
Wednesday: My day
today was similar to that of Monday. I had Spanish class in the morning and
then my NCC class in the afternoon. After class I came home to catch up on some
emails and such. Then, as always, my Mamá Tica and I went to Zumba. While my
Mamá and I were walking to Zumba tonight we discussed how I only have 1.5 weeks
left in Quepos. This is when it really hit me that although I am ready for a
change of pace and a new environment in San José, I am going to miss my Tican
family here in Quepos!
Thursday: Today I
had Spanish class in the morning, which I attended. However, I ended up being
about 15-20 minutes late to school today because the bus from Quepos was caught
in a long line due to construction. The electrical lines along side the road
were being replaced today. This was an eye opening process as it involved many
men and very little equipment. It was very nerve racking for me because after
the line had finally let up and we were able to pass by on the road it was
quite risky. In order to get through the road, the bus driver had to maneuver
his way in and out and sometimes over dangling electrical wires! Thankfully, I
made it to school in one piece.
Friday: In
Spanish class today we took a quiz. The quiz was not very difficult; however,
it did take a very long time to complete. After class, I stayed at COSI to work
on my essay for Profesora Cook’s class (NCC in Costa Rica). I then walked to
Café Milagro where I treated myself to an Espresso Shake after all of that hard
work! Tonight ended up being a very relaxing night spent with my host mom. I
watched T.V. and chit chatted with my mom for a while before heading to bed.
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| Where the one and only Espresso Shake can be found |
Saturday: Saturday
began as a day with very few plans and turned out to be a day full of
surprises! Jackie and I decided that although our original plans to travel to
Matapalo to see the turtles by working in the hatchery as volunteers during the
day and on patrol at night fell through that we will still go to Matapalo in
hopes that there was space available in a night patrol to see the turtles and a
place to stay over night. We took the bus costing about ¢1000 or $2 to
Matapalo. Upon arriving in Matapalo there was very little surrounding us, just
a single road with a very small grocery store. We looked around for a bit
before seeing a sign that advertised a hotel and pointed to Matapalo Beach. We
knew that we needed to get to Matapalo Beach in order to find the turtle
hatchery. After walking for about 15 to 20 minutes we arrived at the turtle
hatchery “headquarters” where we asked one of the workers if we could sign up
to go on a patrol that night. She said yes and wrote our names on a whiteboard.
We were set to go on a two hour patrol of Matapalo Beach to look for the
turtles and collect turtles eggs to bring to the hatchery to later be released back
into the ocean.
At 11:15 that night we set out under the bright light of the
full moon in search of las tortugas. Our tour guide began to warn us that not
every patrol gets the pleasure of seeing turtles and especially with the bright
moon tonight we may not have the best of luck! Despite these precautions we
were hopeful that we would be able to see a turtle. As it turns out, we were
extremely lucky! We had the fortune of not only seeing a turtle return to the
ocean after laying it’s eggs, but also of counting and collecting the 79 eggs
that the turtle had laid, holding the turtle eggs that had just been laid, and
viewing along with holding a baby turtle before it was released into the wild!!
Over all this adventure was quite eye opening and very well worth the journey.
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| The sign that led us to victory at Matapalo Beach |
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| The beauty of a sunset on Matapalo Beach |
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| The sign in front of the Turtle Hatchery |
Sunday: After an
exciting series of events last night, we caught the 9 o’clock bus in the
morning back home to Quepos. The remainder of the day I spent reading two chapters
and writing a paper for my North Central class here in Costa Rica.
Thank you so much for keeping up with my blog and taking the
time to read. Until next time!!
~Kailey
