12ish weeks down, less than 5 to go.
Now its gonna fly.
So what have I been up to in the past 3+ weeks that I haven't blogged? Firstly, I apologize, I have been letting my E (extrovertedness) take hold of me in my free time and have been spending a lot of time with my family here (awesome friends in Christ) rather than reflecting on what's happening.
But let's just take some time to run through what's been happening... with PICTURES!!
So I went to Guanacaste last month when I had some days free from class. I didn't really have a plan as I endured the 7 hour drive (google maps lies), but when I arrived, I was welcomed by 2 dear friends, Timothy y Thiago, who were in Liberia for their 7 week time at the other EARTH campus, La Flor. So this is what we did that weekend:
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| Visiting the other EARTH campus, La Flor, with my tour guides: Thiago (Brazil) & Timothy (Nigeria) |
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| We went to a beautiful national park |
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| The boys showing off my FIRST RENTAL CAR EVER! (Age 18 legal in CR) |
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| Gorgeous. Honestly. God was showing off. |
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| The hot sulfur springs at the volcano we visited Sunday! |
So basically I had a great time in Guancaste with my two friends. It was probably one of the best weekends I've had here! And Guanacaste is gorgeous! Its just as hot, but not nearly as humid, and the vegetation is very different. It reminded me/made me miss my temperate PA vegetation and topography...
What else? Keeping up with classes, learning lessons from God and friends, getting dirty in the field, pulling apart animal digestive systems (I will not post photos of this for the sake of those who may not appreciate it, but it was SUPER COOL), etc. etc.
2 weekends ago we went CAMPING! I was soooo excited and everyone kept asking me why, so I told them that my parents neglected me as a child and never took me camping (no permanent harm done Mom, don't worry). We went camping ON CAMPUS! So I have already shared/showed that campus is huge, and the forest reserve in which we camped is almost 1000 hectares. After walking there (~4 miles) and setting up tents, we played (I watched) futbol (soccer) at the in-forest soccer field then washed off in the river before dinner and a lovely fire.
Then the fun began. We had "guards" on night watch since there was a smallish town nearby with the potential for wandering guests... and we were in the tropical rain forest, where thrive large cats and other potentially dangerous animals. So at midnight, when everyone went to bed, I decided to be on guard duty first, with a few other friends. I wasn't that tired and got to have some good conversations before the 2 AM strange sound... that definitely woke us up. I'll just say that we didn't SEE any jaguars/large cats, but we did call security (who just happen to be armed with pistols at all times) to make sure there was nothing. All good. We were getting sleepy, then heard another strange noise - monkey jumping in nearby trees. I finally went to sleep at 5 AM (but thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful starry night and occasional meteor shower) to get up around 9. We took a dip in the river before heading back to campus. What a great time with some great friends who I am DEFINITELY going to miss...
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| Setting up camp! |
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| Super awesome campfire... complete with SMORES (a first for many of my international friends) |
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| Having fun with night shots... I really like this one for some reason. |
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| Sunday AM river time. There was a deep area further down to jump in! |
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| My dear EARTH family. |
God has been super great to me, challenging me but also blessing this time with great opportunities and experiences, not to mention reflections on what I want to do with my life (AKA what He wants to do and has yet to tell me).
Until next time, my dear gringo (and EARTH) amigos!!
