LA

So... we're moving to LA on Saturday. We got an apartment near the Burbank Airport. Its one bedroom, one bathroom and has a nice balcony with storage. Its close to the airport, therefore its close to transit. Its all very exciting except one thing... we don't have jobs. We feel like when we're there we will be better equipped to get jobs, but we'll see. I waver between excited and terrified but my optimisim usually wins.
I think we're going to get cell phones on Monday. Hopefully they won't be too expensive and we can give everyone our numbers. It will be strange to have a cell phone again, that's for sure.
I'm still trying to get into school. My adivsor hasn't been in her office and won't be until school starts, so when we get there I have to go find someone to talk to so I can register. I hear it helps to register for classes in college.
I'll try to keep this updated as our new adventure begins!

Engagement in Samara

So, here's the story you've all been waiting for!

Its a funny story, really. Every time this year that were somewhere romantic on a trip (the Carribbean, Samara, Panama, the mountains, etc) I would always think about how romantic it would be for Jordan to propose there.
However, when he did actually pop the question, I was totally shocked and honestly had not been thinking about it that whole weekend.

A few teachers decided to go to the beach the weekend after the last week of school. Jordan and I had planned all along to spend our last trip in Samara as we had done for our first trip in Costa Rica. Everyone left on Sunday morning except us because we were leaving on Monday instead. We had spent the morning wandering town and hanging out at the beach. We decided to go surfing but we wanted to digest our lunch first (you wanted the whole story, right?) so we walked down the beach a bit to read until we were ready.

Not long after we sat down Jordan asked me to stand up.

"Why?"

"Just stand up."

"Um, okay..."

Just then I saw something in his hand and I realized what was going on. I started getting embarrassed because there were people around. I just wanted him to stand up. He said he loved me very much and asked if I would marry him. I said, "Yes. Stand up!"

He stood up and we hugged and then he got back down on his knee to put the ring on my finger. I pulled him up again. How embarrassing! (Really there was no one around and no one noticed, but for me there might as well have been 100 people watching.)

We realized that the ring didn't fit, but he told me not to worry because there were 4 more possibilities back in the room. He had bought the first ring in Dominical when Amber and Danny were visiting. But he second guessed his choice and ended up with 5 rings total. None of them fit, however, so we had to find another one the next day before we left.



Directly after I said yes it started raining. Then it poured. We decided to go in the ocean (in CR the water, air and rain are all the same temperature). We swam and played until we were the only ones left on the beach. Then we walked back in the rain and got ready for dinner. It was still raining so we were the only ones at the restaurant. But, as you can imagine I'm sure, it didn't matter.





So, that's the story. It was wonderful and perfect!

Rafting

Yes, I am going to go in chronological order. I haven't been good about posting, but in order to keep everything in order, I'm going to write about this first and then the post I'm sure most of you are here to read.
So, rafting... Well, as some of you may know, I'm scared of everything. Rafting is no exception. After all the safety information, we loaded into our boats and headed down the river. We had practiced all the commands and our guide seemed very good (also, it was his birthday and I figured this was a good sign that he would try to keep us alive so that he could go to his birthday party later that day).
Our first few "rapids" were a little scary for me. The biggest of the day was a class four rapid, and the first few were barely class ones. That made me little nervous. Turns out my fear was founded and on the first real class one rapid, the whole boat flipped and everyone flew out into the water. No, I'm not joking.
I lost my paddle, we all scrambled to find the top of the water and eventually we all made it back into the boat. It was startling but turned out okay, so I had a little more confidence that I would survive this adventure.


The rest of the day went smoothly except on the biggest rapid. Jordan and our friend Andrew were in the front of the boat and Andrew's wife Ali and I were behind the boys. On the biggest rapid, Andrew and Jordan were shot out of the boat and into the rapids. The guide yelled for Ali and I to get in the front.
Get in the front? No thanks.
I wanted to say no. In reality I knew I had now choice so we hoisted ourselves to the front. I don't really remember the rest of the rapid just that I don't think I was really paddling and all I focused on was staying in the boat.


After the rapid we saw that Andrew and Jordan had been rescued by other boats. They had even picked up Jordan's lost shoe somewhere along the way.
It was a fund bonding experience and I'm glad I did it. I don't know, however, if I ever need to do it again. :)

Final Morning in Costa Rica

Good "morning".
Really its 4:30 am. Is that morning? I think its an evil hour.
I'm writing a quick post because we're leaving in exactly 3.5 hours for the US. I have mixed feelings about leaving, but mostly right now I'm just tired and ready to be done traveling. It will be nice to fully unpack and settle into the next fun adventure in LA! I've said all my good-byes and it feels like its time to move on down the road.
Thanks to all of you who have supported our trip here. We couldn't have been so successful without you and we can't wait to reconnect with all you long-lost friends!
Love you guys!

When it Rains...

I wanted to share these pictures of Heredia. Its rainy season again and so we get thunderstorms most afternoons. All the streets are outfitted with deep ditches for the rain, but sometimes that just isn't enough. Here are some pictures of the street by our house after some rain.



Speaking of rain, the other weekend Jordan and I decided to take an overnight to a few near-by towns and it rained almost the whole time. First we went to Sarchi and had lunch. Sarchi is the best place in the country to find all the "artesenia" that you could ever want to see. There are warehouses of stuff from all over the country (and probably China). We spent a little time looking around one store with a group on a shore excursion from their cruise. We contemplated getting on the bus and coveted the incredible spread of fruit they were provided, but decided to go to Grecia insted.

Grecia is a small Tico town that is pretty typical. It does have one really cool sight- an all metal church. It was built in Europe then dismantled into pieces and shipped to Costa Rica. It was beautiful but it was also raining and we soon lost interest in the town and headed home early. So much for our overnight, but we did get to meet up with friends when we got back, which was much better!

Church in Grecia



Me and the church

Then I yawned and Jordan thought i would be good to take my picture.


And then I caught him!

Pirate Party

I know some of you saw these pictures on Facebook, but here are my favorites:

Last month a big group of teachers and Spanish students from our school go together at a friend's (and fellow Intercultura-ite) house for a pirate party. I made a hook for the occasion and everything! It was a really fun party and we ended up dancing for hours. And yes, that is a small bottle of wine I'm drinking. It was yummy Argentinian wine. Mmm....



Of course there was a fire! I think they burned the chair.


Forrest gave me a cool tattoo. Now I'm really a pirate!


Justin and Nico had the best costumes at the party.

Gotta love the bird!

Panama

For our final border run in March we went to Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Bocas is an archipelago of islands on the Caribbean side of Panama. We took the bus to the border then walked across a crazy-rickety bridge before boarding a taxi then a water taxi. The main island is home to many ex-pats and a lot of people who visit end up staying. The main town, Bocas Town, is small with a lot of cool local crafts and restaurants.

The first night we continued on to the island of Bastimentos. This is a smaller island with a small village and no cars. The first night we stayed at Hotel Bastimentos- a really sweet yellow hostel with a beautiful view of the ocean. We cooked and read and relaxed the next day. There isn't really much to do on the island but it was relaxing! The next day we hiked with a group of other people from the hostel to Wizard Beach. The beach was on the other side of the island. Because it rained all night the night before the train was incredibly muddy. We ended up taking off our shoes so we didn’t lose them and walking barefoot through the muc. There was virtually no one at the beach when we got there so we swam, read and enjoyed the sun. It was great!




The next day we went back to Bocas Town and stayed at a nice hotel as a treat for our two year anniversary (aw… I know!) The hotel was really fancy and we even had air-conditioning and a fridge in our room. We ate on nice dinner on the bay but the rest of the time we sat on our balcony, reading and watching all the people on the bay. Those two days we ate one brick of Gouda cheese, 2 loaves of bread and fruit. It was so nice to be in a fancy hotel and be able to enjoy it for 2 days. How refreshing!



We headed back early in the morning in order to catch the bus back to San Jose. I think that Bocas del Toro was one of my favorite places we visited. It had a wonderful Caribbean vibe and it was really relaxed. I like the island lifestyle, but I don't think I could do it permanently.