Last Day

It´s my LAST day in Central America as I will be flying out of San Jose, Costa Rica tomorrow at 600am. I am overwhelmed with emotions...excitement, sadness, anxiety. I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, to eating at my favorite places and having a home made meal, hot showers, clean clothes and a variety of clothes (been wearing the same few things for 4.5 months), my car, summer in Oregon and so much more. At the same time, I am so sad to leave as I don´t know if I will ever have the opportunity to travel like this again. Once summer is over, it´s back to school and work...the the real world. My mom did point out that at least I had the opportunity to do this trip, as many only dream of doing something like this.

Since my last blog, I´ve been taking it easy in Costa Rica. I spent a few days in Monteverde. My only reason for going there was to do the extreme canopy tour. The canopy course was up in the forest, with 18 different platforms, a repel, tarzan swing and ¨superman¨zip line (where you are attatched to the zip line by your back and face down as you fly through the air). It was such a fun day, flying over the lush trees and land.

After Monteverde I took a bus over to the Nicoya Penninsula, more specifically Tamarindo. Tamarindo used to be a small unknown beach town, and then was discovered by foreigners. It´s now run by people from all over the world...Argentina, the USA, Holland, etc. The moment I arrived, I jumped off the bus, unloaded my bag at the nearest hostel and ran strait to the beach for a late afternoon swim. The water is so warm and inviting, although not the cleanest due to all the construction of building high rises around Tamarindo. Tamarindo reminded me of Southern California, the beach, surf shops and little strip malls, lots and lots of Americans on vacation. But, I can see why it´s a popular tourist destination. My second day in Tamarindo, I took a surf lesson from the hostel owner, and actually stood up a few times. It was a lot of hard work, but so much fun. The remaining days in Tamarindo I continued to do the same thing...surf, swim, sun bathe and enjoy the last few days of vacation. I was really fortunate to have stayed at the hostel I was at, as it is run by two friendly Argentinians and there was a great group of people form all over the world...Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Israel, Switzerland, Holland, Costa Rica and more. Meeting people from all over the world has been such a wonderfu part of my travels. Now, not only do I have contacts all over the world, but it has been such an educational experience for me as I have been learning so much about the way people around the world live, view life and how things in their countries work such as health care, education and politics. So, not only did I learn about the countries I visited, but places all over the world.

This evening will be a relaxing one since I have to get up so early. I feel as though my trip has already come to an end, and that all that is left are the plane rides home. This has been the best four and a half months of my life, with many difficult times. My favorite things have been the people that I´ve met from all over the world, chicken bus rides, Maya ruins, Lake Atitlan, the beaches and all the other natural beauty. There were hard moments...when a man followed and grabbed me while I was in Belize, the car accident in Guatemala, long bus rides in very uncomfortable seats, feeling homesick at so many different points in the trip. All around this trip has changed my life and I wouldn´t change a single moment of it. I´ve gained so much, it´s hard to put into words. All I can say to people is TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL! It´s the greatest privelege that we as Americans have. So, take advantage!