oh how they love their wam-ma :)

kanakuk

[My view all summer from the dock]

K to the A to the N-A-K-U-K, K-2.... Kanakuk put your hands to clap!

What a summer at kamp. I was at staff training before Costa Rica and then two days after coming back from CR I went back to kamp for Term 2. There were so many kids getting sick with the flu so there was extra work to be done by everyone for sanitization stuff. yuk! It was awesome to be at the lake for a month straight and to meet so many awesome people from all over the world.... but being a Kitchie was definitely the hardest job I've ever had [just ask anyone about how hard a Kitchie works...]

[Oh Teale!]

[This guy and girl was the source of much laughter with the kitchies...]

What an experience :)

day 9

23.06.09

FINALLY GOING HOME!

But not after being delayed on the runway for over an hour in Costa Rica. Then the challenge was getting through security and customs and making it on our connecting flight to Springfield.

We ended up making it to SGF... never was I so happy to be in Springfield. Mom, Brad, Kari, and Evan met me at the airport when I flew in. I remember seeing them through the glass as we were walking out from the gate and next thing I know Evan is running towards me. He even ran through some guys legs to get to me :)

Now my luggage... because our flights were delayed our luggage didn't make it on our flight, but luckily it was on the next flight into Springfield.

What a trip to Costa Rica.... what fun! But I was so happy to be home :)

day 8

22.06.09

This was supposed to be the day that we [Angela, Lydia and I] were supposed to get on a plane and head back to the states. Lydia and Angela kind of wanted to stay longer but I was sooo ready to go home.

Got all of my stuff packed in my bags... waited for a cab that never came, so my host mom and I had to find someone to take us to the airport.... and finally after an hour and a half in this car I finally made it to the airport! I got out of the car, got my bags out, my host mom said 'Hasta Luego' and I went in the airport.... so happy to be headed home. Made it there and stood in line forever to find out.... that I was not going home that day. Two planes had ran into each other on the runway and one of them was the plane we were supposed to get on. We had the choice to either fly to Newark NJ and stay there over night or stay in CR for another night.

So, we chose CR. If we are going to be somewhere besides home, why not stay in CR for another day?!? Free hotel [with free phone AND hot water!], free food, free cab, and a day to do nothing... So we went to a waterfall...

day 7

21.06.09

This was our last full day together in CR...

We got on a bus to go on our final day of excursions; one of the tiny busetas that we had ridden around in all week. We were on our way and knew it was going to be a long time before we reached our destination. We were all chatting in the bus and having a good time and next thing you know there's a big bang... I turn and look and see the window next to me is completely shattered. The driver pulls over... turns out when we passed a tractor cutting the grass on side of the road, a rock got chucked and hit the window. What a story to add to the trip. So, we sit at this little restaurant on side of the road for over an hour waiting for another buseta to pick us up.

[After the rock incident, we then had to pass over this bridge... comforting, huh? And the water didn't look like something that we should swim in...]

We finally made it to the place we were heading and chose to zipline, horseback ride, and ride in the sky tram. Ziplining was so much fun but so scary to start out.... being hung by a harness to this cable hundreds of feet over the forest and having someone push you off a platform to go flying through the air. :)

[View from the sky tram... :) ]

[View while riding horses. This is what we flew over/through while ziplining...]

What a day... After getting home some of us went back to El Centro for a last night of hanging out in the city. I was soooo ready to head home the next day. Spent the night packing and repacking... it was hard to fit all my stuff in my suitcase. Home tomorrow!

day 6

20.06.09

It was an hour and a half bus ride to get to Puntarenas from Alajuela where we boarded a catamaran that took us to Isla Tortuga!!!! Finally, we were heading to a beach :) Fishing is still a very popular career for many people in the area.... and many of the boats are very old!
The beach!!!!! A great day for the beach too!There was even a band playing while we ate lunch... they were good.Kayaking for 30 minutes = $5.... we kayaked from this point to the other island (that you can see on the left.) I was slightly scared because of the VERY large waves, but I did it!A pretty sunset on the way back. On the way back to the dock we were all pretty much falling asleep on the boat.

Day 6 was amazing.... long, but amazing. It was great to just relax! And a little excitement with the kayaking. Only 1 full day left...

day 5

19.06.09

This was day numero uno of our excursions!!!! 4-in-1 tour: Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Plantation, Grecia, and Sarchi...

We were very lucky to be able to see the volcano! Many times the cloud cover is so great you can't see anything. (The white in the top of the picture is all clouds!) We saw the volcano and took pictures and then walked to the lagoon.... after pictures there, we walked back past the volcano and couldn't see it! The time in between the two visits was only about 30 or 45 minutes!I thought this sign was funny! (If you can't read it, it says: Do not descend to the crater.) HAHA... apparently someone has tried it if there's a sign...This is at the coffee plantation. (I will upload some other pictures of this part of the tour once I get some from my fellow travelers!) This picture shows how they start growing the coffee plants. The big plants in the middle of the picture (that are really leafy) are the full size coffee plants. [I don't really like coffee, so this part of the tour wasn't that interesting for me!]Grecia is known for this ginormous metal church. The church is made of metal because of all of the storms. You can kind of see the size of the church because of how small we are in the picture. There were green parrots on the ledges of the church but I didn't have a good picture of them.Sarchi is home of the Ox Carts. Ox carts were used back in the day for farming and I think for travel. Now they are mostly for decoration.

And all of the oxcarts are still handpainted! You could tell this guy was proud of his work when we asked if we could take a picture of him painting!
So day 5 was the beginning of even more fun for us! It was very cool getting to travel outside of Alajuela to see what the other areas of Costa Rica were like. We were all really tired when we arrived at our houses that evening! only 2 more full days left...