One of the highlights of the trip was an ATV tour we took. It was a 4 hour adventure from the sea in Jaco all the way up to top of the tallest mountain in the area. The views were amazing and when we stopped and looked out it was beautiful, but we would keep going up and up and the views got bigger and and even better. Unfortunately as usual, the photos just don't do justice. The tour was just for Nick and I and our guide, it was our first time on ATV's and it took me a little while to get comfortable driving...Nick definitely wanted to go a lot faster than I was letting him as he stayed behind me. The tour is definitely recommended to anyone looking for a bit of adventure and great scenery.

On our tour up to the top we stopped and visited with a local monkey who was definitely a 'Curious George'



We then went a little further and stopped for lunch at a Soda restuarant located at the very top where we had rice and beans and enjoyed the awesome scenery.




On the way down we stopped at a waterfall and although the water was limited, I still managed to climb up and jump in it!

During our week we had Spanish lessons in the morning from 10-12 and then a lab from 3-4, a good amount of time to get some much needed practice. Unfortunately, Spanish was not the highlight of the trip, at least for me. I am pretty sure Nick would agree, although it was good for him to learn a few of the basics.

This was my first day in Spanish class (I was placed in level 4), Monday morning 10am. Remember I haven't spoken a peep of Spanish in 8 years!

Instructor: (all in Spanish obviously) Good morning, ah, you're new. How are you? Where are you from....lalalalal

(followed by)

Okay today I want you to read the newspaper, pick out an article and then do a 5 minute presentation on the article.

Jen: What the F***! (I didn't really say that, don't know how to swear in Spanish!) Excuse me, a 5 minute presentation?

Instructor: Yes, just pick any article relevant

Jen: I'm sorry, but I might be in the wrong level

Instructor: You'll be fine, just try!

This is pretty much how Spanish class was for me during the week, always a couple steps (or levels) behind. Yes I started to unlock some of my Spanish that I learned oh so long ago, but wasn't as productive as I had hoped.

The problems was that Nick's level 1 and my level 4 had the same schedule. If I was in level 2 or 3 ( I probably should've been in level 3) then we would've had class and surfed at different times which would've sucked. So I stuck it out, did my presentation, it was a lot of um and ums as the teacher helped me get through it (no notes as well).

The classes were way to academic based, doing grammar worksheets (these were easy, in school I was good at the writing, but never the speaking!), writing, etc. This wasn't very helpful for me who just wanted to practice having some conversations, this would've been much more helpful.

After Wednesday, Nick and I retired from our Spanish classes, that's right we didn't drop out, just played hooky. And in the end managed to speak a lot more Spanish then in class. We did an awesome ATV tour into the mountains (will have it's own blog entry) as well as a Canopy Zipline tour along with a great day at a pretty whitesand beach (Jaco is a blacksand...kind of nasty beach) which was nice. These last two days out of the classroom were much better spent.

We had a great time in CR, despite a few mishaps such as, Nick finding out he was allergic to Jellyfish, venturing to the hospital to see if I needed stictches in my lip after a surfing accident, finding out our waterproof camera didn't work in the surf and quickly died, running of money and then getting delayed on the way home in San Jose airport for way too long with a stayover in Houston....in addition...here's what we got up to!

PURA VIDA...

can be seen or heard almost anywhere while in Costa Rica, meaning 'Pure Life' in Spanish, it's used as a greeting and a goodbye and basically as words to live by. And with the beautiful scenery that surrounds this country it's obvious why they have adopted this versatile phrase.

I've wanted to do a surf and Spanish camp for while now, to get better at surfing and practice all that Spanish that has been bottled up in my head for years now. Whenever I have gone surfing before, it was for a one day here or there, renting a board in Australia at the beach a couple times or borrowing Nick's super short board and deciding that I sucked at it. It's always been something I could see myself doing, but then again it's much harder than it looks. This was my chance and thankfully Nick agreed to both parts the Spanish and the surfing for a week to learn and finally get the hang of it.

We stayed the week at the Escuela del Mundo, 'School of the World' which was pretty much like a hostel, although a pretty cool house. We stayed at the school with probably 15 other students who were busy studying Spanish and learning any one of the following: yoga, surfing or photography. Many of the others were there for weeks or planned on staying much longer than our very short 6 days. Looking back a week wasn't long enough, just enough to want to do something similar, somewhere else, for a longer period of time in the future.



Our first day there, we drove straight from San Jose to Jaco Beach, thankfully avoiding any time spent in San Jose, from what we heard it can be a bit of a dangerous place. And after being mugged once this year already, I didn't fancy staying in the city for the night, seeing some of the sites just to possible have something similar happen. Yes I'm a bit jaded now and not as trusting of places or just more vigilant, but regardless it was nice to just get to the beach.

We stayed the first night at a small hotel just around the corner from the School of World as we couldn't check in yet. Jaco beach is definitely a tourist trap with some touristy restaurants that charge way too much compared to what the locals would ever pay...and yes we got stuck in one the first night. Sad thing was, it wasn't even very good, just expensive. We would soon learn that Costa Rica while being in Central America is quite expensive. Add on the tours you want to enjoy and a splurge at the Marriott at the end it makes for a costly trip....fun, a lot of fun, but costly.