Long time no see...

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted on here. I've just been busy, busy, busy... The end of the bimester is coming up and I've been running around trying to get last minute grades and papers graded. What a load! However, I did manage to go to Manuel Antonio this weekend, which is an incredible beach here on the Pacific side of the country. You come up over the mountain and then you get a view of the sea. Naturally it is Gringo country as Americans tend to take up the nicest areas of Costa Rica given the dollar to colon ratio. I felt like I hadn't really left the states. I stayed in Quepos with a friend and then we took the bus to Manuel Antonio which is about 15 minutes away. You have to go into the national park to see the really beautiful beaches. It is basically rainforest that comes right up to the sand. There were monkeys in the trees, iguanas, and a really strange animal that I don't the name of. It looked sort of like an anteater, but it climbed trees. Too bad it started to rain about halfway through the day..sigh. That's the trouble with going to the beach during rainy season. Hopefully, I can put pictures up this weekend. I know I keep saying that....

My first month in Costa Rica

Well, it's been my first month here in Costa Rica. It's been quite an experience so far. Nothing earth shattering - just getting my bearings and learning the language a little at a time. This evening is The Romeria (The Pilgrimage). It is a religious event that takes place every year. People from all over the country walk to Cartago to touch the stone of La Virgen de Los Angeles. Supposedly, a long time ago in a cave a girl saw the Virgin in a stone and thought it was a doll and tried to take it home. However, the next morning it was gone. She repeated the process for several days until, she decided to talk to a priest about it. They claim that it is the image of the Virgin Mary in the stone. They also claim that the stone is black because she is the Virgin Mother of indigenous people as well. Therefore, they built a church above the cave. Nowadays, many people come to ask for help, to cure an illness, etc. If their illness has been cured, they bring a golden gift for the church. Supposedly, the church is covered with gold organs of body parts that have been healed. Tonight there are supposed to be about a million of people doing the pilgrimage. Many people walk and some do it on their knees. In fact the church has signs that say "People Walking" "People on their knees", etc. Some have already started and by tonight the main street will be closed off and it will be packed. I hope I can get home from here.
I also checked out Escazu yesterday. Escazu is a secluded area in a valley slightly hidden from the rest of San Jose. It it very exlcusive and many wealthy people live there - especially Americans. It's a very nice area, but too expensive to hang out there all the time. They have a really nice mall there with lots of expensive stores. Other than that, nothing too exciting to report.