Being a tourist for halloween

First of all, Happy Halloween! Right about this time in the U.S. people are wondering the streets searching for free candy. If I was there, I would be doing the same. Even a few years ago I put on a mask (so the people with candy could not tell my age as well) and I went trick or treating. Hey, free candy people.

Most of Costa Rica does not celebrate Halloween. My host mom says that in certain places of Costa Rica some have started to celebrate because they like to imitate and learn things from the U.S. on some stuff. But nobody in my town celebrates.

This post is coming to you straight from a nice hotel! I traveled to La Fortuna today (about a 2 or 2 and a half hour bus ride from San Jose de Upala) to meet up with Howie and Diane, good family friends (they are family!). They are in Costa Rica on a tour guided trip and I got to go with them today through the jungle/rain forest on a guided tour and then we went to the hot springs! Wow, I am living it large! Now I am staying in the hotel for the night because there are no buses at night and I will return “home” tomorrow. What a great day! It was a little like déjà vu being at the hot springs because it is the same hot springs I was at over two years ago when I studied abroad here. I was so sick when I studied abroad (not sure what from—the water?) and the night we were at the hot springs, I was very sick with simultaneously throwing up and having diarrhea. At the same time. If you haven’t done it before, you should try it sometime. I mean I have heard that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Saturday I had a run in with some bats in an abandoned house. There is a protected laguna/lake near where I am living and there is a group of high school students trying to form a cooperative to reforest and help restore the area (some guy didn’t take good care of it). An abandoned house sits near the lake and so when we went in, bats were flying everywhere (we disturbed their sleep). I am learning to do what the Costa Ricans do (they live here after all and learn to survive) and they weren’t scared and just shrugged it off so I did my best to act cool. Hmmm so I wasn’t very cool about it.

I put some pictures up. They are of the two classes (Thursdays and Fridays) in the high school of the business administration class where they are taught how to start a business and be entrepreneurs. The teacher works with motivation and attitudes we should have to work with people and start our own business. This class gives students a third option besides leaving the community to work (1) or going to the university (if they don’t get in) (2). The universities here are hard to get in to.

Pictures:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/561183624nlhVvM

That is all for now. Later! -Nick