In My Free Time: Mission Photo!

Well the first month of morning Spanish classes are over. And since this month I'm not taking a morning class, I have TONS of free time on my hands.  Yesterday I was pondering all the possibilities with which I can spent my time. A new photo project then occurred to me! 

I have decided to look deeper into the culture of Costa Rica by exploring the vast amounts of life that grows here.  While on a run the other day, I noticed several times the occurrence of plants reaching out from between fence posts or growing between the concrete. Amongst places where nature doesn't necessarily have a place, life persists. It is a pretty generic project, but every photography student should have some of those, right? It helps on your specific journey in photography and in life.  As I thought more about this project, I couldn't help but relate. Even in the most ugly of places, beauty is present. I have decided this project symbolizes the beauty in the little things, in every single person, and in places where beauty is unexpected. 

So far, I have started my project with the tiny fern plant growing along side my house. It is the anchor photo in this series, since it inspired the first thought.

~"If we could see the miracle of one flower clearly, your whole life would change."~ 

An Attempt at a Trip to Irazu Volcano

This weekend I stayed here in San Jose and yesterday some of took a trip to hike around Volcan Irazu. Luck was not out for us yesterday. We spent two hours trying to flag down a bus to take us to Cartago, the town close to the volcano.  Our Tico friend told us that is what we were supposed to do, but we came to find out we were not standing on a certain cement block meant to be a bus station! Eventually we were too frustrated to continue, and our Tico friend Carlos, had to drive back and pick us up. Finally we were on our way to the volcano, but by the time we got up there, they had closed for the day!! Talk about luckless! haha So we reluctantly turned around and headed back down the hill. We stopped at this soda (aka diner) and had an afternoon snack. On the way down the hill, we stopped several times to take photos of the absolutely stunning sunset. By far one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life!!!!

Tamarindo Beach

Last weekend was our last excursion together as an Independent group. (There are several different groups of study abroad programs, all of which go to different places for excursions on the weekends.) We went to the beautiful town of Tamarindo! It was such a great little place, I loved it! But then again, what place don't I like here in Costa Rica... haha Tamarindo was definitely more touristy than the other places I have been, and in turn,there was more expensive food and merchandise.  The beach was absolutely stunning!  

Just a part of Tamarindo Beach

Roommates!

Here at Tamarindo, we didn't have much on the agenda besides chill on the beach, all day long! <3 It was so so great to be able to just relax and be worry-free.  People were swimming, tanning, and tons of us from the group learned how to surf! I decided that my horrible balance lost me the chance to try it out, but maybe some day! I thoroughly enjoyed just walking along the beach, tanning (or trying to...), and swimming. Two of my roommates from another study abroad program also went to Tamarindo, so I was able to see them. It was unfortunate though that we didn't get to see each other the rest of the time. That's how large this beach was! Saturday evening we walked to a rocky area to watch the sunset, it was a beautiful thing. Saturday night, the group spent almost the entire night out at the beach. Under a full moon, we had the time of our lives. I cannot say enough how blessed my life is!

Sunset at a part of Tamarindo Beach

Sunday, Nikki, Lexi, and I went walking down the very far part of the beach, in search of hermit crabs we heard rumors about! Unfortunately, we didn't find any, but in its place, there were thousands and thousands of shells washed up on the beach!! This gave me the idea (along with Pinterest) to fill a glass container full of shells I collected from all the beaches I've been to. Sure, you can buy these at the store, but not only was this free, I will also have several great stories for all the shells and a memory forever. 

Shells at Tamarindo Beach 

All in all, it was yet another great trip! Love life.

Mas Comida and The Church of Cartago

Mercado de Cartago

The food here in Costa Rica just keeps getting better and better! Our Spanish class took a field trip last Friday to Cartago, a town about half and hour away from San Jose. We went to a local farmer's market called Mercado de Cartago and browsed among the tons and tons of stands full of all kinds of fruit! It was quite the colorful event. 

Carambola (Starfruit)

Pejibaye (una verdura)

Maracuya - A fruit I did a presentation about in my Spanish class.

The typical bakery

I tried a pastry called pastel de Guayaba- amazingly good!!

While wondering around the market, my friend Sam and I stumbled upon some hedgehogs for sale!! Thus, I took the opportunity to hold one for the first time! Those little spikes aren't for nothing.  Every time they're spooked, they prick their spines out. It was a very interesting but painful thing to experience. They were such darling creatures, nonetheless. 

On our field trip, we also saw a church in Cartago names Basilica de Cartago. It was absolutely beautiful architecturally and spiritually.  My professor, Silvia, shared with us the importance of the Virgin Mary to the Central American culture.  This belief is called Marianismo.  This is the symbol for acceptance of one's identity and one's culture. It was a beautiful thing to see people in their holy place.

Basilica de Cartago

Inside Basilica de Cartago

Where is your holy place?

Beautiful Architecture outside the church

Exploring all the beautiful tropical fruit and vegetables, experiencing the Basilica de Cartago, and holding a hedge by far made my day.

~"I have found that if you love life, life will love you right back."-Arthur Rubinstein~

Una Perrita, Bella!

Tuesday night, we added a new member to our Tico family! I came back home late into the night from the soccer games and there in the family room, Cami was holding a tiny little baby! What a surprise!! Her name is Bella, and she is one of the most precious puppies. I've always wanted to have a puppy and watch them grow up and what do you know, dreams always come true in Costa Rica! Que precioso.  

 Se llama Bella.

Trying to fit in with Luna and Sophia.  

                                                                                                             

"Notice the small things, and the world always seems large." 

El Futbol de Costa Rica

Tuesday I spent all day at the stadium having a great time watching the soccer games! For only $12, it was a good time.  It was my goal to watch Costa Rica play at least once live, because after all, I am in Costa Rica - where everyone loves futbol! We watched three games total. Nicaragua was beat by Belize 1-2. Second game, Panama tied to Honduras 1-1. The last and most exciting game was Costa Rica vs Guatemala! Unfortunately, they tied, but it was nonetheless a good game!

Tropical Forests and Costa Rican Coffee

This past weekend was definitely a beautiful one!! Saturday was our trip to the Volcano Poas and La Paz Waterfall. We had to leave at the crack of dawn, but it was totally worth it. We stopped at a coffee shop for some coffee and to check out one of many the coffee plantations in Costa Rica.  Then we headed up to the mountain, where it slowly got colder and colder. Little did we know it was going to be rainy and cold up at the top.. I was a bit unprepared without a rain jacket, but I made do. Fortunately, there is a certain plant called "Poor Man's Umbrella". I'm sure you can guess why? It has the biggest leaves I've ever seen!!! 

"Poor Man's Umbrella" putting it to good use!

The walk up to the crater was wet and when we finally reached it, it was too cloudy to see anything of the crater! Sad day.. :( Next, we adventured to La Paz Waterfall. By this time, it was about noon and all of us were STARVING! We were definitely looking forward to the buffet at La Paz and absolutely chowed down. My stomach was hurting so bad from the sudden large input of food and coffee. When I felt like I could finally walk again, Nikki, Lexi, Alexis, and I went exploring around the animal exhibits.  They had so many wildcats I was in love!! The only huge bummer was that my camera decided to die right as we start exploring. I mean, I suppose it was my fault for not charging it ahead of time. Que mal! We saw tons of ocelots, baby and adults, and a HUGE jaguar. He was such beauty! I cross my fingers in hopes of seeing one of these guys on our field trips, sadly there is almost no chance of seeing one because of how shy they can be.   

The descent down to the waterfall was quite the climb down! I should've counted how many stairs we had to go down, but I  know it was tons!! Completely worth it though, because we were surrounded by serene rain forest. La Paz was an incredible sight just like every waterfall is. Energetic yet calming, I had such a great time there.  Slowly being covered in a mist of water didn't bother me much compared to the beauty I watched in exchange. After spending a good amount of time at the store at the bottom- internally struggling whether or not to buy everything in the store- we headed back home.    

Sunday, we went to the coffee plantation of Cafe Britt. We took a tour of the plantation and the process of making coffee beans in their factory. It was an interesting tour, but I was anxious to check out the shop!! It was full of all kinds of different coffee they make right there at Cafe Britt.  I took quite some time deciding which two (my self limit) coffee types I wanted. Then I spent some more time checking out all the different kinds of coffee!! Guava chocolate, passion fruit chocolate, macadamia nut chocolate were just a few.  I spent some well deserved colones there, and I don't regret it. :)

 "You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."