pictures from visiting fam

Oh hey, that is just me on a 4 wheeler. Steering is a lot harder than I thought and my arms were sore the next day! The background is my Father-in-Law's property...there are many pineapple farms in the arear where he lives. It was pretty muddy, my legs are still clean in the picture lol!

This is "gaspar." This fish is an endangered species, and the place where we went (Tabacón is the name, it is just outside the town of Veracruz) is one of the few places allowed to produce them for commercial reasons. However, they are not allowed to exhibition them...the restaurant had many empty tanks where customers could previously see the gaspar. It was very tasty, and you can see that it was served with "patacones" and refried beans. YUM! I would love to come back for more. 

Caño Negro. I did not realize how much of the town and area of the National Park is water. It looks like marshland! E tells me that this is a very popular location to come for bird-watching tours (of COURSE he knows all about that!) and as a result there is a pretty steady toursim industry in the town. Here you can see one of the many "lanchas" or small, flat-bottomed boats that you can pay to go on and take a tour. The sun was setting and we were not able to do that...maybe next time! 

home away from home

Well I wrapped up my 4th season at CPI almost 2 weeks ago now. This year my favorite group was Aurora University, though I did very much enjoy my Alabama group.

After an early morning airport drop-off (4am! I was up at 3am to get myself together), I went to the closest bus station (La Radial in Alajuela, literally 5 mins away!) and waited for the first bus to Esparza. It must have been about 4:30am and I was sitting on a concrete step with my shin in my hand, half-dozing when a white and orange bus pulled up and the folks around me started yelling "puerto, puerto!" That was my bus! I hopped on and it was a quick hour and 40 mins to my town, I was back in my house by 6:30am at which time I fell back asleep.

The next day (Sunday) E and I went to visit with his Mom and extended family for a few days. This trip to visit my Mother-in-Law was full of firsts! I got to spend quality time with her and my nieces, and also got to visit with my Father-in-Law and his family. I learned to ride a 4 wheeler and a motorbike, ate "gaspar" which is like a long nosed fish that looks likes a cross between fish and caiman...We went to Caño Negro, where I have never been! I saw "paca," which are small rodent like critters that look like large chhipmunks with spots instead of stripes on thier backs. These are endangered creatures and are not seen often, so that was especially cool! I also met 3 more of E's cousins on his Mom's side. He has such a large extended family that it seems like I will never meet all of them! And when we left we rode with my Sister-in-Law and got to spend time catching up with her, and the ride was much more enjoyable than public bus!

On Thursday of last week I went AGAIN to Immigration, and still no word on my status. It seems like I will just be in limbo forever, since they keep pushing the date back! I really hope that when I go next that they will have some news for me. E went with me and then we stopped to visit with my Mama Tica and hit a movie, then went home. I had to finish packing!

On Friday August 2nd I left CR and flew back to the USA, where I will be staying for a little while. I barely made my connection in FLL, I had to RUN to my gate and almost had a panic attack. My Dad picked me up around 12am from the airport, and the time adjustment has been kind of tough. Thank goodness for "sleepy time" tea!

But now I am here in Ohio...you can keep following my adventures at:
http://gringaintheusa.blogspot.com/

Hasta pronto, PURA VIDA!