Zip-lining,Volcanoes and Haunted Sanatoriums

I feel like this is the first time I have had the chance to stop and catch my breath all week!

My third week in Costa Rica has been the busiest, but most fun yet. This weekend we went to Monteverde, a pretty town, 5 hours northwest of San Carlos. It's known for its eco-tourism, which is why a lot of us were eager to go. The ride there got off to a bumpy start, as most rides seem to here. There was an accident a few kms outside of San Carlos, so we decided rather than sitting for 2 hours until it was cleared, we would take a different route- a route which included an hour on unpaved, winding roads.

The weekend was definitely worth the trip though. On Saturday we went zip-lining, one of the coolest and most frightening things I have ever done. The feeling is indescribable-- you're in a harness hundreds of feet in the air attached to a cable holding on for dear life as you fly over the rain forest. At first I was so focused on surviving that I didn't really enjoy the view, but once I got the hang of it, positioning myself correctly became like second nature and the view was incredible! At one point we were 500 ft in the air and could see Nicaragua. (Well, at least one of the guides said we could, I'm not sure I would know what Nicaragua looks like) The zip-lining course also included repelling 90 ft. and a Tarzan swing. The swing was optional and I don't know what possessed me, but I decided I really wanted to do it. With everyone waiting below, and clinging to a rope, I took a step off the ledge and went flying over the jungle. The first few seconds were pretty terrifying, but after that it was a thrill, and one of the most amazing things I have ever done.

The rest of the weekend was a little more low-key, which was needed after the adrenaline rush of zip-lining. On Sunday we went horseback riding through the hills outside Monteverde. It was my first time, but luckily, Linda, my horse, took it easy on me. From the trails we had amazing views of the cloud forest and mountains around Monteverde and could even see Lake Arenal. Toward the end of the ride, I even got my horse up to a trot!

It was also a great week at AMURECI. Monday and Tuesday we had our English lessons in the afternoon. This week we focused on directions and places around town. I'm trying to make the lessons as meaningful as possible with the ultimate goal being that they'll be able to converse with tourists who may stop in. Next week we're going to start with personal information, and work on past and present tense. I really love volunteering there. The women at AMURECI have been so kind to me; they're patient when it takes me a bit to come up with the right word, they always make sure I eat enough at lunch and will stop and try to explain their conversations when I seem lost, and they always greet me like a friend, with a kiss on the cheek. On Monday when Mayra and Mayella saw my sunburn from the weekend, they immediately asked what happened, and in the afternoon when Mily came in, the first thing she did was grab a leaf from an aloe plant and rub the gel on my arms for me.

Yesterday we went to Cartago for the 4th anniversary of the CCS base there. There are three bases in Costa Rica, Puriscal, Cartago and San Carlos. We left at 7 am and made a couple stops along the way, one at a several hundred year old Spanish colonial church and the other at the Irazu Volcano. I liked Irazu even more than Arenal because we got to see the actual crater, and at one point we were so high we were actually above the clouds! After Irazu, we stopped at what appeared to be an old, abandoned building. We learned that it had been a sanatorium in the early 1900s, and had been home to children with tuberculosis. After that, they turned it into a juvenile correctional facility, and now it is rumored to be haunted. With a past as depressing as that, it's not hard to imagine why people might believe it to be haunted. People come from all over to see if they're brave enough to stay for a night. I'm not sure I believe it's haunted, but it was definitely creepy. Fanny and Greivin, part of the CCS staff, jumping out of dark rooms trying to scare us didn't help. The walls in the sanatorium were covered with graffiti, bible passages, anarachy symbols, creepy, cryptic messages and paintings of children. The floor boards creaked beneath our feet and in certain rooms were missing all together.

The Cartago home base is much different than ours, and maybe I'm biased, but I think ours feels more like a home. It was neat to meet volunteers from different programs though, but it did make me appreciate our group even more. After lunch we went to the Basilica de la Virgen de los Angeles, which was the prettiest church I've seen in Costa Rica. Every year on August 2nd, Costa Ricans from all over the country make a pilgrimage to see the church. Greivin told us he walked for 3 1/2 days all the way from San Carlos despite torrential downpours and mudslides!

The story goes that prior to the church's construction, Catholicism wasn't very popular with the indigenous people. One day an indigenous girl was walking in the forest and found a statue of the Virgin Mary on a rock by a river. She brought it home and locked it in a box; the next day she was walking in the woods she came across the rock and saw the doll again. This happened two nights in a row. After that she went to the local priest and he took the statue for a night. Again the next day, the statue was back on the rock. They decided it must be a miracle that the Virgin was there and so they built a church around the rock. Today you can still see the rock sitting below the church. People make the pilgrimage to ask for the Virgin Mary's help, whether it be a cure of an illness, or couples asking for a child, or farmers asking for help for their crops. The church has displays upon displays of charms, trophies and certificates that people have brought over the years to represent miracles of the Virgin Mary.

After that we walked to the ruins of another church in Cartago. People joke that Cartago has a church on every corner, and it doesn't seem to be too much of an exaggeration. This church too had a unique story. Apparently the land it was built on had been cursed. A priest had fallen in love with his brother's wife and brought him there to kill him. Later they tried to build a church there, and three times earthquakes knocked it down. After the third time, they finally decided to give up. The church remains unfinished today, sitting in a busy plaza.

Later we headed back to the Cartago base where we had a barbecue with the other volunteers. From what I saw, yesterday I think Costa Ricans might throw a better barbecue than we. For most of the party everyone was salsa-ing and merengue-ing and then the staff brought out a guitar and sang a song about friendship to the head of the Costa Rica CCS program. I know it sounds pretty hokey, but the CCS staff was genuine. They seem to really enjoy what they do and working with each other.

It's been an exhausting week, and tomorrow we head to Puerto Viejo, a beach on the Caribbean side to hang with some surfers and Costa Rican rastas. ;) Hopefully we will have a chance to try the salsa and merengue moves we've been learning the last few weeks!

Tomorrow I'm headed to the orphanage again, but that will have to be a post for another day.

Pura Vida!