Panama-nia: sneak peek!

Just got home to Costa Rica from our 4 day trek down south(east) to our neighbor, Panama! I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to add another stamp to my passport before heading home so we decided to venture to Bocas del Toro. 

The bus driver drove like a maniac on the way home tonight so we made the trip in 1 1/2 hrs less than expected. A little shaken from the fear of driving over a few cliffs here & there, but thoroughly pleased to be back in my cozy bungalow. 

I am too excited about the wonderful adventure that we had so before I crash, I'm going to give you a sneak peek (it's all I have the energy for!). 

It. Was. Just. Lovely. 

These are no filter, no edit- too tired for that. You're getting the real thing.

Panama/Costa Rica BORDER CROSSING!
Yes, literally this bridge is how you cross the border. 

clear blue.

Riding bikes around town!

The most wonderful sailboat tour.

just beautiful. 

Whale Tales

This past weekend I was overjoyed to finally get out and experience Costa Rica again! 

We had a long weekend so my new roommate, Ashley, and I hit the road Friday morning for Uvita (Bahia Ballena), Costa Rica. First we headed down to San Jose to catch a bus to Posas Canoas 

(literally I could not pronounce that right- everyone at the bus station kept laughing at me). 

We were all set to buy our 7:30AM bus ticket...

when we found out that it was completely sold out. 

The next bus left at 11:00 AM. So, we were left with quite a few hours to kill in a not so friendly neighborhood. But we made the most of this 'inconvenient but not the end of the world' situation by enjoying some gallo pinto (rice & beans) & eggs for breakfast and practicing our Spanish.

Finally we made it to our hostel, The Tucan Hotel, in the middle of a Costa Rican rainstorm. 

It was pretty hippie style, to say the least- but we loved it!

We paid $6 to sleep in hammocks. Sounds glamorous at first, but I ended up with about 25 bug bites on my face ( I'll spare you the gory details and pictures, I promise) and my neck has been sore ever since. 

I probably will opt for the $10 room next time.

Anyway, the whole reason we chose Uvita was because it's ballena (whale) season!!! 

From July-September, whales from the Southern Pacific migrate up to the warmer waters of Costa Rica to have babies and raise their young! So we booked our tour and headed out bright and early Saturday morning.

On our boat tour, we got to see a mama whale and her baby!

And a few jumping dolphins!

The whole time I was in awe of the Lord's craftsmanship. These coves where the whales hideout are literally shaped like a whale's tale- check it out (aerial view):

AND there's an island located in one of the coves called "Whale Island". No, not because whales go there. But because there is a hole in the island so water sprays out of the island, just like a whale's blow hole. It just felt like it was all connected in a beautiful design by our Creator. 

PLUS it didn't storm that afternoon so got to spend the rest of the afternoon on the expansive beaches.

Sunday morning, we hiked up the nearby mountain at 6AM to find this hidden little gem. We were in awe of the beauty of these clear blue cataratas (waterfalls). The only way it could have been more perfect would have been if McCray was there- his heart loves waterfalls so much!

So anyway, this was just a recap of another beautiful, magical, 

and slightly unbelievable weekend in my big backyard.

"Begin with the End in Mind"

So this is my friend, Suzanne. She's an intern from Holland at our school and she'll be here until June. We both speak English. So of course, we became friends right away.

I've discovered that in Europe, people regularly do interesting things like...stay in hostels. So, it was naturally her duty to introduce me to my first hostel experience the first weekend that we met! So Friday morning, we got up at  4AM, jumped on a bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, and suffered leg cramps and neck pains for four hours in the Tico sized bus seats.

Before this trip, my idea of a hostel was not very optimistic. My thoughts were uncomfortable beds, dirty, bland gray rooms, and a little bit sketchy.

Well as it turns out, that's not how they do it in Costa Rica. (Ok maybe it was a little dirty)

See for yourself....

We stayed at Rocking J's.

Where we slept. We paid $7 a night for this hammock luxury.

So, we spent the weekend relaxing at the beach, trying not to get swept away by the red flag waves.
Suzanne tried to teach me how to surf. Unfortunately, I can't really say with a guilt free conscious that I actually surfed...I only made it past my knees a time or two. Maybe next time.

In the evenings, we had the pleasure of meeting a smattering of people from around the globe. I talked to people from Holland (no not just Suzanne!), Sweden, Germany, Canada, Uruguay, and a few a little bit closer to home- Montana & New York. 

The hostel had a kitchen so we gathered a large group of us together and all pitched in for a cheap dinner. Suzanne, our German friend, and I worked together to cook the "best meal" these traveling guys said they had "had in months". I'm glad the we were able to help satisfy a few bellies!

One thing that I discovered through many conversations that weekend was the amount of people who were "trying to find themselves" through traveling and seeing "where life took them". Some of these people had been on the road for months or just at the hostel "chilling" (and drinking...and smoking...) for weeks. I was burdened by the stories of people who were trying to escape disappointment or dissatisfaction with their lives at home. 

Don't get me wrong, I love to travel. That's why I'm in Costa Rica. But I was reminded of the value of having a purpose and vision for your life. It made me reevaluate my life and where I'm headed.

Our school is centered around Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Happy Kids (I'll talk about this more later). But- one of the habits that we've been teaching our kids at school is "begin with the end in mind". As 7 & 8 year olds, my class understood more about setting a purpose and planning ahead than most of those adults did. It is my desire that if those kids decide that they want to be something or go somewhere, they will commit to it and not end up 10-15 years down the road saying to themselves, "how did I end up here?"