The Parents Arrive - Day 4

On the fourth day of the visit, we departed from the volcano and headed to the beach. The view of the volcano was a bit better, but still not nearly as good as the first day.

As we went to breakfast, there was a hanging bride over a stream through the resort. I was quick to get Mom and Dad's picture, since Mom is so deathly afraid of heights! I was very proud.

On the way, we drove around 'Lago Arenal,' or Lake Arenal. This lake is man-made, and provides a great deal of power to the Costa Ricans via water generators in places where the water leaves. Note how green it is around this part of the lake, because literally two miles from here it turns into almost a desert.

The 'almost desert.' It reminded me a lot of West Texas in August during a 7-year drought. Yeah, it was that depressing. We learned later that the area near the beach, which was much more hilly with more trees, was a dry tropical forest. Does anybody else find that a touch ironic?

When we arrived to the hotel, we were still a bit early for check-in, so we went to the beach to have our lunch in the scorching heat (there is nothing similar to the heat on the beaches of Central America).

We played in the water until sunset. After sunset, the hermit crabs took over the beach. They were very fun to watch, and of course we had hermit crab races!

Pura Vida,

Billy

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The Parents Arrive - Day 3

On the third day we were still at the resort at Arenal Volcano. The view was just as I remembered it several weeks back when I went...there was no view! It rained the entire day, and thus blotted out the volcano. Nonetheless, we made our own fun.

We started out eating in the resort restaurant, which is a completely open air establishment, just like most all eateries in Costa Rica. It was a relaxing breakfast as we listened to the rain.

Afterwards, we visited the butterfly exhibit, poison dart frog exhibit (didn't know they were poisonous at the time...oops!), leafcutter ant exhibit (very cool...they had them in areas where they couldn't get out, but had vines so the could walk around over your head to get from one area to another!), and the 'cocodrilos', or crocodiles.

We then were bored enough to go for a 2 kilometer walk up the hill in the mist/rain to a lookout point of the volcano (keeping in mind that we couldn't see said volcano at said lookout point). Along the way we found a group of horses, and Dad made a friend...kind of.

We went a ways further, and saw this funny sign. It says, "high volcanic risk zone - keep out." We claimed to not know English or Spanish, and went ahead.

Later, we enjoyed the hot springs in the cold rain before eating dinner.

Pura Vida,

Billy

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The Parents Arrive - Day 2

For day 2, we started off heading to Volcán Poás. Just as the last time I went, we couldn't see the crater for the clouds. At least we can say we went!

Of course, I have to get in a picture of this gorgeous dairy with Jersey cows that we saw coming down the mountian from Volcán Poás.

After this, we headed for Volcán Arenal, one of the most active volcanos in the world. It is hard to catch it on a clear day where you can see the complete cone, but we had a lot of luck on Tuesday.

On our way we stopped in Zarcero for a picnic lunch in the park in front of the church. This park is unique in that it has many plants that are sculpted into faces, birds, dinosaurs and other figures. It was a great place to stop and relax from the winding mountain roads.

This is the view of the volcano from our hotel room. How impressive!

Family photo with the volcano.

Sun set reflecting off the volcano. We stayed here to watch the volcano for a bit and see if we could spot some magma. Although it isn't as impressive as it has been in the past, we did see a huge, red-hot boulder roll down the mountain. I can now officially say I have seen magma.

Pura Vida,

Billy

Starting the countdown to return to the U.S. Today marks one month...30 days to go!

The Parents Arrive - Day 1

The first full day that Mom and Dad were here we headed to Heredia to tour the market, the university and my house. After that, we (the parents, myself, my host mom, and my friend Andy) loaded up in the car to visit a dairyman that Dad knows. Dad drove the whole week, and began driving like a Tico before too long. If you see him in Kansas, please, hit the ditch. It will be safer there. Just kidding, Dad.

On our way there, we had some extra time to have a picnic lunch outside of the church in Cartago. Very fun and relaxing.

The farm was the same direction as Volcán Irazú, which I visited several weeks back. It was a breathtaking drive, and as usual, the cows have the best view in the whole country. Enjoy the photos of the farm!

Cows in the pasture. Almost all dairies in Costa Rica utilize a rotational grazing system. This farmer does a great job of this, and has 45 small pastures to keep his 50 cows in for one day. After that day, he moves them to a new pasture to allow the grass to grow back. This ensures that the grass is of the highest quality for the cows everyday. How cool, right?

Dad and the dairyman, Álvaro, checking out some of the grass that he cuts to feed the cows at night when he brings them up to the lot.

Pasture going over the edge of the mountains. We were the same level as the clouds!

The 900 meter (just over a half mile) path winding through the farm.

Pura Vida,

Billy

End of 'Semana Santa'

Mom and Dad left today. I was expecting to get pictures up from our trip today, but I am going to wait a couple of days until the Easter celebrations are done.

Today marked the last day of Lent and 'Semana Santa,' or Holy Week. The Latin American world is very Catholic, which leads to many processions Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Holy Week. Today, Mabel, her grandson and I headed to a procession at the nearby church. I was surprised at how slowly they went; they got 400 meters (one lap around a track) in an hour! I expected it to be more like a parade, but it was far from it; very reserved.

Here are some photos of the different groups in the procession:

The 'soldados,' or soldiers. There were 44 in all.

There were six girls carrying items related to the crucifixion or Jesus.

Seven girls carried the seven things that Jesus said after his resurrection.

The 12 disciples.

The Virgin Mary.

Pura Vida,

Billy

Spring Break!

Sorry about the lack of posts since Wednesday. Nothing exciting has happened.

Yesterday started our spring break. Mom and Dad will be here in about three hours, so I will get a chance to play tour guide/translator (although, the places we are going have so many tourists that a person doesn't even need to know Spanish). Look forward to a recap of this weeks events to start next Saturday. Not sure if I will get to post throughout the week.

In the meantime, here is a photo of the park in La Fortuna, the town where we visited the volcano last week. We will be going back there this week, so I hope that the clouds disappear. I want to see some lava!

Pura Vida,

Billy

Nutrition Lab

The animal nutrition class that I have been attending started its lab today at the university farm. We spent three hours at the farm, and reviewed an experiment that the students will be starting next week. The project involves roosters, and they have to feed them and collect everything to determine how digestible the feed was. It was fun to hang out with the students and practice Spanish, and I had lots of opportunities to start getting knowing other people (much easier than just sitting in a classroom).

Weighing the rooster.

Happy hens at the farm.

Pura Vida,

Billy