Futbol - Soccer

Here are some pics from the futbol (soccer) game from Wednesday. We went to Alajuela to watch the team called La Liga play. Enjoy!

While waiting on the bus we saw a couple of guide dogs fighting off the rainy season with their very own rain coats! They even had flaps for their ears.

Getting warmed up for the game. On my side of the stadium we had a roof over us so we weren't in the rain the entire time, or sun during the dry season.

This group of energetic folks sat in the far end of the field. They are a group that attends all of the games, and they beat on drums and cheer and dance the entire time. The ENTIRE time, all 1.5+ hours! They definately made the atmosphere more fun (not that it wasn't entertaining enough to learn all sorts of new words from the disgruntled fans, even if they were words I wouldn't use around my grandmother!).

Pura Vida,

Billy

Lo Siento

Lo Siento, or I am sorry for the lack of posts lately. Internet at home has not been working.

Highlights from the last few days include:

Went to a soccer game Wednesday night. Had a great time. Got absolutely drenched getting there. My umbrella started getting leaks, and I had to walk through a river that appeared in less than 5 minutes. Shoes still aren´t dry.

Got my other pair of shoes completely wet today.

Raining season is now on my list of things I officially DO NOT LIKE!!!!

I hope to get internet going again soon. Look for pictures then, and my smiling face back in the states on Thursday night!

Pura Vida,

Billy

Random Pics

Today we went to my teacher's home for breakfast and class. It was great fun to eat in her backyard and enjoying the nice weather.

For lunch, we had our last cooking class, and the teacher and her husband cooked for us. It was supposed to be in the park, but it rained. Thank you rainy season.

Here are a couple more photos from the university that I visited this weekend. Hope you enjoy them!

Pura Vida,

Billy

Rainy Season

The rainy season has started here in Costa Rica. It has been a gradual process over the last few weeks, starting as overcast afternoons. Now almost every day in rains at least a little bit. Some days it absolutely pours for an hour about 3 in the afternoon, and other days it will rain steadily for just a little while (it poured last week when I was headed to the airport to go to Panama...I had completely wet shoes and jeans until I could change that night in Panama!).

This tropical changing of the seasons brought me a very nice sunset last week as I looked out at the mountains from my room. Its odd to think that there are only two seasons here, and the only thing that changes is whether it rains or not!

Pura Vida,

Billy

Cooking Class

It may be a little late, but here is an update from last Tuesday's cooking class!

This week we made homemade spaghetti. Yes, once again, I am confused about what part of Latin America this comes from! It was fun to make the noodles from scratch, but I think I will stick to going to the store and buying them. Much simpler. We made a regular red sauce, and then a white sauce, also, which was delicious.

Making the noodles. It got a little messy.

For desert we made 'volcado de bananas.' This is kind of like a sweat bread with bananas on top. Also delicious, and definately something I will be looking at making when I get home!

Pura Vida,

Billy

Turrialba

Today I went to Turrialba, about a 2 hour bus ride from San Jose. In Turrialba there is an agricultural research university that I wanted to check out. Luckily, today they also had an expo with a few booths highlighting programs that the students have made. It was a beautiful place that was fun to walk around, although they wouldn't let me visit the dairy! This place is what I imagined all of Costa Rica to look like before I came.

One of the main buildings with a massive open space for soccer and recreation.

What I assume to be the director's house. Not a bad perk, if you ask me, with a huge tree in the front yard and a view of the pond.

One of the booths in the expo was Argentinean food. There was a booth for every country in Latin America. I was very dissapointed that I had already eaten!

A 'cafetal,' or coffee plantation on the side of a hill during the bus ride home.

We took a stop in Cartago on the way back to visit the church ruins. This church was built in the late 1500's. It was destroyed in the 1800's by an earthquake. They tried to rebuild, but it was destroyed again in 1910 by another earthquake. Then they just gave up. The only part that must have been constructed poorly was the roof, because the walls are still standing strong 400 years later. Now it is a park with gardens in the interior of the walls.

Pura Vida,

Billy

Panama City - Last Day

On the last day in Panama City we had just enough time to hit two sites before our plane left. We started the morning off by visiting Panama Viejo, or Old Panama. Panama Viejo is the site of the original city that was built in the early 1500's. Many of the stone buildings still have remants of walls remaining.

Pics include: Old church, water storage system, ruins with modern buildings in the backdrop, walls of a convent and tower.

We also had the opportunity to visit El Parque Nacional Metropolitano, or Metropolitan National Park. This is close to 500 acres on the edge of the city, known as the lungs of Panama City. Not much to see except the city skyline in places, leaf-cutter ants, and mosquitos.

During the flight home, I had the unique opportunity to be in the window seat. I got to see the entire city, and the Panama Canal. We also flew over Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica, where I went the second weekend here. Then we circled the beach over the Pacific Ocean for 45 minutes because it was raining too hard at the airport to land. Not a big fan of the rainy season so far!

Pura Vida,

Billy