Costa Rica

Three flat tires, suspension bridges in the rain forest canopy, out of the way trip to Taco     Bell = excellent Semana Santa (Holy Week) Vacation.

Three flat tires? Yes, three. Two happened in Nicaragua thanks to a pot hole the size of Kansas, and another happened up in the mountains. Thankfully, all three times were in more or less developed areas so we could get our tires fixed. And the best part: the total cost to get all the tires fixed was $8. Even though I didn't personally change any of the tires, I feel like I could be an expert now. Hopefully that knowledge wont have to be put to the test anytime soon.

Tire #1 & #2 and my corresponding feelings

Tire #3 and more feelings 

Flat tires behind us, we did what everyone must do in Costa Rica: visit the beach. We braved the banana boat and survived without any major injuries. The boat driver did his best to flip us at every chance.

Next we went up up up the mountain to Monte Verde.
On the way up, we hiked to some beautiful waterfalls.

At the top of the mountain is a cloud rain forest. Against my better judgement and my fears, my friends and I walked across eight suspension bridges through the rain forest canopy. In an attempt to describe the immensity and beauty of walking through the top of the rain forest, I will throw out and analogy to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. You know how when you walked through the jungle when you were little and you were hit with the smell, the thick air, and the feeling of being very small in the midst of something grand, very green, and alive with all sorts of animals and plants? (Not quite the feeling I have now, but you know how things seem so big when you are little.) Anyway, that was the feeling, with the added bonus of being frightened by the bridges and the height. It was beautiful and a credit to the Creator. How can he come up with so many beautiful things?

Next up: Arenal Volcano. Think Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings minus being followed for days by Gollum. We didn't go up the volcano, but in the towns around it, which happen to have an abundance of hot springs. We went to a place that had dozens of natural hot springs and man made pools as well. We went at night and could see the stars and moon above as we ducked under waterfalls and tried out all the different pools.

Ready for a not-so-funny funny story?
There are only a hand full of American type restaurants in Nica. We have McDonald's, BK, Subway, and one TGIFriday's. Costa Rica has a lot more, including the fabulous Taco Bell. We decided to pencil in a visit on our trip. The closest one is an hour and a half out of the way from where we were staying. We had built up a lot of hype about going to the Taco Bell. It would be like a little taste of America. We looked it up multiple times online, printed out a google map to it, the whole deal. So we drive an hour and half out of our way, find the mall, walk in and - - - the Taco Bell was closed because of Holy Day. All the other restaurants were open. Only Taco Bell decided to close. One day earlier, and it would have been opened. So we drove an hour and half back and went on our merry way.

And now for the boring story that must be told.
The border crossing from Nicaragua to Costa Rica took six hours. SIX! We were warned to prepare ourselves for three hours. In case you ever want to drive from Nica to Costa Rica, please prepare yourself mentally to be utterly confused. There were no signs with instructions, no buildings with labels, and no clear understanding of what needed to be done. Get this random paper, make a copy of this at the building in a random parking lot full of semis, find a cop to check your car, go back and get another copy...

And what's a travel story without animals?

Scorpion at the hotel

Hummingbird at the rainforest

Mr. creepy crawly in the rainforest

This was the first adventure of my new car! My mom van has proved its worth.

I am now back in Nicaragua in time to celebrate Easter. This whole week, "Holy Week", has a lot of meaning in Nicaragua. However, I have noticed that there is not such a big emphasis on Easter itself. Some of my students were unsure about why they had off school. It was a good opportunity to dig into the Easter story and discuss what the resurrection means. One of my students: "So the resurrection is what gives it all meaning? We need Christmas so Jesus can be born, and we need the cross, but the resurrection is where it all comes together."

Happy Easter,
Laura

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.