No more classes

A very posed running shot








Group photo on our last night









That´s supposed to be me (sarong, pigtails, goatee) and my running buddy (Robin was having a wardrobe malfunction)







Using the phone at San Miguel, with Chingo in the foreground










I´m done! I officially survived the school portion of the trip. Whew! Definitely had some snags towards the end, but it was fun.

Last week I took one of my friends to the city hospital with our Costa Rican TA (Nacho!). It was an adventure. The hospital was really nice, and she ended up making it through.
Then, back to the ranch to finish up papers and tests. Good times.

I have so many stories to tell! It´s going to be interesting to try to get them out there...Where to start...

On our last night, the volunteers and owners of the ranch treated us to a pizza dinner and show. The pizzas were phenomenal. I had the luck to share a pizza with Greg, who told me that he had skills due to a stint at Dominos. He made us a gourmet pizza (pineapple, squash, roasted garlic, pesto, need I go on?) and Robin fired it up in the cob oven. It was amazing!

The skit was fun. My face hurt from laughing and smiling so hard. They made in fun of each of us, and sometimes themselves, with surprising accuracy. It´s interesting seeing how other people see you. Especially since they only saw us at mealtimes or in between travels. The wannabe Bridgid wore a sarong, pigtails, and ran. Hmmm...
It was really cute, Robin played my running buddy, who tends to wear head wraps. (I´ll put in a photo, you have to see it. By the way, I definitely do not wear sarongs while running.)

I made a movie of some of our class photos with a couple of people, it turned out really well. I´ll bring it to the family vacation so that you guys can see it.

Going back in time (isn´t there a great 80s song that starts that way..?) my presentation went really well. There was a huge turnout-all the ranch people and at least 15 locals. The projector went out during my power point presentation, but it only made it more interesting. The spider pictures turned out so well!

Amelia, Jen, and I are now in the busting city-San Jose. We managed to find a really cool neighborhood to stay in until Monday, when Jen will go back to the hospital for some more tests. The houses and buildings are old and have a lot of character. It was a great surprise, most of the city is really ugly. Shanty towns next to gated mansions, Hooters next to family-run sodas (little restaurants with casados and other typical Costa Rican meals). Yesterday we hung out with another student, Arwen, until her family arrived. We checked out the central plaza and ate and an amazing restaurant. It was sooo good-we tried something new, plantains stuffed with beans and guacamole-and it was muy delicioso!

I have until the 6th before I leave, so I´ll be updating my blog when I find the patience.