Volcan Poas and La Paz Waterfall Garden

On Thursday, August 28 (Happy Birthday, Mom) Hannah and I visited Volcan Poas (volcano) and La Paz Waterfall Garden.  We took the trip with friends from the language school.  We booked the trip with Ronnie, a guide/chofer that many students at the language school use for transportation needs.

We left around 6:30 AM and made our way to Volcan Poas. We arrived at about 8:30.  

The walk from the parking lot to the crater is about 1/2 a mile and it is very scenic.

On our way back from the crater I saw a map showing the name of the path: "Camino de sombrillas pobres", which means "Path of poor umbrellas".  Pictured below is us under the "umbrella".  These giant leaves are actually used as umbrellas.

There were many of these plants along the side of the path.

This time of year it's hit or miss on seeing the crater, fortunately we had a fairly clear morning and we could see it.  Really neat to see!

We left the volcano and headed toward La Paz Waterfall Gardens - about a 30 minute drive.  La Paz is a beautiful place with animals and 5 waterfalls.  Animal exhibits include birds, frogs, snakes, monkeys, and butterflies.  The staff is great and they let you interact with the animals when possible.

The flowers were left over from a wedding, good thing for us!

You can see 3 waterfalls in this picture.  The smaller one to the right is called "Escondida" ("Hidden").

We had a great time seeing both of these places and we would definitely recommend them if you ever visit Costa Rica.

Children's Ministry - Comedor Guizaros

We have had the opportunity and privilege to get involved with a children's ministry in a community outside of San Jose called Guizaros.  The ministry serves lunch to the community children each day of the week, except Sundays.  Depending on the kids' school schedule, they will eat lunch either before school or after school on their way home.  They serve about 45 kids a day.  On Saturdays they teach a Bible lesson and do an activity before lunch is served.  We have been going on Saturdays to help with lunch preparation, the activity time, and just spending time with the kids.

Here are a few pictures:

Spanish phrases vs English phrases

Our last day of the Trimester is next week.  Over the last 3 1/2 months we've picked up some interesting differences in common phrases/expressions between Spanish and English (some of these are exclusive to Costa Rica): 

Here they say the sun comes out in the morning, we say the sun comes up in the morning.

Here you ask if you can borrow the bathroom, we ask if we can use the bathroom.

Here they say it's raining toads and frogs, we say cats and dogs.

Here, at church, they say "bow your head", we often say "bow your heads".  If they say "bow your heads", that means that a person literally has more than one head. 

The other day after my class I went to find Hannah in her class, and her teacher asked my if I was looking for "my half of an orange".  At first I was confused, but then I realized she meant "my better half". 

To express something that will never happen, we say "when pigs fly", here they say "when frogs have hair".

If someone repeatedly does something wrong and is on the verge of getting in trouble, we might say "you're on thin ice", here they say "you're on the wings of a cockroach".

Finally...though this is not a phrase or expression, it's worth including:
Spelling is so much easier in Spanish.  Hannah, who is not a good speller (and she's not afraid to admit it), is spelling Spanish words very easily.  The reason it is easy is that each vowel only has one sound: an "a" always sounds the same no matter the word or where it appears in the word, the same goes for the other vowels.  And except for the letter "h", nearly every letter of every word is pronounced.  So for the most part if you can hear the word, you can spell the word. 

Three Cross Hike

On July 5, we went with some other students on a fun and challenging hike.  It's called the "Three Cross Hike" because there are 3 crosses to hike to as you go up the mountain.  We could not have asked for a better day weather-wise - it was a clear blue sky with a lot of sun.

We took two buses to get there.  We got on the first bus at 7 AM and before 8:00 we were getting started on the hike.   One of the guys that went with us had done the hike before so he helped guide us on the right trails.

The hike started on a paved road (which was actually quite steep!)...

...but soon enough we were on the trail.

 


This is the first cross, it took about 45 minutes to get here from the start of the hike:

This is the second cross - it was really windy at the top of the steps - from the first cross to the second was 30-40 minutes:

As we left the second cross, we saw 5 guys on dirt bikes come up the other side of the mountain (not the same way we had just hiked).  They went up to the third cross on the same trail that we would go.


This is the third cross - up at the cross are the 5 guys that went up on dirt bikes - from the second cross to the third was about 30-40 minutes:

Behind the third cross is a short path to an open area with some great views:

As we walked down the mountain back to the bus stop, Hannah and I were asking each other if we would do the hike again.  Considering we felt exhausted and our bodies were sore we decided it would be better to answer that question after a few days.  Now it's been a few days, and the verdict is...Yes! we would do it again.


We got back to our apartment at 1:30 PM, which made it a total trip time of 6 1/2 hours.  It was time well spent.