Día Libre!

Saturday was a rough day.  The lack of sleep is really starting to hit me.  7 hours a night is very good for a lot of people, and unheard of for a lot of people in college, but I definitely need my 9 hours.  Not only am I tired and sore from running up and down the hills, but alertness and attention was imperative because we had seven hours of lecture yesterday!  Yes, that's right.  Seven hours of class on a Saturday.  OTS means business.  I was struggling on Friday, but I've managed to make it with only one cup of coffee today -- Caroline, you would be proud of what I've become.

The topics were interesting: healthcare system of Costa Rica (cliffnotes: every working person is legally required to have social security health care, nicknamed 'Caja,' and employers are responsible for paying this out of pocket if they are not insured.  Also, med school costs about 200 USD/semester); types of ethniobiological studies; the history and culture of the Ngobe people (an indigenous group we will be visiting next week and when we go to Panama); and an introduction to epidemiology.  Lectures went on because we had lengthy discussions (really, what else are we going to do with our day?) and giant pots of coffee were as exhausted as our bodies.

I was proud of myself for making two calls last night: 1) going out and 2) going on a hike this morning with Hector, our Ethnobiology professor.  I didn't think I would make it out last night, but luckily I was able to rally post-shower and we headed to San Vito to a bar called S'Lugar.  The town was dead, as we saw when we conga-lined out to the balcony (yeah, that happened, and it was led by a Tico -- we're not that corny), leaving only a handful of people at the bar to stare bewilderingly at us gringos dancing to Madonna and Grease mixed among other Latin songs.  But lo and behold, we walked two blocks down to find a CARNIVAL!  Complete with a Ferris wheel, that about half of us rode on.  There were apparently toros as well, but none of us saw them.  We headed to the bar tent to dance some more (again, lots of stares -- blending in is going to be a bigger challenge than staying awake in 1:30 lecture) ate some churros, and practiced our Spanish in the cab ride back to Las Cruces.

 Vanji and me.  ON THE FERRIS WHEEL.  Which incidentally turned out to be scarier than many rollercoasters I've gone on

                                 View from the Ferris Wheel
Six hours later, we were somewhat alive, awake, alert, and very enthusiastic.  The best word for the hike today is probably...green.  There is actually nothing else that can describe it as well.  There are leaves everywhere, grass everywhere, moss on the leaves and moss on the bark and grass on the bark and leaves on the bark and leaves on the moss.  The whole rainforest is just one smothering web of verde.  There are some spots of grayish brown, like this strangler fig tree, otherwise known as the "Fern Gully tree."  We were able to climb inside -- it was awesome despite the apparent lack of forest-saving fairies.

                                          Us climbing INSIDE THE TREE
Our goal for the hike was to head to San Vito and hit up the shops and stores, but as it turns out, the trail to San Vito was so overgrown that even Hector's machete couldn't clear it.  Instead, we turned around and took another trail to a river with lots of cool, feet-dippingly perfect pools (including one that definitely must have been deeper than I am tall).  We had lunch there amongst the tadpoles, and trekked back to the Station.  

We did eventually make it to San Vito to stock up on chocolate/pastries/floss.  And now it's time for dinner.  Hasta luego!

Anya