Pura vida!

Well hola everyone!

It's been a long haul these past couple of weeks with my friend's wedding, the mini move, visiting families, and ultimately doing our latest trip to Manuel Antonio.  I will do a post later in the week to catch you up on our new living situation (if it stays this way) and Costa Rican life.  But first, you probably want to see our trip to Manuel Antonio!

We flew into San Jose airport on Tuesday, May 28 and on the 29th, we did a leisurely drive to Manuel Antonio.  That's not to say it wasn't action packed.  We nearly hit a coati and a basilisk lizard, which was hilarious because it RAN ON TWO LEGS!  They also dub them the "Jesus Christ lizard" because they can run on water.  We then found a bridge, with loads of crocodiles.  They looked insane.

AHH!

I may run out of space...

We made it to Manuel Antonio and we stayed at a place called Casa Buena Vista that we found on AirB&B.  It does have a magnificent view...and bats (they were friendly).

Or course, Paul found a squirrel

The next day, we walked to the park and found it to be extremely busy...on a Thursday...during low season.  We would hate to see it during high season (Dec-April for those who are wondering).  We saw lots of little critters and it was a lovely place to hike, once you went deeper in, where there were less folk.

Two toed sloth

Crabbie

Paul marveling at the iguana's prowess

He's familiar

We could only get the rump of this jungle rat thing

What. is. that?

For the rest of the trip though, we did a lot of relaxing.  It's the rainy season in Costa Rica, so everyday, it will rain, usually around 2 PM.  So, it makes for perfect nap conditions.

We did have one day with much less rain and that was when we were at Dominical Beach.  So we took pictures!  I'm sorry I can't post every picture, because Paul took some fantastic ones.  It's getting hard to pick and choose.  Hence, the new banner (it took hours to figure that out, so tell me how awesome it looks).  

Well, that's really it!  We are now in San Jose, relaxing in a beautiful hotel picked out by Kimberly Clark.  I'll post more about our day to day life...once we have spent more time day to day here.  I'll close with two things: 

A picture of Paul with a napkin dispenser that says Kimberly Clark

And a video of the basilisk running on water.  Imagine seeing that cross the road.  It's hilarious.  The video kinda is too.

Happy Monday!

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Updated travel plans

I'm leaving on Friday for Atlanta to see one of my best friends get married this Sunday, but I had to do a quick update.  It now seems that our plans have taken us from Argentina and we have been finalized to begin in...

Costa Rica!!!

We have actually visited Costa Rica before, so it should be a little more familiar for us.  We start in Costa Rica for roughly 6 weeks, then go to Lima, Peru for 6 more weeks.  I will leave at the end of August for Boston and Paul will travel on to Colombia (maybe) for a couple of weeks and then finish his internship in Santiago, Chile.

So, it seems we have a lot of travel ahead.  We are looking forward to spending our moments together for 3 months solid.  Check back in a couple of weeks for our newest adventures...o aventuras nuevas en Costa Rica!

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It's May!

May has finally arrived and it is almost 2 weeks until Paul and I must leave.  Eeek!  It's so close!  It's too close!  What do I do?!

Renew lease.  Check.
Get subletters for the summer.  Check.
Make piles around the small apartment to make less space to move.  Check.

We are so ready for a great new adventure in Central/South America but that doesn't mean we aren't having final fun moments with our friends here.  This post is just a compilation of a bunch of things we have been up to.  Such as...

"MIT Prom".  This past weekend was the Spring Gala in Newport, Rhode Island where the LGOs and Sloanies got to dress up and have an elegant evening in a mansion.  Since the class is split up right now with people on internships, we decided that we would do the event next year, when all the '14s would be together.  However, that didn't stop us from getting dressed up.  And going to a dive bar because we didn't want to spend too much money :).  Here are a few pictures:

Ha

This weekend also involved our first and my last paintball game.  We drove to the middle of nowhere with some friends and tried it out.  It hurts.  I have a huge bruise on the back of my leg.  I understand how it can be fun and I enjoyed spending the day outside with friends, but, I think I will be fine not doing it anymore.  Paul was splendid though.  He apparently is a good shot.  Who knew?  I don't have too many photos of that, but just imagine me cowering behind a tree and Paul looking lethal.  

Paul has also been getting some good exercise in with his participation in the LGO softball team.  Poppa Meggs would be so proud of his boy, 'cause he's pretty good.  He's gotten some runs in and is a great pitcher.  This is from the last game:

Getting some stretches in

Warming up

Greg pitching

Intense

Spencer

Paul's on first...

Ready to strike!

Paul pitching

Marc is silly

Cute

Spencer showing his moves

What's more American than Captain America playing baseball? (softball..whatever)

Nothing

Spencer sliding into home

Such a cute team

Hands in

The team

Paul really enjoyed his time with the team, even though every game was at 10 PM on a Sunday night and pretty chilly.  I guess it just made them run faster.

As for our upcoming move, we are having some changes to our schedule it seems, so stay posted for where we are going to be.  However, it looks like we may not have an entire year of winter as we thought...so I will admit, I bought a new swimsuit.  

May is still full of events before we leave and we are ready to see familiar faces.  My friend, Lauren, is getting married on May 19th and then of course, we shall be in Charlotte area to visit our family and friends.  These next couple of weeks need to finish though in order for fun to ensue.  So, until then, see ya!

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Spring has sprung

I'm waiting on some photos so that I can make a more comprehensive post about what we have been doing lately, but this post is just to update and change up the blog.  I'm tired of the winter look.  It's finally spring, although it doesn't always feel like it.  The high sometimes gets through 70, but we've been consistently in the 60s and the lows are still 39 or 40s.  We'll be glad for some warmth that's for sure.  Until then, enjoy a little smattering of spring:

5,000 squirrel pictures...I swear there were

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This week...

On Monday, I flew into Boston from Atlanta at 10 AM, exhausted from a great weekend, celebrating one of my best friend's bridal shower.  I left at 5AM that morning, so by the time I rolled through the door, I needed a shower and a nap.  Before the 2 hour nap, Paul asked "you want to go to the Marathon for a little bit?"

"No way"

If it had not been for a tiring weekend, I would have been at the finish line with bells on.  Marathon Monday is a great day for Bostonians and it falls on Patriot's Day, where other areas of town celebrate our past patriots.  Little did we know that it was a day for making them as well.

The thing I will always remember about these events will be the sirens.  It seemed that when the bombs went off and when the shooting occurred, every ambulance and police car sounded off.  It was confusing and surreal to be in that kind of environment.  Never once have I felt unsafe in my city, and then suddenly it was a war zone.  And after all that has happened, I still feel safe.  Because I believe that this city works hard to defend justice and protect it's people.  Boston demonstrated that this week.

I'll also never forget where I was and how I felt.  When the bombs went off, Paul and I immediately went to the roof top to look at the helicopters.  We were so confused and unsure of what to do.  Who did this? Why?  When that MIT police officer was killed, Paul and I left MIT not 15 minutes earlier.  When the the sirens rang out and MIT sent text messages alerting us of a shooter, we were back on that roof, worried for our friends that we left behind.  On Friday's lockdown, I was on the roof top again, watching, and sending those police officers my thoughts.  When they found suspect #2 in the boat, Paul and I sat on our little couch on the edge of our seats, listening, waiting, watching.  When they caught him, we were on the roof top, and I gave a whoop of joy as someone down on the street clapped.  We watched everything happen from the roof top and did not feel alone in our feelings.  Because all of Boston felt them as well.

MIT

I am so proud to call Boston my home.  You thought I loved it before?  You don't even know.  It's truly shown me how great it is.  What it really is, is the people.  "What is the city, but the people?" (Coriolanus...saw it on the Boston Common!).  Bostonians are brash, tough, and are friendly if you sit next to one and if you say the wrong thing, you probably will get some nasty words your way.

Yet, what transpired on Monday-Friday showed the character of these people.  I won't show many pictures in this post, because most are gruesome, but have you heard of a terrible event where people were TURNED AWAY from blood banks because they were already well stocked?  3 dead and over 150 people were injured and the hospitals said "no thanks".  Amazing.  Another guy CARRIED THE ARTERY of a man's whose legs were blown off and saved that man's life.  Who does that?  Saints.  These hospitals? Best in the country and probably the world.  There would have been a whole lot more deaths if the bombs weren't 1 mile away from MGH, #1 hospital in the US.   The police shut down the city to catch these two murderers!  SHUT IT DOWN!  Even though a lot of the time it seemed that they had no clue where these guys were, the police said "you will not harm any more people", took the initiative to keep God knows how many people inside, and proceeded to have the biggest manhunt.  Because Bostonians are stubborn and will win.  What happened after the guy was caught?  People went to the Boston Common, the place of the people, and cheered "USA" and thanked police officers.  This city has spirit and heart and I love it.

For the fallen officer on MIT's campus

Walked past Copley Square to find this.

Our families and friends from around the world, thank you for your thoughts and prayers.  You were also the 2nd wonder of this week.  Why?  Because you stood by this great city.  Because Boston's struggles were your struggles.  Our welfare was your's as well and that was truly wonderful to see.  Thank you for all the help and love.

I know this post is a wee bit emotional, but I wanted to write something to memorialize this week.  Although 9/11 happened in my lifetime, I was too young to understand it.  Now, I do, even though it's not quite the same or as large a scale.  Seeing my town getting hurt, hurt me.  When this portion of the blog goes into a little book I will make, I want to see and remember that I was here.  And not forget that even though there is evil in this world, there is also so much more good.  Like Mr. Rogers said "Look for the helpers."

Watch this and see if it doesn't move you

I get sniffly when I watch it.

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Marathon

For those who maybe trying to call us, we are fine.  We can hear the sirens and craziness, but we are safe in our home.  Thank you for your concern.  Keep our city in your thoughts.

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