Volcán Irazu

This morning came early as well! We met up at school at 7, then headed to the Gran Hotel in taxis to catch the direct bus to the volcano. It was pretty crowded. We all 6 squeezed into the last row for 5 people. The ride up was breathtaking, as usual. We drive up through the Central valley where San José is, then headed over to the next. I have said it before, but my favorite part is driving through the country. It is mind boggling as to how there is so many different landscapes in such a small area. I feel like you can no look at a place like this without feeling overwhelmed, blessed, amazed, and the need to pray. Maybe that is why I like it so much too.

Like always, all of our Tico parents told us that it was SO COLD, but we were all pretty warm up there in our jeans. If I am correct, I think this os the only place where you can see the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from at the same time, but we did not get to. You drive up into the clouds to get there, because it is at 11,260 feet!!! Needless to say, the clouds did not allow for the viewing. Also needless to say, we did not talk to much on the hike up to the highest viewpoint. It was so steep and all you could hear was us breathing hard. Once we got up there though, it was beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Colorado, besides the huge volcano that we were standing on. We had 2 hours to spend in the park until the bus left, so we just hung out at the top for a while until we headed back down. I can not say how thankful I am for my friends here. I was very nervous before coming to Costa Rica about making friends that were fellow believers. Not only have I made friends, I have made brothers and sisters. Times like these, I feel silly for every being nervous or anxious about things. God will provide in THE perfect way. Even if it does not feel like it, you can always see after how it was the best, not necessarily for yourself, but for HIS GLORY!

Once we made it back to San José, we had lunch at Taco Bell. I usually do not like eating at American food places, but we all had an intense craving for those little cinnamon twists! the fast food places here are HUGE!!!!! Seriously, most are 2 stories with countless tables and most are so much nicer that back in the States. 

We took a bus home, then Joey, Ben, and I walked to a close by mall that we had never been to. It was SUPER nice. I was looking at buying some bath and body works lotion, and found out that instead of being 5 or 7 dollars, it was close to $20!!! No Gracias. We wanted to see a movie then, but they wanted to see if anyone else wanted to come with us, so we waited till after dinner. Of course everyone else was to tired, so we went back and watched I am number 4 (Soy numero cuatro) around 7:30. It was no doubt cheesy, but on the cheesy scale, it was alright. Joey had bought a cinnabon cinnamon roll right before the movie, and was trying to wrap it up in his jacket. He and Ben messed with it for a while, then we walked in. the ticket taker just pointed at his jacket and said NO. It was like he had cinnamon roll laser vision. Suprisingly, they told him to eat it outside, but then they said they would hold it for him after the movie. After the movie, he walked up to the booth, and said Tengo comida aqui, I have food here. All of the workers were laughing at him... it was pretty funny though!

I can not believe that I only have 2 weekends left in Costa Rica. I feel like it went by so fast, but I think about leaving home and that feels SOOOOO long ago. We are waiting to see about going to Nicaragua next weekend though. The big International court hearing is Tuesday concerning the border between Costa Rica nad Nicaragua, and someone told us that it may be a possibility that they could close the border, so we are waiting until after the hearing. Hope's dad told us that if we were not going to Nicaragua though, that there is a bull fight this weekend, and that he wanted the boys to go run with him.  LOCOS!! They looked pretty excited when they heard that. I can not say that it would not be interesting to watch though. The bull fights are different here though. It is pretty much people running around, and the bull chases them. The bull does not get hurt like in other places, and actually usually wins! 

¡Pura Vida!!