We're Home

So we have come home...and I guess there's no place like home, but there's also no place like Costa Rica. Matt got sick on the last day, Michelle saved him, and then we both missed our plane. Now we're home though; back to climbing, hanging with the Paris and Vegas, and grilling on the BBQ with the fams in the fine Memorial Day weather.

...Oh yeah, Michelle is gonna keep the blog going (maybe after a little hiatus) and keep everyone informed and up to date on a small veggie/herb garden she's raising. And now we are sitting down to a fine bowl of Bear Mush with raisins!

Chepe Pepe

Barrio Amón

San Jose

San Jose...Chepe as the locals call it...has a, well how do you say, unique aroma to it. We have spent our last two nights here, eating empanadas, drinking batidos, and climbing (we found a cool little gym called Mundo Aventura and lets just say we felt the weight of the past few weeks). From Kaps, our neat little hotel in barrio Amón, we were able to walk where ever, when ever; eating at cool little sodas, shopping at a local market, and of course checking out the sites! Da da dat da dats dats all folks...

M&M ADVENTURES

Playa Samara...Let the Learning Begin!

So we headed to the town of Samara on the Pacific Coast yesterday. Its really low key and beautiful and we had our first non-Tico meal of the trip--PIZZA! Today we did some sea kayaking, explored an island that we had all to ourselves and learned how to surf. (Olivia, we found you some pretty cool things on the pretty cool, little private island). M&M Surf School coming up...

Leaving Monteverde

Leaving such a fun place is hard to do...but when you're drinking 5 cups a coffee three times a day anything is possible. The road out of the Cloud Forest/Monteverde was a grueling, unpaved road where we could travel no faster than 20km per hour! Our next stop, Los Juntas, was a very long drive.

Sloth Motion!

Monteverde: The Cloud Forest of Organic Farming and Rare M&M Sightings

Buenos Dias, Tardes, y Noches. Beautiful farm land, cool temps, miles and miles of dirt roads, one of the best restaruants ever (serving latin infused tapas), organic fair trade coffee plantations, canyoneering, the Cloud Forest Reserve: All this and much more is what you get in Monteverde and Santa Elena. Enjoy these few, not at all encompasing, pictures from M&M...

M & M's Great Adventures

Los Heroes...A little Swiss retreat

On our way to Monteverde we found this cool Swiss Hotel and dairy called Los Heroes. We stayed in the room that had the balcony rapping around in the L-shape! Our room overlooked Laguna de Arenal...the largest lake in Costa Rica. We even got a train ride, which took us to a spectacular vista overlooking the whole area and which also had a rotating restaraunt???!!!

Volcan Arenal

Hola! The view of Volcan Arenal and the deadly effects of its gases. Oh No, Michelle watch out...

Is it just us, or do our guides look more scared than we do? Rafting the "Rio Torro." There were beautiful jungle and class 3 and 4 rapids...and also lots of monkeys hopping from tree to tree on the banks!

Volcano Arenal isn't the only cook around here! La Fortuna had great local food mixed with great views.

¡Hola! Michelle y yo estamos en la ciudad La Fortuna. Hoy, nosotros FUIMOS RAFTING. Okay, back to ingles. After leaving EARTH yesterday we drove about 3 hours to La Fortuna. The country side was B E A Utiful! Lots of sodas dotted the road (which are small family run groceries and mini restaraunts, usually inside the families home). Today we ate at one soda...it consisted of fried empanadas, double fried plantains (patacones), and fried chips with a healthy dose of guacamole; Ice cream for desert and fruit filled empanadas for breakfast. In other words, rafting on La Rio Torro was quite good for us to do today...there was even a Fer De Lance sighting to increase heart function and blood flow! Oh yeah, La Fortuna sits beneath one of the most active volcanoes in the world. So nothing to worry about at all parents...

Matt has officially made it to beautiful EARTH University and to the much more beautiful Michelle. Delayed plains (check); American Airlines sucking (check); Lost in San Jose early in the morning--1am (check); Braving winding mountain roads and dense fog (check); Matt and Michelle finally together (CHECK).

So, with numerous delays, plenty of warnings from locals to not drive the mountain pass at 1am, lots of fog and curvy roads, and two nice security guards who couldn't find my entry form for EARTH, I officially made it. Michelle was up waiting too (it was only 2:50am by the time I arrived at her door)! But I am here and dripping in sweat. The campus is amazing and Michelle woke me up bright and early to prove it. From what I hear too, she has worked her butt off for the last several weeks (wearing long pants, boots, and cotton shirts). On the other hand, I have been wearing shorts, a tank top, and not working...IT IS REALLY HOT AND HUMID!

Here, if you've ever wondered, is how you get your bananas. First, plant; second, bag to help protect from bugs and rain; third, send the banana man on a small trolly to pick the bags off the trees and hook em' on little banana train cars that follow a track across the entire campus; fourth, ship to Whole Foods or New Seasons. PS...Michelle knows ever back trail and track and took me to some awesome and secluded areas of the farm/university.

Michelle then took me to the cool river crossing she showed us earlier on her blog. We both decided to go on the contraption (a homemade cage of old, rusted and broken metal) at the same time to cross! With just a few creaks and bounces we made it safely...

And of course...I got to meet Mark, the water buffalo!

Farming is Hard Work! (so I took a break)

View from Manuel Antonio National Park

Meechelle sitting on a log that could any moment be dislodged and carried away to sea! oh no!

Meg: I did ya one better... a FLYING monkey

Sunset at the beach in the town of Manuel Antonio

From here on out (that is until Matt shows up next week!!!) its just hauling hay for me... well figuratively speaking--there actually isn't any hay on the farm. Manuel Antonio was a very nice break from the sweatiness of the finca, but now I'm happy to be back to EARTH. Tomorrow its bright and early for me. Well I hope. My alarm clock broke so I'm depending on my INTERNAL alarm clock to wake me up.... yikes. I wonder if I even have one of those.

Off to San Jose and Manuel Antonio

The pejibayes came crashing to the ground and very nearly took out the guy who's job it was to poke them down with a really long stick... so then he dropped the stick in between his legs and well I think he was seeing stars... ouch 

These are pejibayes. First they are boiled, then peeled, and finally eaten. They kind of taste like the the yolk of a hard boiled egg but not so soft.

I'm going to take a bus to San Jose tomorrow and then from there go to Manuel Antonio National Park. I'll be back on Wednesday, so I'll update my blog then! Today my roommate and I rode our bikes to a restaurant outside of the EARTH campus bubble. I thought that I had ordered just a normal lunch, but somehow I ended up with 3 plates of food plus platacones (double fried plantains). I'm still full. 

I'm back in black.

Rainbow... it was cooler in real life

Pretty Sky!!!!

Pulling myself across the river

Ok.... so I missed a few days. The past week we harvested sweet potatoes, more cilantro, pineapples, more cilantro, beans beans the magical fruit the more you eat the more you toot AND more cilantro. Lots more was going on, but I'm too far behind and I don't feel like writing an essay. I'll be better this week.