One week later...

Sorry I haven't posted in a week! Life here sure will keep you busy. This past weekend, I got the chance to go to El Museo de Los Ninos y Manuel Antonio (Parque Nacional). (The Children's Museum and Manuel Antonio National park and Beach). It was a blast!
Children's Museum was for my Spanish class. We got to view the world from the eyes of a child again, in a place that used to be a national prison! It was very interesting, and I have many pictures on my shutterfly. My specific goal there was to learn more about Costa Rican history, as I have a presentation on Thursday for my class on the topic.
After the museum, I got another bus for another very long ride to Manuel Antonio. When we got there, we were in for a rude awakening- 90 and 90% humidity at night! We also got our first experience with the Pacific tropical beach-- QUE CHIVA! The water was about the same temperature at the air, and before this, I had only been to the Atlantic in Maine! What a difference!
After a little bit of swimming, we called it a night. The next morning, we hiked through the national park to another one of the beaches, where a group of us was able to swim out about 100 meters to a rock formation. No surprise here when I managed to cut myself up pretty badly and had to swim back in. However, little did I know that swimming back in would be the reason I got to see WHITE FACED MONKEYS! live and in person. I also got to see some very brave racoons attempting to steal food RIGHT OUT OF PEOPLE'S BAGS AND HANDS!
After this, it was time for the DOLPHIN CRUISE! We all boarded a catamaran- my first time on a boat with a motor- and travelled out into the big blue ocean. We almost had the chance to see a whale, but apparently he (or she!) was pretty shy. However, we did get to see some dolphins swimming, but not very close. but it was still awesome to finally see dolphins in the wild! After this, we had the chance to do a little bit of snorkeling, where I saw a bunch of different kinds of fish and some coral formations. it was fascinating, and I am much less afraid of the ocean now.
Finally, we came back to the hotel and went for another night swim. I swear, it was so nice I could have stayed in that water forever. However, the sun and the day's activities had tired me out enough to make me go to bed around 10 pm. The next morning we spent again on the beach, and I was able to go to a tent-shop area, where I bought the most BEAUTIFUL dress after bargaining down the price from 10,000 colones to 7- in USD, I went from about 18 to about 12 dollars~ and then the long bus ride home.
Now it's crunch time- my one month course draws to an end, but the work load exponentially increases- gotta love college! I've definitely gotten into the swing of things here, but I always make sure to leave time to appreciate the culture all around me. Being a student here offers a unique perspective where I am not merely a tourist only appreciating the sites- I am emerged in a completely different culture with the view of an insider for a short time. A unique experience that I would recommend to ANYONE!!!

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE PICTURES AT MY SHUTTERFLY! VIDEO TO COME LATER!