Hola is how they say it down here in Costa Rica. Sorry ive had trouble trying to contact everyone but I haven?t gotten the phone card dialing down yet because there are bout 1200 numbers you have to dial and by the time you get them dialed you only get the answering machine oh well. Another difficulty is that we are not allowed to use the wireless network because we'll jam up the system and so we have to connect our laptops to the 7 desktop computers that are in high demand. The Internet is deathly slow like the old computers we use to have. I jus got franks email prob from Monday, it took bout 20 minutes to get it and I saw brains message but I didn?t click on it because I was getting tired of waiting for stuff to load. So my main point is costa rica is truly on some kind of tropical island time !!! I will do my best though to stay in touch and email as much as possible maybe one big letter every couple of days. Well let me start from the first day. Monday I got in and there were bout 5 other kids at the airport and we drove to atenas because all of the other kids were delayed. We chilled at the center as it is known and jus got to know one another. Later that night at bout 11 there were like 25 more students that came. Frank( don?t worry there was no 9oclock meeting for your excitement). On Tuesday we hung around and the rest of the kids had to do some work to become registered with the embassy and other intro stuff that I had done on Monday so basically I sat by the pool as anyone would who had some free time. The pool is a small bean shape and is shallow and has a little teakie hut with chairs. The center is bout 5 mins out of town and all the houses are gated. There is a student/dorm center with prob 5 girls rooms and 3 mens rooms. There are bout 25 girls and 8 boys the odds are in our favor! The dorm is spacey and kinda empty but simple. A few couches and chairs and a tv that no one uses. There is a washer machine and we hang up the clothes on the line like cape cod. There are 6 hammocks like the one at aunt mary Helens that hang on a outdoor area that is shaded by an aluminum roof ( very exotic). I think pretty soon people will be fighting for them. The showers are the hardest to get use to because its only cold water so you wake up instantly. We start the day with bfast at 7 and then they go over the activities for the day. No one knows when class really is and the schedule is off bout 2 hours which truly shows that costa Ricans move at a different pace. We had a few lectures on some environmental stuff, it was very broad but prob by Monday we will be getting into specific topics. I became good friends with that kid alex who traveled down to panama before school. Weve been taking advantage of our free time and have been going into town because there hasn?t been any assignments yet. We take a taxi into town and its bout a dollar. When you call for a taxi you have to talk in Spanish and describe your location because there are no street signs. Were bout 3 km from the iglesia and over by the dam and yadda yadda yadda the cab some how finds the place every time? We had a scavenger hunt in town on wed to find different places. Its small and a few of the locals already recognize us. The weather is not that bad its bout 75-80 kinda like the cape, but I sweat more like dad when he works in the yard. Apparently it?s the rainy season so its nice out in the morning and like clock work there is a tropical rain at bout 3 o?clock and most times it stops by dinner time. Also at the center is a eating place and its kinda like slade where it?s a community meal of typically rice and beans for bout every meal and we clean the dishes in soap and water bowls outside. The landscape of the center is beautiful with billions of tropical trees and herbaceous species. We have to wear closed toe shoes after dark because of snakes. They already chopped the head off of a huge snake that was on the path. They only come out at night really to eat. There are some huge lizards in the bushes. I was peeing one night at like 4 am and there was a massive lizard bout a foot long above the stall and I almost fell off the toilet lol. On thurs we had our first field trip. We piled in vans and put all our bags on the roof like some African safari. We traveled towards the Caribbean coast but more inland so no ocean. I got a good window seat and watched the different houses fly by. Lots of people drive dirtbikes because the roads aren?t that good. So we drove bout 3 hours to try to get to this organic co-op farm and one of the bridges was down so we had to take a 2 hour roundabout. Once again time here is kinda non-existent. We saw two self-sufficient farms and they fed us many times on their patio. The farmers wear huge machetes but they are tied to their waste and it looks like they tie it to themselves with what ever they have lying around such as string or rope. The farms were hot and the people worked hard. We got some coconuts from the farms and we even have them here at the center. You can wack at them with a machete until the milk flies everywhere. If only chuck Nolan had a machete. The farmers also fed us some good banana bread. After the farms we drove that night to this retreat lodge in Manu. It was a massive teakie hut and we slept on the floor. All the staff got private cabins oh well. There was a fair going on in that town that night with a rodeo but we weren?t allowed to go. The next day we explored a secondary rainforest there the next morning before bfast for 2 hours. We wear the rubber boots because the mud is deep and they work out well. Everyone wears rain gear but I get too hot so I wear the boots, shorts and a tank top along with a umbrella. I like to keep it simple. So on Friday we drove bout 3 hours to the dole banana plantation. We had a tour in a huge downpour. Everyone was asking questions bout there chemicals and how they don?t pay there works enough but I still like bananas. As frank says you cant be against everything! The guide kept saying we were in the bananana republics so it made me think of that buffet song. He had me and this other kid volunteer to cut the massive stack of bannans. Its pouring rain and everyone is standing around and nick gets under this massive bananan tree to catch the bannnanas on his back with a pad that they gave him. The huge tour guide strapped his 2 foot machete to me. So nick is bracing him self and he has me place my feet in a strong stance and put my arm up with the machete ready to wack this huge bush and tells me to watch carefully or I could chop off nicks head if I miss. My arm is up in the air with the knife and the tour guide is yelling 1?..2?. and the rain is pouring down and everyone was watching( I felt like I was in indiana jones bout to slash the bridge. Before he yells 3 he goes did you really think I was going to let you cut that down and then gets professionals to do it. Everyone was laughing and people got some awesome photos of me with my knife ready to slash the tree. We also got to try some banana liquour. On the way home we took a scenic route and got to go behind a massive waterfall and stopped at a hut that had tons of hummingbirds flying around. Friday night everyone came to town to a fiesta except for one kid who wanted to play pictionary???? This party was for independence day viva viva costa rica. Don?t worry I stick out like a sore thumb in town but my mustache is getting bigger. On sat we went back into town for a town parade that lasted for 2 hours with kids dressing up. We are suppose to have a half day on sat but the lectures didn?t end till 4 so who can figure. We have Sunday off but we can only be out till 12 on fri and sat. For brian our week break is at the end of October and I think we only get like mon-fri off so everyone wants to extend that to the weekends, once again who can figure its costa rica!! Maybe we can work something out for after the semester. The best way I can explain the center is that it?s a lot like the adk lodge and i kinda feel like this area looks like the ping island with steve zissou. My Spanish got better with the long drive while talking in the car, como dice hot tub? Or as Roberto Gomez says yo queero. Life is good so ill be in touch with more stories soon. Pura Vida , senior timothy (ill try to get some photos to you all)