Otro Día con Amigos

Another great day! Today Oscar, Alannah, and I visited the Irazú volcano. I've seen three of Costa Rica's volcanoes now! With pictures to prove it of course. This was another mini-trip that was such a good deal (especially for Oscar). We just had to pay for a roundtrip bus ticket (8$) for an hour and a half bus ride (3hours in total, there and back) and the entrance fee to the Volcano. For me, it was 10$ to see it...for Oscar, $2....It sure is great being a Tico in Costa Rica. I even had on my Tico scarf to prove to the guy that I belonged here and therefore deserved the Tico discount. He didn't buy it. I even said I had a student visa....he still didn't care haha. Pura Vida, I'm glad the country makes money off of the tourists. It was kind of funny though, since Oscar was speaking English with Alannah and I prior to buying the ticket, the ticket guy didn't believe that Oscar was a real Tico (even though he spoke Spanish to him, and used Costa Rican words like "Tuanis" and "Mae"). He was the only Tico that had to show his ID to the ticket guy, that's how good his English is I guess. Yesterday an American thought Oscar was a gringo, thanks to his great English abilities. If only I would be mistaken for a Tica. I try so hard.

Anyways, here's what's really important: Photos!

 

The entrance to the park! With a complimentary dog of course (all places in Costa Rica come with complimentary dogs). I swear this dog was part wolf, I still think it is. It's fur seemed just like a wolf. I spoke to it in Spanish tell it how pretty it's white fur was. It turns out the dogs name is Blanco...(white) so I had actually been saying it's name the whole time. I told the dog "Venga mi amor" (come my love) and it was meant to be a joke but the dog followed me all the way back to the bus and came into the bus with me! I was a little embarrassed haha. 

 

The crater!!! So cool!!

 

I think the scarf really asserts my Tico-ness. 

    

The climate at the volcano was super chilly (which explains the scarf) and the whole area seems so strange and nothing like the normal Costa Rica. There was fog EVERYWHERE and the soil was all black with hardly any animal life. I looked it up online and few species of animals actually can survive living there. The place just seems eerie really, even the people visiting talked in hushed tones. 

 

We brought our lunches with us to the Volcano. We went to Subway the night before because they were handing out free sub coupons, and then brought them with us! The sandwiches weren't complete without an avocado of course, but naturally none of us remembered a knife. Desperate times, call for desperate measures. A Costa Rican student ID doubles as a knife, who knew? MacGyver would be so proud. 

 

It's not Costa Rica without a little rain!  

We took the bus back to San Jose and made it back by 3pm. We walked around San Jose for awhile, and saw this awesome guy on the street painting with just his fingers and acrylic paint. The guy was so funny. He's been painting on the street for over 30 years...Crazy. After that we went back to Heredia and to our homes. Buut there's more! 

Alannah and I met back up at 6:45pm for Karen's choir concert at the university! It was great. I was so glad we went, and Karen was so happy too. A great day!