First Entry in Costa Rica

Okay guys I finally set up a blog. So I will try and update this reguarly. Thus far I have already had one field trip. We went to Sarapiqui which is about a two hour drive north from the province Heredia) I live in a town called Barrio Jesus. I live with a contract construction worker and his stay at home wife (Luis y Rosibel). They have three boys Luis who´s 12, Juan who is 10 and Daniel whos 6. They are a great family to live with. Anyway back to my fieldtrip. On the first night we went on a guided tour on the Sarapiqui river. Due to the earthquake that had occured earlier in the year the water was a muddied brown rather than clear. We saw Howler and Spider monkeys, bats, an anhinga (which is a type of bird) iguanas (hugeeee iguanas) and much more....at night we took a night time bat walk, and studied some bats thata bat catcher had caught...we learned about consveration efforts on bats and how they help out or ecosystem. The next day we went on a hike to La Selva Biological Research Center. Basically its this huge tropical forest where scientists and students go and do their research. You are only allowed to visit for two hours at a time to help preserve the area in its natural state. It was beautiful. We saw poison dart frogs, bats roosting, Howler Monkeys (which was my favorite part), wild boars, an array of butterflies. Pretty much anything you could think of that would be in the tropics. Then we went zip lining..which was really scary to me lol I was pretty freaked out...somewhere after the ziplining I went white water rafting which was AWESOME the river at this point is a level 2 or 3...that sounds like nothing... but people do drown. So we did that and our instructor during this rafting trip is actually an anthropology graduate who came to Costa Rica..loved it and stayed...Now he works as a raft instructor and just recently bought a house. (Hes originally from Colorado) I thought that was pretty neat. The third day we went horseback riding and it wasnt just a lesiurely two hour ride. My horse was a feisty one and had a tendency to GALLOP...kinda scary but I got used to it after a while. I have been going to Santa Barbara a lot..which is pretty much like downtown...Ive been to Heredia twice to go to the mall and look at everything there as well. The cars are fast..they dont have pedestrian right of way here..so that can be sort of tricky..but Im dealing..I know how to take the busses and which directions to go in. Here everyone takes the bus (It´s alot like germany) Speaking of which I have met some very interesting people..especially Germans. They go to the Amistad Institute as well..so I talk to them every once in a while. Most of them are staying for 6 months at a time. A girl from Oreagon who leaves tomorrow has been here for 6 months and through the Institute got a job as an English teacher (shes 19) so I´m thinking of eventually doing that. Thats about it for now...Ill keep you all posted.