'Yo no se mañana...'

Third week down, and now only one to go. The thought of having to be back in my M&S uniform, placating the various whims of the snobs of Chichester in just over a week is actually enough to make me feel a wee bit sick. But obviously instead of dwelling on my impending return to normality (although even the word 'normality' has a bit of a funny ring to it now...) I am trying to focus all my energy on enjoying the time I have left in the wonderful, the amazing, the downright breath-taking awesome-ness of Costa Rica. Pura vida.

This week we've been working in a new centre - La Casa de Ana Frank- and it's been really lovely so far. Rach and I are working in different areas of the building so we're having to be a little more independent of each other. I'm with the oldest group of kids who range from 8 - 11 years old whereas Rach is with the little'uns again. I can't decide which age group is more of a challenge. The little'uns tend to be very loving from the offset and in need of lots of cuddles and attention, which is lovely but requires a massive amount of sustained energy. Meanwhile I had a very hard time convincing the kids (the girls especially) to warm to me. One of the girls spent the whole of the first day running up to me with her eyelashes fluttering and her hands clasped behind her back in a convincing display of sweetness. She'd then proceed to say something along the lines of 'I really don't like you' or 'I bet you can't understand a word I'm saying, ugly' and then run away giggling. But believe it now we're now BFFs. And now that I've worked at it and convinced that I'm not an idiot foreigner and I can in fact talk to them and play with them, they've let me be part of the group. I play silly games with the girls and they teach me dances and do my hair and the boys attempt to teach me how to play American football and table football both of which I am completely inept at! One of the boys in particular - Jhon (and trust me, they still haven't stopped taking the piss that my name sounds like his 'usted tiene un nombre de un chico! jejejeee!') is a true gent. He's 10 years old and always takes me aside and tries to help me understand when I lose track of the what's being said or can't put myself across. A little hero!

On Wednesday evening we went to the cinema to see El Vengador - Law Abiding Citizen - which was genuinely one of the best movies I've seen in a long while. It was in English but with Spanish subtitles so we were subconsciously watching the subtitles and trying to absorb some of the language. The ticket was 1000 colones and the popcorn and drink was about 2500 colones so altogether it cost less than a fiver.

On Thursday I went to Castros - the most popular dance club in the city. Rachel was knackered and stayed home but I've been desperate to go the entire trip so I went with our American friend Kat, a German girl called Judith and a girl from Taiwan called Tesha - we were a very mixed bag of nationalities and it made for some very interesting conversations when people asked 'so, where are you girls from?'. The club itself was beautiful. You get a table and the drinks are served to you via your own waiter all night long. The tables are all clustered around the dance floor so for about an hour I just sat and watched the couples dancing. They were breath-breathtakingly good and would all be able to teach a thing or two to the professionals on Strictly. After a beer (or two or three...) I got up the courage to give it a go and danced the salsa, merengue and bachata. Seriously - I need to find a Latino club somewhere in Hampshire. I've never had so much fun dancing. It was amazing.

This weekend we traveled to Monteverde with a few girls from the language school - another English girl called Sara, an Italian called Sara and a German girl called Franci. We got up super early Friday morning (well, Rachel managed to get up super early. I on the other hand managed to roll out of bed 5 minutes before the taxi was meant to be picking us up at 5am. Smooth) and caught a taxi to the bus stop where we started the 5 hour bus ride to Monteverde. When we arrived it was raining harder than I think I've ever seen it rain before. Ever. The phrase 'drowned rats' doesn't even begin to describe what we looked up when we stumbled into the reception of the hotel we were staying at. The hotel was basic but the people were so friendly and helped us book up an itinerary for the weekend. We didn't waste any time and straight away went to get changed ready for a horseback ride that we'd booked. It was so much fun. We weren't asked if we had any riding experience (thank god all of us had some otherwise I think there might've been a few problems), we weren't given any safety equipment or helmets, we weren't shown or told what to do, we were simply thrown onto the horses and off we went. It was still raining but it didn't mar the experience at all. The guides were with us all the time but pretty much let us get on with it. The trail led us through woodland, through streams, up and down hills and across fields. A lot of the time we were cantering or galloping (this is where a bit of experience came in handy otherwise I would have had a panic attack) and the views from every angle were just gorgeous. I know it was Rachel's highlight of the entire trip so far and it wasn't far off being mine too. All helped, of course, by the fact that the landowner gave us a taste of their bananas and, get this, a couple of shots of their hand made liquor. Yum.

On Saturday we got up and went on a walking tour of Santa Elena nature reserve. Our guide was extremely nice and obviously knew his stuff. Unfortunately there weren't any mammals or big animals to be seen - we were up in the mountains and at this time of year bigger animals migrate downwards where they're able to find fruit still growing on the trees. The guide made up for it though with his abundance of knowledge about the beautiful plants and insects and birds that we were able to see. Straight after the tour we went back to the hotel to get ready for the next activity. The other girls had decided to go on a bird-watching tour. Rachel and I though sounded a little boring and preferred the sound of canyoning. Throwing ourselves into pools of freezing cold water in the pouring rain and abseiling down waterfalls in a country where 'health and safety' goes no further than signing a waver? Yeah. Why not. To be honest I would struggle to describe the event itself as most of what I can remember is having water in my eyes, water up my nose, water in ears, water in my mouth, feeling suddenly acutely aware of the power of gravity and hearing the sounds of Rachel's constant screaming reverberating off of valley. We are both covered in bruises, there's still river water swilling around my ears and I think my heart rate is yet to return to normal. It was so so so so so much fun and I am so proud that neither of us wimped out. That evening we all cooked a massive pot of past and sat down to play some epic rounds of uno.

On Sunday morning Rachel, English Sara and I went on the canopy tour which consists of zip lining through the tree tops. I feel like I'm running out of superlatives for all the things we've been doing but seriously - the part of the canopy tour called the Superman, where you are strapped on the zip wire and launched out across the canopy like a bird was truly awe-inspiring. Again, there wasn't much in the way of explanation or guidance, just a series of guides ready to unclip you from one zip, clip you onto the next and shove you into midair saying 'Ready? Go!!!'. At one point we approached a platform where there wasn't another zip line to take. I assumed we'd be taking a step ladder down to the forest floor but instead I found myself being strapped onto a vertical rope that was dangling down through the canopy. A voice said 'Bend your knees. Go!' and all of sudden I was falling through midair. I couldn't even scream it happened so fast. When my feet where safely on the ground all I could do was exclaim 'HOLY SHIT' at the top of my voice and then turn around to see about 20 American and German tourists staring at me with their mouths agape. 'Sorry. Excuse my French. Wait, sorry, if you're french that won't make sense. Sorry. Sorry for the swearing. I don't even know if half of you speak English. Sorry.' Luckily my rambling apology was interrupted by Rachel being thrown into midair and screaming louder than a jet plane. Ta Rach.

After the Canopy we got the bus back to San Jose. The journey was pretty uneventful until a lorry decided to pull out in front of us causing our bus to swerve into the lane of oncoming traffic. Luckily the lane was clear. The bus driver pulled up alongside the lorry, opened the bus door and bellowed to the driver (keeping in mind that this is a rough translation. Believe it or not, I don't have that great a knowledge of Spanish expletives) 'WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKS YOUR MOTHER EH? YOU OR YOUR BROTHER? YOU OR YOUR BROTHER? YOU MOTHER FUCKING SON A BITCH.' What a charmer.

It was a brilliant weekend and it was lovely to be in a group too. And now back to another week working in San Jose.

xxx