Since classes and finals ended just before our arrival in Costa Rica we were FREE for the rest of the voyage. Costa Rica was probably one of the, shall I say, more ghetto ports of call. The city we docked in, Puntarenas, was on the dull side of things - nothing to do/see/eat - the three staples of travel. The first day in Costa Rica I had an SAS trip to a coffee plantation planned. It was really cool to see the full process - from harvest, to roasting, to packaging, to marketing. I also left with way more than my fair share of coffee... but, I'm sure my mom will be thrilled. After our tour we ate at a restaurant and an American lady in the restaurant asked where we were all from, and we said Semester at Sea. She pretty much started freaking out because she was hired to be the librarian on the fall 2008 voyage. We told her she is in for the voyage of a lifetime!! After some shopping we headed back to the ship where my friend Kelli and I were supposed to meet some friends for dinner. That ended up not working out so we just ventured into the city alone to find an internet cafe. The search really did not last too long because you can pretty much walk through the entire city in about 5 minutes. Anyhoo, found an internet cafe stayed there for a LONG time, posted some pictures on the blog, talked to some friends, you know, the usual... After 3 hours there we were off to find some food - WITH GUACAMOLE. However, that is quite the problem because there is no guacamole in Costa Rica... WHO KNEW!? After a sad, sad walk back to the ship we settled for a Luna bar and apple sauce for dinner and were hoping for something spectacular for my birthday!! My birthday was on Sunday and my friends and I wanted to make it special... only problem... location. Where are we going to go to have some fun adventures in a town with... nothing. Well, you go to the local Double Tree Hotel and get a $45 day pass and eat all you want, drink all you want, and lay out all you want!!! YES! Aww... to be westernized once again. At the hotel there is a place to rent jet skies and go out the Tortuga - the island where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park were filmed. It was the perfect place to celebrate my birthday with some amazing friends! It took us 45 (long, painful, bumpy, sand in areas it should NOT be) minutes on the jet skies to get to the island. We stayed there for a while, ate some fruit, played with a crab, laid on the beach, and then headed back to the mainland. After that we hung out at the resort for a few more hours before heading back to the ship. It was quite sad going through security for the last time and swiping our card for one of the last times. We got on the ship and were off to Miami before we knew it - but not before going through the Panama Canal. That was probably one of the coolest things ever. Being able to say you have sailed through the Panama Canal is not that common and I get to say it - pretty much awesome!
My friends threw me a birthday party on the ship a few days after Costa Rica and we had a blast - I even got some gifts from Andy, Adam, and Zach... an empty jar of peanut butter, mouldy jam, lost sunglasses, a random pillow, and a comb - sweet, hey? I know, they love me!
I am actually writing this from my house in Porterville... I got home a few hours ago and am pretty much in "culture shock" if that’s what its called... I feel rather out of place and I don't know what I'm going to do with being on land for more than 6 days at a time. Its going to be an adjustment to say the least but I can't wait to share all my experiences with you all soon.
love love love
Cherie
See me?? Im the 3rd from the front!
Kelli, Anna, and I
Anna, me, Andy, Kelli, Porter, and Zach
The Resort
Toruga
Jet skies
Me and Kelli on the jet skies
Coffee in Costa Rica
Me and Kelli on Tortuga
Playing with crabs
Jet ski time!
Me, Anna, and Kelli crossing the Panama Canal.
My Birthday decorations!
Happy Birthday!
Me and Adam from Georgia
My Super cool gifts from the guys
Pulling into Miami - Im the 3rd person from the very front.
Mamma, sister, aunti... waiting for me in Miami!
See us in the window??
Panama Canal baby!
YES!!!
You guessed it
You know you want those HOT suits!!
The skydiving group
me and anna
My host family!
look its me!
Kobe
me and anna in kobe
Kobe
MMMHHHMM
Dinner in Osaka...
Just some karaoke
home stay get together!!
me in a kimono
Temple of Heaven
Olympic Stadium
Me and my luggage... :)
OLYMPIC STADIUM!!!
Tiananmen Square
Forbidden City
Our super cool acrobatic show!!
