Monday, February 7, 2011

Puerto Viejo!!

A View of Rocking J's

Oh like I promised, this weekend was full of exciting stories. A group of about 20 students went to Puerto Viejo this weekend. It is a tiny town in the south of Costa Rica, close to Panama. We left Heredia at 12, caught the 2PM bus from San José, and arrived there around 6:30. From the bus stop we walked to the opposite side of town to our hostel, Rocking J’s. Here is the website if you want to check it out:  http://www.rockingjs.com/. This place was insane! Everything is very artsy, mosaic art decorates the entire hostel, along with paintings from past visitors. Any surface that could be decorated, was. We entered the lobby and right there were tables filled with people conversing and a beer pong table. Then behind that were hammock that we were staying in for both nights. There weren’t separate rooms for these hammocks. They were all in one big room (well there were actually two rooms) and only covered by a roof. Everything was very open. My hammock happened to be the very first one, right next to the beer pong table. I knew that I was in for a long night of barely any sleep in this place that was truly “rocking.”
The Hammocks

La Playa at Rocking J's
After we put our things in lockers, we headed back into town to get some dinner. After dinner we went back to the hostel to wait for the beach bonfire. While we waited, we went down to the beach to put our feet in the water. We were all so excited to be at the Caribbean Sea. The bonfire started and we hung out there for a while before going over to our hammocks to try to get some sleep. At midnight, they kicked everyone out of the main area so that it would be quiet for the people to sleep. I was very happy for this, hoping I would get to sleep a little more than planned. Some girls and I were up talking, and realizing how relaxing it was to swing in the hammock while you are sleepy, when we were joined by some friendly and chatty Argentinians that hung out with us till well after 2 in the morning. Finally I was able to get some sleep. Some girls wanted to get up and watch the sun rise, but at 5 we woke up and saw that it was so cloudy. It had rained the night before and the clouds hadn’t gone away. So we decided to get an early breakfast and ate at this awesome restaurant called “Bread and Chocolate.” We wandered through town a bit, bought a return bus ticket for the next day, then went back to the hostel. I felt too exhausted from only three hours of sleep, so some of us just stayed to explore the beach a little and then we hung out in our hammocks for a few hours. After a rest, we walked into town, looked at the shops, then met up with some others for ice cream (that was super delicious!). We went back to the hostel and wanted to say our goodbyes to the ocean and then went our separate ways. I was able to fall asleep earlier, 12:30 and woke up at 6 for out 7:30 bus back to Heredia. I got back home and was SO exhausted, but had fun. 
Super Tall Trees

View of Rocking J's from the beach












So I hope that was interesting enough. I sure had a great time there. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully I will update soon. Only 94 days left in Costa Rica!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds a little like. Housekeeping Camp in Yosemite!
    Your mama

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  2. COWABUNGA!! surf's up.
    Dad

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  3. Hey Riley! I ran into your Dad at Safeway and he told me about your grand adventure. I spent three weeks in the jungles of Panama at Jungle Warfare School.....1968.....there is no doubt that central America is beautiful. Seen any of the giant bright blue butterflies called, I think, Morphs.? I will remember you always as one of the most precious kids I ever had the privilege to teach. You are an amazing young lady, Riley. God bless you and keep you safe. Lots of aloha from Hawaii! I hope Costa Rica is just a wonder filled experience for you.
    Jim Pitts
    Mr. P

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  4. You are awedome Riley!
    Nina

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