Goodbyes, Hellos, and Howler Monkeys

This morning I had to say goodbye to my fabulous host family in Heredia.

My awesome tico family! Love them!

They have been so good to me by spoiling me with delicious food, introducing me to so much Costa Rican culture, driving me all around town to show me things, taking me to a band concert, and hosting a family fiesta so I could meet their extended family. I was not ready to leave at all, but sadly the van came to get me and my things. We said our goodbyes, I thanked them for everything, and they told me to come back and visit (they are too sweet)! And I must admit that as the van pulled away and they waved tome from the sidewalk, I cried (sorry mom and dad-- I didn't cry when I left home) because they were so welcoming and loving to me as a complete stranger in their home. One night at dinner, I asked them how many students they had hosted expecting the number to be quite large because they seemed so good at what they did, and they told me that I was THE FIRST! I almost fell out of my chair I was so shocked.  I had such an awesome experience staying with them.
It was bittersweet saying goodbye, but then we were beach bound! We are spending the weekend in Manuel Antonio. During the drive we made some 'surprise' stops and saw scarlet macaws flying and a ton of crocodiles!
We also learned that there are 291 volcanoes in Costa Rica! After a stop a the supermercado, we headed straight off to Manuel Antonio National Park for a hike to the beach. Within the first 2 minutes of our hike we saw at least 10 wild white faced monkeys-- it was so surreal! It felt like we surely must be in a zoo. It was sooo hot and humid on our hike, but we saw squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, sloths, a deer, a snake, a crab, and raccoons, so it was absolutely worth it. It started to thunder while we were on the trail, so we were a little reluctant to head on to the beach, but it was so cool to hear all the monkeys start howling and see all the wildlife running to take shelter. We must have see 100 monkeys running around!
It took us forever to get to the beach, because we kept stopping to look at all the wildlife. The pacific beach was gorgeous when we got there, and the storm blew over so we didn't even have any rain. We got to enjoy a couple of hours of swimming and exploring the beach before the hike back for lunch.

It's nice to be staying in a hotel with all the girls tonight and have some time to catch up and share stories. We've had some funny experiences! (Oh, and the hot shower was quite nice.) Tonight is the national soccer championship and soccer is a HUGE deal here, so we are watching the game as I write this. Heredia, the province we were just staying in is playing. A really cool storm just popped up too (I guess we are in the rainforest), so we are trying to divide our attention between watching the game, watching the storm, and blogging. Bye for now!