Leaving Costa Rica

My last couple weeks in Costa Rica were really nice, especially without having to work. The rest of my time with my mom, and later with my stepdad and stepsister, was really nice and relaxing. Though I had to play the part of tour guide and translator (especially when we got pulled over by the cops for speeding as we were making our way back from Manuel Antonio to San Jose for their flight-I was not the one driving by the way, it was my mom. And yes, luckily we managed to finagle our way out of getting a ticket), I was still glad that they came. After they left on Friday, I came back to San Jose and a bunch of the other guides were still around and our manager planned a trip to go rafting in a town where the language program was, Turrialba, which is 2 hours from San Jose. So about 25 of us went there Saturday. It was a long day though, the bus got us at 6:30 a.m. and we didn't get back until around 8 at night. But it was the best time I've had rafting yet. That was my 3rd time on that river and the water level was perfect. That combined with the fact that we went without kids and I was in the front made it ace.

So now, I'm definitely ready to leave San Jose and Costa Rica. I'm leaving for Guatemala with my friend Lauren today! I'm so excited. We're arriving at the Guatemala City airport later tonight and we're going to couch surf! Maybe I should explain: couchsurfing is the practice of connecting with people all over the world and instead of having to pay for a place to stay, people offer up their couches, spare bedrooms, whatever space they have for you to stay there. The web site makes it super safe because people have to be referred and verified that they've had good couch surfing experiences. The guy who we're staying with is married and has been all over the world couch surfing. I'm sure many people are concerned right now and still don't think it's all that safe. But I have friends who've done and I've talked to various people about it and I think it'll be ok and I'm comfortable with it. I just can't wait to truly start traveling now!