My last days in Costa Rica // Hasta luego!

Hi friends!

Welcome back to my blog, and it’s also a welcome back for me, as I have made it home safely. As I was busy settling back in and participating in my last seminar from my organization Kulturweit, I didn’t have much time to write on my blog. But I’m back now, and there are still a few posts to come and thoughts I want to share.. after that, I will not continue to write on here, as this was just a personal blog dedicated to my time in Costa Rica. I will not delete it, so I can always go back and read through my adventures, and hopefully it will help and inspire some other people out there as well…

So let’s rewind…

After my adventurous weekend in San José and the rafting trip with my family, my last two days of work were ahead of me. Monday and Tuesday were spent as usual – teaching, laughing, drinking coffee at our favorite café and cooking dinner together with Charlotte. Our 11th grade students had organized a get-together for Tuesday night (aren’t they amazing!?), we ordered some pizza and sang karaoke all night long. Wednesday was Mother’s day in Costa Rica and Charlotte spent it with one of the teachers who had basically adopted her as a daugther, while me and Wiebke (new intern) decided to spent a few days at the beach. Spontanously we drove to San José and got into the bus towards Manuel Antonio. We got out at Playa Esterillos Oeste, a large beach in front of a small village. With only our small backpacks, we checked into the only hostel there – The Spot. The owner Roger showed us around his place, that he has built up all by himself. Our dorm and the other rooms were inside old ship containers, in the lounge was a pool table and lots of hammocks to relax in, and the garden was covered in flowers. We immeditately changed our clothes and went to check out the beach – there were barely any people, and Mother nature had formed a few pond-like spots where you can swim like you would in your bathtub at home. The beach there is lovely at low tide but when the high tide comes it gets extremely wild – the old pier is broken down already, and the palm trees are growing aslant. We spent 2 1/2 half days just soaking up the sun, walking up and down the beach and cooking some delicious food. It was the perfect way for me to enjoy Costa Rica’s Pacific coast one last time, and Wiebke finally had her first beach experience here. Around noon on friday we took the bus back to San Jose, which didn’t work that well, but we managed to get home somehow.. On Saturday Lina, Charlotte and I had our last practice with our youth group, and we spent it as usual, practicing aerial silks. Afterwards we went out to eat pizza with our friends, and as a goodbye gift, they had printed out photos and everyone started writing lovely messages on the back, while we were hanging out one last time. We had an amazing last night with them, and I am extremly grateful to have met them and to have been able to practice aerial silks since there are not many options in Munich (but I will try to find something). On Sunday Wiebke, Charlotte, Isaac, his friend Luis and I made a road trip to the windmills in Santa Ana. It’s a popular spot to picnic and enjoy the view – so that’s what we did! Afterwards we spontanously visited the Costa Rican Starbucks coffee plantation, which is a very modern and fancy type of place, but it was cool to check it out! All in all, I had a great last day with my friends and yet again saw and experienced something new! The last days I spent packing, buying souvenirs for friends, cleaning the appartment and saying goodbye to my students and friends one last time. Then the final day came – Wednesday, August 22. My family drove up and we ate lunch together with Charlotte at our favorite Soda, then we drove to the airport. I got onto the plane with mixed feelings, of course I was sad to leave.. more or less I had built up a life here, and I felt suprisingly at home, for only 6 months of living here.. but I was ready to go back home. My time here was precious and I wouldn’t change anything about it, but it’s always good to come home, and I feel the need to stay a little longer this time, before I am off to new adventures again. Goodbyes are bittersweet, but doors have to close, so others can be opened, right?

Next stop: HOME

 

//Olivia