the BEACH!

last weekend we visited manuel antonio, one of the beaches i've heard the most about before my trip and down here in costa rica. it was a three and a half hour bus trip from san jose. we got up early saturday morning and made the trek and it was SO worth it! the bus dropped us off right in front of the hotel and we had almost a full day to explore!


the view(s) from our hotel pool. not too shabby!


i was really happy to get to the beach. i haven't been since october...and that is a long time for me!

we were serenaded at lunch. that is daniele...she sang along with the wandering musician. it was touching, but don't be fooled. you do have to pay for these moments.

even though it was cloudy for a good part of the weekend, it was still gorgeous and i got a great tan!

there was a transportation theme going with this hotel. i didn't get it (the hotel name is costa verde) but it was still very interesting.


we woke up on sunday to monkeys running across the roof of our little cabana. they were so cute and they get very lively in the morning. i didn't want to touch them (what, and get monkey fever? i don't think so.) but this little kid didn't mind and i got a great photo out of it!



sunday was a beautiful day, as you can see...and i got to do something i've never done before. last week, it was ziplining...this week, it was PARASAILING with my friend daniele! a bunch of us went and it was an absolute blast. wish i could have had my camera up in the air with me, but i didn't think that was such a good idea. so here's what i got!




more adventures to come. hopefully less expensive ones--i'm running out of money down here. feel free to donate. :)

abbie versus the volcano

ok, so here are the photos of last weekend that you've been waiting for!!


we traveled to volcano arenal on saturday and stayed at los lagos hotel and resort. gabi and i had a little cabana all to ourselves.


danielle and i drank out of pineapples!! yum!

after spending the evening in the natural spring-fed pools, we woke up early in the morning to hike to the observatory, which is as close as you can get to the volcano. it was a good thing we did, because for the rest of our stay, the volcano was hidden from view by clouds and fog. that morning, however, the view was spectacular!




the most memorable part of the weekend came next...we went on a zipline tour of the rainforest canopy. amazing! and i felt relatively safe the whole time. :)

outfitted in the harness and all, i managed to look pretty intimidating for once in my life.

i didn't even realize these photos were being taken...i just couldn't stop smiling! muy divertido!

the "superman" pose was probably the most exhilarating. i really felt like i was flying!


hard to believe there will be any photos better than these, but this weekend is BEACH weekend...so there will be some more amazing stuff to see, for sure! hasta luego!

fin de semana parte dos

hola!

time for part II of my weekend fabulous-ness. over the weekend, we went on an excursion to visit the famous and very active volcano arenal. while i was bummed that i didn't get to see any flowing lava, normal people would all agree that is a good thing. (i am a geology freak! bring on the plate tectonics. bring on the disaster movies. i love it all!) i'm really just trying to build your anticipation though, because you don't get those photos until tomorrow. we drove for a good part of the day on saturday, stopping at several tourist attractions and cute little town centers (which included several churches) along the way...so that is what you get to see today! enjoy!




the world's biggest (and most beautiful, if you ask me) ox-cart. located in the town of sarchi. look it up! it's in the guinness world book.

the whole gang! (well, the six of us who went, and gustavo is taking the picture.)


some life-sized bonzai trees make the little town of grecia a very ethereal attraction. the church and view from it were gorgeous!


(i know, the red letters are a little creepy. but i did NOT super-impose them, they were hanging there! i need to zoom in, translate, and figure out what they mean.)



hey, this is the closest i can get to rio at this point. i had to take one of these shots.

as usual, we had an amazing lunch of carne typico (i got pollo), arrozo y frijoles, platanos, and more. yum!


we saw him after lunch. an iguana in real nature. they ARE hard to find!

hola maestro gustavo!

just you wait, volcano pictures are up next...

mi primero fin de semana en costa rica

this weekend was so jam-packed with amazing sights, incredible food, and fun with new friends, that i can only begin to blog about it...so i'll start with friday...a sort of "preview" to my "fin de semana."

in costa rica, the months that are summetime in the US are the months of the rainy season. the mornings start out clear in santa ana and by noon it is overcast. often, afternoons are very rainy, with thunderstorms and torrential downpours! for this reason, i and some other students from the program have been taking early morning walks to see the views when it is clear. on friday, we walked into the mountains for the first time.

we started our hike through the town of salitral. it is picturesque because of its location but it is also an impoverished area.



and some snapshots of the flora and fauna along the way...


not all of it was exactly "natural." but this is definitely part of the scenery down here!

las bananas!



our friday, as expected, became very rainy. in the afternoon, we took a journey by bus to nearby escazu...and got drenched. but it was still an adventure! (below, daniele, uhnyak, gabi, me!)



it was still a little pretty, even in the downpour...


and after buying ponchos, still getting really wet, and eating some fried chicken, we are still smiling!

more weekend goodness to come...

la pura vida!

(in case you can't tell, it says "bienvenidos a costa rica!")

well...i guess i should start with...i'm in costa rica! most of you probably already gathered that from recent facebook posts, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...but many of you may not know why i am here. i am here for an opera program called opera nova, a program founded by my voice teacher, karen esquivel, and her husband, who is a native costa rican. the program has a dual purpose, to bring a rigorous opera program to costa rica and to provide costa rican and american participants with opera experience, including diction classes, voice lessons, coachings, and performance experience. it has been a really learning experience so far, and so exciting!

in the french baroque opera we are preparing and performing, médée, i will be playing nerine, médée's nurse and confidante. the several languages going on, english, french, and lots of spanish, can be a little overwhelming, but languages are something that really excite me. the coolest part about it all is that the language of music transcends all spoken languages. everyone can "speak" it and understand it!

i live with host families in the pueblo of santa ana, located in a valley surrounded by jagged mountains that are covered with lush green vegetation and speckled with the beautiful mansions of wealthy foreign retirees. we are about a 15 minute cab ride from san josé, the capital. i flew into the san josé airport on sunday morning. it's only a three hour flight from orlando!




our host "family" consists of elieth, a very sweet woman with four grown daughters who live nearby with their families. she cooks three wonderful traditional meals for us each day and even does our laundry! she does not speak english, so i am learning most of my spanish at "home." i live with two other american participants, daniele and hasmig. daniele is from mexico originally so i am so thankful to have a translator around when i really need it!

a street market in santa ana.


my bedroom...


i like to make things my own. and i like to pack a lot of stuff.


they paint the bottom of the trees so that the bugs won't climb them. resourceful!

a few blocks away from our home is the escuela municipal de artes integradas. it is a beautiful modern, open air building with practice rooms for music and dance, music lab, an art gallery, and small stage and auditorium. here are some photos of the emai...





i and my roommates walk there together and also get up early each morning to walk or run around santa ana during the safest hours and enjoy the warm weather and beautiful surroundings. we are all so thankful to be studying some beautiful music in a beautiful country!




adios! pray that i don't get montezuma's revenge! (i'm not sure what you call it in costa rica, but you get the idea.)