Happy 4 Month Anniversary Costa Rica!

I have been terrible at updating about my life in Costa Rica. This is actually a good sign because it means I am busy and doing exciting things. To commemorate another monthaversary, here is what is exciting in my life about my last month in this rainy land:

Independence Day on Sept. 15th was all about the parades, traditional performances, and partying all driven by the local school children. I followed around my 2 dear teacher friends (pictured) whose students celebrated the night before with a lantern lighting parade (to commemorate how the news of independence spread around Costa Rica in the middle of the night), and with a marching band of typical tico songs the day of. Vivan siempre el trabajo y la paz!

Travi, my rescued kitty, is really living up to his name (meaning mischievous in Spanish). I am in love.

Myself and my 3 best friends here (2 of them pictured above) went on a short journey to Sarchi, the artesian headquarters in Costa Rica, where I paid homage to my grandma Nana and her trip to the same town many years ago. I purchased a mini version of the same hand-painted cart she got there, that is a part of the childhood memories I have of her home.

I really love my "hometown" of Belen, here in Costa Rica. First, Belen means Bethlehem in Spanish, which is cool to say I am living in Bethleham. It has the cutest center that has a two-towered church whose front yard is a soccer field, a small, vintage train station that they converted into an artesian shop, delicious sodas (or small restaurants) with $1.25 fresh blackberry smoothies, and a Pops ice cream parlor. Last Sunday, my friends and I went to show our support for the newly promoted Division 1 Belen team as they played against the biggest/most famous team in the country. There were a total of 10 fans for Belen (including us 3), but we tied and we stayed true to our roots. Beat 'em Belen.

I still am loving it here (even with the growing hours of rain per day), and am so thankful for the great friends I've made, the amazing world-changing women I've met, and the way God is teaching me through the first adult months of my life. Pura vida.