This blog is going to be a little bit different because it’s not about a CISV camp I went to, but instead, this is about a very small camp reunion.  Also, this week I am going to be discussing some things I learned without conversation.  I reunited with my friend, Ines, only a few months ago in March, for spring break.  I flew to San Jose Costa Rica to visit her.  Ines lives with her parents and her older sister, Maria.  Neither of Ine’s parents spoke English, but it was amazing to see how welcoming they were to have me in their home.  It is interesting to see how much you can communicate with someone even if no words are exchanged.  Smiles and laughs are a universal language and by the end of the trip I felt comfortable around Ine’s mom, Claudia, even though we could not speak to each other.  Claudia was also very excited to introduce me to traditional Costa Rican food.  For breakfast we had gallo pinto alongside fresh vegetables and orange juice from their garden. The family also took me on a day trip to a waterfall called Banjos del Toro.  The waterfall had a lot of little trails around it to hike on and the sound of the falls was very relaxing. 

Most of the trip I spent with Ines and Maria traveling around Costa Rica.  We stayed in two different hostels, visiting two different beach towns, Tamarindo and Santa Teresa.  This was my first time staying in a hostel and it was a super cool experience, it is a perfect place to meet other travelers and it is a lot cheaper than staying in hotels.  I want to expand more on hostels in future blog posts about prices and all the cool things they have to offer.  At the hostel in Tamarindo I met people from South Africa, Norway, and Australia.  The hostel was called Selina and they have locations all over the world and if you are ever in Costa Rica you should look into staying there!  The highlight of both places I visited were the beaches and the sunsets on the beaches.  At night the beaches would fill with people as we would all gather to watch the sunset.  Surfing is also super popular in Tamarindo and Santa Teresa, so even though I am not the best surfer, watching surfers provided lots of daily entertainment.  Santa Teresa was a little bit more touristy than Tamarindo, but both places had super cute smoothie places and restaurants to eat at.  I would go back right now if I could and if you ever get the chance to visit Costa Rica, go to Tamarindo and Santa Teresa!  Costa Rica is a very small country so it is easy to take buses to visit different towns, and they are not very expensive.