we´re doing a weeklong language class in orosi right now. its been a lot of fun because unlike many of the places we´ve traveled, the language school and hostel are full of other travellers. orosi is a small town in the middle of a valley, tons and tons of coffee is grown here, throughout the valley and even up the sides of the mountains.
the language course has been very helpful (i finally know the numbers in spanish, so now i can make correct change on the bus!) and the meals at the hostel have been good. the hostel has like four or five dogs, two cats, some horses, and a rooster that crows every morning to wake us. the walls here are pretty darn thin, and the showers aren´t always hot, but other than that the hostel is a sweet deal.
when we´re not in class or doing spanish homework there are lots of little day trips and hikes to do. one day we went to the local hot springs, which were very scenic right beside the river, with bamboo and plants all around. the hot springs weren´t super hot, but it was still pretty nice.
yesterday we went to the tapanti national park, which recieves the most rain of any place in costa rica. the hiking was OK but not great (very wet and muddy of course), but then we ate whole trout at a nearby restaurant/trout-farm and that was very tasty.
today we hiked to a local waterfall - maybe 30 feet tall in the main part? and then we were given a tour by Nano, this crazy guy who lives nearby and gives tours. I didn´t follow most of what he said, but he showed us lots of photographs of other travellers who had visited, then told several elaborate jokes in spanish, then spent a long while chatting to Stephen, primarily on the topics of drinking, smoking and women.
Meanwhile I played rummy with his 12yr old nephew, and played with this adorable 2 month old puppy they had that was unbearably tiny and cute. We ate bananas and drank coffee, he showed us his cows and their calf, and two ponds he had full of trout, that jumped up when he threw food into the pond. he also hiked us through the coffee fields on the side of the mountain for a bit, and talked about the process of growing coffee- all in all an entertaining experience.
tommorrow we´re off to see volcan irazu, then monday we´re heading back towards san jose...
Posted by vis at July 12, 2003 08:33 PM