21!

I can now drink in the US. Let's have a party.

My birthday day here in Costa Rica was fun. :) I had 5 birthday cakes. That was a lot! Also I got a sweet card from one girl at refugio and a rose from the people working there (not the nuns but the other people).

1st


2nd


3rd


4th



5th



And some other birthday photos.

Time flies by so fast!

Okay, so it is my LAST WEEK of work! I know I was moaning a lot at times how I just want to come home but the time went by really fast.

After this week I have two weeks of holiday. First I will go to Nicaragua to renew my visa (right now I am illegally in Costa Rica. BUT only for three days, no big deal, at least I hope so). Back from Nicaragua on Wednesday and then final seminar starts on Thursday. It's in a place called Esparza or something.

Then on Sunday when I get back from final seminar I will meet with Jordan! I am so excited for that! We will go to Manuel Antonio and Monteverde.

And after he leaves, it is my very last week in Costa Rica. Few days back at work (without Hannah!!! SAD) and then few days to pack and do something and celebrate my hostmom's birthday.

My flight back home is on 25th of July, departing here at 11.35am. I should be in Finland by Monday afternoon (finnish time). Then I have lots of plans. Do things with mom and dad (most likely IKEA and I really want to go to Suomenlinna). See Karita! We are probably going to check out a new flea market in Helsinki. It is called Harakantaivas. Ahhh <3 I love that name and it sounds like a place for me.

Lehtijuttu

Kirjoitan täältä Ylä-Karjalaan juttuja, tässä on yksi julkaistuista jutuista.

Phone culture.

I think my hostmom is obsessed with her phone.
Right now she is in the shower (I could hear the water when I was brushing my teeth in the other bathroom), and she is talking to her phone, very loudly.

She talks to phone all the time. Also, my hostsisters call each other when the other one is in the other room or floor. Much easier than screaming or walking there.

Slow Day

Yesterday I was really tired and went to sleep at 4 in the afternoon and slept until 19.30. Then few hours later went back to sleep and woke up early this morning.

I took my time in the morning, and around 11 left to La Sabana. It is a big park in San José. I took my camera, notebook, music and umbrella and decided to just enjoy some time alone in the sun. Well, the sun went away pretty quick and then it was time for some heavy raining and thunder.





I decided to stay under a roof in the park, as so many other people too. I started to talk with the guy standing next to me. He was from Nicaragua, and really nice. I like talking with strangers in spanish. :)

Later I went to Multiplaza with Cata. First we bought movie tickets, and then we had 3 hours to hang around before the movie started. We went to few stores, searched for the cutest and ugliest clothes. And tried to find a dress for me. We found real pretty (and super high) high heels for me. I lovedddddddd them. I might want to buy them later if I find a dress which fits with them. The hig heels were bright blue.

Mi blusa favorita!

So at work there is that one nun who nobody really likes. Not even the other nuns...
She is really nice to me (I think she wants me to like her).

Anyway, she really likes one shirt of mine. She is always talking about the beautiful yellow shirt that I once had. Well, on Friday I was wearing it again and when she saw me, she said "Oh Railita, mi blusa favorita!" ANd then she said something about how good yellow looks on me.

:) It was cute.

Can you comment?

Mom said that she can not comment on my blog.
I checked the settings and everyone is supposed to be able to comment.

Can you? Is it just mom who doesn't know how to... :)

Volcan Poás 30.5.

I finally went to Volcan Poás. Not with Raquel, because I couldn't do it as orientation trip anymore. So I went with Hannah and Andres.

We had lots of luck, the day was really pretty and clear. And we saw the crater! Usually it is covered with clouds. As it was that day too at times.




Hannah and me




Did you just see a crater down there?


After the crater we walked the trail around there in the spooky forest.




And we came to Lagoon Botos.



SO PRETTY! It is like the most amazing painting.











Did I ever mention that I love my camera?




I think photos are the best way to describe that day so that's why there are so many.


My favorite photo!

Montezuma 21.-23.5.

I went to Montezuma with Regina, german volunteer, to visit Lukas' project. He is a german volunteer. EVERYONE is from Germany. Sometimes it is actually a bit annoying. Just because I hear so much german and it messes my head.

So Lukas works in a project called Romelia, it is sea turtle saving project in the Nicoya peninsula. We took the bus and a ferry and another two more busses to get there.




Then when we got to Montezuma, we walked 7 kilometres on the paradise beaches to get to his project. It's right on Playa Grande, legendary beach.

The house where they live is not actually a house at all. It is in the rain forest 100 metres from the beach. There are mango trees everywhere and the monkeys are jumping and screaming in the trees all over the place. Sleeping there was like sleeping in a Jurassic Park. It was cool.

But I couldn't stay there longer. Everything was just wet and dirty all the time. Also they don't have electricity there. It is really basic.

Lukas showed us around. We went to see the turtle net place, but it was not turtle season then so we didnt see any cute baby turtles.

I loved how we just picked mangoes and starfruits from trees and ate them.

They also have two dogs and a cat there. The cat is really cute. It is super small and it eats EVERYTHING, and I mean everything. Chips, candies, banana, pine apple, hot sauce, rice...

On Saturday we just picked up bad mangoes from the ground for 3 hours and then we were free to do what we wanted. Oh yes, we didn't have to pay to stay and eat there, we just had to do a little work.

Then Sunday morning we left the place, left our stuff in Montezuma and walked to a waterfall. Well Regina didnt come, so I went with costarican boy called Arturo. He works in Romelia too. It was a really nice walk and it was so pretty at the waterfall!! Walking barefooted in a rocky river is challencing, I have to admit.


Photos

Romelia








Around











Waterfalls







Ps. Äiti, kyllä, näytän hoikalta. Ja ei, en ole laihtunut lisää. Ja kyllä, syön ruokaa. Paljon!

Día Internacional

So lot has happened since I last wrote about my days here. I have been lazy writing here.

15th May: Día International

I wrote a little about the preparation. It was a hard week of work. Lot to do.
The day itself was even more exhausting, standing all day. But it was also a lot of fun! Pulla was a success. Everyone just loved it. I liked talking with people and telling about Finland - en español! Though I did speak some finnish too! There was oen costarican boy who had lived in Finland for two years and he spoke really good finnish and was so happy to talk with me.






I think there were 15 countries represented in our Día International. Finland, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Germany, France, Italy, USA, India, Japan, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Belgium. Many countries had some really great ideas to present their homecountries. Here are some photos.

Denmark


Sweden


UK


USA


Switzerland



There was also costarican television there filming us. Finland was in the news twice, in the middle and at the very end! COOOOL! So now I have been in Costarican news already twice (international day and social work day in march!)

Afterwards we had a party. ACI makes great parties. Haha. I learned some salsa and merengue and reggaeton. Cool.