and once we got there we all got on board a bus. Apparently in every town around here someone owns a bus, and rents his services out on weekends, and on weekdays, he takes kids to school, and drives people to work in odd places. Well, it was a fairly long bus ride, and it was very enjoyable, driving through mountains, and past fields, and a ton of cows. When we got to the Volcano, we had to pay the National Park Entrance fee, but we said we were PC Trainees and Trainers (not entirely true, it was several trainees and about twice as many host families) and they let us in for 400 Colones, about eighty cents, when it should have been ten dollars. That was pretty exciting in itself, but when we got to the Volcano, there were strange mammals (Coati!) eating food out of trash cans (just like squirrels). Also, there was the caldera of the Volcano, which we could look down into, and it reeked of sulphur. Other exciting things include:
giant leafed plants (that is Ken's hand)! a US Geographical Survey marker at the highest point of the Volcano! At that highest point on the Volcano, we could see the Pacific Ocean! On the way back all of the Tico families had the bus stop at every roadside market to find the prices for cheese and potatoes, which was pretty hilarious by the time we stopped for the fifth time.This week I learned that during election season, everyone puts the flag of their party on their cars (and their houses) and since the elections were in May, only the flags of the winning party are still displayed. I'm settling in more with my host family, and learning more about them and why they do what they do, which is nice.
This weekend I am going to visit a volunteer way down south near the border with Panama, so I'll be on a bus most of Saturday, and the same on Tuesday, but I'm looking forward to it (if not the cold shower at 4 in the morning tomorrow).
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