Well I've been in four different places since my last blog. From La Fortuna I went to Samara, a little surfing town on the Pacific coast. Not much happened in Samara. I was planning on beaching it mostly but when I went to see the beach it was pretty ugly- very rocky and full of junk from the ocean (driftwood, sea weed, shells, etc.). Since I didn't want to spend time on the beach I thought I'd book some kind of tour, but no one would take me on because I was only one person, and they don't make money taking one person out. So I ended up spending two days by the pool at my hotel, which was fine. It was still good to relax. After Samara I was to spend one night in Tamarindo, another surfing town further north up the coast. I had to take the public bus there which turned into quite the task. The bus system takes so long because if you are in a little town like Samara, the buses don't come often or on time. So you literally just have to sit at the bus stop with all your stuff waiting for a bus to come by. I was sitting there for over an hour with no bus. While I was sitting at the bus stop, lots of people came by and would stop and ask if I wanted a ride. It really freaked me out at first because I thought everyone was trying to kidnap me but after awhile more locals started to come and wait at the bus stop for some random person to come pick them up! So I got the feeling this is a normal thing in Samara, but I still didn't want to get into a car with a stranger. But eventually the husband of the receptionist at my hotel came by and asked me if I wanted a ride. I accepted because I felt like I knew him well enough, he had helped me the night before with figuring out how to call Visa and I chatted to him and his wife for awhile. So that was great now I was on my way! He talked the whoooole way to Nicoya where I caught a bus to Benel. I was actually pretty impressed with what he had to say. He has lived in that surfing town his whole life but he was telling me how he has managed to stay out of the party scene, which I imagine would be incredibly hard because there is nothing to do in that town but surf and its so common to smoke weed in Costa Rica, like 98% of the population smokes, you see it and smell it everywhere. Especially in the little towns. Anyway while he was telling me about his life he seemed quite proud of it, and I don't blame it! That would be quite an accomplishment! He is a professional mountain biker so of course he has to stay healthy and all that. Anyway he was a really interesting guy and very kind! He also gave me a long talk about being safe in Costa Rica hahaha I was like yes I know I know I know I've heard this all from my own family! After he dropped me off in Nicoya I caught a quick bus to Benel where I had to get off and wait for another bus to take me to Tamarindo. When I finally got on THAT bus, I accidentally got off at the wrong spot because we stopped, and the bus driver was yelling "TAMARINDO TAMARINDO TAMARINDO" and a bunch of people got off so I did too. I soon realized I got off at the wrong place and had to wait for yet another bus to come along. When I finally got to Tamarindo it had been a total of 6 hours travelling for just about 100 km. Rough! I checked into my hostel and met some roommates right away who were super friendly and invited me out with them that night! It was about 2 pm so I went to the beach and hung out for a couple hours. The beach here was much nicer and there were tons of surfers in the water which is always fun to watch. I sat for about 30 mins before I was interrupted by this old man who was selling tours. He set me up with a massage on the beach the next morning (so great!) but then he wouldn't go away and proceeded to talk my ear off for the next couple hours. He was fine to talk to but the whole time I was just wondering why he was talking to me for so long haha it was so weird. But at one point we got talking about yoga, he had travelled to India and studied it for a year with all these masters, and he got me doing some yoga with him on the beach! Haha it was super random but it was fun. Finally I said I had to go and I went to change and then came back to the beach to do a workout. During my workout two tourist guys came up to me and asked me what sport I played! I said I didn't play a sport I was just working out to work out and they thought that was crazy! They said they were betting on what sport I played and they thought I played NCAA basketball or something hahaha it was funny. And then the one said that he wished I was his trainer! After they left I thought I should have made up a better story and told them I played on team Canada or something! Anyway after that I went and got some supper and then met up with everyone back at the hostel. We had some drinks together and played some games including flip cup and canfan... I had never heard of canfan before and I can't say I really enjoyed it! The Australians said its super common in Australia to play this game. Anyway all it involves is throwing empty cans at the ceiling fan and watching them fly at people. I spent the whole time hiding behind a chair. But I had a lot of fun drinking with them and afterwards we went to a disco. Lots of fun! The next morning I got my massage and went shopping. Tamarindo is much different than the other towns I have been to in Costa Rica. It's super touristy and very "Americanized". The buildings are actual buildings and not just huts and there is a mall and nice restaurants and hotels. I went shopping after my massage because I needed a new bag. The purse I brought with me was apparently dyed leather and the dye was coming off on all my clothes. So I found a new bag and after shopping I said goodbye to everyone and was on my way to Monteverde! Monteverde is in what they call the cloud forest because it's way up high... In the clouds. I checked into my bed and breakfast there and was pleased to see I got my own room with double bed and my own bathroom! And there were free calls to Canada so I called mom and dad that night. Also I forgot to mention when I was in samara they gave me a huge room meant for 4 people which was awesome! It had a big bathroom and big shower and lots of room to workout! It was cool! In Monteverde I had a zip line tour planned which was this morning. It was lots of fun! It was 12 zip lines in total, with a superman zip line at the end (where you lay like superman, stomach down to the trees and back to the sky). It was very cool I felt like a bird! They also had like a straight down rope thing which they lowered you down on at one point... Which I really didn't like I was afraid they were going to drop me! And also a Tarzan swing which scared the crap out of me. You had to drop about 10 m before the rope tightened and you were actually swinging. It made my stomach jump into my throat and really is making me question my plan to go bungee jumping tomorrow... We'll see how that goes. I'm super nervous for it. After my zip lining I found an awesome restaurant called the Treehouse which is one of the top 10 bizarre restaurants in the world! And the food was wow! So good. I had a salad with lettuce, avocado, nuts, and aged cheese and a fruit vinaigrette, and onion soup! I wished I was there longer so I could go back again and try something else on the menu! But I had to continue to San Jose. I just got to my hostel and it seems reaaaaaally far from the airport so I'm dreading to hear how much a shuttle is going to cost when I fly out on Wednesday. But it's very nice here and they have a restaurant attached which is great because San Jose definitely scares me and its been pouring for a long time now so I don't want to go outside. That's all new for now, I will keep you updated on how bungee jumping goes tomorrow morning! Pray for me!!