This week passed so quickly! We had surf lessons in the morning which were amazing. We surfed at Playa Hermosa, further down the coast from where we’re staying. I still can’t get over how beautiful all of the beaches are here! They’re completely unspoilt with palm trees lining them - so different to the Cornish beaches I’m used to surfing at! The surf instructors were really lovely and good fun, everyone got up on their feet by the end of the first class. After surfing, we would have Spanish where we learned more vocabulary as well as grammar.
We also learned the Costa Rican national anthem and a couple of other Spanish songs.On Wednesday we walked for a couple of hours along the beach to this huge rock pool. Snorkelling, we could see different fish and a couple of black and white spotty sea snakes.
Since Saturday was Independence Day here, we joined in on a parade on Friday evening. Everyone paraded down the main road carrying lanterns and flags to the sound of the marching band. We all congregated in a school playground where we sung the national anthem. Children from the school performed in a band as well as danced - there’s such a strong sense of community here and it was amazing to witness.On Independence Day itself we joined in on a community beach clean up. Just like our last beach clean up, we found a shocking amount of rubbish. Half way through we found some fallen coconuts and smashed them against a rock to get to the flesh. It seemed surreal to just be able to find a coconut lying around and eat it! After the cleanup finished we were given tortilla and rice served in a leaf for lunch! The rest of the day we spent relaxing by the pool and Sunday was spent in a similar way - only going out to The Bakery for lunch and having our favourite avocado toast and paninis! The highlight of the weekend was unexpected. On Sunday morning, my roommates and I woke up to a horrible smell. We smelt around the entire room, smelling each individual piece of clothing as we thought it could’ve been something that hadn’t dried properly and had gone mouldy (like Dana’s bag did when she left it outside)! After some searching we found the source of the odour - an unknown animal had left us a gift under my bed! Despite being revolting, it has been one of the funniest moments of the trip so far (although we do hope it doesn’t happen again). This week we’re continuing Spanish and volunteering and hopefully we’ll be able to fit in some more surfing!