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The past week has been filled with activity! The weekdays go by fast because I’ve gotten into a pretty regular routine.  I have class from 8-12 every morning.  Mondays and Wednesdays, I have yoga class for an hour and a half in the evenings.  Tuesdays and Thursdays, Melissa and I go to dance class.  Mondays and Thursdays right after class, we have conversation club.  And starting this Wednesday, we’ll be taking a cooking class once a week! With all that and homework to do, Monday through Friday are over before I know it.

Saturday was Costa Rica’s Independence Day, September 15th.  On Friday, there were parades and fireworks in downtown San Jose.  The traditional parade for Independence Day is the “Desfile de Faroles.”  Faroles are essentially lanterns.  They can have any design you choose.  Many of the children made houses, and I saw faroles made out of everything from paper and cardboard to plastic bottles.  We made our own faroles at Veritas on Wednesday.  I made mine with a sun on one side and a palm tree on the other, then we secured a candle on the inside.

We all marched in the parade with our faroles on Friday night, despite a little bit of rain.  The parade ended underneath the colorful light of fireworks, listening to the pounding of the drummers.  It was a fun celebration!

On Saturday, we woke up early to go to the Monumento Nacional Guayabo.  It is a major archaeological site in Costa Rica. The people who lived in this area are known to have been very skilled in water management.  They built aqueducts, some of which are still functioning, even after 2,500 years.

Saturday evening, we went to a reggae concert in San Pedro for our friend’s 22nd birthday.  The band was called Un Rojo Reggae Band.  On Sunday, Melissa and I did a little more exploring in the area around our neighborhood.  Time to start another busy week!