Day Seventeen – Taking it Easy

Today was a day of taking it easy. For the better part of the trip, Kelly and I have been go, go, go, but today, we just chilled out.

Classes were pretty good today. Funny enough, last night’s eggplant parmesan experiment was a topic of conversation in both Kelly’s and my classes. My maestro had me draw the steps on the board and she copied down the recipe – I felt like Bobby Flay! Also, in both our classes, they question arose of why we didn’t bring any to share. Oops, our bad!

After classes, Kelly and I headed into the town of Monteverde. We ate lunch at this little Italian joint called Tramonti’s that was recommended to us by Muni, our student activities coordinator. We had a seat overlooking the cloud forest and enjoyed a fire roasted pizza. It’s was pretty good, but to be honest, the pizza we had in the mall in Heredia, was better.

Lunch eaten, we dived further into Monteverde to visit this cute little shop called Rio Shanti. The place looked like it was transplanted from State Street in Madison to the forest of Monteverde. With all of the essential oils, hand-made local jewelry, and prayer flags about, I definitely felt like I was back on campus. We headed over that way to check out some “amazing” cookies that they sell. Tragically, they only had one left because they were out of town the weekend before, but they gave us that one for free! It was pretty good, very oaty and peanut buttery, and I hear they’re bringing more to school tomorrow…I’m pretty stoked.

We headed back to school, did our homework, and chatted up the staff for just over an hour. It’s funny, after being here a week, the staff really let down their guard and share much more of who they are with you. I really like that…you get to see into the real side of the town and find out all of the local secrets. Needless to say, we’ll be going to karaoke tomorrow night!

Three days left in Monteverde, and there is still so much to do. We have to make it to the Reserve and by golly I will see a quetzal. Let’s hope we can fit it all in.

Pura vida,
Casey