blog from the beach!

I am currently covered in sand, repping UT in my Tennessee hat, and listening to my new favorite dance song, which is in Portuguese, all while overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, I have asked myself and mis amgios, "Is this real life?" about 10 times in the past 2 days. I am incredibly blessed to be spending the weekend in Manuel Antonio, which is a small town on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. I want to give you all a few of the amazing details of this weekend....
--A 3 hour bus ride is all that stood between us and the beach. It could've been a terrible ride, but overall is was very painless. I slept for most of the time, and the other part I spent squealing with mis chicas about how excited we were for the beach.
--Vista Serena Hostel is our home for the weekend. We each paid 20 US Dollars for 2 nights. This 20 paid for a nice bunk bed, 1 shower to split between 14 people, amazing ocean views, plenty of hammocks, and free pan, mantequilla, y marmalada, y cafe for breakfast. This is my first hostel experience and I love it. Everyone here is just here to experience the landscape and culture, and unconcerned with having all the bells and whistles that we require from our hotels in the states.
--We spent the night hanging out and playing cards at the hostel. Oh, and dancing with a group of 9 Argentine guys and girls. If you know me well, you know that one of the most exciting parts of being in Latin America is the dancing aspect of the culture. So for about an hour, I sat and played cards and watched this group of free loving Argentines dance to their music (all in Spanish). Until FINALLY one of them told all of us to come over. After that we showed them some American movies, aka Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, and they shared some of their skills as well. It was a surreal night for all of us. Only I was very disappointed to find that none of them could dance the Tango. Seriously?
--We spent the entire day at the Manuel Antonio National Park. It is an incredible beach that inside a cove, so there aren't huge waves, but the water is perfect for swimming. We arrived about 930 and stayed till 330. I slept and swam and explored. So incredible. If I looked out over the ocean, I felt like I was in a scene for Pirates of the Caribbean and if I looked back towards the beach, I felt like I had just crashed into the island from LOST. There were also some pretty incredible animal sightings. We saw monkeys up super close, and a raccoon, yes a raccoon, stole some of our food. Ridiculous, right? Am I in Tennessee or at the beach in Costa Rica?

Anyway, that's about all for now! Thanks for reading, and keep praying for me! Love you all!

Pura Vida!