My Last Day in Costa Rica

My last day in Costa Rica was bittersweet. I was anxious to get home and see everybody, but I was also rather anxious about leaving. Emily and Melissa would still be in Costa Rica for one more month (Emily to study more Spanish and Melissa to finish her international internship), so they both decided to distract me all day so that I would not get worried about having to say goodbye. 

Early in the morning, I walked to Emily's house where we packed lunches to take to Parque la Sabana. Emily's host mother Ana is really cool, and she had been so nice to make dinner for me in the past. We took a couple of different buses to get to San José's biggest park. I really liked this park because it really said something about the culture of Costa Rica in its creation. 

When the old airport in San José was no longer needed after the grand opening of the Juan Santamaria Airport in Alajuela, the Costa Rican government actually did something constructive with the land on which the airport use to stand. They turned the old airport into a big, beautiful park full of culture. The park features my favorite trees in the world, the eucalyptis trees which are known as the "naked indian" trees in Costa Rica. They are known for this because the bark of the trees is pealed back during the dry season so that the photosynthetic second layer of bark can allow the tree to continue to thrive without the presence of its leaves. The trees are beautiful because of their rainbow bark. The park also includes the National Museum of Art, the National Stadium built by the Chinese for Costa Rica, a high school, a number of playgrounds, trails for bike riding and walking, a big lake with fish and ducks, soccer fields (of course), tennis course, pools, picnic tables, etc. There are also many gardens with gorgeous flowers, bamboo plants, Japanese cherry trees, and other tropical plants. There are also a limited amount of venders allowed to sell ice cream and churros. 

This park and the museum is one of my other favorite places in San José. I read a lot of reviews about San José before traveling there. Yes, the problem with petty theft was a bit nerve-wracking, but for those who said that San José was a flat-out "ugly city", perhaps they did not get a chance to explore the places were the local Ticos hang out on the weekends. There is a lot of poverty in San José just as there is in all large cities. However, Costa Rica's government definitely seems to be moving in the right direction to help the poor and to improve their country for the better. 

The park was full of "Naked Indian" trees.

Emily and I at the park. 

After spending much of the morning and afternoon at the park, Emily and I took a taxis back to our homestays. I stopped over at my host grandparents' house for one last goodbye, then spent a couple of hours playing games and bouncing on the trampoline with Sophia. After saying goodbye to Sophia, I walked back up to Veritas to catch a bus to a wonderful Italian restaurant downtown for a farewell dinner with AIFS. Below is a picture of all of the students in AIFS at our last dinner.

My last dinner with AIFS people. 

After dinner and many tearful goodbyes, Emily and I walked back to my house to meet up with Melissa. We decided to pull an all nighter since a van would be picking me up at 3:00 am to take me to the airport for my 6:50 am flight. After carefully weighing my suitcases and carrying them down the stairs, we spent some time with my host parents before they went to bed. After that, we used to craft supplies to make a "Flat Oye-yay" for Emily and Melissa to take on their weekend excursions. We named it Oye-yay, because most Spanish speakers in Costa Rica really did not know how to pronounce my name. Emily and I especially got a kick out of the different attempts. The H is not pronounced in spanish words. The double LL is usually pronounced as a Y. And the Y would never be found after a LL or at the end of a word. A lot of the time it sounded like Oye-yay, especially when Sophia was first learning how to say it. Since I have been home, Emily has been tagging me on Facebook as Flat Oye-yay on some of her weekend excursions. It has made the transition a little easier.

Emily and I in my backyard with "Flat Oye-yay"

At 3:00am, the van arrived. My host mother woke up and walked me outside. We gave each other one last tearful goodbye and hug. I said goodbye to Emily and Melissa, and I was on my way back home.