By Brenda Ortega Abroad writer
This past weekend I went to a place in Costa Rica called Puerto Viejo, which is about four and a half hours from Heredia. Puerto Viejo is made up of miles of coastline with tons of breathtaking views, delicious Tico food and even better people.
The morning of my trip I overslept the 4:30 a.m. bus that I was supposed to catch with the rest of my friends, but luckily my host mom woke me up in just enough time to catch the 10 a.m. bus. I did not want to go at first because I was kind of scared to travel alone considering the recent shootings there, but I managed to motivate myself and get out of bed and run out of the house in a hurry.
I arrived at the San Jose station, from which I took a bus directly to Puerto Viejo. I was asleep for most of the ride because I was exhausted from the night before and I woke up when we made a stop, which I mistakenly thought was Puerto Viejo. I texted my friend from my disposable phone saying that I had arrived. He said, “There is no way you are in Puerto Viejo in less than four hours.” I started to freak out because I thought I had got on the wrong bus, but then I saw people getting back on the bus and realized that it was only a pit stop for food and the bathroom. When I got back on the bus the girl that I had been sitting next to asked me where I was from and we got to chatting for the rest of the trip. Her name was Melissa and she was from Germany but had been in Costa Rica for almost a year with a volunteer program. Her Spanish was basically perfect; it was pretty amazing meeting someone who speaks three languages with such proficiency.
I had finally arrived in Puerto Viejo and the first thing I noticed was the humidity. My friends Nic and Cody met me at the stop and we walked 10 minutes to our hostel called Lazy Loft. I had never been to a hostel before and it was a little strange at first because there were about 20 strangers sharing the same sink, two bathrooms and two showers.
Our hostel was right above a bar and restaurant, which was perfect for us because that meant we did not have to stray too far for food or fun.
After I arrived I decided to get ready for the night and head out to another bar. I met the manager of the hostel, Justin, who is from California and is from the same area that I live in so we talked a bit about our hometown. Then I met two other girls, Chloe and Jade, who work there and are also from California. What are the odds that I would meet three other people from California in Puerto Viejo?
That night my friends decided to go skinny dipping but I chose not to partake in it because I wanted to watch the fire show. While watching the fire show I bonded with two guys from England, Marlon and James. They were telling me about their plans for the rest of their trip around the world. I danced to trance music with them at a club along with Chloe, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday and her last day in Puerto Viejo. I was glad that I was not with my group of friends because I would have never met such great people.
My weekend taught me to separate myself from the crowd and make a name for myself. Puerto Viejo is a place to party a little, eat a lot and relax even more.
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