Snow In Costa Rica..Tico Style

Last weekend I went to a parade in San Jose! There were more people there that I had ever seen in my life. The name of the parade translates to Festivals of the Lights..or Lights Festivals. I went with my sisters and a friend, hung out with them for a while, and before the parade started, a few friends and I went to find more exchange students. On our way to meet up with another friend from the US, we had to walk and push our way through thousands of people. When we finally got to a street that didn't have as many people, it became apparent how obvious it was that we were from the United States. People had bags filled with tiny circle papers about the size of snow that they would throw at people. It's a little hard to explain without it sounding really childish..although I guess it kind of was! Literally all of the center of San Jose looked like it had a blanket of snow on the ground, and the people were covered in the little pieces of paper as well. The minute we stepped on the street, we became targets for getting this "snow" thrown at us. We would just be walking, minding our own business, then about ten people would thrown the pieces of paper in our faces and yell "Gringos!". By the time we made it to our friend, we were absolutely covered. We had papers in our hair, mouths, and even in our eyes. Although, we soon decided to join the fun. It was definitely a different experience seeing this, but it turned out to be entertaining..even though I was still picking the papers out of my hair the next day.

 two of my host sisters (Sofia&Faby)

 My friends and I after accepting the fact that we were targets, and taking a picture to remember that interesting night.

The next day, my friends and I went to a concert in Cartago, but unfortunately didn't get to enjoy a lot of it. One of my friends got sick right before, so we only stayed for a little then went to my other friends house to stay the night. It's really interesting seeing where other exchange students live and how their life differs from mine, even though we are in the same, small country.

Sorry this is such a short post, It is just a quick update to keep people interested! I have less than 4 weeks left, so I am planning on spending it with my host family, and getting some last minute travel plans to work! Until next week,

Pura Vida.

Tieta