The Haps I haven't posted much here lately 'sides photographs... Well, clearly, I do realize that not many people read this anyway so it doesn't really matter. It kinda struck me I think just being without Internet for a week even in Costa Rica what a goddamn time-suck the 'net is. Don't get me wrong.. I do loves the Internets. But too much stuff I spend my time doing online is not at all enriching to my life. Really, in 20 years, is everyone going to be happy with the amount of time they spent on Facebook taking quizzes like What Golden Girl Are You? (I will post another day about the ridiculous egotistical shit going on at Facebook & Twitter.) (Another sidenote.. Some chick from high school is ALWAYS on Facebook, and always changing her status to things about how much she loves her family/husband, and how great her life is... And from her pics it LOOKS like she has it great, a beautiful family and whatnot, but I can't help but think that if her life were that great, wouldn't she want two more hours every day to be in it rather than mucking about on Facebook? I dunno.)

ANYWAY. What I came on here to talk about was..... COSTA RICA!

After I got back from our last trip there, I googled the sloth sanctuary and discovered they have a volunteer program. I emailed them straight away but didn't hear anything for days and days... So I tried calling. The number wouldn't work. I tried to call for days, hoping something was wrong that had corrected itself. I called T-Mobile for their assistance; they tried, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Finally I just googled the number and was able to find out that they added digits to all the phone numbers recently, so I just added a 2 to the number and voila! I was connected. Apparently their email is somewhat flaky, so she had received it but hadn't had a chance to write back... And of course I was welcome to come!

Fast forward a few days of professor wrangling (so I could be done on the 21st of April rather than the 28th) and I am ALL CLEAR TO GO! I have two additional papers to write now, which sucks, but it's worth it.

I haven't yet made my reservations.. I think I'll do that this weekend.. but my tentative dates are 4/25-5/19. That's 3.5 weeks. I'm a little scared.. I am going to miss the animals (and yes, Chris) so much. It's worse with the animals, though, since they don't know where I am and they can't exchange emails with me every day. Well, maybe Gretchey can, but I don't have much hope for the rest of them.

It'll be great though. The volunteering consists of six days per week, beginnng at 6 a.m. (!!!) and lasting until about 3. They give you a range of things to do so you get different experiences there, from hands-on sloth stuff to helping with the landscaping and giving tours to tourists. I am guessing some of this depends on your experience and strengths. They have wifi and DirectTV, so I can stay on top of email and maybe upload a few pics... I didn't have the energy for TV when we were there last time so I can't imagine that even matters. It gets dark SO early there.. like 6 p.m. I was asleep between 8-11 every night there.

One really cool thing is that they're on a quiet little river called the Estrella River. I think it was a bigger river before the big earthquake a few years back, then everything changed. So anyway, it's nice and quiet and there are lots of birds and caimans and apparently monkeys and sloths in the trees there... We went out on a canoe ride one morning but it started raining about 10 minutes after we went out so we didn't see all that much. But if I can go out any day I want once the work is over.. I should be able to see some good stuff. Which is great since I saw a bunch of jacanas but didn't get any pictures and that kinda drives me crazy.



It's gonna cost me a bit, but I think I can do it all (fees at sanctuary + bus + air) for about a thousand bucks. Which is pretty good for a 3.5 week stay!

Anyway, so that's the big news. I got lots of stuff to do in April now though. I mean MORE stuff to do...

My family arrives on the 7th, staying for a week. We're taking them to Disney for a weekend. And then, of course, I have a final test and FIVE PAPERS to finish. Big time stress there. But then... Costa Rica!!! :)  ¶ 4:46 PM