Volcan Arenal

I traveled again! (About time, too - I felt like I was going crazy!)

On Saturday, I went to Volcan Arenal with Kathy, who was a student teacher at Lincoln last fall and who is now a second grade teacher there. We rented a car and drove up through San Ramon, then San Carlos, to La Fortuna. We got lost several times - there are not nearly as many signs as the Ticos would have you believe, and the turn0ffs come suddenly and are not always marked (again, not so many signs). Fortunately, we had a map so we had some idea of where we were, and the Ticos are very friendly, so we were able to stop and ask directions as many times as necessary without fear of ridicule. We left at 8 in the morning and made the three-hour trip to La Fortuna by about 1pm. We found our hotel, Arenal Backpackers, and after a short nap made reservations for a canopy tour the next day. Then we bought tickets for the Baldi Hot Springs and spent most of the rest of the day there.

The hot springs were amazingly wonderful. We had delicious cocktails and soaked up the hot water. When we got too hot, we soaked in the bath-water-warm "cold pools". When those got too cold, we returned to the hot. I got a hot-water massage by standing under a waterfall of hot spring. We sat by some pumping jets and got back and foot massages there. We lay in a pool of hot shallow water and let cool raindrops fall on our faces. We did not see the volcano while we were there, since it was rainy. We stayed for about five hours.

After the hot springs, we changed into dry clothes and ate dinner at a fancy place recommended by the hostel. A little stray dog chased us the whole way there, and Kathy seemed sort of scared of it. We both ate spinach ravioli that didn't have very good sauce, but the cranberry juice and brownie were good. By the time that was finished, we were exhausted, and fell into a lovely sleep.

In the morning, we went on the canopy tour. I hadn't slept well the night before, since some people in the dorm room were snoring, but I was still hoping the ziplines would be fun. I didn't feel entirely de-stressed by the hot springs, and I hoped that the excitement of the ziplines would pull me out of my rut. We were picked up by the company bus and briefed on the trip, and when we got there, strapped into our harnesses. After a short introduction to ziplining and a practice run, we jumped onto the back of a truck and rode to the first line of our "private tour" (only the two of us had signed up for the 8am slot).

The ziplines were very fun. The short ones weren't as fun as the long ones, they were mostly just getting on and getting off again (and I had to jump every time, since I'm short), but the long ones went really fast and let you look around and enjoy the feel of the wind in your hair before having to brake and get down. I didn't see any animals, but I heard several birds.

At the end of the series of ziplines, the company we toured with - Ecoglide - had an activity called the Tarzan Swing. Basically, they hook you to a rope at the edge of a platform, hold on to you as you lean over the edge, and then let you go, and you hold onto the rope for dear life as you swing wildly out over the jungle. It looks and feels like a freefall over nothing. I did it, but I was terrified. After the first drop, it was more fun, but I was still shaking when I got off. I did the Tarzan yell on the way down again after going up after the first drop, but it was pretty pathetic.
After the canopy tour, we checked out of the hostel and took the rental car around the volcano, hoping to get a glimpse of some lava. It was still rainy, though, and the whole thing was covered with clouds. We drove all the way to the national park entrance, hoping the clouds would clear, and then gave up and drove back. We were most of the way back to La Fortuna when the clouds cleared on the non-lava side. We stopped and took some pictures of the volcano there, since some pictures are better than none. Then we went home.
All in all, it was a fun weekend. It did not solve my stress problem, but I think it reduced my stress level some. I had some good times and hung out with a friend. Tomorrow is the first day of the Tri-Conference, and then I have three more full weeks with the kids. We (the kids and I) talked about class management in a class meeting, and they seem to think that returning to the stars, but keeping the goals in mind is the way to go. Some want to have individual stars, but that would be too much work for me. I'm going to keep the class expectations on the board and return to using the stars as many of them suggested, and see how that goes.