the relatives came

Two of my cousins came to visit me for a week in December, just before I went back to the U.S. for winter break. It was so fun having them here and showing them around!

K and V are both interested in becoming teachers, so they visited and volunteered at my school for two days. One day while I was at school, they went on a zipline tour through the rain forest canopy. We went to my school's end-of-semester party one night (there was a Hawaiian theme, in case you couldn't tell).

At the party, we got to see some great dancing by my co-workers. These two won the talent show. My co-workers are so awesome and fun!!

For the weekend, we headed to Cahuita, a beach on the Caribbean side. Cahuita is probably my favorite beach town because it's really beautiful, and it's not super-crowded with tourists, so it's pretty quiet and laid-back. It's also on a coral reef and a national park, so there are other cool things to do outdoors besides just go to the beach. Some of the beaches have golden sand, and some have black sand.

I love the greenish tint of this photo. Have I mentioned my love for the color green? It's by far my favorite color.

The view from the balcony of our cottage

Relaxing in town

Relaxing on the beach. All the wood strewn about is leftovers from Hurricane Tomas, which hit in early November.

Checking out the national park and its inhabitants

These howler monkeys were crazy loud!

Enjoying a delicious brunch. In the words of my friend SR, "Whoever thought of brunch was thinking some good thoughts." Hands down, best meal idea ever!

Try to shake off a dog that adopted us and tried to follow us everywhere.

Just when we thought we were free...

... and found a nice place on Playa Negra (so named because of its black sands) to lay our towels, the dog came back and ripped my sarong out of my hands while trying to eat it!

Oh well. We did finally manage to shake her, with enough time to enjoy the beach for a few more hours before heading back to San Jose.

What a great weekend!