Sun 6 Dec

We woke u around 8am and made pancakes! After I got money and got packed for our trip home. Before I left I saw Andy, The man from England who had dislocated his shoulder. We talked some more and then I mentioned that I was going to Bolivia. His eyes lit up and he told me about this animal refuge about 2 hours north of Santa Cruise in the middle of the jungle, that he volunteered at for a month. He said it was one of the best things he had done in his life. He told me that you would be walking Jaguars and playing with monkeys and helping other animals get better. I was in awe when I saw the pictures of him with these animals and asked for more information. I am really thinking I want to do this and am now looking into it. After exchanging emails, I said goodbye and Dustin, Matt and I headed for Costa Rica. We took a water taxi back to the main land of Panama, then got harassed by the taxi drivers some more. This time was different though. Before leaving I had been informed that these taxi drivers were a private company and wanted to make you pay as much as you could. So when we had walked down the stairs at the border on Thursday, those drivers were the private ones and wanted to make you think that that was your only option, when really on the other side of the small hill if we would have taken a left, there were all the real taxi drivers who would have charged only $20 dollars for everyone instead of $10 a person. So this time I was very firm and told them that there was no way in hell that I was going to pay $10 a person and said that we were going to get a taxi for $20. They were shocked that we had found out but then gave us a ride. When we got back to the border, I saw another group of poor tourist getting harassed by the same people we had gotten scammed by, so I walked over to them and told them what was going on. The private taxi drivers were furious with me when the tourist walked to the real taxis, but I said Pura Vida which pissed them off even more and then headed out of Panama. After we crossed, we got Dustin on a bus to Puerto Viejo and said goodbye. After, Matt and I went to a small restaurant and had Rice and Beans. Man was it good to be back!!! I felt so much more relaxed because I trusted these people and they were so much friendlier with gringos. At 3pm, Matt and I took a bus back to EARTH. When I got home, my family was sitting down to dinner with some family friends. I also noticed that they had bought a Christmas tree in San José and it was already decorated! I sat down to eat with them and had some good dinner. Later I went up to the campus to visit Drew, Tie and some other people. We chilled caught up, then I went home and went to bed.