We woke up at 7:58 am. We had to be at breakfast by 8am. It was crazy. I've never gotten ready that fast before. But we were out of that room by 8:07. We ate breakfast and went to La Fortuna waterfall We descended a lot of stairs - I'm not sure how many, but they were all worth it. The waterfall was spectacular. I had to take a panoramic picture to fit it all in. I suppose it was how I pictured it in my head, but it was bigger and a lot more . . . realistic. I could feel the spray on my faced and breathe how clean the air was. As we got readings for our Water Quality Lab, we went in the water and splashed each other. Marion covered my leg with mud and we tried to make a sand castle with this really great, dark-colored sand. It packed very well, but our castle sort of turned out like a mound. But I got dirty and had fun, so that's what counts. Then we went to swim under the waterfall. The currents around the waterfall were really strong and we had to hang on to rocks just to get near it. To get under it, we had to climb rocks all around the pool, I can't even count how many bruises I have. At one point, the rocks just dropped off and Jim helped me up. I was scared, but not really for my life (though I could've easily drowned). It was more of an exhilarated type of fear. I can't explain. I guess it's sort of like a roller coaster when you're scared, but you have faith that you're not going to die. But everyone banded together to help each other. And it was just indescribable to look up and around and be under a waterfall!! Then we had to climb back out. The rocks were slippery and the rapids would pull you downstream sooo easily. When we got back on land, we went downstream to another pool. The water was cold but I liked it. Nisha talked me into going down a "water slide" which consisted of rapids that would push you through some rocks. I didn't really want to do it, but I figured that it would be fun and I'd regret it if I didn't. So I went, and I did enjoy it. I t was a little scary, but something without a little fear involved isn't really an adventure. Soon after that, we had to leave, but we did a little shopping first. The steps back up lasted forever, but the carts had some great stuff. Both stands had awesome necklaces and I got one from each stand. I bought one with small sparkly blue stone and one really pretty one with some very nice silver craftsmanship. After that, we ate lunch and had to do some labs (blah). I know they're not important and what-not, but does that make me want to do them more? I think not. Anyway, after agonizing over ferns and angiosperms for what seemed like a lifetime, we went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant and had fun talking and joking. Then we went to the hot springs, which were soooo nice, I loved them!! Jim did his book review and I thought it was interesting. He really made me want to read his book because he gave it such good reviews. Then Nisha did her book review, but we had to stop because the hot springs were closing. =( I had read her book, but it wasn't the book I was going to present, so I helped her out a bit. She did the rest of her review in our room with everybody in there. I thought she did a good job relating the stories to her personal experiences, and I'm afraid I'll have trouble doing that with mine. Anyway, I thought she made some good points and we all went to sleep after she was finished for our last night at the nice hotel. =( We were so tired. It's so weird because all throughout this trip I've felt that I've been here for sooo long, but I've really only been here for a few days. At the same time, I know that when I leave, it will seem really short. It's an odd feeling.

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