Daytrip to Cartago!

On Sunday, I spent the day in a near-by city called Cartago. Cartago is the oldest city in Costa Rica! It is very different than San Jose, where I live now. I started the day at 5:30 and met part of our LASP group in downtown San Jose at 7:00 a.m. We took a couple buses and finally we arrived at this small town outside of the city of Cartago. It was so peaceful and we were surrounded completely by mountains and even by a volcano!

1)We first visited this guy's house and he gave us a lot of information about the indigenous tribes that once lived in Costa Rica. We even had some things from 200 years Before Christ was born. It was so neat to see!
2)After that we went over to the soccer field. We split up into two teams. One of all girls and one of both girls and boys. I was on the all girls team. We played an all girls Costa Rica team. We lost but it was still so much fun. The score didn't reflect how surprisingly well we did! The mixed team only lost 9-8! It was such a good game. We had fun cheering and supporting our teammates and our new Costa Rican friends! I actually hurt one Costa Rican girl's ankle because she stuck her leg up right in front of where I was running! Oops!!!
3) We then went to a farm where we ate lunch and played volleyball and basketball. We were there for a couple of hours and it was really beautiful and relaxing.
4) Next we made a long trek up a mountain to an indigenous museum. This cute little old man was so incredibly excited that a huge group was there to visit him. He gave us a tour of the place and if we weren't on a schedule he easily would have kept us there all day.
5) We hiked up the mountain even more. This is where I saw the most beautiful view I have ever seen. I could see for miles and the mountains were gorgeous. There was even a rainbow over the city of Cartago (you can see it in the picture!) The pictures that I have do not even capture the beauty of it. I wish you could all see it for yourself in person.

This blog doesn't really describe what a great day it really was. We met the nicest people and had so much fun. The best part was it cost us less then $10 for the whole day (bus fares, meals, soccer, etc!) Plus, we got to witness God's creation at its best!!