Nine hours of my 25th birthday were spent on a bus trip returning from the Caribbean side of the country. My legs were cramped and I was exhausted when I got home, but being able to see a whole new part of the country was entirely worth the mild discomfort.
The people, food and beaches are very different in the province of Limon than they are in Guanacaste. After a late arrival, I awoke to the sound of rain for the first time months. The showers would continue intermittently throughout the rest of the trip, but were light enough that they were actually refreshing.
I had the best camarones con arroz (shrimp with rice) of my life and truly tested my new language skills while trying to converse with Spanish speakers who had Caribbean accents.
Because of the rain, the greenery is overwhelmingly beautiful and I never realized that water in the ocean could be so many different shades of blue.
Eli Stillman 