My last day of Touring

When school ended I walked with John and Hao and the kids to their house. My last adventure with them was to the coffee factory. My stomachache was also back. I should have taken more syrup but I couldn't even think about the tast. We had an all vegetarian lunch. There was a mustard colored soup made of a vegetable that I forget the name of, rice, beans, a beet salad that tasted like egg salad, avocado, carrots, and another green vegetable that was cooked that John insisted tasted like nothing. The drink was strawberry jello! They drink it before it hardens. It was much too sweet for me. After lunch we waited on Dionel our taxi driver. He was like part of the family now. He was quite late so in the mean time Hao's dad gave me a massage. My headache went right away and my arms felt better. They were hurting from that crazy waterslide. Then he took me to his office where he performed reflexology on my stomach. He put magnets in various places, check to make sure my legs were even and did a lot of pushing on my gut and my arms. It was painful! My stomachache did go away!
Next stop the coffee factory. It was a very interesting tour. This factory supplies Starbucks, Peet's, Caribou, and Green Something. They have won many awards for their coffee. We really liked this place becuase they get their beans from small local farmers. The process to make coffee is intense. So now I know why it is so pricey. Coffee beans must dry for a long time and the beans come in 4 colors. Our tour guide was the taster. He showed us the room which had sinks and spickets like an old school dentist office. He also showed us how he slurps it in and makes this weird whistle noise. It was a cool tour and completely free. Unfortunately we did not get to sample and coffee becuase the season ended in May. It starts again in October. Hao purchased 30 bags of coffee. They were much cheaper than in the states. I left my duffle bag for her to carry it all back.
Then we were off to a small mountain town. Apparently we were passing Abuela's other daughter so we stopped in. From her house we could see the Arenal volcano. On a clear day you can also see the ocean but we couldn't see that. She had many fruit trees in her yard which I thought was cool.
Our next stop was Zarcero. This town is way up high. In fact it was a little chilly. This town is famous for its manicured park in the city center. On the way we got pulled over by the police. I was freaking out because I had read the legal system was quite harsh in Costa Rica. The kids werne't in car seats and we were over capacity. However, it was just a routine check of the taxi driver. When we got to the town we walked the park which was cool. The shrubs were shaped into arches leading to the church and into various animals. Here we saw the police again. They searched a teenager for drugs. I don't think they found anything. The church here was colorful. After that we were off to drive up higher to look down at the town. There were many dairy cows on our way up. It was beautiful and we took some pictures. Then it was back home. On the way back home we stopped at a stand to by the famous cheese of this area. It looked like mozerella but it was really string cheese. It was called something like queso de palmetto or something like that.
Back at home I said my goodbyes and the taxi took me back to my house.
There I took pictures of my family and had dinner. She made chicken tenders, french fries, rice and avocado tomato salad. I packed up all my stuff and showered for my night out.
Tow of the boys from Hao's family walked to get me to take me to the bar. We went out for some Imperials. It was fun to speak Spanglish and relax. At the bar we me an old American who had been coming to San Ramon for 10 years but didn't speak a lick of Spanish. I couldn't understand why he came to such a non touristy place. There must have been a lady at some point! Anyways he bought us all a beer. 2 hours later we were stumbling home. I had to get up in a mere 4 hours.
I had a blast in San Ramon.