For my birthday, some of the members of my family and I went out for a small dinner and then to a karaoke bar. It was definitely a good time and hil loved it all.

Ah yes, the trip to the quiejos sounded like a good time. And that dessert looked like something i definitely would have wanted in on. In fact, any good dessert or some food from the home front sounds pretty good right now. The hut we stayed in in miraflor had bunk beds. No water of course because there was no running water in miraflor, along with no electricity.

The temperature was unbileavable hot in the day, and really cold at night. So cold that i actually used a blanket for the first time since arriving. Anyway, looking very forward to leon this weekend. I am thinking that we are going to leave on friday morning, and stay till sunday so it should be a good time.

Wow, give adam my good luck, i remember hearing that he was thinking of doing that, but i didnít know that he actually went through with it.

Much love

Mateo

Copied from the last entry’s comments, which I know not everyone reads:

well, i know matt talked about miraflor a bunch, but i wanted to get MY two cents in too!
it really was the most beautiful place iÂ¥ve ever been, and juan carlos was great. Josh and Rebecca, our fellow travelers and hikers, were the best people we could’ve been with. i don’t know if all of you know this, but i got LOCKED OUT OF MY HOUSE FRIDAY and COULDN’T GET IN IN THE MORNING BEFORE WE LEFT. meaning, none of my stuff. rebecca lent me shoes, matt lent me clothes, and it was fine. minus the fact that i didn’t have my baby, my camera.
as matt and i walked up the road from the bus station and on a path, and through cafe plants and banana trees, and into an opening with this nice little house and kitchen, and to the right the forest,dressed in fog and rows of cafe beans, he said quietly to me ®thanks for making me come®. that was practically the best part.
and after the horseback riding, he said that it was worth it. even though he’s complaining ever since he got off the horse about how sore it is. ®hil, if it still hurts tomorrow iÂ¥m going to… to… gah!® was what he said last.
my favorite part was waking up sunday to find the fog enveloping us all, and to get on the horses and just gallop. rebecca described it as feeling like she was a princess. i felt as if i could leave the world behind. matts horse could tell he was apprehensive — when me and rebecca and josh were galloping as fast as we could, matt was trotting and our wonderful juan carlos was just chilling with him.
the waterfall was beautiful, and i managed to make a fool of myself. be warned: do not jump onto slippery rocks. i won’t do that again. i cut up and bruised my elbow like crazy, and got all my clothing soaked. ®whatever®i thought ®doesn’t matter now!®and took off my shirt and went swimming in pants and a bra.
wonderful.
the pictures are great, and i made matt take lots of flowers, knowing that all of you would like to see those.
much much much love, and especially to cortney for being THE CUTEST girl i know.
i¥ll write you an email later.
love and light (amor y luz), Hilary