Zenith

Last Thursday I got to experience the sun in zenith for the first time of my life! I was a bit nervous because the day was super cloudy, but around 1130 they opened up and the sun peeked out, just enough. Kind of a cool feeling, even though I obviously couldn't tell that the sun was in zenith, just kind of around there. And I couldn't tell the sun position on Thursday from Wednesday or Friday, but I knew it was in zenith and that was what mattered. Next time here is 27Aug, but then I will probably be in Sweden.

I used data from the US Naval Observatory to find the day and time, but there are more out there.

Volcanoes and earthquakes

Erin and I celebrated Easter not only by going to church but also by visiting Volcan Poás. Really cloudy when we got there and the smoke welling up from the crater wasn't just sulphuric but obscured the view as well. But all of a sudden the wind changed and we got a beautiful and clear view of the volcano. We then went back over to a lake nearby, which we couldn't see the first time either, and lo and behold it was clear, too! Five hour bus rides for three hours in the park turned out to be well worth it. Just wish I would have brought a book.

And last week I felt my first earthquake! Just a small one, but sitting on the couch it all of a sudden it definitely started to shake, and did so for about ten seconds. Pretty exciting to feel the force of the earth like that!

Pico Blanco

Towering over Escazu are three or so hill tops and Pico Blanco is one of them. Today after Spanish classes I hiked it with my school mates (have all of two!) and one of the brothers in the family running the school. The others didn't want to go to the top and since I didn't want to make them wait too long and while the sun was starting to set I pretty much jogged the last part and boy am I beat now. According to the web, Pico Blanco is 2276 meters and we started out at about 1420 meters, which would make it about 800 meters of altitude but I'm really sceptical about that, those peaks don't seem so high from here at all. Regardless, it was a great hike and I really enjoy it up there, you get some great views of Escazu and San Jose, and on clear days (not today unfortunately) you can see four volcanoes and the Pacific coast.