Today was laid back.  I woke up around 7am to find the house empty and spent some time working on some website content.  Later, Hugo and Ronald, former youngsters participating in the exchange program, and I went to the Volcano Poas.  We went there as a group twenty years ago and it hasn’t changed much since then.  I don’t recall if the visitor site was there or not; I think it was.  As we walked along, we made jokes, much in the same we did those many years ago.

The very top of the volcano is the site of the extinct cone and is now a pretty lake filled with rainwater.  But, don’t let the clear water fool you – it’s so acidic that only the toughest bacteria live in it.  About 3-400 feet below is the active crater, which has a large 2km circumference.

Later that evening, I met Jorge at his parents house and we drove off to his home in Aserri.  I was a little hungry so asked if we could stop for a hamburger or something quick like that.  So, Jorge took me to “Varones” hamburger joint for an authentic Costa Rican hamburger.  You thought that Burger King or whatever was unhealthy, you haven’t had something this fattening and greasy.  The hamburger and fries were tasty; both were drenched in some sort of yellowish relative of mayonnaise and tons of stringy onions.

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