Zippin' Along

An adventurous day for the Stoddard fam! We woke up early in order to take full advantage of our free breakfast buffet before our crazy day plans. Si and I decided to be ~authentic~ Costa Ricans and ate some more granadilla--

Alien or fruit? You decide.

While we were waiting for a taxi to pick us up and trek us to our destination, we watched this hilarious bird snatch packet after packet of sugar from a coffee station. "Some people have drugs, some have alcohol," a hotel worker commented, "this bird has sugar."

Our thirty-minute ride to the locale took us through numerous little towns and on bumpy roads that seemed to be one way until a few cars managed to squeeze by us.

tryna be calm as we hurtle towards our deaths

We arrived at our zip-lining start point, and Miranda and I immediately ran to some cages where we found some adorable monkeys. Best part of all--we were allowed to feed them!!! Sometimes it pays to have a pretty younger sis.

I was super stoked to give this lil guy some sunflower seeds, and I was even more excited when he grabbed my finger like he wanted to be my friend. And then... THE GDDAMN THING BIT ME!!!

I may have used slightly more ~expletives~

I was like, da fuq lil monkey, I'm just trying to love you!!!! I'm scarred for life--mentally not physically; pretty sure the freak didn't break skin. But ya I figure there are two potential outcomes.

One, I die a slow painful death of rabies aka the one illness for which I did NOT get a vaccination in order to study abroad.

me in three days

Two, I turn into Monkeywoman or something and will be able to swing from trees.

Neither are ideal.

We drove up some gigantic hills in order to get to the beginning zipline in a rackety little car with someone HOLDING ONTO THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAR.

wut

This guy literally was just grabbing the inside of the car through an open window while we were gunning it up some Indiana Jones-type mountains. It was absurd.

But hey--we got to the first line safely and paired up. Si and I traveled together down 600 meters of line; my mom and Miranda followed; and then my dad came next, solo. It felt like flying, and it was amazing!

We each went alone for two more lines and had a fab time.

Hi it's me!!!

The Stoddard fam above the canopy

One of the guides was interested in the Stoddard girls and wanted to know our names/ages. I asked him to guess which of us was the oldest. 

"Hmmm..." he squinted. "Her?" He pointed towards Miranda.

Me and Si:

Wrong. Answer.Don;t

I alerted him to his mistake and he looked shocked. "Really?!! But you're..." and he made a hand motion meaning short/midget-sized.

How dare you

I couldn't deal. Bye.

After our three zipline adventures, we rappelled down a super tall tree (I screamed quite loud) and did this crazy, amazing Tarzan swing. As I was being pulled up to the platform by the rope contraption, one of the guides jokingly called, "Oh no!"

Don't even joke about it.

It was amazing, though. Unfortunately, there's no video of me swinging, because Miranda (the girl that was supposed to be taking the video) saw an iguana and focused the camera on it. Thanks, Moo.

Costa Rica has a ridiculous number of animals. There are iguanas--

And monkeys (hate those b*tches)

Doggies (lost this pic in an unfortunate Snapchat tragedy)

And COATIS!!!

Look at those dudes

So cute!!!

We ate pizza for lunch then conked out for a few hours then ate MORE. I got sangria, because I'm an ADULT (and because my parents gave me permission since I'm legal in Costa Rica).

Moo and I are watching Life As We Know It together and chilling out while Si acts like a loner in the other room.

 Last night, I felt quite restless, consumed by thoughts and worries I'd tried to leave behind in Massachusetts and California, so I stepped onto the balcony for some warm fresh air. My breath caught almost immediately, for I found myself entranced by the stars. They glittered across the great expanse of black, like scattered jewels from a torn astral necklace. They shimmered in my peripheral vision, but as soon as I attempted to gaze upon just one, I was distracted by the flitting light of those to my right and left. It was almost enough to make me believe in magic, and in the Greek myths behind the constellations; for the first time, I understood the concept of stars as living and breathing, as objects with depth. I was enthralled.

I lied down on the balcony and stared at the sky and felt m worries seep out of my pores. All of my concerns and stresses about school, and image, and my future seemed to slip away with the realization of their inconsequentialness in relation to the stars above me. I felt at peace for the first time in a while.

I love this place already.

Excited for another beautiful day tomorrow.

With Love,

Aubs

ISTANBUL! Day 1

Oh my gosh. SUCH an exhausting day of travel. But it turned into a beautiful night of exploring by the end!

I woke up around 5 to make my way to the airport for my 11 AM flight. Tragic, right? But I'd been told numerous times to get to an Israeli airport 3 hours early to ensure time for security clearance. I soon found out why.

So I took my public transportation to get to the airport, and in true Aubs travel form, I got there 4 hours early. Seriously, this happens all the time.

I go into the first terminal I see, thinking that it might be my flight--and I get bombarded with questions by a suspicious airport agent.

"Why are you here? Who are you with? What's their last name? Where are you going? Why are you going? Where are you from?"

My sincere reaction

I was about to cry. Which was not helping my whole not-a-terrorist thing.

And then--after all that--it turned out I was in the wrong terminal.

Lord help me.

"Why are you in this terminal??? Who told you to come here??? Why are you so early???"

AHHHH IM SORRY, I SWEAR IM JUST PUNCTUAL AND ON TIME, IM NOT A BAD PERSON, PLEASE DONT ARREST ME. 

I think my sincere panic and remorse convinced them of my innocence, so I was free to make my way to the correct terminal.

But that wasn't the end.

After more questioning, there was the searching of my bags. As in they emptied the entire backpack and tested every item for bomb residue?

"You sure read a lot, don't you?" said the TSA officer after seeing my three books for my three-day trip. Yeah, I guess you could say that.

Then there was the passport control booth to get out. Then the exit visa check. And finally, I was at my gate!!--two hours early.

The flight was uneventful--except for the airline charging me for coffee, ugh--and Turkey customs only took like 1 hour--as unopposed to 30 minutes, since I literally chose the longest line.

We (my two fellow interns and I) jumped on a shuttle with 6 other people to get into Istanbul more quickly than through public transportation--except it took THREE. FREAKING. HOURS.

Get me outtttt. But finally--FINALLY--we were at our beautiful hostel ready to explore!!

We saw some beautiful sights, made some friends (aka a nice Turkish fisherman) and some enemies (aka a shoe shined that tried to con us then persisted to grope us when we refused to pay-- uh uh, oh no, Sabrinas daughter was NOT standing for that. He got a firm talking-to, a finger wag, and no money.) We explored the books and cranniers of the harbor, and tomorrow we plan on being total tourists!! From here, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Beautiful Istanbul street--a mix of European and Asian. 

So happy to be eating dinner after 9 hours of starvation!!!

Making friends with the wild animals of Turkey. Named this cat Pacific, because, of course, I have to name every creature I encounter. 

Crossing from Asia to Europe--and staying in the same city!

My first ever Turkish delight--in Turkey!

Our nice dessert spread

Watching the sun set

This Turkish fisherman saw me taking pics of the water and offered to let me hold his line. I convinced him to join in the pic with me. He was stoked about it.

A stunning mosque light display right as the sun set. 

It was a wonderful night that started off our trip perfectly. So excited to see where the next few days take me and my friends!!

From Turkey with Love,

Aubs

Making Memories

There are memories we all acquire in life that are surprising, because they are unplanned and ordinary. They are snippets of moments that occur in our day-to-day lives and reappear in our minds at unexpected times. I remember, for instance, staying after school to finish an art project in fourth grade. I can vividly see the afternoon sunlight slanting through the smudgy windows of the classroom onto my paper mosaic of California. I remember my cousin's hysterical Halloween costume from eighth grade--a green shirt and jeans (he was a can of peas). I laughed for hours.

And then there are the memories we make with wide eyes and bated breath. The moments we live through knowing that we will remember them for the rest of our lives. My first kiss. My first day of high school. My junior prom. All those moments that we experience, all the while thinking, "I will remember this for the rest of my life."

I feel as though every second I live through here in Israel is one of those latter moments. I am endlessly on the precipice of an adventure; I am waking up every morning eager to begin and going to sleep exhausted because I experience every moment to its full capacity. I am practically afraid to blink because I do not want to waste any time closing my eyes in a place so new and exciting. I live every day excited for what is ahead, in the next minute, hour, week. I am, for the first time, living my life to the absolute fullest. Refusing to take for granted a single moment. It's the way I should always approach life, and I hope I can take the endless wonderment and joy back with me after this summer.

I am currently anticipating another two days of these beautiful moments. Tomorrow, I go to Jerusalem and on Friday, I head to Masada to hike up a mountain and watch the sun rise over the Dead Sea. If you'd told me five years ago that I'd have these opportunities and that I'd be travelling the world at nineteen, I would have wistfully but firmly denied such dreams. I've always dreamed of these journeys and adventures, but I never actually believed in myself or my determination enough to think I'd see such dreams through so early in my life. I'm infinitely grateful that fourteen-year-old Aubrey was incorrect. And I'm unbelievably proud of myself for proving her wrong.

And so, as I continue my Israeli adventures on this side of the globe, I vow to push my homebody identity to the fringes and to explore, experience, and enjoy--and maybe blink, like, once every five minutes or so.

Much love,
Making the Most of Every Moment Aubs