michelle rivers - my adventure blog

This month has flown by. I've been catching up with friends, hiking, attending psychology conferences, shopping, and babysitting. Last week I went hiking with a few friends from Costa Rica. We went right around sunset and caught a ton of animals: hawks, owls, a rattlesnake, a tarantula, frogs, lizards, and more. Don't try this at home... my friend caught cute little green snake. You may be happy to know I didn't take this picture, but I did get pretty close. We also found a swing someone had attached to a tree, and had a good bit of fun on that. After the hike we went out for some delicious sushi nearby. Yesterday we went hiking in Lakeside and caught another beautiful sunset and some extraordinary views. I leave for Santa Cruz on September 14th. I'll be taking 3 classes:(15 units) : Intro to Education, Developmental Psychopathology, and Child Psychopathology. I'll be living in the dorms with a roommate. I've never met her but she seems like a ni

Country, city, mountains, sky I've been home for a couple days now. It's been interesting, trying to re-adjust to the American lifestyle. I've been feeling some of the symptoms of reverse culture shock: restlessness, confusion, sadness, and even reverse homesickness. Although I'm excited to be back, there's so much to miss. I miss having my laundry done by my host mothers and waking up to fresh fruit and bread each morning. I miss being able to hear the beautiful mumurs of Spanish everywhere I go. I miss having to think before I speak and making silly mistakes. I miss the beautiful countryside and the smell of the rainforest. I miss the exotic wildlife only inches away from my camera lens. I miss swimming in the warm, Carribbean ocean. I miss looking down the long, empty beach, knowing that turtle eggs lie beneath the sand. I miss hopelessly trying to keep up with the locals with salsa and meringue music. I miss walking to school and running into trees covered in