From the interesting hostel life, my new classmate, and a visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center.

As I mentioned last time, I had to move to a hostel after 6 wonderful days with Josefina. At first, there was too much hustle and bustle and too many young people, but over time I started to like it more and more. The furniture was mainly made of wood, there were 4 cats and a dog, and overall it had a very familiar atmosphere. Although I slept in a room with 9 other people, each had their own 'little cave' and therefore a bit of privacy. Most of them were not older than their early twenties, so I felt a bit like 20 again. The youngest person I met there was only 18 and had been traveling alone for 5 months now. A very impressive young woman who has been making music since she was little and has an incredibly beautiful voice and a lot of talent. We sat together in the evenings and sang her songs. We also worked on one of her songs that I really liked, and in the end, we recorded it with her phone in harmony. I hope she sends it to me. But there were also some eccentric people with a strong need to communicate, but it was easy to avoid them.

The cats in the hostel would often bring a rat, which, for some reason, everyone mistook for a mouse. And since no one wanted to see, let alone touch, the dead animal, I had to take care of it. Everyone was disgusted and squealing, but my only concern was whether the animal was dead or still alive. Luckily, I put the already dead rat in a bag and was planning to dispose of it, but then I quickly rolled a cigarette. It was nothing unusual for me, but everyone else found the situation so strange that it had to be photographed. So, now there's a photo of me and I will be remembered. A few days later, I had to rescue a toad from the kitchen.

In the second week of my Spanish school, I was joined by another student. I had met Jana shortly before, as she moved into the room at Josefina's where I used to live. She is from Munich, the same age as me, and we got along well right away. However, she was 2 weeks ahead of me in Spanish, so sometimes I couldn't keep up. But I still learned a lot, and it was fun studying together.

One day, when I was cycling alone, I discovered a small hidden beach where I was completely alone. Most likely, this was because the World Cup final was on TV and hardly anyone was outside. It was good for me because I could enjoy the tranquility (except when a goal was scored) and observe the birds. Among other things, I could watch the pelicans hunting.

One day, we pushed our class back to have a morning trip to the Jaguar Rescue Center. As we learned when we got there, they don't actually have any jaguars. The name came about when they wanted to bring a injured jaguar to the newly arrived biologist couple, which turned out to be an ocelot. That's how the Rescue Center and the name were created. The animals they accommodate cannot be released back into the wild and therefore remain in the center. All other animals are released back into the wild if possible. The entrance fee is quite expensive, like everything else here (about 24 euros), but the entire fee goes to the center and is used for ongoing costs, veterinary expenses, enclosure construction and maintenance, etc. It is also used to insulate the power lines, which regularly injure or kill animals. A tour of the center can only be done with a guide, which made it a bit hectic at times. But in the end, it's definitely better for the animals.

Actually, I never went swimming in the sea during my time there, I only dipped my feet in the water. It was only through Jana that I finally lay on the beach and fully immersed myself in the water. I'm just not a water person.

Before Christmas, there were various parades in the city. The first one started right outside Josefina's house. The teachers from the school next door organized this parade to celebrate the beginning of the holidays. Sweets were distributed from the cars. The second parade was along the main street and consisted of local marching bands, as I would call them. There were drums and other musical instruments, and some dancing was done.

I didn't really get into the Christmas spirit, but on the 24th, Jana and I took a trip to the Cahuita National Park and later had a nice dinner with Josefina and two of Jana's friends. I will write about the Cahuita National Park next time.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the time.

Thank you for reading and warm greetings from the Caribbean.