This past Sunday, I decided to overcome my fear, and stare it right in the face! Along with Leah, Travis and Ruby, we climbed the second highest point in Costa Rica. Cruz-de-Alajuelita is a mountain standing high above the surrounding areas, with small summit area, steep slopes and local relief of 16.8km. Early that Sunday morning, we were unsure whether or not if we were going to go,because of the unpredictability of the weather. We procrastinated for about an hour an a half, before the clouds gave away, and we decided to go. Two bus rides later, we arrived at La Cruz. Once we got there, we took a small rocky road to the path that lead to the crosses. Not wearing the proper attire, I was a little nervous and apprehensive whether or not I should go. This was a long time fear, and I wanted to overcome it. I decided to go with it, and gut it out, and walk up the narrow hilly path that led to the Mountain top. The four of us trotted up the hillside, before arriving to the first cross, that took roughly took about half an hour.From that point, we gazed from the above admiring the amazing view of Costa Rica. We building structures, trees, and roads the view was capitalizing. We decided to take a few minutes to soak in the view, and smoke to commemorate the moment. From above, we felt as if we were Kings and Queens, looking down at the tiny city that was before us. Fifteen minutes later, we decided to go to the second cross, but this time, it was a little more difficult, compared to the first. There were more climbing involved, more trees and objects in our way.Continuing our hike,we saw two men with dogs hunting rabbits. As the dogs scattered looking for rabbits. I suggest to the men that rabbits loved carrots, that would been a great bait fro them, as I we made a general reference to the Elmer Fuud and Bugs Bunny cartoon. They chuckled and laughed, as they made light of the joke. We continued up the path, grabbing trees and bushes in our way, while taking our time climbing the rocky ledge. As we made our way up the second cross, my heart started to proud faster, as I realized the view from behind me was getting smaller and smaller. My fears started to build up, but I faced it with courage and kept climbing, not paying attention to the ledge that was to the left of me. As we got closer my heart started to pound faster, but the smoke from before simmered any anxiety I had. Climbing along the side and scooping the view, I realized it was nothing to be afraid of, because it was blessings, away from all the chaos and the madness below. Making our way to the cross, we took a deep breath and soaked in the atmosphere.We took a break, and prepare to eat our lunch . As I took one last gaze, the anxiety started to build again, Travis suggested for me to climb up to the steps to where he was sitting and help him prepare the sandwich. We decided to take one last puff of smoke, as we took in the view. As I stood there above the city, looking over the edge, I realized, I came along way, not just conquering the mountain top, but life in general. It was diffidently the start of something new, with more challenges to come.
