Reverse Culture Shock

I've been back in Tennessee for almost a week, but it feels like it's been forever.  It's hard to believe that one week ago, I was spending my last night in Costa Rica.  Being home has come with several "this is different" moments.  For instance, I had to readjust to flushing the toilet paper.  (Harder than it seems.)  I also had to get used to eating cold foods again.  I ate a cold piece of watermelon today, and I had to take a second for my teeth to unfreeze. Another thing is driving... I got used to the crazy driving while I was in Costa Rica, and the calm roads are still surprising to me!  The strangest moment for me, though, was when I was in a Mexican restaurant ordering in English while watching Spanish tv.  So so strange. 

This will be my "closing entry" for this blog.  I am so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to study abroad, and I am so glad that I could share my experience with family and friends by way of this blog.  It's almost August, and at this time of the year, I would normally be preparing to go to RA training.  Instead, I'm preparing for my 2nd study abroad adventure in FRANCE!  I've taken a few steps to get back into French speaking mode such as changing my Facebook from Spanish to French...haha...., and reading books & watching movies in French.  I will also be keeping a blog during my adventure in France, but I thought it only right that I create an entirely new one.  The blog is www.catherinefrance.blogspot.com , but I've not yet begun to update it.  I hope you have enjoyed sharing this experience with me, and thanks for taking the time to actually read it. :)

¡Pura Vida!

Airport Again

I'm sitting in the airport in Costa Rica waiting for my flight which boards in about an hour.  I've payed my exit tax, gotten my boarding passes, gone through security, and now all I have to wait on is the plane itself. 


This morning, I had the typical Costa Rican breakfast of gallo pinto con huevos.  It didn't feel real that I was actually leaving for good.  Saying goodbye to my host family was even harder than saying goodbye to my friends.  I even got a little teary eyed. I gave them my email and my telephone number so that we can keep in touch.  I told her to call me if she goes back to Indiana.   Haha. Who knows if I'll ever see them again, but oh well.

I've always loved being in airports.  Most people hate having to sit there during long layovers, but I don't mind it at all.  The only thing I don't like is that everybody in this airport speaks English. blah.  BUT when I paid my exit tax, I spoke only in Spanish, and he didn't switch to English! I felt so good that he could tell I understood him.   There are so many American families here on vacation and several high school groups as well.  It's an awesome feeling to be traveling alone, though.

I guess this will officially be my last post from Costa Rica.   It's so surreal.  It went by in a flash, and I enjoyed it much more than I ever imagined I would.  I've always wanted to study abroad in France, but learning Spanish was just something I needed to do.  Now, it doesn't feel so obligatory.


Ok, Sarah and Steven, the other students flying into Charlotte just arrived, so I will end this here.  In 6 hours, I will be in the US!

Adios Costa Rica

Tonight is my last night in Costa Rica....and I really can't believe it.  Never have six weeks gone by so quickly.  This time tomorrow, I will be in Lawrenceburg, TN.  My flight leaves for Charlotte at 2:35pm, so we're leaving for the airport at 11am tomorrow morning.  I've finished most of my packing, but still need to wake up semi early to shower and finish. Tomorrow's going to be a long long day. 

Last night, I finally got to see Harry Potter!  It was in English & subtitled in Spanish, but I didn't pay too much attention to the subtitles.  It was 2 for the price of 1 night at the movie theaters, and the kids are on winter break...Hence, it was crazy crowded.  Not to mention the middle school aged girls in front of me that were obviously not as hardcore Harry Potter fans as I am. Oh well, I got to see it for 1,300 colones which amounts to about $2.60.  I definitely need to see it in the US in order to decide if I liked it or not.  I've read the 7th book quite a few times, so I was a little bit disappointed when it didn't follow the book as much I'd hoped. 

So, when packing, I found some of my American money...I had forgotten how small the quarters and dimes were compared to the colones that I've been using.  They're seriously about half the size.  I couldn't get over the shock! haha.

Anyway,  today, we went over our final exams...which I made a 120% on.  haha.  I ended up with a 99.4 in the class.  Then, we had our "closing ceremony"  which consisted of eating lunch and saying goodbye.  I've met so many great people from such different places.  For instance, the people I hang out with most are from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Florida, and Indiana...not exactly driving distance.  The goodbyes were much sadder than I'd expected.  After seeing these people every single day for the past 6 weeks, we've become pretty good friends. I am glad that I actually have connections in other parts of the US now. 


 Thanks for a great 6 weeks, Costa Rica...Nos vemos otra vez. ♥  Pura Vida.

Bittersweet

     My time in Costa Rica is coming to an end much more quickly than I want!  In 72 hours I will be arriving in Nashville airport.  It's definitely bittersweet. It will be nice to get back to my comfort zone, but I feel like I'm not finished here.  I no longer have to say that I speak "a little Spanish."  I'm actually able to understand, speak, and carry on conversations.  For instance, tonight, I spent about an hour talking to my host abuela about the differences between here and the Tennessee.  Later, when Nuria and Elena got home, we spent another hour talking about our favorite movies and books.  (Since I'm going to see HP7 tomorrow night!)
     I really couldn't have asked for a better host family.  They're such great people, and I would love to stay with them longer.  Unfortunately, this program only lasted 6 weeks.  I wonder if I'll leave France thinking the same thing...That I want more time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm ready to see my family and friends, but Costa Rica is so amazing.  I'll definitely return at some point in my life.  Now that I know how to get around without buying the rip off tourist packages and how to use the bus system.   I now know that by seeing only the tourist side, you don't really know Costa Rica.  You know the Americanized tourist destinations.  To see the real CR, you have to go off the beaten path and live among the Costarricenses....Hear their accent, learn their customs, their behaviors, their way of life.  I wouldn't trade these past 6 weeks for anything.  They've been so eye opening.  Even though Costa Rica has the most stable economy of any other country in Central America, they're still nowhere near the US. 
     Anyway, my final exam is tomorrow, but I'm not going to worry myself over it.  Not to brag or anything, but I have made such good grades that even if I miss every question on the exam, I'll still have a B in the class....and I only have to have a C for the credits to transfer...which will be pass/fail credits.  Hence, I'm talking it easy tonight.  We reviewed for five hours in class today, and I felt pretty good about everything.  After tomorrow, I'm actually done!  Woah. How quickly time flies.

Pro/Con

As a method to further procrastinate the finishing of my paper/ presentation, I decided that now is a perfect time to blog. :)  My time in Costa Rica is coming to an end so quickly, and I definitely have mixed feelings about it.  I love so many things about this country, but there are also some things that I will be happy to leave behind when I return on Friday.  So, I think a list would be the best way to cover everything. I'll start with the things I won't miss and finish with the things that I will miss as to leave on a happy note. :)

Things I will not miss about Costa Rica: 
1.  The bugs...I feel like every five minutes I see a new bug in my room.  Most of the time, I just kind of ignore them...unless they're big freaky ones like the flying beetle the size of a quarter that was in my room last night. 
2.  Not being able to throw my toilet paper in the toilet...It's just not sanitary.  After being in Guatemala, I adjusted to this much more quickly than others in my group...Let's just say that some toilets were clogged in the first few weeks.
3.  The rain...I know it's a tropical country, and I know that it's rainy season...but come on.
4.  Getting dark at 6pm...again,  it's winter.  The biggest problem with this is that I don't feel comfortable walking back to my house in the dark.
5.  Tico Time...It's kind of charming when you first get here..."Oh, they're late.  Those darn Ticos...(insert laughter)." But, after a month, waiting around gets pretty old.
6.  Being stared at.  I've already explained my feelings about this in an earlier post.  
7.  The lack of addresses... So the "address" of my house is :  From the Musmanni in Santa Lucia, 50 meters north, 50 meters west, and 25 meters south, fourth house on the right side with a red door.
And I'm completely serious.  For this reason, there are no mailboxes.  If one wants to get mail, you have to have a PO Box.  The streets don't have names... at. all.  and a GPS is completely useless because 95% of the roads are not in the system. 
8.  The constant sound of dogs and car alarms...The people here know what kind of car it is just by the alarm.  

Things I will miss about Costa Rica:
1.  All the great people I've met here...This includes both my Tica family and the friends I've made through the program.  It does not feel like I came here 5 weeks ago knowing nobody.
2.  The beauty of this country...I've came here expecting to see some pretty beaches, but I was not prepared for how gorgeous this country is.  I could look at those mountains every day for the rest of my life and never stop being astounded.
3.  The ease of travel.... In the past 5 weeks, I have been to all seven of the provinces of Costa Rica!  All for a considerably small amount of money.  You can get anywhere you want to go in the entire country for under 8 dollars.  Also, there are cheap decent hostels everywhere.  I haven't spent over $12 for a night...and the cheapest I spent was $6!
4.  The food...I am super lucky to have a host grandmother that is an amazing cook...I've talked to some of my friends who are given butter sandwiches for lunch almost every day.  ew.  I really do love the Costa Rican food...It mostly consists of vegetables, fruits, rice, beans, and occasionally a meat...The only downside is that there are onions in almost everything.  It's fine in my host house, because she just leaves them out.  The problem I've encountered is in restaurants.  I always ask for no onions, and only once have they brought out my food without onions.  And it's not because I'm asking incorrectly...They always repeat, "sin cebollas."  Oh well.
5.  Speaking Spanish...I've gone through several phases in my life of which language I liked better... French or Spanish.  When I was a kid, I always wanted to know french...Then, I went to Guatemala and got on a Spanish kick.  High School came along, and because of a less than wonderful Spanish teacher, I decided to take French and have been in love with it ever since.  I've really only been taking Spanish because I feel like I NEED to learn it.  Now, however, I actually enjoy speaking and learning Spanish.  It definitely has not replaced French as my favorite, but it's no longer a chore to speak.  I have to say, though, I'm missing French.  Every time I struggle trying to say something in Spanish, there's a little voice in the back of my head that's saying, "If this were French, everything would be so much easier."
6.  My host mom doing my laundry for me.  This one is pretty simple... I hate doing laundry. :)
7.  The beaches...of course.  They're simply breathtaking.
8.  The possibility of seeing wildlife everywhere you go.  It's just exciting to know that you could see a monkey in the tree next to you...There aren't many in the cities, but in the country, you're going to see wildlife whether you want to or not.


Anyway,  that's my list. I have about 4.5 days left in this amazing country.  I have to finish this paper/ presentation, and my final exam is Wednesday!  So close!

Doña Adela

While all my friends in the US are basking in the glory of the newest and last Harry Potter film, I am sitting in my room here in Costa Rica hating storms.  I had planned on going to Tamarindo this weekend with a friend and her family, but a huge Tropical storm in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica has foiled our plans.  Apparently there are bridges flooded and landslides..fun times?  So, I guess my last weekend in Costa Rica will be spent hanging out with my host family and gallivanting around Heredia with mis compañeras...which is probably much better than a beach weekend because of the ungodly amount of homework we've been assigned. 

Anyway, I think I'm going to devote this blog entry to talking about my host abuela, Doña Adela...She is absolutely an amazing person who reminds me a lot of my grandmother Barbara.  I love talking to her because she doesn't talk to me like I don't understand. (Which my host mom, Nuria, sometimes does...If i don't know a word, she'll go straight into English).  But Doña Adela, no...If we have miscommunications, we just change the subject. haha.

Last night, Nuria and Elena were out, so it was just Doña Adela and myself in the house for the night.  Doña Adela and I had a two hour conversation where she told me about her family and her late husband.  Her husband died just two years ago fairly unexpectedly.  They knew he was sick, but didn't think that he was sick enough to die.  He was a diabetic and a smoker, and he didn't like to listen to doctor's advice. She told me that he didn't suffer any and just died in his sleep.  She also lost her sister just two months later to a very aggressive ovarian cancer that wasn't discovered until a few days after her husband's death.  It brought tears to her eyes when she was talking about them, but I could tell that she loved to talk about her husband and sister.  I, of course, told her about my Grandaddy Herb who died of lung cancer and my Pawpaw who lived to be 102.  She listened to all my stories in less than perfect Spanish without correcting me once, which was wonderful.  Being corrected all the time makes what you're saying more difficult to convey.  It stops your train of thought, even if it is better for learning Spanish. 

She also does things that crack me up...Take tonight for instance...  She was making me macaroni from a box...which apparently she had never done before.  So, she and my host mom were arguing over whether or not it needed more milk.  ha. Nuria said that no, it had enough milk.  Doña Adela let Nuria win, but as soon as Nuria walked away, Doña Adela poured more milk in and made a motion to me like, "Don't tell!"  It was hilarious.  I'm so glad that Doña Adela is in my host house.  She's so caring and is always willing to talk to me.  I really will miss her saying, "Qué dicha!" every time I tell her I like the food she cooks.

Rainforest, Volcano, and Waterfall...all in one weekend.

Oh my, what a weekend!  This weekend was probably one of the busiest most fun weekends I’ve had in a long time.  It was pretty much the opposite of my past two beach weekends where I basically just sat by the ocean all weekend.  This weekend we went to Monteverde and La Fortuna (where Arenal Volcano is).  The group I travel with has changed every single weekend and has gotten smaller each weekend as well.  The group to Puerto Viejo was 12 people, to Manuel Antonio was 8, and this weekend was 6 for Monteverde and only 2 for Arenal!

The trip pretty much began on Thursday afternoon when Chelsea and I went to San Jose after class to buy the tickets.  The bus to Monteverde leaves from a bus station that we’d never used before, so we asked the policemen where to go.  They told us the directions and then said, “Este parte de la ciudad es muy feo. Ten cuidado con tus cosas.”  Which means that the part of town where the bus station is is a bad part of town and that we should be careful with our stuff.  Great.  So we started walking…We’ve always been told that San Jose is very dangerous.  I’d never really seen that side of it until Thursday.  We were literally stepping over homeless people and avoiding making eye contact with everybody.  Not going to lie, it was pretty scary….But, we got the tickets and hightailed it out of there.  

Friday morning, our bus left San Jose at 6am…. Which means that I had to leave my house by 4:45 in order to make it to the school by 5.  At 4:45 in the morning in Heredia, it’s still dark, but I’m not scared to walk at night here as much.  Heredia is so much safer than San Jose, and I’m thankful that I live here instead of there.  Anyway, by 5:30, it was full daylight, so I wasn’t in the dark for long.  Walking back to the bus station wasn’t so bad that early in the morning since everybody was asleep.  The bus ride took around six hours, and it wasn’t very fun.  The bus made about a million stops, and there were always people standing in the aisles bumping into me and leaning on me.  Ugh.  But, it was only 6 dollars, so what can you expect, really?  Anyway, we arrived in the city of Santa Elena, where Monteverde is located…because Monteverde is a mountain, not a city. :)

Our hostel was called Pension Santa Elena.  We thought we had reserved a dorm for all of us, but when we got there, the owner,  an American named “Ran”, told us that we would have to be split up… to avoid one person having to be in a room alone, 4 of the girls opted for the more expensive “private room” while Mariah and I decided to do the $6 a night dorm room.  When Ran showed us the room, I felt like I was in a hobbit hole.  There were four beds (with one set of bunk beds) and it was a very small room. Haha.  Mariah and I were told that we would be sharing the room with Alejandro and that he was a “pretty cool dude.”  Unfortunately, we never got to meet Alejandro since he went to bed after us and we left super early in the morning.  This hostel was definitely my favorite so far.  After being shown our room, Ran sat down with all of us and showed us a map of the city and recommended his favorite activities and companies. I’ve never been in a hostel that was so welcoming or accommodating before.  I would recommend it to anyone that goes there.  That afternoon, the rest of my group went zip lining, but I decided to save the money and just explore around the town. 

The town of Santa Elena is so cool.  There is a main “village” which is a triangle.  There are tons of souvenir shops, restaurants, bars, a supermarket, and everything else you could imagine.  I wandered into a little used bookstore, and, in my defense, I was looking for a book to read in Spanish.  BUT, there were hardly any since most of the people that go there speak English.  However, I did find a French book called, Les yeux jaunes des crocodiles.  I spent about an hour just reading the book in the store before buying it for two dollars.  It really made me miss speaking French, but made me realize how easy it will be to go back into French mode.  After reading that long in French, it took a couple hours to start thinking in Spanish again.  I enjoyed it quite a bit.  While the others were zip lining, I also got a chance to look in the souvenir shops for a bit…The crazy thing is that I have so many of the same souvenirs already…except they say “Guatemala.”  Haha.  Really, though…the same paintings on little boxes, the dolls, the purses… everything… The only difference is that everything costs about twice as much as it would have in Guatemala.  So, I decided that I’m not going to buy many souvenirs unless it’s something I really want.

Anyway, that night, we went to this little bar/restaurant for dinner.  The owners of the hostel recommended it because it had cheap but good food.  I had a chicken quesadilla that cost about 4 dollars, and was very good.  We went to bed fairly early since we were so worn out from the bus ride that day.  

Early the next morning, I woke up around 6:30 to go do the “puentes colgantes”  (bridges in the rainforest!).  It cost 15 dollars and was so cool!  There were 8 bridges that went over the canopy of the rainforest!  The rest of the trail was through the forest.  We were literally in the middle of the jungle!  A phrase that I had not really heard much before I came here was cloud forest… And that’s what it was…It’s basically rainforest that is at such a high altitude that it’s in the clouds.  Very cool.  We didn’t really see much wildlife, though except for a couple bugs.  Meanwhile, Mariah had gone up the Santa Elena Reserve to walk around… She’s a biology major, so she’s all about the ecosystem and bugs and such.  Anyway, after we finished with the bridges, I went up to meet her since the two of us were the only two that wanted to continue on to Arenal.  The others wanted to stay in Monteverde. 

So, on Saturday, we caught a 3hr taxi-boat-taxi ride from Monteverde to Arenal.  Alternatively, the bus ride would have taken SEVEN HOURS because the roads are just gravel between the two places.  It’s crazy.  The first taxi ride was absolutely gorgeous.  We drove through so many little pueblos, and it was so cool to see the rural parts of Costa Rica since we’d mainly been in the cities and Touristy areas.  Finally, after about an hour and a half, we arrived at Lake Arenal, from where we had a perfect view of the Volcano.  This volcano is super famous for its perfect cone shape.  Also, it erupted in 1968 after 200 years of being dormant due to an earthquake and destroyed the entire city.  Until the 1990’s, there was nothing there at all.  Eventually, the city was rebuilt in order to cater to the tourists wanting to come see Arenal.  It was active until about 8 months ago, unfortunately, so I didn’t get to see any volcano action. Haha.  I am so glad I did get to see it though, because it was beautiful. 

The boat ride was about an hour across the lake, and was very enjoyable.  We were driving toward the volcano, so I took about a billion pictures. Amazingly, my camera battery lasted all weekend.  (I forgot to charge my extra battery before I left).  Anyway, when we got to the other side of the lake, we saw a sign that said, “Caution, presence of crocodiles in the lake.”  Lol.  I should have come to expect this by now.  The funny thing is that Mariah and I had just commented on how low the boat was in the water.  Once we got off the boat, we got into our second taxi to go to our hostel, “Gringo Pete’s.”  It was super cheap, and only one night, so what the heck.  The folks there definitely weren’t as nice as the ones at Pension.  They kept trying to sell us super expensive tour packages that we’d already told them we didn’t want. 

By the time we got to La Fortuna , it was already getting dark, so we decided to spend the evening walking around the city of La Fortuna…which is a pretty cute little town.  It’s very touristy, so on every block there are souvenir shops and Tour agencies.   However, we did find this homemade jewelry stand.  Mariah found a necklace she wanted, and after bartering a little for it, she handed him what is the equivalency of a 20 dollar bill.  (Here in Costa Rica, these are very difficult to break, because nobody has change…even the hostel didn’t have change…it can be pretty frustrating at times.)  Anyway, he didn’t have change, so he asked us to watch his stand while he ran to the supermarket to get change! Ahaha.  We laughed for a bit about the strangeness of the whole situation.  In the end, Mariah got her necklace, though.

            That night, we split a pizza at a soda shop and had milkshakes afterwards… We’d been craving something besides rice and beans. After that, we made our plans for the next day and then went to bed pretty early.  When we woke up, before heading to the La Fortuna Waterfall, we wandered around for a bit trying to find a bread shop for breakfast with no avail.  We decided to just run into the supermarket…(I got a banana and a few cookies.)  Afterward, we took a taxi to the entrance of the waterfall since the city of La Fortuna has no public transportation.  The taxi only cost about 5 dollars, though, and it was definitely worth it because the waterfall was absolutely incredible.

 The cost to get in was $7, and from the entrance you could see the waterfall from a pretty good distance.  The thing was that you had a “10 minute” descent to the waterfall.   The only way you could have gone down those stairs in ten minutes was if you slid down them.  They were so so so steep and slippery because of the precipitation from the waterfall.   All the way going down, I was thinking that it was going to suck coming back up.  It took about 30 minutes to get down, and I’m still amazed that I didn’t fall.  When we got to the waterfall, I was astounded.  The water at the base of the waterfall was such a beautiful turquoise color, and there was even a rainbow in the spray.  After just standing in awe for about 10 minutes, we continued town to the side of the waterfall where there is a small swimming hole and some rocks.  The fish were enormous! They were about a foot long and didn’t mind the presence of humans at all.  It was wonderful to just be able to sit there and just relax a little bit and clear my mind.  These past couple weeks in particular have been incredibly exhausting with not a moment to just sit and rest.  I sat with my feet in the water while Mariah the bio major went looking for wildlife. Haha.  She did find a little black frog!  After a couple hours, we decided to start the trek back up the mountain… It was exhausting, but oh so worth it. 

When we got back to La Fortuna, we had about an hour to kill before the bus left for San Jose.   We sat in the town square in the pavilion just eating our snacks we’d bought that morning and admiring the view of the volcano.  An older man walked up and started talking to us…He was really hard to understand because he didn’t have any teeth, but he seemed nice enough.  He seemed to be talking about how people just come to La Fortuna for a day.  He thought that people should stay longer to appreciate the city instead of leaving so quickly.  He was right.  I wish I could stay a week in every city here instead of just a weekend.  Anyway, we got back to San Jose around 5pm, speed walked through super sketch city and then made it back home to Heredia by 6.  It was a very successful trip. 

            Today was my day to recover…and boy, did I need it.  I slept until 9 and then just lay in bed for another couple hours.  When I finally made myself get out of bed,  I started working on one of my three papers due for Wednesday.  We have one over our cinema class we had last week, and one for each of the field trips we’ve taken.  Tomorrow, we’re going on our last field trip, so that will add another paper to my to-do list.  Well, I’m finally caught up on blogging even if this entry did get a little bit long winded.  Time for bed!  Goodnight, all!

           

Field trips!

So, as a part of our program involves day trips to areas that are educational and semi close to Heredia.  Last week, we did two of these field trips which both were pretty fun! 

On Tuesday of last week, we went to an archaeological site and National Monument, Guyabo in Turrialba...It used to be a cattle farm, but in 1850,  the farmers were digging and stumbled upon the remains of an ancient civilization! To get there, we went on the windiest road I've ever seen.  By the time the bus stopped, we were all about to get sick.  The civilization itself is really amazing...It was built around 1000 B.C. and abandoned sometime around 1400AD...(This means it was built around 3,000 years ago, ya'll.) The aqueduct there is STILL WORKING!   The guide told us that the aqueducts that are built now only last about 40 years.  Also, there is a road that is made out of stones and is a two feet thick that goes all the way to Turrialba (about 30km!) The whole civilization is thought to be about 500 acres, but only 23 acres have been uncovered due to lack of funding.  Many Costa Ricans know very little about their indigenous people.  They are very few here and are mainly found in very small communities in the mountainous areas.  The only downside to the day was when we got stuck in San José traffic on the way home.  Instead of getting home at 4, we got home at 6.  It was a very long day. 

Our second field trip was on Wednesday to Escazú outside of San José.  First thing, we rode in the vans up these windy country roads.  Eventually, we get out in the middle of the road. The bus stopped because the rest of the road was too steep, narrow, and gravely to make it.   There, two guides start telling us that we'll be walking up the mountain and that it would take about an hour.  One guide would go in front, and the other would be in the back with the stragglers.  Um, one hour up the side of a mountain?  yes.  It was ridiculous....and I was not feeling so well that day. (sniffles and such) BUT, when we FINALLY  got to the top, I felt like I was in the Sound of Music.  You know, that part where she's twirling and singing, "The hills are alive with the sound of music!"  It was gorgeous.  From there, we could see the entire Central Valley of Costa Rica.  I felt like I was standing on top of the world, literally.  After taking about a billion pictures and doing every cliché pose ever made, we all sat down to eat our snack while the guides told us a little about the area. 

After about an hour, we started our descent which took about 45 min.  Waiting on the side of the road were a man and two oxen pulling a cart.  These "carretas" are a national symbol of Costa Rica and were used in the 1800s and early 1900s to haul people,  rice, and other things to sell.  We actually got to ride in the cart!  haha.  It was definitely an experience.  They took us up the road and then turned around for a total ride of about 5 minutes. It was fun, but semi scary since you felt every single bump in the road... and trust me, in Costa Rica, these aren't scarce.  

Later, we were treated to lunch with marimba music followed by a mask making class. Masks are used in Costa Rica for celebrations in parades and such.  These masks don't just cover your face, though.  They sit on your shoulders and then extend about 3 feet above your head!  He brought a few extras and several people from my class tried them on.  All of a sudden, they turned on the music, and everybody started dancing. haha.  It was like a celebration right there. 

After mask making, we went to a place where they turn sugar cane into sugar!  First thing, we saw a piece of machinery that said Chattanooga, Tennessee!  Chelsey, the other girl from UT Knox, and I took a picture with it!  Basically to make the sugar, they have to put each sugar cane individually into the machine (powered by oxen)  which squeezes out the juice.  Then, they put it into a huge pot where they have to cook it.  After that, they put it into molds where it cools and hardens.  

The last part of our day involved going to look at the damage done by the landslide last year.  If you google Escazú, the first thing you'll probably come upon is the landslide.  It was caused because last november, they had an insane amount of rain which caused a side of the mountain to literally just fall off.  Twenty-three people were killed, and the damage still looks so fresh.  The rocks that fell off the mountain have just simply been pushed to the side of the road.  Some of these rocks were enormous!  We also passed what was left of a house that was directly in the path which had been almost completely destroyed.  All that was left was the kitchen wall which was beautifully decorated.  It was so sad to see. 



We still have one field trip left on Tuesday to a coffee plantation... so far, the field trips have been pretty awesome. :)

Manuel Antonio!

I'm sorry that I have not blogged in so so long!  There's so much to catch up on!  I'll start off by talking about my wonderful weekend trip to Manuel Antonio National Park and Quepos.  As usual, we got a bright and early start Friday morning when we met at the school at 6:30am.  We took a bus to San Jose, almost missed our stop, but got to the Coca Cola Station in plenty of time to catch the 9am bus to Quepos-Manuel Antonio.  At the bus stop, we met a girl from Montreal who was backpacking through Costa Rica for three weeks by her self!   She had just gotten into San Jose and was just starting her journey.  The coolest part was that I got to speak a little bit of French with her!  Of course, it wasn't easy since I have been in hardcore Spanish mode for the past month, but it wasn't too bad. :)  After a 3.5 hr bus ride, we finally arrived at our Hostel (Backpackers...12 dollars a night).  We immediately changed into our beach gear and caught the local bus to the public beach.

Public Beach

The public beach was a lot nicer than I expected with waves that were so strong they could knock you down if you didn't have your feet firmly planted in the sand. haha.  We laid our stuff down and when we looked up, we saw a sign that said, "Peligro, Lagarto" (Danger, Alligator) in a swampy area separating the beach from the rest of the land...it looked pretty suspicious.  The sign was facing the beach, however, and it was hilarious to watch people wade through the waist deep water in order to get to the beach, turn around, see the sign, and freak out.  It was basically our entertainment for the afternoon.  After sun started to go down, we went into the town and looked at the shops...Touristy cities in Costa Rica= ridiculously expensive.

Don't feed the monekys!

Day 2, we went into the National Park!  The park was so wonderfully undisturbed.  It was like walking right into the middle of the jungle.  The main attraction of the park is the wildlife.... We saw monkeys, sloths, lizards, birds, crabs, and tons of crazy looking bugs!  The big trail in the park is the one that leads to the private beach.  This beach was easily the prettiest beach I've ever seen in my life.  But really, it was breathtaking. 

Manuel Antonio

*Side note:  I just had a battle of epic proportions with a scary looking bird sized moth in my room.  I won. :)

Beach in Manuel Antonio

When we were walking out of the park, we saw a sloth right off the path at eye level!  Sloths only ever come down from their tree once every week to use the bathroom.   They're super slow, hence super vulnerable.   Anyway, it was so cool to see a sloth so close up!  It was an awesome weekend, and it will be hard to top.  The only downside was that we had to take the public bus like 6 times over the course of the weekend.  Oh well... It was only about 50 cents each way, so it wasn't too bad.  I'll have to continue with my blogging tomorrow afternoon.  I'm so tired. 

Sloth!

Winter? Yeah, right.

 Studying, papers, presentations.... that's pretty much been my life since I returned from the beach on Sunday.  My host sister has been studying all the time too!  I don't think I really started studying until at least high school (and even that is debatable. haha)  She has had 4 exams in the past 2 weeks...I saw the material that she had to know for one of the exams, and it was like 20 pages of notes!  Thankfully, she will be on her "mid year break"  starting Friday!

Last night, we had a mini photo shoot with my mac.  

 

Here, the kids start the school year in February and have a week break for Easter.  After that, their next break isn't until July!  She has 22 days off starting Friday, so that will be nice.   After she goes back, her school year will end in December and her summer break is December-January.  Funny, right? 

Right now, it's actually "winter"  in Costa Rica.  The literally use the word "invierno"...except it's nearly 80 degrees every single day.   It does get down to about 70 at night every once in a while, but it's never cold.  Apparently, the Ticos do think it is cold, however.  One evening when we were going out, Elena was wearing long sleeves and long pants... Before we left the house, her mom told her to put on her coat because she would get sick if she didn't.  Meanwhile, I was wearing a skirt and short-sleeved t-shirt because it still felt warm to me.  haha.

Even though it's not cold, it does rain here  A LOT.  If you leave the house without your umbrella, you're in trouble, because there's a good chance that it will be raining when you're walking home.  You'd think that with all this rain that the Ticos would wear shoes and clothes that are made for walking around in torrential downpours every day.  NO.  They dress up to go anywhere.  Women are almost always in high heels.  Casual wear involves wearing jeans and a nice shirt, and Ticos never leave the house in any type of workout clothes or lounge wear unless they are actually on their way to the gym.

Another thing that took some getting used to is how people just stare.  In America, you look away when somebody realizes you're staring at them, right?  Here, no.  They just keep blatantly staring.  I assume it's because I'm a foreigner...and when there's a group of us Americans, we might as well just have a flashing neon sign on us saying, "Stare at us!" It happens absolutely everywhere I go.  It starts at the bus stop in the morning and doesn't stop until I get back to my house in the afternoon.  It's like having 100 staring contests every day.  I used to just pretend like I didn't notice them staring at me... Now, I just stare back. haha. Every once in a while, they will say, "buenas" or smile....but mostly, it's just staring. Haha.

This post has been all over the place, but I haven't really done anything exciting in the past few days.  This weekend, the plan is to head over to Manuel Antonio National Park.  I'm hoping to see at least a few monkeys, and maybe a sloth or two. :)

Puerto Viejo & Rocking J's

This past weekend, I traveled to the beautiful Caribbean town of Puerto Viejo.  The town was amazing!  It had a very laid back authentic feel to it, and the people were so genuinely nice.  In order to get there, we had to take a bus to San Jose and from there take another bus to Puerto Viejo.  All together, we were on buses from around 7:30am- 2pm.  I didn't really mind the long bus ride, though, because the views were incredible.  I just couldn't stop looking out the window long enough to get bored. 

Entrance to Rocking J's

  We got to Puerto Viejo around 2pm on Friday afternoon, and took a taxi to our hostel, "Rocking J's."  We knew about Rocking J's because some other girls from the program had gone there just last weekend.  It is run by Americans, and people from all over the world stay there.  I heard people speaking all kinds of different languages.   This place is like nothing I've ever seen before and probably will never see again.  At Rocking J's, everything is covered in either mosaic tiles or paintings.  They actually provide their guests with art supplies if they want to leave their mark on the place.  The sleeping arrangements are the funniest part, though.  The cheapest option (which we decided not to do)  is to sleep in hammocks  for $4 a night.  We decided to splurge and pay $7 for a tent. Haha.  Anyway,  this place has so much character, and the people that stay there have even more. 

Our lodging for the weekend

The first thing we did when we got there was change into our bathing suits and check out the beach behind the hostel.  The views were amazing, but the water was full of coral which was only fun to swim in for about 30 minutes...until we kept getting injured.  There was one place where there was a crater in the coral that was really fun to swim in.  After that, we went down the road about 15 minutes where we found a gorgeous sandy beach.   (This beach is where we spent most of the day Saturday.)

I was definitely not prepared for the craziness that is Rocking J's on a Friday night. They turned on the music at 7:30pm, and didn't turn it off until after 1am.  Here are just a couple of the ridiculous things I witnessed on Friday night... 1. There was a guy walking around on stilts dressed as Jack Sparrow with a bottle of rum in his hand.  We actually had a conversation with this guy toward the beginning of the night in Spanish, because Jack doesn't speak English. haha.   2.  There were crabs everywhere...just crawling around.  I'm sure there are more things I could mention, but I'll save those stories for later.   Most of my group only stayed up until around 10:30, because we were all so tired from traveling all day long.  I still don't know how I was able to fall asleep with the music as loud as it was, but I didn't have too much trouble. 

Stacy and I

Beautiful Beach in Puerto Viejo on Saturday night

Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:30 because other people were getting up, and it was getting pretty loud.  As soon as I went downstairs, I smelled marijuana, which we hadn't really stopped smelling since we got to Puerto Viejo. It's just part of the Caribbean lifestyle there.  So anyway, we  spent most of Saturday laying on the beach and playing in the HUGE waves in the ocean.  But really, I've never seen waves this big in my life.  Every single wave almost knocked me down, and a few actually did. Nobody from my group went out further than waist deep because we would have been sucked out to sea in a matter of  minutes. Crazy, right! We all got a little sunburned, but nothing too bad.  After we were done going to the beach, we went into town to try and find some food, because the food at Rocking J's was ridiculously slow, and kind of expensive.  We found this cute little restaurant where I had some wonderful Nachos Caribeños (made with plantain chips).  Then, we saw a place where they were doing hair wraps, and Stacy, Sarah, and I are now currently sporting them. :) 

Olivia and I

Overall, It was an incredible weekend.  I have to admit, though I was pretty excited to get back to my Heredia home where I could take a clean shower and sleep on a bed. The only down side was that when I got back home on Sunday afternoon, I had to write a paper I had been putting off for a few days.  I had to stay up until 1am to finish, (which is actually late for me here, folks) but it's over...at least until I have to write another paper for next week.  If only this could be "Study Abroad"  without the "Study" part. 

A few of the girls in the group.  There were 12 of us in all that went. 

Perdónala

So, We watched this video in class, and I thought it was hilarious.  If you speak Spanish, enjoy. :) If you do not, I'm sorry. :/

SOLISTA
 No querría con Ester seguir viviendo
 lo que hizo ya no puede perdonarse;
 que se vaya, no me agrada estar sufriendo
 ciertas cosas no deben olvidarse.

 CORO
 Perdónala, perdónala.
 Es dulce, te fue fiel, es una dama
 Perdónala, perdónala
 Seguro que aún ella te ama.

 SOLISTA
 No querría con Ester seguir viviendo
 lo que pude perdonar lo he perdonado;
 esa tarde cuando ya se estaba yendo
 confesó que ella nunca me había amado.

 CORO
 Perdónala, no obstante.
 Regresa a aquellos besos como miel,
 Ester te fue leal, te fue constante,
 y toda la vida te fue fiel.
  

 SOLISTA
 No querría con Ester seguir viviendo,
 nuestra vida fue amarga como hiel.
 Esa tarde cuando ya se estaba yendo
 confesó que ella nunca me fue fiel.

 (Y... ¡dale!)

 CORO
 Compréndela, ten calma,
 fueron sólo veinte hombres hasta ayer.
 Y piensa que en fondo de su alma
 esa muchacha es una dulce mujer.

 SOLISTA
 No querría con Ester seguir viviendo,
 ya no puedo perdonar a esa muchacha.
 Esa tarde cuando ya se estaba yendo
 me persiguió por la casa con un hacha.

 CORO
 Tolérala, es solo una muchacha,
 conviene que unos días no se vean.
 Las mejores parejas se pelean,
 y casi todas se persiguen con un hacha.

 SOLISTA
 No querría con Ester seguir viviendo.
 Mis amigos nunca fueron de su agrado;
 esa tarde cuando ya se estaba yendo
 opinó que eran todos unos vagos.

 CORO
 Olvídala, debes olvidarla
 De esa bruja por fin te liberaste;
 pero cuéntanos antes de olvidarla
 qué fue lo peor, lo que no le perdonaste.

 SOLISTA
 Lo último que hizo fue tremendo;
 eso sí que no puede perdonarse.
 Esa tarde cuando ya se estaba yendo...
 decidió quedarse. 

El cumpleaños de Elena

Today, Elena turned eleven! Per her request, we had pizza for dinner and a pink peace sign cake. :)  The party guests included her mami, papi, abuela, and me.  I also experienced my first, "He's about to kiss me on the cheek, what do I do!?!" moment when Elena's father was saying goodbye to everybody.  Haha, I definitely wasn't expecting that.

 Tomorrow is our first exam... We're basically being tested over the subjunctive, por v para, imperfect, and indirect/direct objects.  Hopefully I'll do well since I've already had all this stuff at UT. 

Oh my, how quickly plans change.  So, I said just last night that we were going to Monteverde this weekend.  Turns out that we will be going to Puerto Viejo, a beach on the Caribbean coast.  There's quite a large group going, so I hope that it will all work smoothly with the buses and such.

By the way, the bus system here is awesome.  You can get anywhere you want to go in Costa Rica for less than 5 dollars.  There are buses absolutely everywhere, and all you have to do is figure out the system.  Great, right? 

Well, I must go study my night away.  Hasta Luego!  I'll blog again when I return from Puerto Viejo! 

Una aventura en Barva

A fútbol field in Barva

Sunday, I didn't really have any plans, so a couple of the other girls in the program and I decided to go walk around Barva...It's a small city on the outskirts of Heredia about 1km north of my house.  It is  a historic town with some of the houses dating back to the 1700's!  Anyway, it was a very relaxing and fun stroll around the city.  We also talked to an older Tico man who was walking his dogs in the Barva Park.  He was talking about how he lived in Miami for  few years, but hated working with the Puerto Ricans.  He continued to bash the Mexicans, Nicaraguans, and Guatemalans. Haha.  Anyway, it was fun just having a conversation with him.  Here are some pictures of Barva: 

La Iglesia de Barva

Mandi and Kari

So,  Yesterday, I had my first experience with trying a new food that I absolutely did not like.  It was called "Sopa Negra,"  and it had frijoles, peppers, cilantro, and I don't know what else.  I genuinely tried to eat it for about 15 minutes, but it was definitely not my favorite.  Eventually, my host mom noticed that I wasn't really eating it, and they fixed me an omelet.  I tried to finish, but I just couldn't.  I think it was the cilantro that I didn't like.  Other than that, the food has been awesome.  I've had plantains, rice, and beans cooked in every way you can imagine.  Also, the vegetables are always fresh and so so good.  Tonight, I had the best burritos of my life.  They were fantastic!  I have noticed that the Ticos don't really drink much water.  They drink a lot of juices they call refrescos, and coffee.  When I asked for water to drink the first day, they were super surprised, but it's definitely my preference.  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As of right now, my plans for this weekend consist of going to the beautiful Monteverde and Volcán Arenal.  (Mom, you can click on these links to see pictures. haha)  Hopefully, all the plans will work out.  Right now, I think that there are either 4 or 5 of us wanting to go.  Anyway, I must go to bed.  This whole class at 8am thing has turned me into a "Bed at 10:30" kind of girl.    ¡Buenas Noches!