Nicaragua

Finally made a plan to go to Nicaragua, its been a goal since I first got here to go to Nicaragua and Panama and im soo glad I was able to do both. However we got off to a rocky start, got up at 4:30 and headed to San Jose we hadn’t bought our tickets in advance due to time so we got to the first bus station and they were sold out quickly got a cab to another station and they were sold out till 12pm! Waiting for 10 hours in a bus station didn’t sound like fun so we were really worried we might not be able to go but we were told we could wait for the 7am bus and if there were people who didn’t arrive we could get tickets so after 2 hours waiting in suspense we were lucky enough to get tickets! The bus ride is a bout 10 hours because you have to wait at the border for at least 3 hours…at the border we also were lucky we didn’t have to wait out in the extreme heat for 2 hours instead we sat in the bus and watched a really old film about an African safari but than we had to go to the next check point and wait about an hour out in the trash and heat and tons of people selling everything from food to movies to shoes…but we made it into Nicaragua and immediately could see differences between the countries. Passed a few towns on our way to Granada and all were poverty stricken at least 2 times more than CR which is bad enough. Even in Granda which is touristy the extreme poverty is still completely visible we got in at dusk and had to find a place to stay before it got really dark, was a little scary cuz it was just two of us and just felt more dangerouse of a place than ive ever been…but we found a cool hostel that was 7.50 each a night and as were we checking in ran into a tica friend from heredia, central America apparently is small enough you can run into friends in different countries! Anyway we decided to all go to laguna apoyo the next morning, we stayeda round the hostel for dinner and I tried to go to sleep early but the extreme heat doesn’t really permite good sleeping I just go tas close to the fan as possible but still just sweated the whole night. The next morning took a little adventour to try and find food to bring to the laguna and I bought a donut for 5 cordobas which is like 10 cents. Got back to the hotel and met Gustavo our guide and owner of the hostel. Stopped at a like strip mall thing to find I don’t even remember but we went into the grocery store and it was like being back in the usa we were both soo confusted by the flourseent lighting and just everything was clean and shiny and big it was soo strange and we found peanut butter! Anway got to the laguna which is gorgouse and jumped straight in to escape the heat I of course stayed put basically the rest of the day my friends are starting to learn if there is water somewhere I will be in it until some one drags me out. But the water was fresh and a grea temperature and had just little ripples so you could float on your back and look at all the mountains surrounding you. Later we rented kayakes and you could hear the monkeys howling through the trees ahh I was in heaven. Couldn’t stay out o fthe water long cuz of the heat but stayed all afternoon and than the guide convinced us to go on to the volcan masaya for the night tour. Definatly the best volcan ive seen so far got to see it from a few diff view points and got in the back of a pick up truck which always had looked so fun to me and was until the driver slammed on the breaks and we all went slamming forward luckily no one got really hurt...went to see two caves one full of bats that would fly right out at you there were hundreds! Than the next cave we actually go to walk into a good amount with a few random bats a s well…lastly went to another part of the volcan to see lava!!! Unfortuantly the gaseos which are “un pocito toxico but don’t worry” says our guide, were covering most of it the gases would sometimes blow right into it and smelled awful…after long day Gustavo took us to dinner at a papa johns/chicken place were I had a drink called cocoa which was like rice milk, cinnamon and something else , very yummy. Back to the hostel were I again attempted to sleep a few inches from the fan. Next day took an adventour to Masaya to see a artisan market I head was really cool, we took a public bus which are very different from CR buses a guy yells out and the driver honks the whole time yelling wehre we are going and people basically have to jump on the moving bus...the market was cool bought a hammock for about 10 dollars and some other things…got a taxi back to a diff bus station where I was faced with the most extreme level of poverty I have ever seen which isn’t even comparable to other parts of the world but still shocking. There was trash, dogs, bugs and really old broken down buses everywhere, there was some kind of market with fruits, drinks comida, got on the bus and kids and handicapped people would walk up and down the aisles selling/begging…anway back to our hostel where I spent the night talking to the girls that worked there from England and we tried to turn the usually loud bar that is right next to our room into a movie theater and also talked a couple who had been traveling for I don’t even know how long they had been to India and all of cental America…every European I met seems to have traveled so much im sure that’s b/c im going to backpacker hostels but its so fun to hear about peoples travels and stories Is really going to miss meeting such cool interesting people like every weekend, not that people in the usa aren’t interesting its just so awesome to get a little taste of different cultures and lets face it the accents are just so cool!...After another hot night bus back had no air conditioning which the one other American on the bus made quite a fuss about, the driver asked me if I spoke Spanish and I was like si..and he said go talk to the annoying American guy in the back haha…anyway got another stamp in the passport and I will defiantly not forget the things I saw.

Miss Sponteanity

Have to just give highlights of this trip cuz im super behind on blogging…but the girl from germany who is in my dance class invited me to go to a beach with her when my Nicaragua plans fell through so I after class she asked if I wanted to go and said yeah maybe thinking she meant like the next day Friday but she was like no im going ya (now)..so for prob first time in my life I spontanoise enough to go along with it and quickly go to my house pack a bag and go! She actually baught a car here so we had a nice roadtrip completely talking in Spanish bc she doesn’t like speaking English here (con razon)…so I learned a lot about germany and we made it to nicoya which is a little town an hour away from the beach we were going to the next day, we got a little lost and got some locals to jump in the car and direct us to a cheap hostel…next morning went to another branch of my university bc she wanted to switch schoold the next semester…it was preety and a lot smaller than on the road again to the beach…went to playa grunion after a little confusion and really bad dirt roads, first goal find cheap hostel first one we went to had just sprayed for bugs and but next place had a pool and we were lucky and got a private little room with a kitchen for 12 dollars each a nite…both jumped in the pool right away and went to the beach later that day however she is a really good surfer and the beach had huge waves so I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much…met a very nice girl at the hostel who was a yoga instructer and found out the town we were in was actuall fll of yogis, hippies, surfers and lots and lots of gringos…defiantly met some interesting people and tried to keep up with all the surfer language…unfortuantly missed my chance to try a yoga class in the treetops cuz I decided to go this 2 american girls I met to another beach hoping maybe the waves wouldn’t be so big…it was so strange cuz one was from dc other from Baltimore and there were really fun but very turisty ive always travled with gringas but I found out there is a huge difference between gringa student and gringa tourist…there Spanish was not good at all and they just were there to be on vacation not really learn anything about the place or people but that is not necesarliy bad just diff than why I am here..anyway drove through beautiful country side and cute little cr towns saw lots of kids riding horses and bikes on the sides of the road and found the only gas station that was completely un marked and they used like a soda can with a hose to fill with gas and when the marker on the car wasn’t moving the just shook the car with all of us in it…very amusing drive oh plus fording at least 4 overflooded rivers, thank god for four whell drive..so the beach was small and cute but big waves again…but one of the girls was a philosophy major so we got into some good discussions ahh I love philospofizing she was acutlly reading one of my fav books from a class I had last semester the denial of death…anywagot back early so they could surf of course I hanged in the pool where a little 5 yr old girl befriended me who was so cute than went to the beach and got some time in the ocean and stayed for the sunset that night went out to dinner for one of the girls bdays to a really nice place and listened to reggae night at the hostel well didn’t have a choice on that one but oh well. So that was my spontanuse attempt and I think it went well was nice being with less people cuz gave me more of an opputunity to be independent and met new people..also was proud of myself for traveling outside of the program people and speaking Spanish almost the whole time.

Volcan Barva

Well I have been hanging out in Heredia for the past two weekends due to ridiculose amounts of homework but had some cool day trips that I can share! I went to parque de diversions (amusement park) with a friend and we got very lucky that it did not start to pour until the bus ride back although it looked very iffy the whole time we were there. We are both complete wimps with rides and this park doesn’t even have big rollercoasters but we found ourselves with the like 3-5 year olds on the kiddie rides..the first ride we had to separate cuz adults aren’t allowed to sit together but we had a blast! We went on mini rollercoaster, drove like there pretend antique cars that neither of us could control very well, mini drop machine and a water ride that was our favorite also went into a part called ciudad Antigua and saw chickens parrots, buetiful horse, goats, rosters and I think an iguana? Anyway very different from parks in the us defiantly not as many safety precautions but much simpler…it was a really fun day trip and we made it saftley from san jose to heredia and ate aat pizaa hut!
Next weekend we went to volcan Barva with yanori and teresita and her friend…it was def the longest most uphill…hill that ive ever done it took like 2 hours of hiking straight uphill to get there…I started out first going up the hill and ended last but it was really fun playing games on the way down like telling stories and alphabet game than we got a ride from some random guys and fitted the ten of us in his minivan, thankg god though cuz none of us realized how long we had to go to the bus stop

Fines de Semana en Heredia

Well I have been hanging out in Heredia for the past two weekends due to ridiculose amounts of homework but had some cool day trips that I can share! I went to parque de diversions (amusement park) with a friend and we got very lucky that it did not start to pour until the bus ride back although it looked very iffy the whole time we were there. We are both complete wimps with rides and this park doesn’t even have big rollercoasters but we found ourselves with the like 3-5 year olds on the kiddie rides..the first ride we had to separate cuz adults aren’t allowed to sit together but we had a blast! We went on mini rollercoaster, drove like there pretend antique cars that neither of us could control very well, mini drop machine and a water ride that was our favorite also went into a part called ciudad Antigua and saw chickens parrots, buetiful horse, goats, rosters and I think an iguana? Anyway very different from parks in the us defiantly not as many safety precautions but much simpler…it was a really fun day trip and we made it saftley from san jose to heredia and ate aat pizaa hut!

Next adventure Volcan Barva:
This was a trip arranged through the program which i always try and do cuz i love spending time with the program staff and its more spanish practice and i dont have to worry about planning!
So we took a bus to the last stop up a mountain and began our very long trek that was basically straight up an extremely steep hill for about 12 kilometers...I stated out in front with lots of energy and ended up in the back with a walking stick haha but the views were incredible of farm land, finca, and you could see the whole central valley we were also extremeley lucky that is was a beautiful day since it is now rainy season...made it to the laguna of the volcan and than continued up to the highest view point we all collapsed and really enjoyed our packed lunches...on the way down i suggested we play a game so we made up stories and played alphabet games...all very fun trying to do in spanish...about 45 minutes down it started to rain and a random car stopped and all 10 of us sqeezed into the guys van so we wouldnt have to walk the rest of the way....definatly one of the hardest hikes ive ever done but it was lots of fun! That night went out to an Argentinian restraunt in San Jose with my friend and next day went to the pool right by my house! Now that i only have 4 more weekends i hope to be traveling for the rest of the time here so more updates to come!

Saving Leatherback Turtles!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to participate in an amazing experience going to a reserve to learn about and help the endangered species of leatherback turtles. The leatherbacks are one of the most ancient species in existence dating back to the time of the dinasours, they are in danger of exstinction from egg and meat poachers as well as fishing nets and all the other destructive human forces. While egg poaching is illegal mayn restruants still serve turtle eggs some of which are legal some are not, so if you ever see turtle eggs on a menu don’t order them! Anyway this trip was organized by my program and my group went with a group from UCR. Went on a little boat to get to the reserve and met the people who work and live there. There were girls from Spain and France and the coordinator was from England. I was so impressed by the passion they all have for the work they do. They live without all the modern conviences (electiricy) they are used to in an extremely harsh climate to help this species. Every night they patrol the beach for 4-6 or more hours to proctect the turtles from poachers, tag and measure the turtles they come across and move eggs and make new nests in safer grounds. First we learned more about the turtles and learned how to make nests than divided into patrol groups. I went at 8 at night with 4 or more other students and our leader was a girl from Spain. It was very cool to get to talk and listen to the different accent and words that are very different from Costa Rica Spanish, I tried to adjust to using the tu form and saying vale basically every other word. We walked for at least an hour without seeing anything except turtle tracks of false exits (when the turtle comes to shore but does not lay eggs) these we had to erase with our feet and sticks so poachers would not know the turtles were there. We finally thought we foudna turtle and all got excited and tried to get behind where it would see us after waiting a few minutes we realized it was just a big rock! The beach is completely dark and we only use the red light to see when there is a turtle so the whole night it is easy to trip over rocks, branches, fall in sand pits plus dodge the big waves…buut we finally found a turtle who was making a nest. It was definalty one of the coolest things ive ever seen..to get to experience watching this ancient animal lay her eggs in her nautral habitat was just incredible they truly look like they could be in Jurassic park, just watching her make the nest and listen to the noises she made was soo awesome. We measured her, took her eggs and me and my friend went to make a new nest..you have to dig through the sand as far down as you can which gets very tiring and then redeposit the eggs. It was so cool to feel the eggs there soo different from like chicken eggs and to know that there were baby turtles inside! We could look up at the sky while we were sitting in the sand and see a few shooting stars! After the exhileration of seeing andhelping our first turtle we continued on and saw at least three more and did a lot a lot more erasing of tracks…I got to help measure another turtle and really appreciate how big they are if they hit you with one of their fins you could really get hurt. we finally were on our way back after 6 hours of walking the beach when it started to down poar annd we found another turtle even though our shift was supposed to be over 2 hours earlier once you find a turtle you cant leave it. We finally did make it back and passed out in our sandy, wet beds. Next day went walking around the property with a girl from France where we heard howler monkeys, saw poison dart frogs, snakes and butterflies. Went in the ocean in the afternoon and All very exausghsted from night before we waited for our shifts that night to start. Tonight my shift was at ten and with a new guide named Scott who was from England. It was nice to have a little break from Spanish and of course enjoyed the English accent very much, was albe to learn a lot more about the reserve and turtles from him since I could actually understand everything he said. He was super interesting and outgoing I was the only one that kept up with his walking pace which could really have been a jog so we were able to talk a lot about the work and condiciones here. However we found a turtle right away and I volunteered to take the eggs. I got right down next to the flippers and tail of the turtle and almost fell in the nest many times grabbing all the eggs, there were over a hundred and had to get them all before she started to cover them. Was carrying the bag of eggs away when we found another turtle! So we had to split up so we could make new nests and get the new eggs as well..i went to work making a new nest for the first eggs we got and buryed and counted them. We came across a lot of turtles and por dicha did less erasing..were walking back just talking when we saw a white light across the beach which means leave bc there are poachers however than we realized we might have accidently walked past the reserve! At the same time we found another turtle, scott went to look for mark posts to figure out where we were but couldn’t find any..we radioed back to the security guard and finally after some miscommunication and scott using some interesting spanlish with ltos of English curse words mixed in go him to shine the flash light from the reserve…we were actually past the reserve about ten minutes and in poacher territory..we had to leave the turtle b/c techinaclly it was not our land. Got back completely covered in wet sand and passed out again. Next day all just waited around to be able to be in the nice cool bus and sleep. Made it back to san jose and I went out on my first solo adventure in the city to find a friend from highschool who was staying in san jose for one night on he way to el Salvador…asked police men for directions but luckily found the hostel without a problem, had a nice dinner and catch up and finally got back to my bed in Heredia! I still have some fly and misiquito bites to remind me of the weekend but all the work was soo soo vale la pena (worth every second!). Definatly a once in a life time experience I will never forget.

Life on the back of a scooter in Brasilito

Last weekend me and three friends decided to go to Guanacaste for the weekend which is a region of Costa Rica that is supposed to have some of the best beaches...We picked the beach Brasilito to get to but that was the extent of the planning...however things worked out great! Got to Brasilito and found basically the only hostel/hotel and got one room for about 15 dollars a night per person. Headed down to the beach that was right off the hotel property. My one friend decided to splurg on a scooter/moped for the weekend so we could check out the other beaches in the area and have fun driving around...I called dibs on the first ride and didnt really get off the rest of the weekend, we drove around and it was so cool to see the countryside up close, he also taught me how to drive and after a few tries I got the hang out if it and went on a few little adventours on my own...It was an awsome feeling driving it and really would love to get my motorcycle liscnece one day. Back at the beach saw a guy driving some horses down the beach so we ran up to him and talked down the price of horse riding a bit for that evening. We told him we all could ride and would like to run on the horses he said we could "un pocito"....un pocito actually meant basically galloping full speed down the beaches and streets almost the whole time! I have never been that fast on a horse, and definatly the first time I have had to hold a horse back they all loved to run and race each other! It was incredible to run across the beach with no poeple and just me and my two friends and our guide. Got to see the sunset, some cool birds and monkeys to. Had one collision with my friends horse that got spooked but por dicha stayed on haha but it was the crazyest funnest ride ive ever had. Got back quite exaughsted but had relaxing night just hanging out on the beach playing with the local dogs and talking. Next day went to playa conchal which is a beach of crushed seashells for sand, it was so preety every handful of shells was filled with colors and different shapes and sizes of shells and it felt great on your feet and made the ocean water very clear. I had brought my snorkling gear and there was a great little cove to see fish really up close I saw a cute little eel and an octupus! Hanged out in the calm water and played lazy log with my friend where you jsut let the wave bring you back and forth to the shore...later we hopped on the scooter in our suits to go to another beach Playa Grande...about a half hour ride through the mountain and coozing Petunia (the scooter) up the hills we made it to the beach...one of the longest beaches ive seen without a lot of development and the waves were huuuge! Tried to catch some waves but was preety rough so we headed back. Got a very yummy dinner and had to get my last scooter ride in that night...it was really cool to see all the stars and we turned the lights off on and stopped in the road since there was no cars to see the stars....ahh it was a great weekend proboly my favorite weekend trip thus far. After a fast week at school I am leaving again this weekend to a reserve where we are goign to volunteer helping with sea turtles! More soon!

Semana Santa

I am back from a very fun week with my dad..Got the bus to the airport very early Saturday morning and managed paying the tax/immigration stuff successfully and found dad in the panama airport…went to the first hotel in panama city where I rediscovered the comforts of airconditioning, hot showers, TV and the best bed I have ever slept in…next day went on very small plane to bocas del toro…it was actually really cool to be able to see the cockpit and watch the pilot eat lunch and put up a cover over the window to block out the sun apparently seeing the sky isn’t that important haha but got great views from the plane of the panama canal and all the islands…Bocas del toro: stayed here for three days the hotel was run by an American couple and was an interesting atmosphere you ate with all the other guests every day which was often seafood and other dishes im not very used to but it was a cool experience…went snorkeling and scuba diving everyday and saw awesome coral fish, starfish, sea cucumbers, stingrays, and a barracuda that kept staring at us so I tried to hid behind my dad for that one…got to see dolphins as well which I looooved ill never get enough of seeing them…also went to a basically private island one day felt like I was on survivor it was just thi tiny island and you could just go snorkeling right from there…tried to get some Spanish practive in with a couple from spain and one of the scuba guides in bocas very interesting noting the different words, accents, expressions and stuff that is different in every country for example in CR I only use usted to refer to everyone and I don’t think I have ever heard anyone use Tu form but right away in panama the first cab driver used tu! Anyway played lots of pool, monopoly and enjoyed the tv at the hotel…back to Panama city where we saw the canal and old city…I really liked seeing the old city very different from anywhere I have been in cr or anywhere…than back to Costa Rica!! I was in love with both of the hotels we stayed at in CR got to hang by the pool and go in hottub and ohh I miss the beds so much already! Anyway went white water rafting at pacauri river defiantly one of my favorite parts of the trip it was absolutely gorgoese and the rapids were really fun our guide was really fun he liked to push me off the raft when it was safe to swim and used a spanglish mix since in our raft was a couple from san jose…but def saw some of the coolest views of CR jungle so far…Friday went back to heredia and went to dinner with my dad and my costa Rican family to pizza hut! It was nice to be able to do something for them and see them in a different atmosphere…enjoyed my last morning with room service and sitting in the hot tub. All in all it was a great vacation…demasiado divertida….THANKS DAD

Last Post before Semana Santa

I am very very excited for semana santa aka spring break! I am meeting my dad in Panama and going to Bocos de Toros for a few days which I hear is beautiful and than back to Costa Rica. Im sure I will have exciting pictures and posts when I get back but let me backtrack back to my weekend trip to Cahuita which is a beach on the Caribe side…got up at the usual 4:30 am meeting time and made our way on the bus…saw some great views and talked to a girl from London who actually had to stand/sit in the aisle for four hours because there were no seats. Got to Cahuita and found our hostel…all very very different from Man. Ant..less touristy more chill…the rooms were like 5 star compared to our other hostel there was private bathrooms and even a fridge! Went to playa negra..we thought we were at the wrong place cuz there aws like no people but it was soo cool the beach itself wasn’t as preety but the water was so clear and the waves ended up being great for riding so as usual that’s where I spent my day while most of the group sunbathed…I constructed my own rootbeer float and found another nice place for dinner and enjoyed time in the hammock outside our room…next day went snorkeling which was awesome we went to 3 different parts of the reef… I was first one in the water and last one out everytime glad I had experience though cuz the guide gave almost no directions but he let us touch a sea cucumber and said if we see a shark there not dangerouse?! Saw great, colorful fish andlots of other stuff that I obvi don’t know the name of…so later me and my friend Kayla went on a search for cheap horseback riding we went to 2 places and we both only had like about 20 bucks…we talked the price down from 50 dollars to about 30 dollars for 2 and half hours of riding…we met our guide and got to go just the two of us plus our guide on preety well maintened horses…it was INCREDIBLE…got to gallop top speed down the abondened beach and felt like I was in the movie Black Stallion…rest of the time was at an awkard trot pace but it was so so cool went down all the little streets, jungle, and beach…stopped at one point and our guide took out his machete and gave us each a pipa…the green coconuts you drink the milk out of..asked him some basic questions in Spanish, he was preety shy but nice and really happy he let us run on the horses…so that was Cahuita trip…past weekend hanged around heredia have found a nice little running route although the weather is now changing and is extremely hot in the morning and rained for the first time this afternoon. Have my first group project tomorrow where I have to speak in front of the class of native Spanish speakers but hopefully it will not be to bad I am making some friends/aquiantences in classes although it is hard to find time out of class to do things. I think that covers it up till now! Hoping I make my way to Panama without to much stress or turbulence in the tiny plane!

clases

Been hanging around Heredia these past weekends getting more into school work so thought I would describe my classes a little.
Spanish Class: Obvi a necesity here, its the one class with just exchange students from the program, I love my teacher its nice having a younger teacher which I have never experienced at AU.
Dibujo 1: Drawing which i thought would be easy and a break from all the spanish but since only actual art students take the class it is kinda intense...but I have a few poeple in the class that I talk to and ride the bus back with so I enjoy that. The profe is nice, he likes to practice his english with me.
Apreciation of Dance: Probobly my favorite class...the profe is a dance teacher here and weve done such cool exercises...breathing, meditation, walking exercises to learn to like have correct weight distribution and release tension, we used our hands to like tell a story to music and hopefulyl will be goign to see dance production here or in San Jose. His flexibility and comfort with his body is amazing, I am jealuse.
Social Construction of the Body: Women's study course that is definatly the most challanging b/c I am the only exchange student in the class and everyone knows eachtoher but there are 2 students that are very nice and helpful...the readings for this class are soo cool its intersting to see latin american women's perspective on issues like machismo, feminism, sexuality, I am surprised of how liberal and analytical the authors and students here are, somehow I thought America was like the only country that really had a strong movement in these areas but definatly not. Have another class that is very similiar and forget the name of it but it is also very good, it is very frustrating not feeling capable of particpating in the classes beacuse all my brainpower is beign used to even understand the basic theme of the conversation there is no way i have the time or energy to formulate my own opinion, but hopefully this will get easier with time, I am very worried about the tests and presentations I have coming up but I am trying my best.
Spinning class! I am a member at the gym close by and go to spinnins class once a week, i really look forward to it actually we listen to t.a.t.u remixes and good spanish music. I tried one aroebic class and it was fun but they go really fast.
Ive spend alot of time in the program office this weekend trying to set up volunteer work and gettting my credit card back from the stupid atm machine that ate it, and its been nice talking to the women of the program, they are so sweet and helpful and i think it is great how bonded they get with the groups.

Soo thats my update for now, going to Nacional Festival de Boyerros tomorow in San Jose with the group and hopefully will have some new pictures to add s

Clases

Been hanging around Heredia these past weekends getting more into school work so thought I would describe my classes a little.
Spanish Class: Obvi a necesity here, its the one class with just exchange students from the program, I love my teacher its nice having a younger teacher which I have never experienced at AU.
Dibujo 1: Drawing which i thought would be easy and a break from all the spanish but since only actual art students take the class it is kinda intense...but I have a few poeple in the class that I talk to and ride the bus back with so I enjoy that. The profe is nice, he likes to practice his english with me.
Apreciation of Dance: Probobly my favorite class...the profe is a dance teacher here and weve done such cool exercises...breathing, meditation, walking exercises to learn to like have correct weight distribution and release tension, we used our hands to like tell a story to music and hopefulyl will be goign to see dance production here or in San Jose. His flexibility and comfort with his body is amazing, I am jealuse.
Social Construction of the Body: Women's study course that is definatly the most challanging b/c I am the only exchange student in the class and everyone knows eachtoher but there are 2 students that are very nice and helpful...the readings for this class are soo cool its intersting to see latin american women's perspective on issues like machismo, feminism, sexuality, I am surprised of how liberal and analytical the authors and students here are, somehow I thought America was like the only country that really had a strong movement in these areas but definatly not. Have another class that is very similiar and forget the name of it but it is also very good, it is very frustrating not feeling capable of particpating in the classes beacuse all my brainpower is beign used to even understand the basic theme of the conversation there is no way i have the time or energy to formulate my own opinion, but hopefully this will get easier with time, I am very worried about the tests and presentations I have coming up but I am trying my best.
Spinning class! I am a member at the gym close by and go to spinnins class once a week, i really look forward to it actually we listen to t.a.t.u remixes and good spanish music. I tried one aroebic class and it was fun but they go really fast.
Ive spend alot of time in the program office this weekend trying to set up volunteer work and gettting my credit card back from the stupid atm machine that ate it, and its been nice talking to the women of the program, they are so sweet and helpful and i think it is great how bonded they get with the groups.

Soo thats my update for now, going to Nacional Festival de Boyerros tomorow in San Jose with the group and hopefully will have some new pictures to add s

Otra Fin de Semana

Another very busy weekend of traveling. Friday decided to go to Volcan Irazu with 2 girls from the program we got up early to get the bus to San Jose and than after the now routine asking of direction every 2 minutes found the next bus stop…some great views of the country side and got very cold at the top of the mountain….Unfortunatly we were basically in a rain cloud at the volcano and could see absolutely nothing we all felt like very stupid tourist for paying 10 dollars to freeze our buts off in a cloud but on the bright side we met a girl from germany and we spent a good 2 hours in the little café eating the best donuts I have ever had and all shivering together. Then went on to a little city called Cartago to see the Basilica/Church which was muy linda and we saw ruines from an old church to, went on quite a search for a café supposedly owned by one of the women that runs the proram who I think is so sweet and so affectionate. Anyway after reaffirming once again my dislike of San Jose we returned home. The next day me and one friend spontaneously (totally describes me haha) decided to go to Puntarenas for Carnival which is Mardi Gra celebration Costa Rica style…sooo back to San Jose we went! Another long busride but were able to find places to sit to watch the parade which was very cool…lots of marching bands, cheerleaders, motorcycles, some preety cool floats one about saving the enviroment and than a lot with just preety people on them dancing uncomfortable….really awesome costumes and amazing dancing skills as usual. It was so cool to be right on the beach and hear all the celebrating. At night many people get really drunk and sleep on the beach in tents our bus we were supposed to take did not leave till 4 am but we managed to find a bus going to Heredia this bus was defiantly filled with err local culture? There was one extremely drunk guy who “fell in love” with my friend and just kept saying Jamaica and marijuana plus I learned some new curse words form him…but defiantly the most uncomfortable long scary bus ride I have ever experienced but defiantly worth it and yet another life experience. Made it back around 1 am and accidenlty woke my padre up because they bolt locked the door opps! Next day I was looking forward to a day in bed….but my family invited me to one of their nepews 6th birthday party. I was not in the mood for a big family gathering where I can understand anyone or know anyone but decided to go. It was up in the mountains and the house and view was incredible…the house was actually a consturucted circle and they had this huge area for the party that just looked out over the mountain..you could see San Jose and Heredia and all the surrounding campo. The party was actually really fun…they have a huge family and everyone watched the kids hit the piñata, open presents, play games, there were clowns, music and food. I think big families can be a real blessing and kids just add so much enjoyment just watching there enjoyment I guess. Talked to my sister in law and she told me about her travels to Europe and Costa Rican culture. It was fun noting the differences and similarities between the cultures and doing things with my family like that makes me feel really apart of the actual experience of living here more than traveling around and going to school. Plus I like the days when I can only speak Spanish the whole time b/c I am with my family..sometimes on these days I accidently almost slip back into English cuz I get so comfortable or excited about somthign that I want to be able to say something…but its defiantly getting easier my father showed me the whole house at the party and I taught him the word for rainbow and potatoe in English, he said it so cute and he is interested in learning English..its great to be able to practice with people who understand how hard it is to learn a new language.

Manuel Antonio

Beach Weekend!!!

Went to Manuel Antonio which is on the Pacific side and about a 4 hour busride. Left at 4:30 in the morning friday and left from San Jose. Our hotel/hostel was 10 dollars a night and very open and beautiful. We headed out to the beach right away and the water was amazing it was soo warm and the waves were soo perfect I spend the whole day in the water basically and it was beutifully sunny. Went walking on the beach as well and had american food for the first time in quite awhile. After long day of swimming and lots of sun was very tired but played a very fun game of Kings with other backpackers in the hotel. It was so cool to meet poeple from all over the world..we met couples from Germany, England and a girl from Italy...it was so awsome to all come together and share experiences and different cultures and everyone was so friendly. Next day met some young ticos who tuaght me to surf a little bit! I could kind of stand up at the end a few times...very hard to understand surfer dialect but it was good to try and keep practicing spanish and meet new poeple. That night had another rousing game of kings and went down to the beach where there was a bonfire and everyone from all the hotels just kind of gathered together and just hanged out. Me and my one friend got inspired to go into the ocean in the dark and it was an incredibly liberating experience..seeing all the stars and the perfect water I felt like a little kid again and felt so alive. Would like to write more but my time I have avaliable to go online is so limited...After this week I will have been here a month!

Mas

Wanted to make a post before classes start tomorrow! It has been a fun and busy week here. I am still getting used to the city but am very comfortable getting to my routine places which include the University, the gym (very near my house…where I took a spinning class the other day and hopefully will take arobics and dance as well) and bulevar (the bar me and my friends have been to almost every night). For more orientation we all went to San Jose one day which is a very busy city, really only like the parks there and went to an outdoor art market where they have souviner stuff supposedly for cheaper…we toured the national theater which was very beautiful and tried to learn the bus system. We also had dance lessons from students from the University. They are amazing dancers and there is so much culture behind the dances. However I found out I have absolutely no rhythm or skill but I will keep trying. Orientation is now over and I will miss being with the group and the program directors who are soo nice and fun. Bueno, the nightlife is defiantly fun and preety easy to get to know people. I met a few ticas/ticos and went to a house party with one of them for a little while. The funnest time to pratice Spanish is at night because everyone is “relaxed” and most of the students seem to know some English so we each can practice the different languages. Im very comfortable with my family here, my favorite thing to do with them is watch this Spanish telenovela called “el ultimo matrimonio feliz” its like the typical Spanish soap like one guy is having an affair with like 2 people and there is like at least 5 main characters and I cant understand half of what they say but I love the drama and the reactions of my family. We also talk about politics and differences in life, beliefs and culture in the US and here. There is often family members coming in and out and the other day spend the morning playing with a little girl who went over the colors in Spanish with me, played tic tac toe and drawed butterflies and hearts. Soo last info for the day I have my class schedule and I am taking 3 women’s studies courses I am not really sure exactly what there about but hopefully I can keep up and they will be interesting…plus appreciation of dance which I don’t think involves actual dancing luckily and of course Spanish class.

Primera Semana

Well ive officially been here for a whole week! And so much has happened and changed that I feel like I have been here for months. The last few days in Monteverde were so great…I went horsebackriding through the mountains on a really cool farm where there was a litter of german Shepard puppies that were sooo cute and we got to make cheese and see how milk, sugar and coffee is produced. We got to eat fresh coffee beans and different forms of sugar like agua dulce, caramels and something else really good ohh and we rode in an ox cart that are hand painted and saw how the ox used to pull this machine to produce sugar from suar cane which we also ate and was soo good. Went shopping in Santa Elena and all got icecream. Than my last two nights with my family were sooo wonderful…there was a party with all the families of the group and I accidently said the word for shit instead of snack which my table found very amusing as did I and now is one of the favorite stories of one of the program directors who is so affectionate and friendly like most people here. Than walked back in complete darkness with my family which was actually really fun, we all tried to scare eachother in the dark and the amount of stars you could see was incredible it was so beautiful. Than the last night with my family we all looked at pictures of my sisters when they were little and it was soo cute and we were all finally able to really loosen up and feel like a family and of course I had to leave the next day..que triste! I had a great talk with my madre there she told me about how both the fathers of her two kids left her and she didn’t have money to send her daughter to school but her church group and family came together and helped. We have very similar ideas of faith and life…the church group came over to our house because that is how they have there gatherings every Saturday at a different house of about 20 people and all the kids play and anyone can participate and add to the service…(for dana and krystn) it was totally like the Gathering Costa Rican style!!!! It was sooo cool and moving for me, they sang like the same songs but in Spanish and it was just that exact same surrounding of faith that the Gathering has, my madre has a somewhat similar philosophy on religion that all the rules and like sins are not what the importance of faith is all about anyway the sermon was given my a family friend and from what I could understand she had a wonderful mentality and talked about how the material things that we worry and think about are not what jesus and god teach I guess? Anyway it was an awesome experience and the next morning after playing futbol with mi hermana I tried to like hide from the guy from the institute who came to get me. But my family said I can come back and visit and even buy the really high quality coffee straight from her friend who works in the farm we toured. I miss them and Monteverde sooo much. I really loved it there it was just so beautiful all the time and I will never forget the people I met there. I was telling them how I was sad to leave and scared of the new family cuz its just a retired couple and mi madre said “we are your real family and they are like your grandparents” so far that is exactly how I feel this will be like.

So obviously I am now in heredia with my new family and University. It is 2 different worlds yet again between here and Monteverde. My new family is very nice, both the mother and father are easy to talk to and have one married son who lives near by. I went with them the first day to a big family gathering and the people here are soo soo different from in Monteverde, it really reminded me of American family gatherings..the adults talked about politics and the kids just came in and out. I talked to this 18 year old girl for awhile and really had to be patient with my own Spanish skills..i taught all the little kids the word fart which they repeated very loudly and often the rest of the time. Even in the kids there were major differences in Monteverde the kids I met were very polite, shy, patient and mature..here its defiantly more like America. The house here is very nice I walked in and was like taken aback at the big TV, modern kitchen and bathroom that coming straight from Monteverde were incredible luxuries. Anyway Monteverde obviously holds very special memories and experiences of this trip but hopefully Heredia will also be full of good things to tell. Sooo on to life here now!

Today toured the University and city all day and it is a very interesting city with lots to do and see.

Me encanta mi familia y Monteverde

I feel like I have two lives here…my life with my family and my orientation adventures so here is a little about both!

I’m becoming more and more attached to my family…one night my mom’s sister who is 16 was over for one night usually she lives with my family and takes care of the baby and goes to school at night. So dinner with 2 Costa Ricans teenagers of course consists of boy gossip! Both the girls need to get permission from their parents to date. We all went to a skating salon and it was so cool to go somewhere like totally local I completely got to see costariccan youth culture. It is basically where all the kids from ages 10-20 hangout and many know each other. I am love how Costa Ricans greet each other with a kiss on the cheek it makes me feel so welcome somehow. We did not skate but I watched and might go tonight. Last night I played “conhelado” or freezetag with my sister and all her friends I like playing games because it is a way to communicate without words, we also played hangman to help me with my Spanish alphabet..my sister is sooo patient with me she thinks its soo funny when I can not remember a word that like she just taught me but I just can not keep them all in my head because there is so much to learn everyday. In general the people here seem shy but very friendly. Tonight is a party with all the families from the group so I will update more about that later.

Ok other side of life here…Been on some awesome adventures..ziplining through the canopy and skywalk on bridges through the rainforest both incredible experiences and impossible to describe or even take it all in but I saw monkeys and birds and waterfalls defiantly some intense hiking using little bridges over rivers and ropes. The walk back and forth to school here is so cool..were like on top of a mountain so the views are incredible and there are dogs that follow use back and forth!

Short Update

Ahh I have soo much to say but do not have alot of internet access so here is what i got so far:

I feel like I have been here longer than two days but wow this is such an experience. What must I mention first but the food of course! Everything is soo good here the fruit is amazing everything is so fresh and there are so many different juices and fruits that are not in the states. I am obsessed with avacados here and I like COFFEE which I never drink but my host family get pure coffee from her friend. My host mother cleans at a hotel and bakes homemade bread which is deliciose. She has 2 daughters Genesis is 1 and a beatufil baby that drinks coffee to! And a 12 year old named Mitzy who is so friendly and helpful to her mom so unlike me at 12 and so patient with my Spanish skills! It is very frustrating not being able to communicate everything or understand everything but this is the only way to really learn and the challenge is actually fun at times. The differences in how ticos live is so interesting but its also wonderful to realize that people all share so many similarities we all have the same emotions just different experiences. There is so much love and fun in this family even though they do not have any of the modern conveniences or ability to travel like Americans. Cold showers, tin roofs, gated houses really don’t take away from the real joys of life.

I'm Here!!!

So flying into San Jose was sooo exciting, you could see mountains from the plane. Then took a very sketchy "taxi" ride which was actually not a taxi but a random car to the hotel. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous there are gardens full of flowers and plants and a maze and ponds. The weather was a little to cold to go in the pool but hopefully it will get warmer. We had an amazing dinner at the restuarant with such good fruit, avacados, mango juice. It's been exciting getting to know everyone in the program and all sharing our nervousness for speaking spanish and such but tommorow we go onto Monteverde to stay with our first host family for a week and hopefully will be doing some cool activities.

Cuatro dias mas!

Well I am about to begin my adventure to Costa Rica! I will spend my first week in Monteverde and than go onto Heredia where my University is. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and can't wait to share what I learn from my experiences. Pura Vida!