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.