B-e-a-utiful

I definitely have some catching up to do. I meant to post over a week ago, but my life here has been quite busy lately! Almost at the half-way point (it's going by too quickly!), my class work is a bit heavy right now, and on top of that, my weekends have been pretty busy lately as well. I'm realizing, however, that my increased business is a sign of my increased integration into the culture and adaptation to my new country. I have made the transition between feeling like a visitor and feeling like a resident.

Nonetheless, I have to be a bit of a tourist sometimes because I want to see as much of this beautiful country as possible. During the past two weekends, I went on day trips to some sites nearby. I'll start off with Turrialba. In my guidebook (that's not touristy or anything) Turrialba is one of the top destinations in Costa Rica for its world famous white water rafting. Turrialba is home of the Pacuare River, one of National Geographic's top 5 most beautiful rivers in the world and the site for next year's white water rafting world championship...no big deal. Needless to say, my expectations were pretty high and when we finally got on the river, I was certainly not disappointed. I felt as if I was in Jurassic Park or one of the movies that you watch and think "this place can't actually exist in real life." Costa Rica is one of these places and it does indeed exist. I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me when I wasn't fearful for my life! I had never been white water rafting before, although I had wanted to for quite some time, but I am proud to say that Costa Rica was my first experience since it seems like class 3 to 4 rapids here might be more like 5 to 6 in the U.S. Some of my friends had been rafting before, but said that they had never done anything quite like this. Let's just say that I got the full white water rafting experience.

Early on in the first group of more difficult rapids, I some how managed to be the first person to fall out of the raft. I'm really not even sure how it happened, but before I knew it I was in the water. My first instinct was to swim, but then I remembered the proper position is to float on your back. So I just had to "float" amongst the rapids until our guide could pull me out of the water. As I was floating along, I hit a large rock very hard in no other place than my butt...remember my waterfall jumping experience? My first thought was, "no, not my tailbone again!" Once I was back in the boat safely, I started to feel the large and painful bruise forming on my backside. Luckily, about a week and a half later, it seems that it was only a bruise and did not affect my already delicate tailbone.

A bit shaken up after that, I collected myself and kept rowing along with my team. Later on, we got to the most difficult rapids of the day. On one particularly challenging group, I could tell that things were not going well...our guide, Mario, was telling us to row harder, but the rapids were too big, so he told us to "get down!" This command means that everyone has to get down inside the raft and basically just hope that we get over the rapids smoothly. We kept going under water so much that I didn't realize that our entire raft had flipped until I was being carried down the river away from everyone else. I looked back and everyone, including Mario, was in the water. The rapids kept pulling me under water over and over again and I nearly crashed into rocks several times. The scariest part was that there was nothing I could do other than wait. Before I knew it I felt two hands on the shoulders of my life jacket and Mario pulled me back into the raft. We got everyone else back in safely, although quite wet and a bit freaked out. What an adrenaline rush! All of us were determined not to fall out of the raft after that experience, and we didn't "por dicha!"

Although that ranked as one of the most frightening experiences of my 20 years, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I loved it! I had a complete blast and already can't wait to do it again.

This past weekend was a bit less thrilling but equally as beautiful. My exchange program took all of us to the Poas Volcano which is somewhat nearby Heredia. Poas is one of the active volcanoes in Costa Rica and it used to be the biggest crater in the entire world! When we arrived at the park, I was surprised by cold it was, but I have to say that it felt quite refreshing and reminded me of the fall that I am going to miss in Ohio :( I loved breathing in the fresh, crisp, cool air as we hiked up to the crater; however, as the altitude increased and we got closer to the sulfuric gas, it became a bit harder to breath. Once we got there, I was amazed. The view was incredible and I felt the same way as when I am in the mountains: free and close to God. Normally you can see the entire crater, but the volcano was so active that we cold only see one side because the other was covered by all of the gas. After plenty of pictures, we hiked to the "laguna" (lake). The lake was equally as breathtaking, with its vastness and turquoise blue color. I had to keep reminding myself that what I was seeing was real.

After our visit to Poas, we went to another attraction nearby that is called "La Paz Waterfall Gardens." The best way I can describe it is all of Costa Rica contained within one park. I absolutely loved it! It is a lodge/hotel that I would love to stay at some day when I am rich and famous, but aside from the hotel, it is an outdoor park with some covered areas. It is difficult to describe because I have never seen anything quite like it, but I'll try. Its main attraction is the waterfalls that you have to hike through the forest to see. On the way to the waterfalls, are several conservatories and areas where you can observe hummingbirds, butterflies, birds, monkeys, frogs, snakes and orchids. In the bird area there is a separate room for the tucans and when we passed through it there was a worker inside who put the tucans on our shoulders and arms, so I had a live tucan perched right next to my face. Everything inside the park was incredibly beautiful, lush, and green. Throughout the entire day I was thinking, "this has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world."

In addition to its landscapes, the people and culture of Costa Rica are beautiful as well. I am falling more in love with all of the customs and traditions here everyday as well as the incredibly friendly ticos. I am making more tico friends in my classes and am starting to recognize faces around campus. I had some ticos in one of my classes ask me if I want to be in their group rather than the other way around and I even got invited to a birthday party this Friday :) I now understand why so many Americans come here and never leave, but don't worry, I'll be back.

"Chineada"

I gave my blog a make-over, I hope you like it. Carlos told me that it was quite difficult to read white text against a dark background, but I didn't realize this since I create my posts in a different view than what all of you see. When a tried to read it myself, I could definitely see that Carlos "tiene razon" (he's right). Besides, I think that this is more reflective of Costa Rican culture. Plus, my favorite color is orange.

I know that I have said this before, but I feel more and more a part of my tican family every day. On Monday morning, for example, I came back from the gym like I do every morning to eat breakfast and get ready to go to class. I unlocked the gate and then went to open the door, but it was locked, which is always a sign that no one is home. My first thought was, "shoot, now I'm going to have to buy lunch." On Mondays and Wednesdays, I stay on campus for lunch since I have class at 1 on Monday and I have my dance class at 4:30 on Wednesdays. I usually have to remind Claudia that today is "todo el dia en la U," so I would appreciate it very much if I could have a lunch "para llevar." Well, I didn't get a chance to remind her that morning since she was already gone, but as soon as I walked in I saw a lunch on the kitchen counter...with a little container of rice pudding for dessert. I was so excited that I said "awww" out loud.

I slept in a little bit on Sunday morning because I was out late on Saturday night (I'll get to that. Sorry, I'm working backwards.) and because we had already gone to church Saturday evening. After a typical Sunday breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, bacon, platanos maduros (sweet fried plantains: by far my favorite food in Costa Rica), coffee, and fruit, my family asked me, "do you have plans today?" I had planned to work on a project with Abby that was due the following day, similar to last Sunday, but I'm starting to learn that it is not a good idea to make plans on Sunday because my family will most likely tell me that we are going somewhere on Sunday morning. This is exactly what happened.

Andrea, my oldest host sister who is married and lives in a different house, invited us over. She lives in Moravia, which is part of San José and is about 25 minutes away from my house in Heredia. I had guessed that Andrea and her husband Jorge, a doctor, were somewhat well-off, and when I saw their house I knew that my assumptions were correct. From the outside, the first thing that I noticed was that they live in a gated community, so they don't have a gate in front of their house like all of the houses in Heredia. I then noticed its resemblance to an American home: instead of a tin roof, it has shingles; it has a visible front door; there are potted plants; and it has an attached garage. The inside was beautiful with high ceilings, a chandalier, a fire place (I know, they need fire places in Costa Rica? I'm not sure that they do, but it gets quite cold at their house because it is closer to the mountains), big glass windows, a kitchen with modern appliances, and an upstairs. Already, something that would be so normal in the U.S. seemed so different and impressive to me here in Costa Rica. Andrea's house is certainly not typical in Costa Rica, even within her neighborhood. While she studied in Canada and visited the U.S., she became fond of the style of houses there, so when they had their house built, she knew that she wanted it to be an "American" home. We spent the entire day and evening there just relaxing, talking, and eating. I truly felt like a part of the family that day and as if I was spending time in one of our family friend's homes with my parents. Everything seemed pleasantly familiar.

I'm sure that all of you are dying to know why I was out late on Saturday night. Don't worry, I didn't do anything crazy, but I did have a lot of fun! Mariela took me dancing with Andrés, her cousin and some of his friends. It was the first real test of my dancing skills, and I thought that I did pretty well. I could do the basic steps, and my partners were patient enough with me to teach me some more complicated moves. My favorite part was watching everyone else dance - they are all so good! I am definitely even more motivated to learn how to dance to the point that I am already thinking about taking a dance class when I get back to the U.S.

After the dancing with Mariela, Andrea's house, and all of the little things before and in between, I have felt very "chineada" lately. "Chinear" is a verb that I think might be unique to Costa Rica (its definitely not in a normal Spanish dictionary) that has its roots in a tiny bit of racism, or perhaps xenophobia. The Chinese population in Costa Rica has been known for coddling their babies in a protective, skeptical kind of way. Hence, chinear (note the similarity to "Chinese") means to care for/spoil in a positive way. If someone is chineado/a, he/she is loved/cared for/spoiled. So, I have felt chineada by my tican family and I like it :).

In other news, I can't believe that today is already the first of September! It marks the beginning of the celebrations for Costa Rica's Independence Day, which is on September 15th. We don't have class that day, so I will be able to partake in all of the festivities. Before then, I already have plans for this weekend and the following with plenty of school work in between. This Saturday I am going white water rafting in Turrialba and the next weekend I am going to the Poas Volcano, so I will have exciting things to write about very soon. I'll check in again soon, chao!

They eat Kentucky Fried Chicken in Costa Rica?

Oh blog how I have missed you. I'm sorry that I have been slacking on my updates lately...I've been really busy with my classes and I feel so far behind now that I am not quite sure where to start. I can't retell everything that has happened in "mi pura vida" since my last post, so I apologize in advance for the discontinuity, perhaps, of this post.

I suppose a good place to start is explaining why I haven't written in a while. I can't say that the quantity of school work here is as much as it would be if I were at Miami right now (classes started today without me...kind of sad), but I still keep busy. I have had two group projects in the past couple weeks, one of which I presented on Thursday and the other I am going to present this Wednesday. I'll spare the details of the first project to save energy for more exciting news, but I will tell you a bit about the project that I am still working on right now. It is for my Spanish class and each group has a theme related to Costa Rican culture. Caitlin, Abby, and I "got stuck" with "Ritmos Bailables" (Dance Rhythms) because we were the only people who weren't entirely intimidated by the dancing aspect of the theme. We don't have to dance in front of the class, but given that Caitlin and I are both in a dance class, we have decided to do just that. I interviewed our dance instructor, Argerie, for my part of the project and she has agreed to come to class on Wednesday to give everyone a little lesson :) The project turned out to be more work than we had expected, but I'm having fun with it. Also classes-related, I have gotten back some of my first graded works and have done quite well. I have received over 100% on both of my quizzes for my literature class, thanks to extra credit questions, and I got an A on my first analysis for that class as well. I'm not sure how I did on my first presentation, but the professor seemed to like it. It's hard to tell, however, if other students and professors are just charmed/amused by us gringos or actually think we know what we're talking about. When Callie and I got up in front of the class to give our presentation, everyone paid a lot more attention to us than they did to the other groups and I even made them laugh a few times. I hate to admit it, but we have an automatic advantage as cute American females here in Costa Rica.

Outside of class, I haven't done anything incredibly exciting...I've been in Heredia for the past 3 weekends in a row, so I am definitely ready to travel again. We're planning to go somewhere this weekend...I'll tell you about it once I know exactly where we're going. I actually was quite bored and frustrated last weekend after several attempts to do something other than go to the mall to see a movie failed. This weekend, however, was much more successful. The whole weekend was fun, but I'll just give you the highlights, once again to save my energy. On Saturday night Callie, Abby, Caitlin, and I went to see a Russian ballet (El Ballet de Kiev) in San José. We bought the cheapest seats possible in the gallery, but little did we know that we would have to go down another street outside of the main building through this somewhat shady side door and then climb up a whole bunch of stairs to find benches rather than seats. All we could do was laugh as we awkwardly climbed up to our seats, all wearing dresses. The ballet itself was wonderful. Rather than its own story, it was a selection of pieces from different ballets including Don Quijote, Romeo and Juliet, the Nutcracker, and Swan Lake. It was nice to finally do something a bit out of the ordinary.

Sunday was enjoyable as well. I went to Escazu, the place I had wanted to go for 2 weekends in a row, with Claudia, Silvia, Mariela, and her boyfriend Andrés. In case you were wondering about the kids, they spent the day with their dad on Sunday (it was nice to have a little break). Escazu is known as a wealthy area throughout the whole country...the U.S. Ambassador lives there, no big deal. The entire day was really nice because I was able to talk a lot of Spanish, bond with my family, and learn about a new area of Costa Rica. It was worth getting barely any homework done, even though I am paying for it now.

To go back in time a week (I warned you about the discontinuity), last Sunday was "El Dia de la Madre," a.k.a. Mother's Day. Being a predominantly Catholic country, Costa Rica celebrates Mother's Day on August 15th because it is the same day as the Ascension of the Virgen Mary and Mary is the idyllic mother figure. The way Costa Ricans celebrate the day is similar to how we celebrate it in the U.S. with a few differences. While it is common to go out to eat on Mother's Day in the U.S., I wouldn't say that it is the end all be all, but in Costa Rica, it is the thing to do. Since Costa Rica, like all of Latin America, is such a patriarchal society, I think that it is so popular to go out to restaurants because a) mothers don't want to cook on their day and b) very very few men know how to cook (if there are men in the house). Since I live in a house of all women and none of them wanted to spend their day doing what they do every day, they decided to go out for lunch somewhat at the last minute. Because of the kids, it is difficult to go to a restaurant together and if you're going to go out to eat on Mother's Day, you absolutely have to have a reservation. When my family told me that we were going out to eat on Sunday morning, they had already told me about all the hype and I knew that we didn't have a reservation anywhere so I wasn't sure where we were going to go. It wasn't until we pulled into the parking lot of KFC that I knew where we would celebrate Mother's Day. Yes, that's right - KFC. I have never even eaten at a KFC in the U.S., nor have I ever been tempted to; and yet, here I was at KFC in Costa Rica on Mother's Day. Although I was looking forward to my first eating out experience in Costa Rica, I wasn't so much disappointed as I was uncomfortable and a bit disturbed. First of all, there were men helping people park their cars and escorting people without umbrellas (since it was raining, no surprise there) to the door almost like a vallet service at a fancy restaurant. Once we got inside the restaurant, there were so many people that we had to wait to sit down at a table. Try to imagine the inside of a typical fast food restaurant, packed with people chowing down on buckets of fried chicken, workers running in and out of the kitchen to clean off tables, help people find tables, take people's orders, etc. etc., and then me (the only white person) standing in the middle of all that chaos thinking, "my country created this mess." I can't quite explain my level of discomfort at that moment, but it was quite profound. I found it appalling, in all honesty, that a KFC was so packed with people on Mother's Day in a country other than the U.S. While I'm not a huge fan of fast food restaurants in the U.S., I have never felt this way at home, but here, in my current home, it just did not feel right at all. I had encountered a perfect example of why many people criticize globalization as "Americanization" and I suppose that it scared me a little bit. I suddenly felt as if my country was polluting the rest of the world. During lunch that day, I was not proud of the U.S.

Since then, I have had time to think and calm down a little bit. I've realized that the U.S. can put McDonald's all over the world, but will never be able to transform the cultures of other countries through fast food. The reason why KFC was so crowded, other than the whole Mother's Day thing, is because the concept of "fast" food isn't all that important to ticans. On any given day, the dining rooms of all fast food restaurants are crowded because, whether it's fast food or not, ticans still take time to actually eat sitting down. The concept of eating food in the car on the go isn't all that appealing, nor necessary, to a society that takes the time to eat together with family and friends during every meal. They even take the time to sit down and drink coffee during the late afternoon..."to go" cups are difficult to come by.

While I was a bit annoyed with America on this particular Sunday, living in foreign countries has made me incredibly proud to be an American, and during all of my questioning, analyzing, and rationalizing, I encountered another question: of all the places I could have been born in this world, how did I become an American? Why am I a citizen of the wealthiest and most developed nation in the world? Costa Rica is the most developed country of Central America and one of the most developed in all of Latin America, and yet trash and dog poop lines the streets of Heredia; the bridge near my house that collapsed during the first week I was here has not been touched; stray dogs are everywhere; toilet paper is often not provided in public restrooms; and hot water is a luxury. I, on the other hand, live in a country where Internet is a necessity; 10 year-olds own iPods and cell phones; and there is enough water to take hour long hot showers and to keep our lawns green (the mere fact that we even have lawns). Why am I so privileged? It's no wonder that many people around the world resent Americans...in many ways, we're spoiled brats. This isn't a criticism, it's just the truth. And it isn't until I stepped outside of what I have recognized as normal my entire life, that I realized that my life in the U.S. is incredibly abnormal compared to the lives of other people all around the world. I'm not sure how to conclude this thought because the concept fascinates me, but it is this fascination that has driven and continues to drive my aspiration to have a career through which I will work with people from other countries who have different cultures and speak different languages. After all, the world extends quite a bit beyond the borders of the U.S.

Sorry if I have lost any of you with my rambling. I will try to have a more thematic update next time. Until then, pura vida!

"Extrañar"

I learned a new verb today: extrañar. Mariela's boyfriend, Andrés, drove me to my dance class tonight and on the way he asked me, "¿Extrañás tu país?" (Do you miss your country? p.s. For any Spanish speakers reading this, notice my correct usage of vos). I had to ask him what extrañar meant and he explained that it means the same, more or less, as "echarse de menos," which is the verb that I have always thought meant "to miss." I told him no, that I didn't miss my country yet. It's not really the U.S. that I miss, but the people who are there.

Today is the first time that anyone here has asked me if I am homesick, and it's funny because today is the first day that I have felt homesick. My grandma passed away this morning, and the reality that I cannot be at home with my family has made me miss them a lot. On a positive note, I have learned a lot about myself today. If one were to literally translate "extrañar," "strange" would be somewhere in the translation since extraño is the Spanish word for strange. It makes sense that "extrañar" can mean "to miss," especially in my situation, because foreigners living in another country often become homesick when the new and exotic nature of their host country's culture wears off and instead becomes different, frustrating, annoying, and strange. My homesickness, however, has nothing to do with Costa Rica. In fact, I had thought just a couple of days ago that my next blog would be about how I am beginning to fall in love with Costa Rica. Including the fruit flies and ants that inhabit my kitchen, sweating and smelling the aroma of car exhaust as I walk to class every morning, the afternoon downpours, "tico time," and having to "conectar" the hot water every time I want to take a shower, I love Costa Rica...all of it. However, no matter the country, nothing can take the place of family.

In the time that I have been here and from the time that I was in Spain, I have learned that I can adapt quite well to other cultures, mainly because they fascinate me. I love the feeling of experiencing something new, different from my own culture, every day. Once again, I am not homesick because I miss my physical home, but because I miss the feeling that I associate with home: being around the people who know and love me the most. Wherever I end up living later in my life, I know that it won't feel like home unless my family is there.

So that you aren't worried or think that I am suddenly having a terrible time here, I assure you that I am fine. Today was Mariela's 20th birthday, so a bunch of family members came over to celebrate, and I can't decide if this made me feel better or worse. In many ways, it was nice to feel like I was part of another family when I was missing mine, and at the same time it made me miss my family more. Seeing Andrea and her husband with Isiac made me miss my parents; seeing Mariela and Andrés made me miss Carlos (not that this would be any different even if I was in the U.S.); and sharing in their laughter and listening to their stories made me miss my family members and friends. The good thing, however, is that I do feel like I am becoming a part of my tican family more and more every day. Tomorrow is a new day of my pura vida and I hope to wake up to sunshine :)

Montezuma

Since I am a little bit behind in my blogging, I'm going to skip the details of this week (except for a few) and get right to my tale of this past weekend in Montezuma. Before I begin, I'll give you a quick geography lesson of Costa Rica: there are 7 provinces - San José and Cartago in the center; Heredia (I live in the capital of this province, hence its name) and Alajuela in the central north; Guanacaste in the northwest; Puntarenas in the south; and Limon in the East. Montezuma is in the Puntarenas province on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula on the south Pacific coast.

Okay, now that you have somewhat of a picture in your head, I'll begin telling you about my trip. The journey to Montezuma went surprisingly smooth. Remembering my horror stories from last summer when I went to Lisbon while I was in Spain, I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but "gracias a Dios," everything went as planned. We left in a taxi at 5:00 in the morning to the bus stop in San José. We had plenty of time to buy our tickets and coffee before boarding the bus. The bus ride to Puntarenas lasted a little under 2 hours, and when we arrived there we had to walk about 2 km with our bags in the hot sun to the ferry, but we made it there in just enough time to catch the 9:00 ferry. The ferry was relaxing (the gentle rocking put me to sleep) and in an hour we arrived at Playa Naranjo. From there we hurried to catch the bus to Montezuma, and this, the last leg of the trip, was by far the worst. After a 2 hour long hot, crowded, and bumpy bus ride, I was very happy to arrive at our destination.

The bus dropped us off in the center of Montezuma, a small beach town with a backpacker/hippie/laid back feel. We found out that our hotel, Hotel Lucy, was just a short walk from the center, but it didn't feel all that short when I, already hot and sweaty, had to carry my bag up a dirt road that turned into mud. Although I sound incredibly high maintenance right now, I didn't show it while trying to dodge mud puddles and keep my white pants (I didn't know that I would have to walk on dirt roads when I picked out my outfit) as clean (not dirty is more appropriate) as possible. Nevertheless, when we finally got to our hotel and I was able to look out over the Pacific and hear the waves rolling onto the sand, I knew that all the trouble to get there was entirely worth it.

We didn't waste any time getting out of our sweaty clothes and into our bathing suits. We headed straight to the beach and into the water. After cooling off a bit, we threw some clothes over our suits (entirely appropriate attire for Montezuma...some people weren't even wear shoes) and found a restaurant in town to eat lunch. The rest of the day consisted of walking around town, relaxing on the beach, and eating more food of course.

During our walk around town on Friday, we went to one of the many booths that offer tours from sport fishing to horseback riding. Our interest was snorkeling, so we signed up for a snorkeling tour to la Isla Tortuga on Saturday. I ran for a little bit on the beach when I woke up on Saturday morning before we had to leave for the snorkeling tour. We left at 9:30 on a boat with several other people for Isla Tortuga, which is about 45 minutes away. I love the feeling of being on a boat, so I even enjoyed the trip to the island. Once we got there, we snorkeled for a little over an hour and then we all went to the island for lunch. Isla Tortuga is gorgeous...turquoise water, white sand, and palm trees. Our guides prepared a big lunch for us of fish, rice, veggies, and tons of fresh fruit. After relaxing on the beach, we went out again for a second snorkeling session. The morning was definitely better, but the afternoon was still fun. We headed back for Montezuma around 4 and on the way there, our guides spotted 2 tortoises mating in the water. It was pretty cool to see big turtles in the middle of the ocean.

Now to my favorite part of the weekend. On Sunday morning we hiked to some very well-known waterfalls right in Montezuma. We had been told that they were only a 15 minute walk away, but we soon found out that 15 minutes just took us to the base of the trail that leads to the waterfalls. Before we knew it, this "trail" turned into slippery rocks across a river and over smaller waterfalls and then through trees and extremely steep uphills and downhills until we finally arrived at the base of the 3 waterfalls. Just looking up at the waterfalls, however, was not enough for us - we wanted to get up to the top. We couldn't quite see a direct way to get up there, but we could see people at the top, so we knew that there had to be some way. Long story short, we found ourselves hiking, it was really more like rock climbing, up extremely rugged terrain that required using all fours and our backsides at times. I wouldn't call what we did safe, but I had a blast, and once we arrived at the top, it was entirely worth the risks.

At the base of each waterfall is a pool of water that flows down to the next waterfall. The top waterfall is the smallest, the middle is the second largest, and the first is the largest. We were able to swim in the pool in between the third and the second waterfalls and there was a rope swing that we jumped off of as well. We also jumped and dove from the top of the third waterfall, which was so much fun! Caitlin and I however, wanted to be a little bit more daring. Caitlin, Miss Hawaii, did not waste any time jumping from the top of the second water fall, which is about 8 meters (35ish feet). I, however, had to think about it. I warmed up on the smallest waterfall and then decided that I wanted to jump as well. But once I was standing on the edge of the waterfall ready to jump, my ambition dwindled quite a bit. As I stood there thinking, ticos kept jumping one after the other like it was no big deal. I decided that I was just going to have to go, ready or not, if I wanted to do it, so that's exactly what I did. It was awesome! The only bad thing was that my butt broke part of my fall, so I have a terribly bruised tailbone now. It has improved, but I still have to sit down very carefully one week later.

Needless to say, I had a great trip. I can't believe it was only one week ago...it feels like forever. This past week of classes threw me back into reality. I had to read a 200 page novel, in Spanish, in 3 days! It was rough, but I have to say that I'm quite proud of myself. I am incredibly modest when it comes to talking about my Spanish proficiency because I still have soooo much to learn and still have plenty of room to improve, but I have to say that I am impressed with my progress after only 3 weeks here.

After the excitement of last weekend, I was glad to spend a more relaxed weekend here in Heredia. Today I went to mass at 9:00 this morning with Claudia and then she took me to a concert in the central park of Heredia that takes place every Sunday at 10:00. I love the culture and the traditions here. I don't know any where in the U.S. where you could find a huge crowd of people of all different ages gathered around a Mariachi band at 10:00 on a Sunday morning, eating ice cream I might add (I, of course, took part in the ice cream eating).

I am going to get ready for bed now so that I'm ready for another week of classes tomorrow. Until next time, ciao!

Before you read my second post, I have to make a disclaimer that I meant to publish this on Thursday, but I realized that I had forgotten something important and didn’t have time to add it before I had to go to class. Since I have already gone to the class that I was about to go to when writing this post, I decided to include it as well. Hence, read this as if I posted it on Thursday after my class. Sorry for the confusion, enjoy!

It is about 9:00 p.m. and I have just completed my first week of classes at UNA. As an active and schedule-oriented person, this week has greatly advanced my adjustment process. As I have already told all of you, my first day of classes went quite smoothly, and even smoother I suppose on Tuesday since I didn't end up having class. My only class on Tuesday, Fundamentos de Sociolingüística, starts at 8 a.m., so I had to wake up quite early to get ready and make the 25 minute walk plus extra time for getting lost. When Caitlin and I got to class, we saw that a bunch of students from our program are in the class with plenty of ticos as well. By the time 8:00 rolled around, the professor wasn't there yet, and by 8:10 still not there, and not at 8:20, nor 8:30, and finally at 8:40 the ticos decided to pass around a sheet of paper indicating everyone who showed up for class and then we all left. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed, but I guess I'm still getting used to "tico time." Not having class, however, allowed me to accomplish a lot of other things. My friends (Caitlin, Callie, and Abby) and I were able to plan our trip for this weekend (more on that later), and then Caitlin and I signed up for a popular dance class :) Besides learning how to dance, it should be a great way to make tico friends! On Monday I bought a monthly membership to a gym nearby my house, so I went there to work out for the first time later in the day. Although I got a few stares since I stuck out like a sore thumb, I had a great workout and everyone there was really nice. In fact, ticos in general are incredibly nice. Everything is always "pura vida" and it's not odd to say a friendly "hola" or "buenos" to a stranger on the street. The way they say thank you is even friendly. Instead of the standard "de nada," they say "con mucho gusto," which essentially means "it was my pleasure." I haven't heard one person say "de nada" so I am trying to train myself to say "con mucho gusto." I am even getting used to the daily comments from tican men. It is quite standard for men here to make comments to women as they pass on the street, and my favorite so far has been when I was called "una gringa guapa."

Wednesday was a particularly good day. I had a great conversation with Claudia the night before, during which we talked about relationships, marriage, and God :) The conversation began on the subject of Carlos because I was telling her that today (Tuesday) was the first time that we had been able to talk in over a week due to the 8 hour time difference (it’s amazing how big of a difference 2 hours makes). After talking about my relationship with Carlos for a little while, I was a bit surprised when she asked me if I had ever thought about marrying him. From there we talked about how Mariela’s relationship with her boyfriend is similar to my relationship with Carlos, and then we arrived at the subject of why Silvia and her children live here. After that story, I decided that I felt comfortable enough to ask whether or not she had ever been married. Out of respect for my host family, I’m not going to share all the details of their lives, but I will say that she has been married twice and Mariela has a different father than Andrea and Silvia. After discussing how God’s plans for our lives are not always the same as the plans we have prematurely made for our own lives, we gave one another a big hug. And in case you were wondering, that was all in Spanish!

Inspired by the previous night, I woke up early to work out at the gym and then went to my Spanish class at 10. We learned about "el voseo" which is something I have never learned in any of my former Spanish classes because it is not used in Spain. I have always heard that vos is only used in Argentina, but I now know that it is used all throughout Latin America, so I am definitely thankful to now know how to use it. I have been trying to use it more often with my host family and I think that I am doing quite well. Little by little I am feeling more tican :) After class on my way back home I stumbled upon a little shop that makes smoothies from fresh fruit and other delicious ingredients. I ordered one with mango, pineapple, yogurt, and some other ingredients...so good! I am going to have to limit myself because otherwise, I will definitely become addicted. When I got home, Claudia and Mariella were cooking lunch and the kitchen was filled with fruit. I was so happy. I talked a little bit about my host mom's food in my last post, but I didn't mention that I haven't been eating very much fruit at all since I have been here, and because a) I love fruit to begin with and b) Costa Rica is known for all of its tropical fruits, I have been quite disappointed. But now the house is full of fruit and I have had really good food for the past few days now. Wednesday was definitely a good food day.

Later in the afternoon I met my friends at UNA and we walked to the mall in Heredia because tickets are half price on Wednesdays at the movie theatre. We shopped around the mall for a little bit, which is huge and incredibly modern, and then saw The Karate Kid, which unfortunately was in English with Spanish subtitles. Although I loved the movie more than I thought I would, I definitely want to see a movie in Spanish next time.

I ran this morning and then got ready to go to class once again. This class, Tópicos de una cultura de paz, is in a different building than all of my other classes, so I had to ask around a bit to find it and then a professor was nice enough to walk me there. I have the class with my friend Callie, but we are the only two Americans. We sat in the front and the professor almost immediately pointed us out. He knew that we were exchange students, but said that he couldn't tell from the sheet whether or not we were "chicos o chicas." A little embarrassed, we just laughed. He seems like a cool professor and the class seems interesting as well. There are a lot of projects and presentations, which is a bit overwhelming right now, but I'm up for the challenge.

The class that I had tonight from 5-8:30 (much later than I am used to at Miami), Contemporary Costa Rican Literature, was the first class that put me in panic mode. I was optimistic before the class started, thinking about how much I enjoy analyzing and reading literature, and my optimism continued once I met the professor…but as soon as she started talking about what we had to read, how and where we had to buy the readings, and how little time we had to read a very thick novel (all in Spanish), I became “super confundida.” Thankfully, my peer, who is actually from Miami as well, is in the class, so I at least had someone with whom I could exchange nervous facial expressions. I planned on clarifying everything with the professor after class, so I tried not to worry in the meantime. After becoming incredibly confused by what was supposed to be an explanation, we broke into groups to analyze several poems. Finally, I was in my element. Also, I was placed in a group with two ticans and no Americans :) I gained a bit of confidence during our analysis because I understood the poems just as well as they did and I even pointed some things out to them that they hadn’t caught. So, after class I walked straight up to the professor and told her that I was quite confused because purchasing books is very different in the U.S. (there aren’t any copyright laws in Costa Rica, so instead of just buying the books, ticans go to a million different copy shops, all with names and locations I have never heard of, to get reading materials for their classes. Way cheaper, yes. More confusing, definitely yes.) Seemingly charmed by my eagerness to “clarificar” just like almost all of her former exchange students, she clearly marked which books I had to buy and which readings would be in the course packet that we could buy at the copy shop. Wow, I now feel 110% better. When I got home, Claudia had made Spanish tortilla with spinach just for me because she knows how much I like it, and she also made me hot chocolate (made with cream, not just milk…fattening and delicious).

So, about my trip this weekend...I'm going to Montezuma which is on the South Pacific coast in the Puntarenas region. The beaches are supposed to be gorgeous and Montezuma in particular is supposed to have a young, bohemian, hippie feel. I can't wait! I'm going with Caitlin, Callie, and Abby, and although we have everything figured out, I'm a bit nervous because I don't know how everything works here quite yet. We're leaving really early in the morning to take a bus at 6 a.m. from San Jose to Puntarenas. The bus ride should be about 2 and a half hours, and once we get there, we'll take a ferry to Playa Naranjo. From there we'll take a short bus to Montezuma. Quite a lot of steps, but I'm sure everything will be worth it. I can't wait to tell of you about it when I get back! We don't have classes on Monday because it is a holiday for a Saint, so we're staying there Sunday night and we'll come back to Heredia on Monday. Keep me in your prayers for a safe and fun trip and I'll write back sometime next week!

P.S. Since this blog was intended for Thursday, I am obviously already back in Heredia from Montezuma. I had a great time and I’ll tell all of you about it soon!

La Primera Semana

I cannot believe that I have already been in Costa Rica for a week, but at the same time I cannot believe that it has only been a week. In only 9 short days, I have felt a spectrum of emotions, traveled to different sites in this beautiful county, and started to build many new relationships. During the days leading up to my departure, I was surprised, and a little scared, by my lack of anxiety about coming to live and study in a completely different culture for four months; but, as I expected, it hit me quite hard when I arrived. My first sites of Costa Rica were rain and a Denny's restaurant followed by more American fast food restaurants as I looked out the window of my host sister's car on the way to my new home in Heredia (about 20 minutes from San José). My first impression of Heredia was far from the picturesque scene I had painted in my head, but I at least had lunch to look forward to once we arrived at the house. My disappointment continued when I was served a pasta dish that a) I didn't like very much and b) was far from the Costa Rican cuisine I had read about. Furthermore, I found out that the hot water was broken, so I would have to take a cold shower. Culture shock? Most definitely.

On a more positive note, I liked my host family from the beginning and my relationship with each family member continues to grow every day. Claudia, my host mom, is 54 and, like my real mom, she loves to talk. She's honest, loving, considerate, independent, and most of all, passionate. Claudia is a single mother (I haven't figured out why or had the nerve to ask quite yet) of 3 beautiful daughters. Andrea, the oldest, is the first daughter that I met. She is married to a doctor, Jorge (we have the same birthday), and they have a 3, almost 4, year old son named Isiac. Andrea is incredibly kind and always acts excited to see me. Isiac is adorable and I befriended him when he came into my room the second day I was here while I was unpacking some things. He saw a rubber frog ("un sapito" as he calls it) on my desk and immediately wanted to play with it. Since then, he looks for the sapito every time he comes over.

I met Silvia, the middle daughter, second. She lives in the same house as me with her two children, Sofia and André. Like Andrea, Silvia is very nice and beautiful. She is a hard worker and centers her life around her children. She is divorced, but her kids still see their dad on the weekends. Sofia is 5 and is very interested in me. She is very sweet and has an endearing habit of coming into my room, even when the door is closed. André is 3, and in all honesty, can be a bit whiny. When he's not crying, he is really cute.

Finally, I met Mariela who is 19 years old and lives with me as well. She is studying Civil Engineering at a different school than the one I will be attending. She is incredibly nice as well and makes an effort to include me in her plans. It seems like we have a lot in common with our dedication to school and the time we choose to spend with our families. She has a boyfriend named Andrés who is also an Engineering major. When I went to the mall with Mariela and him last Sunday, I noticed that he opens the car door for her when getting in and out and then buckles her seat belt. Either he is just really chivalrous or it is the custom in Costa Rica. The seat belt thing threw me for a loop.

Everything started to improve on Monday, my first day of ISEP orientation. Mariela and Claudia walked the route from our house to la UNA (the name of my university) with me and then dropped me off at the ISEP office where all of the other students met. Although it was a long day with a lot of sitting and a lot of information, I enjoyed doing something outside of my house and meeting other American students. To end the first day of orientation, we all went across the street to take a dance lesson...so fun! The instructor, Alvaro, taught us Reggaeton (my favorite I think), Meringue, Swing, and Salsa. Salsa was definitely the hardest, but I worked up quite a sweat attempting all of them. I enjoyed the class so much that I am going to sign up for a weekly popular dance class at la UNA :)

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much the same with a lot of information and a lot of business-like things for our visas, classes, etc., etc., but once again, I enjoyed getting to know my peers. On Tuesday I saw my first huge thunderstorm of the rainy season. Claudia, Sofia, and I got stuck in it when we were at the bank doing something for my visa. The streets literally looked like a river and it thundered so loud that car alarms went off! We were eventually able to take a taxi home, but it took at least an hour before we were able to do that. Once I got home, I had to get "mi mochila" together for our trip to the mountains in Sarapiquí the next morning bright and early.

At 7:00 Thursday morning, we all met at UNA and left for Sarapiquí in our own tour bus. The drive was bumpy, to say the least, on narrow and windy streets, but the gorgeous scenery was worth my car sickness. After a little over two hours, we arrived at our first destination to go on a pineapple tour :) It was awesome! We witnessed and learned about every aspect of the production - I had no idea how complicated it is to produce pineapples. Our guide picked a pineapple right from the plant for us to sample, and after the tour we drank piña coladas, pineapple cake, and more fresh pineapple. Increíble!

From the pineapple farm, we drove a little further to Tarimbina where we stayed for two nights. It was somewhat of a campground far away from any roads surrounded by the jungle and mountains. Without any hot water, phone service, or Internet, I definitely roughed it but loved every minute of it. One family ran the entire resort and the food they prepared for us was delicious and very "tico" (Costa Rican). A typical Costa Rican meal always consists of rice, beans, a salad, fried plantains, and some type of meat or fish. For breakfast, they also eat rice and beans, but instead of eating them separately, they are mixed together with spices to form gallo pinto. They eat a lot of fruit and drink fresh squeezed juice at almost every meal as well.

While at Tarimbina on the first day, I hiked through the jungle with my closest friend in the program, Caitlin, and we came across enormous spiders, butterflies, lizards, many interesting insects, and...monkeys! The diversity of the plants and animals here is incredible, and even more amazing is how easy it to spot exciting species like monkeys, poisonous snakes and frogs, and exotic birds without going to a zoo. Also at Tarimbina, we went on a chocolate tour where, like the pineapple tour, we experienced every step of chocolate production from picking the cacao blossom to the final product. My favorite part, of course, was sampling every step of the production :)

After more eating, exploring, and bonding with my new friends, we left Tarimbina on Saturday morning for a beautiful hotel called El Tucano. This part of the trip was solely for relaxation. We slept in spacious rooms and were able to take hot showers. The hotel's attraction is its hot springs nearby. My friends and I made our way down the river through waterfalls to the main spring. The warm water was definitely worth the slippery rocks and a few falls. The rest of the day was filled with more eating and relaxing...the perfect ending to a great weekend.

After breakfast on Sunday morning we left for Heredia. On the way we made a stop at a park for endangered species of plants and animals. We saw monkeys, all types of snakes, birds, strange-looking rodents, and wild pigs. We made one more stop for lunch at a restaurant in the mountains that looked just like a tree house. The food, once again, was delicious. I ate shrimp with rice and a guava milkshake :) Once we got back to Heredia, I shared a taxi with Caitlin (we live in the same neighborhood) because it was pouring...big surprise. I spent the evening catching up with my host family, unpacking all of my wet and dirty clothes, and getting ready for today.

I certainly had a busy and very fun first week that helped me to adjust to the Costa Rican culture and feel more comfortable in my new country. I almost forgot that I came here to study, but I was reminded of that today because I had my first classes. On Mondays, I have an Advanced Spanish class at 10:00 in the morning until 11:30 with other American students from my program and other exchange programs. Two of the students are actually from Austria and it is quite obvious that they have learned their Spanish in Spain due to their accents. Then, at 1:00 until 3:30 I have a Women's Studies class about the progression of women's political rights in Costa Rica. Unlike my first class, my friend Abby and I were the only two Americans in the class and the other 14 were all ticos. I have to admit that I felt a bit overwhelmed, but I'm sure that I will feel more comfortable after a few classes. Today I realized that this is the real deal. I am a normal college student just like all the other ticos at UNA, and although this is a little bit scary, I'm really excited.

Wow, that was a lot. Now that I am all caught up and beginning a more normal schedule, I will write on more of a regular basis. More later on my first week of classes. Hasta luego!