Monday, January 31, 2011

A Weekend of Firsts


Jacó Beach

First time traveling independently in Costa Rica, first time staying in a hostel, and.....first time dealing with a medical situation in a foreign country.

Remember when I said I wouldn't write super long posts? Well, that was a lie. Last Friday I finished my first Spanish class here in Costa Rica. What better way to celebrate than a beach weekend? Five friends and I decided to go to Jacó, a beach town that is about 2.5 hours away, on the Pacific side. We booked a hostel online and woke up at 5:30 Saturday morning to take a public bus to Jacó. Public transportation is always fun here, because you don't really know what will happen. We got tickets for an 8 o'clock bus, which isn't even offered on the official schedule list. On the bus, there were a few people standing in the aisle for nearly the whole 2.5 hour ride. Occasionally, the bus would stop along the way and let people out. Actually, it didn't really stop, it just slowed down a bit, the door opened, and people would hop off while the bus was basically still going. Kind of unsafe. Overall, though, the transportation was pretty easy and cheap (only $6 each way).

We arrived in Jacó and decided to look for our hostel. Apparently, the one we booked online was under construction, so Jessica had arranged for a different hostel via email. We didn't really know what to expect, but that made it exciting. The hostel was about 5 blocks from the beach, with a hammock and swing in the front yard...it seemed promising. We wandered into a place that had obviously seen a party the night before. The hostel owner was really nice, but really hungover. I think his name was Chabba. He was from somewhere in Europe, probably like Slovakia or something. Anyway, it seemed like any other house, but with bunk beds in every bedroom. It was about 11 am and there were various strangers sleeping in each room. Chabba seemed unprepared for 6 of us to be staying there, but he showed us to our bedrooms anyway. Jessica, Heidi, Ellen, and I stayed in a room with 8 bunk beds and 3 strangers. It might sound bizarre to just settle into a house with people you are completely unfamiliar with, but it wasn't. Everyone was really nice, really chill, and easy to be around. Most of them were very seasoned travelers with interesting stories and advice.

After leaving our things at the hostel, we went to the beach. On the way, we noticed that there was an abundance of motorcycles. We soon realized that there was a motorcycle rally happening the same weekend. Obviously, there were a lot of interesting people in town. The beach was great, though. It was super warm and sunny, busy without being crowded, and the water was actually warm. I have never felt the Pacific at a comfortable temperature, but the water in Jacó definitely is! It was so nice to just relax and play in the water all day. I got some color, too :)

Not too much else happened Saturday. We ate BURGERS and fries for dinner. The restaurant did some strange things. About halfway through our meal, the waitress came and took one of my friends' water glasses explaining that, "we need these for other people." The restaurant wasn't even that busy! Later, we went to one of the clubs that was having Ladies' Night. It was actually a nice club, but the only people there were old white guys and some very flirtatious, voluptuous, and cheaply dressed women (read: HOOKERS). After the girls got their 2 free drinks, we decided to call it a night.

I slept well, despite sharing a room with 6 others, and I didn't wake up until 5 am. Why? Well, this very drunk Canadian girl was standing next to my bed trying to talk to me. I was really confused, at first, especially when she started pulling the covers off of me! I realized that she had me mistake for someone else. All I wanted to say was, "Girl, please, I am trying to sleep and my name is not 'Timmy!'" Oh hostels, what fun!

The next day, we were all somewhat sunburned, but we decided to visit the other end of the beach. Our friend Ellen wasn't feeling great, though we thought it was just a stomach ache or something. On the way back from the beach, she just started puking all of a sudden. After spending some time in the bathroom, she came out, barely able to walk and complaining that her vision was fuzzy. Obviously, we were really freaked out and worried about her. Two people ran back to the hostel and they sent a guy on a motorcycle to pick her up and take her to see a doctor. Everybody went back to the hostel and scrambled to find all her necessities, like her passport copy and money. We took a taxi to the Red Cross, which is where the motorcycle guy said she would be. Do you know what the doctor told us? He said, "No, there's no one here named Ellen, no American girl." My heart stopped for like 5 seconds as we all thought simultaneously, "Oh my god, we just put our sick friend on the back of a stranger's motorcycle and now she's disappeared into the jungle!"

Thankfully, we all speak Spanish, so we were able to question the doctor and get directions to the other health clinic. Keep in mind that we were also supposed to be getting on a bus this afternoon, so in addition to stressing about her health, we were also worried about our schedule. We managed to find her, though, and she was already looking a little better. They told her she had a stomach virus (how they diagnosed this in 1 hour, we're not sure), gave her some antibiotics, and said she would be fine to ride the bus back to San José. So in the end, everything turned out okay, and we even managed to make the bus.

As a final, lovely topping on this weekend, though, the first half of the bus ride was miserable. We were stuck in traffic for an hour with intense heat and sweat occurring, and of course Lexi and my window was the one that wouldn't open. After the traffic, our driver turned off on some gravel side road that took us through the country for a bumpy shortcut aka "scenic tour." The rest of the journey was completed by highway, but we were driving on the wrong side of the road for almost the entire way. Apparently, that's okay here. I came back to San José exhausted, tan, and fully appreciative of my own bed and family here. Despite the scares and abnormalities, this was a fun weekend, and I can't wait for more weekend trips!

Photo credits to Lexi and Jessica, who were brave enough to bring their cameras this weekend.

Backyard at the hostel.

Jacó beach with Kelly (note the fact that I haven't shaved in over a week)


Yep, driving on the left side is totally safe..

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Monteverde

Okay....time to take a break from my presentation/essay/final exam studying to post about last weekend. I have been here almost a month and I can definitely say that Monteverde is my favorite place. Possibly my favorite in the world. It's a rain/cloud forest about 5 hours north of San José. It didn't rain once while we were there, though. I don't even know how to describe it, it was so surreal. We stayed in this amazing hotel with the buildings staggered on a steep, forested mountainside. From my balcony, I could see all the way to the peninsula on the Pacific side. We were literally above the clouds.

Hydrangeas were everywhere at our hotel

We took two excursions while in Monteverde. One was the zip-lining/canopy tour. Obviously, that was a blast, with 15 different zip lines, a tarzan swing (a four-story tower, harness, and swiiiiing over the rain forest), and some great views. The last two zip lines were actually optional because they were so long, spanning a small valley. I actually got stuck before completing the last one...not enough speed. Sailing over the rainforest is one thing, but dangling 200 feet in the air with no momentum and another 100 yards to safety is not the most comforting sensation. It was really fun, though :)


Modeling our harnesses.

Zoom zoom!


Also, the town of Monteverde is cute. There's this great art gallery with handmade, unique pieces. Much more interesting than your typical souvenirs. I purchased a fused glass ring that many people have mistaken for amethyst. It is shaped like a dangerous cutting weapon, which is always a plus when it comes to jewelry. My friends and I had cocktails at this restaurant called "The Tree House". It's a restaurant/hotel centered around a giant tree. Pretty neat.

Above the town of Monteverde

Someone buy me this car!

Arriving at the Tree House Bar

Tequila Sunrises & BBCs (Banana, Baileys, Coconut)

We encountered two lemur-like creatures this weekend. One chased us (okay ran AT us) and then there was this one...inside our hotel building!

On Sunday, we took a hike through the cloud forest preserve. It was a really pleasant 2 hour hike, with lots of beautiful scenery. We didn't see many animals, though. I heard another group saw a sloth and a quetzal. There were also a TON of older (60+) travelers in Monteverde, including a large group of them on the hiking trail. I thought that was cool, as I hope to keep exploring forever.


Beautiful old tree


Obligatory rain forest shot


FUNGUS!

PS: I'm gonna do a little promoting for my friend Kennie P. She has been involved with some tremendous volunteer work at a women's shelter in Bellingham. Everyone PLEASE VOTE for her so she can win a scholarship and keep doing good in our community :)

http://www.serviceawards.org/applicant/115/sis_applicant.aspx?nid=115

Nature boy...on the lawn below our room :)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Pictures from Arenal

Just a few shots from last weekend at Arenal:

Hanging bridge at the hotel...this was actually a shortcut from our rooms to the pool :)
Super fun to walk across at night, with all kinds of creatures chirping/howling.


Another bridge picture: Erin, Jessica, Claire, & Kelly

Crocodile exhibit at the hotel.

La Fortuna waterfall.

I love wild mushrooms/fungus, as creepy as that sounds.
I hope I find tons more this weekend in the Monteverde rain/cloud forest.

Soaked, but happy. It was raining on our hike to the waterfall.

Swim-up bar, oh heyy (w/ Jessica and our friend Emily from Nebraska)
I'm drinking a "Kangaroo."

Ice cream!
(PS that tank top is from Forever 21, I know you all want one.)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Check Check

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to check in since I haven't posted for a while. We went to the Arenal volcano this weekend, but it rained the whole time so we never actually saw the volcano. It was a beautiful place, though, with lots of lush vegetation. Our hotel was on a hillside, with a view of this expansive green valley (when there weren't clouds) and it also had several pools with waterslides, naturally heated by the volcanic hot springs. It was relaxing, but also really moist. Everyone felt soggy by the end of the weekend. I will try to find time to play catch up and post a lot of pictures. I need to stay on top of things, because this week I am going to:

-Thursday- the zoo (with my art class). We are going to compare the representations that we saw at the gold museum last week to the actual animals.
-Friday- several of the Spanish classes are going to the Children's Museum. We have to view certain exhibits and give our final presentations about them next week.
-Weekend- Monteverde Cloud Forest! EEEK, can't wait! Canopy tour, etc.

Oh and here's a fun Costa Rican slang word that my family taught me: chunche (pronounced: CHOON-CHAY). They use it to refer to any "thing" that may not have a specific name, like a remote control or a phone charger. I've also heard it used to describe girls when they are wearing revealing clothing. So don't let your "chunche" hang out.

Loves

PS: Once again, my phone is not working. I forgot the SIM password and after 3 unsuccessful attempts, it locked me out permanently. So now my family is trying to contact the phone's previous owner for the override code. Kinda annoying

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Who invited THIS guy?

Well I was about to lay down, but then I discovered this little treasure on my windowsill:

Neat, right? He was about three inches long,
the biggest one I have seen....so far.


ANYWAY, let's talk about something pretty I saw today:

Much better, right? There's this house on the way
to school that has like 5 different hibiscus trees :)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Face Like a Farmer

Sometimes, Costa Ricans can be very indirect when talking about their desires. When it comes to general perceptions and observations, though, they are blatantly direct. It can seem offensive to Americans, but they don't mean to be insulting; it's just their culture. The reason I say this is because of a particularly interesting conversation that happened today.

I just returned from spending the afternoon in downtown San José with a few friends. We were eating POPS ice cream (AMAZING.) in the National Theatre plaza, observing all the attractive people, homeless Nicaraguans, and horrendous fashions. This Tico popped up on the bench next to Jessica and started talking to us. He could speak a little English and obviously wanted to practice, even though we ended up speaking mostly Spanish. His name was Warner, like "Warner Brothers". Not a traditional Costa Rican name, right? According to him, it was a name his mom selected after drinking too many beers and watching a Warner Brothers movie while she was in the hospital giving birth to him. Well, Warner had lots of opinions to share with us. He rated us all on our Spanish-speaking abilities, how much we look like Ticos, and asked the general questions about what we were studying, etc. My favorite quotes:

To me: "You're from Idaho....I am not familiar with this pueblo, but you have the face of a farmer." WHAT does that mean?

To my friend Emily: "Maybe your Tico friend doesn't like you because he thinks you're a lesbian. Your shoes [a pair of Converse] are mostly lesbian shoes."

Basically, this was just a really hilarious and random encounter and he ended up talking to us for about an hour. While this guy wasn't really your typical Tico, it just shows how they are friendly and funny people...often with no verbal filter.

Monday, January 10, 2011

And Baby Makes Three

The baby, being me. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before, but Jessica and I are in a class with only THREE students. It's a Latin American art and architecture class, taught in English. Attending a public university, I have never had a class that's so tiny! It's nice, though, because we have lots of time to just chat and the environment is really comfortable. The professor is really awesome, too. He teaches architecture in the regular Costa Rican classes, so he obviously knows a ton. We're going to take a lot of field trips in this class: this week is the art museum, and next week is the zoo!

I also just want to mention that I love my family here. They are so friendly and helpful all the time. They also prefer me to my house mate, which is kind of funny. His Boston accent and blunt manner seem to annoy them. We did have a very confusing situation, though, when discussing travel plans.

As a family, they want to take us to the beach. The problem is that they want to go for five days, but I can only miss one day of school each month or I will fail my classes. Obviously, I would rather reserve that one day for illness, personal travel, or a hangover (just kidding! I don't party on week nights.) So I suggested that Steven and I could just stay here while they vacation, which made them very uncomfortable. They don't think we can cook for ourselves or anything, probably because we're young and male.

Anyway, I said that I could skip a Friday, as long as I didn't have a test, but that would require me taking the bus there or back from the destination, since they would be staying for longer. After many conversations, and some obvious planning-related stress on my mama Tica's part, I think we found a solution. They will leave on a Wednesday, I will stay to take a test on Friday, and after my test, the uncle (who lives downstairs) and I will drive to meet the rest of the family at the beach. DO YOU KNOW HOW CONFUSING ALL THIS PLANNING WAS, ESPECIALLY IN SPANISH?! Oh, and my roommate, well he seems to have no interest in coming at all, so no one really knows what he will do that weekend. I think I'll explain my feelings more in a future post about culture shock/acceptance/American idots.

loves

PS Mom and Dad, my phone has been dead since this weekend, but I will call you guys as soon as my family finds the charger (which might take some pestering on my part).

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Tamarindo Weekend

After a week of adjusting to our new lives here, we were treated to a weekend beach getaway in Tamarindo. It's a small, very tourist-centered town on the Pacific. We stayed at a great resort, right on the beach. I'm feeling exhausted from the 5 hour bus ride, so I think I won't write too much and will post pictures instead.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the catamaran tour on Saturday. We left at about 8 am and took a little fishing boat from the beach out to the catamaran. Of course, as soon as we got on board, everyone wanted to take advantage of the free snacks and drinks. I had an amazing piña colada to start the day. I don't think anyone really knew what to expect, just some sun, swimming, and cruising on the boat. The weather was fantastic, really sunny (I'm pretty sure everyone has sun burns) and warm. We cruised for about an hour or two, anchored, and then snorkeled. I've been pretty privileged in my vacations, so I wasn't really astounded by the reef. There wasn't a lot of coral, but I did see some cute little neon blue fish. After swimming, we had lunch and more drinks as everyone was just hanging out and enjoying life. I was perfectly content, but things got even better when we saw whales! On the way back, we discovered a pod of them. I'm not sure what kind, but they were beautiful and we got really ( and probably illegally) close. Apparently this was a really rare sighting. We came back at about 2 or so and Jessica and I just played on the beach before our mangrove tour, dinner, and going to a club.It was a fantastic day :)

Drinking Pink Flamingos with Claire from Alabama

Creepin' on Jessica

Oh heyy geckos

Midnight walks and talks on the beach :)

Boat hair.

Touring the mangrove swamp. We didn't see any monkeys,
but we did see a crocodile, and tons of birds....and snake holes
everywhere on the land parts!

The tri-color heron (plus someone's elbow)

A hawk?

Crocodile territory. Seriously, look
how murky and creepy it is.

Crazy tree roots!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Going to Tamarindo

Hey everybody,

I'm eating a grilled cheese for breakfast, but it tastes like it might be made with those individually wrapped kraft singles. Interesting. Anyway, I just wanted to post to tell you all that I'm headed to the beach (after class, of course) and won't be back til Sunday night. It should be fun! I hope you all have a good weekend, wherever you are :)

xoxo

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

School's in Session

Hi everyone! So, today marks day 5...and things are going great. Classes started yesterday, so I'm establishing a daily routine. I'm taking 4 classes while I'm here, but the Spanish classes are done in blocks (one each month) and the electives are for three months. That means I will never have more than two classes at once! Right now, I'm taking advanced Spanish 1. It's a four hour class (from 8-12) yet somehow, it isn't that bad. Well, waking up is annoying, but actually being in class is totally tolerable. The teacher gives us a half hour break every day to get snacks and socialize. There are only thirteen people in my class, but that is actually considered to be "a lot". I love the professor. Her name is Silvana Margarita de Carmen Maranghello Musmanni; Silvana for short. So far, we have only had a little homework, like worksheets and short reading assignments. Next week, though, I have to give the first of two fifteen minute presentations. It can be about any topic, but it has to be in Spanish (obvi) and we don't really have a projector or anything available to use as a visual aid. I don't think I can even talk about one topic in English for 15 minutes, so this should be interesting.

Besides school, not too much else has happened. I've been enjoying hanging out with my family, especially one of the sisters, Ely. The family is letting me borrow a cell phone and she helped me go to the pharmacy to buy minutes so I can use it. I've also been to two malls here. One of them was indoor and basically identical to American malls, including the prices :/. I shared an interesting snack with my sisters today....green mango. It isn't very sweet, like yellow mango. They cut it into very thin strips, like shoestring french fries, and then apply toppings like vinegar, salt & pepper, and other sauces. They're really tasty!

I'm sorry I don't have any exciting pictures right now. That should change, though, because we're going to Tamarindo this weekend. While we're there, we have so many options and I can't decide if I would rather take a boat through the mangrove swamps, a sunset catamaran tour, surfing lessons, or just relax on the beach; I can't wait!


Monday, January 3, 2011

Lots of fun & a little frustration

For some strange reason, my days in Costa Rica all seem very long, but yesterday feels like it JUST happened. There has been so much going on with program orientations, placement tests, tours, etc. The main things that happened today were:

-An oral interview to determine which Spanish class we could take. I'm in the advanced classes, thankfully.
-A welcome and introduction presentation at the university with all the foreign students (not just the ones from the ISA program.)
- I have been meeting a lot of amazing people from all over the U.S. This is one of my favorite new friends, Hlee. She's from Minnesota. We, along with Jessica and some other girls, had a hurried, but delicious, lunch after orientation. Here's some pictures:

Arroz con pollo, tacos de pollo, y carnitas de pollo.

Jessica y Hlee

Jessica & Me enjoying the food. Que rica!

After lunch, we took a bus tour of downtown San José. I'm excited to explore that area more, now. When we got back from the tour, I returned to my house. The oldest sister, Eli, let me try some wine. The family thought it was too bitter, but they poured me a huge glass because I said it wasn't that bad. Apparently, she thinks I'm a wino or something, as she presented another bottle and another glass full. This was at 4/4:30, and I was supposed to be meeting up with my friends at 5!

I did show up, quite buzzed, but ready to go party/dance. We didn't end up going out to the bars until almost 8, though. And we made two big mistakes:
1. We went with a group of about 20 American students, which is something we have been told not to do for both cultural and security reasons.
2. We went to girl's night, which was great for the girls. However, all the guys had to pay 4000 colónes, which is a lot for a cover.
It was a pretty fun night, though. A lot of dancing and chatting with our new friends. I'm not sure what the Ticos think of us...they did a lot of staring that was in between glaring and laughing. Next time, I think we'll go out in smaller groups.

OH, and the cab ride home. Well, I think I experienced my first episode of culture shock and serious confusion tonight. A group of us left the bar a little after 10 since we have class at 8 tomorrow. We took a taxi to the university, because all the girls live nearby, and I was going to go the rest of the way by myself, since I live farther. Unfortunately, the driver was not familiar with ANY of my reference points, not on the main road nor in my neighborhood. So here's Mikey, the little gringo, trying to guide the taxi with my minimal navigational vocabulary at 1030 at night. GREAT. It took us like 15 to 20 minutes and a drive through a sketchy neighborhood to finally reach a familiar area. In the end, I just got out of the car, completely frustrated and walked the remaining 3 blocks home. (Don't worry, it's a safe place and the only other person I saw was a bike cop.) It cost about 3 times as much as it should have, too. I definitely learned my lesson. You can never assume that someone, even a local, will know something...and you should always have very explicit directions in a taxi.


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Orientation Day + A Meal to Remember

Today started out with black coffee. Yes, I just said that. Those who know me well know that I'm partial to lattés and mochas, but today I had my first cup of black coffee...and I enjoyed it. Also for breakfast: the juiciest pear I have ever had the joy of feasting upon and a toasted, buttered piece of French bread.

Christiano. My favorite little monkey!

We took a very pleasant walk through the neighborhood, en route to the university. The morning consisted of an informative, but tiresome, orientation at Universidad Veritas, followed by a potluck. Our mama Ticas each brought a traditional Costa Rican food to share. It was really nice because it gave us a chance to meet the forty-something other people in our program and fill up on amazing food. Someone told me that I would get fat living here; I believe her!

After lunch, my family, my house mate Steve, and I went to the carnival in Zapote, again. I think I’m already becoming pretty familiar with this part of the city.

Well, that’s what I thought until Mildred’s brother (who lives right below us) took Steven and me for an evening tour of the city. San José is quite confusing and quite larger than I thought. We saw all the significant buildings downtown, learned about the neighborhoods to avoid, and basically realized that we would be pretty um….screwed...if we ever get lost downtown. After the tour, we drove up a hill to eat dinner. I wasn’t expecting much, but when we arrived, I was shocked. The view was exquisite! You could see the entire city, which was entirely too enormous to process. It was an open air restaurant and the temperature was much cooler than down in the valley. We drank some beer, ate more delicious food and shared a lot of cross-cultural knowledge with the uncle, the oldest daughter, and her husband. I love this place.

View from the restaurant: San José at night

From left: potatoes, a rice like food (above), limes (the Mandarin variety),

and a plate with several types of delicious meat.


Tico, Tica, Tico, Gringo!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to my blog, everyone! As y'all know, I'm studying abroad in San José, Costa Rica for three months. I won't have time to skype/email/call everybody as often as desired, so hopefully you can catch up with my business on here. I'll try to keep it PG since I have family and professors reading, as well. My first post is a long one, but they won't all be like this :)

SO, let me detail my journey. A 3 hour delay in Boise, a stressful flight from Seattle to Houston (a woman passed out in the bathroom and they had to have paramedics meet her when we landed), and some sleeping/delirious rolling around on the floor of the Houston airport with Ms. Jessica Turek, I FINALLY arrived in San José.

After we landed, met up with about 15 other people from our school and took a bus to meet our families. My host mother (my "mama Tica") is named Mildred, and I absolutely love her! Based on the profile I received, I thought they only had three kids....turns out they have six. One daughter is older, though, with two kids of her own. I will probably end up kidnapping one when I come back to the States because they're adorable. Anyway, my family has been so accommodating and wonderful. They made me "bocas" (these little pork tacos), this yummy veggie and rice casserole, and cerveza hehe. They're also very encouraging in regards to my Spanish-speaking, which is great.

The big event of the night was going to this festival that happens every year around the New Year in the Zapote neighborhood. Basically, picture an American state fair, but with 5 times the crowds and one third of the safety regulations. It was pretty fun, though. They made me go on this ridiculous ride called the "Tacada" or something. It gave me bruises and I'm pretty sure I will be sore in multiple places tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow... it's orientation and a potluck, so I better get some sleep, but I will post again soon! Here's some pictures:


Quite a proud statement...


Part of my family. From left to right: Elaine, Daniella, Janice, Mildred (my "mama Tica"), Edgar Jr. ("Coquín"), Mildred's grandson Christiano and granddaughter Eileen, y Janella. It has been SO hard to learn all their names.


Riding the bumper cars with "Coquín". Notice how the
spectators are practically standing on the floor of the ride.


Waiting for the bus, eating churros :)


San José has insane religious fanatics, too!