Taekwondo and action movies

This week has been my first week without a Spanish class during the day. I've been really enjoying sleeping in. Although, surprisingly, I can only bring myself to sleep in until 8 or 8:30. Here's to becoming an old woman.

In the mornings I've been studying Spanish during the time I would normally have class. Today I went to Veritas and read the newspaper. I learned a lot of new words. At this point I feel like vocab is my main hurdle. I'm pretty quick with the conjugations while I speak, but a lot of times I don't know good story-telling verbs. 

Last night, Kristi, our neighbor, our new roommate Miranda and I went to Taekwondo class. The taekwondo class was taught by Jose (Myrna's brother) in his living room. It was a really good class because he's a black belt and actually teaches taekwondo quite regularly. After the class Kristi and I went to a two for one movie night and saw the movie "Unkown" or "Desconocido" as they call it here. It was really entertaining. It was my favorite type of movie: action with a little bit of government conspiracy thrown in there so you have to think. Overall, it wasn't that great compared to the Bourne movies (it was set in Berlin) but it was the exact movie I was in the mood for. It wasn't too long either (always good when you've inherited the sitting abilities of Valery Cochran).

At 1 A.M last night I was sitting in bed reading and I felt my bed start shaking and it felt like we were on the verge of an earthquake. Turns out that it was just a tremor (second tremor in a week). So let's hope they stay small! I was surprised that my bed actually started shaking. I imagine that if it had happened in Seattle Kiro 7 eyewitness news would be all over it. 

OTHER BIG NEWS! On Monday I will be hanging out with none other than SARAH FREEMAN and possibly traveling with her. I'm really excited. Myrna invited her to eat over here which I think will be really fun. I'm hoping we can go to some museums because I haven't had a chance to go to many in San Jeezy. 

Tonight after dinner Miranda wanted to take pictures of her new surroundings so we all congregated in the living room. I was really full after eating 3.5 Maduros*, so I whispered to Myrna that I was really full and it was going to look like I got pregnant in Costa Rica. She started laughing at me then put her arm around my shoulder and put her other arm around my stomach so it was resting on my hip, covering my stomach (kind of like a prom picture). Then she said "there, now they can't see".

 Thanks Mama Myrna.

*Maduros are kind of like fried bananas although they're not really fried, they are cooked in the microwave. They have butter, sugar, and cinnamon on them. They are probably one of my favorite foods. It should be noted that eating 3.5 Maduros = 3.5 full bananas.

Tonight I'm at kind of a low point because I have a "menstruation migraine" as Val-pal dubbed it. I turned off all the lights in the room, put ear plugs in, and put a pillow over my head for about two hours. And showered by flashlight to avoid any exposure to light. Woo! Hopefully this is gone by this weekend.

Speaking of which, this weekend I'm going to our friends host family's cabin. I do not know what I'm getting in to. I'm sure there will be an interesting blog post next week.

T- 12 dias hasta que Mateo llegue a Costa Rica! Que emocion! 

Hitch-hiking and debit card eating machines

Este fin de semana fuimos a la playa Samara.

Samara is a very idyllic little town with a minimal tourist presence and a very laid back vibe. The travel group consisted of me, Jen, and five other people from our program. We divided into 3 groups and all stayed at different hostels. On the way to Samara, we missed the main bus stop and ended up in the next town over. It would have been a really long walk back to Samara, and there weren't many taxis around, so, naturally, we decided to hitch-hike back to Samara. This is a short video of the hitch-hiking in action:

Me and Jen stayed in a hostel called "Las Mariposas". The toilet was really dirty. Other than that, it was cute, and we met really cool people, but the toilet bowl was just really dirty. I attempted to clean it myself because it was bothering me so much. We powered through the first night without a fan in our upstairs room (I almost died), but we made sure to acquire a fan for the second night. I'm pretty sure it was about 95 degrees there... I can't handle that heat. 

Horse grazin outside our hostel.

On Saturday we rented bikes and headed to Playa Carillo. Playa Carrillo is supposed to be one of the prettiest beaches in Costa Rica, and it really was. It was a very long white sand beach lined with palm trees and no hotels or stores along it, just a small road. Obviously, there are plenty of pretty beaches, but this one felt particularly special because there was hardly anyone there. We didn't have to worry about constantly watching our stuff (although we kept it close by), and we could swim and play in the ocean to our hearts content. When I was lying on the beach I had one of those rare moments where my whole body just felt completely 100% relaxed. This relaxation continued until the ATM ate my debit card on Saturday evening. I didn't believe the tails I'd heard of ATM's just plain eating debit cards, but now I know they are true. 

One of our many iguana friends from this weekend. 

On Sunday morning, whilst eating breakfast, we met a couple who worked in the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically with a company who specialized in Women's health. I don't think they were involved with the evil kind of pharmaceutical companies though. The man was English although he hadn't lived in England for 12 years. His work schedule was as follows: work in the US (Boston I think?) for 2 weeks, then, every 3 weeks go to Costa Rica and repeat. I believe his girlfriend was a Tica. They were on the news the morning we met them, because they helped organize a rally for women's health, and everyone from the hostel gathered around to watch it. The man told us how he used to go to live in New Dehli, and about ten years ago he lived in Dubai. His tales of Dubai were especially interesting. For whatever reason, he was sent there during the summer, a time which is ungodly hot in that region of the world. He said it was usually about 120 degrees with 100% humidity. He told us an amusing/ fascinating story about a day when he decided to go for a "refreshing" swim on one of the beautiful beaches. It was another swelteringly hot summer day in Dubai, and he had a rental car so he decided to drive it on to the beach. So, he drove it on the beach, got out, and as soon as his TENNIS shoes hit the sand he could feel the excruciating heat through the soles. So he got back in his car, still determined to swim. He backed it up right to the edge of the water, and put his feet in. He immediately screamed in pain and jumped back in his car. The water, just like everything else, was scorching. 

Moral of the story: do not go swimming in Dubai in the middle of the summer. He also told us the only thing to do was to go to shopping malls. Or indoor skiing which they have now. It's probably much more intense than mini mountain though. 

That's all I can think of for now. I might come back and edit this post later. 

'Mantonio" REALLY GOOD WEEKEND!

So much to say and so little energy. I will try my best.

1. Friday- During class on Friday, all the Spanish classes had a fair. There were about 150 Spanish students and we all did skits and spoke Spanish. I dressed up as a tourist. My teacher found it really really hilarious. Normally I'm not very close with teachers because I'm intimidated by authority, but he's the first teacher I've really bonded with on a friendship level (besides Mrs. Liranzo). Anyhooters, I look forward to that class because he's so funny and thinks I'm funny and generally understands everyone in the class on a very human level.

Friday afternoon we headed to Manuel Antonio or "Mantonio" as nicknamed by our dear friend Tom (a very fitting nickname because it has a lot of gay tourists). We went in a group of 14 and stayed in one room. Going into it, I was positive I wouldn't get very much sleep because people would be up late going crazy, etc, etc. BUT it turns out they were all really cool so I wanted to stay up late with them and hang out.

On Friday night I had a ton of energy because I was really enjoying the company of everyone. Our hostel was a little far away from bars or nightlife, so a group of about 8 of us set out on an adventure to find a salsa bar. Along the way, we met two guys from Argentina who were staying at the hostel next door. They told us they were on the same mission, so they joined the pack. At a certain point, a lot of people decided they were really tired from their school week and turned around to go home. So, that left me with two girls from our group and the Argentineans. One of them, Brenda, is from El Salvador and the other one, Azul, is from Mexico. The Argentineans then suggested we go to the Carnival in Quepos (the next town over). So, we hopped in an unmarked cab (wouldn't suggest doing this although it is WAY cheaper) and went to the Carnival. It was really fun to hang out with foreigners. I also had a lot of fun because I was with people who spoke fluent Spanish and I felt really safe. They bargained with the vendors and I got a cheap pair of sunglasses and it was just great. It's funny to hear Argentineans speak because it's a little bit more like the Spanish accent. They say every "ll" as a "j", which was cool to hear in person. When we headed back to the hostel it was about 2 am, and just so everyone knows... I was the last one out (along with Brenda and Azul). That is a personal record so far on this trip, so I'm very proud of myself. It was a really good night.

2. Saturday. On Saturday we woke up early and headed to Manuel Antonio National Park. The park was cool, but at the same time a little weird. It's the biggest tourist attraction in Costa Rica. There were Americans at every turn which for me is less appealing. I like to feel like I'm in a different country. Also, the big attractions about the park are the animals and really pretty beaches. So the beach was really nice because it was calm, but there were so many people. There were also a ton of monkeys, but it was kind of sad because they're not really phased by people. For example, this was my proximity to the monkey:

A monkey.

View of the beach through the trees. 

After a day at the beach/ nat'l park on Saturday, we watched the sunset and had a barbecue at the hostel. 

It was really fun because everyone was interested in bonding rather than getting really drunk. Which for me is what makes these trips the best. So after hanging out for a bit, I decided to go to bed. I was settling down when my friend Azul came in on the shoulders of an extremely tall guy from Holland. It was funny at first, so I took a picture, but then it got really sketchy. 

 Azul said "okay put me down now", but he laughed it off and said, "no let's go to a bar". Then she said "no, no, I'm tired, just put me down" and he made a joke saying he had knee problems and couldn't let her down. Then he turned around and started leaving the room with her, and the started grabbing on the the top of the door frame and said "no, no, put me down!!". At this point, we became aware that the situation wasn't fun for her anymore. A few guys from our group went over and offered to help her down, but the Hollander started walking away. Then all  5 of us outside of our room started yelling at him to put her down. One of the guys started talking to him, saying "okay, dude, this is not cool, let her down." Then he started trying to walk away and Azul started yelling and a guy from our group grabbed on to her and we all started walking with them. THEN, he started running down the hill with her which got a little more dramatic. We collected a few more people from our group and started chasing after. FINALLY, about 100 meters up the hill, the guys in our group started getting more aggressive about the fact he needed to let her down. They stood there for a few minutes and negotiated with him and at last, he let her down. The whole time I really got the Russel Turner vibe from him. Like "I'll pretend to be cool and I'll pretend this isn't a big deal, but really, I'm super creepy". 

3. Sunday- Today we went to Manuel Antonio beach where we had another fun adventure. Jen and I were lying on the beach when all of a sudden we heard screams coming from the water. I saw a girl flailing because she had gotten caught in the riptide. NOTE: this exact same thing happened when we stopped at Manuel Antonio beach our first weekend here, except there were lifeguards. So all of a sudden, I saw a guy (Steve) from our group swim really quickly over to the girl and pulled her to shore. I'm pretty sure he completely 100% saved her life. Her family was around her, but apparently they were all crying and screaming because they didn't know how to swim very well. When the girl got on shore she passed out from exhaustion. This is a picture of  the scene that gathered around her. They are really into blatantly gawking here. 

The bus ride home was a brutal 5 hours and I saw two people throw up from motion sickness. But as usual all the discomforts that arise during such travels quickly disappear when I arrive home to the delicious food cooked by Mama Myrna. Overall, the good company this weekend made everything so much more fun. 

Also, fun fact: today, we were on a really cramped bus ride from the beach to the main bus station and people weren't scooting back. So I yelled from the front of the bus "Will you guys move back?!" then, when they didn't listen I yelled the same phrase in Spanish and a few seconds later they started moving. How fun! 

Clase de conversacion advanzada.

Mi clase de conversacion advanzada. 

Ropa tradicional de una turista estadounidense.

"Immersion" activity

Today I walked in to class a little late after the break, and all I heard my teacher say was "now write 10 questions using the vos format" (vos is a verb form used instead of "tu" in Central America). Anyway, I scribbled my 10 random questions and when everyone was done my teacher said "Bueno, vamos afuera para esta actividad". I realized then that our questions were intended for students of Veritas. So, my teacher picked up on the fact people were feeling particularly bashful about this activity, and he walked each of us individually to students and introduced us. I ended up being the last person to walk over to my student (I'll explain why this is weird later).

Ronulfo (my teacher) sat me down next a Tico named Javier. So I introduced myself and asked him if I could ask a few questions. I started asking my questions, not realizing the message I was sending. My questions built on themselves in a way I did not anticipate. The conversation went as follows:

1. What's your name?
2. Do you have a girlfriend?
3. Do you live in San Jose?
4. Have you eaten lunch yet?
5. If you had time, would you go to POPs icecream right now?
6. Do you like to dance?
7. What type of dance is your favorite?
8. Do you like Costa Rican women?
9. Do Machistas annoy you?
10. Are you going out tonight?

Okay so in the end, it looked like I asked my teacher to introduce me to Javier. It only became worse when I start asking him mildly provocative questions. And inquiring about his love life.

Oh well!

El fin de semana pasado and LIFE

This weekend Jen and I took a romantic getaway for two to Jaco beach (we also went there last weekend). Jaco is the closest beach to San Jose. We decided last minute to book a hotel room. We had a lot of fun. It was really relaxing and stupendous. I put on SPF 55 but managed to collect several more freckles.

Also, I really love my conversation class. I think my conversation teacher makes up a lot of activities on the fly, but they're always really fun. On Tuesday, for example, we had one of our 10 minute oral presentations. He told us not to prepare, so everyone showed up to class ready for anything. It turns out, we were working on direction words like "aqui, aca, alli, ahi, alla" and words like "este, esta, esto, ese, esa, eso, aquel, aquellos, aquellas, etc". So, our teacher divided Veritas into nine parts (9 people in the class) and pretended he was an Asian tourist named Oochi-ming. It wasn't very politically correct, but it was really funny regardless. He pretended to be absolutely clueless about Costa Rica and all Spanish vocabulary, so we would stop at random places during the "tour" and he would point to very random objects and ask what the word was. It was definitely the most entertaining way to learn those words.

So class is going really well, but I'm being driven insane by our neighbor. Here's her deal: She went to Costa Rica last summer with CEA, but she decided to return for 6 months (Jan-July). I'm still not sure if she lived in Myrna's house when she went with CEA, but she lived here (Myrna's house) for the first three days that I was here, until Kristi (our other roommate) switched into our homestay. At that point, she moved into our neighbors upstairs apartment where she lives now. As of now, she's taking online classes with her university and does a lot of nothing all day. The issue is that she comes over to our house EVERYDAY ALL DAY to do a lot of her sitting around doing nothing. She also happens to be the biggest mooch in the history of the universe. She eats every meal of the day here, and Myrna cooks dinner for her everyday. We have a small house, so her presence is not something that can really be ignored. She occupies the same couch on the living room the entire day and does not move. Myrna was complaining to me and my other roommates about her, but I think she's too nice to say anything.

Anyway, she really bothers Myrna's brother Jose. I get the feeling Jose feels like Myrna is being taken advantage of and feels protective.

I think I'm going to say something to my neighbor very soon because I know she's stressing out Myrna. I don't know how to tactfully approach this. I think I'm so annoyed right now I couldn't possibly say anything nice. She is so aggravating. She's also really mean and not very smart, and very selfish. She doesn't lift a finger to help Myrna. She's just the biggest mooch ever. Okay. Done.

Moving on...

My roommate Kristi is a fantastic runner, and I've been really enjoying going on runs with her because she completely kicks my ass every time. We also have really good conversations. At first I thought she was immature, but I really admire her at this point. She's been working since she was 15 to pay for this trip, and has a really positive attitude about it. She also grew up in a big family so she's really good at going with the flow. I feel bad because I had a different impression of her at first, and to a certain extent I think she does have qualities that could become frustrating, but for the most part, I really enjoy her company.

Tonight at dinner Myrna started crying because she was telling us about a story her Aunt sent her. It was some form of chain mail (which is a little bit funny) about a father who had to work all day and night. He would leave the house when his kids were still asleep, and come home and they were still sleeping. Every night when he got home, he gave them a kiss on the forehead. Then, he would tie a knot on the corner of their blankets, so they knew he had checked on them. As Myrna was telling us about this story she really started crying. It wasn't just a few sniffles, she recovered quickly, but for a few seconds her head was buried in her hands and she was definitely crying. After she gained her composure she told us the story really hit home because after her husband died, she had to work long hours and would leave the house before her kids were awake and came home when they were asleep. During this time, she gave every single one of them a kiss on the forehead before she went to bed. It was a very touching moment.

Okay, that's all for now!

Also, JUDE: I can't stop reading thoughtcatalog. Jen and I have been reading it all night.

Add these to the list of ever-growing colloquialisms

http://travelated.com/10-phrases-you-wont-learn-in-spanish-class

Also, I hope I don't have a parasite, and I hope that yogurt solves all my problems.

Another thing: A gecko dropped down from the cieling when I was in the bathroom earlier.

Tomorrow I'm going to the beach on a romantic getaway with Yennifer.

Okay as for the previous spelling error that was on here, I wrote it right before I left in a huge hurry for the bus stop. I'm not that dumb!

Machistas

Un problema: Veritas has pick up soccer games arranged for international soccer students at the neighborhood park. Recently, however, the Tico men have started to play. It's increasingly apparent they have a serious problem with girls playing (especially because the girls are on their level of play). It's starting to get frustrating because they invade the field and get extremely physical with the girls and show no mercy. I don't mind people who play within the realm of soccer rules, but these boys are physical even with the gringo men. Generally, I don't like to be treated like I'm very delicate on the field when I play against boys, but these guys take it to a whole new level.

Today, I felt slightly better about the situation when I scored against one of the machistas by shooting the ball between his legs. It was interesting to see his reaction. He yelled "PUTA MAE" really loudly and aggressively. And the next time he missed a shot when I was on defense he made sounds of brooding frustration and almost sounded like he was growling. Anyway, these guys kind of seem like wife beaters. I hope that playing soccer with females who are better than them will teach them something about gender equality and appreciation.

Nuevos Amigos!!

I'm really excited because Jen and I just finalized travel plans with a ton of people from the ISA group. I really like all of them and i feel really relieved to have found people to travel with who drink in moderation!!

I also love my new conversation class because my teacher is a hoot and it's really low key. We just went out to the movies with mama Myrna. We saw tangled which was pretty cute. We also observed her lay down the law with the taxistas which was highly amusing.

Tomorrow my class is going on a field trip to see a professor from Georgetown speak on relations between Latin America and the US. Woo!! I'm in a great mood! Although, as always, I do miss Matjen...

Funny and inappropriate things my host mom has said

One time she was talking about her 32 year old son who's wife is 5 months pregnant with their first child and explaining how so far they haven't been able to decipher it's gender from the ultrasounds, but during the most recent one they were able to see. She then started going into great detail about how they knew it was a boy. Apparently, the other times the baby was curled up, but this time it had moved and its legs were open. Then she explained (in spanish) how when it's legs were open they could see its cojones (balls) and opened her eyes really wide and brought both her hands together and did sort of a cupping and grabbing motion to make sure I really knew what she meant by "cojones".

Today, she was explaining how she rode horses when she went to her other son's property in Guanacaste. She told us how uncomfortable she was after riding them and started walking around the kitchen crouching down completely bow-legged to demonstrate how she had to walk for the rest of the day. Then she put her hands on the inside of her thighs and made a face like she was in a lot of pain and said "It was like honeymoon".

Puerto Viejo Shit Show

I just had a weekend for the history books.

It all started when we arrived in Puerto Viejo which is the main tourist town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Immediately, I really loved it there. Thank the lord we were there and not any other place, because if my weekend were not set in a pristine tropical environment, the events which occurred probably would have resulted in my death. Anyway, we got into our hotel room which was a double bed in one room and 4 beds in another. We went out on Friday night and it was really fun. We walked around town with people from all over Europe and Costa Rica trying to find a fun bar. Ultimately, we didn't end up finding one, so we just went to the hostel across town where the rest of the people in our group were staying. Eventually we walked back and went to sleep. The next morning we were woken up by our guide who informed us it was time to snorkel. Given the fact we had gone out the night before, snorkeling did not sound like the best activity. I was really disappointed they didn't tell us before hand that we were going to be snorkeling because I would have loved to go, I was just too tired at the time. So, that happened, then Jen and I decided to get away from the group and lounge on the beach all day. We had a nice time lounging around, I went for a run through the town which was sweltering hot and extremely humid, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

On Saturday evening, things started going rapidly downhill. I had a fun beginning to my night, people came to our room and played a drinking game, then we walked back to the hostel they were staying at (which had a bar and a ton of places to hang out). We hung out there for a while, but I started to notice that people were getting more and more drunk. Normally, I would let people do their own thing, but we had a delicate room key situation because there is a gate at the front of the hotel which can only be opened by the keys. If someone got stuck outside of the gate, they wouldn't be able to get in the hotel at all. Also, our other 2 friends payed us to stay in our two free beds. That left 2 keys for six people. So, I went into planning mode because no one else was paying attention. Jen left the hostel earlier so I decided to rally people to walk into town with me (because I'm a female and it's very dangerous for me to walk alone at night). While I was in the process of gathering all the troops, I noticed that many of the Wisconsin people were getting ridiculously drunk. One girl (who we were sharing a room with) couldn't walk and couldn't open her eyes. Lassoing drunk people turns out to be one of my least favorite pass-times. After about an hour of trying to get a decent number of people we departed from the hostel and made our way into town.

 This is the distinct point where my weekend went sour. It was a group of about 8 of us and only a few others would have been sober enough to make it on our own. So we had one Wisconsin girl being carried by another extremely drunk Wisconsin girl, followed by another EXTREMELY drunk Coloradoan (?). While they were walking I started to get pretty worried about our Wisconsin friend who couldn't walk, then I looked behind me and saw the guy from Vegas in our group carrying her drink. Somehow, she was coherent enough to reach over for it and asked him to hand it to her. At that point, I got extremely angry. I told him he was an idiot for holding her drink and asked him why the hell he hadn't pored it out and kept exclaiming how ridiculous the situation was. Normally I don't have outbursts like that, but he was extremely attentive. In fact, the look on his face was somewhat like a young child who just found a monster under his bed. He promptly pored the drink out. The people in our group who were walking were also extremely loud. They kept yelling things like "I'm so fucking wasted" while we were walking past houses/ other hostels and generally being obnoxious. Not to mention the girls were hitting on every guy who walked past (great idea because the Costa Rican men are so timid, they'd never get any ideas). Then we kept walking and found Jen in the bar. I had to deploy my problem solving skills and think of a game plan for the keys. It was about 1 am by this time and I decided everyone was way too drunk to be any fun so I took my other male friend (who continually fell asleep every time he sat down) and his friend back to the room, I handed the other friend who was leaving the keys and told him to find Jen before he left the bar. SO after that complication was over, I called Matt and told him I was having a really bad night. Little did I know, the night's events were only beginning. At about 2 a.m all the drunkards pored in the room. One extremely loud girl ran in and JUMPED ON ME WHILE I WAS FAST ASLEEP, DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING THAT IS?? I swore at her and told her to go back to her hostel. Then I heard even more people from our group who weren't staying in our hotel room, in our hotel room. They're voices were so loud and they turned the light on in the room. Then when Jen came back she asked them to be quiet and they responded with "why?". Why... that's a great question. I don't know why I would want to be quiet when other people are trying to sleep. Finally, after about 40 minutes they started to calm down and I started to fall asleep. THEN, Colorado jumped on me AGAIN. I didn't even respond. She left and I shed a few tears of frustration because this type of situation was not only my worst nightmare about traveling with these people, but the biggest pet peeve in general.

So I woke up to find a total of 8 people sleeping in our hotel room, 3 of whom were sharing a twin bed. In addition, there was a faint smell of urination lingering in the air. I bolted to go find a nice, quiet restaurant to find breakfast on my own. I ate delicious plate of french toast and tipped the waiter 20% (you don't tip in Costa Rica) just because I was so happy she wasn't a belligerently drunk college student. Then I went back to the room to find that my earlier suspicion had been correct. Wisconsin peed in the bed while she was sleeping. So I promptly left again to go for a long run and decompress. When I returned I showered and got ready to check out of the hotel. It turned out that the Wisconsinites had the checkout time confused and weren't back. This meant all the pee soaked clothes needed to be taken care of. By me.

Okay so fast forward 4.5 hours later, it's 5:30 (right when it starts to get dark) and I realized I left my keys in my backpack which Jen took when she decided to stay and extra night because her bags didn't fit in the lockers at the hostel she decided to stay at. Sooooo I am at the front door of my house, faced with a few issues:
-I am completely alone
-Every thing's closed
-My host mom is gone
-I have no keys
-My pay as you go phone is out of money

Once again, my problem solving skills snapped into action. I threw two of my bags over the fence (before I realized there was a large duffel bag, which I had to remove select heavy items from and remove one by one) and proceeded to climb the 8 foot tall fence. While I was going through this process, our neighbor across the street was watching me while watering his lawn. He looked away every time I looked over at him. Furthermore, our 22 year old Tica neighbor walked by me and I said "hey you're my neighbor" (in Spanish) and she walked past her house and completely ignored me. Then about 2 minutes later, she walked back up to her house and I tried to get her attention again and she walked past me the other direction. I'm almost positive she saw the books I had to throw over along with the peanut butter and jelly and shoes sprawled about the yard and determined I was crazy. Once I got in the front garden I had access to the wifi so I turned the wifi on my iphone, skyped Kelsey, Kelsey called my program leader, and my program leader came to my house. During this time my neighbor entered her house after seeing I was safely enclosed in the front yard. Then, my program leader and I deduced that my host mom was at Church. I remember her mentioning which church she went to, so my program leader and I decided I should check there. I climbed back over the fence, endured a few battle wounds, and got in her car. We stopped at the church, which was in the middle of a service, and I pranced in wearing shorts (it's unacceptable in general to wear shorts in Costa Rica, so I'm sure I committed an awful form of blasphemy). I looked around for a few seconds, felt too awkward to step more than a foot inside the building, and headed out. Then, I went to the CEA dorms, where I am located to this very moment.

I'm sure there are a lot of spelling errors in this post.

Sure hope...

that my teacher's a little bit of a feminist. Thats the only way I have left to win her over.

Facts about Costa Rica

Here are some fun facts about Costa Rica I've learned during my stay here (this is all from memory but I'm pretty sure it's accurate):

1. Prostitution is legal in Costa Rica. The government, however, has recently started a serious campaign to eliminate underage prostitution. There are signs all over the city warning people about the new enforcement of this law. Prostitutes are required to carry a card which details their health history. The government requires them to receive a check-up and STD screening every 15 days (this is then recorded on their card, so whenever you get a prostitute in Costa Rica make sure you see their health card first). There are approximately 3,000- 5,000 prostitutes in San Jose. Many are transvestites. Additionally, there is a large park in downtown San Jose which is known for having many prostitutes. Coincidentally, this park is located directly across the street from one of the tallest buildings downtown, a Holiday Inn. Costa Rica has a large eco-tourism industry, but an equally large sex-tourism industry.

 

Signs discouraging under-age prostitution. 

2. There is currently a heated border conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The border conflict has been present since the mid 1800s. Until 1821, when both countries gained their independence, Nicaragua's territory encompassed most of Costa Rica. In 1858, Costa Rica and Nicaragua attempted to settle their territory disputes by signing the Canas-Jerez treaty. This treaty declared Nicaragua's sovereignty over the highly disputed Rio San Juan. In this agreement, Costa Rica was permitted to use the Rio San Juan for trade, but they were required to ask permission of Costa Rica for any other use of the river (especially military use). After the treaty was signed, Nicaragua wanted to build a canal through the Rio San Juan, but Costa Rica disagreed. This resulted in even more tension. In 1888, President Cleveland was called in to mediate mounting tensions between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He determined the treaty was correct, and Nicaragua did have sovereignty over the river but Costa Rica was allowed to use it for trade. Nevertheless, the countries have continued to argue. In November of this year, Nicaragua started dredging the Rio San Juan. This maddened Costa Rica who then accused Nicaragua of polluting the river. Nicaragua responded by saying  (this is where it gets petty) Costa Rica was polluting the river even more. In addition to disputing the ownership of Rio San Juan, the countries have recently began to disagree on an uninhabited  island called Isla Calero. The Island didn't seem to be a big deal until Nicaragua claimed it was theirs (Costa Rica also accuses Nicaragua of polluting this Island). In December, Costa Rica filed a case against Nicaragua in the World Court. On January  11-13th the case was heard. A verdict has yet to be reached.

3. President Rafael Calderon (1940-1944) ... friend or foe? Costa Rica puts a very strong emphasis on education. Students are required to attend primary school, and many continue past. Much of Costa Rica's educational success has been attributed to Rafael Calderon (Dr. Calderon). Although he is generally thought to be Costa Rica's last dictator, he is also accredited with many positive achievements. He founded the University of Costa Rica (the most prestigious university of the country), instituted Social Security, national healthcare, and established a minimum wage. His reign came to an end when he tried to seize power at the end of his term. Calderon's rival won the democratic election, but Calderon did not accept defeat. Instead, the army remained faithful  to Calderon. This resulted in a revolution in which 2,000 people died ( a lot of people for such a small country). Eventually, the rightful president took office (Jose Figueres Ferrer... I looked this name up). Shortly after, as a response to the revolution, the Costa Rican military was abolished.

4. There is a lot of pollution in San Jose.

5. You have to throw away your toilet paper.

6. Making sure you have enough hot water for warm showers is a fine art....a fine art which I have mastered. The water heater is an electric box above the shower with cords that feed into the shower head (safety first!). When you turn the water heater on, you can hear the electricity running through the shower head. After about one minute of luke-warm, low-pressure showering, the hot water heater shuts off. This is where the fine-tuning begins. Because the water-heater seems capable of only heating small amounts at a time, it is essential to approach faucet turning with a light touch. Often times, turning up the pressure the slightest amount will cause the water to start heating again. Once it's heating this time, you can often get away with turning the knob back down so the water is lower in pressure, but still being heated. There are times when this process doesn't work. During those times it is advisable to turn off the shower and let the heater have a break. To maximize efficiency, one may take care of general shower procedures which don't require water (soap lathering, shaving, shampooing, etc). After about thirty seconds, when you slowly turn the water on again, you should hear the heater turn on as well. For unknown reasons, the water-heater will function perfectly during this time.

Common Costa Rican shower head.

Alrighty,
I will post about my weekend later, just thought I'd share those details.

P.S: Kelsey- I was wrong about the saying "pura vida". It is actually used quite commonly. I know this because I've heard it among teens at the bball courts. Some guys playing basketball next to the soccer court lost their ball on our side and when someone threw it back he said "pura vida mae" or (mae = dude). It's also used as a substitute for hello.

Also, today I was playing soccer on the concrete court and I was knocked over by a large Tico male. He then fell on top of me. Fun!!

Double also, I am growing a sinus infection. Almost half the people in our group have acquired a sore throat after this weekend. There is a girl in our group who has bronchitis. She's a very "open" cougher. In other words, she doesn't cover her cough with her sleeve. This is beginning to cause nervousness among many people in our group because we were all in a small bus with her for 10 hours this weekend. But, before you think I'm mean, this is why it's annoying: she's had antibiotics for several days now but has not been taking it because she can't drink alcohol while she's taking them.

Other than that, this weekend was really cool and the hot springs/ volcano were amazing!

Picture of the volcano from our hotel

Swim up bar in the hot springs

more hot spring pictures

The "everything's-NOT-going-to-be-okay" water slide. 

Blog it out

This past week has been very hectic (atestada), but I have been learning a lot. On friday, after I finished my 3 hour spanish "midterm", I went to the gym and had a really refreshing work out. For some reason, I've been listening to Bright Eyes while working out recently. I don't know why.

On Friday night Jen and I went out to dinner with the other guys in our group. We decided to try a Chinese restaurant. Huge mistake. We're having a hard enough time navigating our way through restaurant menus in Spanish, so when we had to translate Chinese food names into Spanish and then into English we failed miserably. I scanned the six page menu for about 15 minutes trying to find the words "pollo naranja". After this failed, I channeled my first grade self. Specifically, my first grade self who would pick up the classroom globe, close my eyes, spin it, and stop it by slamming my index finger down (which I believed would be the place I would live in the future). When I ordered I had absolutely no idea what food was going to land in front of me. 

Luckily, my index finger led me to victory. My food was pretty good, but a few others got the short end of the stick. Jen's fried "rice" had the consistency of a pumice stone. The veggies and chicken served over it were marinated in a decent sauce, but any good flavor they possessed was cancelled out by the hard-as-rock rice. I'm not even sure it could have been eaten by normal human teeth. 

When we got back from dinner, our host brother was having a going away dinner. It was fun and we had the chance to talk to some ticos. He left on Saturday to go to Hungary for six months to study math. For the first two weeks of the six months, he has a class in Hungarian from 8-5 every day. It should be noted he's already fluent in French, Spanish, and English... why not add Hungarian to that list?

Our luck changed drastically on Saturday when we went to Isla Tortuga. The boat we took was really nice and offered all sorts of free food and drinks. When we got to Isla Tortuga, we enjoyed a beautiful white sand beach. Although I really enjoyed Isla Tortuga, I'm still partial to Dominical (because it has fewer tourists and more beach). The boat ride back from Isla Tortuga was beautiful. The sunset was especially pretty:

Puesta del sol

Me and Jen on the boat

On Sunday, we went to Volcan Poas and Ziplining. Poas was completely hidden behind clouds, so I can't say that I actually saw it. On the drive to ziplining, however, we saw a real live sloth on the side of the rode: 

The sloth and I had a similar idea about how to navigate through the jungle. 

I took a really cool video, but it's not letting me upload it, so I will do that later.

When we got home from our Sunday excursion a few of us went to a bar to watch the futbol game (Costa Rica vs. Guatemala... big game...right?!). We thought it would be really crowded, but when we showed up there were very few people. This surprised us because Costa Rica was playing Guatemala. Although there were a few dedicated Costa Rica fans, it turns out we went on the wrong night. Last night, I walked into our house and saw that Mama Myrna's brother had come over. I went into the living room and tried to start a conversation with him. When I looked at the screen, I saw he was watching a futbol game. I told him we watched the game yesterday and a confused expression came over his face, but his gaze remained fixed on the game. I got the message and retreated to my room. When I got to my room I heard the announcer yell "GOL, GOL, GOL!!!!"  Shortly after, the street outside our house erupted into a chorus of car horns and screams of joy. That was the moment I realized Ticos care more about their local team than their national team. 

General Thoughts:

So far, I've been realizing that not everyone studies abroad to learn Spanish (obviously). I just didn't realize the extent to which people are not interested in learning. A lot of people in the residencia (the residencia is basically a miniature dorm building, and about 15 people from our program live there) party a lot. For example, one guy stumbled out of a club in downtown San Jose and passed out on the side of the road. LUCKILY, two girls in another program found him and got him into a taxi. His friends in his group were looking for him until 3 am. He speaks no Spanish. Also, two other girls in our group were  barely able to make it out of the country because they had court dates pertaining to alcohol related offenses. One of them had a warrant out for her arrest (the other one I really like, so I'm considering her incident unfortunate). 

I've been inundated with homework, so in some ways I feel like I'm missing out when everyone goes out, but I'm also here to learn and so far I've been doing a great job of that. After this month is over, hopefully I'll have time to hang out with people more. 

This weekend our group is supposed to go to a music festival called Palmares. It's supposed to be a crazy party and I'm kind of nervous to go with my group. Normally, I'm very interested in going to a fun music festival, but the way that people act in our group almost makes them a liability. Especially the females who haven't learned to say no when they are receiving undesirable advances from the tico males. When we're in a group with them, it creates the perception that all the gringa females are willing to dance and flirt with them. Which is not the case. Although, my Spanish teacher did teach me the Costa Rican slang for pervert (hombre verde). So with that and "no me toques" (don't touch me), maybe I'll survive the weekend!

On the bright side, it's been about 85 degrees and sunny every day this week, and I've found a crowd to play pick up soccer with. Soccer is an essential element of my happiness, so I'm very pleased that it's been incorporated into my routine. Additionally, I met another girl who happens to go to Western and is also an avid soccer player! 

Overall, I've been extremely happy with my experience. I'm in an amazing country, I've met some really cool people, I have a roommate who I get along very well with, and I'm being challenged in my classes. Not to mention, my host mom is a professional chef! 

Okay that is all for now, besos y abrazos! 

Choricear- to be ripped off

Today I was ripped off by a cab driver. Coincidentally, I learned how to say this in Spanish in class this week. I also think I have the stomach flu right now or drank bad water earlier. I'll post more about the fun elements of my weekend tomorrow. For example: I saw a real live sloth! 

For now though, it is bedtime!

Funny detalle

My host mom has been especially concerned about my homework situation this week. So far every time I've left the house for school, her departing remark has been, "I'll be praying for you..."

HOMEWORK

I am drowning in homework. I'm learning a lot, but I have no time during the weekdays. I have a 30 minute oral presentation (in Spanish) about the border conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua due tomorrow, assigned yesterday. Also, I opened up my blog so anyone can comment on it. Tambien, si yo oyera un acento de Wisconsin una vez mas esta noche, moriría. That sentence isn't really correct. Oh well
Pure vida maaaaeeeee

My weekend and other details of life in San Jose

This weekend our group went to Dominical. It was so beautiful.

We left on friday afternoon, and on our way, walked over a bridge with an alarmingly low handrail, and a ton of crocodiles underneath.

On Friday night, our group arrived and we went out to dinner. While we were sitting at dinner, a torrential downpour started. Several people in our group (including me) couldn't pass up the opportunity to play in the warm rain. We walked back (about a mile and a half to our hotel) and jumped in the pool with our clothes on. We played an impromptu game of marco polo, and in general just had a lot of bonding time and fun.

As I've told some of you on the phone, we went whale watching and snorkeling on Saturday, and lounged on the beach Saturday/ Sunday. Whale watching was incredible. We saw two humpback whales (a baby and its mother). Also, I'm pretty sure any laws describing the permissible distance between boats and whales were ignored.

The whale we saw, stole this from our group leader, and yes, that is the whale we SAW

After we saw the whales, the boat dropped us off at a completely secluded beach. In retrospect, it was probably the most beautiful beach I'll ever visit in my life. There were absolutely no other people there, the sand was smooth, and the water was warm. This picture does not do it justice, but it's the best one I could find (it was a lot sunnier, and the trees are a better green):

Apparently, in the trees above the beach there were a lot of monkeys, but I didn't get a very close look . After exploring the beach, we went snorkeling, where I saw no fish, but was stung several times by a jelly fish. On Saturday night, our entire group piled onto a bus and went to a club for our group members' 21st birthday. At the beginning of the evening I had a lot of fun hanging out with the people from my group, because we were the only ones there. As the night progressed, however, more and more men started pouring into the club. Due to the fact we were in a small town, the interest in the gringas was especially pronounced. Men greatly outnumbered the females, and the result was unpleasant. So far, that's the only thing that I've found particularly off-putting about Costa Rica. There's also an added dynamic of several girls really enjoying and embracing the attention they receive in these situations.

Another fun detail is that cars absolutely DO NOT stop for pedestrians, no matter where you cross, and DO NOT adhere to speed limits. This makes my morning commute very interesting. It's kind of like walking across I-5 every morning. 

I'll upload more pictures later, but blogspot is malfunctioning right now. 

ta ta!

Pictures

View from the boat. Above this rock there were a ton of trees growing . Also, several exotic  birds and a few monkeys.

Walking to get on the whale watching boat (it was really early and cloudy)

 

Dominical Beach, climbing on the rocks.

The Group

An aerial photo (obviously not taken by me) of Dominical Beach where we were this weekend.

Routinized yo

I've been getting into the swing of things these past few days in San Jose. Currently, I'm trying to switch out of my intermediate class because I have already learned EVERYTHING. Once I do that, I could potentially have the opportunity to only have one class the last 3 or 4 weeks here, which would give me the opportunity to travel way more around Costa Rica. Right now I have class from 8 am - 12 pm, then an elective (which is a poli sci class) called human rights in Latin America. My teacher is an English woman.

Last night everyone in our group went to a Merengue y Salsa class at Veritas. It was really really fun. I think it was the point I realized I was really having fun in Costa Rica. Our group is a little bit segregated between those of us who are in homestays, and the others who are in the dorms. Jen (my roommate) and I frequently stop by and force visits on the people who are in the dorms. We found two other people in our program who also have the last few weeks off and they are probably going to travel with us. A girl from the dorms also just moved in to our homestay so we have three American students.

As far as getting around in Costa Rica, you have to be ever-vigilant about concealing your belongings. Luckily, our house is a 5 minute walk from Veritas so we never have to bring purses. Two different girls in our group have been robbed at gun point (on separate occasions) so far in their stay here. The main reason it happened was because they were both walking at night. Jen and I learned this after we walked back from our Dance class at 10 pm. We didn't have purses though. I'm really glad I have roommates because we're not supposed to get in taxis or walk anywhere by ourselves, so having the reassurance of a buddy is nice. I want to take more pictures, but I'm also never supposed to have a camera out. Tough life.

Our host mom is amazing. Julie and Dad met her over Skype yesterday, and probably got a taste of how sweet she is. She always refers to us as "mi amor" and always says (in spanish) "if you need anything, just ask, y nada mas" and then repeats nada mas, nada mas several times so you understand. She's concerned because she says she's seen many students move out of homestays or not enjoy their experience because their uncomfortable. Whenever I come home she shows me and improvements she's made on my room to make it more comfortable.

This weekend we're going to Dominical. It's supposed to be a beautiful white sand beach with really hot weather (jealous?!). We're going to go whale and dolphin watching with our group. I've heard from a few people it's one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.

One other detail about my stay here: I have met so many people from Wisconsin. I know more about Wisconsin than I have ever wanted too. I'm friends with two blonde girls from Wisconsin, one of my roommates is from Wisconsin, my neighbors from Wisconsin, and several of the people in my classes are as well.

Last night we went to a club and it was really uncomfortable. I realized how much a group of girls sticks out. Our host brother went with us and it was his first time going out in Costa Rica (he's a math major at Yale, just to remind you). Anyway, a guy came over and tried to start a fight with him when we were all sitting down with him. There were mainly Tico men at the club, and every American girl received a lot of unwanted attention. At a certain point, the waiters and bouncers at the club started guarding our table by standing around it. Then, whenever a group of American girls moved around in the club, the waiters and bouncers followed us and stood around us. I also got the chance to perfect my merengue and salsa with a 45 year old Tico who was a dance teacher. I've decided that next time I go to the clubs I might dress up as a polygamy wife or wear a turtleneck just to lessen the unwanted attention.

Also, I fought my way into advanced Spanish by scoring 100% on a written placement test. The guy in charge of registering students really did not want me to move up. So today, I start my first day of advanced class which is supposed to be really difficult.

One last thought: our host mom is really convinced Matt is the most guapisimo chico ever, and says she can tell by his eyes that he's a good person. She said that if he comes to Costa Rica, he can stay at our house and she will feed him for free. She is soooo nice.

Okay everyone, I love you guys!!!

First Day

So getting to Costa Rica was a fun adventure. The flight to Pheonix was really nice because everyone got their own row of seats. The flight to San Jose, however, was a bit less comfortable. The guy on my left was practicing his dominant body posture and left himself a lot of elbow room which included occupying both arm rests. Que mal. The girl to my right was a native Costa Rican, but she had blonde hair and pale skin. She went to school (including university) in Costa Rica, but is currently living in Vancouver. You would not guess her background because she was completely fluent in English. We made friends and she told me about Costa Rica and it was really interesting talking to someone who was completely fluent in English and Spanish. My host Mom is really really nice so far. She has a son (Luis Diego) who is my age and studying math at Yale. She's really proud of him (as she should be). As I was eating dinner tonight I heard her exclaim "QUE LINDA!!!" (how cute). I looked over at her and saw her eyes fixed on the water bottle with pictures of me and Matt on it. She picked it up and was ooh-ing and ah-ing for several minutes.

My roommate is really cool which is very nice. She's really easy going and I'm excited about that. Speaking Spanish is really fun. I definitely need practice, but I'm holding my own really well. The city of San Jose is definitely not the most pristine place I've ever seen, but I'm counting on my weekend excursions to make up for that. For now, it is time for bed.

Buenas noches