"It's time to move on, time to get going, what lies ahead I have no way of knowing..."

A lot has happened in my last month here. I’ve been to 3 countries and finished all my finals. Now it’s time to say goodbye to Costa Rica and hello to home.

On November 16th, we went on our final field trip of the semester. We went the Guanacaste region in Northern Costa Rica first and continued north onto Nicaragua. Before this semester, I had never ever considered going to Nicaragua, but it really is a beautiful country. We went to Granada, Masaya, Managua, and San Juan del Sur. Luckily we all made it through the trip without getting sick (the water in Nicaragua isn’t safe to drink). We learned about the political revolution in Nicaragua and at the end of the trip had to write a comparison paper on Nicaragua and Costa Rica (I chose to compare the tourism industry in both countries). We visited an active volcano and spent one afternoon on an island. On Saturday, we had to leave the capital, Managua by 6 a.m., because a protest was going to take place that day and we needed to get out of the city before that. Leaving so early did have an advantage to it…we got to spend all day at the beach in San Juan del Sur. The beach was beautiful, but pretty windy, so after awhile a few of us decided to rent an ATV and a scooter. I had never driven either before, but I was ready and anxious to do it. After Marissa taught me the ropes, we took off down the road on the scooter, following behind Roland and Kailey on the ATV. We had a beautiful view of a volcano on the highway outside of town. It was so much fun to be driving on a road myself again after 3 months without a car. Hopefully I didn’t scare Marissa too much with my lack of scooter/ATV driving knowledge. Luckily I didn’t hit anything and we made it back safely. On the way back into town, the sun was setting on the ocean and the sky was an amazing red orange color. On Sunday we exhaustedly made our way back to San Ramón, though we did get up enough energy to have a dance party on our bus at the very end of the drive. Nicaragua was a beautiful country and I’m really glad I got the chance to experience it. The thing that struck me the most there was the level of poverty that exists. It broke my heart to see children begging on the streets in some of the cities we visited, but it was an eye opening and humbling experience.

On, Monday November 23rd, we began our Thanksgiving Break. I got on the 5 a.m. bus from San Ramón to Jacó on the Pacific coast to visit my dad, stepmom, aunt, and other family and friends that had come down to visit. Unfortunately most of their time here was when I was in Nicaragua, but I’m glad I got to spend some time with them for a bit. At 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning, I took a bus from Jacó to San José and then in San José I got on another bus to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side. I think I spent about 7 hours or more on a bus that day. From San José to Puerto Viejo, I sat next to and chatted a bit with a nun from Guatemala who works with elderly in Costa Rica. I was kind of nervous to travel by myself across the country, but everything went very smoothly and I’m glad I got to have that experience. When I arrived at the bus station in Puerto Viejo, Kira and Emily were there waiting for me and I checked into our $8 a night hotel.

The next morning, we got on a bus to the border of Panama. We had to cross a dangerous looking bridge with holes between the wood planks to go between Costa Rica and Panama and get our passports stamped. Then we took a van from there to the water taxi that took us to the islands of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Panama was a lot of fun and I’m really glad I had the chance to travel there. We arrived on Thursday and luckily our hostel was having a special Thanksgiving dinner that night. It wasn’t like having Thanksgiving at home, but it was nice to be able to enjoy an important American cultural event in another country. One day, we went on a boat tour to a few islands. Even though it was raining, it was still fun to go snorkeling and go to Red Frog Beach, where some little boys try to get tourists to pay $1 to see the frogs they’d caught. The next day, we went to Hospital Point, one of the nearby islands with one of our hostel roommates. The beach was a lot smaller than we thought, so we trekked around in the woods in our flip-flops. It probably wasn’t the best idea, considering the unknown wildlife we could have encountered, but it was an adventure. A man who owns some property on the island gave us a tour and told us some of the history. He and his wife were from California, but he lived in Brownsville, Oregon for a few years. Like I said in my last blog, it is a small, small world. Bocas del Toro is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, so we met lots of backpackers from all over the world. At the beginning of the semester, I couldn’t imagine traveling around like that and living out of a suitcase for months, but the idea of it has become more alluring to me. After listening to all of their stories, I really want to travel through South America and/or Europe now. Who knows where I’d find the time or money, but it would be such a great way to see a lot of the world on a budget. I think I’ve caught the travel bug. After over 12 hours of traveling on Sunday all the way from Bocas del Toro to San Ramón, we were quite exhausted, but the whole week was worth it.

The past few weeks have been busy with finals and wrapping up the semester. The Monday after we got back from Panama, I woke up with conjunctivitis, aka pink eye. My semester abroad wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to the doctor. I stayed home from class and went to a doctor with my host grandma and was back at it the next day. I was pretty stressed with 4 presentations and 3 tests, but I got through it. On Friday the 4th, we went to a local orphanage to spend the morning with the kids and help them decorate a Christmas tree. The kids were all really cute and I had a lot of fun with them. On Monday the 7th, San Ramón celebrated Melocochas de Maria. It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Marias in the town make taffy candy and throw them to people in the street. I went with my host mom, little brother, his friend, and Molly, the other exchange student at my house. It started in the town center and melocochas are thrown into the street. People go crazy trying to catch them and pick them up off the ground. I was too scared to get hit or get my hands stepped on to actually participate. Then the people run around to all the other houses belonging to Marias to catch more. It a very interesting town celebration and I’ve never experienced anything like it. The rest of this last week was spent studying for finals and saying goodbye to professors, friends, and family.

It’s amazing to think how things have changed from the beginning of the semester. I was so homesick at first and the time felt like it was passing so slowly. Now I have no idea where the time went, this semester flew by. This has really been the semester of a lifetime and I have so many memories to bring home with me. It’s so hard saying goodbye to people when I don’t know whether I’ll ever see them again. I’m having a hard time dealing with it. I don’t want to say goodbye to Costa Rica, but I am so excited to go home at the same time. I’m having a lot of mixed emotions this week. I’m so grateful I’ve gotten to have this experience and had the opportunity to see so many beautiful places and try new things. One of the things that saddens me the most is that I don’t know when I’ll be traveling next. I don’t know where I’ll find the time or money or when I’ll get to see another part of the world and travel freely like I had the opportunity to do here. I hope more traveling is in my near future. We shall see.

After learning of a family emergency at home, I can’t get back soon enough. This semester has been amazing, but I’m ready to be back with friends and family, where I’m needed now especially. I ask that you please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers right now.

Thank you for reading! I hope to see you all soon!

Rapids, Cookies, and Monkeys

Hello again!

The past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy and stressful, but we’ve managed to squeeze some fun activities in between our studying. On October 30, we went rafting down the Río Reventazón, which was a lot of fun, even though I was scared out of my mind at first. I had been told that it’s quite common for people to get thrown out of the raft, so I had the image in my head of being tossed into the rapids every 5 seconds. After getting all geared up, we were listening to the safety directions in Spanish. I stopped paying attention when I realized that our raft said it was made in Grants Pass, Oregon! I was very excited and couldn’t believe that something made so close to home was all the way down here in Costa Rica. I tuned back in to get most of the safety basics and then we were off down the river (which was very brown due to the recent rain and sediments). Most of the rapids were class III, but there was one that our guide told us was a class IV+, though I’m not sure if he was lying and just told us that to make us think it was more hardcore. No one ended up falling out of the raft and I realized that my fear in the beginning was for nothing. Next time I want to go rafting on more dangerous rapids.

Later on in the week, Molly (the other exchange student living in my house) and I made cookies for our host family. They had been talking about us making something for them for a while, and we realized time to do it was running out, so we quickly purchased supplies for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. There were a few mishaps…I spilled brown sugar all over the counter and floor right away, the oven didn’t have a temperature dial on it, and we put in a few too many cups of oatmeal. Despite all that, most of the cookies turned out pretty well. We had to play with the oven a bit and some cookies were a bit burnt, but our family didn’t care, they seemed to like the cookies anyway. They said the only thing that was missing was that they didn’t watch and learn how to make them themselves, so they want us to make them again sometime. Our host mom showed us how to make gallo pinto after that. For those of you who don’t know, gallo pinto is a Costa Rican breakfast staple. It’s rice and beans mixed up with some sauces, onions, garlic, cilantro, and a few secret ingredients. I’m sure I won’t be able to duplicate my host mom’s, but hopefully I can remember how to make it and practice next semester.

The weekend of November 6th, our group took another beach trip. This time we went to Manuel Antonio, because we had been promised we’d see monkeys and sloths if we visited the national park. We even brought Glenn along, a volunteer from Seattle who came to teach English for 2 weeks and lived with Mary’s host family. We had our second hostel experience and got in some quality beach time. On Saturday we went to Manuel Antonio National Park and weren’t disappointed. We saw lots of carablanca monkeys right on the beach because people were feeding them, which fyi, we’ve been told not to do because it can rot their teeth and therefore possibly kill them. We also saw 2 sloths. The white sand beaches in the park were amazing. Some beaches hardly had any people on them. It was quite relaxing and a nice break from schoolwork. Later on in the day, we saw a ton of titi monkeys at the restaurant where we had dinner. Most of the group went back to San Ramón on Saturday night, but Kira and I decided to stay one more night and leave on Sunday. That night we met two girls from Oregon who were staying in our hostel room. One was from Amity and the other was from Beaverton and both had graduated from OSU. None of us could believe what a small world it is.

This week has been a bit stressful trying to finish up papers and projects before we leave for Nicaragua tomorrow morning. We’ll be there for a week on a school field trip, and then the next week we have a weeklong Thanksgiving break. We’re all trying to figure out plans and finish homework so we won’t have to worry about it during our break. Some of us are splitting up during the vacation and it’ll be nice to have a break, since we are together pretty much everyday, but I think it’s ending up that we are all traveling to many of the same places. Maybe we’ll run into each other, maybe we won’t. Or we will and pretend we don’t know each other. :) Here’s my crazy Thanksgiving week plans…I’ll be meeting up with family on Monday morning and staying with them for two days until they fly home to Oregon. On Wednesday morning, I’ll be going to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side and meeting up with Kira and Emily. Then on Thursday, we’re going to Bocas del Toro, some islands in Panama near the border of Costa Rica. That night we’ll try and see if we can find a Thanksgiving dinner in Panama. On Saturday or Sunday we’ll make our way back to Costa Rica and finally back to San Ramón for our last week of classes and then a week of finals.
I can’t believe we have less than a month left here. Time has really flown by and I have a feeling these next 4 weeks are going to go by super fast with all the traveling and studying we’ll be doing. I’m sad to think this adventure will be ending soon, but I’m also excited at the thought of being home just in time for the Christmas season. I helped my host mom decorate the Christmas tree the other day and seeing all the decorations makes me excited. It’ll be sad to leave, but at the same time really nice to be home and see everyone.

I’ll try and write at least once more before I come home and update you on the country hopping we’re about to do.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Volcanos, Forests, and El Caribe!

Hola again!

Sorry it’s been awhile since my last update, I’ve been busy with field trips and tests, but I have a lot to catch you up on. I can’t believe it’s already almost November! I feel like time’s flying by, but at the same time it feels like I’ve been forever and some of the things I’ve experienced here seem like so long ago. Since my last blog we’ve been on two field trips and they’ve both been lots of fun. After the first field trip, I finally got my computer back! I was so happy that most of my information was saved when they replaced the hard drive. It feels so nice to have my own computer back and I’m super grateful that it was able to be fixed. I can relax a little bit more now that my Mac’s back in action. Now to the latest adventures…

On October 7, we went on a field trip to Volcán Arenal and Monteverde. On the way to La Fortuna, near the volcano, we stopped to visit the Maleku indigenous tribe. They taught us about their traditions, plants, and natural medical remedies. That afternoon we continued on to our hotel in La Fortuna. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see the top of the volcano, but it was still a pretty view. We all loved the hotel we stayed at. It had a cold pool, a few large hot ones, and lots of natural hot springs around the hillside surrounded by trees. It was really pretty and so relaxing. Near the hot springs, there’s a hiking trail that leads to a waterfall. A few girls and I decided to check it out, even though we were wearing bathing suits and flip flops. We trudged down the trail for about 5 minutes before Emily screamed and commanded us to turn around and run. When we were finally up the hill and out of breath, she told us she had seen a snake right in front of her feet on the trail. We were all scared and jumpy after that, but it was a good story to tell to the others. We later found out it was a two hour hike to the waterfall. Good thing we turned around when we did.

On Thursday, we continued on to Monteverde where the famous cloud forest reserve is located. Compared to our previous hotel, this one felt rustic, but it was cozy and we felt like we were camping in the rainforest. On Friday morning, we had an early tour of the reserve. Our guide could do many birdcalls, and we were all very impressed. At the beginning we were all hoping we’d see the famous quetzal bird, but our introduction video told us weren’t visiting during the right month to see a quetzal. Luckily 20 minutes or so into our tour, we were told that a quetzal had been spotted eating an avocado high up in the trees, so we hurried over and watched it through a telescope and took pictures. It was quite exciting. During the afternoon, we went to a butterfly garden and each of us got to set some butterflies free in the different outdoor rooms. The next day we had the opportunity to go zip lining. None of us really knew what to expect, except that the name of the company we were doing it through was called, “Extremo.” After we got all of our gear on and got to the first platform, I got nervous, but it was an experience that I would definitely recommend. We did about 10 platforms flying through the forest very high up. We did one repel drop, during which I went too fast and had to slow down before I got to the ground. We also got to experience the “Tarzan swing” which was terrifying. I had to watch a few other people do it and listen to their screams before it was my turn. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do once I was harnessed in. They told me to sit down, so I did, but then my feet were off the platform, so the two guys running it had a hold of my harness and just let me hang there for a few seconds before finally letting me drop. The drop was so scary, but it was so much fun swinging through the trees. They took pictures and filmed all of our drops and we made sure to buy the CD of all the pictures at the end. The finale of the zip line adventure was the “Superman,” where our back and feet were hooked up the cable and we flew into the mist over trees and pastures. It was definitely a good end to the field trip, I can’t explain how much fun we all had and how exhausted we were afterward.

On Wednesday, October 14, we watched the big soccer game between the U.S. and Costa Rica that took place in Washington D.C. The morning before the game, my host dad asked Molly, the other exchange student, and me, “Are you gringas today, or are you Costa Ricans?” I was torn and said, “Can we be both?” Even though I still had some U.S. pride in my heart, I was supporting Costa Rica on the outside by wearing a Costa Rican soccer jersey I had bought that day. A few of us went to a bar to watch the game on a big screen. There is nothing crazier than Latin American soccer fans. It was really strange to hear the U.S. national anthem played, and I think it brought a little bit of nostalgia to all of us. At first, I thought I’d be happy no matter what the outcome of the game, but I found myself cheering for Costa Rica because they still needed a win for a shot at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but the U.S. was guaranteed a spot already. Costa Rica scored 2 goals in the first half and we were feeling pretty good. In the bar at half time, they played, Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” In the second half, the U.S. scored a goal, but the game was coming to an end, so everyone was still in good spirits. Then, in extra play time minutes at the very end, the U.S. scored another goal, tying the game. A minute later the game ended. Everyone was disappointed, including myself. We watched the U.S. team celebrate and then went home to finish homework. My family was surprised that I was wearing a Costa Rican jersey, but they though it was great. My host dad said, “You wore that in the streets?” and I said, “Sure I did!” The next day, I woke up to find that the headline on the Costa Rican newspaper said, “The gringos took away our ticket to the World Cup” and I felt a little ashamed.

The past few weeks have been full of tests, papers, and interviews for our independent study projects. Since Emily and I are both going to be teachers, we decided to investigate the education system in Costa Rica. We’ve been conducting lots of interviews with directors and teachers at private and public elementary and high schools around town. We interviewed an English teacher at a small private school who had lived in West Linn, OR for four months while she was a student, so she was wearing a couple Oregon pins when we visited. After the interview, she asked if we’d come into her class and answer a few questions about the U.S. It was so much fun to be around the students and answer their questions – I loved being back in a classroom again. The students were around 9 or 10 years old and they asked the funniest things, such as, “Are there parks/stores/schools/movie theaters in the U.S?” “Do you have elephants there?” “Do you have wooly mammoths there?” My favorite questions were “Did you know Michael Jackson/ Do you know the Jonas Brothers/ Do you know the president?” There was one tough part when a little boy asked if we had an army, since Costa Rica doesn’t. When I said yes, he dropped his head and sighed in disappointment. They wanted to know why and if we were in any wars. It’s hard explaining wars in English, so you can imagine how difficult it was to explain to children in Spanish. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that boy’s reaction. Being in a classroom again made me wish I had more free time so I could volunteer in an elementary school here or work with children in some way. The joy I got from that half hour in the classroom made me realize that I’ve chose the right career path.

On Wednesday October 21, we went on a field trip to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, which I loved, despite all the bug bites I returned with. On Wednesday we went to a town called Sarapiqui and stayed at the Tirimbina Reserve, where we went on an afternoon hike into the forest for our ecology class. On Thursday we continued on to Cahuita and visited the national park there. For our ecology class, we snorkeled at a coral reef in the Caribbean Sea. We saw lots of colorful fish and even saw a small nurse shark. On the boat ride back to the shore, I realized how lucky I am to be able to experience a field trip like this and to be able to call snorkeling “class.” On Friday, we went a little further south to Puerto Viejo. It was a little more touristy than Cahuita, but I liked it. The lifestyle in the Caribbean is really laid back and a lot slower than the rest of Costa Rica. There’s a lot of Jamaican influence there, so you can hear lots of reggae music and see lots of dread locks and Bob Marley pictures. We had class Friday morning exploring the town and then were set free for the rest of the afternoon to shop and swim in the ocean. Even though it started to rain while we were in the ocean, we didn’t mind. When our stuff on the beach was soaked we finally came in. As we walked onto the shore, we spotted a sloth climbing down from a near by tree. We were all really excited since we had been searching the trees on the bus ride to catch a glimpse of a sloth. It was so sad to watch though because it was all wet and slowly moving across the pavement to climb up another tree. It felt really strange to be so close to a sloth, but unfortunately none of us had brought our cameras with us to the beach. It’s an image I’ll never forget though. It felt like a quick trip to the Caribbean, but we all really enjoyed it.

Now it’s back to work…this week we had a history test and we have an ecology test on Monday. Before the weekend studying begins, tomorrow, we’re going on a white water rafting trip. We’re getting on the 4:30 a.m. bus to San José to be picked up by the company at 6:30. I’m a little nervous since I’ve been told that it’s common to get thrown from the raft, but at least we’ll be wearing helmets and life jackets! Wish me luck and stay tuned to hear how that crazy adventure goes…

¡Hasta luego!

The quetzal we saw in Monteverde

Zip lining in Monteverde

Flying on a cable high over the forest = visible fear in my face

Marissa, Kira and me in our Costa Rica soccer jerseys before the U.S./Costa Rica game

Puerto Viejo

¡Ay ay ay!

I apologize for the long delay between updates, I had planned on writing sooner, but technological difficulties have held me up. As some of you know, about 3 weeks ago, my laptop died on me. For some reason, even though I haven´t had any major problems with my Mac, this was one of my worst fears coming down here. After an initial reaction of panicked distress and an express delivery of my software discs thanks to my family, I think I´m hopefully on the right track to getting a new hard drive installed. The thought of my computer having such major surgery in Costa Rica scares me a little bit, but luckily there are a few Apple distributors in San José here that can handle the situation. I´m very grateful to our program director here for letting me borrow one of her laptops in the mean time. I hope to have my own computer back in about 2 weeks (cross you fingers for me please)! Writing e-mails in Spanish about computer issues was definitely challenging. This experience was not one I had hoped to have this semester, but it has taught me to have patience. Let this be a lesson to all of you: beware of improper shut downs and remember to have patience with technology. Also, I think when I come home, I´m going to invest in an external hard drive to back up all my documents, music, and pictures…better late than never I suppose! Oh well, life happens, and as they say in Costa Rica, ¡pura vida!

A lot´s happened in the last few weeks, so this may be a bit lengthy…

When I wrote my last update, we were planning a trip to the beach. That weekend, we went to Jacó, about 3 hours from San Ramón. We had heard it was very touristy and developed, but it was close and we figured it would be a good first trip to plan. We got there without any major problems, but at our 1st bus stop, we got some help from a man named Robert aka ¨Gilligan.¨ Originally from Chicago, he now helps confused tourists such as ourselves for tips ¨to buy dinner, a cabina, and cigarettes…all you need, really.¨ :) He was nice and helpful and had even been to Portland before. If you´re ever near the bus stop in Puntarenas, ask for Gilligan and he´s got you covered. When we first got to Jacó, it was pouring rain and the streets were literally flooding from so much water. At dinner, we lifted our feet as a car drove by and water flowed onto the floor of the open air restaurant. We stayed at Cabinas Antonio for about $12 a night per person. It was a simple, but cute place for being so cheap. After the rain stopped, we waded through the water to go for a night walk on the beach. When our feet first touched the water, we couldn´t believe how warm it was! When we came back to our rooms, the water had magically disappeared from the streets and the next morning we found bright sunshine outside our door. We got an early start and rented surfboards that we all shared. I was super nervous to try it out at first, but it was a lot of fun and after awhile I could even stand up on the board on some baby waves. Sitting on the beach, watching the waves, I thought about how blessed I am to be in Costa Rica right now enjoying this amazing scene. Even though we all payed the price for so much time in the sun, it was a fun weekend at the beach.

The next Monday (September 14), we participated in the ¨Desfile de Faroles,¨ a lantern parade that children and families participate in. It was the night before Independence Day and we had made our own plastic faroles the week before out of plastic soda bottles. It was neat to experience the culture that way, though we were a little embarrassed of our simple faroles compared to the more elaborate ones the kids had. We were stared at as the ¨Gringas con faroles,¨ but one little girl said, ¨¡Que lindos!¨as we passed by, so it made me feel better that at least someone appreciated them. The next day, we watched the Independence Day parade. That included lots of school bands and baton twirlers. I didn´t feel like a tourist watching the parade, but a member of the community, as the whole city lined the streets to watch.

The next week, on Thursday the 24th, we went on a field trip to San José and the surrounding area. We went to the national museum and national theater in San José and the next day visited old historical churches. It involved long tours and note taking, but it was a good field trip that also included lots of good food and a nice hotel. The day after we got back, San Ramón´s soccer team was playing at the stadium right by my house. Luckily my host mom had an extra ticket and invited me along. We tied 1-1, but it was fun to watch all the crazy fans shouting at the refs and players.

On Monday, the 28th, we had our last dance class. With 4 classes, we learned to meringue and salsa, but it definitely left me wanting to learn more. We were all sad when our last class came to an end, but we now have a basic understanding of the steps and twirls, which I may or may not have forgotten already…hopefully it´s now ingrained into my subconscious. :)

This last weekend, we went on our 2nd beach trip, to Santa Teresa. We had been told that it is a beautiful beach because it isn´t crowded. Though it´s a long 5-6 hour trip, we figured it would be worth it and left early Friday at 7 in the morning. We got on a direct bus that goes on a ferry to cross over to the Nicoya Peninsula and then continues on to Santa Teresa. On the ferry on the way over, we saw a man decked out in head to toe University of Oregon gear and found out he and his family from Portland decided to take a leave of absence from their teaching jobs to live here with their kids for 9 months. We probably wouldn´t have talked to him had he not been showing his school pride, but it goes to show what a very small world it is. We arrived at our hostel, Tranquilo Backpackers around mid-day. It was my first time in a hostel and I was a little nervous at first, but it was definitely a good experience that recommend. We payed around $11 a night each and the rooms and bathrooms were simple and not the cleanest, but it was so cool to meet people from all over the world there. We made our own dinner and a few friends in the communal kitchen and lounged around in hammocks. For some reason, the Santa Teresa area has quite a few Israeli tourists there, so we met 3 guys from Israel at our hostel. It is amazing how first impressions can change so much after talking to someone for awhile and getting to know them. It is neat to hear the travel stories of people who go from beach to beach, country to country, drifting around and surfing. We taught the Israelis some card games and English slang phrases and they taught us some card games and a few Hebrew words – I now know a few words other than ¨mazltov¨ and ¨shalom.¨ Unfortunately it didn´t offer us a lot of opportunities to practice our Spanish, but it was a cultural experience. Saturday morning, we rented surfboards again, but it wasn´t as successful as my first experience. The waves were choppy and we got all got pretty thrashed. I ran into a rock and scraped up my leg and feet, but I attempted one more time after that. Luckily the blood didn´t attract any sharks and I made it through the day attack free, though I unfortunately can´t say the same for the mosquitos. Luckily the sun was nicer to us this time, but it feels like it isn´t a trip to the beach if we don´t come back beat up, burned, bruised, and scraped. The beach there was so beautiful and peaceful, I´m really glad we got to experience it. It´s a really laid back, sleepy area that attracts a lot of surfers. There were even a few yoga places, but unfortunately I didn´t come prepared. Yoga overlooking the beach would have been a perfect addition to the weekend. One exciting highlight was when saw a family of monkeys up in the trees bordering the sand. We were all very excited for our first encounter with Costa Rican monkeys. Before coming here, I most wanted to see monkeys and now that I have, I finally feel like I´m in Costa Rica. On Saturday evening, we walked on the beach and watched the sunset, it was really heavenly and once again I realize how blessed I am to be able to enjoy such amazing sights. We left paradise bright and early Sunday at 6 a.m. to catch the bus back to San Ramón to start homework and prepare for the upcoming week. It was a quick trip, but definitely one to remember.

Sorry this update was so long, I had a lot of experiences to catch you up on. Thanks for sticking it out and I´ll try and keep up on this more often. I can´t believe it´s October already! Until then, ¡hasta luego amigos!

Renting surfboards and attempting to look like actual surfers...

A beautiful sunny day in Jacó

The Desfile de Faroles (Lantern Parade)

Independence Day Parade

Volcán Irazú near San José

Hola!!!

Hello everyone!

So I’ve been here for two weeks now and am starting to get adjusted. I think I’m finally getting the currency down. When I went to the ATM for the first time, it gave me the option of putting in an amount in dollars or colones. I panicked because I had no idea how many colones I needed. With this option, I though, great, I could put in a dollar amount and it would give me colones! Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Instead of taking out 116,000 colones, like I should have, the machine spit out $200. Oops. I won’t make that mistake again! The first week I also experienced my first Costa Rican rainstorm. It rained really hard for about half an hour right as I was walking to school in the afternoon and my skirt and shoes got pretty soaked despite my umbrella. Oh well, pura vida! Most of the time it is pretty sunny and warm and then it rains like crazy for a short time each day.

Classes seem to be going well so far. There’s a lot of reading and when the professors ask if we have questions, I can honestly say I don’t have any because I didn’t understand anything to begin with. Not really, but kind of. :) I’m getting in full time Spanish mode, though it is difficult, hopefully I’ll have improved a bit by the time I come home in December.

We arrived in San Ramón during a time of festivities in the town center. Around the church they had a bunch of celebrations going on for a few days and we observed the dancing and enjoyed the food and local handmade jewelry. We watched the parade of the saints entering the church, which was an interesting and unique experience. Luckily it was very sunny and warm and didn’t rain on us until after the parade.

On Friday, we went to a field trip to a reserve in the forest. It took a little over an hour to get there and it was beautiful. When the pick-up truck came to get us at the bottom of the mountain, I said, “Are you serious? 10 of us are going to fit in that?!” Amazingly we all fit with 5 of us in the cab and 5 brave people riding in the back. The ride was so muddy and bumpy, someone described it as an “Indiana Jones ride times 10.” The reserve was pretty rustic, and I felt like we were at summer camp sleeping in bunk beds and playing cards, but the food was pretty good. During a mid-afternoon coffee break, we were served arroz con leche (kind of like rice pudding for all you non-Spanish speakers). We went on a 3-hour hike up into the rainforest, my first hike since the field trip I took to Table Rock in 2nd grade. It was tough and I slipped in the mud more than once, but I was proud of myself when we were done! My rubber boots had mud inside them by the end (possibly because they’re 2 sizes too big), but it was fun. It didn’t rain too much and we saw a couple of frogs and lots of trees with prickly needles on them (sadly no monkeys, though). It was very picturesque, exactly what you would think of when Costa Rica comes to mind. I was sad to leave on Saturday morning, but I look forward to more field trips and experiences like that. On Saturday, I definitely wanted to get the experience of riding in the back of the truck and I’m so glad I did. It was so much fun to go down the mountain as the green trees fly by. I thought wow, I’m really in Costa Rica right now, and wished all of you could be there at that moment to see what I was seeing.

On Saturday, Roland’s host brother, Helí and his girlfriend took 4 of us to a bar to watch the big Costa Rica vs. Mexico soccer game. Unfortunately the game didn’t go in our favor, but it was a fun experience to be watching the game among Costa Ricans. Helí is in a band and loves music, so when he heard I love Tom Petty, he requested a few songs for me and we sang along. He then took us to a karaoke bar on a hill and I had no intention of singing as we went in, but he finally was able to talk the 3 of us girls into singing Alanis Morisette’s “Ironic.” It’s much easier to remember the words when I am singing alone in my car. We sounded horrible while trying to stay on key and sing the words amidst our uncontrollable laughter, but it was a memorable first karaoke experience.

On Sunday, I had another first experience. A group of us signed up to do a 7K run and I thought, sure, why not, it’s something to do. I went into it with no expectations. I had no idea whether I was going to walk or run, or what it would be like at all. When we showed up, people were running up and down the street and stretching in preparation. These were some intense runners and I got really nervous, I thought it was going to be really laid back, and honestly, I wanted to do it to get the t-shirt that came along with signing up! Emily and I decided to stick together and our goal was not to be last, and luckily, we weren’t. We came in before a few others, including a 72-year-old man who got a trophy for being the oldest participant. :) The others in our group are more serious competitive runners and did well. Mary got a log trophy for placing 2nd for women and had a large scrape on her leg to show for it. When she went up to receive her trophy, they asked where she was from. When she replied, “Portland, Oregon,” there was a confused awkward silence and I started laughing. She then clarified that she was from the United States and that was greeted with applause. It was a good experience and I’m really glad I did it. We went up some steep hills, and I had some sore muscles the next day, but the views were amazing and the weather was sunny and beautiful.

This week is a busy one. On Monday, we had our first dance class. I was very nervous at the beginning because I’ve never meringued before, but once we got started, I got into it. We were all tired and sweaty by the end of our 2-hour class, but we really enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait for our next class this Friday. We will have 4 dance classes this month and will be learning some salsa as well. I definitely don’t expect to be an expert, but hopefully I’ll have some moves to show for it by the end. We’re also trying to plan a trip to the beach this weekend. We’re hoping to go to Jacó since it’s close (about a 3 hour bus trip). Right now we’re in the stages of finding a cheap place to stay, which can be stressful, but it will be worth it once we get there. Hopefully we can make it there successfully without getting lost. I can finally find my way to and from school without getting lost and I’m starting to find my way around town a bit more without walking in circles and getting completely turned around, I’m pretty proud of myself!

I miss you all and hope things are going well for you at home! Hopefully I’ll have more adventures to write about soon. Ciao for now y ¡que les vaya bien!

Our group at the PDX airport at 5 am!

The Iglesia (church) in San Ramon during the parade

Dancing children during the parade!

On our way up to the reserve

After our hike!