Last Days in Costa Rica

It is my last day in Costa Rica. I am so sad!! I have had an awesome last week though. My friends and I went out to Salsa and Merengue dancing clubs most nights this week. It was very fun! On Tuesday night, after we went dancing, a group of us (very spontaneously) decided to go to the closest beach to San Jose called Jaco! It was CRAZY! It was about an hour drive there and it was already 1:00 am... we drove right up onto the beach at about 2:00 am and hung out there. I kinda fell in the water with my clothes on... hahaha! Thankfully the water was really warm and I didn't fall all the way in. It was kind of raining and there was a thunder and lightning storm that we watched out over the ocean. We were literally the only people on the beach and we had so much fun! We got a little hungry later and got pizza around three and then went back to the beach again. We got back in San Jose in time to take a shower and get ready for class... it was NUTS! Even though it was a little bit dumb, it was so worth it! It was so spontaneous and so fun, it is definitely one of my highlights of the trip.

Last night we went out to the normal Thursday night place called Castros. It is a Salsa and Merengue club with a very 90s vibe (I can't put my finger on why I get that vibe, I just do haha). We were all having a good time dancing and then one Tico randomly asked me to dance and it was definitely a good decision! He turned about to be a Latin ballroom dance instructor!! He knew these crazy moves and was such a good leader I didn't have to think about anything and I felt like I pro! He was twisting me and turning me and picking me up and down!! I felt like I was on Dancing With the Stars of something! It was really really fun!

So classes ended fairly well. I am not sure what I got in the class, but that is ok. I feel like I learned a lot and the was the goal in the first place. I am still pretty nervous about going to Mexico. I feel like I will be able to get by fairly well, but I am nervous the Angelina (the midwife) will be frustrated that I am not fluent or something... I don't know. It is kind of superficial, but it is just a fear that I have. I just really want her to like me! hahaha :)

I can't believe I am going to Mexico tomorrow!!! I am excited to see my dad and to start a new adventure. It is going to be so hard to leave here though... The longer I am here the more I want to come back. I thought four weeks would feel really long, but it was the fastest four weeks of my life!

Please be praying for my safety in Mexico and my Espanol (por favor!). I miss you all and I can't wait to tell you how Mexico is!

Weekend #3!

So for my last weekend in Costa Rica my friends and I decided we would stay in San Jose, see the city a little more, and REST. And that is exactly what we did. On friday Monse and I went to a local ballet! It was the perfect event for the evening. I wanted to do something fun, but I was extremely exhausted from the week (and the salsa dancing from the night before!). The ballet was a local production at a smaller venue and cost about the equivalent of $5! It was a modern ballet so it was very unique and I LOVED that! They did a lot of partner dances and used really interesting props and costumes. So fun!

Saturday some of my friends and I went downtown to do some shopping and go to a museum. The shopping was great, but the museum was kind of boring. Oh well. Later I went up to a "mirador," which is a place up in the hills around San Jose where you can see all of the city. There was a little restaurant at the top and it had a big grassy area in the front with benches to sit on and look at the view. It was late in the afternoon so it was a gorgeous time to be up there. Later that night I hung out with some of my local friends from Veritas at school and they showed me some of the art work they have been working on. I just love how much creativity is at Veritas. It is such a fun environment to be in and learn in!

Sunday was a very relaxing day. A few of us tried to find a Church service to go to, but kind of failed.... We got in the taxi and found out that it would be about a $3o ride one way and none of us had that much money, so we just had to go back home. We really did try though!! haha

Later I worked on homework on the balcony and took a nap. Monse and I went to a really nice mall a few cities away and went to the movies. We saw Shrek 4 in 3-D in Spanish. That was fun! We went to the movies with the intention of going to a VIP movie. A VIP movie here is really interesting and we are dying to try it. You get to sit in like a lazy boy kind of chair and they have waiters who come and serve you and you can order a nice dinner, even sushi! Movies here a super cheap too. The VIP movies are only $8! (not including the food you order). Unfortunately all the VIP movies were sold out so we just went to a regular one and that one only cost $3. It was super crowded in the theater, definitely a popular place to be on a Sunday night. It was a lot of fun!

Today I began my last week of school... so sad! I really feel like my Spanish is improving exponentially every day! One thing I still need more improvement on is my comprehension. It already has improved so much, but many times when someone talks directly to me I get nervous and can't understand. I have one more week to really improve before I go to Mexico, so pray for my comprehension! It is much needed.

I am having so much fun and I miss you all!

Regular Life in Costa Rica :)

I am comprehending so much more Spanish and I love it! I had to give a 20 minutes presentation in my class today ALL in Spanish. It went pretty well! It was a lot of work though and I am relieved its done. I am still having lots of fun. The weather is still really nice every morning with crazy rain EVERY afternoon... It is a little out of control, but I am really enjoying this tropical weather! I don't have a ton to update, but I am having lots of fun and learning a lot!

Weekend #2!

Another week and weekend gone by! It has been another blast! I am really settling in. I had a test on Thursday and it went really well. I got an A! Then on Friday I went bungee jumping! That was pretty ridiculous. There was twelve people from the group who wanted to go and we all did it! I was number 8 out of the 12. It was crazy watching all the people go before me... it was about a 265 ft free fall!!! I can't even tell you how crazy it feels to stand on the edge and then jump off... soooooo insane! It was a huge bridge over a rainforest and a big river. I was definitely screaming and flailing my arms the WHOLE time. I have a DVD of my jump to show you all too!!

Then on Saturday I woke up super early to go to a place called Tortuga Island. It was really beautiful! It was kind of a lot of travel time for the amount of time we were able to spend on the Island, but it was really fun to ride on a boat through a bunch of Island clusters in the Pacific Ocean! I felt like I was in Pirates of the Caribbean... but in the Pacific haha. Once we got to the Island we ate lunch and played on the beach. A group of people and I decided to swim over to another close by island. It ended up being waaaaaayyyy farther than it looked, but we made it! Unfortunately on the way I got stung by a jelly fish! That didn't feel good. Also, we were all a little sad that we had to swim all the way back after we explored the Island a bit hahaha. Then on the way back I got stung two more times!! I am not sure how that happened to me... nobody else got stung at all, but oh well. The stings got pretty red and swollen, but I found some vinegar to pour them. They are all good now though.

Sunday has been a pretty awesome day too! We visited another coffee plantation for a few minutes for our first stop, then we went to Poas Volcano to see a crater and this cool lagoon. It was kind of foggy so it was a little bit hard to see, but that was ok. The highlight of the day was definitely the last stop. We went to this place where they have zip lining!! It was crazy! There were like, I'm not sure exactly how many, but maybe like 12 different lines! The very last one was crazy long! It was a quarter mile long and over 300 feet high! It was so much fun! We got lunch afterwards and headed back home. Its been a really fun weekend!

Its time for me to do some homework and go to bed early because its been an exhausting weekend!

First Week and Puerto Viejo!

So the rest of my week of school went really well! I am picking up more and more Spanish everyday! Class for me is up and down. Sometimes I am overwhelmed and sometimes I feel awesome. Mostly I am just really grateful that I do not need this class to graduate, I just want to learn Spanish :).

Wednesday night my study abroad program, CEA, took all of us in the program (23 in all) to the Jazz Cafe again! It was totally different than the other day when we went though. There was a blues band that played a lot of American oldies, that was pretty fun and unexpected. There was a dancer for some of their songs too. By the end of the night people were standing and sort of dancing and singing along. It was a lot of fun!

I have been getting to know the people on my classes much better, the people in my program, and my roommate especially. I am making some really good relationships and have had some really cool conversations already!

On Friday right after class, the CEA group hopped on a bus and headed out for the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica to a little place called Puerto Viejo. The bus ride was long and windy, but it had tons of gorgeous jungle greenery EVERYWHERE! We got to Puerto Viejo around dinner time and it was beautiful!! Driving by the Caribbean coast, watching the sunset over the water in the adorable, tiny, colorful town... it was amazing! Puerto Viejo is very Jamaican influenced. There are lots of people speaking spanish with a Jamaican twang, not wearing shirts, dread locks, and listening to reggae. The vibe is very laid back... hangout... swim in the water. Our hotel was right across the street from the ocean, which was about 75 or 80 degrees. I have no idea how hot the air was but it was HOT. There are hammocks everywhere and I have a new found love for them. The first night we all went for a evening swim in the ocean and checked out the town and local hangouts. We had to get up pretty early the next day because we were going snorkeling! We all got in a boat and headed out to a coral reef. The water was an unbelievable turquoise and all around was this green, uninhabited, jungle coast. Snorkeling around was really awesome. I saw lots of sting rays, bright fish, huge fish, sea urchins, and really colorful coral. We all got back on the boats and rode over to a little beach where the snorkel instructors cut up fresh pineapple, watermelon, and cantaloup for everyone to eat. (By the way, the fruit here is so much better than the fruit we normally eat in the US. Therefor the fruit juices are way better too). After that we had the rest of the day to enjoy Puerto Viejo. My roomate Monse, a friend Elaine, and I all rented bikes and rode around the town in the afternoon. We found a little trail that went through the jungle along the beach and that was really fun to ride down and a little bit sketchy! The nightlife in Puerto Viejo is pretty chill like the rest of the lifestyle there. There a lots of bars with tables right on the beach, little tikki torches, and reggae music playing. Both nights I sat and watched the ocean a lot and I always saw really intense lightning. So cool.

Sunday was our last day in Puerto Viejo and also the day of the Finals for the World Cup! I slept in until about lunch time and we all headed over to a restaurant for lunch and a World Cup party. It was so fun! Espana!!! The whole town was in the streets and at different restaurants watching the game. We drove back home afterwards. I slept most of the way and went to bed pretty soon after we got back too. I feel way better now that I have slept that much though.

School today was definitely a good day. Class went by crazy fast. I couldn't believe it was over when it finished! I think that is a good sign though. I think that it means I am comprehending more.

Thats pretty much it! Yay!

Universidad Veritas

So yesterday was another orientation day, but this time for Veritas University. That is the school where I take my Spanish class. Veritas is a private art university in Costa Rica. It is very small, but very cool. The buildings are amazing! The school is known for its architecture program and the design of the school is very indicative of that. It is very cool to see all the local Costa Rican art students drawing and doing projects all over campus. Right now it seems like half of the school or maybe more are international students (mostly from the U.S.) also taking Spanish classes like me.

The orientation was kind of long and boring, but Veritas offers tons or free activities to do in the afternoons that I am excited about. I am going to be taking a Salsa and Marengue dance classes a few nights a few and a cooking class once a week! There is also a conversation club on campus that I plan to go to as well. Most of the other study abroad students are staying here for 5 weeks because they are taking an elective or two along with their Spanish class. The elective classes are in the afternoons and last for 5 weeks while the Spanish classes are every morning and last for 4 weeks. Since I only have classes in the mornings I plan to be apart of lots of the activities that the offer. I am really excited about the conversation club too because I really want to improve that aspect of my Spanish.

I finally got my luggage yesterday afternoon! It was such a relief! I had a blast putting away all my stuff and wearing my clothes. There is no way it would have been that fun had I gotten my luggage in the first place haha!

Last night, some friends and I went to a place called the Jazz Cafe. A local from Veritas recommended it to us and said that it is really fun on Monday nights. Boy was she was right! It was definitely a local hangout out; not a big tourist attraction. I really liked that because I felt like I got a better taste of Costa Rican life here. Monday nights at the Jazz Cafe is world music night. They had an amazing band come in and play the most interesting music with instruments I had never seen before (so I am not sure what they are called). Then, during some of the songs, dancers came out and performed during the music! They danced tango, flamenco, belly dancing, and other ones right in the little cafe! It was awesome!

Today was my first day of class. Whew! It was INTENSE! Mi cabesa esta muy cansada! I am not sure how, but I tested into Intermediate Spanish for Health Care Professionals. My professor is really great, but she does not speak any English! She knows some words though so that helps. They whole class is in Spanish and I feel a little overwhelmed. I have Spanish Mon-Fri for 4 hours every morning. It’s going to be very intensive. I already feel so much better about my Spanish than I ever have and it’s only been 3 days! The first 2 hours of the class, I was totally freaking out and thought there was no way I should be in this class. I didn't understand half of what was going on! We had a break later and I talked to some of the people in the class and I felt a little better. Then, for some reason, the second half of the class went much more smoothly and I felt like, even though it was going to be tough, I could handle it.

The weather has been pretty predictable here. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced before though and its awesome! Every morning and early afternoon has been pretty warm and nice and then around 3 pm every day it rains! It’s usually not just a drizzle though; it down pours! I have been hearing thunder outside my room as I have been writing this! It is so cool!

Travel Day and Day One

Whew! Its been a whirl wind! I can't believe its only been two days though. I feel like I have been here much longer than that! I love it here, it is so beautiful and fun!

One of my fears did actually happen though, my luggage was lost... The hope was that I would get it today, but I didn't come, unfortunately. I am doing ok though. I survived the first night and morning ok, but when I found out I would not be getting my luggage today, I kinda broke down. My roommate was super sweet and hugged me and talked to me and helped me feel a lot better. I am calling the airline first thing in the morning to find out the status though!

The travel day was long, but smooth. Nothing too exciting except that my luggage was lost, but that is like a bad-exciting. Getting into Costa Rica was great though. The people were so welcoming, especially from CEA. One lady took me shopping for some essentials right away and helped me understand the way the money works here. Everything is in the 100s and 1000s or 10000s! It can be very overwhelming and confusing at first; I am just barely getting the hang of it.

All of the other students in the Residencia dorm are really nice and easy to get along with. The dorm is super nice as well and we all have plenty of space! Every morning Mon-Fri we have cooks that come in and make breakfast for all of us! For lunch and dinner we have meal tickets that we are allowed to use at certain restaurants close by. It is a really cool system.



So today we woke up bright and early and had a walking tour of San Jose! I met all of the other students in the program and they are very fun. San jose is a really fun and colorful city! The "ticos" are very nice and happy and go out of their way to help others. After our foot tour we went to a coffee farm and had a tour of that. It was very pretty and the tour guides were kind of like actors and did a Spanish/English show that went with the tour. They were hilarious! Then we all had an amazing lunch and I got to talk more with some of the students. All morning the weather was very sunny and very warm.

We came back to the neighborhood where my school (Veritas University) is and where my dorm is. We got some information about the excursions we are going on over the weekends (I am so excited about them) and some of the other activities we are able to do. While we were there, all of the sudden it started to rain really hard. I even heard some thunder! It was quite a contrast from earlier today.

After that, the rest of the day was free to ourselves and many of us went to the nearby mall to pick up some necessities and check out the local shopping. (By this time I knew I wouldn't be getting my luggage and so this was a good chance for me to get at least some underwear and a shirt). The mall is enormous and very crowded! The stores are really... interesting, but I was able to find what I needed.

There was a huge group of us from the study abroad program that met up around dinner time after shopping at the mall and we all decided to go out to dinner. It was kind of a fiasco because there was like 12 of us and we all didn't really know where we were going. In the end, a small group of us ended up at a restaurant called Rio that is really popular and fun, but a bunch more people came later and it ended up really great! It just took forever and tons of walking and annoyed taxi drivers :)

The taxis here are very reliable, cheap, and plentiful. Its awesome! My roommate, Monse, is really great too because she speaks fluent spanish so that has been quite amazing.

More to update soon!

I will post some pictures soon too!

Getting Ready to Head Out

My Summer Trip 2010 (cliff notes version)

I am studying abroad this summer in Costa Rica and Mexico. I will be in San Jose, Costa Rica for 4 weeks (July 3rd-July 31st) and studying Spanish geared for people working in Health Care. I will then fly to Mexico City and travel to a town called Cuernavaca and live with a midwife there. She runs a birth center in her home and I will live with her and do whatever she does. I will be there for 3 weeks (until August 22nd) and then return back home.

So tomorrow is the big day! I have been planning and thinking about this trip for months and the day is just about here! I don't know if I will be able to fall asleep tonight because I am so intensely excited and nervous. Thankfully last night was a very classic "girl's night" and sleep-over, so I am pretty drained.

I spent most of my day today packing, shopping, and hanging out with my family. I feel so ready to go now; I can't believe I have to wait a whole night!

Some of my random thoughts, fears, and hopes:

-I am hoping I will make awesome friendships that last beyond my trip.

-One major fear is of huge bugs... ah!!!

-Can't wait to feel at least proficient in Spanish.

-Seeing a live birth for the first time when I go to Mexico will be life changing.

-I can't wait to see what it is like to live as a midwife everyday.

-A fear/hope is that I will know whether or not God has intended for me to be a midwife.

-Very excited to see the beauty of Costa Rica and the fun culture.

-FOOD!

-I am afraid of loosing my luggage or my passport or other important things.

-7 weeks is a long time to be away from home, but I feel like it will be over before I know it!