It ain't no Doe Valley Lake..

 Hiya!

This past weekend, we got to go to Jacó! Friday, we left around 7:30 for our lovely adventure.  On the way, Vera surprised us with a crocodile river tour adventure! It was NUTS! We got to see tons of crocodiles in their natural habitat.  During the tour, the guide even fed some and made two of the crocs fight.  I was literally only 2 feet away from the 15 footer; it was so surreal.  The river and surrounding landscape was gorgeous.  I really don’t know how I am going to go back to not seeing mountains in the distance all the time since they have become a part of my daily surroundings here.

After that adventure, we arrived in Jacó….and we were saw that we were staying at a Best Western. After that shocker, we were told that we couldn’t enter the water since the waves were so dangerous.  It was crazy to watch these waves hit the shore.  I absolutely loved being able to see such intense waves.  We didn’t get to do much on Friday because it was raining, but it was great to get to relax in the hotel that night.

On Saturday, I woke up and immediately put on my swimsuit and ran to the balcony to check out the weather.  It was PERFECT! So, I headed to breakfast and made a plan with the rest of the group.  The boys found out about a surfing competition at the beach up the road from some people at the hotel.  So, we took a taxi to Playa Hermosa for the surfing competition.  It was incredible!! Since I’ve never seen anyone surf in real life, I was amazed by what was happening.  It was fun because there were tents set up on the beach and music playing (even some Pearl Jam was played J ). Afterwards, we went shopping in downtown Jacó.  It was nice to be able to look for gifts somewhere other than the Centro.  When we got back to the hotel, we ate dinner and then met with everyone at the hotel bar to watch the finals for the Gold Cup (USA vs Mexico).  It was so fun to root for the US here!

The view from my balcony :)

On Sunday, I wasn’t ready to leave the glorious hotel and beach.  Again, I woke up and immediately put on my swimsuit.  The sun wasn’t too strong, but it wasn’t raining either.  First, we went to the beach where there was a huge biking competition going on right outside our hotel.  It looked so awesome because the competitors biked on the beach the entire way.  When they returned, they looked like they had a rough, dirty, and fun ride. It made me want to try to ride a bike more.  It started to get pretty cloudy, so we decided to head to the pool until lunch.  After lunch, we packed and left  for Alajuela.

You can see a surfer to the right if you look REAL hard!

Overall, I’d say that this trip was nothing short of wonderful.  Although, I’d have to say I liked the Destin beach more (mainly because I could go into the water), the temperature here was perfect for me: about 85 with a little humidity.  It finally felt like summer there.  I even got a little darker and a little more freckly (hopefully this continues).

This week is our “hell week” for school.  Tomorrow I have a paper due and Wednesday a presentation over the paper.  For Thursday, we have to finish the novel that we were given last week.  Add that to the usual homework, and I’d say I’m set for the week.  Even though this seems like a lot to me right now, I keep telling myself that it’s not too shabby compared to a normal “hell week” at Truman…and I got to go to the beach last weekend…so I can’t complain too much J

Miss you all so much. 20 days, and I will be alllllllll yours! Hope you all have a wonderful 4^th of July if I don’t talk to you beforehand. (I’m anxious to see what a 4^th in Costa Rica will be like..)

Hasta luego! 

:)

Hola!!

This week has been pretty normal, not very many exciting things to report.  This past weekend we went to Cafe Doka! It was actually wayyy cooler than I expected. We got to tour the coffee plantation and learn all about how coffee is made.  It was waaaay cool! Our tour guide was adorable, and I got some gifts for lots of you!

Sunday was our "Family Day" which was decent! My whooole family came over as it was Father's Day here as well.  It was a little awkward before lunch when everyone was running around, but after, my nieces and nephews asked me to watch a movie with them.  It was sooo scary! It's called Amusement.  So freaky, but they had seen it like 8 times and just didn't tell me.  They loved to watch my reactions and tried to scare me even more! Later that day, my group of friends from Ciruelas went to the American Cafe like a block from my house.  I got some delicious key lime pie and vanilla ice cream.  It was to die for!!


Other than that, I have gone to Al Centro everyday to walk around and try to find some gifts for you all. I think I've done pretty well so far, if I do say so myself! :)

This Friday, we leave for Jaco (AKA THE BEACH!!!). I couldn't be more excited to be able to sit on the beach for more than a few hours! Apparently, the souvenir shops there are cheaper too, so that's a huge plus as well!

And to end with one of my favorite quotes: I'm trying my best to live by it here :)

Bribri :)

Haaaallllooo todosss!!

(WARNING: This may be the longest blog I have ever/will ever write.)

Last night, I got back from Bribri. In all honesty, it was up there in the best trips of my life (I know I say that every time…but this one got my heart too.) We left on Thursday morning at 4:00 AM. The first bus ride took about 6 hours with a stop on the Caribbean Sea.  Since seeing that ocean is on my bucket list, I thought the trip was already off to a great start.  When we got off the first bus, we had to cross a river to get to the Indian reservation in motorized canoes. It was a little frightening to say the least since all of our stuff (and me for that matter) could have flipped into a river in a heartbeat…and since I can’t swim, you can imagine how I was feeling. We then loaded our stuff into another bus for a half an hour ride to the reservation.  We arrived at the elementary school, where all thirty of us were going to share a room for the next four nights. We hung up the HUGE mosquito net over about twenty foam pads for our sleeping station.  Then, we all were pretty sweaty (as it was hotter and more humid than it has been in Alajuela ever) and we went to the river to relax. It was gorgeous and so much fun! Some kids taught us a few games they like to play in the river and we even got a little sun.  Then, we headed back to the school area (which is pretty much in the middle of the reservation) to eat dinner and clean up.  After dinner, we got to play so much soccer. It was us versus them….and the little kids totally kicked our butts. This little girl was amazing. She was the only girl playing and it was clear that she owned that field.  Once it got dark, we decided to call it a night and went to try to sleep.  I say try because it was hotter than Hades, and there was so much body heat around me it was unreal.  Thankfully, around midnight, I finally fell asleep.

Caribbean Sea :)

On Friday, we started our day by going to see the little kids sing for us  J.  We had a chance to go to the classrooms to meet some kids and play for a while afterwards.  I got to go into the second grade classroom.  The kids were so fun! They absolutely LOVED taking pictures with our cameras. When that wasn’t fun anymore and the kids went to recess, the teacher asked if we wanted to learn a little bit of their native language (Bribri).  We sat down for a while and learned the basics..pronouns, verbs like eat, sleep, drink, and love.  It was fascinating to learn a language like that.  They had so many nasal and glottal sounds.  It was fun to try to pronounce things correctly.  The teacher taught us simple phrases too (like “How are you?”, “What’s your name?” and “I love you.”) Afterwards, I got to go play with the kids on the swing set! Afterwards, we pulled out all the bags of clothes and toys that had been donated to the reservation and set up a “shop”.  Annie, Bethany, and I were in charge of the baby clothing.  Later that night, I met Stephanie (the little girl from the soccer game) and Jordi.  They are seriously some of the funnest kids I have ever met.  We taught them a bunch of card games like Go Fish, ERS, and 31 (which I also learned J).  Apparently, they don’t have cards, and so they were loving these games! They were so intense in ERS and picked up the games so quickly.  I loved practicing Spanish with them because they were so patient with me.  After a few hours of cards, we called it a night (and it wasn’t even that hot to sleep!)

On Saturday, we got up bright and early and set up “shop” for the people to come in and get items for their families.  Each person in the family only got one shirt and one bottom because we had so many people to give things to.  It was incredible how thankful they were for anything they got.  The first thing we pulled up as an option, they would grab immediately.  No one was picky at all about getting “fashionable clothing” or matching.  It was incredible to see the joy of the kids who got new toys to play with.  I worked in the “shop” for about 5 hours that day. Later that afternoon, I went to the general store up the road to get a powerade. One of the girls that I gave a dress to was in there (wearing the dress) and she ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug and then modeled her new outfit.  It was one of the most adorable experiences ever.  After dinner, we played more cards for a long time and got some of the most delicious “ice cream” I have ever had (see pic below). If I could market it in the states, I totally would.  We asked how they were made and it is just the fresh fruit juice and sugar mixed in a bag and then frozen.  They had blackberry, strawberry, coconut, pineapple, and chocolate flavor.  The coconut and chocolate had milk in it as well we later learned.  My favorite was the blackberry..and second favorite was pineapple.  It was only 20 cents for one of these and they cooled you right down! I probably had 10 thought the duration of the trip…And one kid even packed his insulated lunch box full of them to take back to Alajuela.  (They were that good!) After this, we called it a night.

On Sunday, I went to mass with Vera again.  This time, I liked it SO MUCH MORE. The priest talked much slower and it was so much easier to understand.  The church was kind of sad looking, but it was so cool because the walls were literally fences for air circulation. This time, communion was a much more like that at home and the mass followed the pattern of at home so much better. It was still about an hour and a half long, but it wasn’t as awful as the last time.  And the nuns’ singing was glorious.  (P.S. there was a convent on the reservation and some of the nuns teach in the school.) After mass, we got to go on a hike with Jordi leading us all. We went to a real TEEPEE. It was literally so neat.  They told us about rituals that they have in there and how it was made.  The one we were in (seen below) was built about seven years ago.  It was incredible to see it.  Then we went into a teepee that was not for rituals where a woman was using metates to chop corn to make chicha which is an alcoholic drink that the Indians make.  It was awesome because we had just learned about metates and chicha in class the week before…and it finally came together at the reservation.  Then we headed back to the reservation to change to go back to the river.  There I learned that Jordi was telling my friends I was his girlfriend (sorry Sether, looks like you got the boot J ). It was adorable.  Then we went back and played cards and went to bed with rain, so it was BEAUTIFUL for sleeping.  

Yesterday was so bittersweet.  As soon as I woke up, I wanted to go back to sleep so I didn’t have to face the reality of leaving.  We immediately started packing and taking down the mosquito net.  After we were all packed, the kids called us over to sing and say thank you.  Stephanie asked me to go swing with her before I left and some kids asked for my email and full name to find me on facebook (they have five computers at school).  When the bus came, I definitely was not ready to leave. One girl (Brooke) and I even joked about running to the convent to tell them we wanted to be nuns so we could stay.  But when the bus came, we got on the bus and waved goodbye to all the kids.

This is Bethany, Annie, Stephanie, and I :)

I definitely wasn’t expecting to enjoy a trip with no hot shower, so many bugs, such hot weather, no technology really at all, and sleeping with 30 people to be so fun…but it was the best trip so far.  It was so fun to get to know people so well on the reservation.  They were so welcoming and kind to us.  They were as interested in our lives as we were in theirs.  I really hope that at least one of those kids emails me. I would love to be able to keep in contact with that community.  Thus far, it was the fastest five days of the trip and I wouldn’t replace it for anything.

 I can’t wait to tell you all more about it when I get home.  Love you and miss you all very much. (You guys were the real reason I didn’t run to the convent and stay there forever J)

I'm a lobstaaaaa!

Hello there!!

Sorry it has been a while since I’ve written… This week was midterms, and I was a little busy studying. J I hope it paid off! Anywho, this past weekend, we went to THE BEACH on Saturday! We went to Puntarenas.  According to Rebecca (a girl who lives in my town), it’s the ugliest beach in Costa Rica. If that’s the truth, then I could totally handle any beach this country has to throw at me.  It was gorgeous!! It had black sand and a ton of swing sets and basketball courts.  Basically, I was in heaven (as you can tell from the pic below). 

On Sunday, nothing was planned.  It happened to be my “nephew’s” birthday here who lives next door.  This gringo: not invited…unless she wanted to awkwardly sit in the corner.  Luckily, my padre came over and gave me a “salchicarron” which is grilled sausage on a tortilla with pico de gallo. It was wonderful! Also, he gave me another one of the same but with steak instead of the grilled sausage.  They were amazing.  Then, he told me I could go back home if I was feeling weird because he could understand me feeling uncomfortable.  I thanked him about a billion times and then left. I then heard the doorbell ring and it was Brittany (a girl who lives across the street).  She wanted to go check out this café and study.   They had free wifi and wonderful cinnamon rolls.  I got to skype with my parents, Jared, Karen, Nathan, Noah, and Joely! It was the best because beforehand, I was feeling very homesick for really the first time here.  It think it was because nothing was planned and I wasn’t feeling the most welcome at my own house here.  All in all, it turned out to be a pretty successful day!

On Monday, we had normal classes which were basically used to review.  Then after class, we had dancing lessons!  If I didn’t think I was awful at dancing before, I know it now.  Thankfully, I think I am learning a thing or two about dance in Costa Rica, and it has been so fun! At the going away party, we are supposed to dance “classic Costa Rican dance” with our families.  That will be very interesting!  

Yesterday, we had our first two midterms.  They were in culture (which I think I rocked!) and literature.  Culture is so interesting because we are learning so much about Costa Rica.  I absolutely love learning about it, which is weird since I never really liked history when I took it at home.  And literature was SO DIFFICULT. We read a story that is written in old Costa Rican Spanish.  Most words aren’t even in our dictionaries.  So, you can only imagine how the test went.  Everyone in both classes felt like the exam was way over their heads.  Hopefully, the teacher will see that we all didn’t understand and give us another shot…but who knows.  After school, we went to my favorite gelato place.  Which apparently has free wifi as well (they just don’t advertise it!). So I got some lovely vanilla and oreo gelato and got to skype with bri bri! After, I just went home and studied all night for my midterms.

Which brings us to today.  Finally, grammar, composition and conversation are over! All I have to worry about now is packing for Bri Bri!! I am totally stoaked for this five day trip.  I know that it will be the experience of a lifetime and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

And now, I’m off on another adventure to the Centro. Love you all very much! J

Adventure is out there!!!!

Sunday night, we got back from Monteverde.  In all honesty, it was WAY better than expected.  We left super early on Saturday morning and we got there around noon.  We immediately started hiking through the CLOUD FOREST!! We did not even go to the room first! We were hiking for about 2 and a half hours and finally made it back to the bus.  The hike was perfect. We got to see such cool trees and plants.  At the top of the hike, there was a GORGEOUS view of mountains.It was gorgeous up there and the temperature was wonderful.  It was a little windy, but it felt so good after hiking.  After the hike, we took the bus to our CABINS! We also got to cook spaghetti for dinner.  It was a delight! Then on Sunday, we had to wake up bright and early for another hike! It was awesomeeeee. We hiked for like 2 miles and saw 13 bridges over the cloud forest.  I can't wait to show you all pics!

On Monday, we all decided to go to the Casino, and it was SUPER fun.  We danced A TON!! I absoultely love dancing here, and I'm not sure why.  I hope I am picking up some sweet moves to show to you guys.

Today was WONDERFUL!!! My mom made me pancakes for breakfast and rice and chicken for lunch.  It was delicious!  School was perfect  Vera got us all cake and cancelled conversation class so we could celebrate...aka we had to learn three different birthday songs and sing and dance.  It was a hooot! Tonight, basically the entire class is going to Pizza Hut to celebrate.  After, we are going out in the Centre to a bar called Al Cielo (apparently it is where all the cool kids go according to my dad!).  Some day, I will go to an internet cafe with my computer to put up pics, but until then...you will just have to envision what I am doing through my words. :)

Love you alll!!!