I guess I owe you all an update. Sorry! I love it here, but after the first couple weeks, all the adventures happen on the weekends.
From now on, we're on our own for the weekend adventures. This past weekend we went to a beach called Samara on the Pacific. Hired a guy to drive us up there and stayed in a hotel on the beach. So great! We had so much fun just hanging out on the beach all weekend. I have a lovely tan now...with a bit of a sun burn as well. The waves are incredible here, so one of the girls, Jessica, and I love to go dive in them. Plus the temperature of the water is so so nice. Like I'm in a giant bathtub :) Last week, four of us went to get our 2 hour massages for free as Sol decided to pay for them. I'm pretty sure I have never felt that relaxed and that good after anything. It's definitely worth the $20 I'll be spending the next time I go.
Thursday we had a farewell party for the students who were leaving from Summer I and Summer II. It was sad. My closest friend from this session left, but I got closer with the rest of the group over the weekend. That night we went out to send them off well. Which basically meant everyone except me and 2 of the other girls got drunk. I had a couple shots, but I was totally fine. Half the group remembered nothing of the night before the next morning. Do y'all have any idea how much money I'm saving on not buying alcohol every night? Or not going through 3 or 4 6 packs of beer when I'm at the beach? Literally hundreds for some of the students in the group...who are going to have surprised parents when they get the next credit card bill. Friday we went to the National Theater to listen to the National Symphony play. A famous violinist from Japan was playing with them too. It was really beautiful. We left Saturday at 5:30 and got back last night at 9 when I may or may not have gotten my finger slammed in a car door by my roommate who thinks I slammed my own finger in the door. It's swollen and bruised and I can't move it today. My host mom wanted to take me to the clinic, but I was like uh uh. I'm not going back there again.
Somehow this weekend was even better than last weekend's trip to the beach with rafting and kayaking and all that fun stuff!
We left Heredia at 7 because we had to get up to Arenal so we could beat the crowd at the waterfall. La Fortuna is the name of the waterfall and it's beautiful! There was a really steep hike down, and then we got to swim in the water! Which, btw, mountain water is cold. After a while we were numb though, and it was incredible. The current was really strong though, so after a little while in the water, I was ready for a break.
(That's me!)
So we went over here to the more low key part of the waterfall where there was less noise and a little pool you could swim in and rocks to bask on. We spent the morning down there and then hiked back up, checked in to the hotel and just chilled for like an hour. We sat on the patio and mostly everyone enjoyed an Imperial while we waited for the rain to stop. And then. We left for Baldi hot springs. All natural hot tubs basically that get warmer as you go up the mountain. One of the pools had water slides of hot water. And then you land in the pool below with all the steam coming off it, and you can't see, and it's so great! We got a buffet dinner there too. We ate after spending 2 hours in the hot springs. And then we went to spend another 2 hours up in one of the pools that had basically little beds you could lay in in the water. At one end of the pool was a waterfall pouring into it and at the other end was a waterfall into the pool below. Natural rock bottoms. Hot water. Sooooooo amazing. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the beautifulness as all the water might kill my camera.
Outside our room at the hotel was all this awesomeness...
Blue Jean Frogs Cacao - what chocolate's made of
Rain!
And today, our wake up call was bungee jumping!! (see video!!)
So so SO incredible!!
And afterward we went on a canopy tour through the cloud forest.
Sorry to leave you guys hanging, but 4 trips to the clinic later, I'm fine! The receptionist there is my new friend though. When I went to get the results of my stool sample Friday, I walked in and she was like, "Rachel! How are you feeling??" She's so sweet. Turns out I don't have a parasite, and I'm almost done with all the different medicine I've had to take. I'm trying to adjust to normal food again now as I've had a week of soup, pureed potatoes, crackers, and water. Mmmmm!
The week has been pretty great though otherwise! Half my group is sick though. I accompanied my roommate to the clinic Wednesday and she was so scared. She thought they were going to give her an IV like they did for me because she said she was really dehydrated from her runny nose...she had a sinus infection. It amused me :)
We took a tour of San Jose, the capital, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights here it's 2 for 1 movies, so we went to see Up! in 3D. A group of students went out to dinner at this restaurant I always pass on the way home Thursday night, but it was a total rip off. Erica and I got a plate for two that had 2 burgers and legit 4 fries each. $8, but we split it so it wasn't AS horrible. And Friday, my class went to San Jose to visit the Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold) which is the largest collection of gold in Central America.
Church in San Jose
Museo de Oro:
Friday afternoon, I missed my yoga class because it was pouring outside and my tica mom wouldn't let me walk two houses down to the street wear I could flag a taxi even though I had a rain jacket and umbrella. I slept instead :)
En Costa Rica... 11. All the cars are stick shift here 12. Milk comes in boxes on a shelf in the grocery store. Just put it in the fridge when you get home!
My director made me go to the clinic last night. Lame.
The doctor was really nice, and she examined me, looked at my mouth and saw that it was dry so she told me I was dehydrated. And she told me she was going to give me some medicine for my stomach pain.
She hooked my up to a freaking IV! I took a liter of fluids, and half a liter of fluids mixed with pain medicine. The medicine was awful! She told me my arm might hurt a little. No, it felt like it was going to fall off my body. I almost passed out while I was laying down because it hurt so bad. My tico mom and brother were there though, and she held my hand and rubbed my arm that didn't have the IV while Carlitos was trying to make me laugh. They thought I was scared because my face was so white, but false. I was just dying.
She asked afterward if the pain was gone, but it wasn't really. She pointed to her butt and asked if I wanted an "inyeccion," and I wasn't going to have any of that mess. I told her I'd be fine. After 2 1/2 hours, paying $150 for everything, and receiving 5 different medicines to take, we left. Three are pills, which are fine, but one is a saline solution that tastes terrible! and the other is something I have to dissolve in water and drink that tastes like chalk and is awful as well.
It was quite the adventure last night. I felt like crap for most of this morning when we toured San Jose, the capital, but I feel better now. My tico family is amazing here. I don't think I could've gotten a better one :)
We went out Thursday night to a bar to go dancing. My host brother took my group and his students and a couple of his tico friends and we went to this bar with live music and were the only ones there other than these 3 people who were having dinner in the back. It was SO much fun though. Definitely got to work on my dance skills with the tico guys who were fab! The girls from Carlos's group were so nice and letting me try their drinks and helping me figure out what i should get. They finally decided I should get a Smirnoff Ice. It was fine at first, but then it started to taste like rubbing alcohol.
Friday we left for the Pacific coast to a place called Manuel Antonio. By the time we got there after a 4 hour drive I felt so sick. Not sure what I ate, but I had awful traveler's diarrhea all weekend, but I made the best of it. My director was really encouraging too, and kept telling me that I was a trooper and that I had such a great attitude. Pura vida!
Friday was spent traveling, and then everyone went out that night, but I was sick so I stayed in. Saturday, we went on a hike through Manuel Antonio National Park to get to this beautiful beautiful beach. And then we went kayaking through the mangrove in the afternoon. And on Sunday we went white water rafting and hung out at the beach all afternoon body surfing on some incredible waves. It was a great weekend, everything was so beautiful, but I felt terrible the whole time and tired because I kept having to get up to go to the bathroom at night.
I'm better, but I'm still having really bad stomach pain. It was really bad this morning, and I felt nauseous all morning and like I was about to pass out. I went to class anyways :) My tico mom made me chicken soup for lunch, and I feel better now. I'm hoping it will last, but we'll have to see. I would definitely rate this above Salmonella from camp, but below food poisoning from Prom.
Miss you guys!! (But I'm not gonna lie...I really don't want to come home :)
PS here are pics from the weekend...
(On the way to the beach on Crocodile Bridge...there's crocodiles in the river that just chill around the bridge)(Cocodrilos)
(Cloudy sunset at the beach)
Hike through Manuel Antonio National Park on the way to the beach:
BoaSloth
Spectacled Owl...SO cool
Baby iguana dominating crab!
Capuchin (the same kind of monkey from Night at the Museum!)
My program is called Sol Abroad, and yesterday they surprised us by saying that we'd be able to take a photography class from a famous Costa Rican photographer (and good friend of our director Janiva) for free. (When I say famous, I mean in Costa Rica only.) But I took the class with Mónica today, and it was so great! Here are some of the pics we took around campus:
Yesterday in class we told stories for a whole hour. We were learning the difference between chistes (jokes) and anécdotas (anecdotes) in Spanish, so we got to tell different anecdotes to each other. And today she brought little trinkets from her house and we paired up, one person was the buyer and on the seller, and we practiced bartering in Spanish! Class is so great!
Afterward, we had cooking class tonight, which lasted from 3:30 - 7:30. Our guide Jorge, who drives us for our excursions, his wife taught the class. We got to go out to their house in the country which was SO nice. She was the nicest person I've met in Costa Rica so far (and there have been a lot). Flor has the biggest heart and was so funny and kind. We learned how to make a lot of typical Costa Rican dishes, and they were alright for the most part, but the famous Costa Rican dish, Gallo Pinto, was a slight disaster. My host mom made it yesterday morning, and it was fine, but in the afternoon, she put a ton of cilantro in it. So I definitely gag by just smelling a little cilantro. I felt so bad because every bite I took I literally almost threw up. I had to concentrate very hard not to. I could only eat about half the plate though. It was terrible. I'll make Gallo Pinto when I come back without cilantro. Es mejor :) On the way back from Jorge and Flor's house, he asked us if anyone could understand what he was saying. Before Janiva had been telling us how good and respectful his kids were. So Jorge told us a story in Spanish about how when his eldest daughter was 19, the guy that liked her sent him an email asking to meet with him, and when they met he asked if it would be ok to ask his daughter out, but only if Jorge would allow it. Jorge siad yes, and the guy asked what his rules for the relationship would be. He said the boy could never go in his daughter's room, and would always have to bring her back by 10 and respect her and the family even though his rules were more conservative than those of the guy. He followed the rules for 4 years and then they got married. After the wedding, he thanked Jorge for having him follow the rules. It was such a great sorry!! Jorge is an awesome dad as well as guide for us. He's like our second dad while we're down here.
Afterward I translated it for Janiva, and I think she was very surprised. After most of the other students were dropped off she told me, "You know, you're very quiet, but you understand everything that's going on." It made me feel smart :)
Last night, I was just going to go to bed, but my host brother asked if I wanted to go get a beer or something. So we went out, and I had my first drink ever at a bar called Bulevar (one of the 3 main bars in Heredia). My first drink ever was Piña colada. And it was gross. But I drank the whole thing anyways because my host brother bought it for me. Some of the other students came and we played pool and fusbol. My host brother Carlitos said he'd make me some drinks at home so I can try different things. Pura vida!
And one more thing. So my roommate is crazy. She's 17, and at the same level in college that I am. Just finished sophomore year. Finished high school in 2 years. Lived in New York for a while working because she wants to be an actress. And now she's going to school to get a degree so she has a better chance at being an actress. She's so much fun though. We talk in Spanish to each other all the time.
En Costa Rica... 7. It's very rare to find a tico that likes peanut butter. 8. Directions are given by landmark only. Houses don't have addresses here. 9. Since the houses are so open here, for the most part people whistle for someone to come to the door instead of knocking. 10. When we close doors in the states, it's considered slamming the doors here, so you have to close them very very quietly otherwise it's considered rude.
First two days of class have been great!! We have class from 10:45 - 1:45 and a 20 minute break after the first hour. It's so great, but very hard to concentrate for the whole time. Since I'm not fluent, I have to listen very very closely to every word she says, just to get the gist of the conversation. It's so easy to zone out temporarily due to Spanish overload. But I'm learning. And we've had a decent amount of homework so far. I like the homework though. Es necesario para practicar el español. (It's necessary in order to practice my Spanish.)
It's a good 30 minute walk to class. The walk there in the morning isn't so bad because it's all down hill. But that means the walk back is all uphill and they are some decent sized hills...maybe mountains. I'll have to sacar una foto (take a picture).
Yesterday, we had a tour of Heredia, the city I'm living in, after class. We went downtown and saw the oldest church in Heredia that hasn't been destroyed by terremotos (earthquakes) and the central park:
In the parque central, there was a fountain sent to Costa Rica from France, recognizing it's first sewer system. The things we take advatnage of... We ended the tour part with a scavenger hunt for frutas in the Mercado de Heredia. It was so cool walking through the market seeing the different foods, spices, herbs, etc...all fresh:
After the tour we went to a cafe to try all the fruits we had gotten, and different postres (pastries) from the cafe. We met up with the students from the first session, who were staying for two and got to know them a little better than we had in the morning at class. The guy's from Summer 1 had just gotten back from a massage. Here, you can get 2 hours of massage, acupressure, reflexology, and a couple other things for 20 dollars!! The girls from Summer 2 are going next week!
Today we had dance class con Carlitos my host brother!! It was so great, but I was sweating so much by the end of it. We learned merengue, salsa, cumbia, y bolero. He said he was going to take my roommate and I out to a discoteca to practice sometime this week or next. I'm super excited! It was so much fun just practicing, so I can't wait to go out because apparently the latinamericano boys really know how to dance here :) It's Different in Costa Rica... 1. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. If you think this, you will probably get hit by a car. 2. You can't flush toilet paper down the toilet...bad idea. 3. The sun is fully risen by 6 and is starts setting between 5 and 5:30. 4. Lunch is served around 2:30 in the afternoon. 5. Girls greet each other with a kiss on the right cheek, and some guys greet girls like this as well. 6. Only gay ticos (Costa Ricans) wear shorts to class.
There's more, but I can't think of them right now. I'll continue to add.
I made it to Costa Rica safe and sound last night! My flight landed around 8:30, and I met my host family at 10. Carlos (who goes by Carlitos) my host brother, Isabel my host mom, and Erica my roommate (from the same program I'm in) all came to pick me up. They are so great! Isabel immediately started pulling food out of the fridge after I put my bags in my room. I wasn't hungry, but I had some cornbread is what I'd call it, literally like kernels of corn in this bread that was really mosit, and then some tres leches, a desert that I have no idea how to describe. It was good, but very rich. She kept trying to feed me, but I was so tired due to the day of traveling, beginning at 4:30 when I got up to go to the airport that morning.
A good night's sleep would've been very much so welcomed, but 6am came very early today. Especially because the sun is fully risen by then here. After a lovely breakfast of eggs and Corn Flakes, we were off on our first adventure of the trip. We were going to see Volcan Poas which is up in the cloud forest, so you have to get there early before the clouds roll in.
On the way there we ran into this: The ox and cart used to be the primary way of traveling in Costa Rica, but it is very rare to see them along the road like we did anymore. The Costa Rican adventure was off to a good start! The luck continued when we got to the volcano and it was super clear. Volcan Poas is one of the 7 highly active volcanes in Costa Rica. When it erupts, it becomes the world's largest geysor, but don't worry. It didn't. We hiked from there to a lake that was a couple miles away that used to be a volcano, but is now inactive and has beautiful green water from all the minerals, although highly acidic...no swimming. The cool thing about hiking in the cloud forest is that when you breathe out, it looks like you just exhaled a cloud. Most of the time it was the see your breath when it's cold type of thing, but sometimes it looked like you were legit breathing a cloud out of your mouth. Something about being in a cloud. I dunno, but it was cool. We went up to the visitor's center when we were done, had lunch, and did our group orientation. There are 8 of us in this session, and I think 6 of us are staying for 2 sessions, as I am. I think it will be a pretty great group to travel and learn Spanish with. Six of them are from Texas, mostly Houston and Austin, the only guy is from San Diego, and then, of course, me.
I tried some new fruits today. The fruit here is excellent! I tried some Granadia which is this fruit that you break in half and then suck out all the seeds that look like fish eggs. And then there was Mochochino I think, it's called Litchi (sp?) in English. It's this fruit that has like a spiky red skin, and you peel that off and it looks like a white grape without the skin underneath. And last but not least, the guava. It's not like American guava, which is called guayava here. It's like this thing that look like a banana, but about twice as long. And then you crack it open, and inside, the fruit is lined up, kinda like Pez. You put one in your mouth, and the texture is almost cottony, but you suck it off the seed and spit the seed out, which is almost as big as the piece of fruit itself. I'll have to get pictures of all the different fruits when we go to the mercado tomorrow.
More buena suerte as we ran into a bake sale along the side of the road. It was a group of women selling really good food for pretty cheap too, to support un pueblo that had been pretty torn apart by an earthquake and wasn't getting much government help. The earthquake happened in January and the government is just now responding. The ladies were selling the food so they could get a bakery started where they would sell the same things and put the proceeds towards helping the pueblo and other things in the future. Excellent cause.
So I knew before I left that my host brother was a dance instructor in addition to being a tour guide, but it turns out Carlitos IS the dance instructor for the classes I'll be taking here. He said he'd take Erica and I out to practice what he teaches in class. Super excited!
Also visited a coffee plantation today. So much stuff! And now I'm sitting in my room listening to the rain and some Spanish music coming from a neighbor's house. Oh the life.
But it's hard too. I'm starting to think in Spanish which is great, but the whole speaking it is another thing. It takes so long to have a conversation that should only last like a minute. I love it though. And I start class tomorrow and mis clases are 4-5 estudiantes. So it's perfecto to learn because it means I'll have to speak, which means if I don't know how to say things I'll have to learn.
Estoy emocionada (I'm excited) to be here! My director Janiva (pronounced like Geneva) is fabulous. The other 7 students are wonderful. And I love my family and house here :)
Mucho amor! Rachel
PS I realize there's a bit of Spanglish in here. Lo siento.
Hired a guy to drive us up there and stayed in a hotel on the beach.
So great! We had so much fun just hanging out on the beach all weekend. I have a lovely tan now...with a bit of a sun burn as well.
