Thursday 10/30/08

Typical morning. At class we discussed violence in Latin America and watched an amazing documentary about various perspectives on the war in Iraq. After class and lunch with friends I made my way downtown to do a little shopping and just wander the city. I finally made my way home around 3:30 and caught up on this blog, e-mails, etc. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful, but also nice and relaxing. Before dinner I helped Pamela with her homework and taught her to play that game where you try to connect the dots to make squares (does that game even have an official name?). We ate a “kids only meal” of soup as Mami and Papi went out to run errands (being the oldest child I know that’s code for a date/some alone time…haha). After dinner we had some intense staring contests. We even had the dogs play. I was quoting (translating into Spanish as best as possible) Will Ferrell’s SNL Robert Goulet skit (“Staring contest. You. Me. Right now! You win. You always do!) and had David and Pamela cracking up. After our eyes were practically cross-eyed we decided to call it a night.

Wednesday 10/29/08

Today was a good day! Well, practically everyday here is good, but today was just extremely good and busy day. It all began with a nice morning run (my first run in over two weeks, since I couldn’t go at all in Nicaragua). After a nice hot shower (something I’ve missed) and a bowl of Corn Flakes I made my way to class. At class we learned some extremely exciting news….WE’RE GOING TO CUBA! We finally got the permission from Washington D.C. and we’re good to go! Woohoo! I’ve been hoping and praying for this for quite a while now as all quarter we’ve been waiting for permission (due to the strained relations between Cuba and the U.S.). After class some friends and I set up the overhead projector and watched Motorcycle Diaries (an awesome movie I highly recommend if you haven’t already seen it. If you have seen it, watch it again!) After the movie, we decided to go to the Saprissa game. Saprissa is one of the biggest soccer teams here in Costa Rica and the stadium is right by my house. Some friends and I journeyed over to my house, dropped off our stuff and walked to the stadium. We bought some cheap jerseys and made our way into the stadium for a night of pure craziness. Saprissa was playing Cruz Azul (a team from Mexico). I don’t even know how to explain the atmosphere of the stadium other than with two words….absolute craziness. The fans are so intense. Let’s just put it this way, if you attempted to come to the game as a Cruz Azul fan you may just end up dead. Luckily everyone gets a thorough pat-down before the game so no weapons are in sight, but if they were, we’d all be in trouble. You’re not even allowed to bring in coins because people have been seriously injured due to people throwing coins down onto the field. Swear words are treated much differently here in Latin America, so anything and everything is followed by cursing. I’m surprised the refs make it out of the stadium alive. As scary as this may sound to a North American, there is also plenty of fun and excitement that overpowers the swearing and threats of violence. There are millions of chants and cheers that we learned (for example, Vamos Vamos Morados, Esta noche, Vamos a ganar!) and the whole game people are yelling, cheering, singing and dancing. As intense as it is, it was an extremely fun night and nice to have all my friends finally make it over to my neck of the woods (yeah, Tibas!) After the game we stopped at a Soda and some people ordered dinner. I held off and just ordered a drink as I knew since I lived close dinner would be waiting. We all made our way back to my house and Papi was nice enough to drive everyone home even though they all lived in different neighborhoods and suburbs of San Jose. After a nice car ride home with Papi, he and I got home really late (11:30) and had dinner just the two of us. It was a wonderful time of good conversation with Papi and we finally said our goodnight just after midnight. What a day!

Tuesday 10/28/08

Although I was still technically on Fall Break, I used today to readjust to life back in San Jose as well as to write a 5 page essay on Nicaragua. I woke up around 6:30 and began working on my paper with a short breakfast break with Mami and Papi. I spent the morning writing my paper and finishing up a journal that I need to turn in tomorrow at class. I showed my pictures of Nicaragua and everyone enjoyed hearing my wild and crazy stories. Before lunch I played cards with Pamela and Dayana (who were more than happy that I was back home). We headed to the store in search of an umbrella, as I gave mine away in Nicaragua. They were too expensive at AutoMercado, so we simply returned home with fruits Mami asked us to buy. We had a girls lunch, as Papi was at work and David at school. After lunch and few more games of Spoons and Shaft, I took a short nap and finished up last minute homework details. After the girls finished getting manicures from Mami, we headed back out in search of an umbrella. We had luck at PeriMercado and a bought a nice new umbrella. We came home, learned the dance moves to a High School Musical number and watched Pirates of the Caribbean and ate some palomitas (aka popcorn). I made a few Skype calls before a rare dinner of fruit salad. Here fruit salad contains various fruits (papaya, pineapple, banana, etc), topped with ice cream, Corn Flakes and raisins, a little different from our typical idea of a fruit salad. After dinner and some family time it was off to bed.

Monday 10/27/08

Although we still had 2 days left of Fall Break we decided to head back to San Jose today because we needed to use tomorrow (Tuesday) to write our Nicaragua essays and reintegrate ourselves into life in San Jose (since we’d been gone for over 2 weeks). We woke up early to buy our tickets, but the office didn’t open for another 2 hours. We killed time meandering the beach and eating gallo pinto at a Soda. We bought our tickets for a 2 pm departure and decided to spend the rest of our day enjoying a final half-day at the beach. After a morning of the beach, we headed back to the cabina to pack up and grab a quick lunch. After lunch, we jumped on our bus and from 2-7:30 made the long trek back to San Jose. It was back to reality and I found my bus stop and made my way home to Tibas. I was excited to see my family, as I truly did miss them these last few weeks. I was immediately greeted with lots of hugs and happiness and everyone was excited to hear my stories and experiences in Nicaragua. I ate dinner, made my first phone call to the States in a few weeks, enjoyed time with my family and headed off to bed.

Sunday 10/26/08

Today we decided to pack up and head farther south down the Pacific. We didn’t want to go to a heavily touristy beach like Tamarindo (known by the locals as Tama-gringo) so we went to a much smaller town called Brasilito. The bus would’ve taken hours and wasted half our day, so we decided to splurge and make a deal with a taxi driver (even though it cost a bit more than the $1 bus fare). We found another cabina-like place that had space for all nine of us in one single room and was even cheaper than in Coco ($5 a person). We dropped our stuff off and had a quick lunch at a local Soda. We attempted to go to Conchal (deemed the most beautiful beach in all of Costa Rica), but couldn’t seem to find how to get there. We discovered that in order to get there you must cross this river/ocean intersection. Due to the high tide we had to cross in about waste deep water, but once we arrived in Conchal we knew it was worth the cross. The beach gets its name from the fact that the sand is literally millions of shells that have slowly been smashed up over time. The water is clear as can be and the sand as white and beautiful as ever. It was seriously like being in one of those picture perfect beach posters. We ran into some other girls from our program and enjoyed the beach all afternoon. We watched the sunset and made our way back to Brasilito. We showered off our sandy selves and eventually headed out for dinner. We ate a nice yet cheap restaurant and enjoyed the rest of the evening laughing and flabbergasted at the thought that here we were at the beach and sunshine while our families (both in San Jose and back home in the US were enduring the rain and cold weather of Fall).

Saturday 10/25/08

This morning we ate a quick breakfast of Corn Flakes and began the 45 minute walk to Ochotal, a beautiful beach near where we were staying. We spent the mid morning swimming in the clear blue ocean and just enjoying some time of rest and relaxation. It was hard to believe that it was the end of October and here we were swimming in ocean and enjoying the sunshine. We ate lunch at Father Hens, a little bit touristy for our taste, but the only restaurant to be found nearby. We spent the rest of our afternoon swimming, tanning, exploring the rocks, finding all sorts of sea life, and just messing around. My big mistake of the afternoon was sitting on a log that must has been filled with some pesty little varmint, because my legs were eaten alive and I spent the rest of the weekend itchy as could be. We eventually made the 45 minute walk back to our cabina and made banana pancakes for dinner (yes, we even had our own personal kitchen in our $6 a night cabina!) A gringo who ran the hotel across the street told us to go check out a Bar called “La Vida Loca” because his gringo friend who ran the place would be willing to play whatever music we desired to dance the night away. So, we headed to La Vida Loca and to my surprise the place was decked out in U of O Duck stuff. It turns out the owner, Jim Jensen, is a “Duck” who moved down to Costa Rica and runs the bar for a living. Unfortunately, he wasn’t there and I didn’t get a chance to meet him, but it was a fun way to tell all my friends about Eugene and all the posters, flags, and Duck memorabilia made me miss home a little bit (especially the fact that I’m missing football season!). We stopped a small ice cream stand, sat at the beach for the rest of the evening and eventually made our way back to our cabina.

Friday 10/24/08

Today we made our way back from Nicaragua. Apparently, semesters have a Fall Break (I’ve never had this break since SPU runs on quarters). Anyways, after our return trip from Nicaragua today we had a nice long break until Tuesday. Our professors gave us the option of jumping off the bus home from Nicaragua in the northern part of Costa Rica if we wanted to hit up the northwestern beaches of Nicaragua rather than heading all the way back to San Jose for Fall Break. A small group of girls and I decided to take the first option and spend our Fall Break lounging at the beach. Therefore, halfway through the bus ride from Nicaragua to San Jose, we jumped off in Liberia and caught a bus to Coco Beach. When we arrived at Coco Beach we found a cheap cabina ($6 a night, sort of like a hotel or hostel) and began to settle in for the weekend. We headed to a Soda (equivalent of a local restaurant) for lunch and simply enjoyed the thought that we were officially on vacation in one of the most beautiful parts of Costa Rica. We ran a few quick errands (transferring $, grocery shopping and an ice cream stop at Pops) and then made it down to the beach just in time to watch the beautiful sunset. I made quick phone call to Mami and Papi in San Jose letting them know I was back safely in Costa Rica and we called it an early night (since we were all still drained from our recent, intense and extreme experiences in Nicaragua).

Monday 10/13—Wednesday 10/22: NICARAGUA!

I don’t even quite know where to begin. My trip to Nicaragua was one of those kinds of trips where words cannot describe nor can photos capture the things I witnessed, the lessons I learned, and the relationships I built. As much as I would love to write down what I did for you each and everyday, I’ve already done so in a personal journal (since internet was unavailable) and my experience is one of those that I would need to discuss over a long cup of coffee (or smoothies, or ice cream or frappacinos since I hate regular old coffee)

Here are a few basics of my trip to Nicaragua…

1. We spent the first few days of our trip in the capital city of Managua having “charlas” (equivalent of lectures or conferences) with various important people of Nicaragua. For example, we were able to hear people like Dora Maria Tellez, currently one of the most important and controversial political figures of Nicaragua.

2. After a few days in the Managua, we were dispersed into small groups of 5 and went to live in small towns throughout the countryside. As Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (behind Haiti) our job was to live among the poor and learn, grow, and witness the inequalities that plague Latin America as a whole. I lived with María, a women who live in a case of extreme poverty (a shack made a scrapes of metal, no toilet, shower, etc, etc). She and I slept in the same bed (no mattress, but a simple broken wood framed that killed my back every night) and our bed pretty much took up the whole house. Our property consisted of many shacks and many of her grown children and grandchildren also lived on the property. I spent my days playing with literally dozens of her grandchildren as well as working at the church with my fellow students. Everyday, María and I would make the 30 minute walk through the puddles of mud from our house to the church and discuss a wide variety of things (especially the history and current situation of Nicaragua). Much of my time was spent observing. Observing the way people learned to accommodate to the lack of basic items, observing how people spent their days when no work was to be found, and observing the challenges and difficulties of poverty. Although people may not consider this school work, it was a tremendously challenging week full of new insights and understanding on poverty in Latin American and I learned hundreds of things I could never learn sitting in a classroom.

3. After a full week of living with poor families we all met back up in Granada, an amazing colonial city of Nicaragua and debriefed and spent time sharing our 47 individual experiences of living in poverty. There were plenty of stories to tell, both silly and serious. After a few days of debriefing, we made our way back to Managua to make the long bus ride back to Costa Rica.

Again, if you are at all intrigued or interested by my time in Nicaragua, I would love to talk with you more when I come home in December!

2 week isolation

Hello everyone. Just letting you know that since I'll be in Nicaragua, I'll be away from all forms of communication and technology. That means no blogs and/or photos for 2+ weeks. Love and miss you all!
Love,
McKenzie

Sunday 10/12/08

Today was my last day in San Jose/Tibas as tomorrow morning I’m leaving for Nicaragua! It was also a day of food (as you will soon see). I ate some much food, I probably will be satisfied for the next 2 weeks (which is good, since I’ll be living in poverty) I woke up, started packing up my stuff in one small backpack (as that is all I’m allowed to bring) and we had a family breakfast of eggs and bread (food #1 of the day). I finished my packing, did some reading and made my final phone call home for then next few weeks. While I was on the phone Papi brought me a bowl of Neopolitan ice cream (food #2 of the day). I went to “the wall” (my real family’s term for the ATM) and took out a minimal amount of money for the next two weeks. When I came home it was lunch time and we sat down for another family meal (food#3 of the day) of rice, beans, and egg-covered pasta shells. After lunch, I was told to get ready to go because we were going to my great-aunt and uncle’s surprise anniversary party. We of course were fashionably late as my family decided to stop and buy Pamela some new shoes (I tell you, these people have such a strange since of time and priorities sometimes). We made our way to the party. Immediately upon arrival I was given a full plate of food (food #4 of the day). Unfortunately as stuffed as I was, I couldn’t refuse the food because we were late and therefore everyone was already done eating so all eyes were on me, watching me eat. A little while later, cake was served (food #5 of the day). Unfortunately, I did not like it one bit and had to find a way to toss it without being caught. I picked at it while everyone scarved it down and managed to sneak mine in the trash by offering to take some other plates to cover up for mine. As we got in the car to leave, I jokingly said to my family, “so, were are we going to eat, I’m hungry”. Everyone in the car started cracking up, especially my Mami, since she could knew I didn’t really want the food I was given at the party. She told me that I’m a little birdie when it comes to eating, but that for today’s sake, I was a good sport. We then joked about it being a good thing I’ll be living with the poor for the next two weeks so I don’t have to be concerned about having to accept food served to me. When we got home I did the required pre-trip reading and let my stomach recover from the difficult day. As I was reading, the loudest roar of thunder I’ve ever heard shook our house a little and the rain poured so loud it was difficult to hear anything else. I spent my last night watching Disney with Pamela, made one last Skype call and went to bed.

Saturday 10/11/08

The first half of today was spent prepping for my upcoming Nicaragua trip. Before the long “to-do” list was tackled, we played Shaft (the girls’ new favorite game), showered, did a little homework and finally made our way out the door to run “mandados” (errands). I bought all the necessary medicines and toiletries for the next two weeks. Let’s just hope I don’t have to use the medicines (meaning I’ll be diarrhea free!). We walked home and had a delicious lunch (I always love when there are vegetables on my plate). My two friends, Kayla and Chelsea, called me up and invited me to a movie and I gladly accepted the invitation. These two girls have become two of my closer friends on this trip and the three of us can be quite silly together (something that makes me extremely happy) We shopped in San Jose and made our way to Terra Mall to see our movie, Eagle Eye. After the movie, we ventured back to San Jose and said our goodbyes around 7. I came home and my family was singing karaoke (a common past time at my house). We sang our hearts out and ended up heading to Taco Bell for dinner (something I haven’t eaten in years and probably won’t eat again for years). We came home with a renewed energy and karaoked the night away. We stayed up till nearly midnight until our lungs were shot. This was the latest I’ve stayed up for quite some time. It seems strange as it used to be a very normal bedtime for me. After hours of karaoke, millions of games of Shaft, and plenty of laughter (aka as the best ab workout in the world) we said our goodnights.

Friday 10/10/08

Today was my very last day at ICADS (were we’ve been taking our Spanish classes for the last 5 weeks) We had our last class and quiz and then stopped early for a mini graduation ceremony. We even got little certificates and the professors had bought cake, chips and other snacky foods to celebrate. Afterwards, two friends and I went to the Mall to waste time and shop before our 3 o’clock soccer game. Today was also our last soccer game since we’ll all be moving out to different parts of the country for our internships. There was a major downpour, but it’s futbol (therefore, you play, rain or shine!) I took two buses home soaked and exhausted. When I got home Mami and Papi were headed out the door to run errands, David was at my aunts house and Pamela was at dance. That means I was going to have some time home alone! This never happens. I enjoyed the alone time, walked around barefoot (something Costa Ricans don’t do!) and sang my little lungs out. Boy did it feel good to be home alone. My home alone time was short as my parents were back in less than an hour. My sister and cousin came home from dance class around 8 and our girl’s night began. Mami made us cheeseburgers and French fries for our special night and I taught the girls how to play Shaft (a card game my real sister, who I miss dearly, and I play all the time). After a late dinner and some card playing, we headed to bed around 10.

Thursday 10/9/08

After a run and a bowl of Corn Flakes, I was out the door by 8 to meet my group at 9:30 to practice our presentation we were giving later in the day. It was our last day of Core Seminar at LASP (and tomorrow is our last day of Spanish at ICADS) so we had group presentations. We worked on our project most the morning, ate lunch and began presentations around 1. Presentations took forever and after nearly 5 hours of presentations and wrapping up Core Seminar, I finally started heading home around 5:30. I bought a banana for 5 cents for the long bus ride home. I love cheap fruit! I took forever to get home due to traffic and because of the soccer game. One thing about Tibas is that we live by the Saprissa Stadium (one of the two biggest soccer teams in Costa Rica. Arriba Saprissa!). So on game nights, it takes forever to get home since everyone and their mother goes to the soccer games. I came home and attempted to rejuvenate. Shortly after I came home, my little sister and cousin were ready to play. We jump roped for awhile and headed inside to watch the grand finale of Latin American idol. Unfortunately the Costa Rican lost to the Panamanian. We were bummed, but recouped over a nice family dinner. We ate dinner really really late, so it was off to bed after that.

Will I miss…

Humans are funny. Some things tend to drive us crazy and annoy us to death, yet when they’re gone, we find ourselves missing these things. Since little of my time over the next 2 months will be spent in San Jose (since I’ll be in Nicaragua for 2 weeks, working on an internship in countryside of Costa Rica for 3 weeks and a trip to Cuba for the last part of my trip) I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll miss some of the things that occasionally annoy me in the present moment. Here are some of the things I wonder if I’ll ever find myself missing even though currently occasionally annoy me.

1. My two yappy dogs Rayo and Dixie who yap forever, sleep just outside my window and wake me up in the wee hours of the morning (2 am)?

2. The literal hours and hours I spend daily on the bus, my bus drivers, my bus buddies and the confidence I’ve gained from becoming a pro with the San Jose bus system?

3. The unending noise wherever I go (loud streets, motorcycles, music, TVs, stray dogs, honking horns, and my mom singing at any hour of the day even if we’re all asleep)

4. Having to share a bathroom with 4+ people and learning to hold my little bladder

5. Creepy old men who are convinced that their flirtatious ways will convince me to become their gringa girlfriend.

6. Having to stare at the ground while I fun at all times so I don’t sprain my ankle or flat out fall in random 3-4 feet holes in the road.

Who knows, we’ll see!

Wednesday 10/8/08

Today was not a normal morning of Spanish classes. Since it was our second to last class, we had to give our final oral presentations. I presented on the history of colones (the national $), devaluation of colones and dollarization. I felt like overall it went pretty well. After class and lunch some friends and I headed to the theater (Wednesday=half off day!) We watched Total Control, a movie I’d never heard of with Morgan Freeman and John Cusack. Before the movie we wandered throughout the mall and some bought ice cream at Pops (a big ice cream chain here, the equivalent of a Baskin Robbins). After the movie, we all headed downtown to catch our respective buses. My umbrella is officially shot and in desperate need of replacement, which means I got soaked from head to toe transferring buses (as I have a long trek between buses). Immediately when I got home Pamela was at the door and said “Ready to go get Dayana?” Apparently Pamela and Dayana (our cousin) had planned “McKenzie hang-out time” without informing me. This is where I daily learned patience. I was tired, hungry and absolutely soaked, but couldn’t let the girls down. Luckily I didn’t have any homework (as I’m not sure how far my patience would have stretched if homework were in the picture, as you know me and my nerdy study habits). We ate dinner, watched the last night of Latin American idol. Tomorrow night we find out if Maria Jose (the Costa Rican finalist) wins or Margarita (the Panamanian who she’s up against). The girls could tell I was tired and so they went out and sang karaoke while I fell asleep to the TV. Next thing I knew it was 8:30 and I had already been asleep for about an hour. I turned off the TV and went to bed way earlier than the rest of the family, who was still up singing and being loud in other ways as usual.

Tuesday 10/7/08

Today began as usual, a morning run. I didn’t have class until 11, so I had a nice breakfast of empanadas with Mami and Papi instead of my usual bowl of Corn Flakes on my way out the door. At breakfast I learned that it was my little cousin, Maria’s birthday. I offered to make a cake before I headed off to class. My willingness to make a cake spurred on their decision to throw a party for Maria, who was turning 8. I woke Pamela up because I knew she’d be bummed if I made a cake without her. We made a cake before I headed out at 9:30 (isn’t it amazing that I have to leave 1.5 hours before class just to get there on time!) At class I found out where I’m doing my internship in a few weeks. I’m going to move to a small town called La Virgen de Sarapiqui where I will be working in a school helping the English teachers of all grade levels. I’m excited for a change from the big city and it will be interesting helping teaching English (since it’s one of my many options post-college, which officially begins after this trip!) Class went well and we had an amazing speaker, John Stam, who’s been living in Costa Rica for over 50 years and is very involved in Nicaragua. After class we had an orientation for our upcoming Nicaragua trip (this next Monday). I rushed home to frost my cake and make it home in time for the party. I have to admit, my cake was pretty amazing. When I get a chance I’ll post some pictures. I frosted it, spelled Maria in M&M’s, and made flowers and other designs with the extra M&Ms. We headed to my aunts house and had an amazing surprise party for Maria. We danced, we ate, we sang and had an amazing night. Everyone loved my cake. My aunt told me, “McKenzie, this is good. You can get married now”. Why is food always equated with marriage everywhere I go in Latin America? After a long night of partying we finally headed home.

Monday 10/6/08

Today was back to reality and the routine. Back to the 5 am wake up and run (how I wish this could be done on the beach and not the run down roads of Tibas) This is actually my last week of Spanish classes and my Core Seminar class. Next week we’re headed to Nicaragua for two weeks, then I’ll go work on an internship for a few weeks and finish the trip with a trip to Cuba (fingers still crossed as we are still waiting for official permission from Washington D.C.) So, other than it being my last Monday of Spanish, it was very typical. After class and lunch, I met up with my group for a final presentation we have in class on Thursday. I eventually made my way back home to spend the afternoon doing homework and eating some delicious pineapple. I’ve been sitting out in on the dining room table to do my homework rather than hiding in my room to do it and although I don’t nearly get as much work done, Pamela and I have fun doing our homework together. This week I have my 3 biggest assignments (a paper, and 2 presentations) so the entire afternoon was dedicated to homework. After a nice family dinner, Pamela and I watched Patito Feo. Next thing I knew I was drooling as Pamela was turning off the TV and lights and saying goodnight. Many nights have ended in this fashion.

Sunday 10/5/08

Today we slept in a little more than yesterday and enjoyed our final short day at the beach. We packed up our stuff and headed out to the beach one more time before we left. We stopped at Mu (our nickname for Musmanni, a bakery that’s everywhere in Costa Rica) and grabbed a quick breakfast before jumping on the bus that left at 10. We had a nice but hot 2 hour bus ride to San Jose and we somewhat sad to be returning to the ordinary (which equaled back to school, routines, etc.) I headed home on my usual bus and was greeted by my wonderful family who said they “missed me lots” all weekend. I went in search of cremoletas (popsicle-like treats) with Pamela and after hitting up 4 different pulperias brought some home for the family. I uploaded pictures from the weekend, caught up on the last few days of journaling and began homework. After a nice afternoon of homework and a Sunday chat with the parentals we had a family bible study since we didn’t make it to church today. We read through Ecclesiastes and had a good conversation about different seasons of life and being content living in the here and now. Afterward I somehow got onto the subject of my real family’s traditional pizza night. I figured for everything my family here has done for me it would be a nice idea to extend the invitation and ask them if they’d like to go out for Sunday pizza. They all were way beyond excited by the idea so they quickly got dressed up (an odd thing they do depending on where we’re going) and I took my family out for family pizza night. We enjoyed the evening and I even got to color on the kids menu (what I do back home even though I’m 21). We made a quick stop at the grocery store and headed back home. What a weekend!

Saturday 10/4/08

Today we felt pathetic. Here was our chance to lounge around and sleep in, but we all woke up at the butt crack of dawn (6 am) and couldn’t fall back asleep. Our early mornings in San Jose have ruined us for life. So, we headed out much earlier than planned and jumped on a bus to Doña Ana, a natural park and beach. I wanted so badly to bring a surf board but couldn’t find anywhere to rent one and couldn’t convince any of my friends to go surfing with me. Doña Ana was beautiful and there were some guys surfing (which made me jealous, especially since it was so early and the waves were perfect). We spend all morning playing in the water, laying on the beach and exploring the natural wonders of Doña Ana. Around lunchtime we realized that we were really in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t packed a lunch. We asked to park services what we should do and they recommended we take a taxi to the next closest city, Mata Limon. We started walking along the path thinking that a taxi would eventually drive by, but the farther we went the more aware we became that a taxi wouldn’t just drive by. We asked a passerby if taxis came by and he told us that what the park service man meant by catching a taxi was calling a taxi. We turned around thinking we would have to hike all the way back to the park and use the pay phone. Luckily as we were retracing our steps, a taxi came driving out of the middle of nowhere. He was an awesome guy and drove us to Mata Limon. The park service attendant recommended that we eat at La Leda. It was a seafood restaurant right on the beach. My friend Brandon ordered fish and it came whole as can be (head, fins, tail and all). We laughed over lunch feeling like the luckiest people alive (since we knew our 44 classmates were probably sitting at their computers typing up their papers). We wondered around the beach the rest of the afternoon and around 5 found this man driving a little boat that gives rides around the ocean for less than $2. It was perfect timing (as the sun was just beginning to set). We paid our $2 and had the experience of a lifetime as he drove us around the Pacific Ocean, explained the different boats that had anchored for the night, and showed us some wildlife (lots of birds Mom!) It was the best $2 I’ve spent since being here. We hopped off around 6 and made our way to the bus stop. On our way we stopped for granatizados (a very unique Costa Rican version of a snow cone). We made our way back to the hotel, showered off, and realized we all had sunburns here and there (even though we all used sunscreen). We rested for awhile and eventually went out for dinner. Other than a rat on the floor (my least favorite animal of all) we had a nice dinner. We felt pathetic, but we headed back to the hotel, watched some SNL and were all in a deep sleep before 9:30.

Friday 10/3/08

“Flying by the seed of our pants” is the best way to explain today and the next few days to come. Three friends and I were headed to the beach today right after class. It was a very spontaneous trip and we had really no idea what we were doing. We knew that we were going to be Puntarenas, but not much more than that (how to get to the bus that takes us, where we would stay, how much it would cost, what we would do, etc). So, I went to class and then the four of us beach bums said goodbye to our classmates (who were stuck in San Jose for the weekend writing their papers) and began our unplanned yet exciting journey. We stopped in San Jose for a quick lunch and then walked quite away to find the bus stop that goes to Puntarenas. It was a nice cheap ride ($4) and even though we got caught in some stop-start traffic we eventually made it to the beach! Within a few seconds a man approached us and invited us to come stay at his hotel (as we hadn’t planned this piece out before the trip). It only ended up costing us $8 a night for a nice room with A/C, a shower, individual beds for each of us and cable TV. We were all so excited to see what was ahead of us for the weekend. We found a local pizza place and ordered a big pizza to share. We spent the rest of out evening sitting at the pier, talking and just enjoying the fact that we were out of the big city. Due to some rain and tiredness we headed back to the hotel and finished the night off with TV and more talking. As unplanned as things were, we knew we had an exciting weekend ahead of us.

Thursday 10/2/08

Today I made my first attempt to go for a run (after the banana slip incident at soccer) It was a bit more painful than planned, but I took it easy so as not to overdo it. I didn’t have class until 1 so I study for a quiz and got some homework done. I decided to head out early and walk to San Jose and catch the bus to LASP. Since I left before lunch (and since honestly my tummy is getting a little full of rice, beans, white bread and eggs) I decided to indulge and buy myself a turkey sandwich (with wheat bread and veggies and white meat…things I miss) We took the quiz for the first hour off class, split up into process groups and then heard from a Nicaraguan about the complicated and corrupt history of Nicaragua as well as Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica (it is a very similar situation to Mexican immigration to the US). After class I came home and packed for the weekend. I’m so excited to get out of San José and get to the beach. It’ll be my first time on the Pacific since being here. I packed up my stuff, ate dinner with the family and then we headed out to do some errands. I talked un poquito on the telefono and then headed off to bed.

Wednesday 10/1/08

Today was a typical, but good day of classes. After class and lunch my friend Alyssa and I stopped for some smoothies before our bus stops. It was a perfect day for smoothies (hot and humid) so we sat out in front of the National Theater (right in the center of downtown) enjoyed our smoothies and the sunshine. When I got home I got right to work on homework. We have our biggest paper due on Tuesday and I’m attempting to get it done before the weekend so I can go to the beach with some friends instead of staying here all weekend. Pamela and I did our homework out on the kitchen table together. Pamela started singing the Costa Rica so I found a sound clip of the music online and we somehow burst into singing the Costa Rican National Anthem at the top of our lungs. Then she asked me to sing the U.S. National Anthem so I found another sound clip and sang my little heart out (and probably damaged some ear drums). She was shocked how high we have to sing and for how long the song drags on. After an afternoon of homework we headed to grandma’s house for dinner. Mami and my aunt Tatiana made empanadas (not the healthiest, but a delicious Latin American pastry-like dish). While they were cooking I showed some of my cousins some funny youtube videos and I had the whole family cracking up all night. We watched Latin American idol and laughed around the table until 10:30 (late night for me!). We came home, brushed teeth and went to bed much later than usual!