Things I Love

It's official, I've been in CR for a week now. I'm not going to lie, it was a pretty big adjustment at first. I knew I was coming here for 8 weeks to study spanish...not just soak up all the goodness it has to offer, although that was a side plan too. I'm here on a mission, to try to understnad what people are saying to me...haha! So, for the first few days I was pretty overwhelmed and unsure if I wanted to stay. I mean, it was cold, raining all the time and I didn't know half of what was going on. Part of it was nerves I'm sure too. I was also a few thousand miles away from my friends, family and cell phone. Not to mention...a very special someone. Haha, traveling is awesome but it's a little weird when you have a significant other back at home waiting for you. I miss him but, I made these plans and I'm going to live my life and not be sad about it. Now that I've been here a week things are getting easier, I at least understand my host family (for the most part) and my teacher. I can order food by myself (somtimes with some confusion) and I'm getting around and feeling a little more at home.

This brings me to my list of things I love so far about Costa Rica.

1. LA COMIDA!! The food here is excellent. I've not had anything that I didn't like so far. It is healthier too. Although, I do need to be careful and not eat too much because I can't be gaining a few pounds. Normally I wouldn't care but I'm going to be a bridesmaid the week I get back and my dress is very fitted. There's no room to grow...if you know what I mean :)

2. The buses. At first, I was terrified of the public buses. First, because I didn't want to get on the wrong one and end up somewhere I'm unfamilar with but also, because I felt like a fish out of water. Now, I go everywhere on the bus and I like it. It's super cheap. Each ride is about 30 cents. Also, it beats driving. If I lived here I wouldn't own a car. The buses go all over the country and for really cheap prices. I'll be able to catch a bus anywhere for about $4-6, you can't beat that.

3. The spanish language. Although, I still struggle a lot to understand people, I love being surrounded by it. Also, seeing all the signs really helps improve my vocabulary.

4. Costa Rican men. Haha, so far, they've been pretty good looking...not everyone of course, but I see a lot of nice eye candy each day. Maybe one of these days I'll meet one to take me around on a tour :)

Finalmente...Un Día del Sol!!

Title Translation: Finally, a day of sun! The whole time I've been here it's rained the entire day and it's been very cold. However, today it was nice and sunny with blue skies and a few clouds. Later in the afternoon the storm clouds came and now it's raining but that's okay. I was expecting sunny mornings and rainy afternoons and that's just what we got today. I met up with some friends and we took a bus to downtown San José. I'm living in San Pedro, a big suburb of San José and I really like it. In downtown there was so many people and it was really crowded. I don't know that I'll make regular visits down there but we wanted to see some of the museums. There is also a flea market down there so I'll be headed back there to do my souvenier shopping.

The first stop was the "Museo del Jade."
It had a few jade carvings and pre-Colombian artifacts like pottery, which I love, and other various tools the civilizations used before Colombus. It was pretty cool but I do have to say that it was quite expesive for here. It was ¢3500 (about $7), which doesn't seem like much but it's pretty small. Although, if you're really into Pre-Colombian artifacts, it's worth the stop. If you aren't into pottery and jade carvings, go to a nice restaurant instead. We also went to the "Museo de Oro" (gold). That was about $4 and I liked it. There was a lot of cool gold art work and some random paintings and other artifacts in the museum. They have a currency exhibit but it was closed for remodeling. I bet that would've been pretty cool.

In front of the museum of gold, there was a very large square with hundreds of pidgeons. At first I wondered why there were so many but then I saw the people were feeding them. Some of the birds were eating right out of people's hands. It was pretty cool. It reminded me of the movie Mary Poppins and I wanted to bust out and sing "feed the birds." Thankfully, for the others, I resisted the urge. "Feed the birds, toppins a bag."

Following the museums we went to the National Park where there was a lot of painted cows. I found the golden calf! Some of the cows were so awesome. It was a pretty good day and the weather was perfect. After the park, my friends and I went to eat lunch at "Pomodoro," an italian restuarant near the University of Costa Rica. It was delicious. I think tonight we're going to meet up and go to a karaoke bar or something fun like that. Costa Rica is pretty awesome!

Here are some pictures of the cows:



This one was hanging from the trees...a zip lining cow!

Jazz Cafe

Last night for my birthday a few friends I met at school and I went to a place called the Jazz cafe. It's a little bar/jazz club. We took the bus down there and walked part of the way...as you can see, it was raining. I've pretty much gotten used to the rain at this point. I'm here in the winter and that's how it is. Although it's not sunny, which I'm sad about, I kind of like that the weather is cooler. It's a little colder than I was prepared for but I guess it beats sweating through all my clothes. The group we saw playing was called "escats" and they were very good. I guess they are considered jazz but not quite. I'm not exactly sure how to classify their genre. I really liked them a lot. I'm going to have to figure out when they're playing again and go watch them. Here's a picture of the lead singer. He played the keyboard and the piano all night. I think I developed a little crush on him because of his piano skills. He also sang happy birthday to us because there were a few others celebrating their birthdays. I wasn't able to get it on a video though, dang it! He played the piano very well and sang beautifully. If you're ever in San Pedro/San Jose, Costa Rica, be sure to visit the Jazz Cafe...you won't be disappointed.

Things I Miss

I've noticed that a lot of people who have travel blogs have themes for some of their entries. For example, Six in the World, always had their top 6 list. I'm going to do, things I miss and a things I love list. So far, I have two things I really, really miss from back home and they are:

1. EL SOL (The sun)!! It's been raining here the whole time. Costa Rica is awesome but I came in their winter, it's just something to think about if you are going to come here. My purpose to come here is to study and learn spanish so it's not a big deal, but if you want to enjoy the scenary, maybe come in their summer.

2. My Hairdryer!! I can live without it but I have to air dry each day and it's just not quite the same. Here's a shot of me right as I'm about to leave in the morning...blah! I have to figure out some styling secret to get a more voluminous look without a diffuser. Anyone with curly hair know any?

La Clase de Cocinar

Title Translation: Cooking class. The school I'm going to here offers cooking classes every Wednesday so students can learn how to make traditional Costa Rican dishes. It's pretty awesome. Today I learned how to make corn tortillas. They are actually really easy. I'm totally going to make some for my friends and family when I get back, along with the other fun stuff I learn how to make.My favorite part of Costa Rica so far is the food. It is excellent and I hope that I don't get fat while I'm here. I need to start walking to school instead of the bus. I've planned to every morning but it's been raining all the time here! I wasn't quite prepared for that but I'm still having a good time. Today has been good so far. I rode the bus to and from school all by myself (yeah, I'm a big girl now). Later tonight, I'm going to a place called the Jazz Cafe with some friends. Hopefully it's fun :)

Hoy Es Mis Cumpleaños!

Title Translation: Today is my birthday! As of today, I've lived for a quarter of a century. I've been looking for to the big 25 since I turned 21...only because after 21, the other birthdays aren't super exciting and I'm pretty sure most people don't look forward to those over the hill milestones. However, at 25, you can rent a car at cheaper rates and, have reduced car insurance. Although, I'm not too sure my rates will drop a lot with my lovely record :) Anyway, today is my birthday and I'm in Costa Rica. I will post more stories later. I have class until 2pm, then I need to do homework. After school I'll come home, eat, change and go out on the town. I'm going to go to the jazz cafe with some friends I've met here. It should be fun.

By the way, sorry for my lack of pictures on my posts, I'm still getting a feel for how safe it is to be carrying a camera, especially since mine is super nice. But, I think it's A-okay so I will post more in the future. However, it pretty much rains here all the time...like it is right now, so I'm not sure how beautiful those pictures will turn out. Come back later to read more about my birthday adventures.

EWWW!

YUCK!! Yeah, I just went to brush my teeth and when I walked out I stepped on one of those...barefoot. EWWW! That'll teach me a lesson to walk around the house barefoot. What if it comes into my room tonight to get me. I'm scared!

"You're not Costa Rican"

Today was a good day. There's a two hour time change and since I went to bed so early last night, I woke up at 5:45am and was wide awake. I got on the computer, typed up the entry before this and then got ready for church. One thing I love about being Mormon is, no matter where I go, the church is always there and always exactly the same. I can always count on it. In my past travels, if I ever was starting to feel a little sad about being gone, the church makes me feel right at home. I love it.

When I got to church there was a girl there from Pennsylvania who is doing her masters research. She speaks spanish already because she served a mission for our church in Chile. I didn't get a chance to talk to her before church started. She sat with my host family and I and when the first meeting was over I asked her where she was going to school and she was all surprised and said "oh, you're not Costa Rican." Haha, I asked if I looked like it and she said yes because most Ticos are light skinned and with my hair I could pull it off...sweetness! That's great news to me. Now, I just have to get my spanish down so I can pull it off completely. There were quite a few people at church that spoke English and I know that I'm here to learn spanish but when you are surrounded by everything different than what you're used to, it's nice to have something familiar.

After church we came back to the house and had a delicious lunch. It was spaghetti with a Costa Rican twist. All the food I've had here has been delicious and I told Maribel she has to help me learn how to cook. I can cook but I don't have a huge variety of dishes yet. With the amount of traveling I've done and plan to do, I need to start writing down recipes. I love international dishes. When we were done eating, I played a game called "packasel" with Raquel, the 9-year-old daughter of the family I'm staying with. She is so cute. The game requires you to stack sticks on the donkey. She was a little shaky and couldn't do it very well so she made me stack them all by myself...luckily, I had steady hands. Now, if I could only get steady hands when I take pictures...I'm always shaking. But, my new camera has a stabilizer. Day two was good. I start school tomorrow and I'm excited!

The Arrival...Estoy Aquí

Since I stayed up so late packing, I was lucky enough to sleep most of the flights, the trip didn't seem that long. It's only about 6 hours with the layover in El Salvador, but still, it was nice to sleep my way through it. I don't like to fly that much, not because I'm scared, I'm not patient and it's annoying to fly because all you do is wait. On the plane ride down I sat next to the cutest Costa Rican couple. They were old and didn't speak English, which was the perfect opportunity for me to start practicing my Spanish. I do have to say, I have tons of opportunities to practice at home because half my friends speak it but it's easier for me to talk to people I don't know. I don't get as nervous and don't feel stupid when I don't know. My friends are nice and all but it's just easier with strangers. Anyway, the couple was cute and we walked around together in the San Salvador airport until we boarded our flight to San Jose. I didn't see them after that because they were in the front of the plane and I was in the back so they got off a lot quicker than me, and I took my time getting to customs when we were off.

When I say, I slept through the flight, I mean, I slept through it. I was out before the take off and woke up to the pounding as we hit the ground in CR. It was aweseome. I wasn't prepared with my camera to take any pictures, which was a shame because there was some cool shots I could've gotten from the plane on the runway, oh well, next time. After we shuttled to our gate, everyone was in a hurry sto stand. This fact always amazes me...why do they hurry, get there stuff, crowd next to each other, just to wait forever for the plane doors to open. I take my time and I sit until the rows in front of me are leaving. There's no need to squish in the aisle and have to bump into strangers, I hate that.

When I could tell it was getting closer to my time to exit, I picked up my laptop bag and placed it on the seat...when I looked at it closer, there was a cockroach on it!! EWW!! I wanted to scream and run around and act like a total girl but I was on a plane full of people so I flicked it off and that was that. Eww...I touched it! Luckily, it was a small one, not like the huge one's I used to see all the time when I lived in Hawaii. So, I got off the plane, lugged my laptop, hiking backpack and pillow to the rest room, which was interesting because the stalls are really small. It was a process trying to get all my stuff in there. I exchanged some of my money, which still confuses me. They don't have bills like we do in the US. We have 1's, 5's, 20's, 50's, etc. They have 2000's, 10000's, etc. The coins re 100 and 500. I gave $100 and got 46,800.27 colones. Weird! Once I figure out the proper differences I'll blog about it.

After the money exchange I went through immigration and customs, which was an easy process. There's no fee or special requirements. You just get a stamp for 90 days. I'm only planning to stay for 60 days so it's all good. I had instructions on where to go when I exited, which I followed and found a lady from the CRLA school holding a sign with my name on it. It was a huge relief to see. I wasn't worried I would be deserted but it was still comforting to see I was on the right track. My driver, Leonel, came around and picked me up and took me to my homestay. He was awesome and I was able to continue my practice of Spanish. I'm pretty impressed with myself, I didn't realize I knew as much as I did but when I'm alone and have no friends to fall back on, I have to figure it out myself and I did pretty well. My homestay was about 30 minutes from the airport and the family is very nice. The mother and daughter are LDS like me so I can go to church with them. They also rent 4 other rooms out so I was able to meet some new people already, and they are American so it was nice to have some English in there. I was started to feel very overwhelmed.

The picture to the right is my room. The house I'm staying in is very nice. I unpacked and sat down for lunch. I was starting to feel really overwhelmed because I was only understanding about half of what was being said to me. I felt really lonely and disconnected from my friends and family and was ready to turn around and go home...I mean, I didn't have my cell phone! Haha! I was told the local phone service is expensive so we shouldn't use our homestays phones, even with phone cards so I couldn't call anyone. Then, HALLELUJAH, Maribel (my host Mom) saw I had a laptop and told me they had wireless internet!! I was so relieved, hoped right online and felt at home again. I texted my friend to say I was safe (Verizon lets you text through the computer to other Verizon people, it's pretty cool), emailed Mom to say I was safe and then chatted a bit with my "special friend," whom I miss a lot right now.

It started raining shortly after I got here and thunderstormed through the night. My host family went to see a movie but I opted out to take a nap. When they came back they brought me dinner, which was a burger and fries, I felt so at home. It was "que rico," or delicious. It was better than any burger I ever had back in the States. Food outside the U.S. is almost always better and more fresh. We have way too many chemicals in our food, maybe that's why half the country is overweight. Anyway, I watched a little TV with them and then went to bed. We watched an American movie, in Spanish, so it was easier for me to catch what was being said because I'd seen it before. Good times. Now, it's about 6:45am and I'm wide awake. I love jumping back time zones because you wake up early and aren't tired. I'm not a morning person but I want to be so it's something I enjoy.

The Departure & Cell Phone Separation...AHH!

As usual, it wouldn't be a real trip for me if I didn't wait until the last minute to finish packing! Although, this time I gathered everything I needed throughout the week, I waited until last night to get everything together. It shouldn't have taken me as long as it did but I was way over my weight limits and had to cut down, no surprise there, I tend to overpack! I am going for two months so bringing big bottles of shampoo and conditioner, hair stuff and other things that will last me two months added up the weight. Anyway, I was up most of the night packing and was able to go to sleep at 12:30am...normally I'm finishing up right around the time I need to leave for the airport so that was a vast improvement.

My flight left DC at 5:10am so I had to be at the airport around 3:30am. I checked in online before I went to sleep, which saved loads of time. I got to bypass the large TACA line that was already formed, give them my bags and go to security, which at 3:45am is pretty dead. My friend works for TSA and has the early shift so he came and met me at my gate and kept me company while I waited, it was a nice change to have someone I know with me. Normally I fly alone and I'm a bit anti-social at airports and keep to myself so it was fun to having someone to laugh with. My friend left me and I gave him my phone...it's really of no use to me in Costa Rica since it doesn't even work at all. Plus, if it did I wouldn't want to rack up my phone bill when I miss people and want to talk.

If you know me well, you know I almost always have my cell phone with me, except at work and that's only because it doesn't work in the building. I'm super attached to my phone, I'm like the the chick in the cartoon above with my phone. As soon as my friend walked away with my phone and said goodbye I had some serious cell phone separation anxiety going on. Then, I started to feel nervous about my trip and how I'm going to some foreign country alone, where I don't know anyone. I didn't feel too good on the flight. Luckily, I was able to sleep most of the flight down from my lack of sleep the night before. I usually stay up on purpose for that very reason. Who wants to be bored on a plane for 6 hours when you can just sleep through it and wake up at your destination. That's how I roll! But, I'm here in San Jose already and things are good. I'll give more details and stories later but for now, necesito una siesta (I need a nap). I'm just super thankful my host family has wireless internet or I might have had a technology separation breakdown!

Packing

Even though I'm already here, I thought I'd add some of the pictures my friend took while I was packing...I've never been known to be a light packer, so why should this time be any different. I brought two suitcases, a big hikers backpack, a laptop and pillow. It was heavy carrying half the stuff through the airport but I'm not trying to rough it on this trip so no worries.

Aside from the expected items (clothes, toiletries, etc.), I did make sure to read up on Costa Rica and bring the recommended items. I read that many public restrooms in CR don't have toilet paper so I was sure to stock up on some travel cases of it for the trip. That could be bad!! Also, for the ladies, I read that in CR you can't find tampons easily (sorry boys), so if you know you'll need them, bring them along. It never hurts to be safe rather than sorry later. For my weekend trips I plan to go to beaches and tourist spots so I didn't really see a need to bring too much extra things. However, you will want to bring an umbrella if you're coming here...supposedly in the rainy season, which we're in now, it rains everyday.

My favorite part of packing was my little kitty, Benny (notice him in the picture). Cats are very interesting creatures and they are so curious. I grew up with dogs so whenever the cats do their thing, it always makes me laugh because they are so cute. I'm going to miss my babies!

Happy Early Birthday!

My birthday is not for 7 more days but I got an early birthday present I wanted to brag about on my blog. I'm also going to be in Costa Rica for the big day so I'm getting all my presents early this year. I wanted two things for my birthday, a new camera and a traveller's backpack for people that backpack through the world. I didn't really need either because I have a digital camera and I'm not backpacking anywhere until next year. However, the camera I have is nice but for the amount of traveling I do, I wanted something that had more features and could capture pictures like how I see them in real life. Plus, my camera is two years old and there's always new things coming out, I like to keep up with the technology...is that so wrong? I wanted the backpack to use while I go on my weekend trips to Costa Rica, and I thought it might be nice to get it now since I plan to backpack Europe next summer.

The backpack problem was solved when my sister's boyfriend let me borrow one of his packs. It's the perfect size for what I'll need it for (3 day weekend treks through CR). I put aside the idea of a new camera because I didn't think anyone in my family would buy the type I wanted because it's expensive, but low and behold, I got a new camera...but not from my family. It's from someone else who's very special to me. I just want to publicly say thank you so much. I am the proud new owner of a Canon - powershot 12.1MP - digital camera. It is a beauty and it is loaded with features. I looked at a lot of cameras and asked the Best Buy people what they recommended and they all said Canon takes the best shots. I've heard that before and my other camera is a canon as well. However, this one is so much better. The pictures I've taken are awesome and I'm having fun playing around with all the features. I can't wait to get to Costa Rica and take some amazing pictures. Here are a few of my practice shots...

There's a black and white setting, which I am in love with!
You can color swap, meaning, make green leaves red...it's so awesome, this looks like a fall picture but it's not, it was taken yesterday with the bright green leaves.
By far my favorite feature is this one, the color accent. You can pick a color to stand out and the rest is black and white. It's pretty awesome.

No more sun glares...you can shoot right into the sunlight :)

This camera has a 24x zoom, which is pretty great, most have a 3x zoom so you can be really far away and still get great shots.



Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I love it and promise to take great care of my camera!!!

Countdown continues...

I'm leaving for San Jose, Costa Rica in 5 days! I can't believe it. I'm stressing out and have thoughts of not going. I know that sounds totally crazy but there are personal things happening in my life that cause me to want to stay. However, I think I need this trip more than anything else I've ever needed in my life. It will be so hard to leave but I know I need to. There's nothing really bad happening, so don't worry, it's just a few things that I think I might benefit from leaving. Sometimes we need space and time to clarify and ponder what we are going to do with our lives and this is that time for me.

When I return I know I will be teaching 8th grade Civics and I will need to buy a car (yikes...that's going to be expensive) but there are always things we have to figure out in life. It's too bad all the answers aren't laid out for us. Sometimes I wonder if I would like having my decisions told to me, rather than me deciding. That way, I won't have to worry if I'm choosing the right thing or not. The future is always a mystery and that's exciting but it's scary too. I'm a major planner and like to have things laid out for me. When they aren't I get completely stressed out...like I am right now. It makes me want to scream...AHHH!! Haha, I just want to know what's going to happen. Only time will tell. Patience has never been one of my gifts, so fortunately for me, I get to go on vacation to wait this one out. I know my trip will be fun but I'm a little scared about what I will come back to. I'm sure this probably makes no sense to anyone who reads this, because I'm extremely vague. However, I am looking forward to my trip but what I'm leaving behind and what I come back to is a little scary. At least I know I have a teaching job, so really, all is well.

Lastly, this trip is my time to let go and not stressed about the unplanned. I know I'll be studying spanish at an academy but my weekends are left to me to travel and explore where ever I want to go. I'm just going to go with the flow and I'll discover the many beautiful places Costa Rica has to offer...for that, I'm super excited!!

Time to pack...I'm going to Costa Rica!

As my Costa Rican adventure is approaching, I probably should start planning what I need to bring. Does anyone have any recommendations? My trip is not a backpackers journey so I will be bringing a lot more than a backpack but it would be great to have some advice on what I should add to my growing list. Of course, I'm going to CR to have a great adventure but the purpose of my trip is to improve my Spanish-speaking ability. In order to do this I am going to a Spanish language school from Monday-Thursday for 6 hours/day. I will have 3 day weekends to tour the country and I pretty much already made my itinerary for that, although, I'm sure that is subject to change. Just keep my studies in mind when you make travel recommendations and packing suggestions. Thanks ahead of time!

A Woman's Worth

This is a post a did a while ago on my old blog but thought I should add it to this one...


What is a woman's worth? This is something I have been talking about with a friend of mine lately and I ended up teaching a lesson in church about it. What is our worth and purpose? If I look back into my own life and my observations of other woman, I think we don't realize who we are and in turn allow ourselves to be mistreated. I know I have let far too many men treat me poorly and I realized that it's not the men that are the problem...it's me! I have allowed these lame guys into my life and for what? I have a lot to offer and there is no reason to settle or allow myself to be treated bad. I was never trying to settle before, which is why I'm still single, but I haven't always dated the highest quality guys before either. This is something I would like to change. It might result in less dates but I'm okay with that because I didn't get it until now...it's not quantity but quality.

I still haven't answered my intial question. What is a woman's worth? If you've ever seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" the main character's mother tells her that "the man is the head but the woman is the neck and she can move the head which ever direction she wants." That is an awesome statement. Women are strong and we have a lot more influence in the world than we give ourselves credit for. If we could all realize our strengths and use them in a positive way we could do so much. We could even change men for the better...this is only contigent on us recognizing our own personal worth and having confidence in ourselves as women. It's a beautiful thing to be a woman.

I've always heard, you can't change men. This is true in the sense that our sole purpose should not be to change men. If it is then we will be frustrated and men will be annoyed and want to walk away. However, if we change the way we carry ourselves, the way we are around men and change what we expect out of them then they will have to change to be around us. We can't let men take advantage of women. Men will naturally change in a positive way if we are different, not because we are making them but because they will have to if they want to meet our standards and expectations. Our standards should be high and if a man is not willing to come to your level then who cares, someone else will come along and be willing to work for it. As more women raise their standards, the more men will rise to meet the challenge. Men don't want to be with easy women, they want to work for it. I know that because many of my guy friends have told me and my girl friends that have awesome guys made them work for it!

I've always had a theory that the world would be a much better place if women ran it. Although I still think that's true, our roles might be best if we stay in the shadows and use our influence in a different way...by turning the neck :) We do have an influence in the world and on men. More of us, including me, need to use our influence in a positive way. This is a very random blog but us women are awesome and more of us need to realize just how true that is!!

Singlehood!

I've learned, yet again, that when things seem too good to be true, they usually are. Since I'm always a little vague about my love life on my blog, there's no need to give details, except to say that I'm single and I'm happy about it. It's a great thing to be a 20-something single girl in the world. I mean, if I was pinned down, I wouldn't be able to travel, go to school and follow all the dreams I set for myself. No complaints here. I'm sure if I was willing to compromise my dreams I would be married right now but I'm not ready to do that just yet. I'll still hold on to the dream that I can accomplish my dreams and have a guy that let's me do it. If not, then I might change but for now...let the adventures continue!! Life is beautiful :)

The countdown has started. My next adventure starts on May 24th in Costa Rica where I will spend two months immersing myself in latin culture so I can finally learn Spanish! Stay tuned for pictures and fun stories!!