Just a Normal Day

Hoy tenía voluntarios a Centro Dibá. Yo trabajaba alla en el año pasado. Es muy divertido. Centro Dibá es una escuela por personas que tienen problemas de mental y necesitan ayuda para vivir. Me gusta mucho para ayudar ellos!

Hoy fuímos al parque del este. Está muy cerca de ULatina (donde yo asisto universidad). Nosotros caminamos por el parque con los estudiantes y hablaban en ingles por todo día. Ahora estoy muy cansada, y yo quiero dormir!

A veces yo quiero ir a Los Estados porque me extraño mi familia y mi constumbres, por ejemplo la comida y el idioma ingles. Pero me gusta hablar en español y ahora necesito practicar la lectura. No puedo leer mucho en español porque es dificil para mi.

Que mas... Cuando yo regreso a los estados, espero que yo podía continuar español.

Ahora voy a dormir porque estoy muy cansado!

Jaco

Jaco was just what I needed. Jaco is a beach which is a two hour bus ride from San Jose. I left to Jaco Saturday morning and left the next day around 1pm. I am not used to being a beach bum when I go to beaches but this weekend was the exception. I did absolutely nothing. I lied on the beach for hours, slept, walked along the beach and nothing else. It was a great weekend where I got to catch up on sleep and just read and think.

The beach itself is very pretty. Many families come down to the beach to enjoy day trips. Surfing is big here as well as beach soccer! I loved walking along the beach and taking pictures of people and their daily activities.

The next day the rest of group showed up to enjoy the beach. We played Frisbee and enjoyed the sun. Going to the beach is so rewarding after a long week of school. I'm not used to having beaches only 2 hours away, QUE CHIVA!

DOKA (Finca de Cafe en Poás)

To start, today was such a great day! The sky was so blue and the sun just shined down upon us all day. This morning at 8am we headed to Doka, a Coffee farm. Doka is located near the top of Volcán Poas. Coffee tends to be grown on the volcanic soil because it holds such rich nutrients.

At Doka we drank A LOT of coffee. I am not really a coffee lover so I tend to load up my coffee with lots of cream and sugar. I might have had 6 or 7 espresso shots... I was very energized the rest of the day!

At the Coffee Plantation we learned the process of how they produce such delicious coffee. First all of the coffee beans are picked by hand. Many immigrants from Nicaragua come to Costa Rica for work in the fields. They do get paid but unfortunately it's very minimal. Que mas...
After the beans are picked (only when they are red) they are sent to machines that take off the skin as well as separate the seeds. The seeds are then placed into water. If the seed is not "high quality" it'll float to the top and be sold for a cheaper amount.

The coffee plantation was very fun to see, and it was my first time getting a thorough tour of a coffee plantation. What was also great about the trip was I got to meet and get to know the students in the Environmental/Human Rights track. There are only four of them but they are all very nice!

Once we returned from the trip a few of us headed to UCR park and played frisbee. We met two muchachos de Nicaragua and decided to start playing soccer with them. Nosotros hablamos en espanol con ellos y fue muy divertida! I can't wait to play with them again.

This weekend I'm heading to Jaco! Should be a great time :)

Sólo un Poco de Sol

  

I came to Costa Rica my second time thinking it was going to be exactly like my last trip. I would have a busy schedule and lots of homework to do.  I would also get very homesick and miss my family a lot. I would not be able to communicate well enough nor would I be able to connect with my host family as much as I would want to.

Well I am glad to say that I was very wrong. For one my schedule is not as hectic as last semester. I am only take 4 classes while last time I was signed up for 5 (really 6). Luckily, both terms of classes so far have been so rewarding and I have learned so much! The  most important part is I have been learning from my peers. Everyone here is very knowledgeable and I enjoy being able to have many intellectual conversations with my peers.

So far I have thought about going home, but not like last trip. Last trip I wanted to go home all the time. I didn't feel confident in my Spanish skills and felt that I could not communicate well enough to get my points across. This time in Costa Rica I quickly picked up my Spanish skills. I do not have the initial shock anymore of hearing it all the time. I have even mistaken English words and tried to sound them out in Spanish... This to me is a good sign.

I am not only able to get around in Costa Rica with my improved language skills but I am also able to communicate with my family very well! (It does help they know a bit of English), but we initially just speak in Spanish. My host family reminds me of my family back home. They always have guests over and the dinners are always very eventful which I love :D We sit for hours just talking about anything. 

Que mas... pues, necesito ver todos mis peliculas y televisión en español para mejorarse. Y necesito hablar mucho en español. Quiero decir con mis amigos pero es un poco imcómodo. Quiero leer libros pero no tengo muchos libros en Costa Rica. Cuando yo regraso a los estados, es importante que yo hable, escuche, y escriba en español cuando yo pueda. ahhh no se si mi español ahora es correcto pero es importante practicar! ahora puedo pensar en español, y anoche (no se es verdad) pero pienso que yo tuve un sueno en español. Espero que sea cierto. 

Pues, voy a un bar se llama Chicago con mis amigos! 

Buenas Noches

Rio Celeste

This weekend we headed to Rio Celeste which was 5 hours away from San Jose. We left Friday morning at 6am! We arrived at Rio Celeste just before noon. We decided to buy groceries and relax at hostel backcampers (the place we were staying). The first day there, everyone decided to relax and get to know one another. This was our first group trip!

The next morning we woke up early to go to the national park in Rio Celeste. We decided to walk to the national park, which took us about 3 hours walking up and down multiples hills of gravel. We finally got to the national park, and it unfortunately started to rain. We hiked through the park to see the waterfalls, hot springs, and flora and fauna around us. We also got to experience the joys of mud.

 In total we walked around 12-14 miles in total. Once we made it back to the hostel we washed off and decided to relax the rest of the night! Rio Celeste was a good first trip even though we didn't anticipate all of the mud and rain we encountered. Everything we saw was beautiful! I just wish my camera was a bit better to really show the true beauty I saw.

Vamos a Cenar!

Since I have been here my host family and I eat dinner at 7pm each night. The entire family joins; my host sister Laura, my host mom and dad and there's always a surprise guest! The other night Laura's boyfriend came to join us and tonight a family friend came to join us! I love meeting new Costa Ricans, it's so exciting.

The best part about dinner is it tends to last a while, meaning I get to truly practice my Spanish listening and speaking skills. Me encanta hablar en espanol, pero a veces no puedo describir palabras y cosas yo usamente hago... Pero con tiempo voy a mejorar! QUE CHIVA

Fundacíon El Futuro es de Todos

Today Piotr and I are heading to our internship site for our time here in Costa Rica.

It's called Fundación El Futuro es de Todos.

Description: This organization is where people with Down Syndrome can develop extensively in the social, emotional and intellectual areas. This organization provides attention, care and physical and occupational therapy.

Job Description: Assist with daily activities and help coordinate exercises and other special activities at the organization.

I honestly have no idea what to expect but I am excited to find out! Last here in Costa Rica I worked at Centro Diba. It's a school for people with mental and physical disabilities. It's interesting to learn about how Costa Rica takes care of their vulnerable populations.

I'll have an update later about the new experience... stay tuned!

So Piotr and I went to Fundación El Futuro es de Todos (our volunteer site) which was 40 minutes away. Not too far at all. When we arrived we were greeted by the students and their parents. Usually the school will have 32 students each day. The classes include computer class, Writing class, painting class, reading class, dancing class and many other normal classes that one would see in any school!


So far on my first day I already got two novios... haha! I think working at this new site will be very rewarding and fun. All the students love to converse and do not seem very shy at all!

Buenas Noches!

Primer dia de clases!

This morning I arrived at the bus stop at 7:45am and met up with mis amigos. We headed to Clinica Biblica (where morning classes are held) in San Jose. We arrived 30 minutes early to our 9 am class, I'd say pretty good timing. Our first class of the day was Health Care in Latin America. In class we discussed some of the millennium goals. Some of what we were learning was review for me due to my previous class here in Costa Rica called Community Engagement and Local Development.

After class we headed back to ULatina to have our next class, Economics of Health Care Systems. Before we went to class we stopped at a local pizza shop (not nearly the same as the pizza in the US). The Economics of Health Care Systems was very interesting to learn about. We mainly focused of the health care aspects of Costa Rica.

After class we took a tour of UCR. I knew the way down to the campus and new about a 1/4 of the campus. After today I'm pretty sure I now know 3/4. It's a very pretty campus and it's nicely spread out.

After our tour we decided to look into joining a local gym. The membership isn't too expensive and I think I may join for a month... but I am not set. The gym offers many classes including salsa dancing which I should learn while I am here.

Next stop was home. I ate a delicious dinner tonight! I had soup with chicken and chic peas. QUE RICO! and I am had rice (me encanta), lots of avocado, and salad of course! For dessert I had postre dulce! The best part about dinner though is eating as a family. I get to converse with my family and listen to their normal conversations and lives. My spanish is improving and I enjoy feeling more comfortable here in Costa Rica. I'm almost a tica ;)

Buenas Noches!

Exploring los barrios

Today Lee, Dylan, Dani and I went on an exploration to say the least...

At 10am this morning we headed to San Jose in order to see where our classes would be held. Are classes for the morning are located at Biblica Clinica, the main private hospital of Costa Rica. In order to get to class each day we have to take a bus from Vargas Araya to San Jose (15-30 minute bus ride) and then we walk 8 blocks turning right and left as we go. The walk there is not too long, maybe 10 minutes, but it's worth it!

On our way to San Jose Lee's host father gave us a tour of the city and gave us advice on what to see and do within the city. Once we explored San Jose for a bit, we headed back to ULatina, where we take classes during the afternoon. I let my friends know where the hot spots are to eat, which bars to go to and more.

Later on I took my friends on a  walk to Sabanilla, my old hometown. It was nice being familiar with an area. I took everyone to Simone's house (a girl from last trip). There Simone gave advice to the new students and told them about her adventures here in Costa Rica. It's nice seeing a familiar face while being abroad.

Next stop was to get AGUA! Yes we were very thirsty and had been walking from 10am-4pm... so many hours. We decided to go to this bar nearby called Chicago. It was a nice place to go and it's known for having many people from the U.S. there during the week.

Next stop... no where. I went to see where everyone lives and then afterward, Lee and I decided to explore are neighborhood so we walked for a few hours getting a sense of where we lived. Later on we met these two Austrians who were a year younger than me who were in Costa Rica working to protect sea turtles. They seemed interesting and they live very close so it's good to know that many students are hosted throughout our neighborhood, not just people from our program.

Finally I made it home to dinner. At dinner I had arroz con tuna. It was delicioso! Dinner was fun because I talked with my host parents and sister about everything. Later on we discussed my dogs and I even showed them pictures of my family members (including my dogs of course).

After dinner I started blogging (hey what do you know?). But now I must prepare for my first day of class tomorrow which I am very excited for!

 Buenas Noches

Meeting the Group/Orientation

Friday Morning my host father and I walked to ICDS's OMEGA office on ULatina's Campus. On the way I got a sense of the neighborhood and where I was living. I figured out that I am currently living very close to where I used to live last quarter of school. Sabanilla is very close to Vargas Arayas.

At the Omega Office, the group boarded the bus and headed to our orientation retreat held at Escuela Juan XXIII, near the province of Cartago. This place used to be a school for people who wanted to become priests.

When we arrived we were sent to look at the Valley which houses the city of San Jose.

Later on we discussed with our counselor Luis, rules about homestay, school and school work, how to adjust to the culture and more. I was able to give advice to my fellow classmates on ways to survive and thrive in Costa Rica.
After Orientation, we played volleyball and soccer. At dinner we learned a bit about one another, but I know it'll take a bit of time for everyone to open up completely. I am excited to share new adventures with these great group of students!

Saturday morning we woke up early to eat breakfast at 7 am. After breakfast we traveled by bus to Volcán Irazú. I had traveled to this volcano last trip with a few of my friends. This time, I was able to have a guided tour of the area. I learned about it's history including when the last eruption was... which I can not recall right now, but it was decades ago. The vegetation around the volcano was so fertile due to the ash and sand from the volcano which creates a great fertilizer.

 The panarama shot is thanks to Lizzy who taught me how to use different setting on my camera!

 After the Volcano tour we went to Cartago, the old city which used to be Costa Rica's capital. We went to the local farmer's market in the area and tried many fruits and vegetables that most people from the United States are not familiar with.

Later on went to a fancy restaurant to eat casado, a traditional Costa Rican dish that contains...

After lunch we headed to more ruins located in Cartago of an old Church called Ujarrás.

We returned to San Jose after the long day of traveling. I walked home with my parents and we got cell phone minutes for my cell phone here in Costa Rica. After that we ate a delicious pasta dinner! I  loved it, it reminded me of home! The family is very nice and talkative which is comforting. It reminds me of my family at home in the US.

Anyways I am very tired from all the traveling, I'm heading to bed. Buenas Noches!

Mi Nueva Casa

I made it back to Costa Rica safe and sound on January 9th around 3pm. I was greeted by my host mother at the door as soon as I arrived by bus. My host mom gave me a tour of the house and showed me my room. In my new home I have a very cute bedroom with a large closet and my very own bathroom QUE CHIVA!

After I got a tour of the house I decided to unpack and get situated until 7pm. Around 7pm is when the family usually eats dinner. I got to meet the father and my new older sister. They were very talkative and nice! They engaged with me in all the conversations and I understood a lot more than I did the last time I was in Costa Rica. Being back made me realize that I have learned a lot within the past three months. After dinner I went to my room and relaxed. I ended up staying up late to see coop selections and I received a job I wanted!

Last time I was in Costa Rica, my first night was very different. I arrived and was very nervous and could not understand any Spanish. I wanted to go home so badly! But my first time back was different. I was more comfortable with the language and I felt very welcomed here. My family seems very supportive and I have a better attitude this time around. So far the positive aspects of Pura Vida are back into my daily life.

Heading back to Costa Rica

The last blog I wrote discussed what I saw in Montezuma and the waste management troubles Costa Rica is experiencing. I ended up writing a small research paper that consisted of Costa Rica's waste management processes and procedures. I investigated how they could improve. I was not able to blog for the last month while in Costa Rica due to homework, travels, and last minute appreciation of the country I was living in for three months.

Now that my winter break has come to an end I am heading back to Costa Rica in two days, for three more months to study about Costa Rica's health care system. The classes I will be taking are Health Care in Latin America, Economics of Health Care Systems, Spanish for Health and Sciences and Health and Vulnerable Populations in Latin America. The classes will meet Monday through Thursday! Luckily this time around we will have more time to travel on the weekends. Every Tuesday morning we should be fulfilling an internship, similar to my last experience. We will work for four hours every Tuesday.

Personally I am very excited to head back to Costa Rica. There is a lot I still need to learn about San Jose even though I do know how to maneuver and use the bus systems and I do know where the popular hang outs are.

This time around I will be living in a new area, Vargas Arayas with a new host family which should be a great experience. I am eager to start practicing my Spanish, and I hope to further improve!

Since I am leaving in two days, I am feeling the hesitancy I felt last time before I left. I know I will miss my friends and family here in the United States, but I know this is a once in a life time opportunity that I am so thankful to have!

Aside from that, I am excited to see my friends Simone and Savannah who are currently pursuing work in Costa Rica, and I'm excited to visit my ICDS professors and friends.  Costa Rica has done a lot for me. It's made me happier and more appreciative of my everyday life and the supportive family and friends that I have. I am eager to see what is in store for me this time in Costa Rica.