Livin' the Life in Paradise.

This past weekend I lived the true vacation lifestyle--freedom, relaxation and eating way too much. Tamarindo Beach is where I set off to this past weekend, which is just northwest of San Jose.

The group arrived in Tamarindo around 7pm on Friday night, after a 5.5 hour car ride from San Jose. When arriving we all separated into our hotel rooms, unpacked and got ready for the night's adventures. I went with some other girls to a near-by sushi place, that was recommended to us by some other students at Veritas. The sushi cafe was this modern, urban looking restaurant--it was really cute and much different than any restaurant I've so far been to in Costa Rica. It looked a lot like a lounge, with black leather couches, low tables and dim-lighting. I ordered my favorite sushi dish, caterpillar (it has eel and avocado in it) and a pineapple daiquiri. Needless to say it was an awesome dinner.

The next morning, I woke up around 7:00am, ate breakfast and headed to the beach with one of my friends. We wanted to check out the beach, take pictures and walk around the town to do a little souvenir shopping before the beach got busy. The beach in the morning was beautiful. Tranquil is probably the best word to describe it. I was able to take tons of photos, get my feet sandy and wet and watch surfers all morning long. After shopping around the shops we decided to go back to the hotel and change into our swim suits.

I got to beach with already burnt shoulders and eagerness to cool off in the ocean. The ocean had a pretty strong tide with the pretty sizable waves, much bigger than I've ever seen. The afternoon was filled with jumping over waves and laying on the beach. After spending the peak hours of sun time on the beach in 80-90 degree weather, I headed of to lunch with some people from my program and my program director.

Friday night Rebecca, the program director told me about a restaurant in Tamarindo, owned by that served awesome fish tacos and pies. From that moment on I was craving fish tacos, and we decided to check out the restaurant. I ordered fish tacos, rice and beans and a slice of coconut pie. It was a true beach meal.

After lunch I looked around at some more shops, that I hadn't seen earlier that day. We stopped to talk to one of the shop owners. He was a retired cop from the United States with some ties to Iowa. It's always fun to meet people in random locations that know about places you are from. I needed a break from the sun, so I spent a little bit of time at the hotel pool, cooling off. While at the pool I was able to spot iguanas and howler monkeys. One of the coolest things about Costa Rica is the diversity of all the plants and animals. Rebecca was telling me they have everything from deer to monkeys--it's nuts.

I went back to the beach for round-two of jumping waves and soaking up the sun. The waves the second time around were much bigger. I stuck around with some other people from my group to watch the sunset and surfers catch the last waves of the day. The sunset was beautiful.

Dinner that night was paid for through AIFS, so I went out with the whole group to one of the countless restaurants in Tamarindo. We were told we could get anything under 5000 colones (that's the equivalent to $10.00). I ordered a Hawaiian pizza and Cas juice. Cas juice is green and has a bit of tartness to it--it's from the fruit Cas, which is typically only grown in tropical climates. It's so refreshing--definitely something I'll miss when I get back home. Dinner consisted of playing "Never Have I Ever" with some girls and my program director, good conversation and good food.

Earlier that day I told my program director I would go back with her, to the restaurant we had lunch at, to get chocolate pie. She didn't let me forget it and insisted we still go, even after a filling dinner. I went with five other people from the program and we all got some type of delicious pie. Literally every bight was a struggle because I was so full from dinner, but pie is my weakness so I had to finish it.

Sunday morning was another early wake-up to get to the beach to take some photos, before horseback riding. I'm starting to really enjoy taking pictures and learning about photography. After an hour or so at the beach, I went back to the hotel to get ready for horseback riding.



At 9am about 15 members of the group went down the road to a horse stable, to start our horseback riding adventure. I was put on this cute, little white horse. Within five minutes of getting on the horse, it decided to show me it had a mind of it's own. Through out the whole 2.5 hour ride, the horse really did do what it wanted to. My Spanish commands and attempts to steer didn't amount to much--I literally just held on and hoped for the best. It decided at one intersection it didn't want to follow the other horses and turn left, and instead went right. Sometimes it would walk super slow and then bust into a gallop, and then suddenly stop to eat some grass--it had some serious ADD. Towards the middle of the ride my horse decided to run and catch up to the front group--the fear of falling off was definitely worth the end result though. The group of eight or so of us was led by one of the workers to a path that led to the beach. We got to walk along the beach, and through the town with our horses, while the others in the back group followed the trail through the woods.

Overall it was a great weekend. I came back with a bit of a sun-burn, tons of great pictures and awesome memories. Tamarindo is definitely a place I will return to if I have a free weekend.

Pura Vida!

Tico Time At It's Finest

I'm pretty sure if I kept track of the time I waited for my food, drinks or anything else in Costa Rica it could easily amount to a significant amount of time. I laugh at the thought that in the US I get upset about waiting 5 minutes for my Starbucks drink.

In a previous blog entry I mentioned this phenomenon called Tico Time, it's real, and here is the best example of it I have so far:

It was a hot day in San Jose yesterday, and a cold coffee drink was calling my name. One of my roommates and I went over to a local cafe, called Cafe La Musa Confusa after our Spanish class. We had been there once before and had lunch, but this time we just wanted a frappuccino. We got their right in the knick of time too, because their was a line of people quickly growing behind us. Both of us ordered a muffin and a frappuccino, expecting it to take 10 minutes tops--I was giving it some leeway since I am in Costa Rica.

5, 10, 15 minutes passed, and there was no sight of muffins or frappuccinos. After waiting for 20 minutes our patience was running out. It's a frappuccino for crying out loud, it's not like I ordered a meal. I'm sure within 20 minutes time, I could have gone back to the kitchen and learned how to make a frappuccino and been out the door. The owner called us over, and told us that she would give us our money back for the frappuccinos and instead get an ice-tea drink or mango juice on the house. She continued to tell us that it was just too busy to make it and they weren't going to have time to be able to. Granted it was lunch time and very busy, but it's just a blended drink...not too difficult.

Well I walked out of Cafe La Musa Confusa with a chocolote muffin and a cold ice-tea in hand. Not what I wanted but it was going to have to do.

Tico time is probably the hardest thing for me to get used to here in Costa Rica. Patience is not my strongest suit, so this is very much a learning process. Everyday in Costa Rica is a challenge in some way, whether it's learning to have patience, breaking the language barrier, risking your life will walking across the street in fear a crazy driver will hit you or staying awake during Contemporary Latin American History. Learning to adapt and learn about another culture is not something any teacher can teach, it's just one of those things you have to learn on your own through trial and error.

PURA VIDA!

Coffee Plantation/Poas Volcano/La Paz Waterfall

The agenda for excursion numero dos: Early departure to Cafe 3 Generacions (coffee plantation). Continue on to Poas Volcano and walk to the old crater lake, look around and see the crater. Eat lunch and walk around to see the animals and La Paz Waterfall.


Now this is what actually happened. We arrive at Cafe 3 Generacions. It was wonderful. The weather was sunny and there was even a rainbow. I feel that a rainbow at a coffee plantation is a perfect fit...coffee is great and so are rainbows. I bought some coffee beans and they smell so good. I can't wait until I can get home and make coffee with them.

Next stop Poas Volcano. After a bit of driving up the mountain we ran into some rain and fog. Once we got to the volcano the weather continued to be rainy, foggy and cold--luckily we stopped for rain ponchos on our way up to the volcano, otherwise I would have been soaked. After walking for about 10 minutes we were greeted by a cloud of white--literally couldn't see a thing, the crater was hidden by a cloud. I was a bit annoyed --I had woken up early, my motion sickness pills were not working (the ride wasn't pleasant), I was cold and wet and I wasn't able to see the crater--clearly rosy retrospection hasn't set in yet.

After the disappointment of not being able to see the crater, we got back on the bus to head to our last stop, La Paz Waterfall. We had lunch there, saw all kinds of animals and saw our second waterfall of the trip. Lunch was awesome. There was a buffet of Costa Rican and American food awaiting us. I chose to opt out of eating Costa Rican food and went with a hot dog, french fries, pizza and fruit--very unhealthy but so worth it. After lunch I got to walk through butterfly houses, hold a toucan, see jaguars, learn about venomous frogs and hike to a waterfall. When I was holding the toucan it started biting my shirt, hence the "classic" Emily face in the picture below.


Overall it was another day of exploring Costa Rica, which was fun but the weather put a bit of a damper on some parts. Not being able to see the crater was a bummer and didn't follow the plan, but the whole waterfall/animal experience exceeded my expectations. I'm learning to accept that not everything goes exactly how you want it to go. It's hard but I'm trying.

Spice up your iTunes library with some Latino music

This past week I've been trying to immerse myself more into the culture, so I decided to trade in Kanye for Don Omar. Here are some songs I've heard when I've been out, or found through Billboard Latino. Enjoy!

Here are the links to the songs on YouTube:

Besame
Camila

Danza Kudura
Don Omar

Virtual Diva
Don Omar

Bon Bon
Pitbull

Cuando Me Enamoro
Enrique Iglesias

Loca
Shakira

Pictures of the excursion: Monteverde, La Fortuna and Arenal

One of the best views from our ride up to Monteverde.
Past all the mountains is the Pacific Ocean.
All the green surrounding the lake.
La Fortuna waterfall.
Yaa and me in San Carlos. The bus stopped there
on our way to La Fortuna. Yaa goes to Drake too.
Even though Drake is so small, we didn't know each
other before coming to Costa Rica

Excursion Numero Uno

Two words to describe the weekend would be entertaining and hectic. From Friday to Sunday I was exploring Costa Rica's natural wonders with my AIFS group. It was a jammed packed weekend full of several different places. In total we went to four different places, the Hot Springs in La Fortuna, La Fortuna waterfall, Arenal Volcano and Monteverde Cloud Forest. We literally didn't stop this weekend--I don't think I had a moment to think during the whole weekend.

On Friday afternoon after Spanish, we started our four hour long bus ride to the town of La Fortuna, which holds Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna waterfall and the Hot Springs. My first huge mistake of the trip was to not prepare myself with motion sickness medicine. The trip was miserable, especially the last two hours which was a trek up the mountain, on a small curvy road. It takes the cake for worst car ride to date in my 19 years of existence.

We got to the hotel around 5pm Friday night, let me say this, in Costa Rica they hold different standards for hotels than in the United States. We looked around the room and found hairs in the bed, a wet shower and no complimentary shampoo or conditioner, among other things. Luckily we were only there for one night and most of the time we spent in the room was spent sleeping.

That night we went to the Hot Springs. I expected to be closer to the volcano in a remote location with little hot-tub sized hot springs. The springs was the complete opposite of my expectations. Instead it was similar to a resort/water park. First it wasn't too close to the volcano because it's still active, the whole area was decorated nicely--I could tell it was geared towards tourists, especially Europeans and Americans. Each "pool" had different water temperatures, some were cool and a few were steaming hot--hotter than a hot tub. They also had a few water slides and multiple swim-up bars. We only spent two hours in the actual springs hanging out before we had to go to dinner. It was fun but not as relaxing as I had hoped. At the very least I was able to meet some other people in the program I hadn't known before.

I had a 6:30am wake up call the next morning to be able to make it to the 7am breakfast at the hotel. The thing about the trip that made it so exhausting was the fact that we were going, going, going all day long and then had to get up really early in the morning--at school I'm definitely not used to getting up at 6:30 for class every day.

We left by bus to La Fortuna waterfall after breakfast. The trek down to the waterfall was a workout and a little nerve wracking, since the steps were rocky and wet. After our hike down to the waterfall, we were greeted by an amazing natural wonder. La Fortuna was one of my favorite sights during the weekend excursion. I opted out of swimming in the water nearby to stay dry, but during that time I managed to get some great pictures of the waterfall.

After the waterfall we grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant and then were given time to walk around the town before we got back on the bus. At lunch I ordered "una hamburguesa especial," which translates to a special hamburger. Lesson learned from this dining experience: I don't like Costa Rica's attempts at hamburgers...I feel like Costa Rica should leave it to the United States--the experts. Their hamburger patties are small with a huge bun, sweet ketchup, loads of mayo and ham. During the free time after lunch I went shopping at the souvenir shops and bought some motion sickness pills the town's pharmacy. My resident directer said that the trip up the mountain to Monteverde is "hellish," so motion sickness pills were a must. It was basically an extremly bumpy, narrow and curvy dirt road.

We left the town of La Fortuna behind and headed to a lake to take a boat ride across the lake. The lake was gorgeous and was surrounded by so much green. Surrounding the lake were hills of trees, plants and green grass. It reminded me of pictures I have seen of Ireland, I took so many pictures but none of them do it justice. Something so pretty can only be fully understood by a person when they are actually there.

When we arrived at the other side of the lake we took a small conversion van up the mountain. The road was bumpy, but thankgoodness I had my motion sickness pills--it made the ride enjoyable. Riding up the mountain was my other favorite memory of the trip. The view was absolutly georgous, and the people in the van were great. Our driver was playing Juanes (he's a really popular singer in the Spanish world) and would stop so we could take pictures. There was one point when we were even in the clouds. It got really cold and you couldn't see much past a few feet in front of you. What's crazy to think about is that people actually lived in the mountains. I wish I would have been able to talk to them, because I want to know how they get their clothes, how often they leave their home etc. During the ride up I tried to look for stores, but only a few grocery stores is what I found.

When we got to Monteverde a bunch of us went to dinner at a local restaurant and then later went out to a bar recommended to us by a tico. It was a lot of fun going out with everyone. The only song I recognized during the night was a song by Pitbull, other than that it was all techno and salsa music. Regardless it was a good time, living the tico lifestyle, and dancing to their kind of music.

The next morning was also an early one, we had to be at breakfast at 6:30am. After breakfast we drove to the cloud forest to go zip lining. Zip lining was awesome! There were 11 or 12 different lines and a Tarzan swing. The last two lines were by far my favorite because we were above the trees and the view was amazing. On the last line I was pushed around by the wind and I went backwards on the line for over half the line--that was a bit scary.

Overall this weekend was great, even though it was so busy. During the trip I really started to think about how unnecessary a lot of my things are. I was thinking of how it's very practical and easy to live out of a suitcase--even though before coming to Costa Rica I found it impossible. If I limited what I bought to only the necessary, I would be able to take trips to beautiful places, like Costa Rica and learn about other cultures and see wonderful things. In the end those things will give me memories, not all of my clothes I have in my closet. Being in Costa Rica has made me think a lot about life and how I can lead a better one.

Latin Dance Class Experience

Veritas University offers Latin dance classes twice a week at night. When I first heard about it I was really interested in going, because I have always wanted to learn how to salsa dance. Whenever I watch people salsa or merengue it looks so fun, and I always wished I knew how to dance like that. Dancing is one of those things I always want to try because it sounds so fun, but I just never succeed at. I was not given the gift of grace or rhythm, but I still like trying. Neither one of my roommates wanted to go, so my tica mom said she would walk with me to the school. It's important to remember that it's recommended that no one should walk alone at night in San Jose. On the way to the school she was excited because it gave her some exercise to walk with me, and all the family members wanted us to learn how to dance. It seemed like a win-win situation for us both.

When I got there I didn't know many people, but it was still fun. The instructor was this funny Latina woman whose English wasn't the greatest, but she made it work. She was awesome, and really good at dancing. During the class we had to continually switch partners, so I was able to meet some new people. I learned the basic steps of the Merengue and Salsa. It was a lot of fun, and I'm planning on going back on Tuesday night.

After the class, a shuttle is supposed to pick all the students up at the university and drop them off at their home-stay. A bunch of girls and I waited for about 30 minutes for the shuttle to arrive. The shuttle never came. A group of girls who all lived in the same direction decided they would just walk home together. This left this girl I didn't know and me stuck at the university--no taxi, no shuttle and no phone. Luckily I had my wallet with money, so the next step was to find a taxi or call for one. Even though I only live 7 minutes away, I knew it was a really bad idea to walk by myself back home. We tried using a nearby pay-phone, and that didn't work. At this point I started freaking out, but I tried to stay calm. Luckily there were some ticos standing inside the gate to their house and we asked if they could call a taxi for us. They were so nice and said they would, a taxi arrived outside the university about one minute later. Everything ended up being completely fine and we both got home safely--but it was one of those situations that I hope never happens again. Luckily, I can speak some Spanish, so it wasn't the worst possible situation. I can't even begin to imagine what someone would do if they knew no Spanish.

Through this, I feel a lot more confident with my Spanish. I have been nervous using it when I talk to the locals because I'm not very good, but in this situation I was forced to use it--and it worked! I'm becoming more and more comfortable with my surroundings everyday, but it's much more difficult to get acquainted with a community when you don't speak the language well and you stick out as a minority. Already I've learned so much about myself from being here for five days, and it's crazy to think that I still have four more months ahead of me of learning and exploring.

Pura Vida!

20 fun facts.

1. The plumbing in San Jose (not sure about the rest of CR) cannot handle toilet paper. Instead you have to throw away the toilet paper in the garbage.

2. When it's recycling and trash day, there are announcements from a loud speaker projecting through the streets, reminding everyone to put their trash out.

3. There isn't hot water. In my house there is an electrical device with wires connected to the shower facet, to make the water warm. It's a very common thing for houses to have no hot water.

4. Beans and rice are a big deal here.

5. In Costa Rica you say Pura Vida to everyone. It's a greeting and means pure life if it's directly translated.

6. The ice cream and dairy products are amazing. I have fell in love with dulce de leche. It's the most amazing ice cream I probably will ever have. If you ever get the chance to try some DO IT!

7. Prostitution is legal! It's crazy but it's true. On my way from the airport I saw two hookers walking down the street. Supposedly it's a big problem in Costa Rica, I haven't learned too much about it but I'm sure I will in my Human Rights in Latin America class.

8. Seat belts are not mandatory to wear in Costa Rica. There are crazy drivers here though, so it's always a good idea to wear them.

9. I'm not 100 percent about this, but through observations this is what I've uncovered, barbed wire and gates in front of the house is a sign of wealth. It's very common in the neighborhood I live in for the houses to have such things. Theft and pickpocketing is common, especially in San Jose.

10. Foreigners are called gringos and locals are called ticos.

11. Ticos have their own time system. The culture here is laid back and nobody should be surprised if a tico is 15-60 minutes late for something. In school it's not like that as much but for informal meetings it is.

12. Ticos don't say no to things. They are really passive-aggressive about everything. Ticos find a way around saying no, but they still get their point across.

13. Honking the horn in cars is very common. People honk the horn to say hello, express interest in you and to let you know the street light will turn green, among other things. It's not considered a sign of disrespect like it is in America.

14. San Jose is in the central region of Costa Rica.

15. Costa Rica has a woman president. Her name is Laura Chinchilla Miranda. She was elected in February 2010.

16. Costa Rica doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but they do observe Black Friday.

17. For Easter or la Semana Santa stores are closed for three days in San Jose. Nothing operates not even taxi cabs. Easter is a huge deal in Costa Rica, much bigger than in the US. The majority of Costa Ricans are Catholic.

18. On the Happy Planet Index, Costa Rica ranks number 1.

19. According to The World Factbook, 4,516,220 people live in Costa Rica. In San Jose the population is 159,535 people.

20. My tico mom doesn't believe in leftovers. According to her everything has to be fresh.

Pictures of my Room

I've landed and I'm liking it

After both of my flights were delayed I made it to Costa Rica about two hours later than expected. Being stuck in an airport thinking about everything made me very nervous for the adventure that is to come, but after stepping outside the airport all my worries went away--sounds cheesy. I was greeted my by resident director and about 15 other students, all studying through the same program as I am. All of our suitcases were strapped onto the top of the van and then we drove off to the university to meet our home-stay family. Thinking that everything I had in that one suitcase been only strapped down by a single bungee cord gave me a bit of anxiety. Every time the van went over a bump (and there are many bumps and potholes in the road) everyone freaked out for a bit and made sure nothing fell off.

For me thinking about the home-stay made me incredibly nervous. I haven't spoken a word of Spanish for over a year, which made me insecure. Later that night I found out two other girls studying in the same program as me, were living in the same house--definitely a sigh of relief. Thinking about speaking Spanish with no help from, my trusty 501 Spanish Verb book and other American counterparts was not a settling thought. The two girls, Abby and Amy are better than I am at Spanish so it’s nice to have them to ask questions.

When we arrived at Veritas University my home-stay family was waiting for Abby and me. Our parents are Franz and Ana--they are wonderful. Ana greeted us with a hug and was so happy to meet us. While driving from the university to the house we got a mini-tour of the surroundings from Franz. I didn't understand much of what he was saying, but I have become very good at shaking and saying si.

Costa Rican houses are much different than houses in the United States. The outsides of the houses are very deceiving, because they look a lot smaller than they actually are. The front of the house is gated, and inside the gate is where they park their cars. After getting through the front gate it brings you to their front door which leads to inside. Walking inside Ana and Franz's house was a pleasant surprise. It had a very homey feel with lots of pictures and paintings on the walls. I'll put up some pictures of the house in the next week. Ana and Franz have four children, that night we only met the two youngest boys--they were both very nice. Right away they carried our bags up to our room and got our Internet working. Both of the boys are still in high school, but are on their "summer" vacation. They have from December to February off of school, so they decided that they are going to the beach every weekend—I’m definitely in on that plan.

The next morning Ana had a feast for breakfast sitting out for us. There was fresh bread, multiple jams, cheese, cereal, coffee, juice, milk, fresh pineapple, bananas and watermelon—all the food in Costa Rica is fresh, so different than what I’m used to eating at school. It was amazing, and much better than any Hubble omelette. The rest of the day consisted of orientation, registering for classes and meeting the other students in the program.

For lunch the whole American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) group went to Pizza Hut. I thought it was a bit weird that we weren't getting real Costa Rican food and instead going to an American restaurant. The food was so much better than in America--much fresher and not as greasy. The decor made it look like an upscale dining restaurant, not anything like a typical Pizza Hut in the United States. Even though the Pizza Hut was in Costa Rica all of the signs and décor was in English.

After the lunch Amy, Abby and I ventured out into San Jose to find a store because we needed school supplies. After asking three different people for directions we found a mini-target like store. It was very small, but had the necessities. The experience was frustrating because all the signs are in Spanish and there were so many unknown name brands. It was frustrating trying to find this store because everything around us was new and there were no familiar faces. Also, during orientation multiple people told us that we constantly have to be watching our belongings because theft is common in San Jose, especially to tourists.

When we got back from the store Ana had another feast waiting for us. This time the whole family was at the house. They have in total four kids, the two older kids are both in their twenties, one guy and one girl. We also met the daughter's boyfriend. Ana served vegetables, rice, chicken, beef and fried bananas--it was all delicious. The daughter was quick to get to know us and asked us so many questions. All the family members are eager to get us to speak Spanish, and truly want to help us become better.

All of my worries about the home-stay, meeting people and school are behind me. I'm more calm and able to looking forward to everything that is yet to come. I've already realized that worrying about what I'm missing back at home is silly and really will hinder my ability to fully learn about the culture. I can’t wait for our excursions on the weekends, this weekend we are scheduled to go to Monteverde Cloud Forest, Arenal Volcano and the hot springs. In the cloud forest we get to go zip lining—I’m really excited about that.