Dia 12

Hola Hola!

So last night my brother came home after much anticipation. My sister ran into my room and whispered frantically that he was back. I told her to play it cool and pretend like nothing happened. He came into my room and gave me a questioning look and said he was scared to go to his room. He left and headed to his room while mama, mari, and I followed inconspicuously. He opened the door, turned on the light, and realized his hand was full of peanut butter. It was hilarious! We were all laughing and laughing as he examined his sabotaged room. We got him good :) (Even if we had to clean up later, still worth it). Later while Mari and I were hanging out on our laptops in my room, Alejandro came in with an ENORMOUS cockroach-looking bug. We both screamed like babies. He came back a few minutes later and threw what I thought was a bug and ended up dropping my laptop-no worries, no harm done but an elevated heart-rate. Definitely a fun time. The war has begun. No signs of a prank in my room but I will keep ya'll updated.

Today at school I started another class, Costa Rican Environment. I think I will enjoy it a lot. We will be doing a lot of interactive learning and going on field trips. Tomorrow we're going into San Jose to go to a museum for History class-should be interesting. Afterwards I have soccer to go play! Today after class I had my second dance class- it was really fun. So far we've learned Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, and Kumbia. I realized how much different dancing with a partner is! A bit of a challenge but so much fun. I can't wait to be able to dance these dances with friends. Tonight will be an early night-gotta get caught up on sleep.

Love,
Kristin

Dia 11

Hola familia y amigos!

It's been a few days-sorry to keep ya'll waiting! Let's see here, where did I leave off...Saturday morning I woke up (way too early for my liking) and walked to the bus stop where I met up with my friends from school. We took the bus into San Jose where we had to run to catch our second bus to Jaco. The ride was long and fairly boring. Although I did see some cocodrilos (crocodiles) and the views in Costa Rica are always gorgeous so it depends on your definition of boring.

The bus company over-booked the ride so some of my friends had to sit on the floor, pretty unfortunate but in the end I'm sure it was worth it. It was our first trip to the beach, so exciting! Jaco is known for its tourism and dirty water-not too much else. I have been told many a times that this beach is a disappointment compared to others like Manuel Antonio (going there next weekend) and others. I guess I am easily impressed! The weather was crazy hot, easily hitting a hundred degrees with a ton of humidity. There were palm trees and the ocean, which was all I needed. We sat on the sand and played in the water all day. It was really relaxing. I would sit under the umbrella (we paid less than $1 a piece between 18 people to use them for the day) and close my eyes and breathe in the ocean air and let the sun tan (or burn) my skin. Even with sunscreen, my skin was shot.

I stayed the night in a hostel that cost less than $15 a person for the night. It was a super awesome deal that we were only able to find because we had tico friends with us that know all the good spots. It was a clean place to stay with a nice view of the beach. The following day (sunday) my host family (and some extended family members) picked me up in Jaco. We proceed to go to another beach (which was way less impressive with its rocks, dirty sand, and crowds.) Afterwards we drove to Puntarenas, a supposedly better beach to eat dinner and show it to me. It was very pretty with its expansive beach and views of nearby mountains. Then we faced the 2 hour drive home. My family proceeded to 'help' me with my Spanish homework. They did the classic, say this word in a sentence, then the entire van bursts out laughing because what I said was an offensive phrase. They're such goofballs, although I appreciate the humor. Personally, I was a bit cranky after having too much sun, not enough water or food, cuts on my feet, sunburn, and an upset stomach. But we made it home, and boy was I thankful to finally get some shut eye.




Today was back to school. This week is the start of my Central American History class. We have this young professor named Francisco or Franc for short-he seems pretty cool, he likes his politics, but I think I will enjoy the class. We watched a video today by a Nigerian women named Chimamanda Adiche entitled, "Dangers of a Single Story" this link is here --> [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg]. If you have the time to youtube it, I would highly recommend it as I think everyone should see it. It explains the perceptions we learn as we grow up in our cultures, only seeing one side of every story. It has a lot to do with trying to understand other cultures while still embracing your own. Very interesting.

After class, I had a 3 hour break until my Spanish class so I went into town and bought some more band-aids (curas) since I can't stop cutting myself on things, tripping, or otherwise finding a way to need a band-aid. Good thing it only cost me a little over $1 for 46 band aids. If you're curious about the weird number, it's because I had to buy them at the pharmacy and they usually sell them one by one for 15 colones.

Afterwards, I returned for Spanish class. It was fun, as it always seems to be here. I don't know if I've ever enjoyed my classes as much as I do here. We learn a lot but in a non-traditional style. We play games and my professor is young enough where he still likes to crack jokes and make class fun for us all. I look forward to class and seeing what we will learn next.

After class I returned home to hang out with my host family. After dinner I was hanging out with my sister when we got the bright idea to pull a prank on my brother. My mom helped us cut saran wrap and we proceeded to tape it to his door at about eye level. I sat in the breezeway to take a picture of the hilarious moment as my mama called for him to come into the house. He opened the door, immediately saw it...and me. I made a break for the house but ran straight into the clear glass sliding door. They were dying laughing for a good five minutes. Jokes on me, I guess! Don't worry, he left for the night so we sabotaged his room with a better prank-newspapers under the sheets and peanut butter on the door handles. He should be coming home any minute so we shall see his reaction-I'm sure I'll be getting pranked for a while after this!

Hasta Luego!

Love, Kristin

Dia 8

Hola!

This will most likely be one of the shortest posts-sorry in advance! I'm falling asleep as I'm writing this. Today my school group went to the capital San Jose. We separated and my group was in charge of getting tickets for everyone at the bus stop for tomorrow-we're going to a beach called Jaco (accent on the 'o') pronounced ha-co. Of course, we got hopelessly lost. I was asking all the ticos, where's the bus station? Where's the plaza? Luckily we found a parking attendant that let us use his cell phone (public phones are so complicated to use) and we got a hold of a staff member that found us and got us back to San Isidro. My first frustrating Costa Rican adventure!

We got back home safe and sound. I hung out with my family and we all shared music with each other. My papa played music that reminded me of doing the twist so I started dancing around the kitchen-they all got a kick out of that. Tomorrow a group of us students and a few tico family members and friends are going to a beach-about a 2.5 hour bus ride away for the day. I won't have internet access until Sunday night or Monday morning so sorry-no posts until then. I'll write in my travel journal that my Mom back in the States gave me.

Buenas Noches!

Love, Kristin

The post office in San Jose.

Dia 7- Ya ha pasado una semana! (Already a week has passed)

Wow. One week already??? 14 more to go! I hope they all don't go this fast. Today I realized how difficult it will be to leave my host family in May. I came home from school early, around 3:30. I was sitting in my room relaxing when Mari asked me to straighten her hair for her. So this is what having a sister is like I thought. I enjoyed being able to chat with her about my day and tell her the stories and help her with her hair. It didn't bother me at all to spend my time doing that-I enjoyed spending time with her. She gets my personality and has so much patience with my Spanish. It's a true gift to have her in my life.

My mama and papa arrived home from a visit to San Jose with my cousin, Kevin and his friend from work. As soon as I got home my mama was like, (in rapidly-spoken spanish) "I have a gift to give you!!" Come here!" I followed her into my room where she took a pair of shoes out of a box. "For me?" I asked. "Si!!!" she replied. I told her I couldn't, that she was being too generous. Of course she didn't listen. "You like them?" she asked. "Of course! I love them!" I told her. She said when she saw them she thought of me and thought I would like them. She also remembered that I didn't bring tennis shoes so I couldn't really play sports and now I will be able to. Her kindness almost brought tears to my eyes. This woman has known me for one week. One week and she treats me as if I've been her daughter for 20 years.

My mama and I in the la cocina (kitchen). Take note of my awesome pink, purple, and blue plaid shoes!


I sat at the kitchen table and chatted with Kevin and his friend (I forgot her name, oops). They both work at a Comcast call center here in San Josecito so they know English because their customers are from the U.S. I was surprised how much I actually knew (Spanish-wise). I was cracking jokes and responding to their questions about my stay here. My mom told them (again in Spanish, we only speak Spanish at home) something along the lines of 'She knows so much spanish, no?' It surprised me because even though I feel like I'm improving drastically, I don't think I speak well. I take forever to think of the right verbs and half the time walk around with my dictionary and a translator they let me use to look up words I don't know. Nevertheless, I was happy to hear they are impressed with my pronunciation and speaking ability.

As we were sipping coffee, eating postres (pastries), and chatting I asked my papa "Did you make the postres?" (I asked this because he sells bread and other goods for a living) He was like "Yes, yes of course. I made it this morning" I said back, "You lie" My whole family burst out laughing because they thought it was hilarious I was able to catch my papa in his pranks. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with my family. It was so relaxed-just chatting and laughing and cracking jokes to each other. I'm so thankful to be with this family!

Tonight, as tradition has it, the entire program (including staff and professors) are going to a place called Los Potreros which I roughly translated from what my mama told me as "a place where cows go" No idea if that's right but I know its a bar with karaoke, dancing, and good food. I look forward to getting to know my classmates better and hopefully make some Tico friends.

Hasta luego!

Love, Kristin

Dia 6

Hola otra vez!

Today started off just like the others- a cup of coffee and breakfast. I had buttered toast which hit the spot! After chatting with my mama for a while I realized I was late to meet the group of UWEC students to walk together to school so ran out the door. Sure enough, they weren’t there so I ran to catch up-talk about a good morning workout. These hills are worse than Eau Claire’s famous hill.

School was the same old, same old. We did, however take a bus trip to the city of Heredia. Not my most favorite place in the world with lines of traffic, people smoking, and car exhaust puffing in my face. It did have a ton of awesome little stores and other really cool cultural sites. We stopped at this ice cream place called POPS-good decision. I had the BEST ice cream EVER! It was called Banana Hawaiian and had 4 types of ice cream and fresh fruit. Delightful.

We took the bus back to the school where we proceeded to again, walk home together. We stopped at a bar/restaurant called La Pista to sip a drink on the balcony and people watch. I had this fruit juice that was actually pretty good! Too bad it was from Florida. Afterwards I headed home and played Wii with my sister and kicked her butt in archery and disc golf, although she beat me in ping pong. Ping pong just isn’t my game!

So here I am, back in my normal spot writing my normal old blog. It seems I’ve gotten into a routine here already. It’s crazy how quickly I’ve adjusted. It’s only day 6 and I feel very comfortable with my family, cracking jokes and hanging out. My Spanish is improving to the point where my English sometimes suffers when I use it! I do, however, really miss you all back home. Once I got home from school today, it really hit me that it’s going to be a few months before I see any of you. I’m excited for the time I have here, but know that I think of you all each and every day.

Much love,

Kristin

Dia 5

Hola a todos!

I keep saying I’ll be keeping these short, and never do but today’s post actually will be short. Reason being nothing too exciting happened today and again, I’m tired!

I woke this morning to a cup of hot Costa Rican coffee (yes, I drink coffee now but only with a crap-ton of sugar in it) and a ham and butter sandwich. An interesting option but whatever! I walked to school today, all by myself (don’t worry it was almost 10am so I was completely fine). I walked up hills, then down hills, up hills, then down hills and repeat for 30 minutes. I got to school a minute or two late but wasn’t in any trouble.

My first class this semester is Spanish 405-an upper division Spanish course titled, “Advanced Conversation”. Intimidating, right? I thought so too since we almost never converse in class in the states but after going to class I actually think I’m going to enjoy going to school! My professor, Dionisio, is really funny and understanding. I think I will learn a lot.

After Spanish class and a cultural seminar (surprisingly boring) a group of us went to a heladería (ice cream parlor) where I got myself some ice cream and fresh pineapple for 650 colónes which is about $1.20. SO GOOD! Afterwards, the group of about 10 girls and 2 guys from our program went to dance class. We learned Kumbia and Merengue-I think I like Merengue better because it includes fancy turns and such which makes me feel like a pro. I left the dance place an hour later sweating like crazy! It was hot even with the door open. 

We walked back together as a group and split off our own ways to get home. I ate dinner with my family and did all the dishes then watched a Costa Rican T.V. show kind of like fear factor but in teams, not for money, and not scary things. I watched my papa play with Luna, the mini Doberman (size of a Chihuahua). If he put his hand anywhere near my host mom she would freak out, trying to protect her. It was really cute because she’s so tiny and quick. She was wagging her little nonexistent tail the whole time.

And now, off to bed. Sorry this post isn’t quite so interesting, I’m pooped today! Too much sun, maybe?

Love, 

Kristin

Dia 4

Hola hola!

Today’s post will also most likely be a bit shorter as I can’t stop yawning and my eyes are watering, begging me for more shut eye. 

Today was my first day of school in Costa Rica. Que emocionado! (How exciting!) I woke up at 7:05 (yes I purposely picked 7:05 for those extra 5 minutes) and got dressed. When I went out to the kitchen to eat at 7:35, my papa had prepared breakfast for me. It included fresh bread which I dipped in something called natilla (I think) which I am 98% sure was some form of sour cream. Talk about culture shock. Sour cream and bread?-I was thinking. “Le gusta (You like it?)” My dad asked me. “Si, me gusta (Yes, I like it)” I responded. I’m thinking I will need to be honest with myself and let him know I like my pan (bread) plain. (Honestly it wasn’t horrible, just different). 

My papa drove me to school today so I wouldn’t get lost. I got there at 8am along with three others from my program only to find out that classes were postponed until 9am. So we sat and chatted as we looked out over the valley at the mountains. WHAT A VIEW! Every way I look here, there is a gorgeous view. How lucky I am to be here.

More students started to trickle in and by 9am we were sitting in a large “conference room” with tile floors and windows that let in a breeze starting our placement exams. (We’ve already signed up for classes but the placement test [oral and written] is supposed to help the professor gauge where we’re actually at). The exam was long and got progressively more frustrating and trying on my ‘ol brain. Finally I finished and went back into the main gathering room (which by the way has a garden in the middle of the building). We had an hour lunch break (awesome, I know) and after our “homework” was to explore the city of San Isidro (where the school is in). Best homework assignment I’ve ever gotten-hands down. 

I learned how to use an atm here and also bought my first item with Costa Rican colones; un batido (milkshake) with fruit! It had REAL papaya, mango, and banana. It’s symbolic of the food ticos eat-all natural. Everything, even the juices are made fresh by fruit from the supermarket. It’s cheaper than the crap food-how I wish it was like this in the U.S. 

After school a group of us students met at a local soccer field to play some Frisbee. It was a really fun time. It’s already starting to feel a little better with the group because we spend the entire day together at school. I had a lot of fun with my host sister, Marianna or Mari for short. I invited her to come with and I think she appreciated that and enjoyed herself.  She is so helpful-always teaching me new words and correcting me when I need it (often). We joked and chatted all the way home-it was nice to feel like I had a sister since I’ve always wanted one. We even have the same shoe size (keep in mind she’s 13.5 years old!) so I suppose we may be sharing zapatos (shoes) muy pronto (soon). 

Also-side note…there were these two goats that were tied to a metal fence near our house and I went to pet the goats and they were not nice! There was a mom and daughter and the mom kept trying to head butt me with her horns. Mari got photos of it-it was so funny. Also, my mama and Mari like to tease me because I'm always asking them to repeat themselves or slow down so they say they talk like Dory from Finding Nemo. If you've seen the movie you'll understand-it's funny and I can tell they say it with love.

I’m really enjoying myself here. I love the climate, the people, the language, the food. It’s a completely different atmosphere. Of course I miss you all back home and don’t worry I’ll come back, but someday being a tica doesn’t sound so bad.

Hasta luego!

Love, Kristin

Dia 3

Hola a todos (Hello all!)

Today's post will be a bit shorter than those in the past because I have school in the morning and have to be up in seven hours which is not my normal eight or more. Today I woke up to the sun peaking through my shades and to the sound of a horse wandering down the street carelessly. Some in my position would have been irritated that this stupid horse and bright sun woke them up, but I was counting my blessings. Hearing a horse outside my window somehow managed to make my day (although that can't be too surprising because of my love for them). I woke up at about 7:40am (I thought my family was going to church but we didn't today and the rest of my siblings slept as long as my siblings at home-around noon. I showered and ate a breakfast of eggs and ham with coffee and chatted with my mama and papa until my siblings awoke. Once they did it was more hanging out until about 2:30. A friend of Alejandro, mi hermano (brother), asked if we wanted to play futbol (soccer) so that was that.

Off we went with my papa to play futbol with los vecinos (neighbors). To be honest, it was a wee bit awkward. Not because of the Spanish but I don't know many of the students here studying with me yet. By the end I was having fun being my competitive self even though I don't know ANYTHING about soccer except don't use your hands and that rule flew out the window once I got excited about the chance to win!

After that my sister and I went home to get the family's frisbee to play with and headed back to the field. Here in Costa Rica, we don't run by a set schedule. It's so different from life in the U.S. At home, I ALWAYS have a place to be, something to be doing, someone to be seeing. Here, it's like we spend the time with who we are with and don't rush through something just because there's something to do or someone to see next. It's taking some getting used to, but I like it.

I spent the rest of my night with one of the girl's host sister and some other program participants at a bonfire (it actually gets a bit chilly here at night since we're at a high altitude) chatting about Spanish and other random things. When I got home my mama had food for me and I sat and talked with her and my papa and sister about Costa Rica and a bunch of other things. I did remember once I got back to my room that I forgot a school backpack. No idea how to solve that problem by tomorrow but it's only placement testing so I'm not worried.

Anyways, off to bed. Sorry, no picture today! I hope everyone back home is well. I miss you all!

Love, Kristin

Dia 2

Hola otra vez! (Hello again!)

It’s day two of my three and a half month journey and boy am I shot. Don’t get me wrong; I’m having a wonderful time, but speaking el español all the time gets…exhausting. 

Today started off well with few hours of orientation. I was able to get in a wonderful 2 minute shower that was warm-it was fantastic! I will never take warm water for granted again. There’s nothing worse than expecting hot water to come flowing out of that shower head and instead being sprayed with water that is two degrees above freezing as I had encountered the night before. 

Orientation introduced us to what to expect from our familias, the program, academics, food, and money (Costa Rica’s currency is the colóne which equates to about 500 colónes=1 U.S. dollar). But no matter what we were told, nothing could truly prepare us for the insanity of meeting our host families. At 2:30, we rounded up the troops with our bags in tow and rode a private bus to a church I believe where the families were waiting in a banquet hall. On the way there I saw a Tico man riding his collected horse up the rode-it was awesome. Anyways, this is where the insanity began. There were bags all over the place with people speaking Spanish and trying to find their familias. I was anxious and was so nervous about what to say to my family.

My host sister, Mariana, found me first. We greeted each other (a “kiss” on the cheek with an embrace. The kiss is mostly you making the noise of a kiss on the cheek without any contact, which made things more do-able). Then I met my mom-Joys (short for Jocelyn), Dad-Luis, and saw Alejandro-my brother for the second time as I met him in Eau Claire with his girlfriend. To say the least, it was awkward. I was stressed about a bag I couldn’t find and I realized how tongue tied and nervous I was. I ended up sneaking away after a bit to the bathroom to collect myself and remind myself that my Spanish wasn’t supposed to be perfect and that my family would like me. I calmed down and marched on back to face a long night.

We left shortly after that to go to my primo’s (cousin’s) birthday party. His name is Santiago and he turned 2 today. What a gordito he is (loving term for chubby). I mostly sat around and people watched along with interacting with some of the younger cousins as they thought I was an interesting new thing to be around. The birthday party was similar to those of the United States however it was so lively and kept moving constantly. The adults participated even though the activities were more kid focused. My host mom put on a costume and danced around the room-hilarious. There was a never-ending supply of food. It just kept coming. I was even sent home with 2 bags of dulces (candies). They even had a piñata. It was an awesome experience even if it was exhausting and a little awkward. I tried my best to speak as much Spanish (and good Spanish at that) but I still have a lot to work on. I know things will improve, speaking wise and I look forward to the day where I don’t get run down just talking! 

Now I’m lying on my bed in my host room typing away as the family winds down and gets ready for bed. I can’t wait a dormir (to sleep). Got church tomorrow morning!

Hasta Luego!

Love, Kristin

El primer dia

Hola a mi familia y amigos!

I thought the day would never come but it finally did. This morning I left for Costa Rica and after a good 12 hours of travelling from airport to airport and into a van to go to the hostel for the night-I’m pooped.

The flights went well. We stopped in Miami and had a short layover that was the perfect amount of time. I managed to get one last American food fix-a Wendy’s burger and fries-yum! I travelled with two girls from my program which I really liked; we sat together for all the flights and were able to keep each other company. We met up with three more girls from my program in the Miami airport and set off for San Jose. We arrived at the teeny San Jose airport at around 1:25pm. Customs and immigration was a breeze-just a mighty slow one. My back was killing me by the end but with the Ticos’ (Costa Ricans) “pura vida” attitude that life is good, it was hard to be negative.

Ana and Maria (the program guides) met us right outside the exit to the airport with signs which was nice and easy. They greeted us with hugs and sent us to a small van where we proceeded to load eight people’s luggage on top and cram inside. From there, we set off on our 45 minute ride to San Isidro to stay in the hostel for the night. The streets were crazy. If you think American drivers and roads are bad, you aint seen nothing yet. The roads were narrow and steep and there were no street signs. The houses were lime green, red, orange, yellow and most had gates instead of garages. It was so different from home but I liked it. People were out walking everywhere and EVERY person we waved to waved back with a smile on their face. The people here are SO nice. It’s crazy.   

After settling into our hostel rooms (there are four of us to a room-don’t worry they’re gender sorted J ) we headed off for a walk down the street. There were eight of us- the rest of the group hadn’t arrived yet as there is seventeen students total on the trip. We walked down the road and stumbled upon a piece of land with a small river with sets of small rapids. We walked onto the property to take pictures and were met by a Tico hombre (man). We spoke to him in Spanish and let him know we wanted to take pictures (we were told to check out this place by the hostel owner). We began exploring when the owner, Ernesto, came up to us and started chatting away in Spanish. We tried to talk to him (all our Spanish is a little rusty) and he ended up giving us a tour of his land. It was absolutely gorgeous. There were trees and hills all surrounded by a small meandering river. He told us to walk across the river on rocks so I followed him-everyone else decided to stay back. It was so much fun-I tripped 3 times in that one hour period but it was so much fun.

We were met by Ernesto’s relatives who proceeded to give us all free beer and chat with us for a good hour. One was a doctor that had studied in the U.S. It was crazy to be having conversations in Spanish with these people that we had just met, but they were so friendly. I guess that’s just the Costa Rican culture. I think I can get used to this pura vida.

Hasta luego! (Until later!)

Love, Kristin