So I think that this is my last blog entry until I get home. It is my last night in Turriabla and I dont think that I will have internet down at Bribri. So from tomorrow on, I am going to switch to writing in a journal and then copy it into my blog when I get home.
So my last entry was on thursday, so I will start with Friday. (I´m sorry for the upcoming type-os. I am writing in the dark because my whole family went to bed and shut off all the lights)
On friday, I went repelling for my third time. It was fun because my new group is really fun, so I had a good time. All the guides were joking that they could hire me, because i have done this so many times and am now a pro. They guides even remembered my name when i got there and I now have three new friends, their names are Paul, Marco and Marco, who have been my guides all three times. It was raining the beginning, although that hardly made a difference because we got so wet anyway, the extra water went unnoticed. Then finally in the end it got sunny. After we had lunch at the repelling place and took pictures with the guides. Then we headed off the school and then after we went and played some soccer.
On saturday I went rafting on the Pacuare river, and they said that our trip was about 18 miles. I was in a raft with my friend (and neighbor) Taylor and another girl Megan and one of our rustic guides named Wainer. I had the same rafting guide named Abel that I had the first time. I´m pretty sure that he is bi-polar, but at least he didnt flip us this time. That was fun, it was raining when we started but the sun came out eventually. After, we went and changed and then had the great lunch of sandwiches. It was delicious and everyone was starving. After eating we all got back on the bus and drove back and went to pops for some ice cream.
Sunday was family day. We really didnt do very much, our mom was gone for the day because her friends uncle died so we were on our own. We slept late and then had some breakfast. After we watched a movie on my ipod and played cards. The rest of the day we watched tv or hung out in our room. Food was kind of scarse because our mom was away and we had popcorn for diunner. After we were still hungry and ate a bunch of this candy that Sarah had bought, none of it was good but we were starving!
Today, I spent the morning in town. We went to the internet cafe and then to the supermarket called SUPER MEGA! After we headed over to the suvenier shop for people to buy whatever Turriabla paraphenilia they wanted. After we walked back to the guide house and watched the Hangover and ate pizza for lunch. Then we went to school for my last real day. We actually didnt do very much, my group went on a walk for about an hour. After school we played some soccer and then we came home. I had my final dinner with the family (rice, beans, potatoes and fried platanos) and Taylor and her roomate Steph came over to help me pack. We also took some pictures with the family and I will have to take pictures of the house when it is light out.
Tomorrow I have my last day of class in the morning and then we meet up with the other group for lunch, then we head back for san jose. I´m definitely sad to leave here, I had a great time. (i will also miss the coffee hahah) I will try to write again as soon as i can, but im not sure when that will be. If not, then i will see everyone in about a week!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
First half of my last week in turriabla!
So this is my last week in Turriabla before i switch programs! So far it has been going well.
Monday, i had school in the morning and then we went to this place called "the buffet" for lunch. AFter we were supposed to go back to the waterfall that we went to a couple weeks ago, but it was rainy and cold, so we all complained until they figured out something else to do with us (the poor guides) So instead, we went to pops for some ice cream and then went then went back to the guide house to watch a movie. We watched a movie called Role Models with Paul Rudd and i forget the other guys name. It was really funny and i hadnt seen it before, so i had fun. That night we went home and i helped Sally pack because was leaving the next day. We had a big dinner and then spent some time with our brother and his friends.
Tuesday all the people who were leaving had classes in the morning and everyone else went rock climbing. There was a wall at this university in Turriabla called Catie so we went in 2 shifts. If you werent climbing then you sat at the pool. It was a lot of fun and i got to hang out a bit with my new group once everyone left. We had to wear climbing shoes, but since apparently everyone in costa rica has tiny feet, it was fairly uncomfortable to squeeze into them. We decided that we now understood what chinese foot-binding felt like. I had to hobble around for awhile after until my feet felt better, but it was a lot of fun. After we sat by the pool for like an hour and then met the other kids who were leaving for lunch at La Feria. Lunch was good and we took a lot of pictures and then it was time to say goodbye. Sally was leaving and a couple other girls who is had got really close to so of course i cried, it was really sad. Then we all loaded our separate buses and went to school. That night, since a lot of people had lost roomates and no one wanted to be alone in their house with out one, we all went to the guide house and watched Knocked Up. It was fun and it looked up the whole night.
On wednesday I had school in the morning and the new batch of kids came. We went for lunch and then went to the soccer field to play name games and soccer. I met my new roomate and this other kid who it turns out lives in Hastings and is going to be a freshman next year. ( ive heard hes a bit odd, im going to try to talk to him) Soccer was fun and then the new kids went to the guide house and we went to take salsa lessons (again) this time was more fun because more people participated. After we went to pops and then i went home to meet my new roomate. Her name is Sarah and i like her a lot. She lives in Napa, which is pretty cool, and we seem to be getting along well.
Today (thursday) i went horseback ridding (again) and again in 2 shifts because the stolen horses are still missing. And they are doing something weird this week. Usually the old kids have classes in the morning and activities in the afternoon and the new kids do the opposite. But for whatever reason they have everyone (new and old kids) with activities in the morning and classes in the afternoon. Its cool because we get to hang with the new kids but bad because there are 26 of us + 4 guides so everyting is really crowded. I still have my same group that i have had but my friend Phoebe might switch in. we will see how it goes. Tomorrow I am going repelling (3rd time, i think that guides at the repelling place will know my name this time, because they were pretty close before time number 2) I will report back on how it goes!
Monday, i had school in the morning and then we went to this place called "the buffet" for lunch. AFter we were supposed to go back to the waterfall that we went to a couple weeks ago, but it was rainy and cold, so we all complained until they figured out something else to do with us (the poor guides) So instead, we went to pops for some ice cream and then went then went back to the guide house to watch a movie. We watched a movie called Role Models with Paul Rudd and i forget the other guys name. It was really funny and i hadnt seen it before, so i had fun. That night we went home and i helped Sally pack because was leaving the next day. We had a big dinner and then spent some time with our brother and his friends.
Tuesday all the people who were leaving had classes in the morning and everyone else went rock climbing. There was a wall at this university in Turriabla called Catie so we went in 2 shifts. If you werent climbing then you sat at the pool. It was a lot of fun and i got to hang out a bit with my new group once everyone left. We had to wear climbing shoes, but since apparently everyone in costa rica has tiny feet, it was fairly uncomfortable to squeeze into them. We decided that we now understood what chinese foot-binding felt like. I had to hobble around for awhile after until my feet felt better, but it was a lot of fun. After we sat by the pool for like an hour and then met the other kids who were leaving for lunch at La Feria. Lunch was good and we took a lot of pictures and then it was time to say goodbye. Sally was leaving and a couple other girls who is had got really close to so of course i cried, it was really sad. Then we all loaded our separate buses and went to school. That night, since a lot of people had lost roomates and no one wanted to be alone in their house with out one, we all went to the guide house and watched Knocked Up. It was fun and it looked up the whole night.
On wednesday I had school in the morning and the new batch of kids came. We went for lunch and then went to the soccer field to play name games and soccer. I met my new roomate and this other kid who it turns out lives in Hastings and is going to be a freshman next year. ( ive heard hes a bit odd, im going to try to talk to him) Soccer was fun and then the new kids went to the guide house and we went to take salsa lessons (again) this time was more fun because more people participated. After we went to pops and then i went home to meet my new roomate. Her name is Sarah and i like her a lot. She lives in Napa, which is pretty cool, and we seem to be getting along well.
Today (thursday) i went horseback ridding (again) and again in 2 shifts because the stolen horses are still missing. And they are doing something weird this week. Usually the old kids have classes in the morning and activities in the afternoon and the new kids do the opposite. But for whatever reason they have everyone (new and old kids) with activities in the morning and classes in the afternoon. Its cool because we get to hang with the new kids but bad because there are 26 of us + 4 guides so everyting is really crowded. I still have my same group that i have had but my friend Phoebe might switch in. we will see how it goes. Tomorrow I am going repelling (3rd time, i think that guides at the repelling place will know my name this time, because they were pretty close before time number 2) I will report back on how it goes!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
week 3
Hello again everyone. So I will start with Wednesday. I had school in the morning with my new group (Jordan is nice, Austin wears mesh orange shorts everyday and a red fanny pack over his shoulder. He is weird and really pompous) After that we went for lunch at this resturant called Popos. It serves pizza and hamburgers. Its not my favorite place because the hamburgers in costa rica are literally ham-burgers and arent very good and the pizza is mediocure. After we had some time to kill so we wandered around for a bit and went to Pops for some ice cream and then headed off to the soccer field to meet the new kids. We first played some names games and then played soccer for about an hour. After we went to the serpentaria. I dont think that i wrote about this when i went the first time but you go and look at/hold snakes. First there is a long introduction in spanish and then they take you inside and show you the dangerous snakes and take out a few. Since this was my second time there and im not a huge fan i stayed in the bus with all the kids who had done it already. After that we went home and hung out with our family.
On Thursday we had school in the morning and then we went to Popos for lunch again. I have been spending a lot of time with my new group and i like them a lot. After lunch we went fishing. There was a very very small man-made lake with some fish in it (i have no idea what kind) They gave us some fishing line wrapped around some wood and told us that we were only allowed to catch one each. I caught my first fish ever, it was faily gross though because i had to take the hook out myself and then had a significant amount of fish blood on my for the rest of the day. After we caught all the fish we all bought sodas and hung around and played cards while they cooked the fish for us. Whatever kind of fish it was it wasnt very good, but i ate a little anyway. Since this didnt take very long we went to the internet cafe afterwards and hung out there for awhile. By then a bunch of the kids who went home on wed had put their pictures up (you can look on my facebook if you want to see some new pics that im in) AFter we went to Pops and then went home.
On friday I had school in the morning and then after classes I went repelling again. We drove to the repelling place and had lunch there ( I went with my friends Sara, Olivia and Megan and the new guide Ben) We had a lot of fun and i made friends with all the repelling guides. (they all speak english) but because there were only 5 of us we finished really early and just sat around there for a bit. After we went to Pops (of course) and then went home.
On Saturday, my whole group went white water rafting. I tried to go, but apparently you arent allowed to go 2 weeks in a row so Me, Sally, Megan and Sara all had to stay back. We ended up spending the day with one of our guides named Jose. We thought that they were going to make us go to school, but instead, while the other group had classes we went shopping. First we hit the maxibodega because Jose and our bus driver brian need flip-flops and then we went into the town center. It happened that it was the one year anniversary for Jose and his girlfriend and he had yet to buy a present. We went to this clothing store to buy a shirt that she had mentioned that she liked and a shirt for him to wear out to dinner. After we went to another store to pick out a nice box and card. Then we went to the internet cafe for an hour to kill some time. Then we still had about an hour until lunch and Jose didnt have the keys to the guide house so we went to his house which is actually right across the street ( he lives in Turriabla) On the way to his house we saw some guy selling pirated movies and bought Harry Potter 6 for about 1 dollar. We learned that you get what you pay for though because not only was it terrible quality but in spanish. I had split the price with Sally and so at least i only payed about $0.50) After this we went to lunch with the other group (the kids that came on wed) and then went back to the guide house and watched a movie. I didnt end up watch very much because it was really confusing so i just sat outside and talked to people.
Today is family day (sunday) We slept late and then had breakfast. (i guess it was actually lunch) and then just hung out for a bit. I started a new book (tender at the bone, and i like it so far) Around 3 we went to visit out "grandma" who is our moms mom. Then we went in to town got some ice cream at Pops and met up with our "aunt and uncle" and their kids. Then we walked home and we have been relaxing and just hanging out.
Sorry this is another long one!
On Thursday we had school in the morning and then we went to Popos for lunch again. I have been spending a lot of time with my new group and i like them a lot. After lunch we went fishing. There was a very very small man-made lake with some fish in it (i have no idea what kind) They gave us some fishing line wrapped around some wood and told us that we were only allowed to catch one each. I caught my first fish ever, it was faily gross though because i had to take the hook out myself and then had a significant amount of fish blood on my for the rest of the day. After we caught all the fish we all bought sodas and hung around and played cards while they cooked the fish for us. Whatever kind of fish it was it wasnt very good, but i ate a little anyway. Since this didnt take very long we went to the internet cafe afterwards and hung out there for awhile. By then a bunch of the kids who went home on wed had put their pictures up (you can look on my facebook if you want to see some new pics that im in) AFter we went to Pops and then went home.
On friday I had school in the morning and then after classes I went repelling again. We drove to the repelling place and had lunch there ( I went with my friends Sara, Olivia and Megan and the new guide Ben) We had a lot of fun and i made friends with all the repelling guides. (they all speak english) but because there were only 5 of us we finished really early and just sat around there for a bit. After we went to Pops (of course) and then went home.
On Saturday, my whole group went white water rafting. I tried to go, but apparently you arent allowed to go 2 weeks in a row so Me, Sally, Megan and Sara all had to stay back. We ended up spending the day with one of our guides named Jose. We thought that they were going to make us go to school, but instead, while the other group had classes we went shopping. First we hit the maxibodega because Jose and our bus driver brian need flip-flops and then we went into the town center. It happened that it was the one year anniversary for Jose and his girlfriend and he had yet to buy a present. We went to this clothing store to buy a shirt that she had mentioned that she liked and a shirt for him to wear out to dinner. After we went to another store to pick out a nice box and card. Then we went to the internet cafe for an hour to kill some time. Then we still had about an hour until lunch and Jose didnt have the keys to the guide house so we went to his house which is actually right across the street ( he lives in Turriabla) On the way to his house we saw some guy selling pirated movies and bought Harry Potter 6 for about 1 dollar. We learned that you get what you pay for though because not only was it terrible quality but in spanish. I had split the price with Sally and so at least i only payed about $0.50) After this we went to lunch with the other group (the kids that came on wed) and then went back to the guide house and watched a movie. I didnt end up watch very much because it was really confusing so i just sat outside and talked to people.
Today is family day (sunday) We slept late and then had breakfast. (i guess it was actually lunch) and then just hung out for a bit. I started a new book (tender at the bone, and i like it so far) Around 3 we went to visit out "grandma" who is our moms mom. Then we went in to town got some ice cream at Pops and met up with our "aunt and uncle" and their kids. Then we walked home and we have been relaxing and just hanging out.
Sorry this is another long one!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
one week later
it seems that i havent wrote in a week. Last you heard, all the new kids came. Since them we really havent seen them much, which is a little weird but i met them all today (tues) On Thursday, i decided to go horseback riding again. Since more people wanted to go horseback riding this time than last time (last i went with 5 kids, and this time 10 wanted to go) and someone had stolen 5 horses from the school we had to go in 2 shifts. I am not entirely sure how someone goes about stealing 5 horses without being noticed, but we were some short. I ended up going in the second shift. I went with my friends Jenny, Ben, Corey, Alex and Max and my counselor Josh. However, for whatever reason, the guide said that he wasnt going to come with us. So we all went out together but shortly lost the path and ended up wandering thought someone´s farm until we hit a town and then rode back. It was fun but way less fun than the first time.
The next day I had school in the morning (another kid joined my group so it now consisted of me, Jenny, Alex, Ben and Corey) We then went to a new place for lunch called la feria. i liked it a lot i had arroz con pollo (no frijoles!) and after we went nack to the guide house for an hour to kill some time before we went to our salsa dance class. The class turned out to be fun, but it was mostly only me and my friend Jenny participating. A lot of the girls have been here for a few weeks now and didnt want to do it again and just about all the boys quit pretty soon into it. I ended up dancing the salsa with one of my couselors named Jose. We also learned the cumbia, i now know i am terrible at both, but it was fun to learn. After we went to the maxibodega (the walmart of Costa Rica) where people bought snacks for their houses and whatever they were needing and then we went to Pops for some ice cream. Following that, we went to the soccer field for another game of soccer (i am becoming quite the defender! haha) That night me and my roomate Sally went to our friends Alex and Jocab´s house with a bunch of our friends. that was a lot of fun, we always have fun when we all get together.
Saturday I went white water rafting- I was in a boat with My friends Jenny, Ben, Corey and Max. It was a lot of fun but our guide was a bit of a jerk. He tipped our raft over in the middle of a rapid, which wasnt particularly enjoyable, but overall i had a lot of fun. Halfway through we stopped to have lunch, which was actually incredible. The had brought all this stuff and they set up a whole table (a boat flipped over with a table cloth) we had sandwiches, which i had no idea how much i missed a good sandwhich, and there was chips and different dips and some pastry things. That night our friends Jules and Sara (who live across the street) came over for a little while.
Sunday was family day. We went to the university pool and hung out there for a bit. We saw some kids that we know but over all not too many people. Laster we came home and me and sally watched tv and played card for the rest of the day. That night for dinner we had hot dogs with russian dressing and raw cabbage (a first)
Monday I had school in the morning (my last day with my group) and after lunch (pizza! this is 3 meals in a row that i havent had rice and beans) we went the the botanical gardens. This would have been nice but a few things happened. 1. it was pouring. 2. We got swarmed by black biting honey bees. There were literally 100s of bees and they were all over everyone. I had a bunch in my hair and when all was said and done everyone was covered in bites that are very similar to mosquito bites and are very itcy. (my legs look like i have chicken pocks) Then we complained so much that they ended the tour early. oh well :) That night we hung out with Sara and Jules
Today, everyone staying for 2 weeks left, which was my entire group but 5 kids. It was really sad. In the morning the kids leaving had school and i went to this place called Guayabo. It is the sight of an anciet cilization. It sounded like it would be interesting but it was really 3 hours looking at rocks. AFter lunch we took a bunch of pictures and said goodbye and I went off to school. I have a new group now since my whole group left. I am now in the "advanced group" with this kid jordan and thie kid austin who i dont particually like like. But its still good, i learned a lot today so i suppose that is all that matters for the moment. I am now combined with last weeks new kids, they seem nice. I am getting to know them more.
Tomorrow a new group of kids come. I think that there is 14 or soething big like that. I will try to do this more often so these entries arent so long!
The next day I had school in the morning (another kid joined my group so it now consisted of me, Jenny, Alex, Ben and Corey) We then went to a new place for lunch called la feria. i liked it a lot i had arroz con pollo (no frijoles!) and after we went nack to the guide house for an hour to kill some time before we went to our salsa dance class. The class turned out to be fun, but it was mostly only me and my friend Jenny participating. A lot of the girls have been here for a few weeks now and didnt want to do it again and just about all the boys quit pretty soon into it. I ended up dancing the salsa with one of my couselors named Jose. We also learned the cumbia, i now know i am terrible at both, but it was fun to learn. After we went to the maxibodega (the walmart of Costa Rica) where people bought snacks for their houses and whatever they were needing and then we went to Pops for some ice cream. Following that, we went to the soccer field for another game of soccer (i am becoming quite the defender! haha) That night me and my roomate Sally went to our friends Alex and Jocab´s house with a bunch of our friends. that was a lot of fun, we always have fun when we all get together.
Saturday I went white water rafting- I was in a boat with My friends Jenny, Ben, Corey and Max. It was a lot of fun but our guide was a bit of a jerk. He tipped our raft over in the middle of a rapid, which wasnt particularly enjoyable, but overall i had a lot of fun. Halfway through we stopped to have lunch, which was actually incredible. The had brought all this stuff and they set up a whole table (a boat flipped over with a table cloth) we had sandwiches, which i had no idea how much i missed a good sandwhich, and there was chips and different dips and some pastry things. That night our friends Jules and Sara (who live across the street) came over for a little while.
Sunday was family day. We went to the university pool and hung out there for a bit. We saw some kids that we know but over all not too many people. Laster we came home and me and sally watched tv and played card for the rest of the day. That night for dinner we had hot dogs with russian dressing and raw cabbage (a first)
Monday I had school in the morning (my last day with my group) and after lunch (pizza! this is 3 meals in a row that i havent had rice and beans) we went the the botanical gardens. This would have been nice but a few things happened. 1. it was pouring. 2. We got swarmed by black biting honey bees. There were literally 100s of bees and they were all over everyone. I had a bunch in my hair and when all was said and done everyone was covered in bites that are very similar to mosquito bites and are very itcy. (my legs look like i have chicken pocks) Then we complained so much that they ended the tour early. oh well :) That night we hung out with Sara and Jules
Today, everyone staying for 2 weeks left, which was my entire group but 5 kids. It was really sad. In the morning the kids leaving had school and i went to this place called Guayabo. It is the sight of an anciet cilization. It sounded like it would be interesting but it was really 3 hours looking at rocks. AFter lunch we took a bunch of pictures and said goodbye and I went off to school. I have a new group now since my whole group left. I am now in the "advanced group" with this kid jordan and thie kid austin who i dont particually like like. But its still good, i learned a lot today so i suppose that is all that matters for the moment. I am now combined with last weeks new kids, they seem nice. I am getting to know them more.
Tomorrow a new group of kids come. I think that there is 14 or soething big like that. I will try to do this more often so these entries arent so long!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
week 2
So, hello again everyone. Sorry that I havent written in awhile, i have been busy and then since iw as busy i have been very tired. So i think that the last time i wrote, it was friday? so i will go from there. On saturday, the kids who had already been here for a week went whitewater rafting, so we had class in the morning and were supposed to go to a cheese festival. However, it started to rain so we drove to san jose to the mall to see Transformers 2. (really not that great of a movie, how many times can you watch metal explode?) Sunday was family day, and we were going to go to the pool, but it ended up raining again (this has stopped and now its pretty hot and sunny almost the whole day) Fernando (my host brother) went out and got a bunch of movies and some of his friends came over and we watched Angels and Demons and Wolverine. In the afternoon we took a taxi into town and got ice cream at this ice cream place (the best in turriabla i have heard) called POPS. After that we went to the church and saw the last 10ish minutes of the malls and met our "uncles and aunts" (they are the siblings of my "mom") That night we had (i think you can guess) rice and beans.
Monday in the morning we went to this waterfall which was beautiful but freezing. Itwas also really srong and the pressure of it hitting hte water below sent water flying everywhere, it felt a lot like it was raining. We then hiked up the side of the mountain that the waterfall was on and at the top of the water fall a much smaller waterfall (maybe 5 ft and not steep at all) formed a natural slide with the rocks so we went sliding on that for awhile and then hiked back. We then ate pizza for lunch (what a change!) its difffernt from the pizza in the Us, but tasty all the same. We then had class in the afternoon. That night, since it was the last night for all the kids who had been there for 2 weeks already and the 1-weekers, 9 of us went over to our friend Izzy´s house and had a "good-bye party" we just sat around and talked but it was still fun.
Tuesday all the people leaving left (my roomate Caroline and 2 kids from my group) and we went mountain biking in the morning. It really wasnt "mountain biking" at all, we just used mountain bikes. The road was more or less flat, just very rocky and quite muddy, and since we were riding through a farm, there was much cow poop everywhere. I actually fell of my bike into a lovely smelling muddy puddle. By the end we were all smelly and muddy and needed to be hosed off. We had some extra time before lunch of we headed for the internet cafe. I realized that i am in one of the only houses with internet. So some people emailed their parents for the first time then. We had lunch of rice and beans and then headed off the school. We switched teachers I now have a man named Esteban for the first three hours and then Maria for the last hour. I also have one more kid in my group now that some kids left. his name is ben, hes not great at spanish but its livens up the group a bit. That night we played soccer with our group and went home fore dinner.
Today (wednesday) I had school in the morning (that changed today) because the new kids came. They now have school in the afternoon and us in the morning. I dont think i ever fully explained how school works. We first have 2 hours of grammer and speaking with one teacher, then we have a 10-15 minute break where there is coffee that they make there (it is some of the best coffee i have ever had, and i now have a cup every day) and then after we have one more hour of grammer and such and then the last hour we switch teachers and we play games and work on our coversation skill. ( i think mine are improving. I am definitely able to understand much more now) AFter school we had some lunch and then set out for the soccer field again to meet the new kids. We played some name games and then played them in soccer. ( this is more soccer than i have ever played in my life, i am terrible!) after we went to POPS for some ice creams and went home for dinner. We have some new neighbors across the street so Sally (my roomate) went across the steet and hung out with them for like an hour. One girl has been here for like 2 weeks already but just switched families because she didnt get along well with them and one new girl. I think that all for now, sorry this in so long! I will try to keep up with it more!
Monday in the morning we went to this waterfall which was beautiful but freezing. Itwas also really srong and the pressure of it hitting hte water below sent water flying everywhere, it felt a lot like it was raining. We then hiked up the side of the mountain that the waterfall was on and at the top of the water fall a much smaller waterfall (maybe 5 ft and not steep at all) formed a natural slide with the rocks so we went sliding on that for awhile and then hiked back. We then ate pizza for lunch (what a change!) its difffernt from the pizza in the Us, but tasty all the same. We then had class in the afternoon. That night, since it was the last night for all the kids who had been there for 2 weeks already and the 1-weekers, 9 of us went over to our friend Izzy´s house and had a "good-bye party" we just sat around and talked but it was still fun.
Tuesday all the people leaving left (my roomate Caroline and 2 kids from my group) and we went mountain biking in the morning. It really wasnt "mountain biking" at all, we just used mountain bikes. The road was more or less flat, just very rocky and quite muddy, and since we were riding through a farm, there was much cow poop everywhere. I actually fell of my bike into a lovely smelling muddy puddle. By the end we were all smelly and muddy and needed to be hosed off. We had some extra time before lunch of we headed for the internet cafe. I realized that i am in one of the only houses with internet. So some people emailed their parents for the first time then. We had lunch of rice and beans and then headed off the school. We switched teachers I now have a man named Esteban for the first three hours and then Maria for the last hour. I also have one more kid in my group now that some kids left. his name is ben, hes not great at spanish but its livens up the group a bit. That night we played soccer with our group and went home fore dinner.
Today (wednesday) I had school in the morning (that changed today) because the new kids came. They now have school in the afternoon and us in the morning. I dont think i ever fully explained how school works. We first have 2 hours of grammer and speaking with one teacher, then we have a 10-15 minute break where there is coffee that they make there (it is some of the best coffee i have ever had, and i now have a cup every day) and then after we have one more hour of grammer and such and then the last hour we switch teachers and we play games and work on our coversation skill. ( i think mine are improving. I am definitely able to understand much more now) AFter school we had some lunch and then set out for the soccer field again to meet the new kids. We played some name games and then played them in soccer. ( this is more soccer than i have ever played in my life, i am terrible!) after we went to POPS for some ice creams and went home for dinner. We have some new neighbors across the street so Sally (my roomate) went across the steet and hung out with them for like an hour. One girl has been here for like 2 weeks already but just switched families because she didnt get along well with them and one new girl. I think that all for now, sorry this in so long! I will try to keep up with it more!
Friday, July 3, 2009
¡Pura Vida!
¡Pura Vida! is the "shalom" of costa rica. It means just about everything and most conversations start and end with "¡esta bien, pura vida!" It answers most questions so if you dont know the answer - you can always safely respnd with ¡pura vida!.
Another interesting/funny things about costa rica is that absolutely no one follows any traffic laws. For stop signs, no one stops, instead they just honk their horns really loudly and speed up. It is totally normal to just narrowly miss running over bikers or pedestrians. One of the "moms" of one of the kids in my group got i a moter bike accident just yeaterday with a car. She was fine, but its not uncommon to see people sittingon the side of the road next to they smashed up bike or motercycle. On the way to Turriabla, we drove through what they call the "traffic circle of death" because it has no traffic signs or stop lights, its every car for itself. There are some huge number of accidents there each year.
One more random but interesting fact- the mail system. It is really interesting because no one has addresses. You live in a neighborhood, and your address is something like " 6km noth of the the tienda de ropa." So as you can imgaine this makes it difficult to deliver mail when everyone in the same neighborhood has the same address. So when the mailman want to deliever mail, he stands at the end of the street and shouts out names of the people with mail! how weird right!
Another interesting/funny things about costa rica is that absolutely no one follows any traffic laws. For stop signs, no one stops, instead they just honk their horns really loudly and speed up. It is totally normal to just narrowly miss running over bikers or pedestrians. One of the "moms" of one of the kids in my group got i a moter bike accident just yeaterday with a car. She was fine, but its not uncommon to see people sittingon the side of the road next to they smashed up bike or motercycle. On the way to Turriabla, we drove through what they call the "traffic circle of death" because it has no traffic signs or stop lights, its every car for itself. There are some huge number of accidents there each year.
One more random but interesting fact- the mail system. It is really interesting because no one has addresses. You live in a neighborhood, and your address is something like " 6km noth of the the tienda de ropa." So as you can imgaine this makes it difficult to deliver mail when everyone in the same neighborhood has the same address. So when the mailman want to deliever mail, he stands at the end of the street and shouts out names of the people with mail! how weird right!
past few days
So here is what i have been up to in the past few days. My first "real" day went well. I went horseback riding in the morning, which was fun. I hadnt done that in a really long time. My horse´s name Guerno and it didnt like to do anything but trot or gallop. I´m pretty sure that not going to be able to sit for a few more days. The galloping was actually a lot less painful, but I was scared that i was going to go flying off the front. I think i was able to take some good pictures but i havent had a chance to look through them. Its really beautiful here, the school is on the side of the mountain and looks over the town of Turriabla and the surrounding moutains. I also have a good view of Volcan Turriabla from my house; I will need to make sure that I get a good picture of it before I get home. My first day of classes went well too. I like my group a lot, i am with a girl named Jjenny and a boy named Alex. We have school for 4 hours a day. The first 3 hours we have a teacher named Maria and we do grammer and spanish skills and the last hour we have a teacher named Esteban with whom we play games and practice speaking. That night we went to the guide´s house and made costa rican style neclaces and breacelets using wooden beads. This morning (friday) I went canoning/ziplining in the rainforest. We alternated between repelling down waterfalls ( i get absolutely drenched) and ziplining through the trees. ( i saw a sloth (: ) It was so much fun, i think that im going to try to go again at some point before i leave. School went well today too. nothing to special to report, although i get so much homework! oh well, hopefully i will be very good at spanish :)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
My first days here
I am now here in Costa Rica and writing from the computer in my family´s house. (this apparently is very rare, almost no other families have computer or internet in their homes) So when I first arrived we all boarded onto buses and spent our first night at a hostel. It was nice but i was so tired that I didnt get to see very much of it. In the morning we had an early breakfast (rice and beans) and set out to our programs. Their are 13 kids on my trip, who all seem very nice. We drove about 3 hours to turriabla and when we got there we all took our placement tests. It didnt seem to be too hard, but i havent looked at any spanish in 2 weeks, so i hope i remembered it all. We then went into town and had lunch (rice and beans) and then met up with the other kids who were already here from previous weeks. We got to know each other for a little bit and then proceeded to play a soccer game, new kids verse the ´´vets.´´ Our team won, but as you can imagine i wasnt much help. After we went to the staff house and waited to be picked up by our host families. Mine seems very nice, a mom, dad and a son who is my age. They also have a grandson who is 7 who is very cute. I have 2 roomates who are both a year younger than i am and have been here a week already. We ate dinner and went to bed really early (I was alseep by 8:30) Today, I am going horseback riding in the morning and then have my first session on classes in the afternoon. The school looks absolutely beatuiful, although I havent had much time to look around. Also, I am definitely eating well here. My host mom is a really good cook amd the fresh fruit is incedible.
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