Not toooooo much has happened since the last post, but it's been a little while, so I figured I should get to writing...
Will left Wed. (10/27) while I was at work. It was definitely nice to have such good company for a bit, though I wish I hadn't been so sick while he was here. Speaking of, my cold/flu has since dissipated. Mostly. Being sick sucks. Being sick in a new country sucks more. Thank goodness that's over.
That weekend, mostly better, I went out with some friends from work for Halloween. I came up with a costume last second and went as Quailman, from the old Nickelodeon TV show, Doug. While almost no one here understood, it was funny nonetheless, not to mention comfortable. Halloween was a fun night, though, and it was good spending time with people I work with. We all met at one apartment and then went to Rumba, a bar that seemed to me to be in the middle of nowhere as I had no idea where we were. It was fun though, and the bar put on quite the show for Halloween.
The highlights included: the DJ was dressed as Elmo; a couple dressed as the Smurfs (or los Pitufos) won best costume; there was a Michael Jackson Thriller dance; a Brazilian drumline carnival thing... I stayed out too late. But it was fun.
The week of November 1 marked the last week of my TESOL classes. The three of us were scheduled to take the TKT test on Friday but we decided to take it on Thursday instead, cutting the number of times we had to commute out to Escazu short by a day, which was a really great change. Overall the classes were fine. I definitely learned some useful tips for teaching ESL, and am grateful Politecnico paid for half the class.
Last week also began all the rain. Due to the elections and disasters in other parts of the world, including Haiti, I know this didn't receive much coverage in the US, but it was a huge deal here. It poured and poured for about 4 days straight here last week, causing major flooding and landslides killing more than 20 people, closing many of the roads, and, ironically, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without water.
The president declared Thursday a day of national emergency, and Friday and Saturday were days of mourning. Check out www.ticotimes.net if you want to read a little local coverage in English.
With all the rain came the cold. For Costa Rica standards, it was really freakin cold here last week, so I decided to take advantage of my long weekend and try to get some sunshine. Sunday morning, my friend/coworker Sara and I hopped the bus to Jaco, on the Pacific side of the country. The bus ride was about 2-2.5 hours and we arrived and found a place to stay without a problem. Due to all the rain, there weren't too many people in Jaco this weekend, which was pretty nice. Jaco is the closest beach to San Jose, so it gets a lot of traffic, both from tourists and Ticos. Many Ticos, however, have strong anti-Jaco feelings and I can easily see why.
While the beach is nice, the town of Jaco is being built up and taken over by tourists and ex-pats looking to make a living off of said tourists. Regardless, it was empty enough that Sara and I had a great time. We did a whole lot of nothing, laying on the beach, eating and drinking, and sleeping. Monday (yesterday), Sara and I went over to Playa Hermosa, which is about a $7 cab ride from Jaco. Hermosa was full of surfers, a boy who couldn't have been more than 19 hitting on Sara and me, and lots of big, strong waves that were too much to swim in. Due to the floodings and all the rain, the water at the beaches was a little more brown than blue, but lovely nonetheless.
One note about Jaco: with the rise in tourism, there has followed a rise in drug and prostitution problems as well. Last night, while Sara and I were asleep, some drunk older (40s?) American men stumbled back to the hotel around 2am. They woke us up with their general drunken behavior: being loud, slamming doors, breaking bottles, etc. However, I did notice one Spanish speaking woman with them. As it turns out, after listening to what was going on a little, it became clear that much of the noise being made was coming from one man in particular, who was trying to trying to understand exactly what (how long) it was he had paid the woman for.... Classy.
Eventually they all quieted down and I was able to fall back asleep for the rest of the night. Despite this craziness, the hotel was good - clean, cheap and otherwise quiet - and our trip to Jaco was a success. We managed to miss all the rain, and were blessed with mostly blue skies and perfectly warm (not too hot) days/nights. It was a perfect weekend getaway. Furthermore, there are delicious smoothies available almost everywhere.
I head back to work and reality tomorrow, but am already planning my next get away. Literally. I have to do a border run to renew my visa by the end of the month. Given the situation with Costa Rica and Nicaragua fighting over where the borders lie (if you don't know anything about it look it up and keep in mind that CR doesn't have an army of any kind so there will be no actual fighting), I'm figuring I will be heading down to Panama to do that just to avoid any potential problems trying to come back in to CR. If anyone wants to meet me in Bocas del Toro for a long weekend let me know!
Other than my visa run, I'm looking forward to my mom returning for another visit in a couple weeks. :)
Love.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Good Company Makes Time Fly
Sorry folks, I could have sworn I'd updated more recently, but it appears as though time is running away from me. There are definitely worse things, I suppose.
So my mom arrived Friday night, on October 8, just after the earthquake. Yes, I said earthquake. I was teaching my Friday night class and the building started shaking a bit. If it weren't for my students telling me, I wouldn't have had any idea what it was. It wasn't a big one and I am pretty sure it didn't cause any major issues in the country, but it was still big enough that there was a bit of noise and vibration. Interesting experience, though one I would prefer to never have to repeat if at all possible.
I met my mom that night at her hotel and she came to school with me the next morning to meet some of my students and see where I spend a good amount of my time. My students (these are the adults) thought it was great that she came to meet all them and watch me teach. After class we went by the feria (farmer's market) so she could see what I'm so in love with and then later on back to my apartment. We went out to dinner that night, and aside from that, our Saturday was quite uneventful.
On Sunday we took a tour and went to the Doka Coffee Estate to see a coffee plantation, then to Volcan Poas which was totally clouded over, and finally to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. The waterfall gardens were quite beautiful though, and I had a fun time trying to take photos of hummingbirds with my pretty new camera. Aside from waterfalls, they have a whole bunch of -ariams where they keep different wildlife for people to see. My mom and I were able to hold a toucan and check out different types of frogs, for example. Neat. Our guide was quite animated, and gave a completely bilingual tour which was pretty enjoyable. The tour itself was nice and convenient, but it would have been better had we been able to go at our own pace. However, the hotel owners were spectacular and if you ever come to Heredia, you should stay there.
Monday morning I went to the airport with my mom and then went directly from there to my TESOL class in Escazu and was quite late. There was a misunderstanding on my part about where I had to be and when, but it turned out to not be a big deal. I have since been taking classes in Escazu for my TESOL certification, and should finish on November 5. I will be glad to have my regular schedule and commute back then... Escazu is nice and I'm certainly learning good things/refreshing my memory for improving my teaching but I will be very happy to not have to trek all the way out there a few times a week.
The one productive thing about having classes in Escazu is that they are at the HSBC Bank building, where I was able to open up an account. I am still waiting for everything to be processed, though, and am hoping to have a real bank account in which to deposit my checks from work. Due to foreigners using Costa Rican banks to launder money in the past, it takes some time to open a bank account here (I applied almost two weeks ago).
Last weekend friend from work, Kerensa, invited me out with her and a couple of her friends for a much needed night out. We began the evening at a karaoke bar in San Rafael de Heredia and ended it at a dance club (Castro's) in San Jose, where our designated driver taught me some bachata dancing, among some other randomness that I immediately forgot after. He was kind enough to pretend that I wasn't an awful dancer, and it was a fabulous time.
This late night led to a lazy Sunday of doing a little homework, cleaning and watching tv with my roommate. It was a good day.
This Thursday afternoon (10/21) my friend Will, who I studied abroad with in Spain, arrived for a visit. We met after my class was over Thursday and headed back to Heredia so he could drop off his pack and get acquainted with the area and such. Friday morning we headed over to INBioParque in Santo Domingo de Heredia for a tour and to just walk around the park. As far as I was concerned, it was money well spent. The park is a refuge devoted to conserving and studying the different ecosystems found in Costa Rica. Built atop what used to be a cafetal (coffee plantation), INBioParque is pretty beautiful. Your entrance fee comes with a free guided tour (or audio headset if you prefer) and a map of the grounds. It's not that big, but it is pretty cool how it's set up and our guide (Esteban, I think?) was great. I got some nice photos of sloths.
Saturday I woke up sweating with a bit of a fever and went and taught my class anyway. My feeling like crap derailed plans of a walking tour Saturday afternoon, but by the time Saturday night rolled around I was feeling well enough to take Will out with Kerensa. We somehow managed to wind up at a bar playing amazing music videos reminiscent of our favorite bar in Granada, La Bella y La Bestia. It was a hilarious evening, and I'm glad we went out, and equally glad we went home early.
Sunday morning Kerensa joined Will and I in an adventure trying to get to Volcan Poas via public transportation. We tried to catch a bus in Alajuela that goes straight to the volcano, but unknowlingly ended up missing it because of traffic from Heredia to Alajuela. So, we ended up on a bus to Poas, thanking our luck for how easy it was. Unfortunately, this Poas is a town, not the volcano. We then had to wait a half hour in the town for the bus to the volcano. While we were on that bus it started pouring like crazy, of course. The bus we were on didn't actually go all the way to the volcano, haha, so we instead took the bus as far as it would go and we decided to wait out the rain in this cute little cafe. We sipped some coffee and watched a few hummingbirds fly around while we were waiting for the rain to pass. We ended up paying a guy from the cafe to drive us the rest of the way to the park, which was worth not having to hike the last 4km uphill in the rain.
Sadly, the crater was once again completely clouded over and we didn't get to see anything, and had to turn around almost immediately to catch the (correct) bus back to Alajuela from the volcano. It was a ridiculous day of traveling, transferring one bus to the other, only getting to spend about an hour walking around the actual volcano. We spent the majority of the day on the bus, after which I promptly came home and threw up. Despite the very end, I thought it was a fun day, and quite the learning experience. At least I know what bus we need to take to get to the volcano next time! Will kept in great spirits the entire time, despite not being able to see anything, and maintains that he had a great time. Sweet of him to say so haha. Sadly, the weather has not been so great for him as it was for my mom, and it has rained every day he's been here.
This morning Will took off for Monteverde to see the cloud forests, while I was to head to Escazu for more TESOL classes. Unfortunately, I woke up just as bad this morning as I felt when I went to bed last night. So, despite my efforts to force myself out the door in time for class, I almost threw up on the bus ride from my front door to the center of town (approximately a 5 minute ride), and decided I wasn't going to make in on another two extremely crowded buses out to Escazu and didn't go to class. Instead I napped for a little and then went over to the pharmacy to talk to a doctor about my poor health. The doc wasn't in, so I went to the pharmacist for some meds for my fever instead. My sinuses are still a mess and I still have a tiny tiny bit of a cough, but the fever's down and I'm holding down food. Definitely an improvement. I figure if I don't get even more better (yeah, I teach English grammar for a living) by the end of the week, I'll go see a doctor and figure out what's wrong.
In the meanwhile, I've got some homework to get done for classes tomorrow. I should probably eat something, too. And go through all these photos I've taken recently and post some.
I booked my flight home for Christmas/New Years and will be in Chicago from December 20 until January 9. Yay for having a college schedule with lots of time off :)
Love.
So my mom arrived Friday night, on October 8, just after the earthquake. Yes, I said earthquake. I was teaching my Friday night class and the building started shaking a bit. If it weren't for my students telling me, I wouldn't have had any idea what it was. It wasn't a big one and I am pretty sure it didn't cause any major issues in the country, but it was still big enough that there was a bit of noise and vibration. Interesting experience, though one I would prefer to never have to repeat if at all possible.
I met my mom that night at her hotel and she came to school with me the next morning to meet some of my students and see where I spend a good amount of my time. My students (these are the adults) thought it was great that she came to meet all them and watch me teach. After class we went by the feria (farmer's market) so she could see what I'm so in love with and then later on back to my apartment. We went out to dinner that night, and aside from that, our Saturday was quite uneventful.
On Sunday we took a tour and went to the Doka Coffee Estate to see a coffee plantation, then to Volcan Poas which was totally clouded over, and finally to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. The waterfall gardens were quite beautiful though, and I had a fun time trying to take photos of hummingbirds with my pretty new camera. Aside from waterfalls, they have a whole bunch of -ariams where they keep different wildlife for people to see. My mom and I were able to hold a toucan and check out different types of frogs, for example. Neat. Our guide was quite animated, and gave a completely bilingual tour which was pretty enjoyable. The tour itself was nice and convenient, but it would have been better had we been able to go at our own pace. However, the hotel owners were spectacular and if you ever come to Heredia, you should stay there.
Monday morning I went to the airport with my mom and then went directly from there to my TESOL class in Escazu and was quite late. There was a misunderstanding on my part about where I had to be and when, but it turned out to not be a big deal. I have since been taking classes in Escazu for my TESOL certification, and should finish on November 5. I will be glad to have my regular schedule and commute back then... Escazu is nice and I'm certainly learning good things/refreshing my memory for improving my teaching but I will be very happy to not have to trek all the way out there a few times a week.
The one productive thing about having classes in Escazu is that they are at the HSBC Bank building, where I was able to open up an account. I am still waiting for everything to be processed, though, and am hoping to have a real bank account in which to deposit my checks from work. Due to foreigners using Costa Rican banks to launder money in the past, it takes some time to open a bank account here (I applied almost two weeks ago).
Last weekend friend from work, Kerensa, invited me out with her and a couple of her friends for a much needed night out. We began the evening at a karaoke bar in San Rafael de Heredia and ended it at a dance club (Castro's) in San Jose, where our designated driver taught me some bachata dancing, among some other randomness that I immediately forgot after. He was kind enough to pretend that I wasn't an awful dancer, and it was a fabulous time.
This late night led to a lazy Sunday of doing a little homework, cleaning and watching tv with my roommate. It was a good day.
This Thursday afternoon (10/21) my friend Will, who I studied abroad with in Spain, arrived for a visit. We met after my class was over Thursday and headed back to Heredia so he could drop off his pack and get acquainted with the area and such. Friday morning we headed over to INBioParque in Santo Domingo de Heredia for a tour and to just walk around the park. As far as I was concerned, it was money well spent. The park is a refuge devoted to conserving and studying the different ecosystems found in Costa Rica. Built atop what used to be a cafetal (coffee plantation), INBioParque is pretty beautiful. Your entrance fee comes with a free guided tour (or audio headset if you prefer) and a map of the grounds. It's not that big, but it is pretty cool how it's set up and our guide (Esteban, I think?) was great. I got some nice photos of sloths.
Saturday I woke up sweating with a bit of a fever and went and taught my class anyway. My feeling like crap derailed plans of a walking tour Saturday afternoon, but by the time Saturday night rolled around I was feeling well enough to take Will out with Kerensa. We somehow managed to wind up at a bar playing amazing music videos reminiscent of our favorite bar in Granada, La Bella y La Bestia. It was a hilarious evening, and I'm glad we went out, and equally glad we went home early.
Sunday morning Kerensa joined Will and I in an adventure trying to get to Volcan Poas via public transportation. We tried to catch a bus in Alajuela that goes straight to the volcano, but unknowlingly ended up missing it because of traffic from Heredia to Alajuela. So, we ended up on a bus to Poas, thanking our luck for how easy it was. Unfortunately, this Poas is a town, not the volcano. We then had to wait a half hour in the town for the bus to the volcano. While we were on that bus it started pouring like crazy, of course. The bus we were on didn't actually go all the way to the volcano, haha, so we instead took the bus as far as it would go and we decided to wait out the rain in this cute little cafe. We sipped some coffee and watched a few hummingbirds fly around while we were waiting for the rain to pass. We ended up paying a guy from the cafe to drive us the rest of the way to the park, which was worth not having to hike the last 4km uphill in the rain.
Sadly, the crater was once again completely clouded over and we didn't get to see anything, and had to turn around almost immediately to catch the (correct) bus back to Alajuela from the volcano. It was a ridiculous day of traveling, transferring one bus to the other, only getting to spend about an hour walking around the actual volcano. We spent the majority of the day on the bus, after which I promptly came home and threw up. Despite the very end, I thought it was a fun day, and quite the learning experience. At least I know what bus we need to take to get to the volcano next time! Will kept in great spirits the entire time, despite not being able to see anything, and maintains that he had a great time. Sweet of him to say so haha. Sadly, the weather has not been so great for him as it was for my mom, and it has rained every day he's been here.
This morning Will took off for Monteverde to see the cloud forests, while I was to head to Escazu for more TESOL classes. Unfortunately, I woke up just as bad this morning as I felt when I went to bed last night. So, despite my efforts to force myself out the door in time for class, I almost threw up on the bus ride from my front door to the center of town (approximately a 5 minute ride), and decided I wasn't going to make in on another two extremely crowded buses out to Escazu and didn't go to class. Instead I napped for a little and then went over to the pharmacy to talk to a doctor about my poor health. The doc wasn't in, so I went to the pharmacist for some meds for my fever instead. My sinuses are still a mess and I still have a tiny tiny bit of a cough, but the fever's down and I'm holding down food. Definitely an improvement. I figure if I don't get even more better (yeah, I teach English grammar for a living) by the end of the week, I'll go see a doctor and figure out what's wrong.
In the meanwhile, I've got some homework to get done for classes tomorrow. I should probably eat something, too. And go through all these photos I've taken recently and post some.
I booked my flight home for Christmas/New Years and will be in Chicago from December 20 until January 9. Yay for having a college schedule with lots of time off :)
Love.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Laundry, Cold Showers, Sarchi and Birthday Cake
I'm sorry I haven't updated recently, I've been lazy/without consistent internet.
These last couple weeks have been pretty uneventful, so I don't have much exciting to write about, but thought I probably should anyway....
I have been spending the majority of my free time relaxing, procrastinating planning, picking up any extra shifts at work I can, and just walking around. And sitting on my lazy butt avoiding the constant rain. I have gotten to skype with a few lovely people, which has been wonderful. The highlight being skyping with my mom, Kelly, niece Lily, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Flo... technology is a beautiful thing.
I did laundry, which was entertaining. Washing machines and dryers are crazy expensive here, as well as use a ridiculous amount of energy and water. So, what people who aren't rich do, is use what we have: a washing machine that is separated into two compartments and uses no hot water. The first compartment is the regular wash cycle, with a knob that you have to turn to drain the water when it's done.
The second compartment is the spin cycle, which does an excellent job drying everything as much as possible before you hang it all up on a line to dry. The thing about that one is that if your laundry isn't perfectly balanced in the spinner thingy, the entire machine begins to move across the floor. Hilarious. There is no such thing as a rinse cycle, so you have to do that by hand. It requires a lot more time and effort than in the states, but it's not really as obnoxious as it sounds.
Haha I know you were all just yearning to learn the details of doing laundry here.
A notable event would be that our shower head, which heats the water, exploded while my roommate was in the shower a couple weeks ago. Therefore, we went without hot water for a while. Cold showers suck. Regardless of whether or not it's warm outside. Not only are they cold, but they don't really make you feel clean. We have hot water again, but there was a good week and a half of cold showers and a general feeling of smellyness.
Last Monday (9/27), I ventured out to the small town of Sarchi, about an hour or so away. Sarchi is an artisan town, that in reality is not all that small, just not highly populated. It sprawls out a bit, and is divided in to Sarchi North, which contains the town's center, and not too much else, and Sarchi South. The road up through Sarchi South is full of souvenir/carreta (brightly painted typical Costa Rican carts) shops and woodworking studios. The artwork, both the carretas and furniture, is pretty spectacular, and you can go in and check everything out while drinking free coffee and watching the artists do their thing. According to my guidebook, you can take woodworking classes there, which I hope to do another time.
I stumbled upon a shop with a artist who was both deaf and mute painting a typical carreta. He was eager to explain to me what he was doing (as well as he could and as well as I could understand) and he pulled up a stool for me to sit and watch him work. Roberto was incredibly kind and friendly, and a remarkably patient painter. Trying to communicate with him while watching him paint was a nice break from walking around in the rain.
On an amazing note, on my way home from Sarchi, I went shopping for a new shower head and such, and I found a this which I clearly purchased for myself as a birthday present. For those of you who know Eggo the Eggwhisk, I am sure you have a small idea of how ridiculously happy this made me. And for those of you who don't know my favorite kitchen utensil, you are missing out.
My birthday was on Tuesday, and my roommate surprised me with a small party. She invited a bunch of her friends over, who were all nice as can be, to celebrate with me and have some cake. It ended up being a pretty hilarious evening full of me half understanding what was going on and getting another run down of Tican slang, none of which I remember.... I had a great time though, and drank a good deal of wine.
Other than that, aside from registering as a taxpayer (though I won't be paying taxes) so I can get paid and planning my classes, I haven't been up to much of anything.
I start taking TESOL classes on Monday, for 4 weeks, which will suck, but at least I'm not paying full price. I will, somewhat thankfully I suppose, be quite busy these next few weeks. Hopefully it will give me another opportunity to meet new people and make some more friends.
My mom is coming to visit this weekend, and she gets in tomorrow. :) I'm really excited. It will be nice to have a bit of home for a weekend.
The list of things I miss about home is quite long, but here are a few of the things I am loving about Costa Rica so far:
- Universal healthcare.
- You only pay taxes if you make a certain amount of money. Aka, if you are poor, you don't have to pay taxes.
- No military.
- Coffee. Even the crap is fabulous.
- Most of the time the taxi drivers will wait to make sure I get in the gate of my apartment building before leaving at night.
- I have a really awesome view from my apartment.
- Paying someone to clean your apartment for you costs practically nothing.
- The cost of living is beautifully low, but the quality of life is spectacularly high.
In other news, I have finally discovered my address for those that have been asking. Though, I'm unsure if mail is actually able to come here, but would love it if you tried anyway:
Me
Residencial Maria Cristina
300 metros oeste de los telefonos publicos
Contiguo a la Clinica Arvicana, Apartamento #4.
Heredia, Heredia, Costa Rica
That's all for now, I hope everyone's doing well!
These last couple weeks have been pretty uneventful, so I don't have much exciting to write about, but thought I probably should anyway....
I have been spending the majority of my free time relaxing, procrastinating planning, picking up any extra shifts at work I can, and just walking around. And sitting on my lazy butt avoiding the constant rain. I have gotten to skype with a few lovely people, which has been wonderful. The highlight being skyping with my mom, Kelly, niece Lily, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Flo... technology is a beautiful thing.
I did laundry, which was entertaining. Washing machines and dryers are crazy expensive here, as well as use a ridiculous amount of energy and water. So, what people who aren't rich do, is use what we have: a washing machine that is separated into two compartments and uses no hot water. The first compartment is the regular wash cycle, with a knob that you have to turn to drain the water when it's done.
The second compartment is the spin cycle, which does an excellent job drying everything as much as possible before you hang it all up on a line to dry. The thing about that one is that if your laundry isn't perfectly balanced in the spinner thingy, the entire machine begins to move across the floor. Hilarious. There is no such thing as a rinse cycle, so you have to do that by hand. It requires a lot more time and effort than in the states, but it's not really as obnoxious as it sounds.
Haha I know you were all just yearning to learn the details of doing laundry here.
A notable event would be that our shower head, which heats the water, exploded while my roommate was in the shower a couple weeks ago. Therefore, we went without hot water for a while. Cold showers suck. Regardless of whether or not it's warm outside. Not only are they cold, but they don't really make you feel clean. We have hot water again, but there was a good week and a half of cold showers and a general feeling of smellyness.
Last Monday (9/27), I ventured out to the small town of Sarchi, about an hour or so away. Sarchi is an artisan town, that in reality is not all that small, just not highly populated. It sprawls out a bit, and is divided in to Sarchi North, which contains the town's center, and not too much else, and Sarchi South. The road up through Sarchi South is full of souvenir/carreta (brightly painted typical Costa Rican carts) shops and woodworking studios. The artwork, both the carretas and furniture, is pretty spectacular, and you can go in and check everything out while drinking free coffee and watching the artists do their thing. According to my guidebook, you can take woodworking classes there, which I hope to do another time.
I stumbled upon a shop with a artist who was both deaf and mute painting a typical carreta. He was eager to explain to me what he was doing (as well as he could and as well as I could understand) and he pulled up a stool for me to sit and watch him work. Roberto was incredibly kind and friendly, and a remarkably patient painter. Trying to communicate with him while watching him paint was a nice break from walking around in the rain.
On an amazing note, on my way home from Sarchi, I went shopping for a new shower head and such, and I found a this which I clearly purchased for myself as a birthday present. For those of you who know Eggo the Eggwhisk, I am sure you have a small idea of how ridiculously happy this made me. And for those of you who don't know my favorite kitchen utensil, you are missing out.
My birthday was on Tuesday, and my roommate surprised me with a small party. She invited a bunch of her friends over, who were all nice as can be, to celebrate with me and have some cake. It ended up being a pretty hilarious evening full of me half understanding what was going on and getting another run down of Tican slang, none of which I remember.... I had a great time though, and drank a good deal of wine.
Other than that, aside from registering as a taxpayer (though I won't be paying taxes) so I can get paid and planning my classes, I haven't been up to much of anything.
I start taking TESOL classes on Monday, for 4 weeks, which will suck, but at least I'm not paying full price. I will, somewhat thankfully I suppose, be quite busy these next few weeks. Hopefully it will give me another opportunity to meet new people and make some more friends.
My mom is coming to visit this weekend, and she gets in tomorrow. :) I'm really excited. It will be nice to have a bit of home for a weekend.
The list of things I miss about home is quite long, but here are a few of the things I am loving about Costa Rica so far:
- Universal healthcare.
- You only pay taxes if you make a certain amount of money. Aka, if you are poor, you don't have to pay taxes.
- No military.
- Coffee. Even the crap is fabulous.
- Most of the time the taxi drivers will wait to make sure I get in the gate of my apartment building before leaving at night.
- I have a really awesome view from my apartment.
- Paying someone to clean your apartment for you costs practically nothing.
- The cost of living is beautifully low, but the quality of life is spectacularly high.
In other news, I have finally discovered my address for those that have been asking. Though, I'm unsure if mail is actually able to come here, but would love it if you tried anyway:
Me
Residencial Maria Cristina
300 metros oeste de los telefonos publicos
Contiguo a la Clinica Arvicana, Apartamento #4.
Heredia, Heredia, Costa Rica
That's all for now, I hope everyone's doing well!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tortuguero and Such
Alright, it's been over a week since I last wrote which means this could be a long one, so I am going to try and stick to the interesting parts only. However, I make no promises and am likely, as per usual, to be long winded and overly thorough. Basically, I am going to tell you the things I hope to remember somewhere down the line...
In general, things are still going well. I am enjoying the job, and my students are pretty great for the most part. My Saturday students are mostly working adults, though there are a couple younger students in the class. They are eager to learn and participate, and while they don't catch on quite as quickly as my Wed/Fri students, they make up for it in enthusiasm.
My Wed/Fri students are slightly more reluctant to speak in English, but I think that has more to do with their age and egos than their willingness to learn. There are only two girls in this class and about 15 boys (some of whom have yet to show up), which is always an interesting ratio.
Last Saturday after class I returned home to find my roommate had bought a router and had internet set up for our apartment :) So my computer is finally online, although it isn't the strongest connection, it works well enough. Then she took me out to purchase a cell phone, which was surprisingly incredibly complicated. I think we went to about 7 stores before we found me a cheap (by Costa Rica standards) cell phone and then went to a few more places before we finally got me a SIM card. I believe I get free incoming calls hint hint.
CR's independence day was Wednesday so I had the day off, and therefore a long long weekend to take advantage of. Sunday I headed down to San Jose to meet up with my German friend Antonia to go to Tortuguero. The trek out was an experience in itself. In order to get to Tortuguero on your own (you can get transportation from tour companies for something like $60 round trip - pretty ridiculous considering it cost about $10 round trip on your own), you have to take a bus from San Jose to Cariari, another bus from Cariari to Pavona, and then a boat from Pavona to Tortuguero Village. It's a trek, but allows you to see a bit of Costa Rica countryside, including banana plantations, and meet some locals along the way.... as well as lose 5 pounds from excessive sweating.
Tortuguero Village is a tiny tiny tiny village on the northeast (caribbean) coast of the country. The village pretty much thrives on tourism, and 19 out of 20 locals make most of their living off it. The only way to reach the village is by boat, and it is the best and cheapest way of getting in to Tortuguero National Park. To do everything the village/park has to offer (aside from camping), you need at most a day and a half. Antonia and I, on the other hand, decided to take our sweet time and spend about three and a half days there.
We found the cheapest place to stay we could (a whopping $8 per night), and settled in... We arrived at dinner time on Sunday, and decided that going to bed at 8:30pm was probably dumb, we chose one of the village's local bars to have a drink or two to waste some time. It is slow season there right now, and considering everyone in the village knows one another, my fair-skinned blond-haired travel companion and I stuck out like sore thumbs and immediately drew attention.
For the most part, the people of Tortuguero are friendly and welcoming and great. While listening to some awful karaoke and watching a hilarious game of dominoes during which every player slammed down his piece when it was his turn, we were approached my a number of gentlemen. By far, the nicest of the bunch was named Antony, who after offering us a free canal tour the next day, became our guide and friend for the next few days. Antony, 25, attended only one year of school, but speaks 5 different languages (Jamaican Patois, Spanish, English, French and something else I can't remember) and was working on his 6th with Antonia as well as other German tourists. Pretty awesome.
Monday afternoon we met Antony and two other German tourists and went for a tour in the canals of Tortuguero National Park. This was the first time I had experienced Costa Rica outside the city setting, and it was absolutely incredible. While there are a thousand words I could use to describe it, I will go with green. Really really reallllllly freaking green. Absolutely beautiful and completely different from anything I have ever experienced. You read about the biological diversity of the rain forest growing up, but seeing it in person is simply breathtaking. Go there, fall in love, bring bug spray.
The canal tour was truly incredible, and among other things, I was able to see lots of birds, monkeys, spiders, iguanas, lizards, a poison dart frog, and mini alligators whose real name I can't remember. Photos will be posted on facebook soon.
Wednesday night we went back in to the park to do a turtle walk, which is the biggest draw to Tortuguero (translated means: turtle's place). From June to October, four different species of sea turtles come to the beaches of Costa Rica (mostly in the Tortuguero area) to lay their eggs. A turtle will come ashore and find a spot in the sand to dig a deep hole. A certified guide takes you out to the beach after dark to meet with an official "spotter," who leads you right to a turtle laying its eggs. Apparently when turtles start laying eggs, they enter into some kind of "trance" and can't stop until they are finished - they usually lay around 100 eggs 6 or 7 times a summer. So, while they are doing that, the guides lead you right up to the turtle (using their red lights so as not to disturb/scare the turtle with a bright light), moves aside a back flipper so you can watch the turtle laying eggs. Which I'm sure the turtles really appreciate.
When it's done, the turtle will use its flippers to bury the eggs and hide them best she can. Pretty awesome to watch. No photos are allowed, so you all will just have to go see it yourself some day.... Seriously... SO cool. We got to see 3 green sea turtles up close and a bunch more from a short distance moving along the beaches. Also, I should note, because it came as a surprise to Antonia and most other travelers we spoke with: the turtles are huge. The locals joke about how you can mount them and ride them like you would a horse. This of course is illegal, but funny to imagine nonetheless.
Antonia spent the rest of our time on the island eating, swimming in the ocean, walking around the town, sweating, and hanging out with Antony and meeting his friends, brothers, sisters and his some 48 nieces and nephews. Yeah. 48. He is the youngest of his mother's 11 children (not including his father's family in Florida), and is related to over half the people in the village. Antony was a wonderful guide, and was, apart from his professing his love for me and asking me to marry him, a great friend to have during our stay. He taught a couple other tourists how to make a kind of vegetarian soup using coconut as the base and saved us some. When I told him I hate coconut he replied that if I didn't like coconut I didn't like black men, haha. The soup was actually pretty good, as the taste of coconut was hidden by vegetables. Regardless, it was nice to have some authentic Costa Rican (slightly more Caribbean) food that didn't consist of rice and beans.
Not surprisingly, I was thoroughly attacked by mosquitoes, and my legs look like I have chicken pox. Mosquitoes love me. Always have. Probably always will. An interesting development I have encountered this summer (not just here in CR) is that my bites will swell, and then bruise before finally going away after about two weeks. Antony saw my legs, grabbed a plant growing alongside a local store, got the juice out of it and put it over my legs to stop the itching. It worked. I wish I could have bottled it up to bring back with me for the next time I am attacked.
Aside from the extreme heat/humidity of Tortuguero and the plethora of loud animal sounds, from dogs to birds to monkeys, that kept Antonia and I from sleeping as soundly as we would have liked (not a big deal of course), Antonia and I had only one real negative experience while in Tortuguero. The second night we were there (Monday) we went out with Antony for a drink at the bars. We spent the first part of the night speaking Spanish with Antony and his good friend Oscar, which was lovely. After Oscar went home to watch his telenovela (yes, that is what happened), the three of us relocated to bar #2, where we were approached by some other villagers.
After being harassed by almost every male in the bar to dance - they only accepted 'no thank you' after the 3rd or 4th time they asked along with an explanation why - a man old enough to be my father approached me and proceeded to hit on me. He admitted he was probably too old for me, but then made comments about how I should change my mind and leave the bar with him. I declined as politely as possible, but he lingered long enough to make me uncomfortable before he finally exited. This particular gentleman proceeded to make passes at me the rest of my stay in Tortuguero, though none quite so forward.
Shortly after he left, two other older men sat down with Antonia, Antony and I at the table. Because everyone knows everyone in Tortuguero, Antony introduced all his "friends." It was clear that the two who sat down with us had had a bit much to drink, and wasted no time in trying to figure out whether or not we were Antony's dates. The guy talking to me assumed I was going home with Antony and said something along the lines of "he can't do for you what I can." Adorable, really. Thankfully, that is where my conversation with that guy ended. Unfortunately for Antonia, she was not so lucky. The man that sat down next to her was outwardly asking her if she (and at times both of us) would go to bed with him, and when she said absolutely not he decided it was because Antony owned us and was refusing to share, and began to argue. We left at that and were mostly successful in avoiding them for the rest of our time there.
Aside from that small episode, Tortuguero was really a wonderful experience. I'd highly recommend going there, maybe just not for such a long amount of time. Antonia and I left Thursday morning and on our boat ride back to Pavona we saw a young (not quite baby) turtle making his way through the canals. Beautiful. Turtles are pretty awesome.
Since being back there hasn't been much going on, just planning and teaching. On the way back from class this morning I stopped at the market. There is a giant farmers market on the other side of the hospital (I live on the south side of the new hospital, and the market is on the north side) every Saturday, so I stopped to get some fresh goodness. I got 2 medium sized pineapples, a small watermelon, 3 bananas, 4 tomatoes and a block of delicious cheese for about $6. Be jealous ;)
Tomorrow I'm going to experiment with laundry. Wish me luck!
In general, things are still going well. I am enjoying the job, and my students are pretty great for the most part. My Saturday students are mostly working adults, though there are a couple younger students in the class. They are eager to learn and participate, and while they don't catch on quite as quickly as my Wed/Fri students, they make up for it in enthusiasm.
My Wed/Fri students are slightly more reluctant to speak in English, but I think that has more to do with their age and egos than their willingness to learn. There are only two girls in this class and about 15 boys (some of whom have yet to show up), which is always an interesting ratio.
Last Saturday after class I returned home to find my roommate had bought a router and had internet set up for our apartment :) So my computer is finally online, although it isn't the strongest connection, it works well enough. Then she took me out to purchase a cell phone, which was surprisingly incredibly complicated. I think we went to about 7 stores before we found me a cheap (by Costa Rica standards) cell phone and then went to a few more places before we finally got me a SIM card. I believe I get free incoming calls hint hint.
CR's independence day was Wednesday so I had the day off, and therefore a long long weekend to take advantage of. Sunday I headed down to San Jose to meet up with my German friend Antonia to go to Tortuguero. The trek out was an experience in itself. In order to get to Tortuguero on your own (you can get transportation from tour companies for something like $60 round trip - pretty ridiculous considering it cost about $10 round trip on your own), you have to take a bus from San Jose to Cariari, another bus from Cariari to Pavona, and then a boat from Pavona to Tortuguero Village. It's a trek, but allows you to see a bit of Costa Rica countryside, including banana plantations, and meet some locals along the way.... as well as lose 5 pounds from excessive sweating.
Tortuguero Village is a tiny tiny tiny village on the northeast (caribbean) coast of the country. The village pretty much thrives on tourism, and 19 out of 20 locals make most of their living off it. The only way to reach the village is by boat, and it is the best and cheapest way of getting in to Tortuguero National Park. To do everything the village/park has to offer (aside from camping), you need at most a day and a half. Antonia and I, on the other hand, decided to take our sweet time and spend about three and a half days there.
We found the cheapest place to stay we could (a whopping $8 per night), and settled in... We arrived at dinner time on Sunday, and decided that going to bed at 8:30pm was probably dumb, we chose one of the village's local bars to have a drink or two to waste some time. It is slow season there right now, and considering everyone in the village knows one another, my fair-skinned blond-haired travel companion and I stuck out like sore thumbs and immediately drew attention.
For the most part, the people of Tortuguero are friendly and welcoming and great. While listening to some awful karaoke and watching a hilarious game of dominoes during which every player slammed down his piece when it was his turn, we were approached my a number of gentlemen. By far, the nicest of the bunch was named Antony, who after offering us a free canal tour the next day, became our guide and friend for the next few days. Antony, 25, attended only one year of school, but speaks 5 different languages (Jamaican Patois, Spanish, English, French and something else I can't remember) and was working on his 6th with Antonia as well as other German tourists. Pretty awesome.
Monday afternoon we met Antony and two other German tourists and went for a tour in the canals of Tortuguero National Park. This was the first time I had experienced Costa Rica outside the city setting, and it was absolutely incredible. While there are a thousand words I could use to describe it, I will go with green. Really really reallllllly freaking green. Absolutely beautiful and completely different from anything I have ever experienced. You read about the biological diversity of the rain forest growing up, but seeing it in person is simply breathtaking. Go there, fall in love, bring bug spray.
The canal tour was truly incredible, and among other things, I was able to see lots of birds, monkeys, spiders, iguanas, lizards, a poison dart frog, and mini alligators whose real name I can't remember. Photos will be posted on facebook soon.
Wednesday night we went back in to the park to do a turtle walk, which is the biggest draw to Tortuguero (translated means: turtle's place). From June to October, four different species of sea turtles come to the beaches of Costa Rica (mostly in the Tortuguero area) to lay their eggs. A turtle will come ashore and find a spot in the sand to dig a deep hole. A certified guide takes you out to the beach after dark to meet with an official "spotter," who leads you right to a turtle laying its eggs. Apparently when turtles start laying eggs, they enter into some kind of "trance" and can't stop until they are finished - they usually lay around 100 eggs 6 or 7 times a summer. So, while they are doing that, the guides lead you right up to the turtle (using their red lights so as not to disturb/scare the turtle with a bright light), moves aside a back flipper so you can watch the turtle laying eggs. Which I'm sure the turtles really appreciate.
When it's done, the turtle will use its flippers to bury the eggs and hide them best she can. Pretty awesome to watch. No photos are allowed, so you all will just have to go see it yourself some day.... Seriously... SO cool. We got to see 3 green sea turtles up close and a bunch more from a short distance moving along the beaches. Also, I should note, because it came as a surprise to Antonia and most other travelers we spoke with: the turtles are huge. The locals joke about how you can mount them and ride them like you would a horse. This of course is illegal, but funny to imagine nonetheless.
Antonia spent the rest of our time on the island eating, swimming in the ocean, walking around the town, sweating, and hanging out with Antony and meeting his friends, brothers, sisters and his some 48 nieces and nephews. Yeah. 48. He is the youngest of his mother's 11 children (not including his father's family in Florida), and is related to over half the people in the village. Antony was a wonderful guide, and was, apart from his professing his love for me and asking me to marry him, a great friend to have during our stay. He taught a couple other tourists how to make a kind of vegetarian soup using coconut as the base and saved us some. When I told him I hate coconut he replied that if I didn't like coconut I didn't like black men, haha. The soup was actually pretty good, as the taste of coconut was hidden by vegetables. Regardless, it was nice to have some authentic Costa Rican (slightly more Caribbean) food that didn't consist of rice and beans.
Not surprisingly, I was thoroughly attacked by mosquitoes, and my legs look like I have chicken pox. Mosquitoes love me. Always have. Probably always will. An interesting development I have encountered this summer (not just here in CR) is that my bites will swell, and then bruise before finally going away after about two weeks. Antony saw my legs, grabbed a plant growing alongside a local store, got the juice out of it and put it over my legs to stop the itching. It worked. I wish I could have bottled it up to bring back with me for the next time I am attacked.
Aside from the extreme heat/humidity of Tortuguero and the plethora of loud animal sounds, from dogs to birds to monkeys, that kept Antonia and I from sleeping as soundly as we would have liked (not a big deal of course), Antonia and I had only one real negative experience while in Tortuguero. The second night we were there (Monday) we went out with Antony for a drink at the bars. We spent the first part of the night speaking Spanish with Antony and his good friend Oscar, which was lovely. After Oscar went home to watch his telenovela (yes, that is what happened), the three of us relocated to bar #2, where we were approached by some other villagers.
After being harassed by almost every male in the bar to dance - they only accepted 'no thank you' after the 3rd or 4th time they asked along with an explanation why - a man old enough to be my father approached me and proceeded to hit on me. He admitted he was probably too old for me, but then made comments about how I should change my mind and leave the bar with him. I declined as politely as possible, but he lingered long enough to make me uncomfortable before he finally exited. This particular gentleman proceeded to make passes at me the rest of my stay in Tortuguero, though none quite so forward.
Shortly after he left, two other older men sat down with Antonia, Antony and I at the table. Because everyone knows everyone in Tortuguero, Antony introduced all his "friends." It was clear that the two who sat down with us had had a bit much to drink, and wasted no time in trying to figure out whether or not we were Antony's dates. The guy talking to me assumed I was going home with Antony and said something along the lines of "he can't do for you what I can." Adorable, really. Thankfully, that is where my conversation with that guy ended. Unfortunately for Antonia, she was not so lucky. The man that sat down next to her was outwardly asking her if she (and at times both of us) would go to bed with him, and when she said absolutely not he decided it was because Antony owned us and was refusing to share, and began to argue. We left at that and were mostly successful in avoiding them for the rest of our time there.
Aside from that small episode, Tortuguero was really a wonderful experience. I'd highly recommend going there, maybe just not for such a long amount of time. Antonia and I left Thursday morning and on our boat ride back to Pavona we saw a young (not quite baby) turtle making his way through the canals. Beautiful. Turtles are pretty awesome.
Since being back there hasn't been much going on, just planning and teaching. On the way back from class this morning I stopped at the market. There is a giant farmers market on the other side of the hospital (I live on the south side of the new hospital, and the market is on the north side) every Saturday, so I stopped to get some fresh goodness. I got 2 medium sized pineapples, a small watermelon, 3 bananas, 4 tomatoes and a block of delicious cheese for about $6. Be jealous ;)
Tomorrow I'm going to experiment with laundry. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Things Falling into Place
Yikes. Lots to cover.
Friday night I went out with a group of people from the hostel to a bar called Mochila (backpack). It was reggae night, and the dreadlocks were plentiful. The bar had a great outdoor space, inside was decorated with a backpack and a number of flags from around the world. What separated this bar from the rest was that they serve beer in bongs (that look exactly like the ones you might smoke out of), ranging from 3 to 5 liters. I wanted to take a photo but was too embarrassed to pull out my camera in front of all the locals. Maybe another time…
I awoke on Saturday to come back out to Heredia to meet my new roommate Sarah about the apartment. She met me downtown Heredia and we hopped a cab to the place, having to drive around the giant market that takes over one of the main streets every Saturday (SO excited about this one), and paid a whopping $2 for the ride. The place is great, a good size, big closet, great view, gated, good neighborhood, $180/month, everything included. Pretty stellar… I’ll post photos on facebook, if you want to see them and are not on fb, email me and I’ll pass them along.
Sarah, my new roommate, is nice as they come. She is from Costa Rica but speaks English fluently since she studied in Wisconsin. She works for Priceline.com and teaches English through a company. Right now she is teaching a few people in management at the local bubblegum factory, which is pretty funny. Apparently they have her try new gum flavors out to get her feedback. Not a bad deal. She is a year younger than me, but I feel like I’m younger than her because I’m always asking her for help with everything haha.
Sunday morning Sarah and her girlfriend Laura picked me up from the hostel and took me to see my very first authentic game of futbol in Alajuela. There are 7 provinces in Costa Rica, and apparently each has its own soccer team. Alajuela was playing Heredia, and the stadium was packed. Thankfully the weather held out, and we got to watch the game from our $16 seats in the shade and separated from the superfans. Each team had their own superfan/section 8 type crew, and the visiting section was surrounded by policemen in riot gear. The Alajuela section was on the second level above the goal.
Now, I love soccer and have always wanted to watch a game surrounded by the barn-burners at Toyota Park, but you couldn’t pay me to join either one of those groups here in CR. The Alajuela fans looked like they were all about to fall of the balcony and a number of the Heredia fans were beaten by the police. I can promise that I will go to see another game while I am here, but I prefer to watch the game from where I’m not worried for my safety.
After the game the girls took me to lunch at a hotel restaurant in Alajuela. They spent the meal teaching me some hilarious Tica (Costa Rican) phrases. Highlights include: standing behind a tree (having no idea what is going on), fox (slut) and something about putting a fly on your cake or something. I forget now, but will report back whenever I learn it again.
I unpacked Sunday night and spent Monday running errands buying things I needed – a pillow, hangers, shampoo, etc. Nothing too exciting. Monday night I got to skype with my family after they finished having dinner for my brother Chris’ birthday. Sadly, the internet isn’t set up on my computer yet, so they couldn’t see me, but I got to see all of them J. Lily (my beautiful niece) tried to feed me cake. It’s like she was reading my mind. Okay, she was just giving it to herself in the computer screen, but still.
Tuesday morning I got up and went to the Instituto Politecnico de Costa Rica to interview for a position teaching English there and was offered a job on the spot. I started today: I had “training” this afternoon for a few hours and then was thrown right into a class from 6-9:30pm. It went surprisingly well. Not great, but then, I have never actually taught in English before, lol. I have a Wed/Fri night class that is full of slightly disgruntled students who were given the shaft last quarter and had four different teachers for no reason. Admin was a bit worried about the students, but they seemed to warm up to me fairly well. We talked a lot about basketball, amazingly enough. I think it may have been because of the (Chicago) bull sticker on my water bottle.
I will see those students again on Friday, and then I will have another class of adults (I believe) on Saturday mornings. I’ll also have office hours on Wednesdays, which is pretty hilarious to me. I’m apparently a legit teacher at a university. It’s a pretty crazy feeling. I’m excited/optimistic/grateful and intimidated/nervous/scared all at the same time.
About the school: Politecnico is the only (2 year) junior college in CR, and it has a beautiful, small campus in Heredia on the border of San Jose. I’ll post photos on fb and will email those who want. The school was started about 18 months ago, and is growing rapidly. I got to meet some of the staff I’ll be working with, all friendly people who seem like they’ll be a lot of help in the weeks to come.
Classes run 3-4 hours long, and occasionally Politecnico gets called to teach for some of the local high schools (!) who have AP English classes. The deal is I will work for them for the next three months, at which point they will evaluate and decide whether or not to keep me on staff. If I meet their expectations, they will then offer me a year-long contract. If I choose, I can shorten my contract to something like 6 months instead, but then they wouldn’t go through the expensive process of getting me my work visa.
Because the school receives some funding from the government, they have to prove that I am qualified to teach. Therefore, they will be evaluating my degrees from the US to determine what classes I am lacking for a TEFL certification. So, while I’m teaching in the next however long, I will also be taking classes to make up for my shortcomings, of which they will pay half. Basically, I have stumbled upon the best ESL teaching job in the country. Must be the luck of the Chirish! [That’s Chi-town Irish for you non-Chicago folk ;) ] Oh, and lunch is free for me every day.
Last night my roommate and I went grocery shopping and spent way too much money. Turns out we have very similar tastes – she loves pb&j and doesn’t like coconut too! I think this was meant to be, lol. While I sometimes find myself really homesick and overwhelmed at everything new going on around me, I am seriously counting my blessings at how well things are turning out for me right now. I miss you all SO much and can’t wait to see your faces again (I have a 2 week break for Christmas, btw – yay for school schedules!), but I believe that the wind is blowing me in the right direction… for right now at least.
My sincere apologies for this entry being so ridiculously long… I haven’t been able to access the internet from my computer in the apartment yet and the internet on Sarah’s computer goes in and out all the time because she gets the signal from the cafe down the street. Hopefully today or tomorrow we will get that taken care of and I will be able to respond to all those emails I haven’t yet responded to.
Love and miss you all. xoxoxo
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mom really does know best.
So Wednesday night Antonia and decided to join a group of people from the hostel and go out to a bar nearby. It was 'ladies night,' so I got a free drink and spent the night dancing and having a good time with new friends. The bar was packed. Highlights include the DJ restarting every song he played at least twice because he was shouting over the music so much and a thug looking Costa Rican wearing a Keith Haring sweatshirt. The night ended with the hostel owner showing us a video of him attacking a bull - hilarious. Yes, it was just as ridiculous as it sounds.
Yesterday morning I got up early for banana pancakes (I love pancakes, especially when they are free) and proceeded to do basically nothing with my day (aside from upload photos on fbook and talk to my dad on skype!). Wednesday morning/early afternoon was beautiful and sunny and hot - I am definitely sunburned - and it has been raining since then. Antonia packed up her stuff and moved in to her apartment here in San Pedro. Around noon Sasha, my new friend from California/Hawaii, arrived. She's never traveled out of the country before, so she decided to spend some time traveling and doing yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica by herself - pretty awesome. We are now travel buddies. So, in regards to the title of this post, my mother really does know best and good things happen when I listen to her. I originally had thought of getting off the plane and moving into an apartment right away, but she knew better and suggested I make some friends at a hostel first instead. Brilliant woman she is. :)
Antonia heard about a talk at UCR from her new roommate about the US bringing troops to Costa Rica. I figured if I was planning on staying here, maybe I should get educated in the goings on in this country. So Sasha, Sean (another friend from the hostel) and I walked over to the university to get learned. Obviously the talk was in Spanish, and mine is a little rusty, but I got the general idea of what was going on. Moral of the story: Costa Rica is proud of not having an army of their own, and thinks the US has no business bringing theirs anywhere near this beautiful place. There seemed to be some concern about US military influence having the same effect here as in other countries, namely Guatemala and Nicaragua. There was talk of protests. It was interesting.
After getting our learn on, we decided it was time for dinner: pizza. At some point I will eat some Costa Rican food I swear! The rest of the night was pretty boring, I decided not to go out because I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed early because I am getting sick, but I ended up sitting up talking with another hostel-stayer about traveling. We exchanged horror stories and amazing experiences. He's off tomorrow to see a little of CR and to meet his girlfriend in Panama City next week, then back to Denmark, so no travel partner there.
This morning I woke up early, hoping for an email about a job interview I was supposed to have. I had been in contact with a man at a junior college in Heredia (just north of San Jose) about teaching there, but his assistant hadn't sent me directions and an address as promised. I had emailed him when we got back from dinner around 7:30pm, but still hadn't gotten a response. By 9:15 there was still no response so Antonia, Sasha and I decided to head out to Heredia anyway to check out the town and see what there was to see. We arrived shortly after 10am, and began wandering around the town. At first, I wasn't a fan - there really wasn't anything spectacular about the place and it didn't seem to be much better than San Pedro. BUT, then we stumbled upon the market. Rows of fresh fruit stands, butcher stands and bakery goods among other things. From then on my entire perception of the town turned completely around. It's a pretty cute place, once you get past the initial appearance.
We stumbled upon the 'central park' and sat for a little bit. Around noon we stopped in to quickly check my email to see if I had heard from the school... I will try to reschedule, I think. On the other hand, I had found a posting for a very inexpensive apartment in Heredia yesterday and had received word from her (Saray/Sarah) that it was still available if I wanted to see it. I tried calling her a few times to no avail (she was in the bank), so we all headed back to San Pedro instead. Since then we have exchanged emails and I am going to meet her and see the place tomorrow morning. She has also said she knows of a potential job and will try to get me an interview! I like her already :) So far she seems great - nice, friendly and super helpful. I'll let you know how that all goes.
We got back to the hostel this afternoon and hung out, contemplated a trip to La Fortuna, and I Skyped with my mom :). We made dinner here at the hostel to save some money, and are now getting ready to go out for a bit to the bars. I have been chugging orange juice since I have a cold, and have decided that it is probably not the best idea for me to be going out super late. Thankfully, another girl from Germany arrived today and doesn't want to stay out too late either. We decided we are going to be early-to-bed buddies tonight. Even though the bar is only a couple blocks away from the hostel, neither one of us wants to walk home alone, so we are going to go home together whenever we decide we are done for the night. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the hostel boys will walk with us as well.
That's all for now, I think. I hope you all are doing well - let me know what you are up to. Besos e abrazos, love and miss.
Yesterday morning I got up early for banana pancakes (I love pancakes, especially when they are free) and proceeded to do basically nothing with my day (aside from upload photos on fbook and talk to my dad on skype!). Wednesday morning/early afternoon was beautiful and sunny and hot - I am definitely sunburned - and it has been raining since then. Antonia packed up her stuff and moved in to her apartment here in San Pedro. Around noon Sasha, my new friend from California/Hawaii, arrived. She's never traveled out of the country before, so she decided to spend some time traveling and doing yoga on the beaches of Costa Rica by herself - pretty awesome. We are now travel buddies. So, in regards to the title of this post, my mother really does know best and good things happen when I listen to her. I originally had thought of getting off the plane and moving into an apartment right away, but she knew better and suggested I make some friends at a hostel first instead. Brilliant woman she is. :)
Antonia heard about a talk at UCR from her new roommate about the US bringing troops to Costa Rica. I figured if I was planning on staying here, maybe I should get educated in the goings on in this country. So Sasha, Sean (another friend from the hostel) and I walked over to the university to get learned. Obviously the talk was in Spanish, and mine is a little rusty, but I got the general idea of what was going on. Moral of the story: Costa Rica is proud of not having an army of their own, and thinks the US has no business bringing theirs anywhere near this beautiful place. There seemed to be some concern about US military influence having the same effect here as in other countries, namely Guatemala and Nicaragua. There was talk of protests. It was interesting.
After getting our learn on, we decided it was time for dinner: pizza. At some point I will eat some Costa Rican food I swear! The rest of the night was pretty boring, I decided not to go out because I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed early because I am getting sick, but I ended up sitting up talking with another hostel-stayer about traveling. We exchanged horror stories and amazing experiences. He's off tomorrow to see a little of CR and to meet his girlfriend in Panama City next week, then back to Denmark, so no travel partner there.
This morning I woke up early, hoping for an email about a job interview I was supposed to have. I had been in contact with a man at a junior college in Heredia (just north of San Jose) about teaching there, but his assistant hadn't sent me directions and an address as promised. I had emailed him when we got back from dinner around 7:30pm, but still hadn't gotten a response. By 9:15 there was still no response so Antonia, Sasha and I decided to head out to Heredia anyway to check out the town and see what there was to see. We arrived shortly after 10am, and began wandering around the town. At first, I wasn't a fan - there really wasn't anything spectacular about the place and it didn't seem to be much better than San Pedro. BUT, then we stumbled upon the market. Rows of fresh fruit stands, butcher stands and bakery goods among other things. From then on my entire perception of the town turned completely around. It's a pretty cute place, once you get past the initial appearance.
We stumbled upon the 'central park' and sat for a little bit. Around noon we stopped in to quickly check my email to see if I had heard from the school... I will try to reschedule, I think. On the other hand, I had found a posting for a very inexpensive apartment in Heredia yesterday and had received word from her (Saray/Sarah) that it was still available if I wanted to see it. I tried calling her a few times to no avail (she was in the bank), so we all headed back to San Pedro instead. Since then we have exchanged emails and I am going to meet her and see the place tomorrow morning. She has also said she knows of a potential job and will try to get me an interview! I like her already :) So far she seems great - nice, friendly and super helpful. I'll let you know how that all goes.
We got back to the hostel this afternoon and hung out, contemplated a trip to La Fortuna, and I Skyped with my mom :). We made dinner here at the hostel to save some money, and are now getting ready to go out for a bit to the bars. I have been chugging orange juice since I have a cold, and have decided that it is probably not the best idea for me to be going out super late. Thankfully, another girl from Germany arrived today and doesn't want to stay out too late either. We decided we are going to be early-to-bed buddies tonight. Even though the bar is only a couple blocks away from the hostel, neither one of us wants to walk home alone, so we are going to go home together whenever we decide we are done for the night. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the hostel boys will walk with us as well.
That's all for now, I think. I hope you all are doing well - let me know what you are up to. Besos e abrazos, love and miss.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Beginnings
After many difficult and sometimes tearful goodbyes, I left Chicago for Costa Rica and arrived in San Jose sometime around 3pm Tuesday afternoon. My Spanish, while rusty, was good enough to get me to my hostel in San Pedro without any problems. By the time I got myself settled in, the sun was already going down so I missed out on doing anything outside the hostel. Sadly, everything I've read encourages travelers, particularly women, not to go out at night alone... ever. So, being responsible, I sat myself down on the couch and searched for jobs and apartments. Though, to be honest, I was so exhausted from everything (traveling, goodbyes, packing up everything I own, etc.) I was glad to have an excuse to do nothing and go to bed early.
The hostel is nice. Well, as nice as hostels typically are. The people that work here are friendly and helpful whenever they can be (many of them are from the US and therefore are unable to answer certain questions). They serve pancakes and pineapple every morning for breakfast - the pineapple here is to die for. So amazing. The showers are pretty hilarious, and I am convinced I am going to get electrocuted at some point on this trip. Apparently they don't believe in hot water heaters here in CR, as they are wasteful, and instead use electric heaters that function much "like a tea kettle" - they heat the water as it passes through. Therefore, the hotter you want the water, the less you can use. Brilliant. I can tell you right now that this is going to be a struggle with the amount of hair I have on my head. Good thing it's hot here...
I got lucky, and one of the other girls staying at the hostel is going to be here for a few months as she is going to be working a biology internship at the University of Costa Rica here in San Pedro. She and I spent today walking around the UCR campus and then around San Jose, the capital. The campus is interesting. There's amazing plantlife everywhere, and many of the buildings have unbelievable mosaics on the side. Look up a photo if you can, they are quite the sight.
After we had had enough, Antonia (my new German friend) and I decided to go check out downtown San Jose and see what there is to see. Which, honestly, is not all that much. San Jose is just another city, and it doesn't hold a candle to Chicago. There are a few museums that look like they may be worth checking out eventually, but we decided to take a pass today. Antonia and I walked all over the place for hours and decided we were pretty much done for the day. So we stopped for some coffee and an empanada and headed back to San Pedro.
San Pedro is a pretty neat town... definitely a college town, nothing particularly amazing to see, but a generally good atmosphere. I could certainly see it being my base for the next however long.
Nothing yet on the job front, but it's only day 2. Okay... I'm going to make friends. Love love love!
The hostel is nice. Well, as nice as hostels typically are. The people that work here are friendly and helpful whenever they can be (many of them are from the US and therefore are unable to answer certain questions). They serve pancakes and pineapple every morning for breakfast - the pineapple here is to die for. So amazing. The showers are pretty hilarious, and I am convinced I am going to get electrocuted at some point on this trip. Apparently they don't believe in hot water heaters here in CR, as they are wasteful, and instead use electric heaters that function much "like a tea kettle" - they heat the water as it passes through. Therefore, the hotter you want the water, the less you can use. Brilliant. I can tell you right now that this is going to be a struggle with the amount of hair I have on my head. Good thing it's hot here...
I got lucky, and one of the other girls staying at the hostel is going to be here for a few months as she is going to be working a biology internship at the University of Costa Rica here in San Pedro. She and I spent today walking around the UCR campus and then around San Jose, the capital. The campus is interesting. There's amazing plantlife everywhere, and many of the buildings have unbelievable mosaics on the side. Look up a photo if you can, they are quite the sight.
After we had had enough, Antonia (my new German friend) and I decided to go check out downtown San Jose and see what there is to see. Which, honestly, is not all that much. San Jose is just another city, and it doesn't hold a candle to Chicago. There are a few museums that look like they may be worth checking out eventually, but we decided to take a pass today. Antonia and I walked all over the place for hours and decided we were pretty much done for the day. So we stopped for some coffee and an empanada and headed back to San Pedro.
San Pedro is a pretty neat town... definitely a college town, nothing particularly amazing to see, but a generally good atmosphere. I could certainly see it being my base for the next however long.
Nothing yet on the job front, but it's only day 2. Okay... I'm going to make friends. Love love love!
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