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.
Monday, October 25, 2010
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)