Stolen bike!!

Well, my bike got stolen! From inside my house! Ughhh so this is what happened: Woke up. Ate breakfast. Went to go to the school and my bike is gone. I thought maybe the 16 year old who lives in my house might have taken it, but nope, he was still sleeping. So I tell Ceci who automatically says it was stolen and ahh I felt wicked bad. I guess someone (not me) didn’t lock the door when they left that morning (somewhere between 6am and 8am) and the robber had come into our house in the front entrance way and just took my bike. It was a crappy bike anyways. I was planning on tell Ceci. The seat was falling off and the tires needed air and the chain needed grease or something cuz it was wicked hard to peddle. So now… they gave me a different bike haha. I feel bad but I think I’m going to have to pay to use this one. But this one is wicked nice and they gave me a padlock and chain for it haha.

What else…ahh my tico partner! Reinier. We met again today. He’s funny haha… he tells me the most pointless stories that sometimes don’t make sense but he’s nice and it’s cool to get to know some ticos. It’s funny when he has trouble pronouncing some of the easiest words to us in English. For instance, haha when he says beach, it comes out like “bitch” because of his accent and I tried helping him… but they both just sound like “bitch” haha. And he also has trouble pronouncing the differences between “bird” and “beard” and “beer” and “bear.” It’s funny how simple things seem to us.

I’m actually learning a lot in my Business Spanish class. It’s pretty cool because I’m learning Spanish (tons of new vocabulary) while also learning about the business world. The professor is a lawyer and notary here in Costa Rica so therefore he knows his stuff.
And I’m learning a lot in my other classes too. We’re learning about the Mayans, Incas and Axtecs in Cultures class. And then my grammar class and conversation are both definitely helping with mi español!

Oh and they definitely love their hot dogs here! I´ve had hot dogs with like every combination possible. Hot dogs with eggs. Hot dogs with beans and rice. Hot dogs in soup. haha good times.

miss you all lots! post comments if you have any questions :)

Pura Vida!

Pura Vida! that's what anyone and everyone says here in Costa Rica. They say it in response to a hello or a goodbye or just when you're passing by on the street or when as a thank you. haha it's pretty cool. It translates to "Pure Life" and basically describes the attitude and lifestyle of a tico.

Life here is good. This morning I did my own laundry (haha they make us do our own underwear since its personal) and let's just say the laundry machines are a little different here. First, I had to wash the underwear by hand in a bucket of water and detergent. Then you put them in this confriger thing for one minutes which spins all the water out. then you just hang them up outside and let them dry haha. They don't have dryers here.

I met my Companero (partner) yesterday. We were each given a speaking partner from the Costa Rica College in town who are learning english and we're supposed to help each other learn the other language. His name is Reiner and he is super nice and energetic haha. He loves to talk. And he is really good at English but says some funny phrases and messes up a few times and it makes me laugh haha. And he helps me with my spanish I already learned some frases that will be helpful and we're meeting again on thursday. He seems pretty cool like he might be a good way to meet some more ticos so I can make some friends and really learn the language and hangout with other people besides the americans.

besides that, classes are good, the food is good, the beach is good, and puntarenas overall is good.

pura vida my friends :)

Puntarenas and Playa Tambor

Hola!

Time is definitely starting to fly by and Costa Rica is kinda, sorta, almost feeling like home haha. My host mom (Ceci) has come back from the US so she is here for good now. She’s super nice and is a great cook so I’m excited.

Today I had the best run I’ve had here in Costa Rica yet. It was on the beach while the sun was setting, the temperature was perfect, and I didn’t get tired at all but was at a pretty decent pace. I think I’m going to get up early (5:30am!)… well not early for Sarah or Elissa… and go aqua jogging with a few other USAC girls.

This weekend was fun. Not too eventful… but still fun. Thursday Lauren and I decided to have some fun and go dancing with people. We went to this bar called Happy Days. At first it was just gringos (white guys) and gringas (white girls) and we were all just dancing and having fun on the dance floor… but then later all the ticos (Costa Rican guys) and a few ticas (Costa Rican girls) showed up. Haha the ticos are so funny. They just stand on the sides of the bars and watch us gringos make fools of ourselves dancing. It was super fun and I learned how to do the meringue! Well… kinda… I mean it mostly depends on if your partner knows what he is doing because he basically controls if you look good or not haha.

Then Friday we tried to go to this beach called Caldera…which is like 30 minutes away from Puntarenas. We showed up at the bus stop at 11:30 with 5 other girls… but we had missed the bus. So we waited til the 12:30… but it never came….so we waited til like 12:55 then gave up and decided to just hang out in Puntarenas and shop on the Tourist Walk with a bunch of cute stands for the tourists from the cruise ships that stop here. We found out after asking a person near the bus station that we were standing at the wrong bus station for 2 hours waiting for the Caldera bus hahaha. It just wasn’t meant to be.

Then Saturday we were planning on going to Montezuma but last minute decided to change our plans cuz we want more than a day at Montezuma so we ended up at Playa Tambor (Beach Tambor) which is a ferry ride and 30 min bus ride away. It was lame. Super lame. Nothing to do in the own of tambor at all. We ate lunch at a cute soda and sat on the beach… but other than that let’s just say we won’t be going back to Playa Tambor haha.

Then today I went to the Puntarenas verse Alajuela professional soccer game! It was SOOOO hot… I sweated more than I have ever sweated in my entire life. It was disgusting. It was literally dripping down every inch of my body… BUT we paid for seats in the shade. But when we got there there wasn’t any seats left in the shade. But at half time we went up and stole some so the second half was a lot more enjoyable than the first. And Puntarenas won! No offense to America… but I would say the soccer teams are way better here… at least than the games I used to watch like the New England Revolution.

That’s pretty much my life the past few days. I’m still loving the Costa Rica food… I’m not sick of the rice and beans yet. Oh! Today I ate the most delicious dessert ever. I have decided that I’m going to start up a business in America and make a fortune! It’s called Granizado con leche. (Shaved Ice with milk) but it’s more than the name gives it credit for. Its shaved ice with this delicious red flavor (indescribable in words not anything fruity like strawberry or cherry but something way better!) then powdered milk that ends up melting into the ice. Then more shaved ice with flavor. Then condensed milk poured spilling over the top. Delicioso!

Grosss

Yesterday I woke up to 3 dead cockroaches right outside my room being eaten by ants... then I walked into the bathroom and found a trail of about 100 ants going from the door to the trashcan...then later in the day I was in the kitchen and saw a mouse! great dayyyy haha. Definitely going to take some getting used to. :)

More Pics :)

this is one of the tortuga islands! clear blue ocean :)

Tortuga Island. Tortuga is "turtle" in Spanish...hence the island is shaped like a turtle.

Whitefaced Monkey in the tree. He was posing for us haha.

this was crazy. the current from the pacific ocean hit the current from the gulf of nicoya and created this in the middle of the ocean.

this is me on the ferry to Paquera before the bus and boat to torutga island.

Almost 2 weeks...

Why hello everyone! so it's almost been two whole weeks since I've been in Costa Rica! It's crazy... I think it's finally hitting me that I'm here, in a totally different country, with totally different people, and am not going home for another 3 and 1/2 months! ahhh haha... but it's not scary. it's also totally thrilling and amazing and fun too.

I'm been getting kind of frustrated lately with the whole Spanish thing... I thought I would be able to understand my family more... but I'm having some difficulty... I can understand my professors and can hold conversations with other students in Spanish... but I think that's because the vocabulary is easier than how my host family talks. So it's been frustrating but I'm trying to not let it bother me too much... I mean I still have a long time here so I hope that I'll improve...but it's hard and I'm going to start trying harder to pay more attention and tell them when I don't understand and ask for explanations and hopefully learn a lot of new vocabulary. We will see...

hmm what else... this Friday we're going to a Sugar Mill and a Coffee Plantation! It should be pretty awesome! We get to jump into a pool of coffee beans! I'm pretty psyched.

Then Saturday I think we're going to Jaco Beach or Palmera or Caldera to go to a different beach and possibly try surfing!

I'm starting to adjust to Costa Rican life... I'm getting more used to the heat and the calmness of the people.

kk Gotta Go.

Miss everybody!

Laura :)

Mas Fotos!

This is the view from the balcony at my school.

This is the beach at Puntarenas. Cruise ships come in a few times a week.

this is my bike haha. little different than my road bike.

this is the sunset in puntarenas! I get to see it everyday and run on the beach when its setting. its gorgeous!

Cúru and Tortuga Island! Clear Blue Ocean!

Hola!

So these past few days have flown by! I don’t have classes on Fridays so this past Friday I went to Jaco Beach with a bunch of the Americans from my USAC group. It was really fun. The beach was totally different than the one here in Puntarenas. It was a lot more touristy and cleaner. We took the 8am bus ride and I decided to go with this one girl to a surf shop because she wanted to get her board painted. We asked some ticos (costa Ricans) where the shop was and they said it was far away and that we would need a taxi. So we said okay and were about to call a taxi when one of the guys came up and offered to give us a ride. We were a little hesitant cuz no one is that nice in the states haha, but we had a guy, Andrew, from our group with us so we felt safe. He took us to the surf shop, waited until we were done, and then we asked him to take us to the prettiest part of the beach. He dropped us off and it was gorgeous. I will have pictures soon! The 3 of us climbed on rocks near the ocean and went swimming and had a blast. We caught up with the rest of the group a little after lunch and then hung out on the beach/in the waves/in the shade for the rest of the days. The waves were crazy! They were so strong and the current too! I’m definitely going to try surfing soon though! Jaco is the place to do it and its pretty cheap to rent a board for the day.

Then Saturday was another great day! The school organized a trip to us o Cúru Wildlife Refuge and Tortuga Island. We took the 9am ferry to Paquera (like an hour and half ride) which was fun just to see the ocean and the islands then took a bus to Cúru. We saw a ton of monkeys (whiteface and howler monkeys) who are so cute. We had a guide and I learned a ton of information! For example, whiteface monkeys are omnivores which means they eat meat so they eat the other monkeys babies if they’re not careful. And Howler monkeys do 2 things when they get scared: 1) howl! It’s so freaky. They did it while we were there cuz this loud tractor went by and the howl echoed through the whole forest. 2) throw their yellow poop at you haha. Oh! And I saw my very first mangroves! They were really cool! After the wildlife refuge and lunch we took a small boat that fit about 10 people each to Tortuga island! It was beautiful! The water was so blue and practically clear! And the main island is shaped like a turtle! The pictures don’t even show half of the true beauty! Sorry guys, guess you’ll have to come visit me to see it yourselves! We snorked near one of the islands and I saw a lot of cool fish! Snorkleing made me kinda nauseous actually, it was weird. I dove deep a few times to try and touch the coral reef and the air pressure made me light headed I suppose. anyhow, besides that it was a great day!

Now… Sunday was just a relaxing day. Went to the beach. The market. Bought some fresh delicious pineapple. Went to the internet café. Lauren and I are going to go out for dinner tonight for something different. I’m excited.

Oh, by the way, it’s SO hot here. Almost unbearable. I go through like 3 shirts a day just from sweating so much! I guess it’s better than snow and below zero weather like you guys have (especially for running)… but constantly being sticky and sweaty isn’t always fun haha. But the nights are cooler and because we’re right next to the ocean there’s usually a nice breeze. J

Oh and p.s. I am going to have to learn how to whistle. Everyone here whistles. To catch the bus. So say hello. So get someone´s attention. To stop the bus. Everyone haha.

My First Week!

It´s official...my first week in Costa Rica is complete...well tomorrow it will be. My first week of classes went really well. I like my professors a lot and the USAC school is actually pretty nice. All the classrooms and computer lab are air conditioned! They haven´t given us too much homework yet which is nice since we´re all still adjusting and everything BUT hopefully it stays that way...we will see.

Today I had a great run on the beach while the sun was setting. It was gorgeous. I´m going to post some pictures soon.

Tomorrow a bunch of us USAC kids don´t have classes so we´re going to Jaco Beach (Playa de Jaco) which is like an hour and 1/2 bus ride. It is supposedly a really good surfing beach (I might take lessons!) and a cute town for shopping and walking around. We´re going to spend the day there on the beach and just relaxing.

Then Saturday the school is hosting a trip to Tortuga Island and Cúru Wildlife Reserve. We going to see a bunch of different types of birds and monkeys! We´re taking a ferry there which should be fun.

Kk my hour at the internet cafe is almost up! Pura Vida mis amigas! Feel free to post a comment if you have any questions or anything. :)

Hola!

Classes have begun! The classes I’m taking all seem pretty cool and the classes are all smaller than 13 kids so that’s sweet too. Oh, and my schedule is awesome! I have tons of free time to hopefully go to the beach and hang out with people (if I don’t get too much homework).

Mondays: 8am-11am Advanced Spanish I

Tuesdays: 8am-11am Advanced Spanish II

11am-12pm Spanish Conversation

Wednesdays: 1pm-4pm Latin America and its Cultures (3 field trips!)

Thursdays: 11am-12pm Spanish Conversation

1pm-4pm Business Spanish

Fridays: NOTHING

I get Fridays off which means I can travel and explore for 3 days! Woot woot!

I also signed up for this thing called a conversation partner. It’s with students in the Spanish college in our city who are studying English. They pair us up with one of them and then we can meet as many times a week as we want. They will help me with my Spanish and I will help them with their English. Pretty sweet. And Lauren (my friend from Massachusetts who I actually went to school with from 5^th-10^th grade and is also in my group here!) and I actually signed up for the conversational partners together so we’re going to be given one boy tico and one girl tico and we’re going to meet the 4 of us together and have a group session kinda. And hopefully we’ll become friends with them and hangout on weekends and stuff too. The lady in charge said that’s what usually happens and they will invite us to their homes for dinner and out at night and stuff.

I went to my first soda yesterday! So the restaurants here are called sodas. The bars are called bares and the meals you order are called casados (which actually means married). Anyhow, Lauren and I went to a soda last night and she got a meal for a sandwich and fries and drink for under 3 dollars. I got a black cow (ice cream with soda) which was delicious. Then we kinda just walked around and talked. We ran into a couple kids from our group at a bar but didn’t stay too long and just kept walking. We’re saving the bars for the weekends J

The wind is crazy here! Especially at night! It sounds like a hurricane and the houses are too sturdy and their all open to the outdoors basically so when the wind blows you hear it and feel it. I must have woken up like 5 times from the wind howling last night. But it is nice for when I’m running to have a little breeze.

So a few more days have passed… I’ve been to the beach and have had 2 classes. My classes are really awesome! For my conversation class I have to learn 10 new words a day!! So hopefully that will help with my speaking and new words.

I’m getting to know everyone in the USAC group so that’s pretty sweet. We all got together and met everyone and hung out. It was fun. I’ve been running everyday but it’s kinda hard because its mad hot and I get thirsty after like 10 minutes.

I’ve discovered that my host mom isn’t even here for 10 days haha. She went to California to visit her sister. So she has a nanny/cook coming and feeding me and everything. I also discovered that she rents out two of the other rooms in our house! So the house is kinda crazy but lauren’s family is really nice and told me I’m welcome whenever and that I can eat meals and everything with them. And she has a 12 year old brother and his friend Felipe who we’ve hung out with a few times and they help with our Spanish which is awesome.

K I’m gonna do some homework. And skype some people. adios!

Mi Casa!

This is one of the outdoor rooms in my house. Ticos like a lot of plants around their house.

This is my living room and dining room and then to the right of the dining room is the kitchen. The house is actually bigger than I thought it was going to be...BUT 6 people live here haha (she rents out 2 other rooms)

This is our parrot. He talks a lot in Spanish haha. I've heard him a few times when i've been in the house by myself and thought there was someone else in the house. His name is something like.. cochita.

This is the cat that doesnt actually live in our house. He's actually the neighbors but is constantly in our house and we feed him and everything. He's really cute but I don't know how to say his name haha.

This picture on the left is my house from the outside. Looks kinda scary with the fence/gate thing but that is how all the houses are here. Once you get through the gate there is one of the outdoor type room to just sit and watch people walkby and whatnot.








This picture is my street that I live on!













This is my room! It's pretty nice. The bed is comfy, I have a ton of closet space and a giant fan above my head so I stay cool and it blocks out the noise at night.










This is a picture I took when we were landing in San Jose. The landscape here is crazy beautiful!












This is another picture from the sky! Lots of mountains and trees.

My first few days in Costa Rica!!!

Hola!!
I have arrived in Costa Rica! My plane got in around noon and it was 80 degrees in San Jose. I met up with the other USAC study abroad students (about 30 of us). Then we boarded a coach bus to Puntarenas. The bus ride was supposed to be 2 hours but it ended up taking 4 and ½!! The roads here are tiny and mostly dirt and all through mountains with crazy sharp turns and we had about 5 near accidents and then one real accident! Our bus hit another bus on one of the sharp turns and cracked our windshield. Both buses stopped in the middle of the tiny road and stopped traffic for over an hour! But the crazy thing was that no one even cared. People weren’t even annoyed or bothered. People from the cars being held up got out of their car and started talking to other people. Some tourists got out and took pictures. I was exhausted though with 2 hours of sleep the night before and then about an hour of sleep on the plane.

Oh the plane!! I ended up in the same row as another study abroad student! She was really cool, from Washington, and it turns out that she studied abroad here in Costa Rica her freshmen year too and loved it so much that she had to come back for another semester! So it was cool because I got to talk to her and ask questions and she made me feel less nervous.

So once we finally got to Puntarenas (around 8pm) by host mom picked me up from the USAC school and took me to her house. The house is bigger than I thought. 3 bedrooms. 2 bathrooms. Living room. Kitchen and 2 cool outdoor-type rooms with no roofs. But it’s all on one floor and kinda all squeezed together. Oh…and there cockroaches!! Grossssss. I almost freaked out when I saw one for the first time, but I didn’t haha. There’s also lizard-type things everywhere. I saw two larger ones today walking around (about a foot long) and I’ve seen tiny ones crawling on the walls of the house! Yup…this is definitely different than the US.

Oh, and it’s MAD hot here! You basically sweat non-stop. But I’m already getting some color just from walking around today for a few hours! I’m going to run in the mornings when it’s not so hot and humid and sunny and there aren’t as many people out.

What else… my host family is pretty cool. My mom is Ceci who is in her 60s and has lived in Puntarenas her whole life! It’s hard to understand her Spanish sometimes because she has a quiet voice and talks fast but I haven’t been doing too bad! And hopefully with some time Spanish will come more natural to me. Her 16 year old nephew lives with us too and he’s super nice and showed me around town a little bit but isn’t in the house much because he has a lot of friends and his aunt says he’s “too cool” to stay in the house haha.

Ceci showed me all around town today. Oh and by the way, EVERYTHING is within walking distance. We went to the bank and the grocery store. She showed me the calle principal (main street) which was really exciting and lively. There were a lot of people out shopping and just walking around. There’s an election in February for president and we actually ran into one of the candidates who was walking around and videotaping greeting everyone and talking about the changes he wanted to make. And he shook my hand!!

Things here are WAY different. The houses are have fences/gate things up in front of them. They all have an outdoor type room in the front where people will sit doing nothing for hours. Everyone is super friendly. Everyone says Holaaa or Adios or Buenas Dias on the street when you pass them. The streets have no names and the houses have no numbers so it’s a little tricky with directions but I am a girl which automatically gives me a good sense of direction and I’m sure I’ll be fine.

The food is delicious. So far I’ve eaten a lot of melón (cantelope) and frescos which is a juicy type drink that is wonderful and refreshing. For breakfast I had eggs but they had spices and flavor to them which made them tasty. For lunch we had bisteak (flank steak) which was marinated and then frijulos (beans) con arroz (rice) and plantanos fritos (fried bananas.) and Ceci is cooking dinner now so we’ll see what’s in store.

Anyhow, I think this post is long enough even though I could go on for pages describing EVERYthing! I’ll post pictures as soon as possible and if the internet connection Is good at my school.
Hasta luego!