Nicaragua/Northern CR!!

Whoa this has been one crazy but amazing week!

We had a week vacation off of school and there was an optional organized trip with USAC to Nicaragua and Northern Costa so I chose to do that. We left at 6am on Saturday of last week and headed to Granada, Nicaragua. We got to the border at 9:30am and waited for over 4 hours!! to get our passports stamped (just to leave Costa Rica). 4 hours waiting in line. It was ridiculous. It wasn’t even that there was a ton of people. It was more that the system was wicked unorganized and they would just stop letting people in for like 20 minutes at a time because they didn’t have enough workers or something. So we got to Granada at 5 and got our free “lunch” at this delicious pizza place. I think it may have been the best pizza I’ve tasted in my life. No exaggeration. Then we went out for a bit. A few of us shared a pitcher of sangria then I got a mojito (which I think is officially my favorite alcoholic beverage at this point and time).

The next day we went for a horse carriage ride around the city, a boat tour of small islands that people bought and built huge houses, a trip to Massaya National Park to see the volcano and then shopping at the Massaya Market (got lots of presents for people!). It was quite a busy day but extremely fun! Oh, and then I went for a little run around the Nicaragua Lake (the 2nd largest lake in all the Americas!) it was beautiful near sunset.

The next day we traveled to San Juan del Sur which is a small fishing city near the border of Costa Rica we went on another boat tour but this time they took us to this really exclusive white sanded, clear water beach and we just hung out and explored for an hour or so. Then I ate lobster for dinner! It was delicious! Not the best lobster I’ve ever had… but still, lobster.

The next day we headed back to the border (waited only 2 hours this time) and ended up at this absolutely amazing, exclusive, secluded, resort type hotel called Buena Vista (Great View in English). It was like a place where old retired people go on vacation or honeymooners go. It was crazy beautiful and quiet and I can’t even describe it. There was no city or noise or homeless people or stranded dogs or trash everywhere. It was almost like paradise I guess you could say, even if that sounds wicked cliché and cheesy. That night we just relaxed, walked up to the sunset bar to see the sunset (absolutely amazing), danced a little, hiked a little on these hanging bridges, it was great.

The next day we went horse back riding! It was so much fun! Haha, definitely not like horse back riding in the states. There were people who had never been riding before in their lives, and people like me who’ve only been like once or twice and these horses trotted, they cantered, they went really fast haha. It was scary but really fun at the same time! We horse back rode to this spa where we went into a steam room, then gave ourselves mud baths, then swam in hot springs swimming pools for a few hours. it was insane. It was like a 5 star resort or something. I ordered a $6 drink because it was vacation and I decided to splurge. It was called El Orgasmo (the orgasm) and it was almost orgasmic haha. It had bailey’s irish cream and amaretto and I’m not sure what else haha. That afternoon we went canopying (which I had never heard of I didn’t know what to expect). It was by far the best part of the trip!!! we hike up a mountain for about 20-30 minutes. And then got down by ziplining 10 different lines. It was amazing!! Such an adrenaline rush. One of the times of the canopy guys asked me if I wanted to “superchica” and I was like “uhh sure” not knowing what I was getting myself into. Turns out that “superchica” means “superwoman” and it basically when you go down the zipline with someone else and you put your legs around them and you don’t hold on to anything (they’re just holding on to your legs and the harness it connected to the line) and you basically fly! It was crazyyy. So I did that twice. And then went once upside. I’m definitely doing canopying again. I think we’re doing it in 3 weekends actually when we go to Monteverde for our last school trip.

The next day we went to a waterslide in the morning. It was alright. It was actually more scary then fun. We had to wear helmets (which were really thin and wouldn’t have saved us if we hit our heads on something) and we had to wear these leather diapers so our butts wouldn’t get scraped up. Haha we looked pretty ridiculous. It was scary cuz we were going to fast it felt like we were going to fly over the edge of the slide sometimes and./or hit our heads on the side haha.

Then we just had some free time and hung out by the pool, played some game, and packed up our stuff. Then 4 hour bus ride back to Puntarenas.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. Canopying was definitely my favorite part of my time here in Costa Rica so far! Pictures will be coming soon :)

Carnavales=Craziness

Ahh Carnavales is crazy!! I can’t describe it really in words, it’s more something that a person needs to experience to really understand what it is like. But basically, it’s 100s of people all on one street, starting to drink around 10am and drinking until 4 or 5am in the morning. For 11 days. There’s makeshift bars that they built on the beach. People are drunk and dancing and singing karaoke and eating and just walking around and talking. There was a parade on Saturday that was supposed to start at 3pm… it’s tico time so we didn’t go to the area til around 3:30…the parade didn’t start until after 5:30 haha. And then it turned out that it was just 100s of people on horses. Haha it was funny because people were really excited for it because it’s something that happens every year and we were all like yeah! A parade of horses! Then it actually happened after we waited for 2 hours and it wasn’t quite what we were expecting haha.

It’s sp dangerous though. Everyone has told me, at least 5 different times to not walk alone and to not bring ANYTHING with you at all. Like if you need money they say put it in your bra or shoe because it will be stolen. Just last night I was with like 10 USAC students and one girl had $60 taken from her pocket without even feeling it (don’t know why she had $60 with her to begin with) another student, Andrew, had his digital camera taken out of his buttoned pant’s pocket without feeling anything, and one of our tico friends got his cell phone stolen! All in one night! The pick pocketers must be real good here.

Ehh and its so dirty and smelly already. And it’s only the 3rd day! 1) there is horse poop everywhere. It’s basically engraved in the pavement (which they paved the road new the day before carnavales started). 2) ticos don’t know what trashcans are, especially when they’re drunk, so they just throw everything on the ground 3) people don’t shower here because it costs money and you just start sweating a minute after the shower so I suppose they find it useless

So, despite the smell, the danger, and the drunk people carnavales is amazing haha. A bunch of us went dancing and had a great time and it’s fun to just watch people and experience something completely different than our culture in the US.

Carnivales

Hey everyone!

So I haven´t posted in a little while... but nothing too exciting has been happening here lately.

Carnivales starts today...actually it started this morning at 5am with fireworks. haha. they built all these makeshift bars and restaurants and stages on the beach. Supposedly thousands of people from all over Costa Rica will be here for the next 11 days haha.

This week was good so far. Classes are going well and are getting more into full swing. My bike broke so I had to spend $20 bucks to get it fixed but I talked to my family and they have decided to just let me borrow the bike instead of paying $60 to use it for 4 months which is a relief.

Tomorrow I´m going to La Isla de Los Pajaros (Island of the Birds) with my cultures class. we´re going to hike through mud and then go fishing all day on a tiny boat and then eat a delicious meal of fish.

Ummm what else. I´m starting to really like the food here. I´m definitely going to miss it once I leave. I´m going to ask my family for some recipes so I can cook Costa Rican food back in the states.

Oh man I tried this delicious ice cream treat called an apretado (which means tight or crammed) it´s basically ice cream in a plastic baggie that you bite a hole in the corner and kinda just suck it out. You buy them from this lady´s house which is made sketchy in the back part of the town but it´s so creamy and delicious. SO now when I get back to the states I´m going to start my very own Apretado and Granizado (the shaved ice treats I talked about before) and I will make millions.

adios mis amigos.

President Elections!

Hey!

So I’ve officially been here over one month! Ahh craziness. Overall this week was pretty decent. Classes are falling more into a rhythm and I’m actually starting to have to study and do homework some nights. My 21^st birthday was fun…nothing too exciting since it was on Monday (which is the only night the bars are closed here in Costa Rica haha) but I got sung “Happy Birthday” three different times in Spanish haha.

It’s been SOOO hot here. Ugh…it’s been over 100 degrees for the past three days. I guess what I found out? That March and April are the two hottest months here! I think I might be doing a lot of weekend trips to San Jose and northern Costa Rica where it is like 20-30 degrees cooler haha. I think I’m getting used to the heat though, it just sucks sweating like 24/7.

Umm nothing else too exciting is happening right now. Carnival starts this Thursday. Carnival is basically a 2 week-long celebration that Puntarenas is known for. People from all over Costa Rica, thousands of people, come to Puntarenas (which is only 2 miles long) and camp and get drunk and dance and sleep outside on the beach and it’s basically constant mayhem and partying for 2 weeks. So it shall be interesting. I’m not really sure what to expect.

So here are some interesting things that I have discovered about Costa Rica:

- The pets here (cats and dogs) are not domesticated at all. People consider them pets but they wonder around the streets and eat trash and snip at passerby’s ankles and are mean and growl and dislike runners and bikers a lot

- Cockroaches and 100’s of ants are daily occurrences.

- Rice and Beans are a side dish for every meal, including breakfast.

- Breakfast does not require specific breakfast foods- I’ve had such things as Pork Fried Rice and hot dogs earlier than 8am in the morning.

- They go on Tico Time here…which basically means everything starts 15-20 min later than they say it will.

- They don’t have drying machines.

- They don’t have hot water- which is nice since I would never ever want to take a hot shower here.

- The Ticos sure love the Gringas (American women). A white girl cannot walk 3 blocks without getting cat called or shouted out to or a least a smile and wave.

Oh! The presidential election is today! We will all know by 8pm tonight who the new president is going to be for Costa Rica. Everything in my house is rooting for Laura Chinchilla who would be the first women Costa Rican President (and she has the same name as me!)

Volcano Pics and More

this is the view of san jose from the bus. we were literally in the clouds for half of the bus ride.

this is me at the highest point of the volcano! over 9000 feet above sea level. i was surrounded by clouds.

this is me at the top of the crater. it was so pretty with the lake in the bottom.

this is a volcano that we could see from the bus so they stopped and let us get out and take pictures. this isn't Irazu the volcano I went to... it's turrialba.

this is me in the pool of coffee beans haha

these are the sugar guys pouring the wicked hot sugar into molds.

Volcano!!

Wow I can’t believe I’ve been here over 3 weeks! And I’m 21! Ahhh it’s crazy, but it’s also amazing.

My Spanish is definitely coming along. It’s becoming more natural for me to speak in Spanish and have a real conversation. Meeting with Reinier and hanging out with the ticos help a lot…and I am also attempting to spend more time everyday just looking up words I don’t know and keeping a long list of useful words.

This weekend was AMAZING. Friday I went on a field trip with my cultures of latin America class. First we went to a sugar mill. It was awesome but the tours of places here are definitely a lot different than in the US. Our professor knew a guy that worked there so we basically just walked around right where the workers were making the sugar and the guy just talked about the process a little. I got to taste raw sugarcane which was delicious actually. You just suck the juice out of the cane and it’s like candy. We also got to taste the sugar after they cooked it and that was delicious too… really rich but it tasted totally different than the sugar we eat because it’s not processed or anything at all. After the sugar mill we went to a coffee plantation which was also kinda behind the scene and not officially a tour haha. It was really cool. We say all the steps to make the coffee beans and it’s way more intricate and the beans originally look different than I ever imagined. Then we got to jump into a pool of coffee beans! It was like this giant tank full of beans and we got to play around in it for awhile!

Then 7 of the girls from the field trip took a bus to San Jose and met up with 6 other USAC girls at this Hostel called Hostel Pangea. One word to describe Pangea…insane. I wouldn’t describe as myself as a hostel person I guess haha. There were tons of people there, mostly foreigners… I was in a room with a guy from Austrailia and a girl from Finland. The hostel was wicked nice for a hostel though. We paid like fifteen bucks. They had internet and a bar and a restaurant and a movie theater/room and a pool table and it was actually really clean. But I think I got like 3 hours of sleep the whole night. You could hear anything and everything that happened in the hallway all night. And I had 6 roommates that all came in and left at different times throughout the night. Haha…it was definitely an experience. I give Ben credit for doing that basically every night for a month.

Then Saturday we woke up early and took a 2 hour bus ride to Irazú Volanco! It was amazing! The biggest crater was over 900 feet deep and over 3000 feet wide! Then we climbed this trail up and up and up and reached the highest point on the volcano which wasover 9200 feet above sea level. By the time we got there the clouds had come in and we couldn’t see the volcano anymore. But the clouds were really cool too. It was so cloudy. We were basically standing in the clouds haha. It was a lot colder and the altitude made it a little harder to breathe 9200 feet above sea level!

Then we took the 2 hour bus ride back. Then another 2 hour bus ride back to Puntarenas. Overall, it was an amazing 2 days!