June 10… Day before the weekend!

Today was another simple but great day. We went to school early because Marlous started her volunteer project close to the school and I got to call my dad! It was great to hear his voice and it made my day! I love you dad! School was interesting today because I wasn’t feeling very good but had so much planned. At break I reserved the hotel rooms, lunch I organized a group of 16 to go out to eat at “spoon” a wonderful Costa Rican restaurant, then after school got a group to go shopping down in the art district! So the day zoomed by and I am here writing my blog after packing for the weekend. Some important facts about my day, I love spoon, I met someone wonderful in the art district. Yes, it was a boy. Haha but it was just a wonderful conversation. We talked for an hour while the others shopped, it saved me some money! It was so nice just to talk to a tican and not feel pressured into buying, going, doing, nothing just a wonderful conversation. I was able to speak in Spanish for the whole hour and actually understand what he was saying back. We started out with normal conversation and made fun of each other’s languages of course, then started talking about real life. One thing he said to me that I will never forget is, tu tiene muy pura ojos, it has so much more meaning in Spanish, but its you have very pure eyes, he explained to me that he could see my innocence and enjoyment of life in how clear my eyes displayed what was on my heart. It definitely changed the way I think about a lot of things and I feel so lucky that I got to have such a great conversation while walking through the shopping district. Pura Vida Juan José. I am now off to bed because I leave to the Pacific Coast at 5 in the morning! I will be beaching it in Santa Teresa and jumping off waterfalls in Montezuma! I love life! Pura Vida mis amigos! <3

June 9 Movie Day!!

Today was a pretty normal day in Costa Rica… except MARLOUS CAME BACK! It was wonderful getting my friend back!! We had a great day catching each other up on the latest CRLA gossip haha! It rained pretty hard today and it was the one-day I wore heels here so I now have crazy blisters but it was worth it! My classmates and I all decided to kinda dress up today, we straightened our hair and put effort into our outfits, it was kinda awesome and I kinda love my class! I think we have the most fun in the whole school. We laugh the whole time and our examples are always interesting facts about the others in the class, we try to keep Susana, our professor laughing the whole time. I am really going to miss it. We have really become a little family. After school Marlous and I went home and brought her mamatica flowers because she was in the hospital with horrible asthma and then to my house to bring my tiarica flowers and chocolate for her birthday. Then off to the cinema! We saw Prince of Persia with a bunch of people from school and I pretty much loved it. After that we returned to Marlous’s house to arrange our pictures and we hung out with her Mamatica and abuelatica what a riot those two are! We could not get them to stop talking for an hour. So now im exhausted but happy and off to bed!

June 8 The day of the National Theatre!

Perfect day. Literally it couldn’t get any better in the city. I started the day talking to my mom on the phone! Then my class went on a field trip during our lunch break and the second part of class. We went to the national theatre in the center of town. Anna a girl in my class heard that during lunch one day a week there are shows for 1 dollar for 45 minutes so people can have something different to do during their breaks from work. So we went! This week the show was 4 students from Julliard in New York doing a contemporary dance and singing piece. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, they just felt the music and danced it out. One guy sang religious song and recited poetry in the background and I pretty much want to marry him. I felt so lucky to be able to watch this show, like I can’t explain it but it just makes me feel so peaceful thinking about it. After that we had lunch in the city and practiced Spanish in the city as it would really be done, only speaking Spanish the whole time. Then I came back to school and talked to Sarah!! Ah I freaking miss you Balchie. It will be good to be home with everyone but I know I will miss it here. Ah other good news! Marlous is coming back to the city, her volunteer project was not as good as she thought so now I have my friend back! And we planned our next weekend. Were going to the pacific coast to Santa Teresa, a huge surfing town and I am already getting excited!! Ah I love traveling and the beach! I am not sure who is coming yet but were starting with 5 and I am hoping to get to 12 or 13 people this weekend! I am so tired tonight so I am going to bed early, when it rains in the city the buses take forever and a 20 minute ride turns into an hour ordeal… but I am home, fed, showered, finished my homework, and going to bed. Hasta Manana!

Monday after!

Today was a great day. My group of friends and I are all tired but so happy because the weekend was so amazing. I love Costa Rica and I cannot believe I have less than two weeks left. Time flies here. Today we learned a lot in class and I was able to catch up a little with facebook. I got to talk to Sarah for 10 minutes today and everything became better! Its weird how much I miss home and miss talking to you guys. I love talking to home so anyone can add me on skype and call me! Themichellerenee is my name. It was also a sad day because my closest friend here went to her volunteer project. I wont see her until we visit on the weekend. There was a storm in Manuel Antonio which is the place I thought we would visit but its probably going to change. Anyways, I really miss Marlous already. It was a simple day but the night was wonderful. Monday’s is the day that a lot of people from the school go out dancing in the city but I love to catch up with my family. Tonight I took pictures with my hermanatica and we talked for 4 hours in my room. She straightened my hair for the first time here and we attempted to make conversation. She laughed at me for half the things I said but I think I am improving. It was great to hear her open up and actually try and talk to me. We had a late night laughing and I am really glad that I got this host family. My mamatica keeps telling me she is really happy I am living with her and she makes fun of my eating habits so its similar to home. I will have more updates in the morning! Good night all J

Weekend number 2 complete!

Wow. This past weekend was surreal. I cannot believe I am lucky enough to see the places I get to see. I had no idea what I was in for when I got on the boat to Bocas. I want to move there, it was just amazing. We got on the bus Thursday morning, we skipped class because the travel is about 10 hours to Panama and we wanted at least 2 full days there. On Thursday I traveled with Marlous, Paige, Imogen, Bryona, and Rachel. Friday afternoon two more of our friends joined us, David and Rafael. The bus was long but it wasn’t that bad, we got to drive through the mountains and along the coast of the Caribbean again. When we got to Sixotola we looked around and immediately said this is not somewhere any of us would want to be stuck. It’s a run down town that is a border town with no real structure and a lot of interesting meats hanging in the restaurant windows. We made our way to the border, which was an intense process. There were people trying to confuse the tourists and they told us all these lies and basically we lost 5 dollars each to pay them for their help. I was at the point that I would have paid them to leave and let us figure it out on our own but I guess they did get us a taxi. We then crammed into a van originally made for 7 that was now a 15-person taxi it was also pretty intense. During that ride of 45 minutes I met 2 people from Jerusalem that spoke Hebrew which is so awesome and they wrote my name out and explained to me all these crazy things about the language. The next step was a 45 minute boat ride to the main island of Bocas across the sea in our first boat taxi, I still cant believe we had to travel on a boat to get to our hostel! When we pulled up to the main part of the island they told us we still had one more boat to go at this point we could see our place on the other island and were dying to get there. Once I stepped on the deck of Aqua Lounge I forgot how upset I was at being ripped off and completely relaxed. The whole weekend was amazing it was just totally for relaxing. We rented half rooms and half hammocks to save money, hammocks are 5 dollars and beds are 10. As soon as we got our bathing suits on it was into the pool and from then on we didn’t really do much. Pool to bar to deck to pool to bar to deck. Diet cokes were only 1 dollar and the food was super cheap as well but so delicious! We got to know everyone at the hostel really well and became friends with world travelers. There was one group of people staying at the hostel that were really crazy, my first night I had someone come up to me, drop clothes in my lap and say don’t tell the boy looking for these where you got them, that is how we first met our new friends at the hostel. They were kicked out the next day because of fighting, one boy tripped and split his hand open and Aqua lounge is way to relaxing of a place to have fighting going on. So we had a blast getting to know the other people at the hostel that weekend. On Friday when our friends joined us we told them the plan was to do nothing all day again, so we didn’t do anything except get dressed up for dinner in the town and late night swimming. Saturday we decided it would be a good idea to see more of panama than the deck of our hostel so we booked a tour. We went on a little water taxi to dolphin bay where wild dolphins swim the most and they actually came and were playing around our boat, then off to two different locations for snorkeling, one was for fish and one was for live coral, then off to Red Frog beach. The beach was beautiful and on a different island that took us 30 minutes to get too. I cannot even explain how beautiful the boat rides are, the water is shallow, there are mangroves all around and you have to drive between islands and mangroves to get to the beach. When we got there we say a baby sloth climbing a tree and the red frogs the beach was famous for. The village children would run by with leaves show you the frog, tell you to take a picture, then charge you a dollar for it. We ended up paying for our photos with food because the children were starving. The beach was wonderful and the water was so warm, I love love love the beach. That night we got dressed up because everyone on the islands come to Aqua lounge for dancing on Saturdays. We had a blast and met even more people! I love traveling. Then Sunday our return day it rained so we were happy that our weather had been perfect and didn’t rain until we left. Returning to Costa Rica was something we worried about because of the problems we had on the way in with the locals. It was not bad at all, we literally walked across the very sketch bridge to the other side, crossed to Costa Rica, were told by a policeman that we didn’t get the leaving Panama stamp and had to return. So we trekked back across and waiting in line to get the stamp which put us with 20 minutes to get across and on the last bus to San Jose. We made it of course but only because the people we talked to at the border helped us cut in front of the line at the border where we encountered many angry people but made it! The bus ride home was becoming normal and I actually enjoyed it for the 4^th time now. I have decided that I might do my trip abroad in Panama in Bocas. I was talking to the people at the hostel and they said that I could stay in a bed there if I worked on the weekend and I could have one meal a day for helping clean up. That sounds amazing to me and it gets better, I was talking to someone doing something similar there and he works for a non profit on the main island with children and fixing the community up, its definitely on my list. I think I love poor and beautiful places. The weekend was perfect. I am living a dream.

June 2 The day before the big trip!

(Sitting on our Island in Bocas del Toro)

I just finished packing for my trip! We are going to the country Panama in the morning to the Islands of Bocas del Toro. Our hostel is on an island off the coast and the pictures we have seen from others at the school made me even more excited! I love the life here, school in the week and travel on the weekends, kinda like Europeans do! Today was a slow day because of the anticipation for the weekend. We got everything planned and done and the group set. I decided not to do the volunteer work because I cannot get money back for the classes I wouldn’t be taking so Spanish it is for me. It’s amazing how much the school has become home and a family for me. You would have to hide one the breaks if you didn’t want to talk to someone J I have made friends with the front desk ladies and the security guard its great I get greeted by name every time I walk in and they are even more helpful with me and play jokes on me all the time. They always tease me when I check for mail and there is none, but I know it is coming. I was craving chipotle so bad today so I got a burrito at school, it was not close in taste, but it filled the craving. Today in class we finally got to the point where we will put sentences together so I will soon be speaking in complete thoughts not only vocab. Part of our practice was to write a letter to our best friend in Spanish, the teacher had to read over it and correct it, she actually understood what I said so I must be getting close to right. Don’t worry Sarah it’s coming in the mail soon, revised of course. I really miss people at night, my family goes to bed around nine and there is no way to communicate with others after that. Tonight I practiced my Spanish with the family through music, we each played our favorite songs and tried to explain them to each other, it was good because my hermanatica finally opened up to me. After whatever we do I usually sit at the table and talk to my mamatica until I see she is ready to sleep then off to my room to write my blog and read! It has given me lots of time to think, and I am trying to decide where to go on my study abroad, Global learning term, so if you have any ideas let me know. While I write this I hear the kissing noses that the geckos make here, they are the same ones from Honduras. I think I am ready for a semester in LA, I take the bus, get off at the right stop, use a taxi when necessary, and inhale bus smoke on every corner! I am ready to get out of the city and onto our privatish island for the weekend! Pictures to come! Buenas noches mis amigos!

June 1

(Photos: Me and Marlous doing homework)

Beautiful and wonderful day in Costa Rica today! I cannot believe I have already been here over a week. Time flies so fast! Today my new friend Perry said it exactly right, “You know those people who it seems you have know forever…” Yep that is exactly how it is here, everyone gets so close and bonds together. Today I am feeling much better! The different medicines from around the world helped! It is funny, while writing this I have to translate what I want to say back into English so if it doesn’t make sense I’m working on my English J Today the internet was down at school and everyone was freaking out, I got lucky because my mamatica (Costa Rican mother) let me use the one at home tonight. Tonight I realized how much Spanish I have actually learned in one week, its crazy! I love hanging out with my family here. There is the mother, Annabel, the aunt, three daughters 24,21,17 and sometimes a baby and two boyfriends. It’s great practice trying to talk to the family and teach them things. I taught them how to make rosaries, to sign their names and some small words in sing language, and how to laugh at the English girl trying Spanish. Tonight I got great news from home, and it just shows how blessed I am and how God is just so good! Thank you for keeping me in your prayers! I was so excited about checking my emails that when I got to talk to Sarah I didn’t know what to do! Everything was too perfect and I was so happy that I started crying, I then had to explain to my family that they were happy tears. Tonight my friend Marlous came over and we took amazing pictures, showed each other pictures from home, and did our Spanish homework. She is a wonderful person and I have been lucky to get to know her better. Its good to have someone to ride the bus with, tell stories to, and do homework with. She lives 10 houses away so we get to spend a lot of extra time together. I think I might start planning a trip to Holland!! Haha oh life is good and I am so happy! I am thinking about leaving class next week and doing a volunteer project to practice Spanish in a different way and volunteer because I miss it. This weekend we are going to Boca del Toro in Panama. We stay at Aqua lounge on a little island, we looked up the pictures and Marlous screamed, it is that beautiful. I’m so excited! We have a different group this week so it will change it up but I am excited to get to know new people. I am so excited!!! The pool is cut in the dock on the island and is just the ocean passing through, its going to be paradise. It’s hard to go to sleep because real life here is better than dreaming! Good night world!

The Monday after

Today was a slower day, everyone was so tired from the weekend, the school had a bunch of new students I of course had to meet, and I was sick. I think I got a head cold from somewhere this weekend so I have been a little out of it today. We learned so much vocabulary today and my class got a new girl named Rachel from Tennessee. My teacher gave me some medicine to help my cold and it was so strong with drowsiness that I was a zombie the rest of the day. I came home and took medicine from Holland, and ate with my family. I shared the joys of icy hot with my hermanatica (Costa Rican sister) and I am now studying Spanish and trying to beat this cold before we leave to Panama! Monday night is the night everyone from the school goes dancing and I am sad I had to miss tonight but I will be feeling better in time for next week! Adios World, Buenos Noche!

After the Caribbean time!

Wow. This weekend was amazing. I love the Caribbean and I love my new friends! We had a blast getting to know each other, relaxing, and getting the experience of being a Costa Rican. We left really early on Friday morning to avoid the heat and get as much time on the sand and in the sun as we could. When we arrived I could not believe my eyes, the trees, the sun, the people, our hotel, the sand, the water, the everything was so wonderful. We stayed the first night in Cahuita a city and hour before Puerto Viejo, it is a smaller town with not many tourists. We had the entire hotel/hostel to ourselves besides one couple. Our rooms were beautiful and there were hammocks on the porch, the pool was beautiful and we spent 3 hours there after the dance club, its so hot throughout the night that we need a cool clean body of water to relax in. There were 12 of us so it was great fun playing pranks and hearing different life stories. In Cahuita Marlous, Immogen and I stayed on the beach all day while the others visited the national park. We made friends with the local Rasta man, Rolonaldo, he lives off the land and hangs out with the tourists. He spent a few hours with us swimming, telling stories, and climbing a tree and getting us fresh coconuts to drink from. It was crazy to see how he cut them open with a machete and cut spoons out of the sides of them. There will be a video on my facebook. He then took us swimming to teach us how to body surf, or throw yourself into a wave and hope it takes you somewhere! The people in that town are so friendly and the restaurant workers took pictures with us, made us special dishes, hung out by the table, and invited us dancing with them on Friday night. We went to the town, which was maybe 30 buildings total, and went to the two clubs. One was a live band that played salsa and meringue music the other was a Rasta club. Yes, I danced, thanks to my new friends I some how had the confidence to get on the dance floor. It was actually really fun! I don’t know if I will ever voluntarily dance with a 54 year old Rasta man again but hey it was part of the experience and he wasn’t that bad at meringue! Stories to come about that one! That was all on Friday, Saturday we went to the next city, Puerto Viejo, wow it was so beautiful. The beaches were so white and the water so clear! We stayed at the most amazing Hostel ever called Rocking J’s. It is for surfers and world travelers. Our room was called the pimp suite and was the most amazing room ever. Immogen and I layed in Hammocks on our balcony for 4 hours talking and just enjoying Costa Rica. We met so many people in the Hostel, I have new friends from Spain, Australia, Peru, Holland, and Argentina it was so cool to hear stories and just get to know different lifestyles. We got really burnt and our fingers wrinkled from staying in the water so long but I would have had it no other way! The bus ride home was a different story! I think the count of almost deaths was 6 or 7, the bus drivers think they are indestructible and the rain does not stop them from anything. It was kind of exciting and kept us on our toes. We made it back safe, red skinned, and close friends. The conversations had will never be forgotten, the people will always be remembered and my life will forever be changed. Pura Vida!!