San Carlos

First and most importantly, I SAW A MONKEY. I´ll write more about it in a couple paragraphs, but I just needed to share that so I can concentrate on writing the rest of this.

This weekend my class and I took a trip to San Carlos. On the way we stopped in Zarcero, a city famous for these enormous bushes shaped into animals. It was pretty crazy to see a stegosaurus fashioned from a pine tree, but, in my opinion, Zarcero should really be famous for the bakery right across the street from the exhibit. I got some sort of pastry filled with cream cheese and caramel, then another with ham and cheese...all for like 2 dollars!

We stayed at a really nice resort in San Carlos that was at the base of the only active volcano in Costa Rica. We asked my teacher what we would do if it erupts and all she said was ¨you run¨. Obvious, but practical, I guess. We got to swim in thermal springs at our hotel that had water warmed by the volcano. I guess they´re supposed to have all sorts of health benefits, but it doesn´t even matter; they felt so nice I grabbed my SPF 55 and sat in there for about four hours.

On Saturday, we went to an enormous waterfall, and my classmates and I got to swim in the water below it. It was so pretty and it was definitely worth the climb back up to the top even though we took the world´s steepest stairs with the world´s angriest ants (at high altitude of course). They gave us a little juice box and cookies when we made it to the top; unfortunatey I was expecting a steak and a large cooler...possibly some sort of medal as well. But this was still probably the best day of the trip because we also got to do the canopy. It was made up of about 11 zip lines, some of them were about half a mile long and over 300 feet above the ground. I was honestly really scared at first, especially because while waiting in line I got this idea in my head that these lines were not made for tall people, and as a result, I held my knees to my chest on the first couple lines so as to not lose any limbs. I eventually got the hang of it and I saw some really pretty views, including a toucan (!).

On Sunday we took a short trip to Caño Negro, which is near the border of Nicarauga. We went on a platoon boat (I think that´s what it´s called in English) on a kind of nature tour of the Rio Frio. And, yes, this is where I saw the monkeys!!! I really felt I could go home happy at this point because not only did I see some howler monkeys, but also the cutest little mokeys with little white faces. I took about a million pictures, but was unsuccessful in luring any into my backpack. We also got to see some caymans (which look like small crocodiles) and a ton of different birds.

The last day there we went horseback riding. I somehow got the biggest horse that the stable had, and I was near the back of the group the majority of the time because he was the only one that was constantly stopping to eat. The ride lasted about 2 hours, just long enough to cause me to slightly waddle today.

This week we are going to the National Museum and we have a surprise trip on Sunday. We also have four days of classes this week, which is about twice what we had last week. I really like my civilization class, but I must say my composition class is kind of a snooze. I usually pass the time thinking about what my Costa Rican mom is going to make for lunch.

Well, I have to go do some homework. I miss you all mucho!! I´ll try and update this again in about a week, and please let me know how everything is going at home!! Much love!

My first days in Costa Rica

Hi everyone!

Okay, so first of all, let me apologize for any typos that occur in this post because 1) I have difficulties typing under normal conditions 2) this computer has Spanish spellcheck so nearly every word has distracting red squiggly lines beneath it and 3) this keyboard is weird (for example, this is a key: ç).

I survived my first two days in Costa Rica! My family is so nice and I have my own bathroom and bedroom complete with cable TV. I like it a lot, but it´s just a little different than home. I have a big window in my room and I can see the mountains, which have proven to be a bit prettier than the hill I can normally see across the street at Prairie School. I also get woken up at about 6 every morning by a very noisy bird, which although he sounds like he is in the room with me, I have yet been able to locate (I picture him to look somewhat like Toucan Sam). And last night, when, to my delight, Big Momma´s House was on TV, it had Spanish voiceovers!

Of course, there are some other differences, like the fact that everyone here speaks Spanish, that are a little more difficult to adapt to. I always thought I understood Spanish well in the classroom, but it has proven to be much more difficult to use in conversation. I am constantly messing up my conjugations and forgetting words, but, honestly, it´s hard to be upset about it when people are constantly giving me food. I don´t think I have ever eaten so much in my life. Just now I finished some type of chicken lasagna and I´m about to have chalupas (which, believe it or not, are way better than the ones at Taco Bell).

I had my first day of class today and I also made it to the bank to exchange my money. I feel pretty safe here, but my host mom told me that everyone notices that I am a gringa (because I am so tall and so very white) so Costa Ricans think it will be easier to steal from me. That´s why I tucked my money in my sock today and showed up to the bank with some very moist dollars.

I think that on Friday my little sister, Valeria, is going to be on TV. Of course, I could have understood this very incorrectly, but I think she is going to be on some kind of televised talent show where the people who watch vote on who they want to stay on the show. I met her dance crew on Sunday, and they all seemed very nice and they shared some marshmellows with me (they obviously know how to get my vote).

I´m also excited for this weekend because we are going on a field trip where we get to go zip lining and horseback riding. It should be a lot of fun and, if I don´t get to update the blog before then, I will definitely try to do it afterwards.

I hope you all are doing well in the United States! I miss you all a lot! And, mom, please don´t worry about me; I´m still wearing the SPF 55!

This is a test.

Before I leave for Costa Rica, I think it is appropriate to state my goals (AKA I have nothing else to say and I wanted to test this thing out). Okay, so goals:

1. Learn enough Spanish to pass as a very tall, very white possibly half Costa Rican
2. Don't get sunburn (I'm armed with a precautionary four bottles of SPF 55)
3. See a monkey/attempt to persuade it into my knapsack
4. See Enrique Iglesias/ attempt to persuade him into my knapsack (just kidding about this one...I don't think he's from Costa Rica)
5. Do lots of site seeing
6. Don't get swine flu
7. Stay in touch with my wonderful friends through this blog...

Well hopefully my next blogs will be more interesting, but I'm not guaranteeing anything.