Double Class

In my first class, we just talked. I feel like I've improved. We then went to the store to look for a gift for my host family. This was not real successful. For my second class, we were going to take a walk. What I didn't know was that we were walking to the yellow church which is halfway up a mountain. I was wearing jeans and was without water or a camera. It also was entirely unimpressive. Meredith and I ended our "lesson" early and went to Walmart to get cards. This was also not successful. We ended up buying paper to make our own.

When I returned, the family was peeling beans. I sat and joined them. Tomorrow I am going to go shopping in the morning and will be saying good bye to Meredith as she heads to San Jose. I have a late class as my final class and will be spending the night in Orosi before heading to the airport Saturday morning.

Final Miércoles

Today I had class first thing. I am starting to prefer later classes because I'm tired in the morning. Only 2 more days of class. Today we completed the final textbook which means that I now know all of the tenses in Spanish. Tomorrow for my morning class I will be talking to really focus on my oral skills which have certainly improved. In the afternoon it was going to be a test but instead I'm going for a walk. The test will be on Friday.

After class, I looked at the supermarket for cards for my host family and teacher. They didn't have much of anything. I also need to come up with a gift. I was going to go shopping after class but we ended up not going. I walked around a bit and returned to the house. I helped with some math homework even though my Spanish knowledge does not include math terminology.

With so few days left, I am definitely looking forward to being home.

Back to Class

When I went in today, I was informed that the teachers had the same amount of notice that we had about classes being cancelled (they weren't happy either). It is also requiring that we have one day with 2 classes to make that one up. They gave me a ridiculous answer when I requested money back. Basically that would require me to pay more for some bizarre reason.

Anyways, Mereditha and I went to the hot springs today. It appears that all of the pools here are from the hot water of the volcanoes. It was nice and relaxing. I then had some time to relax before class. Class was good. I am impressed with my teacher.

Tomorrow after class, we will be going to shop after class. Thursday is 2 classes and Friday is the last day. Saturday morning I will be traveling to the airport to return to Chicago.

Holiday

Got up and I had slept like a rock. I hadn't moved all night and slept for a straight 9 hours. I was really tired and was still afterwards. When I awoke, I discovered the family cat at my feet. That was unexpected because I closed my door. It apparently pushed the door open (it doesn't have a great seal) to get into my room. This cat seems to like me. I relaxed in bed for a bit longer. Everyone was moving in slow motion because it is a holiday here today. Got myself together and met up with Meredith. She wanted to go to a National Park in Tipanti which she said was only 3 kilometers from where the bus drops us off. We got on the bus and began walking up (since we are in a valley everything is up). After about 3 Km we saw saw people and asked them to see if we made a wrong turn. They said it's another 5 Km so we continued walking. We got to Puri and took a break. Meredith then reread the guidebook and it said that it was 3 Km from where we were. We relaxed there for a while and then decided to just walk back being that we had already gone 8 Km (7 on foot) from the house in Orosi. We walked the entire 8 back stopping at the "indoor soccer field" (the quotes are because everything is outdoors but it had a roof and fake turf). We ended up eating at a Chinese place (we are now looking for anything but the typical food here because it isn't real varied). My family saw me and invited me to go shopping after I ate. I went with them. They drove their mini bus with 11 people in it to San Jose. What I didn't know is that we were going to a place very similar to Sam's Club called Price Smart. Most things were the same (including labels except the signs were in Spanish). It was very strange. And the prices didn't seem that great. The other piece of this trip that I didn't know was that it was my host mother's mother's 80th birthday. We went over there and celebrated and saw most of the family that I had me yesterday. It was really nice. When I returned to the house, I found all my laundry done and on my bed. Also, I found out that the father washed my bag that smelled horrible from the river. the mom also found some dimes and pennies I had left in the bag. They gave me colones for it because the mom wanted the coins.

I am going to start my homework maybe and try to talk to Mike. I will be attempting to go to bed early to try to catch up. Tomorrow we will be going to the hot springs in the morning to relax before class.

The Return Trip

We get up at the crack of dawn to catch the first boat back because we can't fathom doing anything else (i.e. canoe trip because there was nothing else). We were just too tired. We return the key the lady gave us and she charges us $10 per person to share 1 twin bed. I was so upset because the going rate for a bed is $8 and generally you would get one to yourself. Although I do think that it was better than on the beach. On our boat ride back to Pavona they took my suitcase and put it so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. Unfortunately, the person running the boat ended up getting a large amount of water in the boat and since my bag was on the bottom so it sat in it for the remainder of he trip. When we arrived for the bus I was upset but there was nothing I could do. We had good luck with the buses and arrived back in Orosi around 1:00. The family Meredith was staying with was supposed to call my family to let them know that we were coming back a day earlier than originally planned. That didn't happen so there was some confusion and the mom was washing my bedding so I didn't have a bed made. It was fine. I got to practice my Spanish by explaining the story of what happened. Unfortunately, they were having a party so there were lots of their family members at the house. I was not in the mood but I didn't have much choice. I hung all the stuff that got wet on the line out back so that it will hopefully dry and it may get washed. To make matters worse, I stepped in wet cement that the dad had put down. I felt really bad. After everyone left, I walked to Meredith's house to talk about tomorrow. The school called to inform us that our classes are cancelled tomorrow. This is due to a holiday. Don't you think they should have known this when we were discussing the schedule for this week? I'm going to figure out what they are going to do because i am supposed to have 5 days of classes.

Meredith and I walked and went to a bar for a few drinks to help us forget about the hell of the weekend. I mean the turtles were cool but the rest sucked.

We are going to do something tomorrow, don't know what yet.

Tortuguero

Today we had an eventful day. We got up and decided to wait for the next bus to the boat to get to Tortuguero because it was storming. We saw all of Cairari and ate and then went for the bus. The one we expecting wasn't there but we took a different one which worked out fine. When we arrived, we headed for the hotel we had a reservation at. They then proceeded to tell us and several other couples that they were full and we would have to find another place which we soon discovered didn't exist. We ended up running into some girls we met in Quepos and they had 1 extra twin bed that we got to share. We have decided to go back to Orosi earlier than originally planned because of this. We did however get to see the sea turtles laying eggs which was really cool. They come onto the beach where they were born dig an enormous hole (they are 3-4 ft themselves) and go to laying about 100 eggs. They then cover the hole and return to the ocean. We got to see all from the laying of eggs. We got back to the room about 11:30.

Tomorrow I will have Internet to post to the blog and I will be back in Orosi for my final week of class.

Last Weekend

After class, we traveled to Cariari which took us 3 buses. We seem to be 3 buses from everywhere. It wasn't too bad of a trip. It was the first time we took a bus in the evening when it was dark. It was unfortunate we couldn't read and there were some obnoxious kids screaming for the entire 2 hour ride. Nothing too exciting to report.

Tomorrow we are getting up to take the 6:00 bus and boat to Tortuguero.

Long Day

Had class first thing this morning. She gave me a huge packet of homework. It appears that I am unique in that I actually complete all of my homework. I had lunch with Meredith and a girl that I met in the program. We were thinking about going to a movie but instead Meredith and I went for a hike. Being that we are in the Orosi Valley all hikes are up mountains. We were planning on going to a waterfall but we apparently had to find this guy after hiking to his house. We looked a bit and then decided just to turn back. There were some gorgeous views of the valley particularly because we went about an hour before sunset. This was a nice exertion before dinner and relaxing. I completed the end of my homework and did some studying.

Tomorrow we travel to Cairiari where we will be taking a boat to Tortuguero.

Miércoles

Nothing real exciting to report. I have crazy class times this week and next which is a bit obnoxious but it's ok. What that means is that today in the afternoon I just read my book. I actually finished it and found a Michael Crichton book in Spanish and am attempting that. I also had my laundry done today which should last me to the end of my trip :). I also made my first hotel reservation in Spanish which went well.

My shin splints are killing me. It was nice to relax today and give them a chance to heal. Tomorrow will probably be more of the same and then Friday we are traveling to Tortuguero for the weekend.

Jardín Botánico Lankester

We got up early and traveled to Paraiso where we went to the Jardín Botántico (botanical gardens). It was different than what we would find in the states. It was nice to have a place to go and talk and look at things. We won't do much in the next few days because I have class 8-11 and Meredith has class 12-3 which really kills the day particularly because after 3 it typically rains.

I decided I wanted to purchase a book in Spanish to read while I'm here and when I'm home. There are apparently only a few bookstores in the country which are all located in San Jose. That just baffles me. So I may or may not be getting any books. There are 2 groups of high school students taking classes which has frazzled the teachers and is obnoxious. I liked my vacation from my high schoolers. I think it will be mostly a problem this week. We will be going to Tortuguero for my final weekend in Costa Rica to see the tortugas (turtles).

I have been having good conversations with the family here and my Spanish has improved. I hope I reach my goals while I'm here.

Happy Monday

We returned to find that our class times changed which meant that we didn't have to rush back. We went at the usual time and they looked at us like we were crazy. Apparently the school is supposed to calorie family to let them know what time class is on Sunday and nobody did. It's ok though because I enjoy being with my family. It really pushes me to work on my Spanish in a low pressure situation. We hiked up the rode further than we thought but found this nice artesian that has a shop on the side of the road. His work is really nice done by hand with dried coffee plant wood. We are going to go prior to class tomorrow to one of the places to hike or relax. We may be more limited on time but we still have a lot to see in Orosi. It is surprising that here is so much in such a small town. I did not like the 3-6 class that I had today. I'm happy that this should be my only one. The teachers are getting tired and are not doing as well because of it. 2 large groups of high school students came in and are taking 2 of the 3 time slots. They are also obnoxious high school students. We keep saying that we left to get away from the American teenagers :).

Another day of Travel

We were woke up by the heavy rain and then by someone's alarm clock that just kept going off. We ate and got dressed and then decided to try a hike. We didn't realize that it was going to be as crazy as it was. We ended up taking a taxi part of the way and then not making it to the top because it was really hot And up a hill. There was an even greater distance from there. We were both slipping and falling on our trek. So we walked back so we wouldn't be late for the bus. And then we traveled to San Jose then Cartago and finally arrived in Orosi. It is unfortunate that the public transit system here stems from San Jose because it adds a lot of time on our trips. It of course was raining since it rains here everyday at 3:00. It is nice to be back where there is some predictability. The only problem is that I have been speaking English all weekend and it was a little difficult to transition back to Spanish. I was only speaking Spanish to get directions and talk to people but nothing consistent. I return to class tomorrow. We are already planning our trip for my last weekend here (next week) to Tortuguero to see the turtles.

Manuel Antonio

We were hoping to sleep in, alas everyone in this country is up at 7. The birds and dogs and such start to make noise. I have yet to wake up to an alarm at my family's house. The Hostel gave us free breakfast which was still rice and beans but it was free and we were on our way. we took the bus from Quepos to Manuel Antonio which cost ¢240 which is about 50 cents. We spent time first in the national park which is a rainforest where we were looking at the plants and animals. We saw a sloth that was actually moving and at a much faster pace than I would have expected from a sloth. We then went out onto one of the many stretches of beach. Since it's the Pacific coast the water is fairly warm which was nice to ride the waves. We also did some reading and we brought a lunch. Once high tide was setting in (about 1:30-2:00) we browsed the street vendors and then caught the bus back to Quepos. The hostel here is nice and they give you a lot (such as beachmats and towels). However, I discovered that they don't have any hot water so I took a cold shower which was quite unpleasant. Overall, a good day.

Tomorrow we will be heading back to Orosi and I will meet the father in the host family. He works in Guanacaste and lives there during the week which is common here.

Class and Day of Travel

Class was good. Right after class we hopped the Orosi bus to Cartago and ended up sharing a taxi to San Jose at the next bus stop. This turned out not to be a quicker route and it was a little more expensive. Live and learn. We then took a bus to Quepos which is where our hostel is. We will be heading to Manuel Antonio for the beach tomorrow. It wasn't too bad of a trip. We did Italian for dinner because we are tired of rice and beans which appears to go with everything :). We also treated ourselves with Gelato which Meredith exclaims is not as good as Gelato in Rome.

Hopefully we will have nice weather tomorrow!

Finca de Café

Had a good day at class today. We did mostly conversations which was nice. It is what I think I need to work on most following closely behind is vocabulary and grammar. I am definitely feeling more comfortable with my Spanish. I have been able to speak about various topics ith my host family much better than when I arrived. I am also understanding more.

Enough with that, you want to hear about the Finca. A Finca is a farm which in Costa Rica they have mostly coffee. We went with a couple people from the school and a couple that we went rafting with yesterday on this tour. The couple that own the farm made their farm completely organic and changed the coffee industry in Costa Rica. The guy makes and fixes many of the machines used to process and make the coffee. It really tasted great. Besides the fact that it was raining, it was a really nice time. I also have more ideas regarding composting and having an organic garden at my house. We will see how it goes this year.

Tomorrow after class, we are heading to Manuel Antonio which is a really nice beach recommended by the locals (less touristy). Hopefully the weather is good so we can have a good weekend. Next weekend we will be going to Tortuguero which has these famous turtles (in Spanish they are called forth as hence the name).