Last day in Costa Rica

Wow.. I am at the end of my journey.

I just looked back at my first posts and its crazy to think about how much time as passed, and how fast it has gone by.

I got back from my vacation today. We did three days in Jaco, three days in Santa Theresa/Malpais and 3 days in Montezuma. Yesterday in Montezuma we walked along the beach for (not kidding, I timed it..) 5 hours and 50 minutes before we stopped somewhere for happy hour. We met a family from New York at breakfast, a dad and his three sons. Two of them we my age, one as Lilly's age. We ended up running into them again on our walk along the beach, and just stayed with them the rest of the day. The dad was making me laugh so hard that my cheeks were aching; we had so much fun with them. Doug (the dad) was asking the bar tender what alcoholic drinks they make with metamucil, and lovingly referring to his wife of 33 years' boobs as "tennis balls at the end of tube socks." I almost died laughing all day. We went swimming the ocean, which was to be my last beach in Costa Rica, and then to their pool for drinks and appetizers. I put together some "sammiches" made of amazing white Costa Rican cheese and fresh Italian bread, then made some coctails. Because of this, I think Doug wanted me to marry one of his sons and told me that I am "a good homemaker". Food and booze really are the way to a man's heart. After that, we went to dinner then back to the pool for some solid Marco Polo. I then returned to my "nicer" hotel room (as you will recall from my last post, I switched hotels because I am snobby and wanted something nicer) to find 2 giant cockroaches in my bathroom. This was company to the orange and purple crab that stayed with me in the room the night before. At this point, I decided that I was finally ready to leave Costa Rica, and the bugs, behind.

So today we made the journey back to San Jose. We took a ferry and two shuttles, and finally arrived back at my tica house.

I never got to say goodbye to my roommate Ali, but she left me a super sweet card and aparently, she left all of her clothes here and donated them to the poor people of San Jose. She really was a blessing as a roommate and fun and kind. I got so lucky with my living situation here.

I am sad to go, but also excited. I am thinking back on my first day of school here, our first weekend trip (all of our weekend trips!), and of course, all of the amazing people I met. Victor, our group coordinator was so amazing to me. He was so generous and so loving and so much fun. Martin, as much as I complained about him, it was so good to have someone who had very close tot he same experience as I did- someone to commiserate when school got tough, or talk about our weekend trips with. Osito and Nicole, Greg, Zack, Nelly, Lindsay, Tyler and Alyssa.. and Lilly. All of these people became my friends and made my trip what it was. Most of them are back home now, back living real life, but damn, what an adventure.

I will miss my house here in Costa Rica... I will miss the crazy downtown San Jose and the beautiful green, hilly landscape.. I will miss palm trees and spurts of rain, I will miss my teachers and Veritas.. Most of all, I will miss Spanish. I have completely fallen in love with the language.. I love the way it sounds, the way the words describe things, the love and emotion in all of the sentences, the animation of conversations.. I will miss it so much. I think my biggest culture shock going home will be speaking in only English. Dont be surprised if I put a few Spanish words in my sentences, as I sometimes catch myself doing when I speak English - and actually visa versa with Spanish. It remains my first and greatest love. I am so greatful for the opportunity to come here and live in this house and attend such a great school, and learn so deeply the beautiful culture of Ticos. I have been so lucky to see so much of this country and it is SO beautiful.

I have also been so lucky because nothing bad has happened to me. I dont want to jinx myself, but I have been lucky to not have been robbed at all or even close to it. I am leaving with a few scrapes from my scooter adventures, and some sore ribs from my waterfall adventures, but everything else completely in tact, thus resulting in an absolutely wonderful time.

I am going to the airport at 4am, then flying to Miami, then Chicago where my daddy is going to pick me up and hopefully I will get to see my amazing girlfriends.

Thanks to everyone who has read my blog either faithfully or here and there and thanks for all the support you all have given me. I love that I stayed an extra week here and I am ready now to return home.

What an adventure. :) :) :) :) Chicago or bust.

Spoiled rotten

So after Santa Theresa, we headed by taxi to Montezuma. We were supposed to stay another night at the Funky Monkey, but we were told there was no more space...

Montezuma is another beach town with a cute little downtown area, and some beautiful waterfalls... Last night we stayed at a place called Hotel Lucy, but as I am slightly spoiled, and not afraid to admit it, I couldnt stand the conditions of our hotel and moved today to a nicer one called Hotel Aurora. We had a supppperrrr tiny room with 6 beds and a fan and it was unbareably hot and uncomfortable. We already had paid for 2 nights ($10 a night!) but I bounced out of there a night early, leaving my $10 as a parting gift. Lilly is staying there again tonight, then maybe meeting me at my hotel tomorrow.

Today we climbed up some tretcherous landscape to explore and see 3 waterfalls. I climbed up the side of a waterfall, but slipped a little bit, and landed on my ribs and now they are totally sore. But it didnt stop me from jumping off and into the water, or climbing the mountains to more waterfalls.

I have also realized how diffucult it can be to travel with someone. Lilly and I are having our ups and downs as a traveling team and mostly, I would rather be by myself. Staying by myself tonight in my hotel room will be good for me.

I am getting excited to come home. I have 3 more days here, and then I will be on my way back. I am not ready for responsibilty, or going back work, or facing some things that I have happily been able to avoid, but I miss my friends and family, and the american lifestyle. I miss my house and my nonie! I miss super clean bathrooms and straight answers. It has been an incredible journey, so fun, so mind-opening, so life changing, but all journeys have to end.

Tomorrow I am beaching it up for one last hot, sunny, beachy day, then Saturday AM heading back to San Jose to stay with Mami for one last night. Sunday AM bright and early I will be heading back to Chi-town with a suitcase full of presents for everyone! I will try to write again on Saturday night (when I dont have to pay for internet!).

Santa Tranquilo

I have been on vacation now since last thursday and having a great time! First we were in Jaco for 3 days, which was CRAZY and now we are in Santa Teresa. Its so beautiful here and so peaceful and fun. We ran into some kids we went to school with in San Jose, so they are staying that our same hostel. Before they got there, we were the only Americans in a sea of British guys and girls in surf school. :) We are sharing a room with 2 British surf teachers who are super nice and funny. Its the first time I have ever had boy room mates! After running into our two friends from San Jose, we told them that our hostel is the place to be, so they are staying there tonight too! Our place is called Funky Monky and its freakin beautiful. We are only paying $15 a night and we have an ocean view, a beautiful room, our own bathroom, a pool, and a super fun place down stairs where we have meals and party! There are also the two cutest chocolate labs and a little kitty, plus a TV, some hammock chairs, and a bunch of toys to keep us occupied. Our bar bill surpasses our room bill by like 3-4 times! :)

So yesterday Lilly and I rented scooters.. like those motercycle-type things.. I thought, damn I can totally do this because I have ridden motorcycles and jetskiis and its almost the same.. Yeah, I was wrong. I got on and immediatly drove myself into a ditch! Three people had to come and pull the ¨bike¨out of the ditch and there was so much grass and mud all over it. Hilarous. I was cracking up, and not hurt, but the guy was really hesistant to let me rent if after that show. I finally did convince him that I could do it, just needed practice, and he let me have it for the day. Lilly was then annoyed with me after that because I was going slow and learning, so she took off and karma hit her so hard: she crashed right into a puddle and was soaked and muddy. She totally deserved it! After that though, neither of us had any accidents and I got pretty good at riding it! I want one at home!!

I will be home in 5 DAYS! I cant believe how fast this trip has flown by. We are going to head to Montezuma in a few days and then I will be on the flight back to the big city, traffic, big buildings, and no tica walk. I am going to have culture shock when I get home, mainly for the pace of life. EVERYTHING is slower here and its lovely. I am excited though to use my cell phone! Have wine in the back yard with Dad and Maria, and see my family and girlfiends. I will be hitting it hard when I get home: Sunday I land around 3ish, and then monday at 12:45 I have a spanish test! Good thing I have been studying REALLY hard here on the beach. :)

If anyone is looking for a vacation spot, I have several ideas for you, all involving Central America. I have been to a lot of beautiful places, but Costa Rica is so speacial, so tranqulio, so amazing. 100% recommend it to anyone.

I am hopping back on a scooter today, since I am a rock star at driving it.. Then Sushi tonight at our Hostel and maybe some partying!

I have taken a lot of pictures that I havent put on my blog or on facebook (yet) but I will be making a Snapfish album so if anyone wants to see all the pics, just send your email address if I dont have it on the usual list.. :) Hope all is well with you all, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone soon!!! Love always!

Packing up

I cannot believe that I am going to start packing up my room in San Jose tonight! I am leaving Thursday for Jaco and then after that, I will just be traveling. My bags are going to stay at my house for now, but I want to have them ready and out of the way while I am gone. I cannot believe I have been here for almost 5 weeks already, it has flown by so fast.

Lilly should be over soon, (hopefully with a bottle of wine!) and we are going to decide on our traveling plans: Panama or Nicaragua... decisions, decisions... I might buy a backpack tomorrow, because have you ever seen a "backpacker" with a rolling suit case? Lilly has experience in this business, so she can tell me if my suitcase is practical. I'm going to be that girl.

I just ask.commed if I can get AIDS from mosquito bites. The short answer is no, but I seriously have so many that I was worried. I am doused in anti-itch ointment.. Man, do I smell good... a mixture of icy-hot-ish smell and bugspray. Eau de Costa Rica.

Here is the beginning of the list of things I have learned while in Costa Rica:

- The garbage can by each toilet is not just a coincidence, they're for the TP... I learned that this weekend..

- There is another form of Tu and Ud: Vos (NOT Vosotros). Thanks Illinois school systems for never teaching me this thoughout my 10 years of study

- Love can conquor all. But will it?

- Simon Bolivar did A LOT for Central and South America

- Good friends can be made instantly, but making a best friend takes years

- With the internet, the world is a very small place

- The ability to spend a large amount of time with someone should be cherished. There are many people that I have met here that I do not have this abilty with, though it has been tested.
- A little Spanish goes a long way, especially when shopping

- The more time you invest in another language, the worse your original language becomes. For example, I was asked what I am doing in San Jose and I said, "taking school" in English. Bad translation. You might have noticed this in your reading so far..

- Distance, weekly 5+ hour drives and the Pura Vida lifestyle really does add a lot of peace into one's life

- A good pair of flipflops and/or a waterproof purse is priceless

- Rain doesn't ruin a beautiful day, but a bad attitude does

- One cannot get AIDS from mosquito bites (see above or ask.com)

- I am not a business woman anymore, I'm a teacher

- Pizza, beers, big sunglasses and a good friend help when things get rough

- Iron gates keep out the bad guys but not the bugs

- You become fluent in a language when and if: you forget you are listening/speaking/or reading in it or, when you switch languages half way in the middle of a sentence without realizing it

I think that is all for now, but don't be surprised if you see another list like this, as I have learned SO much about Spanish, Latin America, myself and life in general by coming to this beautiful country.

Panam-ahhh

I'm back in Costa Rica with a pair of sunglasses and a camera case less, and 7 million mosquito bites more... I lost these two items in a mysterious chain of events involving the ocean (go figure), a few boats, swimming, wind and beers. I think based on these key phrases, one can put together the story of how these things got lost.

The trip to Panama was an experience in itself. We woke up bright and early on Saturday and made our way to downtown San Jose. We got on a very nice and un-crowded coach-style bus and made the drive to Panama. It was smooth and pretty sailing until we got to the boarder, where some of the kids in our group were unprepared. One of the girls is a Jamaican citizen and didnt have her visa and wouldnt have been allowed back into CR with out it. So we arranged for her to be sent to Puerto Viejo where another group of us were staying. A few other kids ran into problems with not having a copy of their flight ticket proving they wouldnt be staying in Panama for long.. they just had to buy an extra little ticket though. So after the boarder, we found a taxi driver to take us to the launching doc for our boat taxi to the island chain of Bocas del Torro, specifically to Isla de Colon. This water-taxi ride was about 45 minutes and it was beautiful. We finally got to our island and checked into our hostel.

The afore mentioned mosquito bites came from being in my first hostel ever. We paid $12 a night and got a twin sized bed and a locker.. it was totally like a dorm.. there were computers and pool tables and foosball tables and TVs and hammocs and a bar right down stairs from our room.. We slept with the windows open, hence the bites. The bathroom and the showers were shared between guys and girls but our bedroom only had girls in it. I didnt take any pictures, but our room had 3 sets of bunk beds in it and lockers, and thats it. Overall, my first hostel experience was a good one. I would definitely do it again. This first picture is the downstairs of our hostel, the other is a shot from outside. It was called Grand Kahuna Hostel.
















After this, we went to dinner and had some drinks, then went to a party on a different and nearby island. This bar was so much fun. It was called Aqua Lounge and it was ladies night!! This bar had a pool and a diving board and it was filled with awesome people. We met our "room mates" one girl from Ireland and one from England who have been traveling together for about 5 months. The irish girl has been traveling since December! It was so interesting to hear their stories- they just up and left their jobs and started traveling just for the hell of it. So awesome and so interesting. We met so many people like that on our trip- "backpackers". After a fun night of swimming and dancing and talking and high-diving from the board, we headed back to our hostel for the night.

The next day we got up bright and early to try and pack as much into our ONLY day there as possible. We found a guy who took us on a boat tour for $15 a person. This tour lasted from 10 am until about 4pm and included the following: a visit to the place where dolphins live (we saw tons and it was AMAZING!), snorkeling, a stop at a restaurant, sloth viewing (we didnt see any!) and an hour long stop at the beach. It was the BEST $15 I EVER spent! So worth it! Here are some pictures! We burried our canadian tag-along in the sand, and had a good laugh about it. We gave him both boy and girl parts and made him pregnant. :) I seriously laughed about this for about a half hour, after which he was ready to get out of the sand because "something was biting him". LOLOL.














This little boy stole my heart, and because of this, I left this island with no money, food or water. His little job is to catch these frogs every day and show them to tourists for money. I felt so bad that this little 7-8 year old was working that I ended up giving him way more money than he was used to ($5) and I saw him show his little friends his "bank roll". I ended up giving him my water too. It's so weird to see kids working here, in the States it would never fly. I am sure any parent anywhere would rather their child not work at this age, but it just goes to show you how bad they need the money.

On our boat this day, we met 3 French girls who ended up hanging out with us the rest of the night. We went to a "nicer" restaurant for dinner, got a bottle of wine, and just sat at our beautiful table just feet from the water and laughed and talked about different cultural things (like did you know that it is pretty much forbidden to take leftovers home from a restaurant in France?!)

After dinner, we went to a few bars and we danced and laughed and had a great time. I finally learned the "superman" dance after about 3 years of wanting to learn it. (I know, 2007 called and they want their dance back..)

This morning was another adventure. We got on our water taxi off of the island at about 7:30 to make a 9am bus for San Jose. The bus wasnt as nice as the first one, and was much more crowded, but we made it.

It was a great weekend and a real eye opener to leave Costa Rica. CR is fully developed, not huslter-ish and Panama is different. Everyone is out to get a buck. The landscape was beautiful and the islands were so neat. I loved how they were so close together and each one had something different: one was where everyone stayed, one had the party, one had a beach, etc. It was very cool, and very fun. I am so glad I did it.

As for my future plans, they are still unclear. I am staying an extra week, but I dont know where we will be going yet. I wanted to go back to Bocas originally, but I think staying in Costa Rica (pacific side) and maybe going to Nicaragua for a few nights will be better. I have to consult Lilly for this decision. I only have 3 days left in San Jose! We are leaving on Thursday night for Jaco (a surf tournament is there next weekend, and rumor has it, JACK JOHNSON is there too!) We planned this trip with the rest of the Independents (the group of kids we were with the first two weekends) so that should be a good time. Then after Jaco, my tica mom said I can leave my luggage here and go explore! I was supposed to be coming home this sunday but I am SO not ready. I cannot believe how fast time has flown (I have already been here a month!) and how much has changed in my life. This was the best decision I have ever made in my life and has truly changed me forever. This is not the last of my long trips, and for this reason too, I CANNOT wait to be a teacher! 3 months off + $ = mucho vacations. :) I love and miss all of you.

The itchy, twitchy spider

I have had a twitchy right eye for three days and now I have an itchy neck. I have been blessed with nice skin (thanks mom!) but I get fricken rashes on my neck and chest like it's my job! For the past 2-3 years I have been getting heat rashes pretty much every time I am in the sun. I remember last summer waking up at 1am itching like crazy and having to go to CVS right then for anti-itch cream. It's the worst! So, I have a SWEET (and itchy) red neck right now. The neck issues I can explain, but why the twitchy eye? It's a mystery.

This is my last week for one of my classes, too bad its the one I like best. I am very proud of myself though... I am getting an A in both my classes, and for being in the 2 highest possible Spanish classes in the program, thats pretty damn good. Yeay for me! (Yes, I did just brag..) I suppose my late nights have paid off so far.... but they also call for a vacation....

Stay tuned for more details, but I am working on changing my flight because I want to stay an extra week! I have a good week with nothing going on at home and nothing really to return for, so as long as I am down here, I might as well stay! I am going to Bocas, Panama this weekend, and will check it out to see if I should return for my week of vaca. I'll be hanging with my girl Lilly, which I am so glad for, because I don't want to leave her yet!

I am still freaking out about bugs. This is so gross: I was getting ready for bed on Monday night and I opened up my closet for my pjs and BAM a fricking bug the size of the PALM of my HAND was crawling around in my closet. (pic!) To be honest, it could have been a cockroach. I am trying not to believe it, but it damn well could have been. I sat there stunned for a second and then called Ali to get our tico dad to kill it. OMG. Plus, while we were at the hotsprings, I saw another bug the size of my hand right by my foot, and some further away that seriously might have been BATS! I am pretty much guaranteed every night to see at least one of the two spiders that live in my room (THANK GOD for high ceilings), probably about 3-4 ants, and about 10 flying bugs. There was a gecko in one of my classrooms today and my teacher tried helping me catch it to bring it home to eat all the bugs, but it was too fast and I didnt want to hurt it. I truly LOVE Costa Rica, BUT I will be really relieved when I don't have to worry about bugs like this at home.

Alright, I have to get back to my homework. Love to all!

Mi Fortuna

I AM SORE! I had a "hard ass" weekend.. literally. Almost everything I did hurt my ass. Friday night we drove up to the AMAZING Baldie hotsprings. These are natural pools heated by the inner earth- Arenal Volcano! They were so so amazing. So warm, so nice. They made a little resort out of these hotsprings so there were waterfalls and beautiful little hidden passages.. it was so romantic- engaged friends of mine, this is an IDEAL honeymoon spot! We had such a good time exploring and going down waterslides and just hanging out..

Saturday we got up early and went to La Fortuna Waterfall. Again, so amazing. One of the other girls and I rode horses to the waterfall, while the rest of our group drove in a bus. This was the beginning of my sore ass. My horse's name was Sarita, and had a behavior problem. Luckily, I still got it when it comes to horseback riding, and I was able to control it (mostly) but definitely was running more than walking. It was so amazing though. Riding a horse is like riding a bike, I was able to pick it back up where I left off like 10 years ago. I was told I had "good form" which was a nice compliment considering last time I rode a horse I literally couldnt walk for like 2 weeks. (Remember girls when we lived in the "partment" and I was on codine and couldnt fit into any of my pants from my legs being so swollen??) It was sucky. This time though, while in pain, I am doing fine. We saw a perezoso which literally means lazy, but is the name for a sloth. This is why I love the Spanish language- it's so literal!!!



Upon arriving at the waterfall, we were told that there were 400-something stairs to walk down, which you guessed it, means there were 400-something stairs to walk up.... so on the way down it was all fun and games.. we played in the cold water, explored a little, but then had to hike back up. Let me tell you, it was not easy. Part 2 of my sore ass. As though riding the horse was not enough to make my legs want to be left at the waterfall, these steps kicked our butts! Then we had to ride the horses back to the barn. OUCH. So worth it though.. It was truly amazing.

After our adventure to the waterfall, we packed up and went to a town called Monteverde. We took a boat here as it was closer by "lake". We arrived in time to eat dinner and after our long and tiring day, we were in bed by 8pm! We woke up early the next day for a canopy tour- which was AMAZING! We went ziplinging all over the world it seemed like, but again, hiking up mountains hurt my ass. There was a tarzan swing that was SO scary, but so fun.. We also "supermanned" one of the ziplines and flew across the world as though we were him. The rest of them were so beautiful, but in the typical sitting position. The long ones were the best and we were so high above the trees. I recommend this to everyone! (Except if you're afraid of heights!)

I am so glad I got so see such beautiful things, but missed my normal group of friends. This weekend some of the classes had class field trips so we were all split up.. Next weekend we will be split up again, but our very last weekend here we are planning a last trip together.

This is my last week of Spanish class and I have one more week of Dialect class. I cant belive how fast time has flown!

Daniel in the Tech dept at Veritas fixed my computer, and it is like new- in fact better! He did say there was an issue and he lost some of my files (actually all of them) but he is going to send something to the US and have it fixed and then send it to me in Chicago so I can have all my files back. Because of this he didnt charge me, but I feel bad so I am going to at least buy him a coffee tomorrow.

I hope all is well with all of you. I feel like I am not that far away but also that I am in another world. Being so far away and being alone here really makes me appreciate who I have back at home. I appreciate you all reading my blog and caring what I am doing and caring that I am ok. Thanks for being in my life and thanks for loving me. :) Believe me, it is returned. LOVE to all.