My host dog!

This is my host dog Bruno. He's so cute! My entire host family hates him. I'm not sure why they hate him but I think he's adorable. Actually my host dad said he doesn't like paying for his food and he thinks he's dirty. My host mom hates all pets she told me. Haha if only she knew what my real house is like. She would be disgusted with three dogs living in her house.... The dogs never come in the house here. Ever.

 

Haha Bruno got pretty tired of me taking his picture. Just look at that face! These photos were taken in the morning when my host parents couldn't see me petting him.... He's so sweet though!!

Catholic Rosary Ceremony

It' Monday. This means another day were I really have nothing to do. Today I went to the university to meet up with friends and walk around for a bit. We got lunch some lunch, I bought a $2 calzone that was huge. My friend and I split it for our meal and we were both stuffed. Our calzone was just as cheap as the taxis here. Can't believe it.

Anyways starting next week my Mondays will finally be filled with a massage workshop in the mornings! Also starting up soon every week I'm supposed to fulfill 4hours of Gringo-Tico time. Aka I just have to talk in spanish/english with a tico student 4 hours every week. Sounds good to me. I need some tico friends.... all of mine are mostly American. That just won't do. Haha just kidding, they're great people.

Tonight I went to a Rosary service for the Virgen de los Angeles. It was really cool. It was hosted at one of my friends house. The outside porch was decorated with flowers and statues and they had an alter set up for communion. The song they sang were beautiful in Spanish and some of the tunes were some I recognized! It was neat. After the ceremony we ate bread. Lots and lots of bread. I feel so full right now it's ridiculous. They were all sweet breads except for one option. They served this flat englishmuffin looking thing that had beans in the middle of it and then topped with cabbage and carrots. It was really good....I had four. I didn't really eat very many sweet breads. I tried one but they're not my favorite.

Well that was my day today.
Here's some photos from the beach!

Jaco Beach

 

Just a little dog abuse in the Hyundai, no biggie

 

The photos don't do the waves justice. They were huge!! 

Buenas Noches!!

El Mejor Dia

So far today has been the best day that I've experienced in Costa Rica. Some friends and I went to this beach today, Jaco (pronounced Haco). It was pretty cool and all. It had giant waves....really dangerous waves to be honest. Even a local told us not to swim in the water because it was muy peligroso. He even walked us over to a sign that said in English about the dangers of the water. He was totally right, I just stood at the edge of the water and walked a little ways out and the edge of the water was pretty crazy. Some of my friends swam out kind of far but I value my life. They came back with bleeding body parts.  

We eventually found a quieter outlet from the ocean that looked like a natural wading pool. It was pretty nice. Strangely enough I only got burnt on the places I put sunscreen on. It's not bad though, thank God. 

After the beach we went to this restaurant that was great. I FINALLY found a place with guacamole. People don't make it here but there was a Mexican restaurant in Jaco and I've been craving it for about two weeks. The people who owned the place were super cool and we talked with them for awhile.  

But, the best part of my day, and the best part of my trip so far, occurred on the bus returning to my house.  

We were waiting for a bus to arrive at the airport in San Jose to get back to Heredia. It was dark, and pouring (the worst combo) and this man was begging money from everyone at the bus stop. He was getting really touchy and kind of forceful with his begging, especially with this one man who works at the airport. The Airport Man managed to shrug him off though and he left us all alone. He turns to me and says, "that man es crazy". Then we all got on the bus and another guy is trying to sell crappy candy for way to much money, going on about how he needs the money, and my friends and I all say no and he calls us "Gringos"Tacanos", which is basically stingy gringos. Thanks a lot, we just met. 

Afterwards the Airport Man offers me his seat (which was really nice, it was a long bus ride). 

Finally a third man stands up on the bus. He gives a huge speech about how his child is in the hospital and he has no money to help her. He talks about how his jacket, pants, and shoes are broken and falling apart and that he needs money. He says that he doesn't want money for himself, but for his child. He said some more stuff but I missed it. So he goes down the bus aisle just like the man before and the Airport Man gives him money. I was wondering why he gave money to this man and not the rest, because this man seemed kind of full of it too.  

I sat here for a minute thinking about it and got the courage to ask him about it. We talked in spanish so I got most of what he said, but I asked him why he gave money to that man but not the rest? He told me that the other men said they wanted the money for themselves. This man said he wanted it for his child and that is something worth giving money for, even if it may not be true. He said only God knows what is true, but that God would want him to help out a man with a family. He talked about how the man has no job, and that he probably will never have another job again. He said some more stuff and it was the coolest conversation ever. We talked about the United States after that and about drug problems, traveling, his life, and me studying abroad. He spoke in English when he could, and I spoke in Spanish. We both wanted the practice.  

I guess it doesn't really sound too amazing typing it out. However, it was a really cool experience and it was the most memorable one yet. He didn't call me a stingy gringo or judge me for stumbling on some spanish, but I did get to learn a little about him and his life. And that's great. I think it's way better than any beach or rainforest.... and that's saying a lot.  

Buenas Noches! 

PS photos tomorrow!

Un Buen Dia

Today I learned a lot about myself. Actually I just learned what other people think about me. These were some of the things that were said:
- "You're not the type of person to get hit on at a bar, you're more likely to get hit on at a pumpkin patch."
-"You have such heavy hands, you could be a pretty good fighter"

I never realized my hands were heavy. Apparently they are though especially compared to my friends.... They look normal though. We're all going to the beach tomorrow and supposedly I'm going to learn how to through a punch and fight. I really don't think it'll happen haha.

Back to today's events:
Four of us went to San Jose today and just kind of walked around. It poured for about 20minutes while we were walking but it wasn't too terrible. We ate at this vegetarian place (My friend Alexandra is a vegetarian) and the food was awesome. I had a vegetarian burger, plantains, and we all shared a huge plate of fresh fruit: strawberries, papaya, guava, apples, oranges, pineapple, banana, and watermelon. It was perfect.
After lunch we went to the National Museum and saw the gold exhibit and this small exhibit on jungle cats of Costa Rica. We also went to a random market place. It was a really fun day though. I'm posting photos from today and from the soccer game!

Hasta luego,
Sara

This is a video of the crazy fans at the soccer game!

 

 

Haha these are great. The security guard made us wear these masks!

 

Haha

 

Gold!

 

Lots of Gold!

 

Statue in San Jose

Muy Mal

So I was in the post office today and there was this sign below posted there. The sign is about feeling sexually assaulted but if you look at it the woman is the vixen in every picture. But really the woman should be the victim in every picture considering the amount that women get hit on here. I'm sure men get hit on here too... But not nearly as often.

Ps I'm going to a soccer game tonight!!! It's a big deal here si it should be awesome! I'll post photos later!
Ciao!

Park Pictures

Here are some photos from the park about 15minutes from my house! The park is full of recreations of the masks that people used to wear to symbolize different people. They have a festival in August where everyone wears different masks. This tradition dates back to colonial times because some of the masks look like devils which are supposed to represent the colonists! Yikes. Some masks are public figures, some look a lot like gringos...some are policemen and some are giant ladies that mock the high society women.
Take a look!
PS there are also scary masks that look like clowns on every street sign
PPS Costa Rican street signs don't help a person out at all, usually the streets don't have names at all. The address for my home is like 25 meters past the church of Santa Lucia, left at the bread store, 5 meters more, house on the left. That sort of thing. It really is a legitimate address here. I took a taxi last night and handed the guy my address. He went straight to my house no problem.

But here are the photos:

Nerding Out

Okay so I posted earlier about the cool products that I found at the Auto Mercado (grocery store) near my house. I was looking for something to do today since it's a holiday and not much is going on, so I decided to read the ingredients more closely on the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion that I bought earlier. WHOA! There's quinoa in my shampoo and conditioner!! Plus a ton of other plant based materials but at the same time maintaining a short ingredients list. Now that's pretty cool in my book. I'm posting some photos so you can see for yourself.  Also if you're super interested in things like this I posted the link for the company's website. I thought it was great, and their products aren't crazy expensive.
http://www.bio-land.org/ourpoint.html 

 

This was my face while reading about my shampoo

(But really it's a statue in some park in Barva, Costa Rica)

Sorry if you don't find this post interesting!

Tico culture

Hey everyone,
I had my first Spanish class on Tuesday and it was great!! My teacher is so nice. We have the opportunity to take workshops at the university but for no credit. I'm still thinking about doing it though. They have some dance classes and massage classes that sound awesome.

My first assignment for my Spanish class is learning about Tico culture but here's what I've already learned about Tico culture:
-it's common for women to cook dinner at like 3pm, put it in the fridge, and then warm it back up in the
Microwave when it's actually dinner time. I've heard from several people that their host families do the same!

-it seems like people here don't really grow up as early as a lot of Americans do. A lot of my friends say their host family siblings are like 30 and living at home but acting like they're 15

- ticos are a lot more affectionate than most Americans. This is both good and bad. I have to give my host mom a kiss on the cheek whenever I leave because that's what's normal which is pretty cool but I've also seen a lot of PDA haha

- ticos value their country so much. This is seen through soccer pride a d appreciation for nature

- ticos also hate to be stressed and everything is more relaxed here which I'm still getting used to!

-religion is really important and there are a lot of religious holidays. I'm on holiday right now and I have 3 more coming up!

There's more but I can't think of the rest
Here's a fruit I ate a couple of days ago. My host mon gave it to me it's called a manzana de agua. Literally apple of water or water apple. It was pretty good!

Host dad

This morning I went to the museum of popular culture in Heredia. My host dad wanted to show me the plants that they have there. It was really cool! There are some photos below. The masks are for this big celebration they have on November I think and everyone walks in the streets wearing masks. It seems pretty cool.

I forgot to mention that my host family loved their gifts!! I gave them their gifts last Thursday and it was great. My host dad loves plants and butterfly's and anything with nature so he loved the book of Indiana's seasons and the pen made from our state tree. He takes many photos of costa rican plants and animals. Especially las mariposas (The butterflies). The other gifts I gave are decorating the house and the seeds I brought have already been planted and are growing!! Very fast too. I also attached a photo of some costa rican products that are certified organic and made in costs rica! And vogue in Spanish too.
It's been a good day so far!

 

The biggest Cactus ever!

Busy Busy! Muy Ocupada!

Buenas Noches everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long but I WAS IN THE RAINFOREST!! It was beyond magical. This weekend our group took a trip to the rainforest and we did a ton of stuff. I've posted pictures below but here's a list of the things we did:
-We planted 300 endangered trees in the rainforest! They were a type of cedar, Cedar Maria? Something like that.
-We went on a river boat tour and saw iguanas, caimans, lots of birds, a sloth, and more birds.

-We went to a pineapple plantation and I literally could not control myself. I ate SO much pineapple. If anyone is planning on going to costa rica the mosquitos are especially bad on the pineapple plantations. I made the mistake of wearing shorts and bathing in deet bug spray (I know a cancer bath but it has to be better than malaria) and I still managed to get 12 mosquito bites on my legs, and one on my face.

-We stayed in this awesome hotel called Selva Verde, there were poisonous frogs everywhere! Also we would hear the howler monkeys all the time and we even saw four of them right outside our rooms. It was so cool. It rained a ton of course but it was the most amazing thing to be able to lay in bed and hear pelting rain or the sounds of howler monkeys.

-We went to a cocoa plantation and I again had my fill of chocolate, and my friends because she doesn't like dark chocolate. It was really cool though. The purest chocolate I'm sure I've ever had. Plus I volunteered to whack open a cocoa pod which was actually kind of hard.

-I walked across huge bridges that seemed unsafe but it was beautiful

-I got to know my group better and it was super cool. However... we've vowed that starting tomorrow we're only going to speak in Spanish. I guess it's a good thing. But it's hard to tell jokes in Spanish.

All in all it was a great weekend. The mosquito bites were worth it and so was the humidity.

 

Photos of my Campus! vvv^^^^

 

The group

 

On a bridge!

 

Swinging from a vine

 

The only guy in our group. He's holding two different poisonous frogs. The top one is called the blue jean frog because it looks like he's wearing jeans! Que Lindo!

 

I don't remember this name. It wasn't as cute as the other that's all I can remember

 

Costa Rican Pine Cones (I don't actually know what they are)

 

The hotel view! Notice the crazy amount of rain water pouring out of the gutter

 

At the cocoa plantation. A cocoa flower!

 

Another bridge and another great view 

 

Chocolate!!! Alejandra is holding a cup but I actually ate/drank everything she had

 

Hasta Luego Amigos!