A visit to Cartago

On Saturday we went to the town of Cartago which is about 30 minutes or so from our town. We unfortunately had to wake up at 5 am and be at school by 6am. It was a rough morning. The bus was supposed to leave at 6:15 but because we are on "Tico Time" (aka always late) we didn't leave until seven.

Our first stop was to eat some breakfast, of course. We ate the traditional Gallo Pinto and a side of eggs. The food is always great, so you can never go wrong. The restaurant that we ate at is owned by the family of our director. They have about 5 restaurants all around the San Jose, Cartago, Heredia area. After the food, we headed off to begin our tour.

We started out a an amazing view point that looked over a town called Orosi.
Our next stop was a place not many people would appreciate. But lucky for me, I have been so lucky to live under the roof of an engineer, wooh! We stopped at a dam. To be honest, im not really sure what the significance of it was, since once again, everything was explained in spanish and I usually catch every three words or so. But when we arrived there were street vendors selling snow cones and coconut milk. We of course had to buy one.

We then ended our tour at one of the oldest cathedrals in Costa Rica. Due to a funeral, we were not able to go inside but the outside was one of the most beautiful churches I have seen.

Once we were done touring, we were given free time to do what we wanted. At this point it was GAME TIME. So all of the students went to a bar in the town near by and watched the game. As we walked up, I heard my name being called and it turns out my Tico brother was at the same bar. That must have meant we chose a good one! Watching the game with Ticos is so crazy. So much yelling and craziness, I was so entertained.

Sunday was the WORLD CUP! Sadly the outcome was not what I wanted, but it was still really fun to watch. Viva Espana!

Adios

My school, El Instituto de San Jauquin

The school I am attending is a very modern house looking building with gardens surrounding the whole thing. It was started in 2003. There are two directors of the school, Alex and Anna, and two directors of, I guess you would say, " The fun stuff", Esteban and Francy. I have not met my teachers yet, but I will once school starts on Monday.

The school has 5 classrooms, two lounge areas where they tell us to take our "siestas" because learning is tiring, and an outdoor patio that has a kitchen we can use and always has fresh fruits and coffee waiting for us. It is an amazing place. Here are some pictures, will get more of the rest of the school later.

First few days in San Juaquin

On our last day in San Jose, we packed up in the morning, had breakfast and headed towards our new home for the next 6 weeks. First thing on our list was going to see a garden in Cartago. Here is the van we drove from San Jose to Cartago.

We had so much luggage we had to put it on top of the car.



The group in the garden.








This yellow flower looking thing is what we call Ginger. It is by far the coolest flower I have seen.

What part of the garden buildings look like.





After our trip to the garden, we heading to the town of San Juaquin. I was so nervous! We were about to meet our host families. We pulled up to the institute, at which I will be going to school, and the host moms and dads stood there with "Bienvenidos" signs. My host mom is named Anna and her husband is Mario. They have two sons, Oscar and Allen who are 25 and 27 along with a daughter Laura who is 20. Laura has a baby boy named Ian who is 1 and so cute. He is in the same boat as me, neither of us speak Spanish!

This has been a bigger challenge then I ever could have imagined. I moved into a family who does not speak any English and who talks a mile a minute. But they are so nice and understanding. I say something in Spanish that is completely incorrect and they laugh and help me out. They keep telling me not to worry because I will learn it quick.

Mama Anna cooks me every meal and it is so delicious. Lots of chicken and rice but nothing like what we have in the United States. There is lots of fruit and fresh veggies all the time. But I have one complaint, Papaya? IT IS TERRIBLE! I always thought it would be delicious but it is one thing I cannot stand.

On my first day arriving, Ana and Laura were there to greet me. We went back to the house, ate lunch and did our best to converse. Later on, Ana took me into the town nearby called Heredia to run some errands and show me around. Today, Friday, I had a full day of events at my institute. We had a police officer come and talk to us about the safety of Costa Rica, we had to take a placement test, and then did some welcome games. We were told that we are never allowed to use English while in the school. I never thought I would be so exhausted in one day.

Tonight I came home and played with Baby Ian for long time and then got roped into a game of poker with the older boys, Mario, and some friends. Lets just say its hard enough playing poker in the United States. Now off to bed for a bright and early morning tour of Cartago! Chow!

San Jose, Costa Rica

This is my first Costa Rican mean I ordered: Arroz con Pollo. Rice and chicken with vegetables. And of course some french fries.
This is the hotel that I stayed at for 4 days while in San Jose.



There is a really great story that goes along with this painted cow that my director told us, but it was told in Spanish so I did my best at translating what it means. There is a man who sits every day next to this cow who has a mental problem. These cows are made all over the world starting in Sweden and are meant to raise money for city necessities. But this particular artist said he would paint it as long as this man, Mariton, would be able to get the proceeds for his living expenses. So each day Mariton sits on this cow with a can in front of him and collects money while playing songs on a mini guitar. His name is painted all over the cow.

The Line of cars in the next picture is showing a protest I witnessed, held by taxi drivers. They are protesting against the government because they are being band since they are not legally certified (which the real taxi drivers, which we would see in the US driving yellow taxis , are). So their protest consists of hundreds of "taxi" drivers bringing their cars to main streets of the city and parking them there for hours until the government allows them to continue to work that way. The hard part is, there is no one who can make these people move out of the streets because of their governmental system so it could possibly go on for days.

My first legally bought alcoholic beverage :)Planter's Punch, sounds very American

Arrival In Costa Rica

Friday I took a red eye flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. The flights were quick and painless, minus the fact I was stuck in the middle seat, that was fun. There happened to be a group of kids from St. Ignacius High School who were heading for their immersion program. On my plane ride from El Salvador (where my lay over was) the lady in front of me was wearing a " I love my Ducks shirt" ( University of Oregon's Rosebowl shirt). Those were some comforting things to see as I was heading to a different country.

The first day I was there, I didn't do much. I was exhausted and had no idea what to do since I was by myself for the day and the next day. I soon realized that Costa Ricans are very laid back with no sense of time. I sat in the restaurant wanting a simple dinner and two hours later, I had finally gotten the check. It is kind of nice actually, no need to rush anywhere and no worrying about being late.

Today, Sunday July 4, i was supposed to go on a tour of a coffee plantation and some other things that i could not understand in Spanish. Waking up early to get breakfast and wait for my ride, i soon realized it was 8:30 and the ride never came. So i ended up not going on the tour and wondered around San Jose.

People watching is interesting here. When Mia was in Spain, she talked about how at a certain time everyone just went out and wandered aimlessly. I feel like that is what people do here. Im not sure where everyone was going but masses of people wandered the streets around 1:00. There were street vendors and people doing acts for money like in San Francisco. There is a square in the middle of down town where people gather to feed the pigeons. Costa Ricans are on the streets selling some sort of food for people to buy to feed them. I also noticed that ice cream is very popular. Everywhere i walked, everyone had ice cream cones, so naturally I got myself one also.

So far, Costa Rica has been treating me well. Tomorrow the other people in my program are arriving and we start our 6 weeks of Spanish immersion. Should be exciting!