Next we got to have an orientation at Juan XXIII, which is a seminary that was converted into a school, and is up in the mountains overlooking the cities. We all met at ULatina before we left, and this was the first time seeing most of the students so it was a little awkward at first but everyone was really welcoming and open.
My mama tica is friends with a woman around the corner who is also hosting a girl here and so they arranged for us to walk to school together for our first day alone (just like elementary school hehe). I am actually really glad they did this because our walk to school was the start of an awesome friendship. I asked Rachel where she was from, and she replied Washington, what about you? I answered North Dakota, and then she said she had ROTC in Fargo... LIKE WHAT!?!? Turns out she goes to school at Concordia over in Moorhead and is in ROTC at NDSU. Just as I was saying "What are the chances that I would come here to CR and meet someone else from the Fargo/Moorhead area" when she said "theres another girl here that goes to Concordia too". By this time we were at the school, and I got to meet Molly, and on the bus ride to Juan XXIII we realized we actually had multiple mutual friends because shes from N. Fargo and her boyfriend is from S. Fargo. When I added her on facebook we had 19 mutual friends other than the ones we had met in our ICDS group. I would have never imagined, but I'm also pretty excited about it because I get along really well with both Rachel and Molly.
During our orientation we got some info on current cultural views, safety and awareness, and got to have some fun time getting to know each other. There are 14 of us total in the ICDS program, 5 boys and 9 girls, and I really like them all. After our orientation was over we had some free time to look around the school and explore it because it was sooo big! There were big fields where we played soccer that overlooked some amazing scenery, a basketball court, and multiple buildings, all surrounded by lush native vegetation and beautiful green grasses. The entire place was so quiet and serine that it was almost creepy, but so extremely relaxing. Even when the others were playing football and soccer, you could walk across the fields and you wouldnt be able to hear anything but some faint voices and noises of birds and brustling of the trees.
After we messed around with soccer and basketball, we had an instructor give us dance lessons! It was so much fun, we learned el merengue, la salsa, and swing. I can't wait to get signed up for dance lessons! I'm thinking im going to go to Merecumbe which is the dance academy that the instructor works for, and isn't supposed to be too expensive. I also want to take yoga classes at a place next to a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called El Buho (the owl) and is near UCR.
After our awesome dance lessons we had supper and then sat at the edge of the hill for hours looking out at the beautiful view. The tons of golden lights scattered along the mountain side made it look like there was glittering gold rivers flowing down the sides of the mountains, it was so beautiful. There were so many lights in the city that it lit up the clouds with a faint orange hue and it was gorgeous. The pictures can't even come close to doing it justice.
We escaped from the lights for a little while and went out to the dark to look at the stars and found the little dipper, and oriens belt, and cassiopia. Somehow we got talking about zodiak signs and Lulú (an ICDS staff member not too much older than us) got involved in the conversation. (First you need to know one thing about Lulú..she is the absolute cutest human being on the planet...she has the usual small petite frame that ticas have, but shes still got curves and doesn't look like she's starving herself. not to mention that her personality is out of this world adorable, she speaks english really well but every once in a while will mispronounce a word or have a latino accent with it and its so precious) but anyways, she started telling us all about our zodiaks and what kind of poeple typically fall under which signs. It was very insightful, and I think we all definitely agreed with the descriptions she gave for our signs. She made me think of my bestie at home, Kat, because she is always so cute too and knows a lot about zodiak signs..i always feel like im talking to a wise elder when i talk to her even though shes younger than me!
I miss my friends at home, but at least I have been able to easily make more. I click really well with most of the people in my group. We spent the night at Juan XXIII and I got the honor of sharing a room with Gianna, which was a bad yet amazing thing. We were getting ready for bed and laying there talking when all of a sudden the hours just seemed to float by. Next thing we know its 3 in the morning and we have to be at breakfast at 8:45. We still didnt end up falling asleep until about 4a.m., but it was well worth it. It reminded me of jr. high and high school when I used to have sleepovers with my friends and stay up for the entire night doing nothing but being innocent girls gabbing the night away, maybe about not so innocent things, but still not getting in trouble none the less, right? haha either way, getting up in the morning was hell.
I barely ate any breakfast because i was so tired, and then we had to ride the bus a few hours to Volcán Irazú, which is one of the many inactive volcanoes here in CR. We entered the park to the volcano and at the base there was a pisote, which is an animal that looks somewhat like a badger and somewhat like a lemur, and is so mean and cute looking at the same time. Everyone was taking pictures of the pisote that was hanging outside the souvenir shop near the picnic tables. There was a man eatting his lunch at one of the tables when all of a sudden the pisote ran and snatched the guys food and drug it to the ground, where it now became the pisotes lunch. And also a great prop to get it to pose for pictures. The next wildlife we got to see was a few baby racoons about 100 feet away under the umbrella plants. They were so cute, but as most probably know, they aren't the nicest of animals...Zach tried to pet one and it bit him, thank god that rabies has been eradicated from CR since the 1950s (isnt that soo cool!? why can't the US do that!?).
I started wandering up towards the top of the crater when I got distracted by a large mysterious vast area covered in black sand and fog, so Rachel an I ventured off into the fog and found some cool pictures made in the sand by arranging a bunch of volcanic rocks. There was a heart with some mumble jumble in it so i changed it to Cole, made the arrow, and took some pics :) I miss my boy so much..it really sucks being here without him, but all i can think about is how fun it'll be when he comes to visit in March!! :D I had a fun time playing around in the sand, and after considering that we were actually inside of a cloud, not just fog, and no one else could see into the crater due to the clouds, I decided just to walk around in the sand and not go to the crater. I've seen it before, and thought it'd be pretty disappointing to not even be able to see it when i went back, so i just kept the old image in my head :) After this trip we went to have lunch at a restaurant on a hillside overlooking an Amazing view into a tree-filled valley. After lunch I was so worn out and ready to go back to my tico house and take a nice nap. Which is exactly what I did : )
Monday, February 6, 2012
The first day out on the town
The first full day that I was here in Costa Rica was when I met the three other girls in the API program, and our resident director, Esteban. He took us for an orientation of San Pedro, and also San Jose. We saw so many places and he told us so many things that it was so hard to keep track of everything, but it was also extremely helpful to at least have some idea of where places are here. Costa Rica doesn't have street addresses so it's difficult for someone who isn't a tico(Costa Rican) to get around here. They use landmarks as references and then say how many meters to go in which direction and the color of the house or building to identify it. For example, a common address would be "the yellow house 150 meters (aka a block and a half) west of the San Pedro church. Neighboorhoods around the city have specific names, aka, my neighborhood is called Lourdes, and different neighborhoods around the city are named after things like churches or a main road that goes through it, so the names can help a bit, but it's still very difficult to get around town when you're not familiar with it.
San Pedro is a suburb of San Jose where there are two of the most popular universities, the private one is Universidad Latina de Costa Rica (thats the one I attend!) and the public one is Universidad de Costa Rica. They are within a short walking distance of each other. San Pedro has a lot of college aged students and a variety of restaurants and shops. There are quite a few pizza places, including Pizza Hut, and other big chain fast-food places like KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, TCBY, as well as local restaurants. I've found multiple asian cuisine spots as well! There is a street by UCR that is called calle de la amarguras (Beggar's street) which during the day is swarming with people and it has tons of places to eat, copy shops, a yoga place, and some small stores. During the day time it is safe, but at night it can get a little sketchy. Esteban took us around this area and to different parks around town. Parque Nacional (National Park) was a pretty cool place to go and it got its name from the national monument located there. It is a big statue representing the struggle that the 5 republics of Central America(Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) had faced before becoming independent countries. The coolest things about the parks here is that they still have some of the native vegetation growing, and the parks were built around some of it. So it gives you a small taste of the jungle. Something that was started recently in San Jose was adding statues of doves painted by different local artists in all sorts of patterns and colors to try to help bring back the peace that this country is known for. Just like all pretty much all other countries, there has been an increasing amount of violence over the years.
He also took us to downtown San Jose to Central Avenue. This is a pedestrian street that is lined with tons of stores and people selling things as random as dry erase boards to socks to fresh flowers and also located on Central Avenue is the Central Market which is a huge area that has so many little shops and stores packed in it that you can barely move. There are stores with souvenirs, fresh meat, fresh seafood, fresh herbs and spices, flowers, ribbons, and almost anything you could ask for.
Esteban also took us to the bank to exchange american dollars for costa rican colones. $1 is the equivalent of about 500 colones. Everything here costs a lot more than in the states because most of it is imported, meaning its at least twice the cost. For example, theres a Converse store in the San Pedro Mall and it has every color/style of Converse you could ever want, but each pair is like at least $80. :( I was so sad when I found that out, but I guess it will hopefully keep me from spending too much money on imported products and more money on Costa Rican things :) Although, my host brother Harold had to take me to Plaza del Sol (a smaller mall near my house) because I did need to buy some toothpaste, sun block, advil, and some paper and it cost me almost $60. I guess I learned my lesson to go to a store that doesn't have imported products next time! Speaking of imported products I MISS MY RANCH DRESSING :( :( :(
Other than the expensive imported products, tico food and transportation are relatively cheap so thats pretty nice. Everything is going really well here so far, there is so much to learn about the city!
San Pedro is a suburb of San Jose where there are two of the most popular universities, the private one is Universidad Latina de Costa Rica (thats the one I attend!) and the public one is Universidad de Costa Rica. They are within a short walking distance of each other. San Pedro has a lot of college aged students and a variety of restaurants and shops. There are quite a few pizza places, including Pizza Hut, and other big chain fast-food places like KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, TCBY, as well as local restaurants. I've found multiple asian cuisine spots as well! There is a street by UCR that is called calle de la amarguras (Beggar's street) which during the day is swarming with people and it has tons of places to eat, copy shops, a yoga place, and some small stores. During the day time it is safe, but at night it can get a little sketchy. Esteban took us around this area and to different parks around town. Parque Nacional (National Park) was a pretty cool place to go and it got its name from the national monument located there. It is a big statue representing the struggle that the 5 republics of Central America(Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) had faced before becoming independent countries. The coolest things about the parks here is that they still have some of the native vegetation growing, and the parks were built around some of it. So it gives you a small taste of the jungle. Something that was started recently in San Jose was adding statues of doves painted by different local artists in all sorts of patterns and colors to try to help bring back the peace that this country is known for. Just like all pretty much all other countries, there has been an increasing amount of violence over the years.
He also took us to downtown San Jose to Central Avenue. This is a pedestrian street that is lined with tons of stores and people selling things as random as dry erase boards to socks to fresh flowers and also located on Central Avenue is the Central Market which is a huge area that has so many little shops and stores packed in it that you can barely move. There are stores with souvenirs, fresh meat, fresh seafood, fresh herbs and spices, flowers, ribbons, and almost anything you could ask for.
Esteban also took us to the bank to exchange american dollars for costa rican colones. $1 is the equivalent of about 500 colones. Everything here costs a lot more than in the states because most of it is imported, meaning its at least twice the cost. For example, theres a Converse store in the San Pedro Mall and it has every color/style of Converse you could ever want, but each pair is like at least $80. :( I was so sad when I found that out, but I guess it will hopefully keep me from spending too much money on imported products and more money on Costa Rican things :) Although, my host brother Harold had to take me to Plaza del Sol (a smaller mall near my house) because I did need to buy some toothpaste, sun block, advil, and some paper and it cost me almost $60. I guess I learned my lesson to go to a store that doesn't have imported products next time! Speaking of imported products I MISS MY RANCH DRESSING :( :( :(
Other than the expensive imported products, tico food and transportation are relatively cheap so thats pretty nice. Everything is going really well here so far, there is so much to learn about the city!
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