Feliz Navidad!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! (aka Merry Christmas!) Wow, the "dreaded" day has come-and to be honest, I am really happy it is Christmas, and surprisingly, I'm not really homesick! I feel great, and I feel like I have overcome a big obstacle in my life! How many people can say they've been over seas, away from their families during Christmas (also add the fact you're an emotional teenage girl haha)-not a lot!(;  My Christmas was definatly different, but in a good way. It was a real twist, but it was fun, and I am glad I got to spend it with such amazing people.

So here in Costa Rica, the Christmas celebrations are really on the 24th. So people usually go to Church (my family decided not to, which was REALLY weird for me), and then they go visit family. We first went to my uncles house-and of course, we ate....A LOT! During Christmas, the typical food is tamales, agua dulce, and chicharones. After that we went to my aunts house, and ate more tamales, more meat, and we ate my pineapple cake! At my aunt's house, it seemed like the entire family had assembled together, but there were only about 30 people-aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, neighbors, you name it! It was a great way to celebrate!

One of the BEST tamale I have eaten!

Me and my tia

At my uncle's house, eating tamales 

Me, my tia Ligia (aka my favorite Tia!), and Lupe

After that, we went back home, and ate more! Then we gave out the presents. My family and I did Secret Santa, which was a lot easier on me, considering the fact I only have so much money. That was really fun to see, because my family jokes around a lot, so opening presents were super funny! After the presents, my mom decided she wanted to have a "dance party" so we spent the rest of the night dancing, eating chocolate, ice cream, and just having a fun time!

My Mami with her new purse

The family, minus my Papa who is taking the picture

Lupe and my Papa

Today...was, to be honest, a bit boring. I skyped my family, and saw them open the package I sent them, which was really fun to see! Although the coffee I sent spilt EVERYWHERE, they liked the gift and hey!-it's the thought that counts!(; But as I said, today I didn't do anything Christmasy, and that was one of the weirdest things for me! I went and played soccer with my cousins, and then hung out at the house!

So, Christmas in Costa Rica-it is different, but it is an expierence I will take with me in life. The thing about Christmas here, is everyone prepares for it about 3 months in advance! You know those people who start playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving, and everyone gets mad at them?! Yeah, here, Christmas music is playing after Independence Day, which means mid-September! Christmas here is such a big thing, that involves lots and lots of family. And as I said, its big on the 24th. Although my family didn't have a tree, I still felt the Christmas cheer! Hope everyone had a great Christmas, if you want to send me a gift, feel free to send sun screen!(;

5 months...!!

So, it's been 5 months....WHAT?!!! How is that possible?! It has gone by so fast, and I know these next months will fly by! Anyway, this post is pretty much just an update on my life, what I've been doing this past week, all that stuff!(:

Last weekend I went to Guanacaste with the other exchange students from Puriscal, and it was gorgeous! We went to Playa Conchal, and stayed in the cutest little houses! It was pretty much my Christmas present to myself, and I really enjoyed having the tranquilla atmosphere. We visited 3 different beaches: Choncal, Grande, and another one that I don't know the name of-and all of them were gorgeous and hot! I still can't believe I'm going to the beach, and it's December- I keep telling myself it should be really cold! 

Today I went to clases de baile : Dance class! It was my first class, and I know I will be going back-it was so much fun! We learned reggae, salsa, and cumbia. I really did surprise myself, I always thought of myself as the horrible dancer-but man, I can salsa!(: It was really fun, and I highly recommend to anyone to take a fun dance class with some friends, because even if you mess up, you just laugh it off!

Also, just in case I didn't mention it before, I am starting to learn the guitar, my brother is teaching me! I'll post a video soon, but I am really happy I have started learning that, because I love music, I love singing, and so now, adding an instrument, makes it so much better! Also, I've always wanted to learn. I remember last year I tried teaching myself, and I ended up breaking the string on my dad's guitar! That wasn't the best guitar experience  so I stopped. But now, since I have a brother who plays ALL THE TIME, I thought it is a good way to learn properly! 

So, I hope everyone has a great Christmas if I can't make a post then. Feliz Navidad!(: 

p.s : Hopefully we don't all die tomorrow(;

Appearance/Hygiene

In Costa Rica, appearance and hygiene is everything. The way you present yourself, presents who you are as a person, aka: People judge you HARD CORE on how you look. You may say, "ehh, everyone does that." But here, it goes a little farther than that. Por ejemplo: If you have dreadlocks you automatically put into the "that person smokes" category. If you have a low cut shirt, or you can see lots of cleavage, you are put in the "tierrosa" category....you can guess what that means. All in all, people like to present themselves in a good light.

It is pretty much a requirement to shower AT LEAST once a day. There are people who will shower three times a day if they need to, and it's because its really hot in some places! Luckily  I live in a place that isn't too hot, or too cold, so I shower once every morning, and I am good for the rest of the day! The way you smell also is important, so people put on perfume/cologne every single day, and sometimes you can smell it a mile away! Another thing is people brush their teeth after every meal. One day I went out to lunch with my friends, and after we ate, they all went to the bathroom to brush their teeth, and put on more makeup, and i felt like a freak because I hadn't brought my toothbrush let alone makeup....I felt like a scrub! 

The clothing, you would think, would be people wearing shorts every day-at least that's what I thought! Nope...the majority of the teenagers go out with skinny jeans on. Also, people dress up. Por ejemplo: when my mom goes to the supermarket-she has on her dress, her heels, her makeup, shes got her hair nicely styled....and she's gone for how long? An hour?! I wonder what she would say if she saw the people of the US in Walmart (aka sweatshirt/sweats/pjs!) 

The majority of the woman here, like to wear tight things, this can be a good thing, and a bad thing..............some people should not wear tight clothes, and I don't mean to be rude, I'm just being honest! Also, I've noticed people like wearing shirts that say things in English. Some are cute, others funny, and some just plain weird, and I wonder if they even understand what's written across their chests. The other day I saw a woman with a shirt on that said, "Warning: I am easy". .....ummmmmm! The clothing is "Ropa Americana" and there isn't as wide a range of styles. In the US, you could have a hipster style, preppy, casual, athletic, punk, vintage, formal, hippy-cowgirl (*cough *cough-Graceeee!), but here, its skinny jeans. Heels are also worn A LOT! 

So that is the "fashion" I guess you could say. All in all, I haven't bought a lot of cloths here (only a sweater) because I brought a lot of cloths with me, and I don't even wear some of them. I remember when I was packing with my friend Carrie, and she kept asking me if I needed some of the clothes, well....nope. But oh well! I'll just make sure to give out clothes once I leave!

Summer Vacation!

That's right, be jealous!! School has officially ended, and I have all my grades, and I am now able to relax (even more), and do A LOT more stuff!! Now, just a reminder, I started school at the end of July, all of August, and it has just stopped. So FYI I lost half of my summer in Seattle, so now I get a summer down here!!

So, what am I going to do with this break from school??? Well, December is defiantly filled up! The first week of December, I went with my cousins to a place called Eco Musas. It is about 2 hours from Puriscal, and it consists of a big pool, with a water slide, zip-lining, a waterfall, nature walks, horseback riding, and a lot more!

My cousins in the water slide

Went swimming in the waterfall!

These past days (aka Friday and Saturday) I went to the hot springs!! If anyone plans on taking a trip to Costa Rica, I HIGHLY recommend going to the hot springs, in a place called Mira Valles. It is right underneath a volcano, and the hot springs are pretty much natural hot tubs-but SOOOO much better!! While I was there with my family, we also took mud baths and found a water slide  Then, we went to Playa Hermosa, (Beautiful Beach), which honestly was, the prettiest beach I have seen while I've been here-it was GORGEOUS!

This was us after the mud bathes, in front of the hot spring!

Next weekend, I am going to Guanacaste for 3 days with AFS Puriscal, and then the weekend after that is getting ready for Christmas!!

For January and February, I am going to see if I can teach kids English. I have a little cousin, who wants to learn, and my aunt wants to help get a group of kids together for sessions of English. My friend and I will probably have a class once or twice a week, for a good price....I mean come on-I've got to make some money!! Also, I really want to try and find a community service opportunity!  ANDDD, I also want to find a surf camp, because surfing is SOOOO much fun!!!

So, those are my "official" plans for the summer, but I know my family is trying to see if we can take a trip to Panama, and I also know my aunt wants to take me many places! I am really excited for summer, not only because it means I don't have to go to class, but it means I can fully engulf myself in the culture!

Buena gente

Wait....it's December?!! Wow has time gone by fast! It is crazy to think that it is the first week of December, because I remember the day I met my family like it was yesterday, and now they really are, truly are, my family. We are all veryy close, and I also feel like my Spanish has improved A TON-legit, I understand everything! The other day I was talking with my aunt, and she asked if I understood even when people talked fast, and the thing is, I don't notice when it is "fast" anymore, because it has become so normal! Now, I am just focusing on my grammar and the conjugation of verbs-YAY. haha!

Anywayyy-to anyone who hasn't been to Costa Rica, anyone who plans on going to Costa Rica, or people who just want to know-the world's nicest people live here. I'm dead serious. The Ticos and Ticas who live here, will break their backs to help anyone and everyone in need. It is the nicest, most caring thing I have ever seen, and it's not just select people, but everyone! EXAMPLES!!!

The other day, I called my aunt up and asked her if she could go to San Jose and help me get a package. Immediately she cancelled her plans and said she would go with me-even though I told her we could go another day. While we were at the post office in San Jose, the people who had the package (in plain sight may I add) said they couldn't give it to us without an "official signed document from a lawyer saying I lived with her". HA-nope sooorrrryyy don't have time for that! But these people were so nice, that they let us leave with it anyway, they said it was fine, that I was a learning child, and that this experience  isn't meant to be spent at a lawyers office! Then, as we were walking to the bus stop, we saw a girl who needed help. She was an exchange student, I believe from China, (not with AFS), who needed help getting to her school. And bless her heart, my aunt took her under her wing and made sure she got where she needed to be! (First example, haha don't worry the others aren't as long!)
My English teacher helped me get my official transcript for school, and waited at the school for about an hour (my bus was late), for me to arrive just to give it to me (which took 2 seconds).
The people here are always asking about how family is doing, and they always seem to know when something bad has happened. If someone is hurt, the entire family is there in a matter of minutes.
There is a woman from the United States who lives next to my cousins. Her Spanish isn't that good, but she is able to communicate  When her husband died, my cousins and thier family were at her house instantly, doing everything possible for her. The family has now taken her under their care, and they are all very happy.

I guess these are only a few examples, and you may say, "Oh, people in the US do this", and yeah, I'm sure they do, but there is SUCH a difference here, it is hard to explain. In the US, when you walk down the street, and you see someone, usually, you try to avoid eye contact, as to avoid an awkward situation-don't lie, we've all done this. But here, it is completely different! When you see someone in the street, walkin' by, even if they are a complete stranger-people will say, "Hola, buenos dias! Pura Vida!". It is incredible, the love can be felt everywhere. It's as if everyone is family, and I completely love it.

Costa Rica, is such an amazing place. More than 4 months here, and I feel like I've lived here my entire life, as well as lived here for a week (if that makes any sense....probably not....the other exchange students agree with me!). The people here, are amazing. Sure, there are some who want nothing to do with you, but those are the ones who are having bad days. We are human, that's what happens, but with what I've seen, those bad days are pretty rare!

Thanksgiving

So, in October, I asked my family here if we could have our own Thanksgiving, because being a "gringo", you can't just not celebrate Thanksgiving! So, I had an adventurous, fun, thankful, amazing Thanksgiving weekend.

On Wednesday, I went to PriceSmart (aka the Costco of Costa Rica) with my Mami, Lupe, Naoko (an exchange student from Japan), Digna (my contact person/the funnest woman in the world!), and Carlos, the husband of Digna. We were on a hunt for turkey, of course, pie, potatoes, and all the other stuff for a typical Thanksgiving dinner. Well, we were hoping we would find a turkey that was already ready....nope. We find the turkey, and they are like 18 lbs! And my Mami loads it up onto the cart like it's no big deal. Ummmm.......I don't know how to cook a turkey.....ohhh well!

And of course, what's going to PriceSmart, without a little fun!(;

So we get home, put away the food, and I go straight to my computer to look up, "How to cook a turkey". Little did I know, it takes a good 3 days! Did I have that time? Nope! So we decide we are going to have a Thanksgiving, but with a tico twist! The next morning, we decide we are going to have a Thanksgiving lunch instead, because my abuelos were coming over along with some cousins, and Digna and Carlos were going to come over for dinner. So I go down to the cabanas to help my Papi with the turkey. We pretty much cooked it like a stew, which didn't take too long. As that was happening, I made my mashed potatoes, and by noon, everything was ready. After putting the turkey in a stew, my mom took it and fried it up, sorta. Actually I have no idea what she did with it, but it was realllyyy good! And everyone enjoyed the food, especially the apple and pumpkin pie!

We separated the pieces of the turkey first...

Then put it in our "stew",

And then it was ready! Que rico!! (My abuelos, and cousins, along with my family and I.)

Later that night, Carlos and Digna came over and ate, but there was still so much turkey-there is still turkey in the fridge, and it is Monday! But everyone enjoyed the meal, everyone thought it was a cultural learning experience  (for the US.), and it was just a great way for the family to get together and eat. The next day, I left to go to Playa Jaco with some of the other exchange students from the US to celebrate Thanksgiving together. It was a really relaxed weekend, which was just what I needed. 

My week full of Thanksgiving was great, and now I have an excuse to start singing Christmas music! So, I hope everyone else had a great weekend, so for now, hasta luego!

Musica y Baila

Music is a way to express yourself here in Costa Rica. The types of music you listen to describe what type of person you are, and here, there is a wide variety of music. From British rock to the typical music of Guanacaste, you will be able to hear music everywhere!

Teenagers here are really into "musica de gringos" or the American Music. This means, Rihanna, Maroon 5, and Katy Perry are played a lot. Also, British Bands are pretty popular-of course One Direction has made it's way around the world, and all of my companeras think they are the cutest guys alive, but there is also the Artic Monkeys, and Muse. They also like the pop music of Latin America, and my companeras personally like the really emotional music. I would personally compare the singers to Adele or Taylor Swift, because the songs are VERY emotional and every time my friends tell me to listen to a new song, they are singing their lungs out and saying, "Ahhhh que triste! Que linda!" (How sad! It's so pretty!) A lot of people also like the reggae, and rap. The rap songs here always make me laugh because the rappers are SO FAST! But there are a few songs I understand, and they have to be some of the funniest things! Adults here are into the older music from the 70's and 80's. My mom likes listening to the radio in the mornings when I help her clean the house, and the songs are pretty fun!

Also in Costa Rica, there is typical music, or folk music. This folk music is played with a marimba, a wooden xylophone, and many other instruments. The music is very pretty, and the dance that goes along with it is gorgeous! I love watching the dancers, here is a link:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTBcdcTH_Ag

Music is played everywhere, whether you are at your house, at school, or at a party. And when there is music, there is dancing. In Latin America, the dancing involves a lot of hip movements! I personally suck at dancing, but my Mami is trying to teach me! The steps aren't that hard, but once you get the entire dance going it is fast and veryyyy difficult! The salsa, merengue and cumbia are a few types of dances that are also quite popular! Everyone loves to dance, it's as if you were raised on with the expression drilled into your head! Here, dancing is a BIG part of the culture, and it is fun to see all the people, young and old, having a good time!

So that's all I can think of right now about music and dancing in Costa Rica. Other than having the most random English songs from 5 years ago pop up on the radio, I don't have much to add! I hope you liked the link of the typical dancing, and I hope you thought it was as pretty as I did-hopefully I will learn a bit of it before I leave!

     

Spanglish

Now, I am sure a lot of you know the meaning of Spanglish, a mix of English and Spanish. These past weeks, Spanglish has really been involved in my life!(;
I have some of the funniest girls in my class, and they like to "practice" their English with me. However, practicing English means making up new words that even I don't understand. These girls also tell me my English isn't correct, and that they need to teach me. So, my Spanglish is getting quite well.

The first thing you need to know, is that the verbs in Spanish end in -ar, -er, or -ir. So, the verb "to eat" is comer, or the verb "to walk" is caminar. Now, instead of using these words, my friends have come up with a new way of speaking-Spanglish. They now say, "Abby, vamos a eatiar!" (Abby, lets go eat.). The first time they told me this I was so confused, but now I have been accustomed to their new language, and I even caught myself using the word, "shaviar"!

Some other expressions that are regularly used in my group of friends are:

• "Una cosa beautiful" - something beautiful
• "Vamos a go" - we will go
• "Swimiar en su pool" - swim in your pool
• "Baile hot" - dance hot
• "Un chico sexy y hot" - a hot and sexy guy
• "Vamos walkiar a clase English" - Let's go walk to English class
• "Sitiar en la chair" - sit in the chair
• "May guapo en el world" - The most attractive in the world
• "Muy good gente" - very good people

There are so many more, but these are some that I heard today! Spanglish is a way for the girls to practice their English with me, but honestly I just can't stop laughing. As my friend Chini would say, "Es una cosa muy beautiful!" 

Halloween in Costa Rica

BOO! Happy Halloween! Now, you might be asking yourself, "Wait, do people in Costa Rica celebrate Halloween?" The answer is: only the cool people!
Of course there are parties where people dress up, but there aren't actually children roaming the streets dressed up as princesses or pirates (or in the case of my younger sister Megan, hot dogs!). However, my Halloween actually began last weekend when I went to a surprise birthday party for my friend, Hanna. It was also a costume party-so everyone was dressed up, and it was so much fun to do that!
Now, today, I am at home, sitting with my sister and cousins, eating the candy corn my mom sent me(THANK YOU SO MUCH) and watching scary movies. BUT, the craziest thing happened. About an hour ago, we get a knock on our door, and when we open it, all of a sudden we get a loud, "Trick-or-treat!" There, standing in front of the door, were the little neighbor kids along with some cousins of mine, dressed up with their masks on and paint all over themselves. I could not stop laughing!

So, Halloween is a time to relax for me and to enjoy all the crazy pictures on facebook! Feliz dia de Halloween!(:

101 dias!

Well, yesterday I was suppose to write a post about how I have been here for 100 days-but guess what, I missed it! So, today is 101 days in Costa Rica, and personally I think it is a really big deal!! I remember when I was in kindergarten, and when it was the 100th day of school, there was a big party where we got these cool glasses that said "100"!-if your school didn't do this-I feel bad for you!(; Anyway, 100 days yesterday, and it really is crazy to think I have been here for this long!

So, I haven't really updated you all on my life, more like little factors that I see and do everyday. But you will be happy to know I am doing absolutely fantastic! School is going well, and I am really starting to become better friends with the girls in my class and a few girls who are in the other classes! And, my Spanish is improving A LOT! I do understand pretty much everything people tell me, and my friends and family tell me I have improved immensely! I remember the first day here, and all I said was, "que" and "si, si!" to everything-I had no idea what I was doing. But now, I am able to actually have a conversation, (well, kinda) and get my point across as well as understand others! I think the really fun part is being able to understand jokes! When you're able to get the punch line of jokes, that's when you know you are really getting somewhere with your Spanish skills! Also dreaming in Spanish has become a regular thing-and it is suppperrr weird!
The food here, is soooo good! My mom and I always talk about how much people eat here because it is just so tasty! Honestly, I have gained weight.....and I remember joking around about 2 years ago about how I could eat as much as I want and I wouldn't gain anything! HA-que comico. So, I have started working out more, and I am playing soccer-which is a bucket full of fun!! Soccer is really great and the women on my team do range in age, but all of them are so nice and funny!

Alright, so that is a little summary of how I have been doing...101 days later!! Oh also-there have been a lot of earthquakes, but luckily Puriscal isn't greatly effected by them! Anyway, I am having the time of my life, and that is the truth. I absolutely love it here, and I feel like I have lived here a lot longer than 3+ months. I know I'm not technically a "tourist" anymore, and that I actually live here, because I now have a Visa, and people can't stay in the country for more than 3 months without one! It feels great! Even though I am a "gringa" (North American), I feel like a tica more and more everyday. I love Costa Rica-so for now, Pura Vida, and hasta luego!

Peninsula de Osa

Finally! My computer will actually work now! I've been trying to write this post for the past 3 days but it hasn't worked-but all is good now! Last week I went to the Peninsula of Osa, also known as Corcovado e Isla del Cano, also known as Drake. And it was gorgeous. I don't know any other word to describe how beautiful it was. Costa Rica is honestly paradise.

So on Saturday morning all the AFSers who were going on the trip were suppose to meet at the office in San Jose at 5:30. Well, the other exchange students and I from Puriscal didn't want to spend the night in San Jose the night before, because that means extra money, and I am kinda in my cheap stage right now..:/ So instead we decided to take the bus at 4 am in the morning. That meant I had to wake up at 3 am in the morning, and hitch a ride on a motorcycle while carrying my luggage-that was a very scary situation! Anyway we get to San Jose, we meet up with all the other exchange students, and we are on our way by 6 am. We stopped at got breakfast at around 8ish, and then drove some more (its a 6 hour drive.) So when I found this out, I kinda got a bit upset because I mean, who wants to sit in a bus for 6 hours doing nothing? But the good thing about AFS, is they took us to a national park on the way to Osa. But the national park was....different. It was about rocks.... kinda boring......!!! I guess a longgg longg time ago, the indigenous people created rock balls *AHH HOW EXCITING!!* But it was better than sitting in a bus for 6 hours!(;

 

The name of the park was Finca 6. When we were on our way to the national park, no one knew what we were going to see, so we started joking about going to a tree farm! Nope...its karma. Instead we go to a rock farm...:D None the less it was actually quite pretty and interesting.

 

After the rock farm we got on some boats and made our way through a river, going along many different canals. One thing I really loved about this trip, was that we took boats EVERYWHERE! It was so much fun! After the hour long boat ride, through the river and out into the ocean, we made it to our hotel, kinda! We actually made it to a part of the island, where we docked and then walked to the hotel. It was a cool surprise, because we would be walking and looking at all the beautiful flowers and looking at the view and the beach and then all of a sudden there would be monkeys!! When we finally got to the hotel, we ate and then went straight to the beach! The hotel we stayed at was called Punta Marenco Lodge and was an eco-friendly hotel. Eco-friendly meaning they only had electricity from 6pm-10pm and it was pretty much in the middle of no where. But the hotel was so cute, a collection of cabins along with a main lodge, and the view was stunning. I thought it was a great place to host students!

The boats we took

 

From left to right: Tieta (Usa), Hans (Usa), Hanna (Sweden), and me.

Our long walk up to the cabins

 

One of the cabins

 

The view from the main lodge

 

A monkey!!

 

Day two was a lot of fun! We took the boats to a different part of the island to a national park, named Parque Nacional Corcovado. There we had some of the awesomest tour guides ever! They were super tranquilla and muy pura vida and they taught us a lot! But they weren't trying to shove the information down our throats, it was just a really great experience! I totally felt like I was in Pirates of the Caribbean or King Kong, because it looked like we were on a deserted island, and I was just waiting for the indigenous people to come running out of the rain forest! But, it didn't happen haha! So we made our way on the beach, and then after went back through the rain forest. After that, we went and found 3 different waterfalls, and went and swam in one!

 

One of our awesome tour guides!

 

Raina (USA), me, Josh (Austria)-we ate a lot of coconut that day!!

 

The second day, we took a boat to the Island Cano annnddddddd WENT SNORKELING!! It was so cool! We "swam" with turtles, I saw a stingray, lots of fish, and I guess there was also a shark!:0!! When we were making our way back to the island, we saw some dolphins and started to drive near them-it was so cool! It was truly like a movie, and it made me think of The Little Mermaid for some reason! And then-you'll never believe this-we saw whales! But it's not like they were far out and we were "whale watching"-they were right in front of our boat! 3 feet away, just swimming and chilling and we just kept driving right next to them! It was a humpback whale with her baby, and honestly it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen! After that we just went to an awesome beach and hung out. I guess I got really tan because when I came back my family was commenting on it for a long time! So, I think this trip was -- fantastic! I loved it, I wish it had been for more days but, all good things must come to an end...:( If anyone just happens to be going to Costa Rica, go to Osa. It is amazing-it has my stamp of approval(;

 

The beach we went to



 

SNORKELING!!

 

The entire AFS group that went to Osa(:

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Exam week

Well, as the title indicates, I am doing exams right now......not too fun:/. It is definitely better than sitting in a classroom for 8 hours, but still....its exams! My high school in the US told me I needed passing grades, and they wouldn't care how bad they were, I would get credit if I passed a class. I thought that was simple enough, that I would be able to be BFFs with the teachers, that they would feel bad for me because I was an exchange student, and would give me good grades!(: ----well that isn't exactly the case. I mean lets be honest, I have some teachers who absolutely love me and give me decent grades because I try in their class, and they know I don't understand. Then you have the other teachers, take for example my Chemistry teacher. She gives me the grades I receive-which are REALLY bad grades. Today I had the Chemistry exam, and lets be honest, I was silently laughing to myself the entire time because I understood NOTHING!!!! So, I decided I'm just going to go at it with an open heart, and later persuade the teachers to give me decent grades!(;   If it doesn't work...oh well.....at least I tried!

Okay anyway back to exams! Monday there weren't any because I guess the students went on strike...who knows, I wasn't there and no one really explained it to me, and when I asked they wouldn't tell me because it was bad. Tuesday I had Social Studies, which went better than I expected-I studied so that helps. As I said, today I had Chemistry-which was just horribly horrible!! Every time I think about that test I start laughing because I know the teacher will be so confused with me! I wrote her a lot of notes also! Tomorrow I have Espanol and Psychology....then Friday I have Biology. THEN I GO TO THE PENINSULA OF OSA!!!!! I will write more about that once I come back-which will be Tuesday, and I will miss (and retake) English and Fisics. And finally, Wednesday, will be math.

Now, exam week for the students here is a time of stress, and lots of studying. For me, it is a time of relaxation! And I absolutely loveeee it!!! I only have to go to school for about an hour, take a test that doesn't really mean much to me, and then go home and relax. I am also a bit sick right now, so going home is so much better than sitting in a classroom. Don't worry Mom, I am getting a lot better.(;

Alright so quick update on my day-to-day life: For the past couple of weeks, I have been having dreams that were part English part Spanish, and I didn't really make much of it because there was English in the dreams as well, and I thought that "technically" it didn't count as a "Spanish dream". But, this morning I woke up and realized I had dreamt in total Spanish last night! It was the weirdest thing ever!! But it was also so cool, and I didn't actually think it would happen to me but hey-I dreamt in Spanish!!

Fútbol

I honestly can't express how happy I am that I am playing soccer here! When i first came to Costa Rica, my dad here asked if I played any sports, and I told him I really liked playing soccer. Then, he told me he would help me find a team, and that he did! Today, was my third game with my new soccer team, and let me tell you-I am loving it!

My team (minus a few players)

 

All the girls on my team are so nice and open and talk to me a lot-which improves my Spanish! To be honest, I didn't think I was going to be able to find a team here! When I first arrived in Costa Rica, I didn't see many women's soccer teams, only men's. I also asked around at school, and they told me I wouldn't be able to find a team until the following year, so getting on this team was either luck, or I wasn't looking hard enough! My first game with my team was amazing, we didn't win, but I did show them that the "macha" had skill by scoring a goal! After that, I think they knew I wasn't just some blondie who plays a "whimpy game of soccer"-I'm in it to win it! So, the following games, I gained the respect and trust of the other players on my team, and I think we communicate pretty well considering the language barrier (we've also won all the other games)!! All in all, I am surprised, and ecstatic to be playing once again! I play soccer in the US, and being able to play here just makes me feel so much better!

School

So, I have given a bit of a "summary" of school, but here is the entire description of mi colegio. First off, we don't call school, escuela. That is used for the little kid school, so, for high school, the word is colegio. The name of my highschool is: Liceo de Puriscal. It is right in the middle of Santiago, and only a 15 minute bus ride from my house.

Colegio starts at 7:00 in the morning. THANK GOD I have mornings free on Tuesdays and Fridays, because classes end at 4:50. It is a reallllyyyyyy long day. Not to mention I don't understand much in my classes, so it just adds to the boring hours in school. But, the good thing is, sometimes teachers don't show up to class, so I will have a free period where I go and buy ice cream, or hang out and talk with my tica friends.

This is my usual class schedule of the week

 

My favorite class has to be either English (I wonder why?) or social studies. I really like my social studies teacher, he is really funny, and I understand what he is saying, even though he is teaching about politics in Latin America, something I knew nothing about, and I seem to have a good idea on it now. I also enjoyed social studies in the States, so that probably adds to it. I absolutely HATE biology. I hated it when I was a freshman, I didn't understand anything and it was honestly the happiest moment of my life when I finished that class. But wait, no. Now I have to take it again! Oh the joys of being in another school, taking biology, once again, in Spanish this time. HA. It is honestly just one big funny experience. Also, my biology teacher says, verdad, after every single sentence. So it just adds to the confusion, and hatred of the subject. I know for sure, I will never become a doctor. That is what biology has taught me.(: The other subjects I don't exactly like are chemistry, and fisics. I just don't understand them, and I don't think there is any way for me to understand them because: a. I came in the middle of the year so I missed the introduction and the easy stuff, and b. It is in Spanish. Enough said! All the other classes I can handle!

 

My colegio is actually really nice. I mean, it's no Holy Names (my current high school in Seattle) but it is really nice. There is no real "building" more like little hallways outside with classrooms. The classes are inside, but most of the campus is outside. There is a miny "park" in the middle of the campus, and there are 3 places to get food. One place is an ice cream shack, haha which is honestly one of the most popular places after lunch because it is SO hot and it is always nice to have a cheap Popsicle to cool you down. They also sell fruit there, but it is over priced so I buy fruit ahead of time at the super market and bring it to school. The other place to go is this miny cafeteria that has all sorts of food. And then there is the main cafeteria, that only operates during lunch.

 

This is one of the "hallways"-I don't really know what else to call it

The ice cream/fruit stand

The miny cafeteria

The "park" in the middle of the school

Another "hallway"

 

There are also my companeras, or classmates. Here in Costa Rica, all your classes are with one group of people, which is very different than every high school in the United States. We do go to different classrooms for different subjects, but it is the same people all day long. This can get a bit tiring, but it just reminds me of grade school. Colegio also starts when kids turn 13. There are 7th to 11th grade in colegio, and right now I am in 10th grade, which is called decimo here. (my sister is in 7th). The year ends at the end of November/early December, and then I have a summer vacation! YESSSSSS!!! Anyway...(; then I start school again in February and I will be in 11th grade. This means I get a special uniform, which changes each year. So when February comes around I'll make sure to show y'all! But, on the subject of uniforms, I wear a bland beige colored shirt, with dark blue pants, and black shoes. Nothing too fancy but it works! It is a bit hard going to school in a polo shirt and long pants when it is 80-90 degrees out, but I've gotten used to it....kinda!

These are my friends and I. (From left to right: Kris, yo, Gabby, Chinni, y Fernanda)

 

That is my life at colegio. It can be boring, but hey isn't every school?! Besides, I am missing the hardest year at my high school in Seattle right now, and I am studying here as well, so I keep looking on the bright side. School is school, add in the Spanish factor and it gets a bit harder, but in a few months I'll be pro so I am looking forward to that! All in all the people at colegio are so nice and open and I have made a lot of friends not just in my class, or my grade, but in the others as well. Ticos are very fun, open people, and they are very welcoming as well. I was welcomed into Liceo with lots of smiles, and with lots of people trying to braid my hair(; So, until next time hasta luego! Hope you enjoyed reading a little more about my life here!





Animals

So, this post is about animals because my little sister Josie wanted to know what type of animals and bugs are here, so Josie, this is for you.(:

In Costa Rica, the national animal is the sloth. I have been here for 2 months, and I still haven't seen one-there must be something wrong with me. Sloths are really slow-moving animals, so you'd think I'd be able to catch one sleeping in the trees or something, but no. Que mal!(;
But anyway besides the sloth there are a lot of different types of birds here. My family owns two parrots, both of which are crazy funny! If you say, "Hola" to one of them, he will say it back to you!

My family also has a pet deer, "Babe", who was suppose to be pregnant but isn't looking like it so I guess she won't be having babies of her own soon. But she is a sweetheart and will always come to you if you call her.
Okay, back to the birds! They are all very colorful! Reds, yellows, greens, blues fly around and then of course you have the pigeon..which has to be one of the grossest birds everrr....but whatever. I'm sure they have these in every country, which is horrible. Getting off track again! So, my dad here told me there are more than 800 species of birds, which is pretty crazy!! I have seen a toucan, which was kinda far away, but at least I saw it, and I have also seen lots of humming birds. These have to be some of my favorite birds because they bring really good memories of my entire family hanging out at my grandma's house, but other than that they are so cute! There are also some weird looking birds I have seen, with oddly shaped "tails" or crazy patterns, but no matter what they always seem to fascinate me, of course with the exception of pigeons. I have also seen some peacocks, which were in a cage in the pet store. That didn't seem very right, but I made no comment. I'm the kind of person who is used to seeing the peacocks roaming around the zoo, without the cage, just walking around. I didn't expect to see them in tiny cages here. But hey, it's not right, it's not wrong, it's just different.

So this is my only "good" picture of the toucan I saw, it's not much but its a toucan!(;

 

Besides birds, there are the other really great animals here. So as I said the sloth is the national animal, and I swear if I don't see one soon I'm going to be hitting myself! There are also....MONKEYS!!!! I was totally off guard when I first heard them, and then I looked up and what do you know, a whole clan of them-like 10 in one tree!! There is also an animal called a coati, which is kinda like a raccoon. When I was with AFS on a trip to Volcan Iruza, we had a surprise attack of a coati. He just kinda ran up to us and wouldn't leave us alone or our food! There are also all the farm animals like the cows, the pigs, the goats (which I milked!), the rabbits, and HORSES! I'm pretty sure every girl has a thing for horses, they are just so amazing! I remember when I was a little girl, I made my dad watch, National Velvet almost everyday! So, of course, when I was given the chance to gallop in the wind on a horse on the beach, I couldn't just let that pass(; I've also ridden more horses here in my neighborhood because many neighbors have horses.

It isn't exactly a clear picture, but here are the monkeys!

Me milking the goat!!

My friend Emma, Ryan and I with rabbits

The coati that was such a "celebrity" at the volcano!

 

And then of course you've got the crocodiles! And I swear, these things are gigantic!! A great place to see them is right under the bridge leading to Playa Jaco. They are everywhere! When I first saw them all I was saying to myself was, "don't fall in, don't fall in!!" They were crazy big! I also saw some others at a national park, but they weren't as impressive. There are also many iguanas here-tons actually! They climb on trees, they sit on benches, they sun bathe, they follow you around. They are everywhere! Then there are some frogs. The ones I have seen have been pretty big and made me jump, but all in all they are just kinda fun to watch. There are also snakes! Luckily, I haven't had to deal with one too close, but I have seen one and usually I am not afraid of snakes, but this one freaked me out! It is also turtle season, the babies are about to be hatched, and they will make their way from their eggs to the beach! My mom here told me we would all go to watch this amazing miracle, but until then I have only seen the turtles at the national park in Heredia. These things are pretty funny, lazy, and obviously like to sun bathe!

 

Some crocodiles

 

 

An iguana

 

 



 



There are a lot of fish here, but I have only seen the ones in the river near my house, and one in the ocean that accidentally swam into me-I kinda flipped out! But there are dolphins here, and I plan on swimming with some before I leave, and there are also lots of beautiful colorful fish that I will hopefully see soon because I am going snorkeling soon!



And of course you can't forget the bugs! Beetles, flies, ants gallor! And the spiders. Oh god the spiders. At first, I could not handle it. Thankfully I live in a place where it isn't that hot, and not too cold, so the bugs aren't that bad, and there aren't lots and lots of spiders, but I mean it's not like you can just tell them to leave, because they wont. The first time I saw the massive spider sitting on my backpack I flipped. I legit could not go near it, I could not touch it, I was petrified. I had to make my dad kill it. But after being here for so long, the spiders aren't really that big of an issue, they are just there. And I let them be unless they are gigantic, which usually they aren't, and if they are I kill it. Fruit flys can be a bit of a problem for me, because I just hate having bugs around food, but if I see them I usually open a window, clean the counter, put away food, and they are gone before I know it. There are also the gorgeous butterflies that legit are EVERYWHERE and it just brightens your day when you see one. In Seattle, butterflies are hard to find, they don't come often, (especially compared to here) and if anything you will see a moth instead of a butterfly. But here, they are everywhere! Blue, red, yellow, purple-everywhere!

The gigantic spider in my room!

So that's all I can think of right now, I will most likely think of more later but whatever, it doesn't matter!(: Josie I hoped you liked it, I miss you chica but I will see you soon! Go to the zoo soon or something! Love you girl! Oh and also I am suppose to make a "shout out" to Kyle Hinton-read my blog loser...(;   So for now, hasta luego!