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!