Weather!!

It is soooooooooo hot! Legit, right now I am entering the hottest month, and I don't know how I am going to wear pants to school everyday....! So, I've been putting this post off for long time, because I wanted to experience everything (no it is not just sun all the time), and the weather more or less varies on where you live in Costa Rica.

So, I live in Puriscal, (I feel kinda bad I haven't made a post about my town yet....gotta do that!), which is in the mountains. Personally, I think Puriscal has on of the best climates in Costa Rica: it's not too hot, and it's not too cold (compared to the other places!) When I first got to Costa Rica in July, it was sunny in the mornings, and then around 3ish, every single day, it would rain. This was a constant thing until around the end of September. Then around October, it started raining a lot more, and I mean a lot! It rained for 2 days straight! You might think this isn't that bad, I'm from Seattle, so I'm used to the rain, but this tropical rain, is crazy! It comes down hard, and you get soaked within seconds. One day in early November, I was walking home from school, and my umbrella broke, and I had to walk up my big hill. All the way I was laughing, soaked to the bone, and I'm pretty sure all the neighbors thought I was crazy! But that's what the rain is like-it just comes down and down in buckets! Then, around late November, the rain started to slow down, it wasn't as frequent, and in December, it would rain about once a week. Now, in January, it is a rare treat to have rain. But since the rain has stopped, the wind has picked up! Around the time of Christmas, the weather was amazing! It was nice and sunny every single day, but it wasn't absurdly hot because there was a nice breeze. Right now, the weather has been really nice. It has been sunny, and there is a slight breeze, which is nice because the worst thing is when it is really hot, but it is a still hot, and you just bake! At night the wind picks up a bit, but it's not a problem. Right now, I am in the "dry season" as the Ticos would like to say. It is hot, and there is no rain. The "rain season" starts around June.

That is the weather of Puriscal, but in other places it is a lot different! Por ejemplo:  Cartago is at the bottom of a volcano, and it is higher in altitude, which means it is a lot colder! It is sunny all the time, but there is A LOT of wind, and it actually is pretty cold, every time I've been to Cartago I've worn a sweater. Guanacaste is really hot all the time. There are a lot of beaches in Guanacaste, so it is really nice to be in the water with a nice hot breeze. In Limon it is more of a hot-humid, and it rains a lot more. It is incredible how different the weather can be in such a small country!

Festival de Palmares

On Sunday, I went to a festival in Palmares, which is about an hour or so from San Jose. There were carnival rides, food stands, concerts, water attractions, and "toros". When I went, my friends and I saw Shaggy, the international reggae singer, and we hung out around the festival, but one of the biggest things at the festivals, are the toros. I didn't go, because it cost $24 to enter, and to be honest I don't have the money to go see people get chased by bulls-that's right! The toros, are when people enter a big stadium  and run from a bull, which is quite dangerous and really stupid. If you don't go to the toros, you can watch it on TV. There are about 80 people in each toro, and I can't even count how many toros there are....a lot! And it is reallllyyyy dangerous, but somehow entertaining. But, it was scary, because people got hurt really easily. But it is a big tradition, so, if you ever decide to go to Costa Rica, and enroll yourself in a toro, please...be careful! Anyway, my time in Palmares was fun, as I said, I went to the Shaggy concert, and also saw a number of bands and rappers from Costa Rica sing as well, which was really cool, and a different cultural experience.

This is a pretty brutal picture, of what the toros look like, as you can see, the bull is....well running into the man who was crazy enough to run around him.

Also, it is hard to believe, but yes....Sunday was 6 months-AHHHHHH THATS CRAZY!!! I know I have said this sooo many times, but it has gone by so fast...so so so so sooooo fast. And these next months are going to flyyyy by. I don't know how I feel about that, but I am ready to approach these months with an open mind and get ready for what is ahead. School starts soon...I don't really know how I feel about that at the moment, haha I'll get back to you. So, for now, Pura Vida.

And of course...Culture Shock!!!

Now, if there is anything worse than homesickness, it might be culture shock...! Might, both are pretty bad haha!! Culture shock starts right after something called "The Honeymoon Phase"--you are discovering so many new things, and everything is just incredible to you. After this phase, aka around the 3rd month or so, you start to get into a routine  and you do the same things everyday, you're not going on all the adventures, or what you once thought was really amazing has become normal. And the culture shock begins.....

So all of a sudden...you start to feel depressed, little problems become irritating, you are exhausted or always tired, and you don't want to do anything. Feeling this way is normal, here are some tips on how to get over it:

• Get out and talk to people: When I have my little culture shock episodes, I am really exausted, and I don't want to talk to anyone. My sister noticed something was up, and the same day we ended up going camping with her friends, and even though I didn't want to go, she dragged me along-and thank God she did because after I felt soo much better! Go out and do something with friends!
• Don't point the blame others: It is really easy to point blame on others when you feel this way, or get really mad when you shouldn't be. Just calm down and take a deep breath, don't blame anything on the first person you see. 
• Sleep: Sleeping more than 8 hours a night is good-just do it!
• Keep busy

Also, when I had my little culture shock episodes, my family thought I was homesick, but I didn't miss my family at all. The thing is, I love Costa Rica so much, but sometimes, it can be overwhelming. It is okay, and I hope anyone else who feels this way, can read this and feel better.

So just a little update on my life:

On Sunday, the was a goodbye party for the 3 exchange students who left yesterday, and it was honestly so sad! Everyone was just thinking of when it is our turn to go home, and as much as I miss my family and friends, I love absolutely everyone and everything here in Costa Rica, and it is hard to imagine going home sometimes. On Sunday, I cried for the first time about going home, I cried with my sister, I cried with my friends, and I cried with those who were leaving. It is one of the weirdest feelings in the world, but realizing, that I am halfway done with my exchange, is a bit scary. 

The truth about Homesickness

So, this post is a bit of a "helper" to anyone who is abroad, and what to do, because everyone goes through some sort of homesickness while they are on an exchange. Personally for me, I haven't felt homesick in a while, but I am going through Culture Shock-which I will explain in a different post. But there is no way to forget the feeling of homesickness, it really is hard, but if you do simple things, you feel a lot better.

• Say yes to everything: /Stay busy!! This really helps. While you are homesick, you don't really want to talk to anyone, and you are just in a crummy mood. When you say "yes", you open up possibilities, and possibilities means getting your mind away from thinking about home. Personally for me, when opportunities presented themselves, I took it right away, and it really helped.
• Talk to others: I know, when I talked to the other exchange students, and heard that they felt, exactly, how I felt, I somehow got a lot better, and accepted that -IT IS NORMAL! It would be pretty weird if you didn't miss your family and your friends back home! Also, talking to your family about it helps a lot too. I remember I talked to my sister when I was sad, and she was always able to make me feel better, and that's probably one of the reasons now that we have such a great relationship!
• Give yourself time: Don't automatically give up. Give yourself time to calm down, and think of why you came in the first place. Make a list of all the great things you have done, learned, and seen. By doing this, you are able to see why your time here, is so worth it! If you make a list of the reasons why you came also, looking back at the reasons will give you a much more positive attitude also.
• Immerse yourself in the culture and in the language (if it is different): Thinking about the things at home will not make you feel better, but, if you surround yourself with the new settings, and then new culture, you will start to forget why you were sad in the first place!
• Do not talk to your family/friends when you are having a spazz of homesickness: So when I had reallllyyyy hard times, I would call them, my little "spazz attacks of homesickness". It is important to know: do not try and skype/call your family when these are happening. It will make you feel even worse. But this doesn't mean you stop talking to them! You talk to them when you feel better, because if they see you upset, they will feel upset also! You want to try and be with your host family, or go out and buy some ice cream! I know during my spazz attacks, just having some familiar chocolate, or sour patch kids calmed me down. 

Everyone goes through homesickness-it is completely normal! So, don't feel bad when you are having these sad feelings of your family and your friends and your home town. I remember having some really hard times, but I got through them, and now, I feel like I am on top of the world-and I feel so happy that I continued though my struggles, through my sadness, and through my stress. So, just remember, you have people going though the same thing, you are not alone, and you can do it. I hope this helped anyone who needed it!

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Happy New Year!!! Wow-can you believe it? We survived the "end of the world" and now we're all in 2013! I know I say this a lot, but I just can't believe how FAST this year has gone by. I'm not going to lie, I am going to miss 2012. It was probably the best year of my life. I made two amazing best friends, who I know will be my friends for the rest of my life. I turned 16 aka I got my license!! I got accepted into AFS, I went to Costa Rica/ I'm in Costa Rica, and from there, all my adventures began. So many good things have happened to me this year, and I hope 2013 brings even more!

So, my New Year's Eve was verryyyy fun! I went over to my friend Hannah's house with Lupe and Rafa, along with a few other exchange students, and we had a Feliz Ano Nuevo Fiesta! At 12, we lite off fireworks, and watched the fireworks that were coming from San Jose. Hannah has this amazing view of San Jose, so at night, you are able to see all the lights from the city, and it really is a site to see! It was a really hang-outish night, and it was great to be with my friends, and family. Typical food during the new year party is carne asada and chicarones.

So, bienvendios 2013, I hope this year is full of learning experiences  and I hope to become fully fluent in Spanish. I haven't really updated everyone on my Spanish skills for a while...!!  Well, I understand everything. There are few words I don't understand, and they are explained to me when I don't know them. Most of the words are "palabras de ticos" which are made up words by Ticos. My grammar is getting a lot better, and my vocabulary has become a lot bigger. But, as my Spanish improves, my English becomes a bit worse....but oh well!! Also, I have started reading Harry Potter, in Spanish. Yes, it is hard! But I love Harry Potter, and I think it is an easy enough book because I know that book like the back of my hand. So, when I don't understand the words, I look them up, write them down, or I try and see what would fit!

Lupe, my friend Hanna (Sweden), me, and my friend Hannah (Germany).

This is a video of "the first moments of 2013!"

Alight, adios!