Hey anyone who desires to pick me up from the airport,
Here is my flight info (I leave Monday 7/31)
American Airlines
#972 San Jose to Miami Depart: 1:43PM Arrive: 6:41PM
#2413 Miami to Dallas Fort Worth Depart 6:55 AM (the next morning) Arrive: 8:50 AM
#629 Dallas Fort Worth to Tucson Depart 10:43 AM Arrive 10:52 AM
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Puerto Viejo
I am in an internet cafe because I sensed some tension among the bros and me at my home and I don't think I should be using the internet there anymore. I took it up for three hours one day and I am going to try to not use it after that.
I went to Puerto Viejo with Marissa, Priti, Erin, Rebecca, and Carol. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money this weekend because I don't have any left so I asked Denni to not book a hotel for me. He found a bungalow for the girls that I think cost 20 bucks a night each. I only paid for the bus ride over there. So I took like 60 bucks, which I thought was a decent amount. I requested a place that cost less than ten bucks, so Denni recommended that I stay in this place called Rocking J's. I kinda had an idea what it was from our Becca (different becca). I knew that it was going to be this place with tents and hammocks. I get to Rocking J's and get a tent for only six bucks. There are a whole bunch of people who are awake and about around the complex/ campground. They were all drinking and being noisy. I brought earplugs but I lost one, so I tried to sleep with just one. The mattress and the pillow ended up being really comfortable and it was probably just as hot in my tent as it was in the girls' bungalow. There were community restrooms that were pretty clean. I was fine with staying there. I tried to go to sleep almost right away because I was tired from the trip. I put all my stuff in my locker after getting dressed and ready for bed. So it was a bit hard getting to bed with all the people outside, but I managed by putting my single earplug in one ear and laying on pillow with my other side. I woke up a couple of times when people got noisier or when they got back from doing wudeva' (that was for you). I woke up at some other point in the night to the sounds of some woman and a man having sex. I mostly heard the woman's sounds. Luckily it didn't last very long (really only a couple of minutes and I was back to sleep... poor guy). I woke up at 6:30. I didn't have my watch and I was afraid that I had slept in so I got up and checked the time, but then I couldn't go back to bed. I just sat in one of the hammocks (it reaked of body odor) for about an hour or so overlooking the ocean. Then I ate some food and the girls rode their bikes over to my place and told me that they were going to get breakfast. I rented a bike and spent a good half an hour trying to find them. I eventually did, but they were done eating. After that we rode our bikes about six kilometers to Punta Uva. It is an amazing beach. Everything was perfect about it (the weather, the water temperature, the sand, and there was hardly anybody there). We stayed there for a few hours, visited this little cave nearby and a cliff with breathtaking views, and then had lunch at a little soda like place. After that we went back to our respective "hotels" and washed up. I don't know what we did for a couple of hours. I know the girls were an hour late for dinner. I just walked around the main area of Puerto Viejo. I checked my email. I read your email and got an email from my dad about my dog. There was a friend of my family that had been visiting them for awhile and they wanted to take my dog back home with them. They live in Colorado and I assume that they are really active people because of that. So I told my dad that it was alright for them to take her, because I haven't been able to care for her while I have been at school and she has been kind of a burden on my sister for this year, so I figured that this was the best for her (my dog). It was really hard for me, because I love that dog so much, but I also want the best for her. I just talked to my dad again today and he said that the dad in the family fell in love with Bashley and the entire family really liked her and they live on three acres and all that, so this wil be best. We ate at this really good restaurant that took forever with our food, but my meal was really good. Then we walked around for a bit and walked to these clubs. We only spent like ten minutes there (I actually left early, so I don't know if they stayed longer). I went back to my camping place and wrote in my journal... hmm actually I didn't because that is how I killed some time before we met for dinner. Anyway, I got ready for bed and went to my new tent for the night. I chose this tent because it was bigger and further away from the main hangout table. I had just gotten in my pajamas and was putting stuff in my tent when I saw something move inside it. I walked up to the reception desk because I needed to tell the guy that I didn't have any sheets or a pillow in there and also tell him about the creature in my tent. So he walked back with my to the tent with a flashlight. I lifted up the mattress and there we saw a huge crab! The think was like dinner size. So we both walked away and he grabbed a dustpan and I went to my locker to put away all the things that I had been holding. I look back at my tent and see the guy whacking at the crab. The crab somehow got out of the tent because the guy had to walk a little further to continue bashing at it. I didn't want for him to kill it, but I suppose he did. So I had to wait another fifteen minutes for him to find a pillow for me. I entered my now crabless tent with my pillow and sheets and tried to close my tent but the zipper was broken. I had to go back to the guy and try to explain in Spanish my problem. He put my in another tent that wasn't much better. The mattress was much bigger though. I had lost my one earplug so I used my ipod to drown out the sounds from outside. I fell asleep to the Todo Sobre Mi Madre soundtrack. It is all really nice sounding Spanish classical music. I woke up a little after seven to a really warm tent. This time the tent was faced the sunrise.I got dressed to go to eat breakfast and go to the beach. I met up with the girls and we ate at a place called Bread and Chocolate. It was so good, but so very slow and the waitresses were terrible. I never knew someone could forget so many things even after writing the order down. Rebecca got sick and went back to her bungalow. After breakfast we walked around for a little bit. I had to ride the sick girl's bike back to their place and then come back to get my bike. We walked around for awhile and then parted ways to meet again at two. I went back to my campground thingy and went out onto the beach right outside my tent and layed down with my feet in the water. The water in these areas are pretty dangerous so I didn't go in any further. I showered after that then I had to ride my bike to the girls' bungalow to drop off the towel I borrowed from their hotel. I rode my back back to my place to return it and grab my bag to go back into the main city to eat and catch my bus. I was down to like 4 mil (I spent money on the tents, taxis, ice cream, meals, and the bike rentals so all that equals up to 56 dollars). I just got some cheap food at a convenience store instead of eating at a restaurant with the girls. The restaurant took a really long time and we almost missed our bus, but I got one of the last seats and then you know the rest. Oh and no car sickness this time either. I will post some pictures on my blog soon. I don't have my camera with me right now.
I went to Puerto Viejo with Marissa, Priti, Erin, Rebecca, and Carol. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money this weekend because I don't have any left so I asked Denni to not book a hotel for me. He found a bungalow for the girls that I think cost 20 bucks a night each. I only paid for the bus ride over there. So I took like 60 bucks, which I thought was a decent amount. I requested a place that cost less than ten bucks, so Denni recommended that I stay in this place called Rocking J's. I kinda had an idea what it was from our Becca (different becca). I knew that it was going to be this place with tents and hammocks. I get to Rocking J's and get a tent for only six bucks. There are a whole bunch of people who are awake and about around the complex/ campground. They were all drinking and being noisy. I brought earplugs but I lost one, so I tried to sleep with just one. The mattress and the pillow ended up being really comfortable and it was probably just as hot in my tent as it was in the girls' bungalow. There were community restrooms that were pretty clean. I was fine with staying there. I tried to go to sleep almost right away because I was tired from the trip. I put all my stuff in my locker after getting dressed and ready for bed. So it was a bit hard getting to bed with all the people outside, but I managed by putting my single earplug in one ear and laying on pillow with my other side. I woke up a couple of times when people got noisier or when they got back from doing wudeva' (that was for you). I woke up at some other point in the night to the sounds of some woman and a man having sex. I mostly heard the woman's sounds. Luckily it didn't last very long (really only a couple of minutes and I was back to sleep... poor guy). I woke up at 6:30. I didn't have my watch and I was afraid that I had slept in so I got up and checked the time, but then I couldn't go back to bed. I just sat in one of the hammocks (it reaked of body odor) for about an hour or so overlooking the ocean. Then I ate some food and the girls rode their bikes over to my place and told me that they were going to get breakfast. I rented a bike and spent a good half an hour trying to find them. I eventually did, but they were done eating. After that we rode our bikes about six kilometers to Punta Uva. It is an amazing beach. Everything was perfect about it (the weather, the water temperature, the sand, and there was hardly anybody there). We stayed there for a few hours, visited this little cave nearby and a cliff with breathtaking views, and then had lunch at a little soda like place. After that we went back to our respective "hotels" and washed up. I don't know what we did for a couple of hours. I know the girls were an hour late for dinner. I just walked around the main area of Puerto Viejo. I checked my email. I read your email and got an email from my dad about my dog. There was a friend of my family that had been visiting them for awhile and they wanted to take my dog back home with them. They live in Colorado and I assume that they are really active people because of that. So I told my dad that it was alright for them to take her, because I haven't been able to care for her while I have been at school and she has been kind of a burden on my sister for this year, so I figured that this was the best for her (my dog). It was really hard for me, because I love that dog so much, but I also want the best for her. I just talked to my dad again today and he said that the dad in the family fell in love with Bashley and the entire family really liked her and they live on three acres and all that, so this wil be best. We ate at this really good restaurant that took forever with our food, but my meal was really good. Then we walked around for a bit and walked to these clubs. We only spent like ten minutes there (I actually left early, so I don't know if they stayed longer). I went back to my camping place and wrote in my journal... hmm actually I didn't because that is how I killed some time before we met for dinner. Anyway, I got ready for bed and went to my new tent for the night. I chose this tent because it was bigger and further away from the main hangout table. I had just gotten in my pajamas and was putting stuff in my tent when I saw something move inside it. I walked up to the reception desk because I needed to tell the guy that I didn't have any sheets or a pillow in there and also tell him about the creature in my tent. So he walked back with my to the tent with a flashlight. I lifted up the mattress and there we saw a huge crab! The think was like dinner size. So we both walked away and he grabbed a dustpan and I went to my locker to put away all the things that I had been holding. I look back at my tent and see the guy whacking at the crab. The crab somehow got out of the tent because the guy had to walk a little further to continue bashing at it. I didn't want for him to kill it, but I suppose he did. So I had to wait another fifteen minutes for him to find a pillow for me. I entered my now crabless tent with my pillow and sheets and tried to close my tent but the zipper was broken. I had to go back to the guy and try to explain in Spanish my problem. He put my in another tent that wasn't much better. The mattress was much bigger though. I had lost my one earplug so I used my ipod to drown out the sounds from outside. I fell asleep to the Todo Sobre Mi Madre soundtrack. It is all really nice sounding Spanish classical music. I woke up a little after seven to a really warm tent. This time the tent was faced the sunrise.I got dressed to go to eat breakfast and go to the beach. I met up with the girls and we ate at a place called Bread and Chocolate. It was so good, but so very slow and the waitresses were terrible. I never knew someone could forget so many things even after writing the order down. Rebecca got sick and went back to her bungalow. After breakfast we walked around for a little bit. I had to ride the sick girl's bike back to their place and then come back to get my bike. We walked around for awhile and then parted ways to meet again at two. I went back to my campground thingy and went out onto the beach right outside my tent and layed down with my feet in the water. The water in these areas are pretty dangerous so I didn't go in any further. I showered after that then I had to ride my bike to the girls' bungalow to drop off the towel I borrowed from their hotel. I rode my back back to my place to return it and grab my bag to go back into the main city to eat and catch my bus. I was down to like 4 mil (I spent money on the tents, taxis, ice cream, meals, and the bike rentals so all that equals up to 56 dollars). I just got some cheap food at a convenience store instead of eating at a restaurant with the girls. The restaurant took a really long time and we almost missed our bus, but I got one of the last seats and then you know the rest. Oh and no car sickness this time either. I will post some pictures on my blog soon. I don't have my camera with me right now.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Just Pics
Hey, I don´t feel like writing, but I will post some pics of recent travels. I am having problems uploading photos right now so I uploaded them to snapfish.com here is the link to the album... hopefully I can upload there.... This is taking forever so you better enjoy my photos! Oh my god! This is not working and I have been using my Tico Brother´s computer for almost three hours I can´t believe this is not working.
Okay, I found a link to my photo album. Snapfish Album
Okay, I found a link to my photo album. Snapfish Album
Monday, July 17, 2006
Manuel Antonio
I am doing my volunteer work right now, but I will try to give a bit of an update because it has been awhile since my last.
This past weekend I went to Manuel Anotonio which is on the Pacific Coast. It is part of the National Park so the beaches are really well preserved. I left with seven other people from San Jose at 6:30 on Friday and got to the hotel at about 11 or so. The bus ride was fine. Everyone was really tired so we all went to bed. The next morning we woke up at seven, got ready, and ate breakfast. I didn't have time to stop by the bank before we left so I was completely broke. Actually I had about 11 dollars for the entire weekend, but entrance into the park cost 7, so that gave me four dollars for the weekend. I brought some bread and what I thought was apple juice until I read the label again before drinking it that it was actually liquid yogurt (called likigurt). It wasn't too bad, but I couldn't drink the entire box. Everyone else had a regular breakfast that wasn't so good either, so I didn't miss out on much. After that, we went into the park to go to the beach. It wasn't a very long walk to Playa #3. Let me try to paint a picture of the park. You enter the park and you are walking through part of the rainforest. You go a couple of meters straight and see the beautiful ocean with little waves and a clear sky. We were advised to go to the third beach because the other beaches have waves that are a bit rough, so we turned left and kept walking for about 700 meters. We are in the rainforest still but a couple of meters to our right is the great beach. We get to Playa Tres and it is excellent. The beach and the surrounding rocks make a crescent shape around a sort of pool of the ocean (It is a lot safer because of the crescent shaped land and the beach is inclosed by the coral reef, so there aren't as many waves). The water is a little bit too warm, but everything else was fine. A friend of mine and I went to see what the next beach was like. We thought it was close and I was wet so I didn't want to put on my shoes for the hike, which was a mistake because it was quite the hike. I didn't get cut or anything but my soles were pretty raw by the time we got back. The other beach was not worth it at all. So we came back to Playa Tres and hung out for a couple of hours. I got a little darker and burnt a little, but it was cool because I was just laying there listening to my ipod with the sound of the ocean in the background. We came back to the hotel and showered. Then I had to go into Quepos alone to try and buy a ticket for the ride home because I lost mine, so I hopped on the bus at four thirty and tried to get into town by five, because that is when the station stops selling tickets. So I get there too late and I wait around for about an hour because I thought the rest of my group was coming into town to eat (Quepos is really nasty, so I am glad that we didn't end up eating there). I finally got back on the bus and went back to Manuel Antonio and by chance one of the people in my group saw me getting off the bus and they hadn't eaten yet so we were all able to eat together. Dinner was so good. I ate more in that meal than I think I have ever eaten in one sitting. Then I got some Dos Pinos ice cream, which is one of the best packaged ice cream ever. The group was going to go to a club that night but I went to sleep instead after watching the Men in Black. I woke up the next morning and wrote in my journal. Then went to the beach that was right outside our hotel and sat there for a little bit listening to more music. I ate some breakfast then had to go into Quepos again to see if I could get a ticket. A girl in my group lost her's as well so we went together. We got to the vendor and explained our situation and they didn't make us pay for anothe one. Instead they just made a replacement ticket and stamped and signed it for us. That was pretty lucky. We went back to meet with the group in Manueal Antonio and to eat lunch. I wasn't that hungry and by this time my stomach wasn't doing so well. I ordered just guacamole with chips. The guacamole was amazing. It was the best I ever had. So after that we got on the bus ride to go back home. The bus ride was horrible. The rode was really windy through the mountains and I was feeling sick from the get go. I took a dramamine but it didn't knock me out that much. I kept falling into a light sleep but woke up easily. At one point I knew I was going to vomit so I got a plastic bag that I had out. I didn't vomit then and we stopped at a little rest stop. I used the restroom and got back on the bus. We drove for a little while longer and I had the vomit feeling again. I felt really warm and started to breathe hard. I grabbed my bag and vomitted. I felt a lot better afterwards, but it made everyone else in the bus really uncomfortable. I took another dramamine which seemed to actually wake me up. So the rest of the ride was uneventful. I took a taxi with a couple of girls back to our neighborhood. I felt sick the rest of the night. I will post photos later when I have my camera and a computer.
This past weekend I went to Manuel Anotonio which is on the Pacific Coast. It is part of the National Park so the beaches are really well preserved. I left with seven other people from San Jose at 6:30 on Friday and got to the hotel at about 11 or so. The bus ride was fine. Everyone was really tired so we all went to bed. The next morning we woke up at seven, got ready, and ate breakfast. I didn't have time to stop by the bank before we left so I was completely broke. Actually I had about 11 dollars for the entire weekend, but entrance into the park cost 7, so that gave me four dollars for the weekend. I brought some bread and what I thought was apple juice until I read the label again before drinking it that it was actually liquid yogurt (called likigurt). It wasn't too bad, but I couldn't drink the entire box. Everyone else had a regular breakfast that wasn't so good either, so I didn't miss out on much. After that, we went into the park to go to the beach. It wasn't a very long walk to Playa #3. Let me try to paint a picture of the park. You enter the park and you are walking through part of the rainforest. You go a couple of meters straight and see the beautiful ocean with little waves and a clear sky. We were advised to go to the third beach because the other beaches have waves that are a bit rough, so we turned left and kept walking for about 700 meters. We are in the rainforest still but a couple of meters to our right is the great beach. We get to Playa Tres and it is excellent. The beach and the surrounding rocks make a crescent shape around a sort of pool of the ocean (It is a lot safer because of the crescent shaped land and the beach is inclosed by the coral reef, so there aren't as many waves). The water is a little bit too warm, but everything else was fine. A friend of mine and I went to see what the next beach was like. We thought it was close and I was wet so I didn't want to put on my shoes for the hike, which was a mistake because it was quite the hike. I didn't get cut or anything but my soles were pretty raw by the time we got back. The other beach was not worth it at all. So we came back to Playa Tres and hung out for a couple of hours. I got a little darker and burnt a little, but it was cool because I was just laying there listening to my ipod with the sound of the ocean in the background. We came back to the hotel and showered. Then I had to go into Quepos alone to try and buy a ticket for the ride home because I lost mine, so I hopped on the bus at four thirty and tried to get into town by five, because that is when the station stops selling tickets. So I get there too late and I wait around for about an hour because I thought the rest of my group was coming into town to eat (Quepos is really nasty, so I am glad that we didn't end up eating there). I finally got back on the bus and went back to Manuel Antonio and by chance one of the people in my group saw me getting off the bus and they hadn't eaten yet so we were all able to eat together. Dinner was so good. I ate more in that meal than I think I have ever eaten in one sitting. Then I got some Dos Pinos ice cream, which is one of the best packaged ice cream ever. The group was going to go to a club that night but I went to sleep instead after watching the Men in Black. I woke up the next morning and wrote in my journal. Then went to the beach that was right outside our hotel and sat there for a little bit listening to more music. I ate some breakfast then had to go into Quepos again to see if I could get a ticket. A girl in my group lost her's as well so we went together. We got to the vendor and explained our situation and they didn't make us pay for anothe one. Instead they just made a replacement ticket and stamped and signed it for us. That was pretty lucky. We went back to meet with the group in Manueal Antonio and to eat lunch. I wasn't that hungry and by this time my stomach wasn't doing so well. I ordered just guacamole with chips. The guacamole was amazing. It was the best I ever had. So after that we got on the bus ride to go back home. The bus ride was horrible. The rode was really windy through the mountains and I was feeling sick from the get go. I took a dramamine but it didn't knock me out that much. I kept falling into a light sleep but woke up easily. At one point I knew I was going to vomit so I got a plastic bag that I had out. I didn't vomit then and we stopped at a little rest stop. I used the restroom and got back on the bus. We drove for a little while longer and I had the vomit feeling again. I felt really warm and started to breathe hard. I grabbed my bag and vomitted. I felt a lot better afterwards, but it made everyone else in the bus really uncomfortable. I took another dramamine which seemed to actually wake me up. So the rest of the ride was uneventful. I took a taxi with a couple of girls back to our neighborhood. I felt sick the rest of the night. I will post photos later when I have my camera and a computer.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Weekend Volcano Trip
I just got back from spending the weekend in a city called La Fortuna, which is situated near a volcano. It was really amazing. We all left Friday afternoon and got there Friday night. The first night we went to this big club that was packed. I played pool the entire night and I was horrible at it. I am usually decent when I play at school, but I don't know what was up that night. After that I returned to the hotel and sat with a friend for a little bit with our feet in the jacuzzi water. There was a cover over the jacuzzi so we only removed some of it just to put our feet in and we just sat there awhile talking. After a little while some more people decided to get in the jacuzzi and they were these idiots from Kutztown (it is this college in Pennsylvania. I didn´t know about it before coming here, but there are about fourteen people in my group from the school and they are all idiots. I have a really bad opinion about Kutztown from these people and I pray that this school isn´t filled with people this stupid). They were really drunk and they removed the entire covering.At that time I decided to leave because I knew that they were just going to act stupider. I went back to my room and got ready for bed. There were three of us in my hotel room and we were all in bed ready to go to sleep. When we just started to doze off we hear these really loud bangs on our door- they were Kutztown people. So we sent our own Kutztown idiot (he refers to himself as a Super Senior= 6th year) to get it, luckily he didn´t actually answer it or else they probably would´ve come in. They banged on the door for awhile and finally left after yelling some stuff. The next morning we wake up to find dog crap thrown at our door. We also found out that they were thrown out of the pool for being too lound and they chased the owner around the pool when he was trying to remove them.
On Saturday we woke up early, ate breakfast, and took a van to the starting point of the canopy tours. Then we rode horses for about 50 minutes to the starting point of the canopy tours. I was freaking out when I saw the zip lines.
We hiked for a little while to the first zip line platform. It was pretty high up. I went on the zip line and everything was fine. It wasn´t bad at all. The views were amazing. This country is so gorgeous. We zipped past a waterfall. I got stuck on a couple of the lines which is a little nerve-racking, but only for a little while until one of the workers comes to get you. Most people get stuck at least once- I got stuck three times. It was really safe and I didn´t feel in danger at all. After that we went to this little Indian village that I am sure was fake where they put on a show for us and asked us to buy overpriced souvenirs. Then we went back to the hotel to get our swim suits because we were going to the hot springs.
The hot springs were amazing. This place was huge and they had all these different pools at different temperatures (they got really hot- up to 152 degrees). The water felt so good and it was really relaxing. We stayed there for a couple of hours and left to get dinner. I ate this vegetarian pizza in town that was really good. They don´t use mozarrella cheese and their crust is flakey and crispy, but it was quite good. I returned to the hotel and everyone was going back to the club, but my body was so relaxed that I just fell asleep on the bed.
This morning I woke up and just chilled on the porch looking outside my window at the volcano and playing some volleyball with Emily. It was a beautiful view. We left to go back to San Pedro (right outside San Jose) at noon and it was pouring really badly so we waited a little for it to let up. It was still raining (and still is) when we left. I sat next to Emily the entire way and we listened to a lot of music and watched crappy movies (Too Fast, Too Furious and Super Troopers). I just got home hoping that my Tica family would be here so I could eat, but no one is here (except my bro who just got here, and I am using his really nice laptop to write this), but there still isn´t food. Alright that is all. Tomorrow I am going to volunteer at this place called Center For Peace that is run by Quakers. I think I will really like it. I am not sure yet what I am going to do.
On Saturday we woke up early, ate breakfast, and took a van to the starting point of the canopy tours. Then we rode horses for about 50 minutes to the starting point of the canopy tours. I was freaking out when I saw the zip lines.
We hiked for a little while to the first zip line platform. It was pretty high up. I went on the zip line and everything was fine. It wasn´t bad at all. The views were amazing. This country is so gorgeous. We zipped past a waterfall. I got stuck on a couple of the lines which is a little nerve-racking, but only for a little while until one of the workers comes to get you. Most people get stuck at least once- I got stuck three times. It was really safe and I didn´t feel in danger at all. After that we went to this little Indian village that I am sure was fake where they put on a show for us and asked us to buy overpriced souvenirs. Then we went back to the hotel to get our swim suits because we were going to the hot springs.
The hot springs were amazing. This place was huge and they had all these different pools at different temperatures (they got really hot- up to 152 degrees). The water felt so good and it was really relaxing. We stayed there for a couple of hours and left to get dinner. I ate this vegetarian pizza in town that was really good. They don´t use mozarrella cheese and their crust is flakey and crispy, but it was quite good. I returned to the hotel and everyone was going back to the club, but my body was so relaxed that I just fell asleep on the bed.
This morning I woke up and just chilled on the porch looking outside my window at the volcano and playing some volleyball with Emily. It was a beautiful view. We left to go back to San Pedro (right outside San Jose) at noon and it was pouring really badly so we waited a little for it to let up. It was still raining (and still is) when we left. I sat next to Emily the entire way and we listened to a lot of music and watched crappy movies (Too Fast, Too Furious and Super Troopers). I just got home hoping that my Tica family would be here so I could eat, but no one is here (except my bro who just got here, and I am using his really nice laptop to write this), but there still isn´t food. Alright that is all. Tomorrow I am going to volunteer at this place called Center For Peace that is run by Quakers. I think I will really like it. I am not sure yet what I am going to do.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Yesterday I took a tour of San Jose. It seems like a really cool city. It is pretty dirty and there are a lot of people but there is also a lot of culture. We took a tour of the National Theater, which was beautiful, and went into one of the main cathedrals, which was also beautiful. I have some photos. Got to go, but the Gandhi quote says:¨¨First they ignore you, next they laugh at you, afterthey attack you, then you win.¨ Why don´t we have cool graffiti like this?
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Happy Fourth of July!
I have been in Costa Rica for a couple of days now. I still haven´t seen the beautiful parts of the country, but the area that I am in seems really cool. I will try to give as thorough of an update as I can, but details may have escaped me and I have to type really fast because other people want to use the computer. For the last couple of days I have been hanging out at ICADS (the Spanish school). I have my Spanish class in the afternoon and in the mornings I do cultural activities. Well, we haven´t done any actual activities yet because we are still going over stuff like safety and what we will be doing for community service and volunteer work (there is a difference between the two- community service= group somewhat mandatory/expected of us and volunteer=individual work with a local organization). I found this one that I really like with a Quaker organization here. On the description sheet it said that in the past ICADS students have done stuff like teaching forms of nonviolent protests to Nicaraguan immigrants, worked with human rights, and some stuff with the environment. There are a lot of other choices but they have to do with working with kids and I don´t do well with kids for very long.
A little bit about my family now. My host mom is really nice. She makes good food. Nearly every meal in Costa Rica contains rice and beans- together it is called Gallo Pinto. I have eggs with GP for breakfast, dinner with some sort of fish or potatoes with GP, and I am sure that I would have GP for lunch but we usually go out to eat for lunch.
My fourth of July was really uneventful. The ambassodor throws a party for all the Americans every Fourth so a bunch of us squeezed into some taxis and drove a good half an hour to forty-five minutes to the Ambassador´s house and we noticed that nothing was giong on in there so we asked the guards if there was a party and they said that the party was in the morning and that we missed it. I didn´t know that anyone has Fourth parties in the morning. So we drove all the way back to San Pedro and went to this Jazz club. It was really cool. There was a live band and- I have to go for a tour of San Pedro.
Ciao (They use ciao here)
A little bit about my family now. My host mom is really nice. She makes good food. Nearly every meal in Costa Rica contains rice and beans- together it is called Gallo Pinto. I have eggs with GP for breakfast, dinner with some sort of fish or potatoes with GP, and I am sure that I would have GP for lunch but we usually go out to eat for lunch.
My fourth of July was really uneventful. The ambassodor throws a party for all the Americans every Fourth so a bunch of us squeezed into some taxis and drove a good half an hour to forty-five minutes to the Ambassador´s house and we noticed that nothing was giong on in there so we asked the guards if there was a party and they said that the party was in the morning and that we missed it. I didn´t know that anyone has Fourth parties in the morning. So we drove all the way back to San Pedro and went to this Jazz club. It was really cool. There was a live band and- I have to go for a tour of San Pedro.
Ciao (They use ciao here)
Monday, July 03, 2006
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Pre-departure
Tomorrow morning I leave for Costa Rica. I arrive around 8 pm in San Jose. I can't believe that this is happening so soon! I will be gone for an entire month. This really is an experience of a lifetime. I pray that I will be able to embrace the Costa Rican life motto "La pura vida," which means "the pure life." Most of you know that I am not much of a wild partier, but I really want to make sure that I don't miss out on anything.
I know very little about the family that I will be living with. There is a single mom with three kids. The oldest son is a 20 year old in Med School. Then there is a 19 year old in High School (how do you go straight from HS to Med School in one year? Me thinks that the twenty year old is not actually in med school and he is in fact a premed in college). Lastly, there is a twelve year old girl. I will be living with this family for the entire month.
I am not sure how often I will have internet access. I will try to update my blog as often as possible and add pictures when I can.
I know very little about the family that I will be living with. There is a single mom with three kids. The oldest son is a 20 year old in Med School. Then there is a 19 year old in High School (how do you go straight from HS to Med School in one year? Me thinks that the twenty year old is not actually in med school and he is in fact a premed in college). Lastly, there is a twelve year old girl. I will be living with this family for the entire month.
I am not sure how often I will have internet access. I will try to update my blog as often as possible and add pictures when I can.
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