Celeste en Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio de nuevo

2007-12-18T17:55:00.000-08:00

ahhhh our last weekend altogether before everyone leaves!!! Originally, we were planning to go to Montezuma, but at the very last minute we decided to go to Manuel Antonio. We were all easy to agree to the idea b/c the bus ride would be much shorter and waaaay too many people were planning to go to Montezuma (and it's teeny, so we'd have to see everyone allll the time haha). Plus, the last time we went to MA, we were with ISA and so didn't have much free time to ourselves.
So we arrived at about 9ish in the evening and decided to stay at Coco Beach Hotel, which is owned by a Chinese lady! (or so I was told, although she spoke in a language I didn't recognize). Anyways, so as usual, we were starving by that time, but of course none of the restaurants near us were open. So we had to take a cab to the main town over in Quepos, where we ate a yummy restaurant that was open til 2. It was pretty much ALL locals, and so they stared at us gringos like we were invading their territory. And then at the bar we went to later, The Lounge, it was the complete opposite: totalmente all GRINGOS/turisticos. This bar was really chill, though, and they played so many good ol songs from home (US).
Cutie Jamie rubbing the Buddha belly on the wall.

The next day we went to the national park and it was beautiful! My friend Pete said this opening looked like we were about to enter paradise...

Here is the gorgeous beach

This is the place where we saw tons of animals last time, and this time, we only got to see those white faced monkeys, but TONS of them. And they just walk right up to you like nothing. Their faces look like those of little old men though..kinda creepy haha.

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw a beeeautiful wedding being set up. Sin duda, I am mos DEF having my wedding somewhere on a beach...

When it started to rain, we decided to get some drinks and some bocadillas. I love bloody marys! i duno what was so funny here.

We went back to the beach to try to watch the sunset, but this freakin island was in the way! Pero esta bien, because it was still bellisimo to see.

I love how you can see the reflection of the sky on the water...

As you know, I am obsessed with the skies here! At some point during the day, you can see probably every single shade of the rainbow. increible..

That night, we went to eat at a delish little Italian cafe, which was suuuper cheap too! Here are the chicas ready to go out

After that, we went to Barba Roja, the pirate bar/club that I went to last time. And once again, it was sooooo fun! They played tons of awesome music, AND, coincidentally, I ran into the same guy that I had met the previous time I was there. So that was fun :)
The next morning, we had to check out early, but it was a good thing b/c we had to go to Quepos to buy our bus tickets back. Then we returned to the cafe from last night for brunch, did TONS of shopping, and chilled out until it was time to leave. Look, I learned how to make this flower out of palm leaves!

Oh my goodness that bus ride back was the worst EVER. First of all, it was tiny, the seats were sticky and uncomfortable, and it SMELLED. To top it off, since it was raining so hard, the bridge was backed up and so we had to wait for an HOUR! oy, torture... this may have been the first time ever saying this, but I was ready to get back home to San Jo...

semanas 10 y 11

2007-12-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

So I’m just throwing in some random stuff that I forgot to write about before. Here is a picture of my mama and me x-mas shopping in downtown San Jo. I may be biased, but even after talking to my friends about their host moms, mine's is seriously the best host mom ever. Le amo...it's going to be soooo sad to leave her!

So one day my class went on a field trip to the coffee plantation in Heredia, which was about an hour drive away.

When we got there, we got to try all the different flavors of coffee, and the cool thing is that all their coffees are all originally made right there, and completely pure (no added sugars) too.

We went on a little tour to see all the processes of how the grain becomes the coffee that we drink (“grano de oro” they call it, or grain of gold, to signify how the industry had turned CR into a profitable and booming country).

Coffee is a huge part of CR’s history and what sustains their economy, as it is one of the largest and main exporters in the world. One interesting thing I learned is that the stronger the taste, the less caffeine it contains. So even though espresso tastes the strongest, it has less caffeine than a breakfast blend, for instance. cool yea? i know.
This cart is what you'll see all over CR. It's what they used to transport coffee and other goods back in the day.

On another day, our class visited la feria de arte at University of Costa Rica, in which all the students were able to exhibit and sell some of their beautiful works of art.

From paintings, sculptures, jewelry, to candles and calendars, there was a huge array of things to choose from. Perfect for buying presents, although it definitely was not cheap.
We got to go on a mini tour of the campus, and it made me miss being in one so much! More like, made me miss BERK so much. it's b/c Veritas is pretty much smaller than my preschool, so it doesn’t even feel like I’m attending a college.
On our walk to the fair, I saw a street in which almost all of the walls were covered in graffiti. I’m sure it didn’t represent “ghettoness” b/c to me, it looked like just another work of art.

Monday was our last Cuartel night in which we were able to see our favorite band play!

I STILL didn't figure out their band name! Oh wells…Anyways, it was awesome of course. I still love them and I will miss them direly. And guess what? My favorite guy pulled me up on stage to dance with him AGAIN! Ahhh, what a lucky girl I am..

Thursday we went to a club called Tavarua in San Pedro, where it was Ladies’ Night!!! Meaning, all of our drinks were free until 11pm, and we were presented with the best dance show ever! 3 hot men with the best bodies and who can shake their chanchitos soooo well!

Oh my goodness I was obsessed with this one guy here on the right. Probably the hottest guy I've seen here in CR

Here is me and Jamie with our wannabe bf Alex (Alejandro). It's so weird to think that I probably won't ever see him again... And I don't think I've never met someone like him before..

Salud! Man, I will seriously miss free drinks, or dollar beers...Never going to find that in the states.

Malpais

2007-12-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've got lots to update on. First of all, 2 weekends ago, the weekend of the 7th, we went to Malpais for Kate's last weekend. :( It's also located on the Nicoya Peninsula, a little bit further from Montezuma. Since we arrived pretty late in the evening, we just decided to stay at a place near where the bus dropped us off. This seems to happen a lot I've realized, the extreme difficulty of finding food! We were super hungry by then, but of course everything was closed, EXCEPT, luckily, this one shish kebab making place. pretty delish.

We walked back and just decided to chill b/c we were soooo tired. Well, just Jamie, Rach and I stayed, and of course we were the ones who all took drammamine! Next time, none of that. But it was a good thing we didn't go out b/c the girls said they walked for miles in complete darkness without finding anything.. Okay, so next door this Hawaiian surfer guy just moved there to teach surf lessons and he had the CUTEST and teeniest gatito in the world! I say this all the time, but we were sooo close to just taking it with us in one of our pockets. I'm sure it would've fit.

The next morning, feeling nice and refreshed, we had a delish Mediterranean brunch then walked to Playa Carmen, which was just a mini caminata through the pretty trees. By the way, although it was pretty during the day, it would've been soo scary walking through this at night.

And here's the beach. Not as beautiful as other beaches here in CR, but that's only because it's known here for its surfing.

And here are the boys taking lessons from Polly, the neighbor with the cat, and from whom they said they learned absolutely nothing.

While the chicas, of course, laid on the beach all day and played in the waves.

The cutest little pup came crawling up to us and he attacked my cam with his tongue! But I forgave him :) I swear, all the beaches in CR are teeming with cute little animals. It makes me happy to be surrounded by such innocent little creatures.

After awhile, b/c we couldn't take the blazing sun any longer (it was soooo hot!), we went back to the room and danced away to our song "Better together" by Jack Johnson.

The song totally represents our group b/c it portrays how close we became and how much like siblings we are... it was definitely sad thinking that Kate would be leaving so soon that Monday!
Later we went back to the beach to watch yet another amazing sunset. It really fascinates me how you can actually watch the sun move down little by little in just a matter of minutes. Lookie.

After 3 minutes...

After 2 minutes...

After 1 minute...

And it's gone just like that!

I love this picture here b/c first of all, the tree is completely covered in spines, which is rare, and secondly, the sky in the background!

So the boys were actually considering renting a jeep for the night...if you saw this sign, you'd want to do it too.

But if you saw how janky those jeeps were, you'd change your mind. Look, this one doesn't even have a door on the driver's seat! super ghetto.

That night, we went to Santa Teresa, which is the beach/town right down the road, to go to the only club poppin that night. It was fun, but I've never felt so sweaty and gross in my life! AND it smelled like sweat and smoke...gross!

So some random guy who told me he's had a crush on me ever since he saw me on the beach (which, by the way, I had no idea who he was) put his sweaty hat on my head. I already felt gross so I figured I might as well pose haha.

The next day, we ate brunch at a yummy little cafe, where I had a really delish salad (sauteed spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, peppers, etc) And I was definitely in need of that that morn.

We went to the beach one final time then left for home... Since it was Kate's last night, we decided to get food together and hang out at Zack's apt. But I don't think we've ever had so much trouble getting food in our lives. And by that time, we were starving! But pretty much everything was closed, and so, as an extremely desperate and last resort, we had to get taco bell! But even that was a huge effort. We had to wait like 40 minutes just to catch a cab, then order tons of food, bring it back... And here we are, chowing down like animals.

And look at that monton of nastiness. I can't believe I had to eat that, even though I, personally, only ate fries. But still, our tum tums were sure feelin it the next morning. Nunca jamas. I'd rather starve next time...
THEN the time finally came for us to say our goodbyes to Kate... we were feeling so delirious and crazy by that time, that there wasn't even much to say. Just tears...It was weird, but her departure hadn't really even hit me until a few nights later when we went out to dinner and she wasn't there. :( It's starting...the saying of goodbyes to everyone. I duno how I'll feel being one of the only ones staying around doing the same things as before.. but now WITHOUT my friends with me. Ahhhh

Montezuma

2007-12-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

It's now Monday, the start of a new week, and boy is it going to be long. From Bocas to Montezuma (with just a couple days of class in between), it seems like I've just had a really long vacation, which is why it was suuuuper tough getting up this morning.

Anyhoots, so this weekend we went to a beach town on the Gulf of Nicoya, a place I could definitely call home. It sure was a doozy trying to get there, pero totalmente valio la pena. So, we missed the direct bus from SJ, so we had to first take a bus to Puntarenas, where we would take the ferry across the gulf. BUT they had just changed the schedule, and so we had to wait there for about 2 hours. It wasn't too bad though b/c we chilled with our beers oh and met some guy with the funniest laugh pretending to be a waiter (but in fact was just some normal drunk dude). Look what I saw as I was walking over...sooo adorable!

During the ride over we met some guy who hooked us up with a taxi to Montezuma (which was a blessing b/c there would have been no buses or taxis by the time we arrived). But this guy was a weirdo, kept telling me how beautiful I was and even asked for a besito when he left! Even though he offered us free jet skis, no way.. Okay so we finally arrived at our hotel, and thank goodness someone was awake and there were rooms available! Perfect too. A room of 5 for the 5 chicas, and a room of 3 for the 3 chicos.

The next day, breakfast included some bomb diggity gallo pinto con aguacate and a little encounter with un mono! Haha he caught me watching him eat his banana.

Ademas, we immediately made friends with the coolest bartender, Roger. Then we tried to go to the beach he recommended us, but instead we fell upon our own private little beach that we called Booby Beach. (booby b/c we got to tan topless! even though there were quite a few passer-byers haha.)

It was complete paradise. The sun was shining and hot, the water cool and crystal clear, while we, of course, felt free as birds.

After we baked in the sun for a couple of hours, we walked into town, which is super tiny and super cute, and went to one of the yummiest restaurants ever, Organico, which is completely organic and vegetarian. So I was in heaven of course. I never had so many choices of delicious food in my life! AND how cool is this, the owner is from San Fran and she even worked at a restaurant in Berkeley! This is one of the reasons why this place can my new home. So I ended up chosing a yummy salad. Check out that color.

While we were there I saw the TINIEST dog I've ever seen...which looked like a little old man!

After some R&R, we went back to Booby Beach to watch yet another gorgeous sunset.

That night we went out to the only club around, se llama Chico's. (now you can imagine how teeny the town was). It was sooo much fun. I met 3 cute Ticos who all happened to be brothers! or half, I'm not sure. But what are the chances! especially they didn't tell me til much later. AND the one who I spent most of the night with, who was a little too pushy although still flattering, was named Christopher! And some of you may know that I have a really weird affinity for Chris's. Then of course we ran into our bartender there.. and here we are with him.

The night went on as usual...
The next morning, a very tough morning (and Roger totally new that all of us had gomas!), we took a walk to the waterfalls, which is one of the aspects Montezuma is best known for. That caminata sure was a tough one! (And my legs are REALLY sore today) But again, valio la pena. It was gorgeous and the water was fresh and cool.

Some guy actually had the guts to climb all the way up those slippery rocks and jump off! I could barely watch him climb it and when he jumped, I even felt that adrenaline rush haha.

On the ferry back, I saw a really gorgeous view of the ocean/sky, of course making me think how sucky it was to be returning back to SJ...

Bocas del Toro, Panama

2007-11-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

I must say that this was one of my favorite trips so far, maybe because it was longer than usual (Sat-Wed) and so it felt like an actual vacation; or maybe just because it was absolutely gorgeous and incredibly fun over there. Probably both. Anyhoots, so Friday afternoon we left for Puerto Viejo, where we stayed the night. (otherwise the trip would've been too long!) We went to Johnny's place, stayed at Rockin Jay's... in hammocks! First time doing that one. Surprisingly, those things are quite comfy!

The next morning we took the bumpiest bus ride ever to Sixaola, where we had to fill out immigration papers, buy a temporary visa, etc. AND we had to walk across the scariest/ricketiest bridge ever. Big trucks have to travel on this too. Don't ask me how.

From there, we took another $5 bus ride to Changuinola, on the border of CR, where we waited for the water taxi to take us to Bocas!

That 45 min. ride was pretty awesome; it felt as though we were traveling through the rivers of the Jungle Book... first in murky waters with crocs (well I swear I saw one) and later through the clearest/most turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

So Bocas del Toro consists of about a hundred little islands, only a couple of which you're able to stay in. We decided to stay on the main one, Isla de Bocas, in one of the main hostels called Mondo Taitu. For our own mini dorm, with warm showers, laundry service, dvds and books, not too shabby for only $8/night. And apparently it's the hot spot for all the party-goers, offering hookahs and cheap drinks during happy hour (50 cent beers and dollar well drinks!), cocktail hour ($2 for suuuper strong drinks), and power hour (I'll explain later).
After settling in, we took a lancha (the water taxi) to another island, I think Isla Cabenera, for lunch at the Pickled Parrot, and a quick dip in the smallest stretch of beach I've seen. It was gorgeous, but we were literally eaten alive by sand bugs!

On our way back, we saw another gorgeous sunset.

After some happy hour drinks (here's the crew!)..

we ate dinner at some pirate restaurant, serving delish Mediterranean food! So I finally got my fix of hummus and falafels. :) That night was Reggae night at one of the places my friends were staying at, but no one was really there. So after some free drinks (for the ladies of course), we went to Barco Hundido, which was crackin! Here's Randi gettin her groove on to the electric slide.

The next day, we went on a snorkeling tour, which included dolphin watching and entrance to one of the Red Frog National Park, all day for only $15.
Check it out! The dolphins came soo close to our boat! It was amazing.

Here's a little medusa, or jellyfish. I got my first stings! They're beautiful, but man do those things hurt!

Here is Red Frog Beach. GORGEOUS.

And me and the girls.

So the reason why it's named Red Frog is because the park is abundant with these cute little critters..only about as big as my thumb!

That night we went to Iguana, where we met the super cool owner (half Thai and half Costa Rican..what a cool mix!), who gave us free tequila shots and mixed drinks! So this may sound pretty silly, but we actually decided to take 2 drammamine pills to knock ourselves out. If you can imagine, that's how badly we were itching and how much we were suffering. Haha, maybe mixing alcohol and drammamine isn't such a good idea, cuz we were feeling prettty crazy, but it did knock us out at least.

Okay, so the next day marked the craziest 24 hours of my life. Here's how it all started: the previous night we met a guy named Joey who co-owns his own catamaran boat with his uncle D. They charter between Panama and Columbia, which by the way, I was seriously considering going and skipping the rest of my classes. But we didn't.. So he invited us to take a boat ride to the other side of the island for the day, just the 10 of us. You may think it sounds a bit sketch, considering we had just met him, but something about him told us he was a good reliable guy. So we arrived to Mystic Wind, the name of their sailboat, which had the perfect deck for sunbathing.

And lucky us, the climate gods were with us, as it was hot and sunny alll day. Originally, they had told us it would only be a 1.5 hour cruise, but for some reason, it lasted 4 hours! Maybe it's because both of them were completely drunk the whole time, or maybe it's cuz they decided to let Charlie be Captain Chuck for the day. Here's crazy Uncle D, Charlie and Joey.

Man I love those guys. They are seriously the craziest men I've ever met, especially uncle D. He would tell us things like he had multiple girlfriends in Columbia and in Panama, one in which he put up on the sail (I forgot the term) naked! And then he said he helped smuggle a drug dealer out of Columbia one time...the list of crazy stories goes on. But I later learned that he had been in the Vietnam War, which definitely explains things. Joey was just a hilarious drunkard, with the funniest laugh. They may have been crazy, but they really took care of us.
Okay so after tanning all day and jumping in the warm salty waters here and there, we finally arrived at Starfish Beach, so named because the beach is covered with starfish..and huge ones too!

Siddie, me and Jamie with our newly adopted pets. :)

Since we hadn't eaten all day, we were starving, but apparently, there was only one restaurant in the entire area, about a mile or 2 away. We walked anyway, dressed only in our suits, due to the fact that we had to jump in the water to get to land. The food was delish (fresh fish) and the service was great. But by the time we were ready to go, it was raining and COMPLETELY DARK. We didn't even have the convenience of the moon to help guide us back! So that trek back was pretty darn scary. Imagine, 9 of us sopping wet wearing nothing but bathing suits, with all the guys completely drunk of course, in complete darkness, walking in the middle of nowhere for a couple of miles. Crazy right? Well the story doesn't end just yet.

So we finally made it back, safe and sound to Mystic Wind. By that time it was about 9 in the evening, and since the tide was really low, we were beached and stuck in the sand! Don't worry, Uncle D assured us, we'll just chill out and wait for high tide. So while we cuddled all together in some warm binkies, listening to more of their crazy stories, we ended up falling asleep outside. After about an hour, it started POURING rain, and we had to take refuge inside the cabin, where it smelled DISGUSTING. Something like rotten pee, a wet dog, or no, my friend described it perfectly: like a dirty wet diaper. So I refused to sleep downstairs on the beds, where it smelled even more like so, and so I ended up sleeping on top of a table! (No wonder my body was bruised and sore the next day). More and more hours passed, all of us sprawled either on top of tables, or squished together on tiny cushions, meanwhile of course Charlie and Joey were taking turns chugging from a bottle of rum. Even though the situation was far less than desirable, they were being quite entertaining, making the night easy to digest. Originally we had agreed to try to make it back before dawn, but even though the tide was high enough to "unbeach" ourselves, that night was one of the craziest storms I've ever witnessed, which would've been silly to try to sail back in. So, we stayed until the early morning and didn't arrive back until about 9 am...almost 24 hours since we first embarked the previous day! All in all, although there were certain points during the day in which I would've liked to avoid, it was a crazy experience that I will never forget. Todo fue una odisea! (All of it was just a super crazy adventure) And hey, at least we survived it to tell our grandkids haha.

That day, we decided to take it easy: rest, do a little shopping, visit the internet cafe, etc. Because that night was 80s power hour at our hostel! So starting at 9:30pm, they start playing a bunch of 80s music videos, and once a new video pops on, you're supposed to take a shot of beer. Oh and I forget to mention, everyone dressed in crazy 80s gear, except in our case, it was who can look the ugliest, grungiest and craziest. These are our roomies there.

Haha see, there are no limits here.

After that, we headed back over to Barco Hundido, where we danced the night away...or at least until they shut off the music. Basically, our last night there was crazy debauchery... but soooo fun! Bocas del Toro is seriously the place to meet fun loco people from all over the world, and just have fun and party! Had there not been so many bugs there, I would've seriously considered staying there and ditched the rest of my classes. But, my common sense took over and sent me packing back to San Jo...

Thanksgiving in CR

2007-11-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

Lookie! Our dog Camila met a boyfriend! Even though he was a naughty little pupster, it was super cute. I won't show the naughty things they were doing.

I still cannot believe I missed my first Thanksgiving at home, and it's my favorite holiday too! The day where I get to eat delicious food and spend time with my fam bam... At first, I was feeling really nostalgic for home, but then I heard that ISA would be organizing a really nice Thanksgiving dinner for us (and rumor was that cooks from the US Embassy would be coming to prepare good ol American food for us!) So we all got dressed in our nicest dresses, expecting a night in which we wouldn't have to miss home too much.

But this was what it was: a little hole in the wall right in the middle of downtown San Jo. It totally looked like a soup kitchen for homeless people. It was so small, we were literally eating on top of each other. And I felt really silly wearing my dress, as I could've easily just worn sweats.

Okay maybe I'm a little overexaggerating, but it just made me miss home even more. Man, I would kill for some hummus, some of that homemade sticky rice and sweet potatoes...

Playa Grande y Tamarindo

2007-11-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend my Marine Bio class had a field trip to Playa Grande on the Pacific Coast, about 15 minutes away from where I was last weekend in Tamarindo. It was a pretty crazy and eventful weekend, but quite unforgettable. We stayed at a hotel called Kike's which was small, but at least it had a pool and a bar. And apparently, there isn't very much to do in Playa Grande except surf, so that bar is the one hang out spot for locals. When we first arrived, the first thing I thought was, "great, all Gringos." But actually, after talking to some of them I realized that they WERE locals, and they had just moved there a year or 10 years previously after falling in love with the place.

So each of us had to choose one night to do "beach patrol," which really just meant turtle watching. Initially I was not excited at all because first of all, I was completely exhausted and they had told us that our chance of seeing one was really slim, and additionally, they said we had to wait for all of the tourists to go before us. So we didn't actually leave until 11:30pm. BUT, lucky us! The tour guides confirmed that a turtle had just crawled up into the sand! So we trekked along the beach for about 10 minutes in complete darkness, and then we had to wait awhile to make sure that she would for sure be staying there. The tide was really low, making the sand kinda dry and not an ideal condition for nesting, but lo and behold, she stayed! We walked up to her and she was HUGE! You don't even understand how excited I was. It was one of the most amazing occurrences I've ever witnessed, watching her dig out the hole with her hind flippers, and then lay her eggs! They didn't permit us to take pictures, but here is kinda what she looked like. Plus this is something I will never ever forget.

We walked over to the hatchery where they incubate the eggs and it turns out that this mama had about 60 yolked eggs. Amazing... I still can't believe I was able to witness that. Even though my legs were literally eaten alive by the sand fleas, it was totally worth it.

The next morning we had to do some beach cleanup, in the BLAZING sun. I almost thought I would pass out, but I didn't, luckily. And the beach was soo nice. After that we pretty much had the entire day free to sunbathe and body surf in the humongous waves.

Since we had gone the previous night to turtle watch, our teacher said we had the whole night free too! So we decided to go to Tamarindo, since that's where our other friends were staying. Here we are ready for the fiestas! Of course it would all be bio-related haha.

We went back to Babylon, where it was Lady's Night and where they were serving us free drinks! AND I finally met a cute boy who could dance well...

Ask me for details later if you'd like. :)

Pretty much the entire night was inebriated debauchery. I was completely enjoying myself until some of my friends decided to become emotional, stupid and super loco drunks. TOO much unnecessary drama! I won't go into details here. But I will say that the sleeping situation was pretty hilarious. Those of us from Playa Grande had to crash in our friends' hotel that night, so we ended up sleeping like 2 or 3 to a twin bed! Of course none of us got any decent sleep whatsoever.

The next morning we walked over to the estuary to meet the rest of our class and were suddenly bombed with the news that we had to walk through the mangrove forest! You see, this forest is not your ordinary forest. It consists of trees that grow only in mud and tiny roots that poke out of the ground...dangerous for our barefeet!

It was totally unexpected, but it's something I'd never done before so it was quite an adventure. We climbed trees, walked through mud at times up to our chests, and yes, all of this in my clothes from the night before.

I love this picture of my friend Tyler, holding up a dead snake. Totally survivorish.

Well, quite an adventuresome and eventful weekend I had. I had tons of fun, but I think I'm going to take a break from Tamarindo for a little while...

Semana Numero 7

2007-11-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

Let's see, so Monday we went to el Cuartel of course...We had to show our band that we still loved them because I'm sure they were sad when they didn't see us there in front of the stage the last time. It was super fun, claro.

So I actually like my new teacher, the official avanzado 1 teacher, muuuuuuch better than the sub. She's pretty strict (for instance, she doesn't like us being late and she even got mad at one of my classmates for yawning slightly loudly!) BUT at least I'm learning waay more and she actually allows us to talk without making funny faces at us when we say something incorrectly. As the sub did...

Tuesday, hmm well let's just say that one of the worst possible things that could've happened to us happened to us. Basically, the bar Roots that I had raved so much about is now on my "no me gusta listo." If you want to hear what happened, just email me and I'll be happy to share another crazy story. :)

Wednesday we went to a documentary on the extermination of sharks at the University of Costa Rica. Man, I miss being on a real campus! With big lecture halls, lots of students, a cute college town, etc. Veritas doesn't even seem like a university; it's smaller than my elementary school! Anyways, so this documentary basically talked about the mass massacre of sharks and other marine animals. I had no idea that this illegal hunting had been going on, AND there's a black market that exists between CR and Taiwan! Apparently, shark fins are considered a sign of wealth in many Asian countries, especially China (freakin Chinese! haha jk), in which the shark fins are most often cooked in soups. (which I'm never eating again!) They are also highly sought after b/c they're believed to prevent cancer and other illnesses, even though no scientific evidence exists to prove this. It's really a shame that these innocent animals are being slaughtered JUST for their fins then carelessly thrown back into the ocean to suffer and be eaten by other animals. The movie really changed my perspective of sharks; I used to think they were such scary monsters (which is exactly what the media intended), but I now realize that they're just another innocent animal swimming in the sea, highly influencing its ecosystem and contributing to our livelihood here on earth.

After that, we went to one of the most delicious restaurants that I've ever been to, Tin Ho. It serves a mixture of almost all different Asian styled foods, which I haven't had here much yet, and in a really cute ambiance too. We immediately ordered a liter of sake b/c we were all so shooken up from that movie! Haha. I had ma po tofu, which was muy rico! Oh how I had been missing tofu so much...

Thursday I had to skip the soccer game, Veritas against ULACIT, because of course I had waited til the last minute to do my power point presentation for marine bio, which I was supposed to do this weekend during our field trip. At least I finished in time to go to Rachel's roomie's b-day party! It was so fun hanging out with new people, some from Mexico, some from Guatemala, and other gringos. Rachel's roomies get pretty crazy, but crazy sure means fun!

The next day my spanish class went to El Museo de Ninos, which was pretty interesting and HUGE. They basically had all sorts of info about everything, from the solar system, the CR culture, how mummies get mummified, to how the banana is cultivated and harvested. Once we got back to school, I had to rush home to pack for my field trip to Playa Grande!

Tamarindo

2007-11-13T15:17:00.001-08:00

(yes I saw this)
This weekend we took a trip to the Pacific West Coast, a super touristy town called Tamarindo. It's probably one of the most well-known vacation spots for travelers and surfers, more like Hawaii with all of its luxurious hotels, expensive restaurants, and fiesta-goers. Originally, since none of us preferred to be around so many gringos, we had planned to stay in nearby beaches. But because we didn't arrive until 10 at night, we decided to just stay. And we ended up having tons of fun there! P.S. That bus ride was the longest 6.5 hours! But I took drammamine, which knocked me out the ENTIRE time haha.

That night, we ate a late dinner at a place called La Palapa. It was okay. Not my fave place. Then we went out to the Monkey Bar. It was crackin and super crowded! I hadn't been around so many white people since I've been here, so it was kind of a shock. It was really fun though; they had a live band, dancing to hip hop (yes!), and in general, people looking to have a good time. We met this old creepy guy who bought us all drinks, which I have no idea why, and who followed us to the next party. He ended up not being too creepy though. But he did love Charlie haha...

So the party continued on at Rey Sol, where they played all techno and trance music, a little too much for my liking. Also, the guys there were really grabby and gross, so we left.

The next day, we had an amazing brunch then laid out on the beach ALL day! It was soooo gorgeous and HOT! I later found out that we were really lucky, as the region that I was in was the only place in the country where it didn't rain or wasn't freezing.

Later that day, I saw the most BEAUTIFUL sunset I had ever seen. Here are the girls and me.

And doesn't the sky look fake? Well it wasn't! It's so amazing to me how all the colors form and mix together like that.

After that amazing view, we rested awhile, washed up in FREEZING showers, and went out. After a pretty crappy dinner, we headed out to Babylon, the poppin club for that night. The place was really cool...there was a live reggae band, a large dance and bar area, and a mini skate park! Who woulda thunk that right?

The whole night basically just consisted of a whole lot of dancing, meeting new people, oh and more dancing.

The next day, we decided to skip on the only bus heading towards San Jose, which left at 5:30 in the morn! Instead, we took our own private mini bus. It was kinda expensive, but the comfort was well worth it, in addition to the fact that we were able to spend more time at the beach. At one of our stops, we saw a gorgeous loro! Can you notice that it was looking straight at the cam!?

Okay I'm ending this blog the same way I've ended every other one after a weekend trip...It was amazingly fun and beautiful, and I didn't want to return to ugly San JO!

Quick Update from Semana 6

2007-11-13T12:02:00.000-08:00

Let's see what happened last week. Oh so I had a midterm and presentation on the same day! AND the presentation had to last at least 15 minutes, in espanol, and my topic was la adopcion de ninos por homosexuales! Pretty controversial and difficult right? well actually, I think I did pretty well on it! It flowed nicely. Estoy contenta :) Probably because it's a topic I feel passionately about. Anyhoots, so about the midterm, no comment. I think I did ok, not great. But it's b/c I only had about 30 minutes before hand to study. Oh we went to a strip club for my friend's b-day! My first one! It was really quite entertaining watching my friends get lap dances...including Rach! haha hilarious.

Hey I finally visited my first museum here! El Museo Nacional. It was okay...pretty small. But they had a little jardin para mariposas, which was nice

There was a nice view of the city

Haha our dog is on her period! So she has to wear diapers! Pobrecita

Friday I had another midterm, this time for spanish, then that afternoon we embarked on our 6.5 hour bus ride for Tamarindo!

Field Trip to Curu

2007-11-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

So this weekend was one of my Marine Bio's field trips to Curu, located on the west coast of the Gulf of Nicoya. The beaches there were freakin GORGEOUS. I don't think I've ever been to a place with such green surroundings...and EVERYWHERE. It reminded me of Jurassic Park.

First, we had to leave school at 5am Saturday morning to catch the ferry that would take us across the gulf. Then we arrived at our hotel, which was located in the cutest town ever. There wasn't really much there though, except a soccer field, some tiendas, a tiny church, and a club in a barn(??). It was one of those pueblos surrounded by ginormous green forest, in which everyone knew everyone and where there was nothing to do but drink a couple of brewskis with your neighbors...

Anyways, so that day we did our walking tours in order to make observations of the mangroves and intertidal zones on the coast. There wasn't much to see on the beach except TONS of quick little cangrejas (crabs) and piles of sandpoop!

It was really weird watching the sand poop slowly emerge from the sand, forming long continuous piles. Later I learned they were from worms!

Here are the mangroves, common in rainy/floody climates, and adapted to such with the evolution of tons of roots.

I like how we were walking right through where we were prohibited. I didn't see any crocs though, unfortunately..

P.S. On the way, I ate a couple of termites! It tasted like carrots. And apparently, you can fulfill your daily necessary intake of protein by eating just a couple of those critters.

I also got to see a couple of parrots! They were beautiful...Here you could tell that the pair had a love-hate kind of relationship.

So that night we didn't go out because first of all, there wasn't really anywhere to go and secondly, we were all exhausted from having to wake up at 4 in the morn that day! Also, we had to wake up at 6 am the following day...
This next day made the trip totally worth it. One benefit of waking up that early was that we were able to see the not so pretty beach from yesterday at its finest. Here's a romantic pic of me and Ross haha.

First, we took a boat out to Isla Tortuga, a cluster of big rocks and islands, named so because it has a shape like a giant tortoise. See the head?

We went snorkeling for a little while, but because of the season, there was a lot of sediment in the water, making it very difficult to see much. I did see a couple of cool fish and some pretty starfish.
After that, the guides took us to the most beautiful beach I had ever been to. I think it was named Playa Quesado, or cheese beach, named so because the sand was as white as cheese. Lookie. It was complete paradise...turquoise warm waters, white soft sand, and surrounded by tall green palm trees...

And now I have quite an interesting/hilarious story to share. So I met a boy...one of our guides...his name was Juan. He was really cute, with GORGEOUS hazel/green eyes (he's the one on the left)

At the beach, he asked me take a walk with him and we talked for awhile...I learned he was only 20 but already has a 6 month old son! Well that doesn't matter...Soooo, he basically professed his love to me. He kept telling me I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, that he had noticed me the day before but didn't have the chance to talk to me until now, and that the only way to improve my spanish was to find a Tico boyfriend! hint hint. Then he compared me to a pineapple because like the fruit, I was "dulce y riquizima!" (sweet and super rich haha). There were a few other hilarious comparisons too, like a lobster for instance, which I did not understand at all. In my head, I kept thinking to myself, is this guy for real?? He later told me he would love for me to come back so that he could take me to our own private island where he would spend all day everyday with me, smoking mota and dancing and listening to Bob Marley! (which doesn't sound too bad actually haha). Okay, check this. So when he said he wanted to be "mas que amigos," more than friends, I said it would be difficult since he lives there while I live in San Jose. And to this he said, "pero amor no tiene distancia" (but love has no distance!) Yea. I know. Suuuuper cheesy right? I felt really bad because I could not stop laughing at all his corny lines, and I think he thought I was laughing at him. But it was just because no one ever talks like that in the U.S. without receiving a huge laugh of rejection...only in plays and cheesy romances! But I think that's just how Latin boys are...they're really dramatic, and DIRECT, with their feelings...the COMPLETE opposite of American boys. haa oh boy. Well that was something I will definitely never forget. Who knows, maybe I'll decide to go back. The beaches there ARE pretty amazing...

So after that entertaining incident, we left for the ferry and visited a marine aquarium. I was finally able to see a sea turtle! Even though not in the wild, but still...look at the cutie! :)

We also got to see sea horses...

And cute fishies that looked like they were smiling at us!

Once again, another amazingly beautiful (and rainless, for once!) weekend that ended way too soon...

Halloween y mas de semana numero 5

2007-11-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

My new spanish class began this week, advanced 1! The class isn't horrible, but the new prof speaks way faster and is not as chill as my last prof, whom I miss lots! Maybe it's just the first week, but as of now, I feel like I'm not learning as much as I could; she's basically been lecturing to us, rather than letting us practice our speaking. I think I'll go give her some suggestions next week.

Tuesday we went back to Sultan, which was really fun once again, especially because it was filled with sooo many hot Ticos! We got a VIP section semi-upstairs where everyone was able to see us, and since we were some of the only girls there, we received a LOT of attention...but mostly by creepers! People asked to take our pics, we were being followed around, and the weirdos would not get away from our VIP area! Annoying at first, but quite the entertainment.

Then unexpectedly came HALLOWEEN!!! It's really not a big deal at all here, especially during the day, but at least it's celebrated at night. The girls and I dressed up as jugadores de futbol. Not too creative, but simple and cheap. Charlie was robo cop and Ross was a perverted priest!

First we went to a friend's house party, (which was my first one here in CR!), then we went to a bar/club called Retrovisor. Despite the fact that it was raining ALL night, Halloween was soooooooo much fun. Here are some of the pics from that night. First, me and my roomies! :)

Haha we made friends with a giant...not really, but compared to us, he mos def was.

What made the night especially fun was the fact that I finally got to hang out with my program's assistant, whom I've had a HUGe crush on ever since I saw him the first day in CR! haha. Here he is...with me and some dreads I've decided to grow.

All of us sure were suffering the next morning at school...but it was definitely worth it. :)

Thursday was the 2nd "clasico" game between Saprissa y La Liga. Because the game was too far away, we decided to watch it at Stan's Pub. Saprissas won last minute, 2-1, taking them to the final of the cup. Woo! After that, we went to Roots, where I seriously have not seen so many hot guys in one place in a looooong time. I think I got a high just from being around them! Never would I encounter something like this in Berkeley haha.

So today, Friday, we watched a really sad movie called Camila, which took place in Buenos Aires during the rein of a really intolerant and cruel Governor. Basically, the girl and a priest fell in love and so they decided to run away, change their names and become teachers. Unfortunately, they were discovered and executed, despite the fact that she was several months pregnant. Man, Latin movies are sooo depressing! but also really good. Speaking of depressing, this will be the first weekend that my group of friends are split up! Besides Rach, Ross, Katie and me, everyone else is going to Puerto Viejo! And lucky us gets to wake up at 4:30 in the morn to go to Curu! Don't get me wrong, I am definitely excited because I hear the snorkeling is amazing... I'm just sad to be away from the others!

Okay, now I must go prepare for a 10 minute speech for espanol next week...eeeek!

Monteverde y Jaco

2007-10-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had our 3rd, and final included, excursion to the "cloud forest" of Monteverde. It was about 5 hours from San Jo, and we went through some pretty windy and bumpy roads (so it was a good thing I took 2 drammamine pills to knock me out!) And since it was up in the mountains, it was freakin COLD! Well it was probably just like Berkeley weather, warm during the day and bitingly chilly at night, but since I'm already so accustomed to the warm and humid weather that CR is known for, it was pretty uncomfortable, especially since I hadn't thought to pack with me any of my warm clothes.

Despite the cold weather, I most def had tons of fun! Saturday I went on 2 tours, one was a canopy tour and the other ATV. Canopying through the forest was really fun, especially since once again, all the tour guides were such guapos! Here is one of them explaining to us what to do. As you can see, once you're strapped to a harness, you zipline through the trees at pretty high heights.

They also had a "tarzan" swing, which was really scary at first because they basically push you off the platform, no matter how chicken you are. But nonetheless, it was an awesome adrenaline rush. Here's Rachie!

In our second tour, we were able to ride on ATVs! Those were sooo much fun, and I felt like such a badass driving through the rocks and mud. haha.

Our tour guide really freaked us out at first, though, because he basically told us there's a good chance we could die on them if we aren't careful. That's why we had to wear such ginormous helmets. :0 BUT we all survived to have a blast on them and to be able to see an AMAZING view. Here I am!

And here WE are! Perfect for putting on a postcard.

That night, all of ISA took over the hotel, yet again, and we spent the whole night playing flip cup, dancing to hip hop (finally!), and teaching people how to thizz face again haha. This kid was a cutie and everyone wanted him to be their boyfriend.

Eww and I saw the hugest scorpion!

Okay, so then Sunday, since we didn't have class Monday morning, some of us decided to take a trip to Jaco, the beach town closest to San Jo, where we found a place to stay for only $10/night! I personally don't like the beach because it's dirty, rocky, and the water isn't as pretty nor clear as other beaches here in CR.

The sky was pretty gorgeous, though.

That night I was able to eat sushi for the first time here in CR! Surprisingly, it actually wasn't that bad, but definitely not comparable to back home...which I miss terribly! And to make things even better, we were serenaded by a mariachi band who sang us la bamba! :)

After din din, we went to the Beatle Bar, a bar dedicated to the Beatles! (cool huh pops?) I was really excited to go, BUT unfortunately, I soon learned that it is now the hot spot for old creepy men to pick up prostitutes! It was really interesting to watch the couples interact with one another, but kind of sad as well. And of course we had to take a pic with one of the stripper poles! haha.

The 4 of us who had class in the afternoon left early Monday morning, but the bus ride was much longer (and nauseatingly bumpy) than we had expected, so we ended up missing the whole class anyway! Oh wells, at least our prof was really chill and understanding. So, once again, I had yet another incredibly fun weekend here in CR!

Cuarta Semana

2007-10-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well this is the first week in which I've gone out every single night! Which is kind of odd, considering that we have our first final exam on Friday! oh wells..no me importa nada haha. Let's see, on Monday we went to a bar called Roots, which will from now on be our new hangout spot. I love it! it has 2 stories with a cozy balcony/outdoor area, all the people there are really tranquilo, they play reggae music and praise Bob Marley! To top it off, it's within walking distance too! After that, we went to Cuartel, as usual, but this time I did not enjoy myself whatsoever. And it takes a LOT for me to not have a good time anywhere. First of all, my favorite band wasn't playing and there was a riDICUlous amount of people there. It took us almost 20 minutes to try to squeeze through the crowd towards the dance area! AND along the way, we were groped by practically every single guy! NOT fun. However, we did see a fat latin version of George Clooney. haha. See him? We tried to be discreet.

Like Cuartel is the night for Mondays, Tuesday nights are popular for a place called Soltan... a hookah bar! :) I had been missing hookah sooo much, so I was in heaven by the time the hose came around to me. Like the tequila shots, it was Randi's first time, so we got to corrupt her yet again! She loved it though ;)

If you add hookah, cute Ticos, the awesome reggaeton songs, and 50 cent beers all together, what do you get? Quite a fun night.

Wednesday we went out to dinner (one of the very few times here in SJ) at a really yummy Italian restaurant in Multi Plaza Mall. Then we watched Superbad! Or rather "Supercool" haha. It was my 3rd time watching and I STILL laughed my butt off.

Thursday I went to my first professional soccer game! The 2 best teams of CR played: Saprissas and Alajuelos. Of course I rooted for Saprissa, the number 1 team, whose team color is purple! It was such a fun and awesome experience, especially since futbol is such a huge deal for the Ticos. Here's some of us in front of the field.

And here's the crowd going wild when Saprissa scored the winning, and only, point of the game.

So this morning I had my final exam for spanish, and I was done in less than an hour. superfacil! Now I'm off to Monteverde for the weekend! :)

Manuel Antonio

2007-10-22T17:08:00.001-07:00

This weekend we went to a beach on the Pacific coast called Manuel Antonio. The bus ride there was NOT a very fun 6 1/2 hours whatsoever. Because it was raining so much, we waited almost 2 HOURS just to cross a bridge. So you could imagine that all of us were going pretty crazy by then. But once we got to our hotel and put some food in our tummies, all was bueno. :)

That night, we went out to a bar right down the road, where there were waaay too many gringos, and old ones too. But there was live music, so it was pretty chill, and just what we needed. AND we played with the cutest cat ever! he wanted some of our cervezas...

The next day, we went into the national park, where we pretty much just played on the beach in the crazy waves. We're laughing here because the tides were so strong that our bottoms would occasionally fall down ;)

We also were able to see lots of iguanas, weird raccoon/bear/fox looking things, and MONKEYS! :)

At one point, there was about 7 surrounding us, which was kinda scary at the time. But they were too cute. and the weird thing is that they aren't afraid of approaching humans at all!

Unlike the last trip, we actually had a lot of free time to ourselves. So of course we spent most of it laying on the beach. All of us definitely got some nice color by the end of this trip! :)

That night, we went out to eat at El Avion (the airplane), where there was an actual bar inside a plane! I ordered some pretty delish red snapper. Pretty daunting at first, but once it hit my lips...

Afterwards, we went to a really fun bar, where it was the first time in CR that I got to hear Justin Timberlake!!! It was soooo much fun...especially because I met a really cute Tico there :) Unfortunately, I forgot my phone number! que tonta!

Haha this was the best pic of the night. The bay area girls trying to show Mo how to thizz face! Ahh, once again, another grrrreat weekend :)

Quick Update from Tercera Semana

2007-10-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we went out to Cuartel for Marion's 23rd birthday. The same band from the first time I went was there and I loved them even more this second time! Especially the one in the tight jeans haha. So of course I was jamming in the front the entire time, and lucky ol me just so happened to be chosen to come dance up on stage with them! I was so embarassed, but it was so hilarious and fun that it became the time of my life at the moment.

Then on Wednesday night, we went out to El Pueblo, the nighttime hotspot for the Ticans, where there are a bunch of clubs and bars centered in one compact area. Randi had her first tequila shots! Ohh, funny girl. After bar-hopping for awhile, we ended the night at a club where there were some studly dancing boy band boys up on stage!

Oops and there goes their shirts... haha it was definitely some fun, but most definitely gay, eye candy for us chicas.

On Friday, each of us were assigned to interview a couple of people about a certain typical CR dish, and bring some in for the class! Mine was gallo pinto, and I must admit that it was quite tasty what I had cooked (with the help of my tica mama of course) We had to do a mini presentation in espanol, and of course it just so happened to be the very day that our class was being filmed! It was just in order to evaluate our prof, so I don't know why they were up in our faces so much. Oh wells, I think I did pretty well and the delish potluck made the day all the better!

La Fortuna/Volcan Arenal

2007-10-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love this pic, although I can't take the credit for capturing it. This was where we stayed this past weekend...with Volcan Arenal in the back!

For our first ISA-organized excursion to the region of La Fortuna, we left at 6 in the morn Saturday, and I have no idea why, because where we stayed was absolutely incredible and all of us would've loved to stay an extra night. So that day was super jam-packed with various activities. First of all, we visited a park which consisted of various abstract creatures and things made from large bushes and shrubs, and all constructed solely by one old man. It was pretty amazing; and the place reminded me of a Dr. Seuss maze.
These look like they could be cute monster creatures playing around with each other.
Next we had breakfast at a cute little restaurant, then traveled through a windy road amongst gorgeous valleys and hills, and finally arrived at La Catarata la Fortuna. Wow, I don't think I've seen such a waterfall so BEAUTIFUL.
We had to hike down over 200 steep steps (and of course back up, which was quite a workout I must say!) in order to reach the bottom of the waterfall, where we were able to jump in and cool ourselves off in the refreshingly cold water.
Then we had lunch in a cute little town right by where we were staying the night, where you could see Volcan Arenal in the background!
We finally arrived at our hotel, and it was absolutely amazing. It was like a resort, with tons of pools and slides, and with huge rooms that were pretty much like our own villas.
What an amazing view of Volcan Arenal we had! Luckily, although it would've been cool to witness and see, the volcano is inactive right now, and it wasn't dangerous at all.
After we unpacked, we went to Baldi Hot Springs, the most relaxing, romantic and sensational place I've ever been to. There were over 20 pools, all varying in temperatures, saunas, water slides, and poolside bars!

It was amazing. Some even said they'd return there for their honeymoon!
After dinner at Baldi, we finally returned to our hotel, where we just hung out and got to know each other better. We even played "never have I ever," which to those of you who have never played, is a game in which everyone finds out some of your deepest darkest secrets, with the help of some drinks of course. It made me miss my TL babies!

Because that day was non-stop, I passed out pretty early, which was good though, because I needed to wake up at the buttcrack of dawn again the next day...to go canyoning down the waterfalls! It was the first time I had done it so it was quite nerve-wrecking, especially because the first one was a 165 foot jump!

After the initial jump though, it was soooo much fun! And at least we looked super cool in all our protective gear!
AND we had some really friendly (and some cute!) tour guides to help us through it all ;) The whole tour was definitely worth the money and getting up early for.
They even invited us to come party with them that night! Unfortunately, we had to leave with the rest of the group, although once again, of course, we didn't want to leave to return back to boring and gloomy ol San Jose!

Semana Numero Dos

2007-10-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

This last week was pretty mellow for me... I've basically just been attending my classes every morning, which isn't as bad as I had expected at all. I actually enjoy waking up early every day because it frees the entire day up for exploring around town, hanging out with friends, resting or cualquiere I feel like doing. I love my spanish class and I'm learning a lot, which is good, but my Marine Bio class is a bit boring right now...It's because at the moment we're learning about geology, physical/chemical features of the ocean, blah blah. I'm sure it'll get more interesting once we start studying the different marine animals in the ocean, not to mention our field trips! I've been attending the free latin dance classes the school offers as well, which are sooooo fun! We've learned the merengue, salsa, bachata, and cumbia so far, which I've definitely been putting to good use at all the clubs. And it is absolutely hilarious watching some of the gringo boys try to shake their hips!

Oh I forgot, I did feel deadly sick one night. Actually, it was morning. Starting at about 4am, I was puking my guts out and had to run to the bathroom all morn. Luckily though, I have my own bathroom! I must have caught some kind of stomach bug, but surprisingly and gratefully, I actually felt completely fine by that afternoon. So I'm all good now! :)

I went shopping at a couple of really nice malls, where I saw Bourne Ultimatum (2 for the price of 1 every Wed!), which was such a badass movie that I even had the urge to beat someone up! haha. One night we went out to a super delish peruvian restaurant.
I had fish of course.
Then on Thursday our school hosted their annual Dia de Las Culturas, which was a festival for Costa Rica's Dia de Las Razas (Race Day), a national holiday that not only commemorates Colombus' discovery of America, but also the fact that Costa Rican culture has been strongly influenced by the settlement and presence of Indians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. So there were traditional foods being served, live dance and music performances, such as this heartfelt one, which was performed by students from a special-ed school.

They also had a sexy lil belly dancing performance.
I wouldn't say it was the most awesome set of performances I've seen, but it sure beat sitting in an uncomfortable chair for 4 hours.

That night, we went to Jazz Cafe for one of my friend's birthday, where a really good live jazz band played.. in quite a romantic ambiance I must say. Dim red lights, candles everywhere, couples making out...
Then we went to Castro's club yet again, where we danced a bit, and then decided to make absolute FOOLS out of ourselves singing drunk karaoke! Someone even called out "basura" to us, which means trash, while we were up there doin our thang. haha, we totally deserved it though. We probably won't be showing our faces there for quite some time...

Historical Day in CR: Referendum on CAFTA/TLC

2007-10-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

Oct. 7, 2007 marked a very important day for the people of CR. They were able to vote Si o No on the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Before yesterday, it was the only country that had not yet ratified it. Unlike the other 5 countries that had already signed on, withOUT the votes of their people, the ticos were able to decide democratically on their future. Supporters of YES generally are governmental or corporation related, in favor of the U.S., while those against it are basically everyone else: environmentalists, universities, trade unions, the church, farmers, and those who are NOT in favor of the U.S. In this pic, the protestors are saying that CR needs to vote NO b/c Si would imply that there wouldn't be peace without social justice.

All the directors and professors told us to refrain from talking to any of the CRs about their opinions on the subject, as most of them are EXTREMELY passionate about whatever they are voting on. but that doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't observe this locura (craziness)! Unfortunately, I didn't return from my weekend trip in time to witness any of it live. But I definitely watched in on the tele.

Here are the results: Si won with just 51.6%. So you could see how completely divided CR is on this topic. It's definitely very cool that I was here/am here to witness such an important moment in this country's history. We'll see how differently things will be in the following months...

Puerto Viejo!

2007-10-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend was my first trip out of San Jo, one of my many mini vacays during my time here in CR. It was awesome...and I didn't want to leave! Look how beautiful it is there. So don't be surprised if you find me living there some day. We went to the CUTEST beach town on the Caribbean coast of the region of Limon, called Puerto Viejo, where it was so humid and hot that there was no point in me ever showering. So I didn't really. haha. But neither did anyone else, so it's all good! The bus ride there was about 4 hours long, which wasn't too too bad, since I slept for most it, but about halfway through it, you could tell how dramatically different the temperature was from San Jo.

The people there were mainly from Afro-Caribbean descent...the only music they listen to is Bob Marley! well and a few other reggae jams. All were super chill, friendly, and smoked ganja all day long! But when we were at one of the clubs, it seemed that a lot of them were on some other craaazy drugs. Maybe that's what allows them to create such beautiful works of art! Here are some of them. A wall painting of dancers in this one
And this is my friend's new smoking device, handmade.
We stayed in this place called Rocking J's, which was only $6/night to sleep in our own tents, first time for me in quite awhile, but was pretty much all that we would've asked for. However, I never really got any sleep because one, we didn't go to bed until really late, two because there was a freakin rooster that crowed from 3 in the morn until the break of dawn, and three, it was unbareably hot to keep sleeping past 8 in the morn. Oh wells, sleep is overrated anyways.

The first night we went to a cute little restaurant, where I ate the yummiest and freshest tuna that I've had in quite some time. I went with 9 other really nice, friendly and chill peeps, who I got to know pretty well this weekend. And here's the gang! It was such a fun bonding experience.
The next day, we laid out on the beach, snorkeled, went out to eat, and shopped around town. Here is me with my new amiga, Kate. The water was so incredibly warm and clear! But unfortunately, I didn't get to see as many cool fish as I had hoped.
and then later that night, one of my friend's friends invited us over to his house for a BBQ. It was so interesting hanging out with local Ticos, experiencing what the "party" life of the people living there was like. To sum up how crazy and hilarious it was, all of the gringo boys were caught with their pants at their ankles, having to dance around in circles!

All in all, it was a relaxing, fun and unforgettable weekend. I already can't wait to go back! And now I have to wake up early to go to class at 8 in the morn...

Mi Primera Semana

2007-10-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

So I've gotten through my first week of school fantabulously! Fortunately, having 4 hours of spanish for 5 days a week isn't as bad as I had expected. It's mostly a lot of talking with my other classmates about whatevs, we have a 30 minute recess in between hours, and every week I'm pretty sure that we will be watching a movie. This week we watched "Como Agua Para Chocolate," or Like Water For Chocolate, a love story set in Mexico. Latin American films are intensely dramatic and quite bizarre at times, but I enjoy them a lot.

Surprisingly, I have been eating sooooo well here. I totally expected to be eating rice and beans every freakin day. But no! I'm actually pretty darn spoiled and lucky because mi mama is a wonderful cook, having traveled all over the world and learned various cooking techniques. So she has been cooking me all kinds of foods. Here I'm eating my first empanada! It's a typical CR dish for lunch, a handmade tortilla filled with beans (and usually meat as well).
And here is another one of her yummy dishes. Fish filet and all types of veggies.

Yesterday I went with one of my classmates, Marion, to San Jose to try to visit el Museo del Oro for a mini class project. Unfortunately, it was closed, AND it was the rainiest and stormiest weather I had been in for quite some time. All of the Ticos were staring at us like we were crazy Americans running around in the rain trying to find our way around...but we had a lot of fun nonetheless :)
That night our school hosted a Bienvenidos fiesta for all of the students. There were dance performances, a live local band, and lots of beer being sold haha.
Later that night we went to a club called Castros, where we danced the night away yet again! I love this country! :)

Mini Tour of San Jose, Plus First Night Out!

2007-10-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon mi mama took us on a tour of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, and then today, we went on another one with our directors. It pretty much took less than an hour to see everything worth seeing and honestly, I don't think I'm ever going to come back to San Jo... unless I need to buy something, exchange money, or maybe go to their famous national theater, el Teatro Nacional. Pretty sexy it is.

Here are some of the chicas in my program...you ALWAYS need to carry una sombrilla because you may never know when it will start raining and for how long. (Usually though, it's hot and sunny during the day, rainy in the afternoon just for a couple of hours, and clear during the night...perfecto for going out to the clubs!). And apprently, October is supposed to be the rainiest month of the year! So I've been trying to buy some rubber botas, but no store seems to sell any! And for some reason, I haven't seen one Tico wearing any neither... Maybe cuz they aren't in style.. and boy do Ticos love dressing to whatever's in style. Even to go to school it's customary to dress up a bit. Well I guess I won't be wearing my sweats and sweatshirts everyday, like the bum (aka me) does in Berkeley..
And this is just to show that there are literally MickeyD's EVERYWHERE, en todo el mundo. Porque? No se.
So tonight was our first night out on the town! We went to a club named El Cuartel, where pretty much all of ISA was, tons of HOTT locals, plus a freakin awesome live band! Not only did they play the best kind of reggaeton, but they also played a bunch of Bob Marley, my FAVE! It was so crowded and hot in there, I probably sweated off all of my makeup. But I didn't care. The vibe and medio ambiente (environment) was amazing. And man, can Ticos move their hips! :)

Here are two of my housemates! Anival y Randi. My family already :)
This pic is hilarious. Typically, most Costa Ricans, although my lil Jackie is Nicaraguan, are 4 feet nothing, so I told her to stand next to probably the tallest woman in the club.

Unfortunately, after leaving this club, we tried to go to 2 others, but one was closed and the other one charged too much for all of us to get into. So I went home early. But it's all good, since I do have class at 8 in the morn! But at least now I know that CR isn't as dirt cheap as I had expected or hoped... And I will be prepared for next time. Which will probably be in 2 days. haha

My first days in Costa Rica!

2007-09-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

So first of all, I have wireless internet in my house. How cool is that? En Costa Rica, they say, que chiva! to mean how cool! So this top pic here is the first thing I saw when I arrived in Costa Rica. PURA VIDA is the motto of CR, meaning pure life! What a great motto to live by, huh? Anyways, so even though I got no sleep whatsoever during my trip to Costa (one, because I had to sit in the center seat and the guy sitting next to me was ALL in my grill, two, because the airport was freezing and didn't have any comfortable seats, and three, I was still on Cali time!), I nonetheless arrived in San Jose alert and excited as ever. After we collected our bags and passed through the customs, the ISA people were there waiting for us. I immediately noticed that one of the guy directors was really cute! In fact, just by observing the Costa Ricans (Ticos) at the airport, I could tell that most of the men were very good looking (the ladies as well). You could undertand how excited the other girls and I were :) So there are about 40 students total in my program, most of whom are chicas and either from the midwest or east coast. (Jamie, Rach and I are the only west coasters). Everyone seems so nice and friendly! I already know that I'm going to make some really good friends here. AND I'm not the worst spanish speaker either. ha.

Okay, about mi familia! Oh first of all, my roomie is named Randi and she's from Pittsburg. She's really nice but doesn't talk much. I keep telling her that she needs to at least TRY to speak in spanish, no matter how stupid she thinks she sounds. B/c that's what I've been doing! So the father is a waiter at a restaurant, which is a really good profession here in CR apparently, and he was born in Portugal. He met la senora while they were working on a cruise ship and they decided to move to Costa Rica because the cost of living is SO cheap. Plus, they love the weather and everything else in this country.

By the way, the flora and fauna was the first thing I noticed walking to my new house. This gorgeous red flower is one of the many BEAUTIFUL flowers you will typically encounter all over this country, even growing next to a pile of trash.
The weather needs some getting used to (it was raining cats and dogs when I arrived, and it was too hot and humid to even wear a jacket!), but even though I've only seen a small section of the country, I already love it! Anyhoots, los senores have a 12 year old daughter named Tiare, AND, this is so freakin exciting, la mama is pregnant with her second daughter! It's due in December, so I'll definitely get to be here to experience all the preparations and actual phenomenon of having a second baby sister! and I looove mi mama nueva already. She's only 31 years old, which is very young compared to most of the moms, so she's totally down to earth and understands the needs and desires of us chicas. We don't have a curfew, which is VERY strange for most Tican families, she respects our privacy, gives us suggestions on all the poppin places to drink and party, and loves cooking anything and everything, according to what our preferences are. (and you know me, I'm probably difficult to cook for, since I don't eat meat nor milk products. But actually, there IS quite a lot of variety for me). By the way, the food is AWESOME. Tonight we had the typical CR dish, a casada, which consists of rice, beans, fresh veggies and meat (fish for me). I really think I might get fat living here...especially since I'm fed at least 3 huge meals a day! Anyways, even though la mama is young, I could tell she's a great mom and she's been treating us like her own ever since we first met her! She loves being a housewife, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry and spending time with her family. AND she chooses to only speak to us in spanish, even though she knows english, because she knows how essential it is to our learning process. Her first impression of me was pretty entertaining. Just from the photo of me that she had previously received, she said with my beautiful hair and all, she thought I was going to be big trouble for her! Partying always, bringing home lots of boys, etc.. I responded saying it was only partly true, haha. But she did say that after she met me and got to know me, she could tell that I was a sweet and good-hearted girl. That made me happy :)

They also have a cute little dog named Camila. She makes me miss Cassie so much!

Okay now I'd like to mention that the house is freakin GRANDE. 2 stories, 9 BR, 4 bath, and there's this really cute outside (but with a roof) patio area where there's a big TV, making it the perfect spot for chilling out and reading. I have my own room, and even though it's super tiny, consisting of a simple twin, a desk and a few drawers, I do have my own bathroom! So i can walk around my room as naked as I please ;)

There are 3 other students living in the house as well. One is from Guatemala, Anival, and the other 2 are CR, both named Danny. I just met the guy from Guatemala tonight. He's studying architecture and attends the same school as me. He's going to take us to this one club tomorrow, which is only open mondays for some reason. I'm so excited to experience how the Ticans get down!

So this morning we had our ISA orientation, where we received all the necessary info for having the most fulfilled experience here as possible. But of course they also went over the many dangers and safety precautions for living in such a huge metropolitan city. One interesting thing I learned was that abortion and morning after pills are illegal here! but not to worry parents, haha. We also received info on all the excursions we will be going on, volunteer opportunities, and other extra curricular activities that are available for us (such as free dance lessons, cooking classes, sports, etc).

And here is my school for the next 3 months. Look how cute and colorful it is.
And then tomorrow morning, we will be given our spanish placement exam to see what level of proficiency we are at, and we'll also get to determine our class schedules. I'd like to be placed in intermediate, at least, so I need to study a little right now. So until next time, buenas!