3 Trips in one week---how I like to live! :)

• On Monday 9/22, our Poverty & Human Development class took a field trip to Pavas, a relatively upscale area of San José that--ironically, but not surprisingly--has one of the worst slums. We arrived around 9:45ish at the Pavas Community House, then toured 3 different barrios (neighborhoods/ communities), El Relleno (the trash dump), [forgotten name] and Nueva Esperanza (new hope).  

1) The houses were in pretty bad shape, made out of extra wood lying around and corrugated tin, but the houses (we  got invited to awkwardly tour someone's house---very uncomfortable) had improvised or tapped phone services, electricity, running water, plumbing: the house we toured had a computer, stereo, television, fish tank and lava lamp! 

2) The worst parts of this squatter settlement were: the houses so close together, instability with which they were built (literally clinging on river banks), the drugs, the trash, the prevalence of diseases and sickness-causing  bacteria, and the fact that the people are living on the land illegally and thus cannot get any government assistance. 

3) The 2nd barrio was doing a lot of construction on its roads (through an area where houses used to be, whose families now have to PAY to rent a house when they don't have enough money to MOVE out of the slums), but this area was receiving some help from an assistance group. 

4) Then the 3rd barrio was the worst off in my eyes--it had no roads and a lot of the families had to move from their old illegal "homesteads" to new illegal "homesteads" because their houses constantly flooded with sewage. So they tore apart their corrugated tin shacks, moved the materials to the new location and hoped that their new neighbor was a strong man who could help them reassemble their house. Instead of being in the sewage valley, the new location was on its banks, with the earth just barely holding the houses on the ground. 

5) Our guide said that about 1/2 the families there are single female headed households with 6 or 7 kids--so there is obviously no opportunity to work for income & take care of household duties & raise your children right at the same time. 

6) There was a school where 500 kids attended per period, each morning, midday and late afternoon (making for a total of 1500 kids passing through the school every day. Overcrowded?) For this reason and the lack of parental supervision (due to trying to bring in money), a lot of the kids get into drugs or ne'er-do-well activities at an early age. To deal with the stress of wanting to provide for the family but being unable to, the parents, too, turn to drugs (paying with money that has been stolen from somewhere), so the kids grow up in a drug-infused situation, never learning the harmful effects, just that it takes away the pain temporarily. 

• Afterwards we had Spanish class where I eventually convinced Matito to trek downtown with me to fetch my package from the post office. I should have brought a map, is all I will say about that adventure.
• Prof. Q. wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so our 9-12 class ended at 10:30 and our 1-4 class was replaced by attending a guest lecture at U of CR on the American elections. It's humbling to know that other countries follow our elections so closely and with such interest--while we don't even know the current administration or how often the leader gets elected in other countries! The speaker was a professor from GATech who spoke about the electoral college, presidential and vice-presidential debates, Republican and Democratic parties and their nominations--new information for Costa Ricans, but middle school information for us (and I am not at all trying to sound like we know more than Costa Ricans--obviously on this subject we should since it is OUR government, and OUR lives the elected president will impact!) The most interesting part of the lecture, however, was that it was all in Spanish--and I understood most of it! I think, with some problems and a lot of thinking, I could rise to the challenge of having all my classes taught in Spanish. 
• Wednesday morning included a City Tour with the CIDH group, which turned out splendidly because we visited a lot of the places that I didn't but wanted to visit on my personal city tour last weekend. 

1) We started with the National Park, where we got the story of William Walker's attempt to control all of Central America. Walker was an American (from TN no less!) filibuster who made his way through the Central American countries, causing trouble (what we Tennesseans are best at, haha!) and eventually became the 6th President of the Republic of Nicaragua, Costa Rica's northern neighbor. He tried to conquer Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica, too; eventually Costa Rican troops led the Central American fighters in an attack against Walker. It began in Nicaragua where a young man named Juan Santamaría gained fame by burning down the fort in which Walker and his troops were stationed. Santamaría died in the process, but is still known as the country's national hero, with the main airport named after him and several statues of him around the country. Walker was eventually killed by the Honduran government (by order of the British Royal Navy.) You can read more about this crazy Tennessean's adventures. The National Park has a statue of 6 men (one representing each of the 5 Central American countries affected by Walker, with Nicaragua lying wounded in the arms of the others because it was where Walker did the most damage).

2) Parque España was next, where we saw cork trees ("Did you know there's a cork shortage?")

3) Parque Morazón, where Jacobo and I checked the supposedly-perfect acoustics in the rotunda. On my city tour I passed a building that said "School for Women" that I was curious about--was it a school for nurses during a war? Did it come into being just in time for women's rights and equality? But it turned out that it was the girls' entrance to a school that is housed in one of the two all-metal buildings in San José.

4) Parque Central and then we entered the beautiful yet intimidating  Catedral Metropolitana, a huge Catholic Cathedral with some major stained-glass portrayals of the life of Christ.

5) Then the Teatro Nacional,  a very fancy, ornate and almost gaudy building, that was built by European architects in a French-inspired style and was funded by rich coffee barons who wanted a place where they could watch operas, just like the Europeans. The coolest parts were a) there is supposedly a phantom named Diego, b) the floor raises up to the level of the stage to create a single-level dance floor, and c) the sitting rooms still smelled like cigar smoke and cedar wood.

6) We walked through the Plaza de la Cultura (aka pigeon-infested cement area. I always heard them called "rats with wings", but every time I try to say that, "rats on wheels" comes out,) to the Museo de Oro, or Gold Museum, underneath the Plaza . We didn't stay there very long,  but I wish I could have taken my time reading the descriptions in Spanish, because I certainly can't do it in a rush!

• Chicitico was sick yesterday so he spent the night here, and it made me so happy to wake up in the morning listening to the giggles and squeals of a happy child playing downstairs! On Monday an adorable new puppy was roaming about my house on her squatty little legs--Chicitico told me to guess whose it was, and I guessed that it was mine, but she was actually his, a birthday present named Nini. How precious, no?
• 9/26 Friday I woke up at 5:00 to catch the 6:30 bus to Monteverde Biological Reserve. The bus stopped for about 30 minutes in the middle of the bumpy, mountainside dirt road because a landslide (or something of the sort) was blocking the road. We arrived in Monteverde a little before noon and found the hotel at which we had made reservations, Sleepers Sleep Cheap Hostel in Santa Elena, which I strongly recommend. We explored the town a bit, and decided to go for a guided night hike (through Ecological Sanctuary) before dinner. We hiked for 2 hours through a pitch-black jungle scene, armed with nothing but flashlights and my Buzz-Off infused shirt,but--alas--saw nothing more than 3 wild female tarantulas. As it turns out, tarantulas' poison comes from their mixture of foods, and since one of those foods doesn't grow in Costa Rica, none of its tarantulas are poisonous. If you try this night hike, I would recommend NOT taking teenage boys as they are noisy and scare away all the wildlife. The guide was wonderful, and tried really hard to find things for us, but the singing and American sitcom-quoting was just too much for the ocelots to take. 
• Saturday morning we were up bright and early to do a 6:30 zipline (Extremos Canopy Tour) above the jungle. An amazingly fun and terrifying experience with handsome guides, a group rate and gorgeous views of the Monteverde floppy-eared cheese-producing cows below us that looked so tiny. After the first thrilling 16 zipline cables, there was a rappel line, then a frighteningly thrilling, almost-peed-my-pants free fall/ Tarzan swing. The last zipline was a tandem line (to provide more weight, go faster, and ensure that everyone reaches the end of the longest, 750m cable); Marcus was right behind me in line, so we went together and proved to be extremely aerodynamic. We had a homemade burrito lunch, toodled around Santa Elena, then made an afternoon decision to visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. If you visit Santa Elena, you will see a woodwork artisan's shop from the road (Artesania de Madera). Walk towards "downtown", turn left at El Romantico Restaurante and follow the dirt road until you reach the front of this store/ house where a very nice old man named Graciendo makes beautiful jewelry and sculptures out of wood, seeds, and leather. 
• Our hike through the Cloud Forest Reserve was nice and relaxing with beautiful views--and it got very cloudy very quickly! If you go here, be sure to hit it early so you can see animals and the views of the valley, not impeded by clouds. (Also the park only lets in 150 people at a time, so make sure you are one of those 150!) A cloud forest is very similar to a rain forest, except it gets its moisture from the clouds rather than from actual falling precipitation. Once again, we didn't see much wildlife (some iridescent Blue Morpho butterflies that surprise you when you see their brightness out of the corner of your eye), a few birds and an interesting looking centipede.
• FYI, I peed in the jungle :)
• While we waited for a taxi, I walked down the road and stumbled upon a free-admission Hummingbird Gallery, which ended up being quite a highlight of an already-highlighted day; there were 5-6 hummingbird feeders dripping with sugar water, and teeming with nearly 50 hummingbirds of so many different sizes, colors, patterns. They zoomed around, squeaking, careening close to my face and neck. (Think: toothpick flying at you at 60 mph). Such a breathtaking experience, such a simple pleasure: Mom, this is the main reason I wanted you to come to Monteverde, I think you would love the Hummingbird  Gallery :) Then a late-night chat session on the stoop of El Mundo de los Insectos (World of Insects museum), where Philippe thought the insects were throwing those rocks at him, Matito freaked out about a scary cat, and all the boys at some point peed on Insect World. 
• Most of our group left on the 6:00 bus back to San José, but the rest stayed until 2:00. Walked around the little towns, visiting artisans and little art shows and practicing our Spanish with the shopkeepers (visit La Luna Azul and House of Art for locally-made and beautiful art/jewelry/clothing). Brief freak-out when Matito's and my bus tickets somehow fell out of my pocket and I had to retrace my steps in the rain (and miss out on the cheese factory, where I was headed when I realized my pockets were empty), but we managed to reach San José safely after a 6.5 hour bus ride--ugh--where I sat beside a man with the hairiest arms I'd ever seen, and temporarily lost my shoes when I gave my seat to a man who'd been standing up the whole time. Back at home at 8:30, totally exhausted, for good reason.

I simply can't believe I've already been here for a month...

• Week 5 began with a Monday free of classes, September 15th,  ¡El Día de la Independencia! That's Independence Day, for all you readers :) I slept late since there were no classes and I wanted to rest until my body was ready to wake up--I had had a HUGE weekend. I headed downtown at 10:00 am (10 minute bus ride, shorter than normal because the streets were blocked off a few hundred meters in front of the pedestrian-only section of downtown to make way for the Independence Day festivities). I found a spot in the crowd with my camera and watched 2 hours of parades; the local kids, called Josefinas/Josefinos because they're from San José, marched in their snazzy little school uniforms, played instruments in their school bands, waved Costa Rican flags and danced to their school band's tunes. It was really refreshing to see everyone so excited for their country's independence, even though Costa Rica's liberation from Spain was really easily won--without a huge and bloody  battle, even! Regardless of whether there was a battle or not, independence from the colonizing European entity is still a BIG reason to celebrate. 
  
• September 16th held a field trip to Atenas with my favorite professor. Prof. Q. teaches both Environmental Group classes on Tuesday, (Rural and Urban Dimensions from 9-12 and Ecotourism & Conservation from 1-4), which makes it easier to have a field trip that lasts all day--we don't have to come back to school for another class, and he makes an effort to include aspects and lessons from both classes into the field trip agenda. I'm telling you, he's the greatest, always looking for the student to feel comfortable and learn at the same time (because it's hard to learn when you're not comfortable, as we all probably know!). So, Atenas is the Costa Rican town to which he returned (with his American wife) after doing his graduate work in Oklahoma. The guidebook I found in my house this morning (left by a previous student, thank you!) said that Atenas, a tiny rural community in the western mountains of Costa Rica's Central Valley, was voted by National Geographic to have the "best climate in the world." So that is their selling point, now, a slogan that can be seen on the backs of buses all around "town." 

Our first stop in Atenas was to pick up Prof. Q. on the side of the highway. In my guidebook I read about a really interesting-sounding school where we could learn about iguana-farming, which turned out to be our next stop,  way out into the countryside, ECAG or the Escuela Centro Americana de Ganaderia (Central American School of Livestock Farming, English translation). There we met our guides and began a tour of their dairy farm. 
1)"cow poopy" (Prof. Q.'s exact words) compost pile, where they use worms to expedite the decomposition process, the end product essentially being fertilized soil. They use this product to fertilize the fields where the cows live (to continue growing healthy grass), and in the garden where Agriculture students learn gardening techniques and the veggies are used in the school cafeteria. Completely closed cycle, just how I like it :) 

2) Dairy barn where twice a day they milk their 35 cows, 4 at a time. Through a gate on one side, we could see the cutest Costa Rican barn-hand I've ever seen (OK, so at this point I'd only seen three of them) feeding a baby cow with a bottle. I think that's what made me like him :) 

3) The baby cow nursery/ kindergarten where baby cows get weaned from their mommies onto yummy green grass (rather than grain and corn, like American cows. Cows' stomachs are not made to digest that stuff! See: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, this great website about cows eating grass, and--if you don't have a problem with seeing innards, this blog.) 

I'll just paste the info for you:  basically, as cows are fed grain, the pH level of their stomachs decreases (becomes more acidic), which can cause "indigestion, rumen stasis, dehydration, acidosis, toxemia, incoordination, collapse, and frequently death" (Merck Veterinary Manual, quoted in Fanatic Cook blog).  If you're not an animal rights lover and don't care about the livelihood of cows, continue reading to see how humans are affected: when the pH of a cow's stomach(s) drops to around 5.5, the bacterial protozoa begin to die, and dangerous E. coli strains begin to form (namely E. coli 0157:H7, found in the human-induced unnaturally acidic stomachs of cattle), which is more likely to cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and sometimes fatal kidney failure in humans.  (Nina Planck, NYTimes article, quoted in Fanatic Cook  blog). I'm not advocating vegetarianism or boycotting the consumption of meat, just the boycotting of the consumption of meat that comes from big commercial farms (you know the type, cows standing knee-deep in their own "cow poopy"--how can bacteria NOT proliferate?) or from a source whose practices you don't know. Anywho, continuing with the field trip saga (but I don't apologize for that little rant, it's important information for anyone who eats in today's consumer society!)

4) Next we tried two of the types of cheese that are made with the milk--these cheeses are sold to the farm's visitors, and served in the school's cafeteria. And might I add that they were delicious---and I do love cheese. I don't know if that makes it easier to believe me because I'm a "connoisseur" (haha!) or harder to believe me because I love almost every cheese...

5) After a short walk through a field with a really interesting tree, we came upon a wooden dock that extended out over a sludgy lagoon, about 15' above the surface of the water. We looked around for a few minutes and finally saw scaly, pointed heads gliding through the water--a crocodile pit. The school keeps these crocs for conservation purposes, making sure their species doesn't die out. In captivity, if there is more than 1 male crocodile, the males will fight to the death. So, this pit had 9 females and 1 male who was rumored to be 4.5 meters long (that means roughly 13.5 feet  for us non-metric users. Wow.) To continue closing the cycle, the crocs get fed the unusable portions of any goat, sheep or cow that dies of natural causes. This is not a hamburger farm, just dairy.

6) We visited the baby goats kindergarten area to play with, snuggle with, and pester the little goats, who are there to make it more farmy and to save on lawn-mowing costs. I don't think the goats provided much milk, but they do provide a lovely soundtrack (that incessantly reminded me of home, along with the soothing smell of manure and freshly cut hay--you only wish I was kidding about it being soothing).

7) Lunch at a yummy Atenas buffet across from a park

8) Then a tour of an organic coffee cooperative in the hills of Atenas. We got a tour of the grounds (whoa, no pun intended!), sampled fruit from the fruit trees that shaded the coffee plants, saw the processes through which the cooperative farmers pick, wash/soak/separate, sun-dry, shell, shell again and grind the beans, then we were provided with samples of the coffee and some homemade coffee-complementing goodies from the owner's wife. 

9) Prof. Q. was excited to take us to a spring fed, chlorine-free swimming pool in the area; when we arrived, though, the deep end had only 1.5 feet of water in it! It turns out that the pool gets drained every Monday so bacteria and yuckies won't grow in the water in the absence of chlorine. Since we came on a Tuesday it had not yet finished filling up for it's heavy weekend usage. Prof. Q. has promised that he will take us back there some time later in the semester :)

10)In addition to seeing the rural aspects of living in Atenas, one of the main reasons for going on this field trip was to visit the community center that Prof. Q.'s wife started, called Su Espacio (your space). It serves as a central location that offers dance lessons, martial arts classes, English lessons, etc. to the community's kids (or adults).

• Wednesday night held a funny time at Bar Rio where my friends and I each ordered mixed drinks based on their names along. I opted for the cheapest, a Miguelito (which is funny because I call one of my friends here Miguelito), there was a Cerebral Hemorrhage and all sorts of weird names. Most of them were terrible, but it was still hilarious.
• Thursday 9/18 was my mommy's birthday! I called her to sing Feliz Cumpleaños, talked on skype for an hour, then got a call from Dad. He didn't have a sound chip in the computer he was using, so I pantomimed--I'm sure that made the crazy American in McDonald's look even crazier. 
• Friday morning I woke up early to follow my previously-planned itinerary, which involved meandering downtown to get some much-needed Mica Time. I am good friends with almost everyone in my group, but sometimes you just need some peace and quiet--although it's quite ironic that I go to the capitol city to get my peace and quiet! Most of my journal entry for today is in Spanish, but I'll translate: I walked to the main avenue of the pedestrian-only section of San José, then climbed a hill to reach the Children's Museum. I thought it would be a great way to start because the exhibits would be in Spanish but at a child's level (which is about my level), but I decided such a colorful museum would be more fun with friends. So, I made my way back down the hill past the cute alphabet sidewalk mural and crossed over the Rio Torres that runs alongside the north side of the city. I explored lots of different streets, not looking for anything in particular, and most of the city parks; in Parque Morazón there was a big festival for kids with music and dancing. I received free entry to the National Art Center and another connected gallery, where I saw two exhibits on modern art and graphic design. Then I hit the National Library to wait out the rain, but decided to continue walking after a while because all that was available to the public was the reference section. I walked through the National Park and finally to the National Museum, which is located on the eastern side of town in an old military fortress (from before the military was abolished in the late 1940s). I tried to read all the exhibit descriptions in Spanish--it's amazing how tired that will make you! I walked through the room of Pre-Colombian gold; an exhibit on mosaic tile fabrication and design; a colonial house model with original furniture donated to the museum; Costa Rica's diverse population roots; Costa Rica's history; the impact of coffee and bananas on its people, environment and economy (provided jobs for people, did wonders for the economy, but any monoculture crop will bring soil nutrient leaching and other problems). Then I visited the secret garden, which had some butterflies in it, then some beautiful wooden sculptures shaped like different animals, a tour of what the military fort looked like (I'm glad I wasn't a soldier back then, tiny dormitories, tiny public bathrooms, crowded showers--hard life in general), and then I learned about the legend of the passionflower; did you know its name is derived from the Passion of the Christ, and that every section of the flower--including color--has a different meaning? If you visit the link, be sure to click continue so you can read the legend in its entirety :) It was a really long day, but I definitely enjoyed my Mica Time!
• Saturday I did wings, beer and football with Matito, and Sunday I attempted to use the internet at his house, watched some more football/ golf, and got walked to the bus stop in the rain. [long.week] 

"This is the coolest thing I've done today!"

Week 4 began like this:

• Apparently nothing happened on Monday or Tuesday because I didn't journal about it. I'm sorry you're missing out :)
  
• On Wednesday 9/10 we had another CIDH (remember, the program through which I'm studying abroad?) Experience Sharing Meeting where we talked about Culture Shock. After the experience sharing meeting, all the students have their own experience sharing meeting, just like we do every time we get together (read: gossip and weekend plan-making) and it was general consensus that we all felt great about being here UNTIL the Culture Shock meeting. It made us think of home and start to get homesick and experience culture shock. Thanks a lot, CIDH ;)
  
• Wednesday afternoon, my Current Environmental Issues class took a field trip to INBIO, the National Institute of Biodiversity. It's an organization that has taken upon itself the daunting task of finding, recognizing, classifying and studying any medical or other benefits of all of Costa Rica's biodiversity. We saw some cool movie/slide shows,  pictures can be viewed here, of all places. The best parts were the 6 foot bright orange iguana and the caimans (especially the one that kissed the turtle). 
  
• 9/11 At first I failed to realize, but then my class mates pointed it out as we waited in line at the San José Police Station (not because we were in trouble, don't worry!!) that today was September 11th. Some of their teachers had apologized that they had to have class today, but it didn't seem like too much of a transgression. It's just weird to think that it happened 7 years ago, although I'm sure it feels shorter (or longer) for some people. Every year, whichever group of people I'm with discusses where we were when we found out. I was in Mr. Sands' 7th grade Social Studies class at Santa Fe, watching people's worlds collapse on tv; he kept telling us "war is eminent, the world is going to end, we are all going to die." Encouraging words, I thought. Where were you? [moment of silence]
  
• That night I went to Curridabat and had a fresh ingredient homemade pizza night with the girls, then a night on the town in San Pedro (at El Sultan bar...interesting, to say the least. My cab driver was smoking weed as he drove me there, Matito got offered cocaine in the bathroom, my name was written on the girls' bathroom wall, and the DJ was spinning tunes on Windows Media Player), girl talk till 3:00 then up at 6:00 to catch the bus to Montezuma. 
  
• The 9/12 trip to Montezuma happened via bus to Puntarenas, ferry to Cobano, bus to another little town, then a 4 wheel drive taxi to the quaint beach town of Montezuma. I had forgotten how much fun riding a ferry was :) We spent the night at Hotel Lucy (I recommend for the beachfront location, the verandahs and hammocks, and proximity to "downtown" but NOT for Lucy and her minions.) Then some exploring, twilight yoga, and a night with 2 in a twin bed.
  
• 9/13 began with getting screamed at and kicked out of the the hotel by Loving Lucy and her cohorts-in-casualties, but we ended up having one of the best days ever. We hiked up Montezuma Waterfalls, through the waterfalls (because we missed the trail, but we didn't mind), found swimming holes and "bathing" areas, jumped off rocks, then climbed through the woods (practically vertically, I might add) to a huge waterfall that we swam beneath (it was 36 feet deep) and eventually pulled ourselves along the rocks to climb behind it, an activity that involved lots of squealing and exclamations of "this is the coolest thing I've ever done! No, this is the coolest thing I've done today!" Then we jumped in the water and realized that the group of locals on the beach had been videotaping us, which was strange. If you google or youtube "gringas behind a waterfall" you might find us ;) There was a little boy in a puddle who was catching freshwater shrimp using a stick with a fork attached--how clever :) After some beach time we went to a live reggae concert at a nearby hotel that we got invited to while beach-lounging. The music was great+ everyone was dancing +most were drinking +some were doing harder substances +we danced in the sand (mind blowing, do it if you haven't!), a beautiful evening +awesome band +absolutely amazing atmosphere= a super duper time in Montezuma. 
• 9/14 involved exploring the town, wearing my hair up with a chopstick I found on the road, buying used books at a...used bookstore (has anyone ever read Glamorama? I bought it and 2 Spanish books....it's rather strange so far). Then the afternoon bus back to Cobano and the ferry to Puntarenas, then the bus back to San José a taxi back to ULatina and walking the rest of the way back home. Exhausted, let me tell you.

SURPRISE!!!!! I'M A LIZARD!

• Got to talk to my family early on Monday morning. That includes Pippin, Bartok, Diesel, M, D, and K. K flies to France tomorrow for her semester abroad, you can check out her blog ici (means here in French). In class today my team won a pack of cookies for highlighting "red flags" on the Human Development Index, if that gives you any idea about the difficulty level of studies in which I am enrolled. 
  
• Tuesdays are my favorite class day because I have 2 classes with the same teacher, Professor Q., who is really nice and genuinely wants us to have a great time and learn a lot. He advises us where to go on weekends to see what, and is just adorable--Stash and I both admitted that we have MAJOR platonic crushes on him, heehee:) I say that because he let us have our lecture outside and took us to get coffee when it rained on us. Also, I got mistaken for a local, which was fairly--no, EXTREMELY--exciting. Today (9/2) he mentioned an opportunity to teach English at ULatina because it has a bilingual policy. Every year the local's classes get progressively more English, from the 1st year up to 1/2 of the readings in one class can be in English until the 4th year when one entire class is taught in English. To fulfill this policy they'll need native English speakers to teach--I never thought of myself as a teacher, nor have I thought that I would enjoy it much, but what an opportunity, to live in Costa Rica--or to simply return to Costa Rica! Thanks for the deets, Prof Q. :)
  
• Nicknames are really big here, and are usually given in a loving and endearing manner as opposed to derogatory (like calling someone fatty or a gringo isn't seen as mean here!) Regardless of how long your ancestors have lived "away from the home country", and regardless if the home country is Japan, if you have slightly slanted eyes, you will get called "china" or "chino". Chicitico and Medio (my host... nephews, I suppose) have both started calling me "Muchacha" (literally: girl) P.N. and M.N. lovingly tease me about being small by calling me señorita or chica--little lady. I feel like I fit in:)
  
• Wednesday (9/3) I limped home on one shoe because the damn rain made the damn sidewalk tiles outside the damn University so damn slippery that my damn shoe just ripped in half. I was seriously afraid of catching a disease, and some guy hollered "Hola preciosa" (hey precious) as I walked by. Could he not have offered to carry me home on his moped or brilliant white steed??
  
• Thursday (9/4) held a great conversation with my host dad, but one in which I noticed some of the machisimo (chauvinism) we'd been told to look out for. The Costa Rican culture is funny in that women are professionally equal and can hold equal positions and receive equal pay as men without judgement. But socially they are considered....not exactly men's property or inferior to men, but something along those lines. But maybe many Costa Rican men's perceptions of themselves are just fairly inflated and the women are self-conscious (which leads to a lot of comments like "wow, what is she doing with HIM?") After our conversation, P.N. said in his adorably accented English "I like the way you are, Mica. Never change." 
  
• On Friday (9/5) I woke up early to catch the bus to Playa Nosara with some friends, but we waited on another friend (who never showed) and ended up missing the bus--luckily busses leave every few minutes to go somewhere, so we hit Playa Hermosa on the Pacific Coast. The mountainous drive was really beautiful out the windows, and the cutest baby was sitting in front of me. We arrived in Jacó, caught another bus at the "bus stop" (also known as Pizza Hut), and got dropped off in front of someone's house as Stash's seatmate told her we were at Playa Hermosa. After traipsing around we finally heard (or smelled or saw, or maybe all at once) the expansive black sand beach and knew we were in the right place. We stayed at Cabinas las Arenas, which I would definitely recommend to anyone, although Playa Hermosa is a world-renowned surf beach (for that reason I would recommend it to any single female.) The waves were huge, we played, drank and met Markel from Cuba, hit the weirdest bar I've ever been to (foozball-turned-DJ table, strobe light and no one dancing, just 7 guys sitting at the bar). We got back to the hotel and walked in on some girl just realizing that her car had gotten stolen from in front of the hotel. Eeeep.
  
• Saturday 9/6 found us swimming in the extremely strong current while Philippe surfed (in the waters in which 2 guys apparently died on Monday. Eeeep). After some beach time we hiked through the mountains on an old zipline trail and saw some great big spiders (don't worry LeGrand, I didn't take pictures!) and some adorable black and green poison-dart frogs, of which there are pictures. The main road gave us a show of monkeys, then a beautiful view of the beach from above. When we returned to the cabinas to frolic, we found out that aforementioned-girl's car had been found in the mountains burned to a crisp. Eeep. Nell thinks Markel was trying to buy me from Philippe by giving him beer and cigs every time he saw him; he  told me I was "una señorita muy bonita, más bonita que una floresita, una estrellita, una mariposita." (A beautiful young lady, prettier than a tiny flower, a tiny star, a tiny butterfly). I didn't fall for the Latin lover phrases, but geez Spanish is such a beautiful language. We watched the fútbol game at the owner's apartment, watched the sunset, then Philippe and I snuck into the hotel next door's pool to skinny dip. Shhhhh ;)
  
• All weekend since we were on a budget, Stash and I ate several meals just picking leaves off a huge head of cabbage that continually froze in our tiny refrigerator. The only other things in there were our beer and my blackberry jelly, which allowed Philippe and I eat cereal-and-jelly sandwiches----surprisingly delicious!
• Sunday we left Playa Hermosa in the afternoon, though I think Philippe seriously will live here someday like he said he wants to. While we waited for the taxi, a lizard popped out of the drainage grate in the restaurant and scared us all to death. When I arrived home, I ate an early afternoon dinner, then said I was going to shower and rest; my "rest" ended up lasting from 5:15 in the afternoon until 7 the next morning when my alarm went off!
  

Unanimously Voted the Best-Day-Ever on the Caribbean Coast

The following retro-post is from Week 2, August 25-31. I will try to make it semi-short but very sweet (who does this sound like? Yuk Yuk Yuk)

• My classes began on Monday the 25th, and my schedule is as follows (in case you are interested in knowing when I will NOT be online...any other time is up for grabs!) Monday 9-12 Poverty & Human Development in Latin America, 1:15-3:30 Spanish. Tuesday 9-12 Rural & Urban Dimensions of Sustainable Human Development, 1-4 Ecotourism, Conservation & Local Development. Wednesday occasional Experience Sharing Meeting from 9-12, then 2-5 Current Environmental Issues in Latin America. Thursday 1:15-3:30 Spanish again. 
• FYI, Costa Rica is in Central Standard Time, as it is so close to the Equator that sunrise and sunset vary very little (usually 6am and 6pm or earlier) and it thus does not "celebrate" Daylight Savings Time.
• During Spanish class we had a placement exam, where--despite having only taken 2 semesters in my life--I placed into the Intermediate II class, the highest level they teach in CIDH. My goal is (and all my teachers and my host dad assure me it will come to pass) to be fluent by the time I leave in December. I have a lot of work  to do, but am so grateful for the challenge of being in this class with people who have studied Spanish for 6 years!
•  Showering before breakfast EVERY DAY is a cultural norm here, so I will have to get used to that (laugh it up, Bryan and Hollis.) Today my mom enlightened me with "Um, I think it's a cultural norm in the States, too." Oh come on, you can hit the hippie harder than that!! HaHa:) 
• I hung out with my 4-year-old host nephew, we'll call him Chicitico. He and I played some hiding games, he introduced me to Alejandrito, his little turtle, whom he fed and allowed to walk on the couch. Then we took pictures of things, and he gave me a kiss on the cheek before we napped together on the couch. He is sort of spoiled, but gosh what I wouldn't give to have some sort of young person in the house.
• I found nearby internet access at McDonald's, where they serve a burger entitled the "McNifica" (English equivalent: The Magnificent). Oh how clever. On my way home I saw my first mice/rats, which got me pretty grossed out. They are the only thing that disgusts me...should I be posting this where the whole world can see? Anyway, you would know if you saw my reaction to some parts of Ratatouille....[shudder]
• I'm getting a ton of much-needed practice from speaking Spanish with my family. I'm progressing really quickly--soon I will be able to talk to people my age and maybe make some Costa Rican friends, hooray!!
• Weekend 2 was spent in Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean Coast. We stayed at an awesome hostel (Rocking Js if you ever find yourself in the area), slept in hammocks on the beach, listened to live music (and our guy friends singing My Heart Will Go On), jumped on a trampoline in the rain while intoxicated (such a good idea, why hadn't we thought of that before?) then chilled on the beach with some speakers and stargazed--there are literally twice the amount of stars here than can be seen at my house in the country in the US. Wow. We were worried that the daily afternoon rain would bring cloud cover and hide the stars anywhere we went, but we were (thankfully!) wrong, at least for a little while. And we told ghost stories, to top it off. Ask Amanda about her ex-boyfriend's sister's ex-boyfriend who was Haitian. It'll freak you out.
• 8/30 was Unanimously voted the best day ever (you can see the photo album aquí). We bussed to Cahuita National Park. There we saw monkeys, snakes, leaf cutter ants, Creepy Springs (which just begged to have a horror film made about it), a sloth (the worst sloth ever because it was moving so "fast". Check him out yourself), dodged half-eaten fruit thrown at us by the monkeys, skinny dipped in the Caribbean at midday (how many people can claim that?), found out later that there were caimans in the water-haha! trekked through creepy looking lakes, then 2 km back to  the "town" of Cahuita where we ate a Caribbean dinner (no plantains, what?!) then (terrible) live music, an invitation to Bocas del Toro (the gringo band goes every 3 months, for obvious reasons), then some more tunes on the beach, some beer, and lots of bonding. 
• Slept fairly well the next few nights because I was not in a hammock---nor was that un-hammock full of sand when I woke up in the morning! Tried to go to San Ramón to meet up with Tom the Brit for the Cow Festival (my favorite animal!) but had no information whatsoever and no way to possess such info, so I had to forego the great fun times at San Ramón. But it meant less money spent and more time on the Caribbean, so I ain't complaining:)

Week the Uno in America the Central

Thus far in Costa Rica I have: (to make this shorter I will roughly categorize the events into the weeks in which they occurred) Week 1, August 18-24, 2008.

• Very smooth trip here, no hassle in Miami airport (that's a first!); caught my first glimpse of Costa Rica outside the window, green sprawling fields, trees, rivers--I couldn't wait to explore!
• My host family consists of my parents, madre nueva, (M.N) and padre nuevo (P.N.), and 3 host brothers, a host sister and 2 host nephews, none of whom live with us (and most of whom I have met). We also have a blind dog named Sweetie; I like to stand in the kitchen really quietly and watch her bump into my leg before finding out that I'm there. One day she fell down the stairs (but she's ok, no worries)
• I live in Vargas Araya, a small "neighborhood" in the San Pedro suburb of San José, the capitol of Costa Rica. My address is (the addresses here are so funny) "25 meters north of the spare parts store". Some people actually live "150 meters east of where the church used to be". Yet, the taxi drivers know where to find it! My classes are at ULatina, which I thought was a 10 minute walk from my house, but it turns out to be somewhere between 5 and 7. I lucked out :)
• My first full day here I toured downtown San José with M.N. She took me to the sprawling supermarket, pointed out major landmarks like the National Theater, and we visited the hotel where P.N. works--the electricity was out when we arrived, which is apparently not uncommon here!
• I've discovered that people honk  their car horns all the time here. When they pass you on the left, if a cab driver sees a fellow cab driver, if they know you or want to get your attention, if you're standing on the corner and they want to "ask" if you need a ride, if they think you're sexy, if it's 5:11 on a Tuesday, etc. (That last one might be an exaggeration...)
• Although San José is a fairly dirty or grimy place, I love it here and think it is absolutely beautiful--to use Merijoy's words, "in its own forgotten way." There are parks full of green plants and amphitheaters, gutters overflowing with trash, it rains every afternoon and the broken or nonexistent sidewalks are slippery with water and motor oil, there are rats that I don't want to think about, and always some strange smell--but something on my walk home smells absolutely amazing, like someone on the second floor is constantly  baking. And I want to find out who they are and whether I can have some cake.
• The national beer, Imperial, is pretty good and fairly strong--my host parents took me out for a celebratory cerveza my first night here, and although I will not say I was actually tipsy, I was definitely happy but couldn't remember any Spanish.
• There are 20ish students in the group I am with (CIDH, International Center for Sustainable Human Development), and they are all pretty cool so far. We had our orientation at La Catalina, a mountain resort convention center with a beautiful view of San José, especially at night. Then we hiked around La Paz Waterfall Gardens and saw their monkey, bird, hummingbird, snake, frog, orchid and butterfly (my favorite one) exhibits. It was nice to be guaranteed to see some wildlife at least once while I'm here! Pictures of La Catalina and La Paz Waterfall Gardens aquí.
• I went to a nearby bar with Joe and Phil from the group one night, and it's a good thing we went to the one M.N. had suggested because our other choice--right across the street, Acapulco Bar--burned down while we were inside Ciros. 
• Sunday the  24th I woke up at 5:30 and met some friends in town to take a whitewater rafting trip down the Pacuare River near Cartago (S/SE of San José). The trip was amazing, classes 1-4 rapids, great guides, cold water, exhilarating with some relaxing parts, a lunch stop, swim stops, all the while in a jungle valley where you can see iguanas and three toed sloths (no ocelots this time), and tiny poisonous frogs. We went with Aventuras Naturales, a carbon neutral excursion group that was fairly expensive ($100+) but included transportation, rafting, breakfast, lunch, guides, equipment and transportation back to San José. I would definitely recommend this company! Picture aquí and some videos: that time I thought I was dead, playing in the water, and how rapids look up-close (said in an Australian accent).

*Another Severe Clear Day*

My Uncle Billy calls days like today "severe clear" where the sky is completely cloudless, and so blue it almost hurts your eyes.

This week is camp-free at Timberlake Farm because of the holiday this weekend. I didn't realize it, but my body and mind could really use a break from being a camp counselor! So, to fulfill the minimum weekly garden intern requirements, I am working 6 hours in the garden this week. I gave myself Monday off and planned to work 2 hours for 3 of the remaining weekdays, but Tuesday morning was so cool outside that I ended up working 3 hours without even realizing it! I mostly weeded the beds; the sunflowers that Sandy and I planted are HUGE! They were just "born" in April, but they are easily nearly 7 feet tall already---I like to think it's because I sang to them and weeded them as seedlings:)

I'm finished with my online Economics class and made a far lower grade than I wanted, but I'm so glad it's done! Now it's time to get caught up on my journaling, scrapbook a little, find some buttons for my sewing project (putting straps on my picnic blanket in place of the broken zipper) and RELAX. It will be nice to  come home from a long day of camp and not have to do homework!

Those of you who know me know that I hate to be cliche'--and at the risk of sounding cliche', I realized during my severe clear gardening days that this summer is going to be a real growing experience for me. I am working amongst spiritual naturey people at the Center who care so much about the people they encounter and who seem to exhale love and passion: it comes naturally to them! And we all know that kids are so insightful, some of their questions or responses have simply blown me away. I'll never forget Sandy's story about Quinnie, a previous camper, who stopped short in the middle of a trail and whispered "Miss Sandy, can you hear it?? Can you hear the earth's heart beating??" Precious, absolutely precious. Between working at the Center surrounded by so many wise souls and living by myself, I know that I'm really going to learn a lot about Mica.