Final Week of Session One

This week is the last week of classes for most of the Students in Puntarenas right now. About half of us are going on a Week-long tour of Osa in southern Costa Rica before we start classes again on the 5th.

It is shocking to think that this adventure is already about half over. My Spanish is a lot better, but not fluent. I have only kinda tried surfing once but I have more sessions planned. So I think I am on track for an amazing finish.

Almost everyone that is leaving wishes that they were staying longer. It is wierd to say goodbye and even wierder to think about new people coming. Puntarenas with brand new Gringos. The transition is definitely going to be interesting.

I have my final exam tomorrow in Cinema so we have all been studying. We went to a restaurant, I had a delicious pineapple  drink (tasted like drinking a pineapple through a straw) and watched the Soccer games. America won 1-0.

I had my last day of dance class yesterday my partner Sophie and I passed I guess haha. It wasn't too hard ;) but now we know Salsa, Merengue, Cubiana and Bachata.

 I did my final presentation for Eco Tourism today which was to look into my future and determine my opportunities to volunteer/ give back.

I passed the class but well my new future list includes being a Nanny abroad, engineering abroad, grad school, being a camp counselor in Costa Rica and well at least I have a list in excel now…

The last day of cooking class was a bit of a letdown, I think they are getting sick of my gluten free antics. I was so excited because we were going to make pasta in class…but they just bought mine. They made bread with a maple syrup glaze to go with it but I just got tortillas. But hey it was still good food and if compared to a different standard probably AMAZING!

         

Tomorrow is our last day at school with this group of kids. I hope to keep volunteering next semester but I have class at that time so we will see what happens…Pura Vida. 

Pura Vida

             Pura Vida is like the catch phrase of Costa Rica. It perfectly embraces their easy going culture. When things go awrye they just say Pura Vida and brush it off. When things are goinf great they say Pura Vida. This weekend involved a lot of Pura Vida. 

            The first alteration started when I arrived at school on Friday and everyone said grab your stuff booby (this is my new nick-name along with bovement, boov, the german, and boover) we are leaving at one. I had no real plans just to visit the beach and run some errands, I needed more bug spray I am already on bottle two.So I packed up my stuff  and headed to the bus stop. Pura Vida!

            We had a great ride talking about high school and stuff but the 1 and a half hour ride turned out being a 2.5 hour ride. Pura Vida. Of course it was raining when we arrived so we headed straight for the Hostel that our teacher told us about. I learned on this walk through San Jose that my second biggest fear is getting poked in the eye by an umbrella. It was like a nightmare every person, and there were a lot of people had an umbrella.

            We made it to the hostel and it was really cool,  the walls were all uniquely painted, it had stairs and hallways going every which way perfect for hide and seek. We had some trouble pay and getting a room together but eventually we settled. Pura Vida.

            The original plan was to catch a movie and go out to dinner kinda like a Date night with America. Once the plan was under way people however changes their mind and we decided to do a fancy dinner instead. We found a nice looking place owned by a hotel and headed in, this place was really nice. Stained glass windows, wood floor, and a super fancy waiter. I was happy I got a super delicious salad bar but no one else liked their food, pura vida.

            We then were on a mission for a store to get some ice cream/ desert and had a nice walk around the town. It was nice to explore it all empty but this all meant everything was closed. We meandered for about an hour and eventually gave up, the good news is when we returned to the hostel there was a 24/7 mart right across the street. Pura Vida.

            We spent the next day shopping in the big city. We went to this cool super market all indoors with all the touristy souvenirs you could imagine. The streets were line with shoe shops and clothing stores. Some people left for a mall in a nearby town but I stayed to explore here. We shopped until about lunch and hit up a taco bell  (Pura Vida), went to a small museum in the Historical Theatre and  then headed for the bus stop. We got to Puntarenas and ate at Mitobes,  probably the nicest restaurant in Puntarenas. I ordered a delicious chicken salad big enough to feed a family of four. Pura Vida.

            I stayed up late doing homework and catching up with friends from home but woke up early to go to Church with Annemarie and her family. I did however sleep through my alarm but was ready in time. Pura Vida.

            I was excited for church and new it was going to be an adventure but turns out is was way more of an adventure than I anticipated. We left around 8:30 and has to catch a bus, the church was in Miramar about 30 minutes away and Annemarie’s family is too big to all ride in one car. When we left Annemarie, her mom, and I were the only people on the bus, that was different.

            We got to the bus stop and had to walk for about 20 minutes to the church, it turned out we were in the mountains now and the church was this beautiful complex set back into the woods overlooking the cost of Costa Rica. It was nice to get a perspective like that. Pura Vida.

            On our way up the hill though we saw a funeral procession coming down the street, an ambulance followed by a hurse, then about 40 people on foot and a dozen cars. A 20 year old boy of the church had had a heart attack. I was very sad and church was delayed until 10:30.While we waited we played games like patty cake with Annemaries sisters.

            When the service started it was very excited to watch people and attempt to translate what was going on. Some of the songs even had the words in Spanish but we could sing along. This fun lasted for about the first 60 minutes of the 2.5 hours.  It was really weird to the children came up from bible school early and the general population was just talking during church. I could follow what the Pastor was saying but it was hard to collect significance when thinking so hard. The theme was lying and I know it is bad so I think we can call it pretty much good. Pura Vida.

            I was very thankful when it was over but was slightly antsy to get home for our family barbeque ( Unfortunately from the Spanish I did really actually know if there was one or when it was for sure) , but I wasn’t even close. We all piled into the family car and the three of us got dropped off at a bus station. Where we waited, and waited, and waited… for 2 hours. Some excitement did happen a homeless guy developed a crush on Annemarie and wouldn’t stop scooching closer to her and touching her so annemarie’s mom called the police after warning seven times, I also made fun with a little diva 3 year old, and a lady brest fed a boy who was old enough to walk. I was so thankful when I got home. I had missed the barbeque but still ate good. I was really bummed cause I was looking forward to having a social activity. It was a little harder but I eventually could say Pura Vida.

            The story ended up providing plenty of entertainment too. When we took our Sunday night ride around Puntarenas and we passed the bus stop my Padre asked me if I wanted to get on one to Miramar. 

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

In honor of Father’s Day I decided to provide a sneak peek of the book I am going to write and publish someday. It was originally titled “Stupid Things My Dad Says” but after a recent round of editing has been changed to the “The things my Dad Says” because of two main reasons. First he also says a lot of insightful and helpful things and now I can include those too and Second I now say a lot of the once dubbed stupid things. And I would never say stupid things. Lol

     1.      Excuses are like belly-buttons everybody has them but nobody needs them.

     2.      Don’t be a schmuck

     3.      Do what’s right and Do what’s best

     4.      You deserve to be head over heels in love. 

     5.      Stand up straight you’re a Boeve.

     6.      Dead Horse!

     7.      I couldn’t be better if I was twins.

     8.      Is your integrity worth _______ (fill in the blank with any questionable action)

     9.      I can’t I have a bone in my leg

*I was about 9 until I realized that I had a bone too.

Situational Phrases

Me: I am almost ready I just need to change my shirt real quick.

Dad: Don’t change I love you just the way you are.

      *Like is used in more informal settings

Stranger: How are you doing today?

Dad: I am finer than frogs’ hair.

Stranger: Burst of laughter while Me=eye roll

Cool Stranger: What up?

Dad: My hairline and my brother’s cholesterol. (If an acquaintance is near by their name replaces brother)

Me: Dad will you make me a sandwich.

Dad: (Points at me as if about to do a magic trick) YOU’RE A SANDWICH!

Person: Any probable question that the answer is not really know.

Dad: Licks his finger lets it dry in the air pretends to read it while giving a generic magic eight ball answer.

These are only the basics that I could remember on short notice and while being separated by a LOT of miles. (I tried to google map it but it said that it was unable to calculate directions). I know there are lots more entertaining phrases and good adive. If you remember some feel free to comment.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

The struggles of Living in Costa Rica

Now the beauty of this list is not only the realization that most of these struggles are of my own doing or lack of competence but also the conclusion that if these are the struggles then I am doing pretty dang well.

1. Even Clinical Strength deodorant can't keep the pit stains at bay
2. Everyone wants you to speak spanish
3. The toilet paper goes in the trashcan after use...
4. They don't drink milk
5. Packaged gluten free baked goods are non-existent
6. It rains the hardest when you forget your umbrella
7. Seven year old children play soccer like high schoolers so extrapolate from there
8. Language barriers do exist and therefore many things are lost in translation
9. The United States is far away
10. Everything is made of tile

The brightside
1. Every one is therefore sweaty always so you stand out if your dry
2. People here may speak perfect English but Puntarenas has the mind set that they want to teach us Spanish.
     but they are right that is the only way to learn.
3. Trying breaking that habit it is impossible, and I haven't really found an upside yet because if the wind      blows just right the entire town smells like an out house.
4. I miss it! But in replacement frescos, like fruity drinks, are a component of the meal. My mom has made freshly squeezed lime, orange, mango, and a bunch of fruit that I just smile and nod when she talks about. They are all delicious though.
5.No bread, cereal, cookies, crackers. My cooking class has been a nice little source of breaded type foods but just something else to get used to. I was however afraid to tell my madre all the foods I didn't like after I told her all the foods I couldn't eat. I now eat fish, shrimp, tomatoes, and cabbage. I also told my family here the story about how my dad pulled up all the cabbage because he didn't want to eat it. They laughed and laughed and now every time I eat cabbage they say that I should cook it for my dad.
6. Murphy's law it is inevitable, but the air is so warm it is nice to have an excuse to just walk in the rain
7. We have played several pick-up games with the locals and well I am getting better. They are pretty nice too about yelling your name pointing to where you should stand and then kicking the ball there.
8. One example... Collin is coming to visit the end of the month and I thought my mom was talking about preparing things (she offered to prepare him all my favorite foods) but she actually asked if he could bring things. Collin is now signed up to bring 4 pairs of Keds. I am really bad at saying no too...
9. With skype and facebook it is so easy to stay in touch but it is also so easy to see the United States without you. I guess I just want to make sure that it is know that I miss my family, my friends, my bed, the beach, the conference grounds and all the people there.
10. So it is all made of tile and then it is all went and then it is really slippery.

Costa Rica Wins

Costa Rica won today. Don’t get me wrong I still had a great day but it was just another adaventure. Last night I went to an Aerobics Class. It was in a ladies house with a whole sloop f Ticos. We jumped and kicked and danced for an hour and oh man I was soaking wet with sweat so that means today I was sore…this morning’s run was hard. Costa Rica 1 me 0.

The morning was mostly typical, we had our second quiz in cinema (unfortunately harder than I expected but still good), a stop at the beach, and a delicious lunch with Coconut Flan. I had to do a presentation on our daycare volunteering and it went very well. I was freaking out just a little when my partner didn’t show up till half an hour before class (Tico time... Costa Rica 2 Me 0). But then I remembered that we could use ENGLISH! It was a breeze.  Costa Rica 2 Me 1.

Dancing class Costa Rica 3 me 1, we tried cubian my hips just don’t move like that. It rains pretty much every day but of course it rains the hardest when you forget your umbrella Costa Rica 4 me 1. I knew I should have brought my rain slickers ;)

I then had the opportunity to go to church with my family it was the 8 year anniversary of the death of my padre’s mom. Costa Rica  (Or the 80 anniversary of her life… lost in translation). It was cool to see the cathedral and I had a great time watching but I think I understood 12 words. Costa Rica 8 me 1. The rest of the night was fun I watched soccer and minute to win it with my padres.

But I did get Coconut Flan at lunch and dinner today so I am going to call this one a win (Dad I got the recipe for you! Does that count for father’s day? Haha)

I also forget to say that this weekend I also saw two armadillos and husked and cracked open my own coconut. I also tried mamones which taste a lot like wild grapes but you have to suck them out of their peal. 

The Weekend of Walking

I couldn’t believe it was already the weekend when I woke up Friday morning I felt like the week had just started and I wasn’t rested for another adventure, but there was no time to dilly dally.

The day started out godo with Cinema Class, we watched the movie Nueve Reinas which is similar to Ocean’s 11 (my favorite movie) I would highly suggest this film too. I ate lunch and packed and headed for the Ferry. Most of the students had left already since they did not have a late morning class.

We walked to the end of the peninsula and rode the ferry from Puntarenas to the Nicoya Peninsula; it was a cheap/quick ride only $1.50 and one hour.  On the ferry with us was our Professor of Ecotourism and her family. We landed in Paquera and caught a bus to Santa Teresa a Surf town on the west side. Good news only 2/3 of us had to stand this time.

Austin, Me, Stephanie and Annemarie on the Ferry to Santa Teresa

We arrived in Santa Theresa just before night fall and the walking began… We talked to a boy from New Jersey who runs a hostel with his Sweden friend.  They said they could give us a great deal and it was just up the road, 5 km later we arrived just when the rain started to fall PERFECT! We dropped our stuff and immediately headed for food.

We ended up at an upscale(well upscale for Costa Rica all the silverware matched) sushi/fish shop. The sign also said beef and chicken but in my book Veal doesn’t really count as beef. Haha. I am also getting so used to the typical ease of gluten free in Puntarenas that I forget to ask when I go out now, thank goodness I remembered because I initially ordered the special to split with Anne Marie which ended up being breaded. Oops!

So after a lot more questions and instructions I found out that Cevchie was about the only thing to eat but still sounded delicious. It is also very popular here so we thought we would give it a try. And we tried and I decided it tasted like Tuna Block…and turns out it was tuna. Ceviche is a cooking style where you cook the fish in acid, it was like almost raw tuna. But once over the initial shock we both enjoyed it.

We then stopped by the store and headed back to the hostel. On the way back we luckily ran into all our other friends from USAC we all headed to our house to hang out. We had a great time but we returned to the dilemma of travelling with 20 people without a shared goal. At one point we were in a Taxi and 1/3 of the people were yelling to turn around 1/3 of the people were saying go on and a 1/3 were just watching. We couldn’t find a club that pleased everyone and walked up and down the strip (if you can call it that). Some of us finally just stopped at a beautiful place overlooking the ocean and walked the5 km and back to the hostel. We could hear the frogs croaking and saw crabs scurrying across the road. Everyone had fun.

As close as I got...but hey I look like I am having fun

In the morning we could really see the town, It was a single dirt road with hostels on either side. Half the people in the town were carrying a surf board and 4 wheeler or dirt bikes were the preferred means of travel. We grabbed breakfast (Avocado Omelet J) and headed to the Beach.

The beach was a blast! The waves were huge and so much fun. We walked and explored up the coast and I even tried my hang at surfing. I only tried about 4 times and was apparently in white water which is hard but I was glad to finally try. I am hoping to hire a real coach sometime soon.

Like Puntarenas there are Dogs everywhere, except here there
are more and they are all really nice and pure breeds. We had
the cutest Lab Puppy follow us to breakfast I wanted him to
come to the beach too!

We did however have some casualties at the beach while the majority of us were on our hour or so walk the tide came in. A flip flop and t-shirt are gone and two digital cameras are currently chilling in a bag of rice. Pray that they will dry out and work SOON!

After the beach we de-salted and trekked back to the bus stop. Some people stayed in Santa Theresa, we were headed to Curu a nature preserve for our Ecotourism class and other were headed back to Puntarenas. We all fell asleep on the bus and when our stop came we frantically rushed to get off. When we got off it was a big surprise a wooden gate and a large LARGE green field. I felt like we were not in Kansas anymore.

The Ranch

Usually you get of the bus and there is a bank, a tourist shop and seven people trying to sell you anything, this time we were all alone and it was nice. On the 2.5km walk into the preserve we saw a heard of cattle grazing, wild horses, dear (Yea chilling by a palm tree, Now I really couldn’t figure out why so many live in Michigan it gets cold and we try to kill them). We also saw a cage of protected Spider monkeys and a million more crabs.

At this reservation you were allowed to interact with the animals.

 The camp was on a beautiful cove. They only had solar power but there was a small store and souvenir shop. We listened to the presentation about the land which was started in the 1930’s as a sustainable hardwood and fruit farm. Unlike typical wildlife prevention this farm utilized creatures like the monkey to help grow healthy crops. It currently is a tourist location for Tortuga island, a cattle and mango farm.

Night Hike

This might have been my favorite night so far most of us went on a night hike to see the wildlife but ended up being the wildlife. We turned it into a tour where for some reason we all picked up Australian accents (some turned British) and wandered through the Jungle. I was the guide who spotted Heffalumps, whoozles, and dung of 

the kinnikanich beetle. I think all the real animals heard us coming miles away.

Monkey Snagging the Leftovers

Then we played group card games like Mophia and the Name Game, we were all exhausted and rolled into bed at 10:30!!! The lighting here in Costa Rica really throws you for a loop.

We woke up early to look for animals, Annemarie and I walked to a lagoon we mostly found mud but learned that the statement of a million crabs may have not been that much of an overstatement. The whole ground had at least one teeny tiny crab per square inch. We saw some birds and a Cuati, a raccoon meets swiper the fox kinda thing.

Most people headed back to Puntarenas or to Santa Tereasa if they didn’t go Friday but Annemarie and I decided to spend the day here. We hiked more after breakfast and saw lizards, iguanas, a crocodile and lots of birds. We returned to camp in time for the Monkey’s lunch time! This tradition started with the origin of Curu the only way out used to be by boat and boats would come near the camp to collect the fruit, the overripe or ruined fruit would be put in buckets and the monkeys started to come down and eat it. After the shipping stopped so did the fruit. The monkeys however were upset by this fact and pounded on the roof of the house until they were fed fruit.

So continuing the tradition we got to see a whole trip of Capoochen monkeys get bananas and then argue with a troop of Howler Monkeys about the situation. It was amazing!

We took a dip and headed back to the road to catch the bus for the Ferry. On the way back we decided who each glee character the students at USAC were with our teachers daughter. It worked surprisingly well, except they said I had to be Sue Sylvester. Haha.

We tallied it up and we think we walked about 20 miles this weekend I was glad to come home to my rice and beans watch soccer (Yea I am being converted…) and RELAX!

Saving the Scarlet MaCaw

I wanted to write real quick about my adventures on Thursday before I headed off for the weekend. This will be brief but hopefully I can add more detail later...

We got to play with the students again Volleyball although not my strong suit I think I was able to teach them something. I also taugt them nucomb, they would get demolished by the CRCG kids but they caught on. The teacher also loved it he played volleyball in college and didn´t want to give the kids a turn.


I also went to a sanctuary where they are rehabilitating foriegn and local animals. This was amazing it was like a zoo on steroids, most of the animals were rescued from homeswhere they were being mistreated.

They were also helping in rebuilding the Scarlet and Great Green Macaw population a.k.a. ther were like 30 some Macaws just swooping over our heads, one nibbled on my shoe. They were real strict about not interacting with the animals in order t not domesticate them but that just made it that much more amazing.

I have to run though to go catch the ferry to the Nicoya, for real how do I do school.