Orientacion

So, just returned to mi casa (literally half an hour ago) after two amazing days of orientation with the ICDS crew. Great way to spend day 3 and 4 of my time here in Costa Rica.

Dia Tres (Enero 15)

On the top 5 list for worst sleeps of my life...not exactly sure why! I took my second antibiotic for my sinus infection and everything was draining, as I mentioned before, so I of course I ran out of toilet paper in the middle of the night because I was using so much to blow my nose and had no idea where I could locate another roll of TP without waking up my host parents. Ironically, my dad asked me before I left for Costa Rica if I packed a handkerchief. I looked at him with an "are you serious?" kind of face, thinking he should know by now that I think handkerchiefs are quite gross (little pieces of cloth that you snot into all day long and keep in your pocket, not for me!). However, he would not take no for an answer and put one in my backpack...guess what I used to tide me over until I could get some more TP in the morning? Hah.

Anyways, along with the snot, my mind would not turn off and I think the three hour accidental siesta threw off my sleeping pattern. I remember birds beginning to chirp around 5:00am and before I knew it, it was time to get up for orientation day at 6:30am!

I took a quick, cold but more tolerable than yesterday's, shower before breakfast (scrambled eggs, ham, and hash browns with mixed fruit cup, toast, and tea). Even though I am the closest (with the exception of my neighbor, Hannah) student to live to the ICDS office, I was the last one to arrive, and I was late..I must be on tico time.**side note, Hannah's host papa is my host papa's brother!**

As I arrived to the start of orientation, Luis (student wellness director at ICDS) had already begun his speel. I quickly dropped my stuff inside and we started off for our la Universidad Latina tour. Luis showed us where to print/scan stuff, the cafeteria, our classrooms, the bank, etc. while all the locals stared at the new gringos, then we circled back down to the ICDS Office, grabbed our things, and got in the van to head to Cartago for orientation!

The drive to Cartago was only about 30 minutes, give or take traffic, and I took those minutes to catch up with Ilana who I hadn't been reunited with until now! As we arrived at the gates of Escuela Social Juan XXIII (where we would be spending orientation day and the night) I immediately noticed the incredible view. The old religious center was located on top of a hill/mountain overlooking the entire city of Cartago, very beautiful, very secluded, very peaceful - my kind of place. We exited the van and started walking to the back of the property where our ICDS orientation room was located, and I felt that I should have been instructed to take an oath of silence as I left the bus.

The property gave off the feel of a rehab center where people go to rediscover themselves. However, we were not in a rehab center and quickly moved to the large field at the center of the complex, introducing ourselves to one another by tossing a tennis ball around.

Tennis ball tossing was followed by a cafe break (the first of many throughout the day, Costa Ricans love their cafe), which was followed by an exercise in groups where we read the local newspapers and cut out things we found interesting to present to the rest of the group (some things I learned were that Costa Ricans probably care more about USA popular culture than Americans do, indigenous Costa Ricans did not gain citizenship until 1991 *terrible*, Costa Rica is known for sex tourism *also terrible*), which was followed by getting our local cellphones and room keys for the night, and then we were left to our own devices until lunch. Jean and I were assigned as roomies, so we went to drop off our things (where we passed a large statue of Jesus in a seashell - in hindsight I wish I had a picture to go along with this post, it was interesting) and went straight out to embrace the incredible view.

Way too many photographs later, we walked around the property with a few other students, looking for some horses I thought I had seen while we were tossing the tennis ball around during introductions. Soon it was time for lunch (salad bar, vegetable soup, and other yummy things I can't remember) and everyone was getting to know each other further.

Back to the classroom after lunch but it was too warm so we shuffled back out to the shade where Luis told us we were about to get very uncomfortable with the next activity we did and to tuck our shirts into our pants (which was very hard for me to do considering I *of course* was wearing a crop top and there was nothing to tuck), everyone looked at one another horrified, thinking we would be getting very up close and personal with one another. However, turned out we just broke up into teams and each had to jiggy a coin down the top of our shirts to the bottom of our pants and the team that did it the fastest won candy...no problema (we didn't win - skinny jeans suck). It was quite hilarious though as some of the coins were momentarily lost in people's clothing.

Once we were all done with the coin adventure, we were taught and practiced proper greeting etiquette (hand shakes, hugs, and kisses on the cheek), and proper bus etiquette. We were joined by a wild dog, who was so incredibly adorable but we were told not to touch (if you know me, you know I LOVE dogs and was very hard to resist).

Another cafe break. Back to the classroom for meeting with the other ICDS directors on the Academic Policies and our NGO assignments. I was assigned to Molinos verdes de Moringa, which is a network of urban gardens based on permaculture (SO EXCITED). Five other students were assigned the same NGO and we will be working in pairs across three different gardens - our first day is the 30th, so I will definitely be writing a post that day to let you all know how it goes and what we will be doing there!

After the assignments, we were given a little break before the start of our Latin dance class at 6:00pm. Naturally, I rushed back to the room, grabbed my camera and headed for the side of the property with the view.

My second Costa Rica sunset was simply breathtaking. I couldn't believe more students didn't come out to watch! Once the sun was over the hill and the colors began to fade, I noticed I was getting some visits from some friendly locals (mosquitos) so I went back to my room to douse myself in bug spray. Got some more cafe quick then headed back out to the hill where everyone gathered to watch Cartago's sea of shimmering lights in the valley before our dance class.

The dance class was so. much. fun. but also, I was so. very. sweaty. For some reason, I got my father's sweat glands and seemed to be the only one practically dripping after the class. We learned a bunch of different dances, all of which I forget except for the salsa. Partnering was fun (I felt bad for my partners cause they had to touch a sweaty mess), because everyone in the group is a female except for Kipp/Chris. At 8:00pm we took our Salsa booties to the dining hall for la cena (choice of chicken or beef, mashed potatoes, squash, potato salad, and key lime pie for dessert). My table had a very interesting discussion about piercings and tattoos, and as it got later and later we realized the kitchen staff wanted to close up the building. So, we all headed for our cabins and bid each other "buenas noches". Jean opted for getting a shower, and I was thinking I would do the same, until she and Katie both said it was one of the coldest showers they ever took - at that point I realized I could deal with being smelly. Although I tried avoiding the sun for most of the day, I still ended up with a bit of a lobster face :p (but it wasn't bad at all considering I forgot to put on sunscreen!)

Dia Cuatro (Enero 16)

Second worst night of sleep..."woke up" (In quotes because I can't say I fully fell into a deep sleep at all throughout the night) to pack up my things and get ready for breakfast/the day around 6:30am.

I had decided the night before that I would not be attempting to take a shower, so all I had to do was throw on some clothes, make sure my hair was decent and that I didn't leave anything left behind in the room. Jean and I walked out to breakfast, passed the Jesus in a seashell and joined everyone else who had already arrived for desayuno (fresh watermelon and mini bananas, scrambled eggs, rice, cheese, and of course cafe). After we all finished and all applied our sunscreen for the dia, we loaded up the van and sadly said goodbye to Escuela Social Juan XXIII.

We had about an hour journey until we reached our first destination, so I spent most of that soaking up the landscape.

Our tour guide (who's name is escaping me at the moment) quizzed us on geography along the way to Parque Nacional Tapanti (una selva - a rainforest). Through our guide, I learned that pineapple, peanuts, chocolate, potatoes (this one surprised me), tomatos, and many other things originated in Latin America. Once we came to the parks entrance, we exited the bus and walked along the road for a bit, admiring the rainforest surrounding us - large ferns, moss growing everywhere.

We came to a trail where our guide took the lead, pointing out plants that we could eat if we every got lost in the rainforest *and plants that we should definitely not eat*. 

About a minute into the trail, it began to rain (Note - it is always a good idea to bring a rain jacket to a rain forest. Luckily Hannah had warned me earlier in the day and I brought mine! Other students were not so lucky). We came to a river crossing where we spent a good bit of time literally soaking up nature!

Once everyone finished with photo opps, we put the gears in reverse and exited the rain forest. Back on to the bus, we drove up the mountain a bit more to take a look at a waterfall in the distance. Another photo opp down, drove a bit more to turn around and head back down the mountain.

After we stopped to get a better look of the waterfall and take a final bathroom break before going to lunch, Emma told us that it was only approaching Noon...I couldn't believe I had done so much in the day and I would have just woken up if this were a week ago (Yes, I was nocturnal a week ago).

We ate lunch at a local restaurant in Cartago (also never asked the name - I need to get better about this). I had a very yummy grilled Sea Bass fillet, with french fries and rice. 

More bonding with my fellow ICDS folks, and then we were en route to visit two iglesias (churches). The first was the oldest colonial church in Costa Rica, where the property was outlined with beautiful, gigantic hydrangeas, orchids, and birds of paradise.

Also, a great view of the mountainside. 

The second was La Basilica de Los Angeles - such beautiful architecture (sadly, a local committed suicide in the church a few days prior to our visit).

The bus arrived back at the ICDS office at 3:45pm, said a quick "Chao" to my fellow students and walked across the street to my home! Greeted mi mama, and she quickly halted my plan of taking a shower due to low water pressure, "no se por que pero debe esperar" = sad Jenna. So I guess I will just have to be a tad smelly until the water pressure goes back up! No problema.

Sitting back in my room, I definitely didn't miss the sound of the train passing by my window, but luckily it is (somewhat) akin to the ambulances in New York so it does not bother me too much.

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So the water pressure came back before I was able to post this, and hallelujah!!! HOT WATER. Granted I have to put it on practically drip setting so it takes a bit (a lot) longer to get the shampoo and conditioner out of my hair, but so excited! Thanks to whoever told me this trick at orientation!

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Also ate dinner before I got the chance to post this! Dinner was awesome. Apart from the yummy food (fried pumpkin con carne wrapped in an egg, cantaloupe and rice of course), I feel like tonight was a major bonding moment with my host mama. Usually she is very nice to me, but tonight was extra special because she noted how quickly I am catching on with speaking Spanish (no pro yet, but tiny feats are noticeable when you do not know how to speak any) and she was smiling a lot more than she has in the past two days I've spent with her. Plus, after dinner we watched a bit of a Costa Rican television show while I washed the dishes and helped my host papa with his English. I am a happy camper! Time to watch some Grey's, study some spanish, and go to bed. Tomorrow hopefully exploring downtown San Jose with some other ICDS students!

Until next time...mucho amor!