Mural, Ferias Verdes & Mas!

As I sit here eating one of the many manzanas de agua that I bought at the farmers market, with sunshine flowing into my room from the backyard and the sound of birds tweeting accompanying some soft tunes, I feel extremely fortunate. It is crazy to think that this whole experience could have very easily not happened. But it has, and I am here, and I am loving every second of it.

My Backyard view from my bed.

Febrero 14 (continued)...

Everyone always compares how to pronounce my name to llena (meaning "full"), which is very fitting because I eat A LOT folks. I was especially feeling it on this day, my host mom made some sort of chicken enchilada casserole out of the leftovers from the night before, PLUS a (large) bowl of french onion soup and salad.

Had a very lazy V-day, watched "On the Road" and relaxed.

Febrero 15

Woke up around 9:00am. Ate a quick breakfast, worked on some Spanish, and took a shower. My mama told me they were going to go to her sisters' house to have a little birthday celebration for Cali, so I told her I would like to join. Around 12:45pm, she let me know that her and my papa were heading down but that Nati and I were going to run to the store first and then meet them there. This was my first outing with Natalia alone! Went well, chatted about her job and I asked her about places I should visit while I am here. I also learned that she was not a fan of slow drivers!

I was a bit confused on why we were going so far to get to the supermarket, but then I realized she had to go especially to Walmart to pick up concert tickets she had reserved via telephone or online (not sure which). An added perk, she took a sort of back way so I was able to see more of the part of town I had yet to see or explore. Anyways, I was interested in going to the Walmart here just to see how it compared to Walmart back home > basically same look, just in spanish, jaja. Picked up some charcoal (which is "carbon"), she kept trying to explain to me, "bolas negras" - my mind was thinking she was looking for some sort of food, not a means to cooking the food - so, I was no help in locating it until I saw the big bags of charcoal labelled "CARBON" right in front of me. We got some sponges and beers as well then we were out.

Dropped the car back off at home then shimmied down the hill to I guess would be la casa de mis tias. Walked in to a kitchen full of older folks sitting in a circle, carrying on, and BBQ smoke rollin' in from the backyard. Immediately I was introduced, sat down, and fed! Hilda started to brag to everyone that I am not picky and I eat everything - no lie, I am a fatty (llena Jenna). Had some yummy onion dip, cucumber sandwiches, refried black bean dip, things that looked like meatballs but I was told made out of some sort of banana? (not sure if I heard that right). Then the meat came, sausage, chicken and pork slices.

After the main course, I took a bathroom break (the aunties live with their 85 year old uncle, who I accidentally walked in on in the bathroom, 'twas an awkward first meeting) and then it was time for some music. One of the relatives, an older guy named Alofon (sp?) had a bag full of various percussion instruments, so each family member chose an instrument and we started jamming. Maracas, castanets, tambourine, guitaras, claves, guiro, and one of those party horns that make a really annoying sound were all going crazy. At first I was assigned maracas, but about five minutes in Sofia handed off her guitar to me. She thought since I had a ukulele I would be fine, but I was feeling a bit self-conscious. Luckily, my host papa had his guitar so I decided I would just see which note he played the most and try to copy it whenever he played it.

Once the jam sesh was over, it was time for some dessert. They were making spears with 3 marshmallows on them to roast over the grill for everyone - I of course wanted in on that. So, I put in my order with Sofia and soon after had three crispy, droopy marshmallows handed to me, hehe. And to take a step further, these weren't just regular white marshmallows, they were flavored ones - so obviously one skewer wasn't enough. Round two happened. And then, there was an extra skewer made that no one was claiming, so I volunteered as tribute. Sofia offered it to me at first, and everyone was looking at me like "damnnn, girl already had two" so I said "I could, but I am not going to!"...Sofia sat next to me holding the skewer out until I gave in, which took a whopping 5 seconds. My host mama looked at me and said "nada dulce para usted manana! (nothing sweet for you tomorrow), I guess 9 marshmallows was quite a lot - oops. On top of the fluffy balls of deliciousness, one of the auntie's had made an upside down pineapple cake, yumm! Sang Feliz Cumpleanos to my papa and then stuffed our faces some more.

Something interesting I noticed, I do not think a man went up to the table to get his own food once. It is weird how the women wait on the men, it is the same at meals at home as well. If Cali ever wants more to drink or eat, he asks Hilda to go get it for him. Just something I observed.

Bellies full to the brim, the aunts showed me some of their embroidery and knitting projects, then I said goodbyes and went back home with Nati. Along the way we passed some Angel's Trumpets and she told me they smell good but are used as a hallucinogenic.

No formal dinner cause we ate so much at the party, so I just skimmed over the reading for my Community Engagement class and called it a night!

Febrero 16

Following a pop quiz in Community Engagement (so happy I got the jist of the reading) and an excruciatingly "bleh" Spanish class (nothing personal to my teacher, it was just bleh cause we reviewed homework the whole time. Which was important, but took forever since it was like 8 pages of preterite vs. imperfect verb conjugation and lots of corrections), the 16th was exciting because Mama Ora and Michael arrived (Ilana's mom and brother).

ICDS had a meeting introducing us to Nicaragua for our upcoming service trip in two weeks and also as a sort of session to air comments about our service projects in San Jose. Afterwards, Ilana and her family, Kip and I went up to the field to play a bit of soccer - joined by two ticos. Super fun (as per usual)!

Febrero 17

Another quiz day (luckily not pop though) in Rural and Urban Sustainable Development with Helen. Everything was straight forward and taken from the guide she gave us, except for the last question which threw everyone off. So aside from that, I think I did quite well (hopefully we talked her into counting the last one as extra credit if anyone got it right- which I am pretty sure was only Maylin because it was from the portion of the seminar that she taught, jaja). Break, then Environmental Issues. We shared the news - my article was about the air pollution crisis in Dehli, India (basically I would not go there if I were you). We were also supposed to watch Food Inc., but due to technical difficulties were let out early and just assigned to watch it outside of class (which worked out for me since I have already seen it twice). Entonces, a group of us from that class went to get some chai tea and work on some tarea at a local vegetarian cafe - Neshuma.

Natalia found her latin lover, we skyped with Katie's boyfriend, and ran into two friends of Ellie's that moved here to have their baby.

The sun began to set, and we ventured back home for the night.

Febrero 18

Spanish Oral Presentation Day. Oy vey. Had some breakfast with my papa - he made it since my mama was sick, asked him to look over the write up I did of what I was going to say. Two nights before I asked if I could practice with them the night before, but I didn't quite get that far in time. So, after he made a few corrections (luckily not too many), I went to the ICDS office to organize it on some notecards. Lost track of time and was almost late for my Community Engagement class.

We talked about cultural differences in the work place (group therapy session), and supposedly there was an earthquake in the middle of class that I somehow did not notice (don't know where my head was at...probably frantically going over my spanish presentation). Many thoughts were thrown around in relation to our personal experiences at our different sites, and basically the consensus was do the best with what you have and you have the power to make the best of your experience, which are very wise words.

Photo from our first day at Full Tierra.

Class ended, and the panic set in about Spanish. Jean and I got some smoothies and chicken empanadas, then went back to the classroom instead of the ICDS office to practice our speeches. A quick hour later, and it was actually happening. I feel like at some points, when I was stumbling over some conjugations, I just made something up that sounded right, and I definitely was sweating up a storm, but our professor said that everyone did really well. We will find out what "well" means tomorrow (yikes! fingers crossed). Following the test, our class soon realized we were the only ones who were still in class doing things after the presentations were over, and all became a bit hostile about that (jaja).

But afterwards, everyone went up to the soccer field to let off some steam. My brain was feeling a bit mushy and I was exhausted, so I joined the group on the sidelines to enjoy the sunshine and lay down in the grass. The game was the largest yet, a bunch of people from ICDS, some German students that Terina befriended, Esteban (a local who is in some of the ICDS classes), and some other ticos all played while all the other ICDS peeps cheered and laughed on the sidelines.

Once the final goal was scored, everyone went back to their homestays for dinner and some of us made plans to meet back up later at the Beer Factory.

Esteban joined us, and we definitely freaked him out with some of our conversation topics (paranormal activities, religion, the vastness of the universe, sexuality, queefing, etc.), but it was a good time had by all - will most definitely be returning there to hang out. Had a Costa Rican "bitch beer" as Ellie would call it (jaja), Rock Limon, and then for my second got a Blue Moon (mhmm).

Febrero 19

Thursday was nice, had class with Helen, then went home for a nice break with the breeze rollin' through my room from the backyard.

Environmental Issues we discussed the news and Agriculture - one interesting article that Tommy presented on was preventative measures being taken to stop poaching of Rhinoceros horns. People are injecting a poison in the the horn so that poachers will not want to take it for consumption...interesting way of combatting the issue, let's just hope it doesn't have negative effects for the rhinos.

Ilana and her family had returned from their trips to Jaco and Tortuguero, so we ordered dinner to go from Aroma & Sabor (pizza & burrito for me), and went back to their hotel to eat. It was so nice to see them and catch up :) Ilana braided my hair super awesomely and then her and Misha walked me home.

Febrero 20

Group community service activity!

Started the day quite early, plan to meet at the ICDS office at 7:00am. Since I forgot to tell my host parents that I had to leave so early (usually I leave at 8:30am on Fridays), I wrote a note quick and went out to grab some breakfast - none other than the chicken empanada from Aroma y Sabor. I was the first to arrive at the office, enjoyed the brisk morning. Soon Luis arrived and one by one everyone else did too. Made a PB&J sandwich for lunch, then we were off to Escuela República de Argentina.

The day was filled with painting, happy children, futbol, and sunshine. Ellie designed the re-vamp of the pre-existing mural, and it turned out gorgeous!

Before

Ellie's Design

During their recesses, the kids were so eager to help painting the gold figurines Ellie outlined on the bottom of the mural. Those moments were definitely my favorite part of the day. This one little boy named Marco would come find me each break. He was so helpful, went to wash brushes so that more kids could paint. At first, I was strung out about them painting, wanting to keep the mural "pristine", but then I soon realized that the kids is what the mural is all about and I just let them go at it, adding as much swirls, and hearts, and dots, and splatters as they wanted. It was great to see them so excited.

Around lunch time, the bottom part of the mural was pretty much complete, so those not helping with the higher up portions went to watch an assembly.

The Argentinian Ambassador was there. The assembly was kicked off by this beyond adorable dance number  to "Happy". Four little girls and three boys in red shuffled onto the stage and danced their little booties off - Sam and I were dying, "que lindooo".

After, there was supposed to be a futbol match with ICDS and the students, but it turned out their were two children's teams so we sat it out. The mural was completed, cleaned up,  admired, then we said farewell to the school!

Waited for bus for about 20 minutes until we realized it was right there all along. Exhausted and smelly, I showered. Ate some yummy dinner with the familia, then planned to go to the movies with some folks. Maylin, Hannah and I shared a cab, got our tickets, and with some time to spare walked around the mall a bit. They introduced me to churros, I can't believe I haven't tried them until now!! What delicious little fried sticks of dough, especially with some vanilla ice cream, que rico.. We joined Chloe, Katie, Jean, Danielle, Kip, and Stecy to watch Mortdecai - not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I went in with pretty low expectations (but hey, movie tickets on a Friday night are only $4 here, so I'm not complaining).

We had also planned to go to bar afterwards but everyone was so sleepy - as Danielle put it when she texted Ellie who wanted to meet up with us at the bar, "we r all dead". Lol, not good as a stand alone text when people are out and about in a foreign country. When I got back home, I was sleepy but not ready for bed, so I was just sitting listening to some spotify. Turns out my body was ready for sleep, woke up at 4:35am very disoriented, turned off my light and brushed my teeth.

Febrero 21

Quick breakfast, then went to meet everyone at bus stop outside ULatina to head over to La Feria Verde. I was running low on the cash monay, so I popped in the ATM quick for the first time - so far no crazy international withdrawal charges have shown up on my bank account, so I am hoping it will stay that way!

The market was super awesome, I ate and bought so many different fruits that I had never tried before.

My spiffy pocket knife that my Aunt Carly got me came in handy when we were given sample fruits to try for free, cut it up amongst the nine of us. Some more wandering and we found ourselves getting some grub - tortilla con queso, two pupusas y cafe to split, yum.

On our way there and back, we encountered lots of puppies, two of my favorites being a super chubby chihuahua stumbling around at the market and a glorious chow running in the park nearby.

The group split after the market, and inevitably, Hannah, Maylin and I had some difficulty getting home again. We realized we probably should have just walked the entire way with the rest of the group but found ourselves walking in circles, bus stop hopping until we found one that was going to UCR. From UCR, it was still quite an adventure, came to a dead end and finally made our way back to the portion of the campus that we are familiar with. Luckily, the campus is very pretty, so aside from the enormous amounts of sweating, it was enjoyable!

Finally made it home, greeted by my host mama and I showed her all the stuff I got - manzanas de agua, pineapple tomatillos, what I thought was passion fruit (granadilla), caimitos, what I thought was guava (turns out it was chayote - squash), and some homeade pina-jengibre (pineapple-ginger) jam.

Since I didn't know the "correct" name of half of the items, she thought I was just buying whatever looked interesting, but I assured her I had tried everything I bought and that I liked them (aside from the chayote, that was an accident).

Because I forgot to ask about that market, I asked my host family if they wanted anything from market tomorrow and from there we had a bonding session over fruit and pupusas. Nati requested mangas - which is different from a mango - and a pupusa. What is thought of as mangos back home is what mangas are here. However, the mangos here are small and green. And the my mama requested some more caimitos to make fresca.

Rested a bit, then went back out to explore San Pedro a bit with Hannah and Maylin. We began walking with the intention of going to Mall San Pedro, but made many pit stops along the way, meanwhile enjoying the constant mountain views.

Little boutiques, Office Depot, and my favorite, TeaLand. I had been eyeing up this teashop ever since we got here because the bus we take often passes by there, so I finally got the chance to go check it out.

 Ordered some Green Passion, enjoyed the breeze, had a cup there and then saw that they were ready to close so I got the other half of my pot in a to go cup. When I went to leave, I forgot that I hadn't paid yet, so it was a bit embarrassing when the waitress came running after me..jaja.

Paid the bill, then meandered over to Mall San Pedro to get Maylin's watch battery switched, look at some bathing suits, and get more churros. One thing I was not a fan of, went into a store and was followed around by a sales attendent holding up pieces of clothing every fives seconds trying to get me to buy it, I just wanted to shop in peace! But tis okay, churros heal all.

Later I went roller skating at a local skate rink with Danielle, Stecy, and Jean. Since we arrived a bit late, they gave us a discount (whoop whoop). SO much fun, managed to only fall twice.

All the locals were freaking amazing though - at one point they had everyone who was not that good get off the rink, and the locals were all doing dance moves and routines - pretty impressive.

At 10:00pm, they were closing so we decided to walk up to Mundoloco for some music and drinks. When we got there, tenia mucho sed, and so I got really irritated when the waiter did not bring us our waters, nor come back to check on us the entire time we were there. Finally Stecy and Danielle just went up to get them, but the service put a little damper on the night for me. Aside from that, a really interesting jazz band was playing so that kept me distracted a bit.

Not sure what their name was, but definitely enjoyed the show! Some water and a margarita later, then we headed home to get some sleep for today's adventures!

Confirmed - we are booked for our adventure next weekend - MONTEVERDE! woo. Staying at Cabinas Vista Al Golfo, can't wait.

Febrero 22

Today we wanted to explore another market in Zapote.

Since this weekend was a no travel weekend, we decided it was best to do everything we wanted to do that was offered on the weekends in San Pedro that we normally are gone for. Hannah had gone to the Zapote market before with her host family, so she led the way with Chloe, Maylin and me. The walk was a bit on the further side, but well worth it once we reached the market.

Up and down the endless rows, bought a lot of green things, got some coconuts and then went to get some brunch - pupusas of course.

Except this time, not to split, jaja! Brought mangas, caimitos, and pupusas back for my host family - they were thrilllled :) Then showed them the other things I bought, mint, green beans, spinach, a sweet lemon and sugar snap peas. My mama couldn't believe I ate green beans and sugar snap peas raw, but when I went to bite into a sugar snap peas, I realized why, the pod is a bit tougher here, but I think it is still edible!

Relaxed, had some lunch with the familia, watched Your Sister's Sister (which had a terrible ending), and now I am avoiding studying for some midterms this week by writing about this past week! Shucks, I guess that means it is time to start homework...dinner and a shower first though!

Buenas Noches a Todos!

xoxo

Un Mes, Donde se Fue el Tiempo?

Oh man, my blog posts are getting further and further a part!

Guys - I have been in Costa Rica for a whole month - whaaaaa?!?! How did that happen?

This past month has been filled with more wonderful moments than I can count. I am nervous for when the wonderfulness will come to a screeching halt and the first bad experience happens, but so far it has yet to come my way and I am determined to keep it that way.

Picking up from where I left off last post...

Febrero 3

'Twas a normal weekday. Attended my first class, Rural and Urban Sustainable Development with Helen. Meira walks in, Helen greets her with a "Good Morning" and without mocking intentions, Meira says "Good Morning" in her worst british accent. Safe to say there was no one in the classroom who wasn't laughing (Helen is british). It might have been a "you had to be there sort of moment" but nonetheless, it was hilarious to us. We were all in a giggly mood already, you know those days where everything is funny? Yeah, it was one of those, so the laughing continued throughout class. To add to it all, our professor thought Terina's name was Tyranny, so we bursted out laughing again when she called on her for a question (when we probably definitely should have just politely corrected her, which we eventually did), but poor Helen - I hope she didn't take it personally.

Since I was done for the day (Environmental Issues cancelled), I went home. Was greeted by a lovely green and red hummingbird by the birds of paradise in my front yard, and found an empty casa, so I decided to go out and buy some things on my "want/need" list. First stop, Yamuni (a department store) to get this "Klean Kanteen" I had been eyeing up. Next stop, True Value for some gardening gloves (no more ant bites for me!). Could not remember the word for gloves in Spanish so I decided to wander down every aisle until I found them.

Third stop, office supply store for some notecards to review for Spanish test (& some postcards that I have to figure out how to mail). And finally, went by the bakery to pick up some cake for el aniversario de mis padres! 44 anos, increible. When I got back to the house, I could hear them inside, so I hid the cake in my purse and darted to my room. It was getting close to lunch time (said my growling belly), so I made them a little card and set it up on my desk with the cake. As I was walking out the door for the ICDS office to eat some lunch, I told mi papa there was a gift waiting for them in my room (sneaky, sneaky).

After some (too much) hummus, apples, and yogurt, I reviewed for Spanish test. Trying to remember all the irregular conjugations in the preterite is no fun. The rest of the day is a mystery, as I did not write them down and nothing is ringing any bells!

Febrero 4

Came out to the kitchen for breakfast and the card I made them for their anniversary was on the fridge, hehe. My host papa guided me out to the backyard to show me some orchids that were blooming (that I had already spotted a few nights before). But then he also showed me a bunch of Guaria Morada's (which are the national flower of Costa Rica) that I had not spotted! So pretty.

Went to Community Engagement and Spanish. Community Engagement we talked about the Human Development Index. Spanish was the dreaded exam. No fill in the blanks, all written - as in you need a good vocabulary bank (something I lack). The first section was describing what the four seasons are like in our hometowns using ser, estar, hacer, haber, and tener at least once and correctly (of course). Second part was describing the routine of a girl that was illustrated in little boxes on the page - using at least 15 different verbs (present tense). Third part was describing what a guy did over the weekend, also using illustrations in little boxes and at least 15 different verbs (preterite). Originally, Silvana told us she expected us to finish within an hour - it took us an hour and half. Oy vey.

Everyone else seemed on the same level of uneasiness as me - so I survived. To let of some nervous steam off afterwards, a group of us played soccer in a field up the hill from my house and the ICDS office.

One of the local guys joined us. I may have been in a dress and barefoot, but it didn't stop me from joining in! Once the sun started to set, and everyone's gas tanks were at E, we ended the game. Hannah, Maylin and I decided we had worked hard enough - we deserved a visit to the panaderia (almost got run over by the train on the way there - crazy how fast it comes and you have no idea until it's 50 ft away and honking it's horn as it swirls around the corner). Chocolate cake, que rico.

Back to mi casa, neglected to take a shower (my mama was horrified that I played in my bare feet), and ate a yummy dinner with fish, veggies & rice. On days that I have Spanish class, I find myself more confident in talking with my family - so, after dinner we hung out in the kitchen a while. We got into talking about gardens, and I was telling my host mother than I love the smell of basil, she kept repeating basil over and over and said "muy dificil" (I was thinking, "you are telling me lady - that is only one word, try speaking a whole new language," but I didn't say anything...mostly because I probably would not have been able to, jaja). But at least she doesn't have as difficult a time as Ilana's host mom with pronouncing things. Her host mom's son lives in the States in a town called Melville, and the first time she told me I thought she was saying Melbourne (lotta different letters in there than Melville). Anywho, after our chat, I headed to bed for some zZz's (and probably an episode or two of Grey's).

Febrero 5

Quick snippets of the day (aka, the only things I wrote down):

Rolled out of bed at 7:10am, heard the house phone ring quite early so I knew something was up. Turns out there was a fire nearby, and subsequently the telly was not getting signal. So at breakfast we ate as mis padres stared a blue screen waiting for signal to return so they could watch the morning news.

Homework for my Rural and Urban Sustainable Development class: Mediate and reconnect with the forest. Check!

Another funny note from that class, Helen commented how she "loved my participation" - and I think it was because it was the first class I wasn't yawning the entire time. I feel so bad, I don't yawn because her class is boring, just cause I mornings are definitely not my thing! But the fact that she said that means she noticed my yawning all the other days :( oops. **Note to self ** Figure out how to function in the morning!

Febrero 6

First day at Maylin and my community service site in San Rafael with Molinos Verdes de Moringa! I woke up before my alarm, so I was freaking out that I had overslept. Getting there was a bit of a struggle. Ani helped us navigate there. First bus went smoothly, but then when we got to downtown San Jose to catch the second bus, wasn't so easy. We went to the first stop that we thought was it - but no one seemed to confirm that the bus was going to where we needed it to (apparently they had recently shuffled the bus stops around so no one was sure where the new bus stops were). After asking about six different people, we made it to a bus stop (not the one we needed), but the bus driver said he could make a special stop for us and get us close to where we needed to go (so nice!).

Once we were dropped in the general area, two calls to our supervisor, Jose, before we finally arrived at IPI (Colegio Isaac Martin: Instituto de Psicopedagogía Integral - the school we are working at). Jose took us on a tour of the garden, es muy muy muy bonita.

Everything is so well-maintained and there are butterflies fluttering about everywhere you look (will have a post with more pictures). We even got to see some monarch caterpillars. After the tour, we were assigned our first task, turning these cute little flower-shaped beds into larger rectangular beds. We dug out the borders and lined them with plastic bottles filled with recycled rain water.

Ani decided to take some goPro footage for ICDS (which May and I were quite reluctant about because our dripping sweaty selves would now be documented, but it was enjoyable hard work!) Getting home was still a challenge, hah. We were on the wrong side of the street to catch the bus home, but finally waved the right one down. I got home and just sat on my floor and ate the rest of the sour cream & onion Pringles I had bought the day before (yes I ate a whole can in a day). Finally got the motivation to shower and afterwards met up with Maylin at the ICDS office to get some eats. Ended up waiting around for Ilana to finish making her mac n' cheese so we could eat all of it, and then went to get empanadas and smoothies at Aroma y Sabor. We brought the food back to ICDS to eat and hang out, which was followed by everyone trying to get homework done before our big weekend plans and me just chillen like a villan..

Febrero 7

Tortuguero trip set up by ICDS!!! Set to depart from the ICDS office at 6am - which meant waking up at 5:40am...no me gusta, folks. I was planning on sleeping on the way there, but of course I was too captured by the beauty of the landscape that I didn't sleep a wink. The first hour of the drive, we were winding through the mountains, clouds covering the tops, and hidden waterfalls along the road that would make me gasp out of excitement every time I spotted one.

About an hour/hour and a half into our drive, we stopped for breakfast. Gallo Pinto, plantains, eggs,  cheese and hot chocolate - super yummy. Also discovered the amazing powers of Lizano sauce (which may or may not be named after my Community Engagement Professor Joaquin Lizano).

A little bit further on the bus and we stopped for snacks (last opportunity to buy anything before going to middle of nowhere on a canal), naturally I loaded up on chocolate and water. I got so excited because a pack of milka chocolate bars were labelled as like 600 colones, which is around a dollar...turns out they were five dollars. Swapped for the cheaper six pack version, just as satisfying (hehe). The rest of the ride was bUmPy. Took some pretty beatin' up roads to get to the canal, past fields and fields of banana plantations. We even made a pit stop at a tree alongside the road to see our first howler monkeys of the trip!

Once the jiggly ride was over with, we unloaded the bus and moved to a boat which would take us the rest of the way. Being in mangroves, it was time to load up on the bug spray - and was a greasy mess for the remainder of the weekend (but hey, well worth it cause I escaped with out 2 bites, whereas others got eaten aliveee). The boat ride there was very leisurely because they allowed us to do some wildlife spotting - saw turtles propped up on logs, basilisks, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, herons, and...drum roll....a SLOTH!!! 

(some photo credits to Hannah, Maylin, Jean and Katie)

'Twas incredible. As if seeing all this wildlife wasn't enough, the boat pulled up to this amazing little piece of land along the canal that was our home for the next two days - Lirio Lodge.

Greeted by smiling faces and coconuts, we were assigned our tents (yes, tents) and left to explore for a bit before lunch! Katie and Ellie were my bunk mates, so we dropped off our stuff quick, got what we needed for lunch and volunteering afterwards, and then explored the grounds. Inevitably I went straight for the hammocks along the water.

Lunch was served (pasta with mushroom sauce) and then we were back on the boat to ride about 5 minutes across and up the canal to the police station, from which we walked back to a school where we volunteered at for about 4 hours.

This school is run by one man who grew up in the area and now commutes everyday to teach. Alone, he teaches under 20 students every year (this year he will have 11 students), all age groups. The students have to travel quite a ways to get to school, and in the rainy season are soaking wet by the time they get there because the school cannot afford a boat with a top to shuttle them. They used to have to walk in mud to get back to the school from the police station, but two years ago the group of ICDS students that came worked on building a path out of coconuts and sand bags so that this was no longer an issue. Even with the coconuts, it was a bit mushy, so I cannot even imagine what the conditions were like before the path existed. After introductions and gifting the school a world map (which was a big deal because most of the students do not know where they live in relation to the rest of the world), we were split up in three group's and would rotate cleaning up the grounds, cleaning up the schoolhouse, and painting in preparation for the first day of school on Monday!

First I was assigned cleaning the classroom. Apparently bats like to go inside the room, so there was bat feces everywhere, which is very toxic. So, we brought all the desks and chairs outside to thoroughly scrub and swept/mopped the classroom. Next, I was put on cleaning up the grounds duty. We collected coconuts and branches in wheelbarrows, and then threw them in parts of the landscape that were low in order to even it out. Last, which everyone ended up doing the most, was painting! They were working on constructing a second building for classes, so we painted the interior and exterior, as well as put a fresh coat on the exterior of the main classroom building. Once everything was cleaned up and we completed all the tasks, everyone went out to the beach to get our first look at the Atlantic. The work we did was so rewarding, I wish we could have seen the kids faces on their first day.

After Cleaning! Wish I would have taken a Before picture.

Back down the coconut path to the boat, but not before playing with the police station's adorableeeee black lab puppy! What a pleasant surprise after a hard day's work.

Once we were back at the lodge, a bunch of us had our eyes on taking the canoes out for a swirl. Kip and I took one; Jean, Ilana and Meira  in another; and Maylin and Hannah in the kayak. Another group came as well, but their canoe was filling up with water so they went back inland. So relaxing, canoed until sunset, and we even spotted a howler monkey!

Back on land, everyone was now deciding whether or not to take a shower - I, of course, opted not to (I knew I would just re-spraying myself with greasy bug spray after, so why even bother). Everyone ended up hanging out at the hammocks before dinner, singing disney and broadways songs and laughing to our hearts' content. After dinner, there was more hammock time, a bonfire that was interrupted by a downpour, some more hammock time, some card playing, and then it was to the tent's for the night.

Febrero 8

The next morning there was a yoga class offered by a guy who was staying at Lirio, and most people went to it, but I had a morning canoe on the brain. So Ellie, Wendy and I took a canoe out unti breakfast. Again, so relaxing - I can't believe I haven't canoed before this trip. (Ellie noted that I really enjoy everything water oriented, I think it is confirmed I have to have a house on some sort of water front, whether that be lake or river or ocean).

Perfect timing for our return to breakfast, which included pancakes and SYRUP. Safe to say I got seconds.

After breakfast, we had a little trip up the canal to a turtle rescue site. It was crazy how our captain navigated the little passages in the canal and knew where he was going. Along the boat ride we saw more monkeys, various birds, fishermen, a dog swimming in the canal trying to find where his owner was fishing, and beautiful scenery.

Along the trail to the turtle rescue, we ate termites, encountered a gigantic spider and walked along the ocean. Sadly, the turtle rescue was closed in preparation for nesting season, but one of the locals who worked for the organization was nice enough to tell us about their work and answer any questions we had.

Poaching is a big issue, and also the temperature rise because the temperature determines the sex of the baby turtles (I believe the warmer it is, the more likely it is a female). We were cutting it close on time, so we loaded back up on the boat (which luckily picked us up at the turtle site rather than where he dropped us off earlier that morning, cause I was not feeling the walk back the trail).

Quick ride to the lodge, picked up our things, bought some yummy bread, and back on the boat to backtrack the canal to the bus.

Mr. Basilisk saw us off!

Realizing I hadn't eaten much of my chocolate yet, I snacked on that and enjoyed the views on the drive home. Three stops along the way, one for this yummy fruit that I can't remember the name of (but it was purple and had the texture of a peach/plum), another for ceviche, and another for lunch at the same spot we stopped for breakfast. I was seriously considering buying my own container of ceviche but then was too lazy to get out of the van, which actually worked in my favor. Everyone who bought it was unable to finish their's on their own, so I ended up just finishing everyone else's off and probably ended up with a whole container for myself...hehehe.

We arrived back in San Pedro wayyy earlier than expected (3:30pm instead of 6:30pm), so I was of course thrilled as I had not completed the research that was due for a presentation the next day. Ellie and I wanted to work at the cafe that we had my birthday lunch at (Kai Cafe), but turns out it is closed for good, so sad!! I was really looking forward to their pasta again. So we just ended up working on it separately at home. Greeted my host parents, and my papa's host brother Nando, then went to take a shower.

Had a nice Facetime sesh with the Eagle Clan, and had a big craving for hot dogs since that was what they were currently cooking for dinner.

Ironically enough, when I went out to eat dinner with mi familia - my mama had cooked lentil soup with hot dog slices, I told her she read my mind, jaja.

Febrero 9

Woke up and noticed their was some blue paint from volunteering in Tortuguero left in my favorite ring. My ring states Gandhi's words, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," and the paint was stuck in the lettering...quite fitting.

First class of the day was with Joaquin - time to present on Nicaragua in relation to the Human Development Index. Went very well (I think). During our lunch break, I finally caved and got PB&J supplies at the grocery store (since the first grocery trip I had been craving PB&J because everyone else has been eating them for lunch). In Spanish, we got our tests back! I got an 8.2/10 - not too shabby, especially for how I was feeling after the test. A lot of little grammar mistakes are what put me back, so easy fixes (hopefully) for next test!

The plan for after class was to play soccer with everyone, but it was a rainy day (actually heard some thunder) so we decided to figure out an alternative plan. Our group is notoriously indecisive - so it took us ten minutes in the stairwell, fifteen minutes and two brownies later at Aroma y Sabor (two brownies because the first one Wendy got had a piece of plastic in it so they gave her another for free), a pit stop at my house to drop my things off and bring in my laundry hanging on the line outside, and a walk up the hill past Iglesia de Lourdes to figure out what we were going to do. Ditched the plan for french fries and just went to a newly found tienda by the church for some snacks and headed back to Natalia's house for a movie night! The tienda was a nice surprise, such cheap snacks and so close to my house.

Danielle ran home quick to get her HDMI cord to connect Ellie's laptop to the television for Mulan.

Great way to spend a rainy night in Costa Rica - watching Mulan with my ladies. Once our sing-along ended, it was approaching 7:00pm so I had to scoot home quick for dinner. It was already dark but I live very close to Natalia, so I walked a ways with the rest of the group to where they would get taxi's and just power walked home. My tica mama was so happy that I brought in all the laundry from the line, she said it was very unexpected, as it rarely rains in February here.

Febrero 10

In Helen's class, I found out that the reverse peace sign in the UK means F-off (akin to our middle finger in the US). Apparently it is because the French would cut off the British soldier's archery fingers in wartime, so when they still had their fingers, it was a sort of "f-you" thing to hold them up to the French. I also found out Costa Rica is one of the top 10 most paranoid countries - which I can definitely see in the culture (seems to be for good reason). Everyone has a gated house, most with barbed wire around the fencing, and then locks galore, and they do not go out often at night.

For Environmental Issues, we had a field trip to at 1:00pm to Jardin Botanico Lankester! Private bus hired by ICDS took us to the botanical gardens in Cartago. We were free to wander around the property for about an hour and a half.

So much beautiful flora to see! Branched off from the main path with Ellie and Meira, where we came across this incredible path of leaf-cutter ants.

Then I wandered off on my own for a bit to the ferns areas (felt like I could get lost in the gardens, but in a good way). The grounds were amazing, there was even a little Japanese garden to explore.

The best part, which I accidentally saved for last, was the orchid greenhouse.

I do not think I would have gotten to the other parts of the gardens if I had gone there first. Orchids of all shapes and sizes were there (and I took wayyy too many pictures of them).

It is unbelievable how intricate they are.

Came back together about 1.5 hours later, bought a little pear juice box (I'm addicted), and we were back on the road to San Pedro. Homework: write a little paper about our experience and another paper on the effectiveness of botanical gardens as a conservation method - I am good with that.

Febrero 11

Had an inkling that I was getting starting to get sick (which turned out to be true). Woke up late, showered, and went to class. Jorge was our professor for the beginning. Something interesting he pointed out was that he does not like the fact that Costa Rica is considered the "happiest country" because it allows for passivity. By adopting "pura vida," Costa Ricans have an excuse not to change. After Jorge's lecture, Joaquin took us out on the town for an observation exercise. Initially we were going to observe students at UCR (Universidad de Costa Rica),

but we outnumbered the amount of students on campus, so we booked it to Mall San Pedro to do the exercise there. We were told to disperse, strictly observe for 20 minutes, noting any cultural differences/similarities we see, and then write for 15 minutes. Ilana and I had spotted a Mrs. Fields on our way in, so we went there to grab a cookie for observing - disappointing appearance. So I grabbed some french fries and observed away.

Some things I noted: a lot more men in the mall, everyone wearing long sleeves and jeans - no skin but clothes can be tight, women hold hands here, everyone on their smartphones (same as in US).

Walked back to ICDS for lunch - hot and humid (bleh). Ate a PB&J and grabbed a smoothie before leaving for our Spanish field trip! Had a private bus take us to Artesanias D'Crochet. Such a neat business started by Dona Rosa in 2000. She handmakes jewelry made out of recycled organic material from fruits and vegetables. Spent the afternoon asking her questions about her business and the products she makes. It takes around 26 days to make one piece of jewelry, but that is from her collecting the waste at the market, cleaning them, drying out the fruits/vegetables in the sun (takes the longest), pigmenting them, and then finally piecing them together to form a piece of jewelry (which is the shortest, takes about 20 minutes or less). Truly an awesome business to be running!

After the field trip, went home to rest a bit before our big night out with Luis for the Art City Tour in downtown San Jose.

Graffiti here is amazing.

For one night (about six times a year), a bunch of art galleries and museums in the city are open for free admission! First stop was Museo de Arte y Diseno Contemporaneo. Pretty interesting exhibits - one of which was a commentary on tourists.

Once everyone finished up looking around, we walked down through the parks in that area to the central avenue (passing by the main corner/hotel for transgender prostitution). Luis had provided us with money for dinner, so some went to get Lebanese food while most went to a pizza place Luis had been talking up. Something interesting is that they do not put sauce on the pizza. Instead, they provide the table with a bowl of sauce that you can add if you like. The slices were unexpectedly hugeeee, everyone struggled to get down their second piece.

I got about a quarter of the way through my second and tapped out - I wasn't too thrilled with my second piece (supreme, first was pepperoni), so I didn't bother asking for a to-go box. However, the waiter was so kind, on the way out he ran up to me with my piece all packed up, ready to-go.

We had money left over, so we shuffled over to POPS to get some dessert. Una copa doble con galleta (cookies and cream), por favor. Yummm. Happy with the ice cream, we waited around for everyone to finish up dinner before heading to the Museo del Oro Precolumbino. Meira was trying to get us kicked out by touching everything - a security guard spotted her and just shook his head in disapproval (but he was smiling so he found it entertaining I guess, jaja).

Although it was the gold museum, they had some other exhibits that were not underground ready to be locked up at the end of the night by 12 in. thick vault doors (ironically I forgot to take pictures of the gold pieces).

Around 8:15pm, Maylin got the ice cream urge, so Ilana, Jean, Meira and I walked with her to get some (I resisted my urge to get seconds), and then went back to the museum to await our van pick-up. Everyone seemed tuckered out from the busy day. Hannah and I walked Natalia home, then said "Chao" for the night. It was late-ish, so my parents were already asleep - locked up the house, put my piece of unwanted pizza in the fridge and went to bed. A great, busy day!

Febrero 12

Had our first seminar in Rural and Urban Sustainable Development. Maylin, Natalia, and Wendy taught the class about the ties between Poverty and Environmental Issues. Large break between classes, spent it studying for my first quiz in Environmental Issues on Biodiversity, INBio, and Forests. Ended up falling asleep on the ICDS couch and waking up to a puddle of drool, my bad! But got in enough studying for the quiz before my accidental nap.

Also, something from Environmental Issues news sharing - check out Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater museum!! Now, thanks to Danielle, it is on my "need to dive here" sometime in my life list.

Febrero 13 (Cumpleanos de mi papa)

Feliz Cumpleanos de Cali!

After laying awake half the night freaking out about my throat, I decided not to go to Puerto Viejo with everyone and just take this weekend to recuperate. Luckily, hostels are cheap so I didn't lose out on too much money by staying home (just lost out on the fun). Hannah gave me some antibiotics in case whatever I have doesn't go away, but I am just waiting it out to see if it will subside on it's own (not one to take medication).

Friday's are community service days, and what a time we have with navigation and public transportation...especially when we are trying to get to our community service site. Maylin and I have to take two buses to get to our site in San Rafael, Moravia. Well, somehow we got both buses wrong! jaja. The bus we take from San Pedro to San Jose for com. service is at a different stop from the one we usually to downtown because they go to different parts of San Jose. Somehow we managed to get on the bus that takes us to the normal downtown spot even though we were at the other bus stop. Anyways, we had to figure out how to backtrack our way through San Jose to that area, ended up walking way too far on the central avenue, then too far to the right, ultimately making a big square before ending up where we needed to be (we were sure to make better mental notes this time so it doesn't happen again).

However, once we made it to the bus stop we had confirmed last trip, we still were confused and ended up just taking the same wrong bus as last time (that doesn't go straight to our site) because at least we knew how to get to our site from that route. Hopped off at Lincoln Plaza, walked down and up the hill, and made it to IPI. I think the source of our issue is that we keep asking people if the bus stops at "IPI" and they say something different, and thus it is a no go. But if we say "IPICIM", we may get somewhere!

Volunteering went smoothly, continued working on the borders for the new beds. Filled up more water bottles, peeled off the labeled, and buried the bottled in the ground for the borders. Not nearly as hot and sweaty as last week because it was windy and a sort of misty rain was cooling us off (no luck finding a rainbow though).

Around 12:00pm, time for us to catch the bus back to San Jose! Maylin was on a tight schedule to meet up with everyone to go to Puerto Viejo, so it was important not to miss the bus outside of IPI. Well, we walked out of IPI and there goes the big yellow bus without us on it. So we waited around thinking another would come soon - 30 minutes later, nothing. So we walked back to the other bus stop near Lincoln Plaza to await one. Bus after bus, none going into San Jose. We were beginning to lose hope, haha, until a yellow bus came rolling around the corner with San Jose - Moravia written on the top, wooo! 355 colones, 20 minute ride, back in business. Little stop by the panaderia right at the bus stop (where I will most likely be getting a snack every Friday), got myself a dulce de leche panuelo. They are the most impossible things to eat cause they crumble everywhere and the powdered sugar gets all over you, but I wore my crumbs and sugar loud and proud through downtown San Jose.

Got to the San Pedro bus stop without any issues, made it home, tried to find a watercolor notebook for my host papa (fail), quick shower, and had a mini Grey's marathon. Soon it was time for dinner, since it was my papa's birthday, his other daughter and her family came over to celebrate.

I finally got the names straightened out a bit. My other host sister's name is Silvana (like my Spanish teacher) and her husband and son (who I met for the first time today) are both named Sebastian, and then her daughter is named Sofia. Everything was going fine, eating some ceviche and chips with guac when they got a phone call from a family friend.

What I gathered from the frantic conversations were that Sofia's Youth Group was held up at gunpoint and robbed. Every Friday, they have meetings in a building just around the corner from my house (actually right across from where Maylin lives), and Sofia usually goes to them but she wanted to celebrate her grandpa's birthday so she luckily was not there. So, of course she was distraught the rest of the night. It was interesting to see my host papa's reaction to it, he was either very upset to see her upset, or seeing her upset just made him very stressed. I couldn't tell if him trying to calm her down was coming from an annoyed place, or from a I hate seeing you upset place. Probably a mixture. He kept telling her we did everything we could, they went down to check on everyone and offered for them to come back to their place, etc. But Sofia just kept bursting out into tears.

After things calmed down a bit, we sat down for some chicken, which was followed by queque! Funny thing, in Costa Rica they blow out the candle before everyone starts singing. There was a larger passionfruit tart cake, then my host mama cut up this itty bitty, cupcake sized chocolate cake someone brought. I feel like in the US, the person with the birthday would just eat that themselves. But here, it was cut up amongst seven people and shared. I have noticed that changing in myself - usually I am pretty selfish when it comes to sharing food, especially when it is something I realllly like, but here the ICDS crew has adopted the policy "mi comida es tu comida".

Some gift opening and cleaning up, then Silvana's family left and everyone in my house went to bed. I finished up what little bit of Grey's I had left to watch on Netflix (now I have to wait for season 11 to be on Netflix - grrr), then hit the sheets myself.

Febrero 14

Happy Valentine's Day! Sending hugs and kisses to everyone back home!

Woke up very late (11:00am - normal time at home) and had a late breakfast with my host mama. Found out today is the anniversary of her mother's death - muy triste. Really craving some chocolate so I guess I will finally get dressed for the day and go get some!

xoxoxo