Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mi Familia Tica

Costa Ricans are called Ticos. I don't really know what the word means or where it came from and to me it sounds like it should be the latest breakfast cereal but there you have it. I really like my host family hence the dedication of an entire post about them. I shall begin by introducing them…

Carlos mayor=> my papá Tica. He is a very cool guy. Not cool in like the macho, suave, cool but more in the cute, slightly dorky old man cool. He is a retired elementary school teacher/ taxi driver. He is super sweet and patient and likes to talk to us. He is trying to learn more English that he can use for his job and his accent is really cute and he likes to try his new phrases out on us to make sure they are right and that we can understand him(tonight it was "you need help?") He is one of 12 children!

Zorida=> my mamá Tica. She is sooo cute and sweet with a hint of craziness. She loves to sit and talk to us about any and everything. She is also a great cook and I'm pretty sure she's determined for us to try everything she know how to cook which is perfectly fine with me. She is also a very healthy cook which is great cause I tend to eat a lot and I could easily get into trouble. She also loves to play Rumi (the kind with the tiles) and has already taught Lauren and I how to play.

Daniel=> One of my "hermanos or brothers". He is 20 and yes he's pretty cute for you ladies who are wondering ;) He is in college right now studying computer something or other that I can barely understand in English let alone Spanish. We don't see him very much because he is usually in class or studying or helping his dad take care of his grandparents. He did hang out with us last week and played his guitar for us. He plays really well and is an AWESOME painter/ sketch artist but you wouldn't know that by asking him because he's very humble about it.

Carlos menor=> This is the oldest son who is currently in China. Yeah that's pretty much all I know.

Rachel=> Daughter/ middle child. She is married and is currently going to a bible college in Arkansas to study to be a missionary. Que lindo!
Lauren=> The other study abroad student. She just graduated from Oklahoma State and is on her way to U Kentucky for grad school. We get along great and have already had quite a few adventures here in San Jose!

This is mi familia for the next 4 weeks. They are all very warm and welcoming and I have enjoyed getting to know them so far. Another cool thing is that they are all really strong Christians and you can tell that family and faith are really important to them and I've enjoyed getting to talk to them about this as well. Love it!

My House!


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Why do these things happen to me!?!

Ok so I promised to write immediately if anything epic happened. So even though I am sick and sleep deprived, I couldn't not post this before heading to bed. The following is what occurs when Helena encounters a very large and unpleasent spider in her room while innocently sitting and doing her homework: (Sorry the video is sideways. You don't think abot these things when you are filming. Just tilt your head to the side, it's fine.)

I would like to thank mi amiga Lauren for capturing this moment on video and for her excellent narration and background giggles :)

Here are some other pictures that were taken. Seriously the spider was nasty and wicked fast. You would have reacted the same way if you were me. Ok maybe not.
P.S. I wasn't hiding in the 3rd pic I was moving the bed cause the little turd ran under my bed.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Life Lessons

So since I'm not quite in the mood to do homework I thought I'd share some highly important lessons that I have been learning as I explore the fine Costa Rica culture.

1. Don't take pictures in a grocery store. Especially if your camera happens to be located in a backpack. They will think you are stealing things and proceed to follow you around for the remaining 30 minutes of your shopping even though you just wanted a picture of the Frosted Flakes box.

2. Blow driers can be dangerous. Not once, but twice now have blow dryers attacked the unsuspecting head of my poor companera. Hehe and I took pictures :) For the full story check out her blog laurenwsmith.blogspot.com

3. Don't do anything stupid while there is a camera around. Especially if I happen to be the owner of that camera because I will take pictures of you and then post them on my blog. (sorry Lauren)

4. Harnesses are not only uncomfortable for men.

5. The word rappel may be similar in English and Spanish but they do NOT mean the same thing. In English it means to descend slowly usually by pushing off something. In Spanish it APPARENTLY means falling straight down very fast all while I scream and cuss. I was also voted best reaction to this little adventure. ::Takes a bow::

6. If you are at a pool party and drunk, please do not attempt to dance on the poolside bar as it has electricity and you WILL get electrocuted and have to be physically pulled down.

7. The word for panties in Spanish (at least for our 50+ host mom) is bloomers. I was immature and giggled, it's ok you can too.

No, but I had a great time getting to explore the cloud forest this weekend. I only saw one monkey but I am assured that in a couple weeks when we visit a different part of the forest that I will get to see more animals :) I walked for hours (in the shade!) which was awesome because I love walking and got to zip line through a lot of the parts of the forest. That was pretty darn cool. Here is the view from part of the trail that I walked. Check out more of my pictures on facebook (should be up in the next couple days).



Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Pura Vida!

Hola! Ok I thought I'd update you all since I've disappeared for the last few days. I'll just briefly describe what I've been doing. I'll use another post to describe my host family in a day or so.

Day 1: My family forgot to pick me up (of course) and so I got to hang out with the program director and the bus driver for like half an hour outside the school while they kept calling my host family to come and get me. But they eventually did, no worries. Got home, ate cookies, waited for my roomate to show up as I tried not to fall asleep since I had been awake for about 22 hours at that point.
This is my roommate Lauren!
I have my own room! Here are some pictures of it.
The window is really cool because it's not actually to outside. There is a little patio thing between my room and the other part of the house and there are plants on it so it's pretty cool. Most of the windows in the house that I've seen are like that.

Day 2: Orientation and rain. Pretty much sums up the whole day. It rains a lot here. They are in the transition from the dry season (summer) to the rainy season (winter). I of course forgot my umbrella but my host mom is letting me borrow one so I don't have to buy one. We also got to go to church with the family. It was really cool. It was a non-denomination( or interdenominational, idk the difference) church so pretty much what I'm used to. I actually understood most of the sermon and the prayers, so that was pretty exciting. We got there a little late though so I only got to hear part of one song, que triste.

Day 3: Class and Orientation. I'm taking Phonetics and Phonology and Advanced Oral and Written Composition. They seem like they will be more intense then most classes I have taken abroad but I think it will be fine. The hard part will really be sitting in class for 3 hours at a time. On that note let's take a minute to admire my schedule.

Monday: Class 8am-2pm
Tuesday: Weekly meeting at 12pm, Class 2-5pm
Wednesday: Class 11am-2pm
Thursday: Class 11am-5pm
Friday: (drum roll please…) NO CLASS!!!!
I like it.

Ok so I've been having some internet issues which is why I haven't been online. My house has wireless but they forgot the password so they are trying to get ahold of their son in China to see if he remembers. Meanwhile I could connect using a cord (while I sit in the middle of the living room because they only have a really short cord) but yesterday their internet went out and so a guy from the phone company is here trying to fix it as I type and I haven't had anytime at school to get online either… I JUST GOT WIRELESS IN THE HOUSE!!!! All hail the phone guy!!!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Greetings From The Airport!

Ok so I'm currently between flights 2 and 3. I want nothing more than to stretch out on the floor and sleep. For those who don't know, the day started at 3:30am with my alarm going off telling me to get out of bed (after all of a 4 hour nap mind you). Then I get to the Indy airport at 4:15 and learn that United's ticket counter doesn't open till 4:35. Awesome. So I chill. Finally get all checked in after the self check in thing yells at me and so I call the person and he looks at me like I'm stupid and then it does the same thing to him and he finally checks me in. Like I said in my last post I packed 2 bags and I wasn't really sure that I was under 50lbs. The verdict? Bag 1 (the smaller one): 38lbs yay! Bag 2: 47.5lbs! I win! Note to self: NOTHING else better go in that bag on the way back.

Oh let me take a minute to rant. In Chicago I saw I family with their child still straped in to one of those umbrella strollers on the escalator! What? No. You don't do that. Stop being lazy and endangering your child and take them out of the stroller like you are suppose to or find an elevator. End rant.

Ok I'm going to continue to burn my mouth with the buffalo chicken pizza that was suppose to be cheese that I got from the rude people at Pizza Hut and am therefore proceeding to eat because I don't want to deal with them again. I'm also watching the season finale of Greys ;) I still have one more 5 hour flight that will put me in Costa Rica at around 8pm Indy time (16 hours after I began this little adventure).

Be looking for a post in a couple days or so once I've settled. (Unless of course something epic happens and then I will post it right away).

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Packing By The Numbers

Ok so today was packing day. After successfully procrastinating until 7 at night I figured I should probably get started. 9 weeks is a long time and I'm not sure I can be trusted to pack everything I need for lunch, let alone 2 months. So here is just a summary of how the packing went.

3-number of bags I'm taking (2 rolling suitcases and a backpack)
4-pairs of jeans
20-different shirts (don't judge I'm a girl)
6-number of times I looked at all the stuff and felt overwhelmed
7-pairs of shoes
3-spanish dictionaries
2-Bibles
2-Journals
7- Reading for fun books (soooo excited)
200- times I've thought that I'm forgetting something important
4- DAYS TILL I LEAVE (AHHHHHHH!!!!)

Don't worry I packed MUCH more than this (hence the concession to taking an extra bag). Only a few short days until I leave! I found out who my Costa Rica roommate is on Friday, nothing like waiting till the last minute… Her name is Lauren and she's from Oklahoma State. That's pretty much all I know and that my "family" has 2 sons but they are almost my age or older. Sadness I really wanted kids, but still excited.