Favorite thing # 1

One of my favorite things about Costa Rica is all the walking around. There is something about being so connected to the ground and taking everything in as you on walk by. I have enough time to study the shops, markets, and people if I’m just walking by. In the states I feel like I was ALWAYS in such a hurry to get somewhere. I needed to be on time, so I spent my days rushing; here, it’s the exact opposite. Not that I’m any less punctual here (that is just something in my blood), but there is something more relaxed about the atmosphere… Although I’ve concluded that everything moves slower here unless you’re driving. I guess people drive like maniacs here to make up for moving more slowly the rest of the time. Every time I cross the street, I feel like I’m taking a chance with my life. That is honestly the only thing that has made me feel unsafe so far.

There is one downside to the walking I must mention though. I inherited the Ellsworth gene of excessive sweating. If I spend more than 15 minutes in the heat walking, I’m done for. It looks like I just left the gym. My pits and back are wet, my face is a mess, and it’s pretty much unavoidable. I’m not thinking this is something that is going to go away, so I guess I’ll just have to embrace it. The more I sweat, the more weight I’ll lose right?

Today, Kirby and I went on a little outing for our internship. She is doing some research on disability services in Costa Rica, so I told her I would come with her to a rehabilitation facility to get some resources. We had to take a bus to the middle of San Jose then another bus to a smaller "neighborhood on the outskirts of town . We had to walk through the hustle and bustle of downtown, a part of San Jose I had not experienced yet. I loved it! The neighborhood we live in is set out just a little ways, but there is not much to it besides residential homes. The street we were walking on downtown was a brick road with just people traffic. The cars don’t drive on that street. This area of San Jose was pretty Americanized, with its McDonalds, Wendy’s, Payless, Aldo, Express, PacSun… and so on, but I cant wait to spend an afternoon walking in an out of the shops, and sitting on a bench people watching. My blond hair sticks out here, so I try not to wander too much, because then people think I’m lost, but it will be nice to spend some time experiencing the hustle of downtown San Jose.

Sun, Sand, and Birthday's!!!

On Friday evening at 7pm our group set off to the costal area of Quepos and Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. We had five girls and my friend from RJI- I’ll call him Memphis. It was raining like crazy the night we left and continued basically all the way to Qupos. The bus trip was down the mountain to sea level and we were all anxiously awaiting our tropical destination.

We arrived at our hostel at about 10:30 that night and immediately set up camp in our dormitory style rooms. Our room had 4 sets of bunk beds on it… nothing fancy, but a cheep place to put our stuff, and somewhere to sleep at night. We unpacked and went right to bed that night, in order to wake up early for the beach the next day. I think we were all up by 6am the next morning, but slightly disappointed by the rain that was falling L The rain didn’t last that long though, by 8:30 it had stopped and by 10:30 we were heading down to the beach!!! This was the beginning of my birthday celebration!!

It wasn’t the sunniest day I’ve seen, but it was hot and humid. There was a haze that seemed to be lingering in the air, almost as if steam was rising from the ground. The moisture in the air clung to our skin making us all a little sticky, everything felt damp. But there was sand and waves ahead of us! It was so wonderful to finally be at the beach. I lathered on my spf 55, set out me beach sheet, and positioned myself for some good rays. We spent the afternoon in and out of the water. At about 6pm we headed back to our hostel to get ready for my birthday dinner. The bus ride from the beach to the hostel was about 15 minutes; a curvy scenic route through the rainforest with plenty of hotels and restaurants along the way.

I can't remember the name of the place we ate dinner but, it was very good. We were set up on the back porch over the ocean (we couldn’t see because it was dark at this time already, but the whole ambience was great). The restaurant was pretty quiet, food was delicious, and pretty cheap too! After dinner we went over to another hotel were there was supposed to be some pretty chill reggae music and some dancing. A bunch of the locals talked to us about it when we were having lunch, and decided to check it out. Well the music ended up not being that great, and so we left around 11:30 and called it a night.

The next morning we were all up early again to make it to the national park- Manuel Antonio. It’s a national rainforest that does tours. The tour takes about an hour and a half, and you have the option to have a tour guide if you pay extra, or you can just pay the park fee and walk through. We were so thankful that we paid to have the guide because we wouldn’t have noticed all the wonderful aspects of the park. Plus our guide was a total babe! It was amazing all the things he could spot and point out to us. He also carried a telescope thing that helped us see things up close! It was really amazing. I loved this experience. Then at the end of the walk through the park we ended at a really fabulous beach! It was an even more gorgeous day than the last, so we were able to get in a few, unexpected, hours at the beach.

By five o’clock we were on the bus headed back to San Jose. I was ready to back at my Costa Rican home, in my bed, with warm water. I had a terrific birthday weekend with the girls and Memphis. It was so nice to celebrate and relax on the beach!

Now it’s back to the real world of internship and schedules. I love you and miss you all!! I’ll update again soon!

-A

Walking through the rainforest at Manuel Antonio

los monos!!! we saw tons of them!!

memphis and i

the girls- at reggae night

kirby, liz, me, beth- before the birthday dinner.

me and beth at the restaurant.

liz and alejandra

The group :)

happiness!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!

Feet in sand- my favorite. The sand the beach was different than I was expecting... Still sand none the less :)

Our first few steps on the beach- pure happiness!

The ocean!!

Pretty happy about this paradise...

Our hostel-Pura Vida

The view from outside our bedroom

On the way to the beach!!!!

kirby, beth, liz, and memphis

YAY!!! alejandra and me

I'm Back!

Oh my gosh, my weekend was so wonderful! I'm totally exhausted, but I just wanted everyone to know that I'm back from Capos and Manuel Antonio. We had a fun fill weekend with all the essentials, sun, sand, delicious food, and even a little music. I will update tomorrow with pictures and details.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration. The girls- and memphis (my friend from my internship) made me feel right at home!!

-A

Telephone

Okay, so I know we were only out till 11 last night…. And I stayed up a little later to blog, but seriously I was soooo tired today! I didn’t get up for my run, because I needed more than 5 hours of sleep, but I was still tired!

Today I had my second day of Spanish lessons. Everything went very well…. No adventures today on my way home, thank goodness!! Kriby, one of the other girls is having her placement moved to RJI with me, which I’m very excited about. So her and I went over to RJI after Spanish school.

Tonight I had the most amazing meal ever! I’m not kidding- FREAKING AWESOME!!! I’m going to have Marcella teach me how to make it- Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken). It was almost like a Stir-fry rice with veggies and chicken and this wonderful sauce. She has obviously been making this for a while. So I helped myself to seconds, and thirds…. I can’t wait to repeat that meal. Then for dessert (those of you who know me well, know this is the most important part of my meal…) we had fried plantains. I don’t even have words for how amazing this was. I should have taken pictures. I will next time, I promise. A plantain is similar to a banana, and it was cooked with sugar, cinnamon, butter, and I don’t know what else, but it was seriously heavenly!! Those of you who know me well, also know that I don’t eat bananas, but about two months before my trip, I made myself start eating them because I knew that they were popular here. The bananas here are nothing like back home…. They are so much sweeter! I love them! I could eat them every day!!

Then, after dinner some of the girls and I hiked over to the gym to take a spin class. The class was full so we went upstairs to work out, and did a dance class. This was my first taste of Salsa. I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty terrible, but I was totally getting into it. I made of fool of myself, and loved every minute of it. Lara, you would be very proud of me!! There were about 35 woman and 2 men crammed into this little studio, shaking what our mommas gave us! The instructor was this super skinny flamboyant dance queen. He, Yes he, was awesome! Mixed in with the salsa was a little hip hop… our last song was Lady GaGa, Telephone… So, I don’t think I’ll be joining dancing with the stars anytime soon, but I’m definitely looking forward to dancing my ass off at the gym J

I think we figured out where we are going this weekend for my birthday. I’m not bringing my computer so this is probably the last time I will have a chance to update before we leave. We are going to catch a bus tomorrow at 6pm down town San Jose to Quepos. We won’t get there till about 10pm, but Saturday morning ( MY BIRTHDAY!!!!) we are going to get up early and spend ALL day at the beach!! The beach that we are going to is Manuel Antonio. They have a national park there too, so Sunday before we head back to San Jose we want to hike a trail. I’m very ready for a weekend at the beach! This should be a fun way to spend my birthday and nice excursion in the country!!

I love you all, have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll update you when I can!!

-A

Random pic from today... before Spanish School

On my walk home from RJI... No rain today! First day it hasn't rained, but it looked it might.

One of my landmarks, so that I know I'm going the right way home.

Another landmark... I know a lot of the city is run down, but I love the neighborhoods with all of their character.

Lots of color in the city. I love it!

Just Keep Walking

I feel like I spend SOOO much time walking each day. Everywhere we go, it seems like it's at least a 15 min walk. But it feels so nice, and honestly I feel like my legs even look different from walking to so much. Today I ran about 3 miles, walked 15 minutes to my internship, and 15 minutes back home, then walked an hour into San Jose, and an hour back.... Phew!

But I feel like all this walking around has totally helped acclimate quicker. I am able to make my way around the neighborhood easily, recognizing all the land marks. Next I would like to learn the bus system. I haven't had to take a bus anywhere yet, and I'm glad, it kind of freaks me out. But I think it's important for me to do.

Yesterday (meaning tuesday), I had quite the adventure! It was my first day of spanish lessons, and then from spanish lessons I had to make it to my internship (RJI). Well, the spanish lessons were a forty-five minute walk from my house, in the opposite direction of where RJI is. I am the only one that has to go, so I figured I could walk by myself and make it there, I thought I remembered the way.... and I didn't. I walked aimlessly around the San Pedro area for about 30 minutes, before I came across a sign that said "cup cakes and coffee" HALLELUJAH!!! It looks very American, and sure enough the woman working there was from Holland, Michigan. I asked her where we were on my map, and then how to get to RJI. She said it was too far to walk, and I should take the bus. Yeah, that was not the day I wanted to learn the bus system. I finally gave in and walked out the main road and grabbed a taxi. I was terrified to do so, thinking that if I got into a cab, the driver would take off and no one would ever see me again. I think I was being a little over paranoid... just a little. The cab driver ended up being wonderful. He spoke very little english, and I speak very little spanish, but it was enough for us to communicate, to get me where I needed to go. I feel pretty competent after that situation. Even though there is a big language barrier, I feel pretty good about making my way around.

After a meeting with our professor tonight the girls went out on the town. This was the first time we had been out past 9 since we arrived... we were out till 11 tonight :)

When we were walking around San Pedro we found a Roller Skating rink.

Everyone there was like like at least 15 and up, and all pretty awesome.

We agreed that we are going to dress up some night in 80's and show em' how its done!

Four of the girls before leaving for our meeting with our Professor- Bob Miller

(Alejandra, Kirby, Me, and Liz)

Liz and I in our front yard- Our first day of Spanish School :)

Liz and I with our Host Mom, Marcella.

She is wonderful!!

Corriendo

Today I stared my day with a nice run. It was perfect. I woke up at 5 am and set out on my venture. The streets were quiet, while the birds called, waking the rest of the city up slowly. There were a few lonely souls on the street, waiting for the bus to pick them up, but other than that it was just me, the pavement, and my pounding heart. Perfection. It was a quick run, because I haven’t run in a while, but well worth it. I’m excited to wake up tomorrow for the same thing.

Today was my first day at my internship/volunteer placement. I couldn’t be more delighted about what I’ll be working on the next nine weeks. The agency that I’m working for is an NGO that works on various projects in the community. They bring in volunteers from other countries to help with things like building community meetinghouses or schools. They have contacts with agencies all over the community that are in need of help and so all the other girls are set up in those other sites. There is one girl at a community home for special needs, older adolescents, to help develop better “life skills”. There are group of girls in a primary school doing more clinical work.

The first project for my time here is to create a sort of manual for a seminar or workshop that is to be given to the youth in the community about sexual health. So, I want to create specific lesson plans with activities that the volunteers can present to a group of adolescent. This is something totally different than what I’m used to, but I’m soooo very excited. This is going to be a wonderful project for me to complete. I think this will help me really look at another aspect of the culture and another aspect of social work that I’m not as familiar with. I have a lot of research to do, but I find this topic so fascinating, I don’t have any problem sitting down and spending all day reading articles and searching the Internet.

A bonus about working at RJI is that there is a guy from the states doing an internship there as well. It’s always nice to meet someone from the States who can help me do some translating. He has already been here for a month, so I can ask him all my silly questions about traveling around the country.

My Spanish is improving everyday. Although it stresses me out in social situations still, I’m getting better. I’m pretty comfortable trying to speak at my home stay and with Liz my roommate. Tomorrow is my first day of Spanish lessons here in CR. Should be fun!

I love you and miss you all!!

-A

This is my bedroom :)

My field work is here at the good ol' RJI

Outside of RJI

This is the random patch of green I found on sunday... I like this place.

This is a typical view of the city... Nothing really that beautiful, but I'm enjoying it.

Although, I'm ready for the beach.

Sunday Sunday!

So today I made it to church- I was a little nervous as this was my first adventure out on my own. Liz walked down to the church with me. It's about a 15 min walk down hill. The only directions I got was "you go down the hill... go, go, go, go past the the bar and the pecuta (cracker) store. And the church is on the left."

As I was walking into the church, I was lucky enough to run into another guy from the states who spoke fluent Spanish so he helped me translate. Too bad this was his last week here, he heads back to Arizona on Saturday.

After church I did a little walking and came across a radome patch of green in this dirty neighborhood. I sat at a table there and read and enjoyed the sun... before it started to rain.

It was nice to get out of the house and do some exploring. I am enjoying the girls that I'm here with more and more. They are wonderful woman. Tomorrow I start my volunteer/ field work experience. I'm not sure what I will be doing, but I'll fill you in on that later.

This is my house :) I love it!!

The family that I'm staying with are the Bell's

Day 2

Last night I was finally able to get some rest! I needed it bad. But I got a great night of sleep and woke up feeling very refreshed. At the hotel we had breakfast provided for us and it was great. Normal breakfast stuff: fruit, eggs, toast.... The fruit was amazing though- Papaya and pineapple... I could live off of that stuff!

We had a meeting with our professor after breakfast to get some things settled with schedules and what not. After the meeting we had some time to kill before we went to our host families house, so of course being girls, we checked out the local mall. It was only few blocks away so we walked. Little did we know we would be risking our lives to cross the street. It was a little scary. Cars just fly through town, honking their horns like crazy, tailgating, and weaving in and out of traffic. It was funny to recognize so many stores in the mall, I was not expecting that. Our group of girls turned a lot of heads, we are very obviously tourist... I'm pretty sure that is something we will just have to get used to.

In each home stay there are two girls. Liz is the girl I'm living with and our Hostess is Marcela. She is a single woman and then she has some help that stays in the house with her. Marcela is wonderful! She showed us around town a little bit and everything is pretty much walking distance. The only thing about getting around in Costa Rica is that there are NO address. It is so bizarre. Streets don't have names, and there are absolutely no numbers. That is going to take some getting used to for sure. You just have to ask someone, and so I'm staying in the white house with blue trim across from the market....

In our homes, breakfast and dinner are provided for us. When Liz and I arrived we were offered bread pudding, and surprisingly it was wonderful. I know my dad would not believe it, but I actually really liked it. Maybe if I can get him to make it like they do here, I would eat his!! Dinner was a delicious pasta with a light cream sauce and some veggies and then some gazpatcho soup. All very good, I will not be going hungry here. Breakfast is served at 7am and dinner at 6.

The rest of the evening was spent just vegging out. I spent sometime looking at a map of the streets so that I can get to my agency on monday morning and to church tomorrow. They are both walking distance, so we will see how it goes. My Host Mom tried explaining to me where the church is, but like I said- no numbers or street names so I'm hoping that as I'm headed in the direction of the church I can find someone that knows. That's all for now, love you all!!

-A

This is our group- from r to l: Alejandra, me, Liz, Professor Miller, Shannon, Kirby, and Beth

I didn't bring my hair drying or straightener, so good by straight hair- its going to be frizz city for the next two months!

I Made It!!!

What a whirl wind of a day!! I have been running on very little sleep today, up at 3, after about 2.5 hrs of sleep. I got to the airport at 4 :45 am this morning to catch my flight at 6:20, that didn't actually leave till after 8am. Given that, I missed my connecting flight in Chicago! Luckily I was able to catch another flight to Miami with enough time to catch the flight to San Jose.

Arriving in San Jose was not exactly the tropical paradise I imagined. It was dark and rainy, and there was a lot of hustle and bustle. We had to take a cab from the airport to San Pedro which took about 45 min and 45 dollars! After over 14 hours of traveling I made it to a beautiful hotel where I will stay the night, and tomorrow meet my host family.

The language is really going to challenge me, but I feel like I'm going to be able to get the hang of it. The money conversion is KILLER! Hopefully I will become faster at the conversions soon. Its 500 colones for 1 dollar.

There is sooooo much to take in right now, I'm definitely experiencing some culture shock. I'm sure that after a good nights rest and a shower I will feel tons better, ready to conquer Costa Rica.

Thanks for all your love and support friends and family. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I miss and love you all so much! I have yet to take some pictures, but I will soon I promise!

-A

Ideas for dinner

One of my new favorite hobbies is cooking. I love it! There is definitely an art to the process, a rhythm and structure to be followed- or created. But beware to the person who enters the kitchen while I cook. I like to do things my way so watch out.

My thing right now is to find recipes online and modify them a little. The menu for tonight:

Pesto Pasta

½ lb pasta- any kind you like: bow ties, elbow, twists, spaghetti …

½ cup diced onion- give or take. I used about a handful

2 tablespoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1 tablespoon pesto

4 sundried tomatoes , cut up into so smaller pieces- I uses some that are marinated in olive oil and herbs already

1 teaspoon chopped garlic… about one clove.

½ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

**** The amounts are approximated- Feel free to modify as YOU see fit.****

Cook noodles as directed on package.

While noodles are cooking sautee EVOO, pesto, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper till onions are soft. This should take about 5-7 minutes

When noodles are finished cooking- drain and combine with above mixture.

Add parmesan cheese, and TA-DAH!!!!!!

I think this recipe would be excellent with chicken added to it or other various vegetables sautéed with the pesto… Mushrooms, asparagus, or peppers.

All the ingredients....

Bon Appâtait!!