Reminiscing...

So as I was just sitting here doing nothing, waiting for lunch to be served, I was checking my emails and noticed I have 23 pages worth of emails saved up in Hotmail. 23 pages of more than 30 emails is quite a lot...when did I stop deleting them I wondered? So I clicked on page 23 and began reading. An email to Joel after Spring Break of 2006 when Char'Lee, Lauren, Carlee and I all hopped into Arnold and drove down to Boca Raton, Florida. After waking up before the sun and driving 12 hours on I-95 South we finally arrived in sunny Florida. I don't remember too many details of the drive...except that when we finally readed West Palms we were ready to be there...I was speeding as I passed a State Trooper going North (very unusual for me ;-)). He turned around over the median and followed me South and just when I was freaking out because I was going to be pulled over in Florida, on Spring Break, he flashed his lights at a VW Jetta to my left and pulled him over instead. I don't believe I sped the rest of the way there.

This was the year I turned 21...I still don't think the girls have truly forgiven me, but I blame it on them--it was the 3 wise men they bought me that did me in. All I remember is that it is the closest I have come to a run in with a cop, one that wasn't airport security that is. It was a Spring Break of a lifetime...strawberry daquiries on the porch watching the sunset, gorgeous cristal clear blue water and an endless supply of warm sun on the beach. The email was a thank youfor letting us crash at his place, accompanied by the lyrics of the song "Te extraño" and the reply, the very earliest email I have saved, was a sweet reply saying how nice it was to have us down there, and to come back whenever we had the urge to get away.

I guess I began deleting again after this date because I have very few emails for the rest of that year, really until July of 2007 when I made the journey down to Costa Rica for the first time for a 6 month exchange program. The very first email I received when I arrived was from Aubrey. She said we had just gotten off the phone and she wanted to write right away so it was the first I read when I got down here. It was a beautiful email about how thankful she was for my friendship, for always answering my phone and chatting to her for hours, for giving her the energy to follow her dreams because I was stubbornly pursuing mine. She wrote about why she believes the Lord sent her to North Carolina for college, specifically to meet the people that would be there for her always to help her through a bad love, perhaps the most low she had ever felt in her life. I remember the first day I met Aubrey. She was the first student I spoke to at Mars Hill the day I arrived for the Honor Scholars retreat. As Mom, Ash and I were hauling my things up the stairs to my new room, Aubrey came out of her room to say hi and offer me the pins I needed to bunk the beds. Turned out she was also an Honor Scholar and while waiting for the bus she introduced me to Lauren. I met Carlee that same day, on the bus ride to the camp site. We had been asked to read The Metamorphasis before we arrived since it would be discussed on the camp, and in one of my fits of laziness I had bought the SparkNotes instead. Turnes out Carlee hadn't read the book either so I offered her the SparkNotes to catch up while on the way. The four of us spent the next three days complaining about the bugs, instantly bonded by our hate for the outdoors. The day we arrived back we met Char'Lee in the cafetaria as we were discussing setting up a game of sand volleyball and so before classes had even officially started I had met the four girls that were my rock all through college. We laughed, we cried, we fought constantly, but we stayed together and helped each other through any storm that came our way.

After sophomore year Aubrey chose to leave Mars Hill, to leave North Carolina and return home to Texas. She had had a rough year, a broken heart, not only from a boy who turned out not to be worth her time, but also from the loss of a close friend to a motorcycle accident. Mars Hill turned out to be Aubrey's hell and the decision to cut her losses was probably the best she could have made for herself. I didn't get to say goodbye--I had gone to visit my dad in South Africa that summer--but the distance apart didn't kill the friendship. All through junior year Aubrey and I talked on the phone constantly. If two days went by without one of us calling it was unusual. I helped her recover, she helped me keep her close. 3 years have gone by and sadly the friendship has withered. We very seldomly chat, even facebook messages are scarce, but I know that anytime I am ever in need of a friend, anytime I want to make a roadtrip to Dallas Texas, Aubrey will be just a phone call away. Maybe I'll have to wait a few days for a return call, but it always comes, because the bond we made that very first weekend will last for the rest of our lives.

I could keep reading old emails, and keep remembering the good ol' days. It seems that since the day I first arrived in Costa Rica I have not once hit the delete botton on an email that didn't come from Facebook. I have hundreds of emails from Mommy saying how much she missed not having me in the US, emails from my brother and sister catching each other up on our lives in less than 3 lines, emails from Eder making plans to go out dancing, but each email I read brings up a memory, some good, some bad, times I miss, and times I wish I could erase. Reminiscing is fun, it gives a new found appreciation to friends for all the times we have spent together, but it is also depressing, remember what I once had and how all of that has changed. On second thought, maybe it is time to stop reading. Lunch is on the table and my mood has turned as dark and depressing as the black clouds rolling in from the west promising another afternoon of heavy rains. Instead I'm going to look for the sunshine that is in my life now, in the form of new friends, of last days of classes,and I'm going to look forward to the new memories I will make today, tomorrow, Sunday, the new memories that I will look back on four years from now and reminisce of those days when I was a grad student in Costa Rica pursuing my dream of being fluent in Spanish. Of course I will never forget the girls that made my undergrad years all they were, even on my death bed I will remember all the things they gave me. Friends like that are hard to come by and I wouldn't change them for the world.

Another day, another visitor...

I'm almost there...two weeks left. Two weeks to finish (well, start and finish) two final assignments of about 10 pages each and to study for two final exams...mean while, when I should be doing them...i.e. now seems like a perfect time right? I'd rather procrastinate...it is Sunday after all....

Besides my complete lack of motivation, things are going well. At the university I gave a final presentation this past Friday, and I believe it went very well. I turned in my final portafolio, which looked spectacular, even if I do say so myself. Of my four classes I really only have trouble in one of them, and then that trouble only means a B instead of an A so I really shouldn't complain. I am happy that the semester is ending. Eventhough its the same length as the semesters in the US it feels so much longer and I'm definitely exhausted from all the energy I've put into it. But like I said...two weeks left so I'll be able to relax soon.

My sister came to visit last month. Unfortunately our time together was super short (she couldn't only stay one week) but we fit tons of stuff into those six days and I'm pretty sure she left wishing she could stay longer. She arrived on a Saturday night and on Monday I showed her around San Jose. Tuesday we went to a Samara Beach, about 5 hours away from San Jose where we stayed until Thursday. The beach was gorgeous, but very dead. Rainy season had just started, which makes the lack of people more understandable, but it was still unexpected. We spent a great two days relaxing, lying out on the beach, swimming in the hotel pool, eating. One night we went out to a bar where we thought we would find people...nothing. Well except for the rich old man that was hitting on Adrienne to the point of uncomfort. He kept demanding that she get up a dance with him...the only thing he was good for was the mojitos he bought us. On Friday, back here in Barva we went canopying or zip-lining through the forest to the north of us. It was an amazing experience (I had done one before last time I was here, but it a different city) but for Adrienne it was her first. Obviously at the beginning she was nervous, but by the end she was offering to go first and loved it. It was an amazing adrenaline rush...there is nothing else like hanging from a harness attached to a cable, practically flying through a rainforest. Its definitely an experience I would recommend to anybody. On Saturday it was time for her to leave, and for me to go back to classes...the fun was over. I definitely had fun though and it was good to get to see her again.

It's amazing how fast time moves really. To think it is already seven days into June of 2009 is crazy. The soccer world cup is only a year away...football season starts again in just 2 short months! I've been watching a ton of soccer, tennis and basketball lately. Firstly the Costa Rican soccer team has been playing for their spot in the world cup in South Africa. Last wednesday they played (and beat) the US and yesterday they beat Trinadad and Tabago. For the USA game I went to a bar in Heredia with some friends and although I started in support of the Costa Rican side, I switched to supporting the USA when they went down 2-0. To me it would have been a more exciting game if they could score. Well at the end they eventually did, but only through a penalty. I was the ONLY person in the bar that celebrated their goal...bad move...Then well these past two weeks were the Tennis French Open. Today Federer won his first French Open title...most definitely the best player in History! Finally, NBA is coming to a close and somewhere along the line I have developed a soft spot for the Lakers...lets hope they win again tonight!

The only other exciting news I have is that before the month is up I will have moved into my own apartment! I have absolutely loved living here in the house with my (feels like real) family, but I would also really like to live alone again. I've missed it. That in mind, I decided to start looking for an apartment the week after my sister left, and I found the perfect place within walking distance of the university! Now I will no longer need to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning for class...I can sleep in until 5:45 haha! The place is quite large...2 bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, kitchen, and laundry room, all fully furnished. I was quite lucky to find it really because it wasn't advertized. The only bad thing is that it will be empty for a month while I am in the US for Carlee's wedding...but I couldn't let the perfect apartment slip away so I decided to take it anyway. It's mine as of the 17th of June :-). I can't wait!

Don't you know who I think I am?

It is incredible to me that one year has gone by: one year since my graduation at Mars Hill, one year since I became a degreed individual, one year since I packed up a life I had known for 4 years and moved across the country to begin another adventure. And it is even more incredible to me that in just one short year, I am now 3 months into a Master's degree and living in a foreign country with my permanent return to the life I knew unlikely. It never ceases to amaze me how much things can change in a year. Friends. Education. Lifestyle. Home. Family. Five years ago I was graduating high school, excited yet scared for my move to college. Four years ago, I was excited that my first year was over, and overwhelmed by the thought of 3 more. Three years ago, two years down I didn't want to leave my new home in the mountains to return to the small town life of Sanford. Two years ago I had finished my third year and was struggling with my choice to come down to Costa Rica and spend the next six months learning Spanish (which I look back on now as probably one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life, besides my salvation). One year ago, I was looking back at the last four years and wondering where the hell they went; how in the world they fly right by without me noticing. One year ago, I was walking across the stage in Myers Stadium, receiving my diploma from Dr. Lunsford. One year ago I was saying my sad goodbyes to my three best girlfriends, knowing I would see them again, but knowing it would never be the same as the last four years we spent in each others presence, day and night. One year ago I was unhappy and restless, knowing it was time for another adventure...waiting my time to return to Costa Rica.

It truly amazes me when I think of what I have done in my life, what the Lord has allowed me to become, to achieve, to possess. And as thankful as I am for where I am now, for what I have, the family I have been blessed with, I can't help but wonder what will come next. What is in store for my life, for my future? What plans does God have, and when will he reveal them to me?

I am becoming stressed and overwhelmed once again with the end of the semester workload, and definitely a little homesick for my girlfriends, for my mom, and for my dogs. The pile of final projects seems to keep growing with no end in sight. Five weeks...can feel like an eternity...

As my semester is drawing to a close, I now look back only four short months to where I was. Partying. Wanting things to be the way they had been in 2007. I think I have definitely matured. I have left part of me behind and found where I want to be and what I want to do with my time here but I am also waiting for the day it is over. When I will have another degree and another title, and another adventure to undergo. Without looking too much into the future I am waiting for the time to fly by, just as it did the past five years.

The Dominican Republic experience...

So I just got back from a week long vacation in the Dominican Republic where I stayed with Joel and his family...after four long years of being invited every time Joel went home, we were finally able to make it work that I got to go see his home country. Actually this trip couldn't have come at a better time since if I had stayed in Costa Rica just three days longer my visa would have expired and I would once again be living in a country illegally...(there is a very valid reason for the first time I was an illegal, if any of you are curious...). Anyway, so after making plans to go only two weeks before my departure I was quite rushed as the day came, doing most of my packing the morning of...once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator! Thankfully though, Taca allows online check-in which definitely saves like an hour of having to stand in line to check in!

My flight left at 10:40 am on April 19th and after only a 2 1/2 hour flight I landed in Santo Domingo at 3:30 pm local time. Stepping off the plane I was blasted by a heat that I haven't experienced since my days in Sanford, NC during the middle of summer. It was raining (of course after Joel told me it wouldn't rain this time of year...) and the heat + humidity was suffocating...I did however get used to it once again after a few days...That night we went out to an outdoor bar/restaurant and met up with some of his old high school friends, all really nice people. The following day we went to the Colonial Zone, the very first city built by Christopher Colombus and his men when the reached the new world. I had no idea it was the Dominican Republic that Colombus arrived to, I guess I should have known that after years and years of history classes, but somehow I managed to forget all the small details...It was cool seeing a city that old though...seeing the first houses, university, school, church, etc. of the new world...one that now is absolutely nothing like it was back then. After hiring a tour guide to give us the indepth details, we got to watch locals make cigars, we got a free taste of a couple traditional drinks first made by the native indians centuries ago, and also got to see how the lagrimar, a precious stone exclusive to the Dominican Republic is made into jewelry and our tour guy was definitely a character...!

The following day we went to a book fair...dorky I know...but there was a concert of traditional Dominican music, which led to modern day merengue, and I also met another of his high school friends there...on our way out of the fair Joel and I got stopped again by a camera crew who wanted to know why we had chosen to wear shorts to the book fair...ummmm...because it's hot??? For some reason people in the Dominican Republic don't wear shorts...nor do they here in Costa Rica...crazy people. I just said that I was a tourist and wasn't accustomed to the heat...totally true...and that I felt like wearing shorts...weird question...anyway...

Then on Wednesday Joel and I woke up early to catch the 8 am bus to Santiago, about 2 hours north-west of Santo Domingo. Joel has an aunt that lives there, so we went up to have lunch with her and so that I could see the mountains and another city...Joel also had a dentist appointment :-S On Thursday we took a trip to the beach. The water was a beautiful crystal clear blue colour, the colour you see in all the Caribbean postcard pictures and the sun was warm, but not too hot thanks to the wind. Vicky, a friend of Joel's came with and we spent the afternoon conversing and taking random photos...

For some reason trips out of the country always go by so fast, and before I knew it it was Friday and time for me to leave. I had an awesome trip though, and I am really happy I finally got to go the Dominican Republic. Joel's parents are some of the nicest people I have ever met...they took such good care of me, and after only 6 days I seriously felt like I had yet another family! It was nice to come home though, to sleep in my own bed again, and to be around my friends here in Costa Rica!

Unfortunately, the day after I got home I had to go back to classes, from 7 am to 3:30 pm...the longest days of my life are definitely Saturdays! I was relaxed though, maybe too relaxed as I couldn't focus at all! Classes are going well though, for those who are wondering. I got good grades on my midterm exams so that is promising, I am still learning a ton every week in the majority of my classes, so they are very productive. We are about halfway through the first semester and it is time to start working on all my final projects so from now until June I won't have much free time...another reason to be super thankful for a great trip out of the country!

Julie's Costa Rican adventure...

One of the greatest things in the world is having someone come to visit. There is nothing better than seeing a familiar face, a friendly face that I have shared few or many experiences with, here in the country that holds my heart. This past week Julie came to visit me for a few days during her school's spring break. Although we have only known each other since a couple of weeks after I moved to California, we instantly became friends and started hanging out, and when she found out I was going to be in Costa Rica for two years immediately said she would come down to visit. And true to her word, she did. Sadly it was a short visit, but one that I'm sure we both enjoyed. We spent a day walking around San Jose, so Julie could see the "worst" part of Costa Rica, and then the next day headed to the beach where her uncle has a condo. The bus ride left much to be desired. I had negative leg room so had to sit with my legs out in the isle the whole way. Thanks to horrendous traffic we missed the bus that left for the beach at 9 am...the one that went direct, so we had to rebuy tickets and leave at 1o am...on the bus colectivo that stopped every few miles to pick up more people. So instead of the ride taking 3 hours it took about 4, in a bus with no leg room and zero air conditioning. We finally made it though in one piece and although the beach adjacet to the condo wasn't the prettiest, luckily a bus ride down the road is one of the most well known beaches in the country: Manuel Antonio.

On Wednesday we caught the 10:30 bus to Manuel Antonio and arrived about an hour later, to a beach full of Americans. The day was gorgeously sunny and the waves big. Lunch and drinks came right to our spot on the beach without us every having to get up. Julie even bought herself a massage on the beach. The second greatest thing in life. Sadly the day had to end as the sun went down, cloudy by the afternoon, and so we headed back to the condo, both a little burned and exhausted from so much sun. The next day we left back for San Jose, and the following day Julie had to leave. I had a great time, and for the next two years I will always remember Julie singing from the minute she woke up, any song that popped into her head, or even a made up one. "Monkeys monkeys in the tree, kiss kiss kiss...." I'm sure she won't forget her Costa Rican adventure either...from smelling bathroom water to delicious fried platanos, there is something for everyone to love in this country!

Anyway, on to other news, I have recently realized how true the saying "my good opinion, once lost, is lost forever" is. In my life I have lost a very good friend to a horrible misunderstanding which to this day still hurts, but even more to pathetic petty fights that I have never thought twice about. However stupid the action was, once someone has disappointed me it is almost impossible for me to trust them again, and I don't hand out trust easily. Yes I can forgive, but I can't forget and I would be stupid to put myself back into a situation where a friend could hurt me again. A couple of weekends ago a friend disappointed me and I have not been able to speak to him since. Maybe it is a bad attitude to have, but I believe friends can be replaced, and if one doesn't care enough about me not to hurt me, then I'm better off replacing him. For this reason my trip to Nicaragua during Semana Santa has been postponed temporarily until I find a new travel buddy, but hopefully I will be going to the Dominican Republic soon instead (since I have to leave the country for 72 hours before the 21st of April to renew my tourist visa!!) Other than that, classes are going...This Friday I have my first midterm and then the following Saturday I have 3. Fun. Next week begins Semana Santa, from the 5-12, so I will have the whole week off (unusual for me ;-)) to watch the festivities. I will have quite a load of homework to catch up on this week, but I definitely cannot complain about how things are progressing here. I am happy, and although I have terrible knots in my shoulders, I am relaxed and just enjoying the pura vida lifestyle!!

I'll dance to that...

Well, my birthday has come and gone and I'm a year older. 24. Doesn't that mean that I am now in my mid-twenties??? Or does that only happen when you hit 25? Anyway regardless of how old I am beginning to feel (at my age, still in the university, no boyfried, no prospects, years away from a stable job) at the same time I am totally thankful for another great year I passed as a 23 year old. Looking back over what I had accomplished the year that passed, I realized I have everything to be happy for as the year progressed: I graduated undergrad with my best friends, I moved to California, I watched my best friend getting married, I got a job working in the field I wanted to, I met and made several new great friends, I moved to Costa Rica, I got into a Master's program in translation, and above all I spent another great year with the people I love most, friends, family, and my dogs. What more could I ask for out of 365 days?

Well, the birthday itself was great. Friday night, after classes, I came back to the house where my tico family had planned a party with some friends and a bunch of the family. Mom cooked some delicious fajitas, dad whipped up some delicious "azulito", Jaime and the cimarrona band played music just for me! and Danilo tried to dance (although, sadly, he is the one tico I have seen that has no rhythm...) I danced along with the cimarrona, with Andrey, with Jaime, with dad. It was a great night and made me feel special that they had planned all of that just for me. This year is the first year in 4 years that I haven't spent my birthday on Spring Break with the loves of my life, but my family made me feel welcome and loved. I couldn't have hoped for more. Saturday, my actual birthday, I received visits and phone calls from friends here in Costa Rica, and emails, messages, and calls from my family and friends in the US. I am truly blessed to have as many people that care about me as I do! Satuday night I went out dancing, again, with other friends and by the time I got home my feet were killing me...I could hardly walk!

Other than the birthday celebrations, classes are going well. The work load keeps intensifying but I am enjoying the challenge of the translations and the time spent working in groups. I also especially like that I do not spent 9 hours on a Saturday in theory lectures! Thank the Lord for classes of more practice than theory! Although I'm not sure that at this point I can say my translation skills have improved, I am constantly improving my Spanish skills and find it easier everyday to speak and understand. I noticed tonight though, after watching a movie and then a couple of hours of tv in English, that being surrounded by only English even for a couple of hours makes it difficult to think in Spanish when I need to! Come to think of it...this blog is probably not helping me in that respect either!

Pues, cambiamos al español entonces...no mentira! This past week I took a few days off from doing homework and headed to the beach in Guanacaste, on the Pacific coast. The beach and atmosphere were amazing, and it was nice to be away for a couple of days without having to think in work for the university. Sadly though, the trip ended too soon and I had to get back to the Central Valley to do a group translation, which, although was not that long, took forever to do with the group I have! By the time I finally got back to the house I felt like I needed another beach trip to get over the one I had just had! And now as this new week is starting and I look at the amount of homework I would like to have finished by this coming Sunday, (when Julie comes to visit!!!!) I can't help but think how great a beach trip at the end of all of it would be! 8 days and counting...que riiico! I'll dance to that!

Lo pasé súper bien!

March. That is just crazy. I have been here in Costa Rica for a little over a month now and it feels like only a couple of weeks. I have to admit though that it has been incredible, every moment of it...

Classes are going well. They have been going for 3 weeks now and each week the work load increases. Saturdays are very heavy, obviously, with about 9 hours of class time in one day, but it really isn't as hard as I imagined. I really enjoy two of the classes so it makes the time go quicker. I have a lot of reading and practice exercises to do during the week, so I spend the good part of two or three days reading and translating for my classes on the weekends, but that isn't so bad either since I really don't have anything else to do. I have already learned a lot about translating, about how to change the structure to be more natural in Spanish and such...its a very interesting language study really. I have been told that my verbal Spanish is improving immensly too, in the past two weeks I have been asked by three different people if I am from here...which is quite amusing since about zero ticos have red hair...Just the other day in fact Nela, my host mom, told me I sounded totally Costa Rican when I asked a friend if he was hungry. She was in the kitchen and Andrey and I were in the dining room nearby and she thought there was someone else there with us! So that makes me happy really, at least I know that being here is definitely worth it.

These past two weeks have been very calm for me-I don't really have that much to tell I think. Last sunday I went to Turrialba, a city about an hour and a half from San Jose, with Leo, a cousin. He showed me around where he lives and then we went to a nearby archeological site, which was apparently inhabited by natives thousands of years ago. The site was only recently discovered I think, and the part that you can see is fairly small as there isn't enough money to excavate all of it, but it was still pretty impressive. It is so hard to imagine how people lived back then, without indoor plumming and electricity, computers, tv's etc. and I always leave places like that in awe of how much they knew back then...this particular tribe constructed this intricate acuaduct system that brought water from the mountains to their villiage and then filtered it so it was drinkable. All of that without modern technology. Simply inspiring.

Then this past thursday Joel arrived for a wedding and I got to see him for the first time in three years. Even with so much time apart, being together is just how it used to be, back in the day at Mars Hill. Thursday I went to the airport to meet him when his flight came in and then I brought him back here to the house for him to meet the folks. Friday I gave him the tour of San Jose, not the prettiest part of Costa Rica but since I had class we couldn't really spend time traveling to a place further away. We walked around the city, popped in to the cathedral and national theatre, we strolled down the isles of the artesania, and walked through the most beautiful park that I have seen here--with the coolest looking trees where we got stopped and iterviewed for a TV show! I am not sure why, but I was expecting it to be a news type show, until they told us they were interviewing people about kissing! Weird. It was pretty cool though, and now I get to see myself on tv at some point, lol. After that, we had lunch at this quaint little restaurant, a house converted I think. The fresco de mango was delicious! Sadly, after that I had to leave to go to class.

Saturday after classes I went with Joel to the wedding. The invitation said it was at 7:30 pm and when we arrived, the catholic misa was still going on! Only in Costa Rica....so finally the wedding started at about 8:15 and lasted until around 9:30. It was the first catholic wedding I have been too so I have nothing to compare it to, but it seemed extremly long to me. After the wedding started the party, which if I remember correctly was still going on when we left at 4:00 am! The band was really good--they played everything from reggaeton to salsa, merengue, rock. I must have danced for hours straight! As an intermission, I suppose, there was a mariachi band and endless bottles of tequila, which the mexicans that attended (the groom is from Mexico) dove into head first. After the mariachi, was the carnival...black lights, body paint, and African drum music, probably the part of the fiesta I loved the most! By the time it ended, I had orange, green and yellow paint all over my face and back!

Sadly though, Sunday came and Joel had to leave. It was an incredible visit though and it was great to see him again--there is just something about Joel...he hopes to come back for a longer visit next time though, which of course would be fabulous. Anyway even though it had to come to an end, as all things do, lo pasé súper bien and I can't wait for my next visitor in just three short weeks! :-)