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! :-)

And thus began grad school...

Classes started for me last Friday the 13th, which if I was a superstitious person would have been a bad omen...luckily for me though, I'm not and I really enjoyed my first class, "Semantica del Texto." I was caught quite off guard when the professor announced that the whole semester would be conducted in English, I mean after all I came here so that I could learn to think in Spanish, but after sitting through the next 3 classes, 2 of which are in Spanish, I am quite thankful for the change in language...at least I know I'll fully understand 2 of my 4 classes! Now I only have to get used to being up, sitting in class, and fully focused on learning at 7 a.m. on a Saturday...what do you suppose are the chances of that? Never in my life have I had a Saturday class, let alone a 7 a.m. class.

I woke up on February the 14th at 5:30 a.m., made coffee, showered, and was out the door by 6:30 to get to the university on time (I have to catch a bus from central park in Barva to Heredia, and then walk about 500 kilometers to the university). Suprisingly though, it wasn't that hard. The professor I have for the 7 a.m. class somewhat reminds me of Dr. Peery (for those of you who know him). I couldn't imagine having anyone else at 7 a.m. and enjoying being in class. Of course as soon as that class got out I was the first out the door searching more coffee, but I wasn't completely bored during the 2 1/2 hours I sat there focused on the use of words in a strictly gramatical sense, with or without being ambigious...ummm...what???

Anyway my day finally ended at 3:30 p.m. after 2 other classes, "Estrategias de la traduccion" and "Terminologia" which could possibly be an interesting subject but, thanks to the professor who has a need to clarify herself about 12 times and talk all the way though a project she gave us to do, won't be my favourite class. It was at about 4 p.m. when I arrived back at the house that I realized it was Valentine's Day. Not because of anything anyone did for me, but because it was the first time since I woke up that I was able to relax and not focus on learning. That night I went out to a restaurant to listen to my brother, Jaime, and two of his friends play their first gig. The bar/restaurant was tiny but had an amazing view of the lights of the city, including the lights of the runway at the airport. Even at 11:00 p.m. it was breathtaking. Unfortunately after that things turned sour when we went out to eat Taco Bell at 12:00 in the morning and I woke up Sunday sick to my stomach from late night grease. Not the brightest idea I have ever had, but hmmm was it good at the time.

Other than that, currently there is this sculpture fair or festival going on in the central park in Barva. There are about 12 sculptors, 2 from the US, 1 from Cuba and the rest Costa Rican who started sculpting on Sunday and are supposed to finish completely in two weeks. Its incredible to see how a huge piece of rock is gradually transformed into art. I have been speaking with one of the sculptors, from Colorado, who is doing this interesting Mother-Daughter piece. She is very nice but doesn't speak a word of Spanish so I've been interpreting for her whenever I'm around. It's quite fun actually.

Yesterday I spent the day at the beach with Tonio, a friend that I made last time I was here. We went to Jaco, about 2 1/2 hours away from San Jose, not the prettiest of beaches in Costa Rica, but not the worst either. It was a gorgeous day to spend on the beach, lots of sunshine and warm weather. It was just nice to get out in the sun again after 6 months straight in an office working in front of a computer. I wasn't even out in the sun that much, considering how quickly I burn it wasn't a smart idea to spend hours with no shade, but even a little sun drains a person and when I arrived home at around 8:30 I was super tired. I fell asleep on the couch attempting to have a conversation on MSN only to be woken up by Danilo, my other brother, and sent to bed. Unfortunately the morning brought the realization that I still had about 140 pages to read for my classes on Saturday and about 6 short interviews to do for Friday night...and thus began my career as a grad school student...fun times...

Pura Vida is a way of life...

Finally classes start this week! And I say finally since I have now been here for almost 3 weeks with nothing of value to do. Oh I have definitely had fun, too much at times, but I'm ready to get down to business and start learning again...after all, and as much of a nerd as this makes me sound...I really do enjoy having papers to write! Anyway so I have my first class on Friday at 5 p.m. followed by 3 classes on Saturday that begin at 7 a.m...yes in the morning...and end at 4. I was thinking today about how this is probably payback for my last semester at Mars Hill when I only had classes Tuesday and Thursday for a couple hours in the morning, and even before that, my semester here when I had no classes on Friday or Tuesday and Thursday during the day. I mean its not so bad only having classes two days a week, but why the weekend? Grrr.

Anyway so besides karma being a...you know...I have spent my days doing nothing of consequence. For the Super Bowl I went to a Casino near the airport which was awesome. They had about 5 gigantic screens set up around the restaurant so I got to see all the details. I went with my hermano tico, Jaime, and Astrid, another student that is staying here from Sweden and then we met up there with one of Jaime's high school friends, Marco, and three of Marco's friends, all of which say they watch football every Sunday. Jaime and I were the only ones rooting for the Cardinals and the only reason we did was to play Devil's Advocate, which I'm sure for those of you who know me, doesn't suprise you :-P. Anyway I was all into the game and the team so I was quite upset when they lost and now I'm even more sad that I have to wait until like August to watch another game! Yesterday I went to watch the Pro Bowl with the same people minus Jaime and Astrid, and this time I was happy that the NFC won! It was the first time I think I've ever watched the Pro Bowl and we spent like 30 minutes talking about which helmets we liked and which we didn't. I was thought of as strange because I'm not a fan of the Buccaneer's helmet but I do like the Dolphins' simply because I like the colours. We all agreed on our dislike of the Browns' helmets and full uniform really...they need a new stylist.

Ok so that was random, moving on...on Tuesday last week I went up...or down really I think...to San Jose with Jaime's friend, Marco, to see the university there, UCR is the biggest in Costa Rica I believe. Its quite a nice campus, new and old buildings and has the same sort of artsyness that I loved about Asheville. There are so many restaurants and bars, many very old, but its full with university students, obviously, so it was super fun. I spent the entire day outside on a gorgeous day talking spanish. What more could I ask for in life?

The weather has been sort of crazy. I was told this is the most beautiful time to be here in Costa Rica...always sunny and warm, but I think I was lied to. Some days have been amazing, I lay out on the balcony one morning for about 30 minutes and burned lol, what else is new...but then for the past week the wind has been hurricane-like. I seriously think sometimes that the roof might blow off. It would be beautiful sans the wind....Jaime says its just a cold front, but it seems to have parked itself over the whole country. I would love to go to the beach this week but with this wind I can't imagine it being pleasant.

Anyway other than that, life is just great. Yesterday I went to a baptist church close to my house and really enjoyed it. The people were so friendly and there is a good amount of younger people there. I just feel great about life right now, I have nothing to be upset about and can only thank the Lord for this amazing opportunity that I have! The phrase Pura Vida definitely defines my life these days!

It's now a reality...

So I came down here on a whim basically. Although I had taken an exam in the US,and did relatively well on it, I still had to take the entrance exam into the specific Master's in Translation program when I arrived here which I did on Monday. I had planned on being down here for two years but if I didn't do well on the exam all that would change and I'd be heading back to the United States. Fortunately though, and yes I did doubt it for a few hours, I received excellent news that I passed the exam and have been admitted into the program! So no "welcome back" party for me anytime soon!

I went to the university yesterday to register as a student. I was hoping on it being simple and being finished in a few minutes but for some reason the school requires a photo of me in order to register...like passport style...and we all know how bad those always come out! So I took a little walk around Heredia, something I haven't done since the day before I left back in December of 2007. Everything is the same. Its so nice coming back to a place that is just how it was before and hasn't been modernized by hundreds of McDonalds' and Burger Kings...although a Starbucks would be nice! I walked through central park, scattered with young children feeding the pidgeons and I remembered how I felt the last time I was there, nostalgic. There seriously is something about Costa Rica that grabbed my heart and never let go!

Anyway, so now that I'm in the program I just have to sign up for my classes, and then those start either the 2nd of the 9th of February. I'm excited to be studying again. In the months since I graduated I definitely missed school, and even essays. Working was a change I wasn't ready for and I'm super excited to be able to study again. Now we just have to hope that I understand everything that is going on when I get in the classroom!

Here's to my new reality!

I always said I would come home...

I arrived at around 12:40 p.m. on Wednesday the 21st of January. It was incredibly difficult to leave everyone again. While having dinner at Chili's in NC with friends after watching a movie I became unbarebly sad for what I was leaving behind: my friends, my family, my life. Sitting in the airport in Houston, not being able to get ahold of Mom one last time to say goodbye brought me to tears and I wondered if I was really doing the right thing; why after I had built my new life in California, would I want to leave it again? I knew though, that if I decided not to do this, that if I just decided to stay I would always wonder what could have been, and how much this experience would have changed me. I might be having second thoughts but I know myself well enough to know that if I do not get this out of my system I would never be happy with the life I would build for myself in the future, wherever that may be.

In Costa Rica, after leaving North Carolina's icy, low 20s degree weather, the warm muggyness of summer in the tropics was definitely welcoming. My host mother, Nela, my younger host brother Jaime, and Sylvia who helps Nela around the house met me at the airport. It was just as if I'd never left. After leaving the airport we went to Danilo, my older brother's, office so he could say hi. He pretty much tackled me almost to the ground (it would have been if the car wasn't in the way) in his attempt to say hello. It was nice though, to know I was missed. After that we went to my host father, Alberto's office to see him. Since I've been back he has been so caring, asking if I need anything everytime he sees me, making sure I'm happy.

Eventually I made it back to the house where I met Astrid, a Swedish student staying with us for a few months while she goes to the University as well. We have spent time getting to know each other and she seems nice enough, but apparently there was an issue with her and Jaime so she doesn't really hang out with the same crowd anymore, and I was advised not to invite her when we all go out since its awkward, and none of the guys like what she did to Jaime. There is also a girl from France staying with here for about another week while she is on vacation.

Since I've been here I've just been catching up with people I haven't seen in a year. The night I arrived Andrey, a friend of Danilo's, came to visit me. We were pretty good friends when I was here last so it was nice to see him again. On Thursday I just hung out at the house unpacking and making my room more homey, watched Grey's and then went out to Heredia to meet up with Antonio. Although we didnt' see much of each other when I was here last we became better friends by talking online when I was in the US. Friday was Nacho's birthday, a good friend of Jaime's, so we all went out to La Rumba, a dance club not too far away. I had only been 1 time before but the place was exactly as I remembered it. We danced Salsa and Merengue for hours!

One thing I have noticed this time that I wasn't so tuned into last time is the amount of gringos or Americans that are here. Last night there must have been 40 in La Rumba and I've seen at least 3 others around Barva, the small town that I live in. They all hang out together and speak English and drink beer, ignoring everyone around them. I sat there wondering if I was like that last time I was here. In the beginning I would only go out with my exchange group, until I realized I was not learning any Spanish by only speaking English, and so I began to go out only with Jaime and his friends. I wonder if any of them will have the same realization I had and make friends with the natives instead.

Costa Rica hasn't changed though because of the trade agreement with the United States and for that I am thankful. Although there might be a few more foreign banks and large grocery stores, the country is as it was before, warm, sunny, and green, and fortunately without rain this time of year! The view of the sunset from my balcony still takes my breadth away. The food still consists of the staple rice and beans with beef or chicken and every meal is accompanied by freshly made juice: pineapple, mango, papaya, you name it. The people are as friendly and helpful as ever. Being here again makes me realize just how much I have missed not only the slow pace of life that is definitely lacking in Southern California but also the incredibly generous latino culture that makes being back in Costa Rica more like returning to the place I was always meant to be, it's just like I have finally come home.