Tuesday-I had class till noon. We had a presentation, a 3 -5 page paper due, an oral test, and a written test today. It was a long day as well as Monday. After class, I came home and ate lunch con mi familia. We had some type of fried potato thing with of course, rice and beans. I got a drink with my meal this time, I was happy!!!! Then I went through my whole room to get rid of trash. I also wrote on some postcards. Now, I just need to figure out where the post office is and figure out how to mail them….It was a very very productive day! I also played with Maria Paula. She is so cute! She loves to pull your shirt up to see your belly button. She thinks it’s the funniest thing. I officially taught her how to high five and when we are playing, I will say “too slow” and move my hand, and she attempts to mumble “too slow” too. She is adorable!
Also today, I listened to the Plain and Simple CD. For those of you who don’t know, one of my friends started a band when we were in high school, his name is Logan Larkin, and he left this time a year ago for a two year mission trip in Russia. I miss him so much! He is the happiest, honest, and most down to earth guy I know. I can’t believe it has already been a year. I hope this next year flies by because I am getting anxious to see him.
After today, I feel like I am going to survive the rest of this experience. One day in June, I was talking with my friend Angela Wasko. We were talking about this whole study abroad experience and how she was going to Washington DC for the summer to work for Make A Wish as an intern. I was telling her how I was so nervous to be away from family and friends for as long as I was and I didn’t know anyone who was here. Her response was, “its going to be what you make out of it”. Today, I finally realized that is 100% true. Yea, I can sit in my room on facebook all day after class and be homesick, or I can go downstairs and practice my Spanish with my family and get to know my host sisters and/or explore the city of flowers. I can finally confidently say I am going to survive these next five months! It’s about time!
*One thing that I have noticed is that I haven’t used my hair blow dryer or straightner for more than 2 weeks now. My hair feels so much healthier! There is no need to use it because as soon as I walk outside, the humidity undoes everything I did to it 3 minutes ago. It has gotten a lot of getting use to, to say the least.
*Another thing is that I hate how every single guy who you walk by or drives pasts you, they honk, stare, whistle, or talk to you. It is the most annoying thing about Costa Rica I would say.
*I have finally gotten over the bugs. I can sleep through the night without waking up every half hour to check my bed for bugs. I read a card my mom wrote me before I left and it said “Remember, you are bigger than the bugs.” Very true mom, thanks!
*The ISEP summer students leave this week. I really don’t want Kelsie to leave. We have done everything together since day uno here. I met her the first day of class, and I feel like I have known her for years. I am going to miss you Kelsie! She is from Indiana, and we have already made sure there will be road trips in our future.
*I also would like to note that I have gone more than four weeks without my blackberry! It doesn’t do much here in Costa Rica besides turn on and the alarm clock works! The first week, I carried it with me everywhere. I think it was like a comfort item, and having it with me made me feel safe and if I needed anything, I could somehow magically make it work. But now, I don’t carry it around with me. I only use it as an alarm clock.
*It is also difficult for me to sit here and type in English when I write this blog. It’s like my brain clicks over between the two languages. I am constantly speaking, writing, and thinking Spanish so it’s difficult to sit here and type all of this in English, no lie. Weird, huh?
*one more thing, I am trying to figure out how I can get my grades to transfer back to Northwest as pass/fail instead of A for A, B for B, etc. I feel like the teachers here grade more on product and not the actual learning process. Every other person in the summer program is getting a pass/fail grade, and I am the only one getting grade for grade. I don’t understand how Northwest can trust a different countries grading scale. I am also nervous because I need a 3.0 this semester in order to keep all of my scholarships. Taking classes in a different language will be difficult in the first place. Not to mention, I am taking international business classes that I have yet to take in ENGLISH. Say a prayer for me please.
*sorry for being all over the place today with my thoughts. It has been a long day and for some reason I can’t steal anyone’s wifi today at my house. Boo.
I guess you could say I am finally adjusting to this crazy, different, low key culture. This culture is so laid back and calm, I can’t even put words together to describe it. Back at home, I was constantly running everywhere to accomplish as much as I could in one day. I always needed at least 3 more hours in a day, but here, I am very low key and somewhat of a home body because I have no responsibilities whatsoever. It’s a very different life style; let’s hope I don’t get too used to it!
Wednesday-Today, we didn’t have “class”. Some couple came and talked to the whole ISEP group. The topic was over Costa Rican Folklore. It was very interesting and they taught us how to do three different types of traditional dances. After class, 6 of us girls walked to the local mall. We bought our movie ticket to see eclipse at 4:00pm. The ticket was only 1,300 colones, which equals under $3! What a deal! There was a HUGE line to buy tickets, I have never seen anything like it before and it wasn’t even the premier showing of any movies. It was crazy and intense. After buying our tickets, we ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Today was the first I have ate chips and salsa since I left. It was so good. After eating, we went to McDonalds and got a Mcflurry! Yuuummm! Then Kelsie and I went back to the movie theatre to wait in line so we could all sit together. There was a huge line for that also! The popcorn tasted normal and the seats in the movie theatre leaned back! After the movie, I took two buses home and was able to get online for about 15 minutes. For some reason, the wifi I normally use is no longer on my list of available networks. Boooooooooooooo.
Thursday-Today we had a “fiesta” in a park close to Barva. There was a pool, a soccer field, a volleyball court, and a basketball court. It rained ALL day so we just all sat around and told stories all day. All the summer ISEP students are leaving tomorrow, so we all said our goodbyes. I am so nervous to go a whole weekend without any of them. After saying our goodbyes, Kelsie, Kaleigh and I went to McDonalds to get our last MilkyWay McFlurry together. After, Kelsie and I went to Palli, which is a grocery store in walking distance of our homes, then went to the bank. I came back home, ate dinner and took a little nap. After, I met Kelsie outside and for the last time, we went to the little store behind my house and got cookies and fanta. Then, I cried myself to sleep, just kidding.
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