Panama

Helllooooooooooo :)

So thursday-I had one final...and it was in my dance class. We put on a performance of Calypso and our own dance that we had to choreograph. It was a lot of fun! I had to wear a white dress for my dance and we put baby powder all over ourselves to look "dead". We did a lyrical dance-it was pretty fun. If i have time, I will post it on fb for everyone to see :) Later that night, I went to the bar with some friends from my Administracion de servicios class. They begged me to go even though I had no interest in going with, "its your going away party, we wont see you anymoreee" soooo I decided to go for a little bit. It was a lot of fun and I am glad I went. I stayed for two hours then went home because I had to get up at 345 the next morning to go to PANAMA!!

Friday-I woke super early to take a taxi to the bus stop in San Jose. Kelly and I waited for an hour and then boarded the bus. We were on the bus for about 6 hours and we finally arrived to the border. We had to fill out immigration papers, then we had to walk across the SKETCHY border....So sketchy. I felt like I was going to fall through a good 4 times. The huge river that was under the bridge was reassurring as well....

After we got across the border, we had to get our bags checked by this creepy military looking guy and let me tell you-he was not nice. He made you take EVERYTHING out of all your bags....so annoying. Then, we got on a mini van to get to the water taxi place so we could get to the island we were staying at in Panama. When we were driving, we came to a complete stop on a two way road. A semi truck had fallen on its side so we waited for a good 20 minutes-not to mention the most awkwardest guy sat next to me on this mini van attempting to speak English to me. After the hour ride in the mini van, we got on a boat, aka water taxi. That was a good 15 20 minute ride on the boat. so, just to make sure you are following...to get to this island from Barva (where i live in Costa Rica) we took:

1.taxi

2.bus

3.walked

4.taxi

5.water taxi

6.walked

Impressive, eh? So, we finally got to the island 9 hours later :) Some guy came up to us and asked if we had already had reservations for a hostel...we told him no and he said he was a tourist guide worker so he told us about how there was a hostel for 15 a night for two people anddd he was offering a full day tour for only $15. We took him up on both offers! We went to the hostel, checked in, then went to sign up for the tour for the next day. After, we went to the ATM to get some dolla's out. Well....both of the only two ATMS on this island werent working. But, this little old man comes walking up to the ATM and kelly starts talking to him in Spanish and asking if he knew if there were anyother atms....and he suddenly spatted back at us, i speak english. He helped us get money at, and offered to buy us a free drink at his hangout place. Two hours later, Kelly and I know this whole guy's life story. We went to a boat off the island that was a full bar and restaurant. It was different but fun! After, we walked around Bocas and shopped at the stores all around selling souvenirs.

Saturday-THE TOUR! We got on the boat around 9:45ish. Oh, for breakfast, I ate this really good chocolate muffin, in case you were wondering ;) This tour consisted of us going to FOUR different islands to snorkel in two different places, see dolphins, and go to Red Frog beach! Well, it started to rain right before we got on the boat to see the dolphins :( buuuut, it started to clear up a little. We got to the dolphin island...SO COOL. It was raining so I didn't get any pictures of the dolphins because I didn't want to ruin my camera...but Kelly got a couple so I will steal hers once she puts them up on Facebook. It was so so cool and there a ton of them at this island! So neat. Then, we went snorkeling in the middle of the ocean....don't laugh at me or think I am special BUT I never knew the bottom of the ocean actually looked like it does in Nemo, the movie. It looks exactly like that....and I HAD NO IDEA! Granted, it was my first time snorkeling, but i had noooo idea. I was amazed and I already cant wait to go snorkeling again :) oh, wait-backup....did I mention how the snorkels (mouth piece and all) were just laying on the floor of the boat...it took me a good 3 minutes to finally put on the snorkel because I was so grossed out.

After the snorkeling, we went to this restaurant off the island where people could order food. Kelly and I brought our food because the food was super expensive. After lunch, we went to the Red Frog beach. The most bluest water I have EVER seen in my life. I didn't want to leave, obviously. I fell asleep on the beach, as always for a good hour and got a little tan ;)

After the beach, we went back to the island where we were staying at. Kelly and I showered, and got our hair wrapped! Mine is bright pink, orange, green, and yellow. Its pretty cool I guess. Then, we went and got dinner and walked around the town some more. We were in bed by 10 :)

Sunday-Got up, went to a business seminar for two hours....then got on the water taxi to head back home :( it was a long dayyyy. I always get sea sick on boats...I don't know why either. We got back into Heredia around 1030ish. Oh, on the bus ride back from Panama, I had two guys sit next to me on the bus....who played music from their phone....WITHOUT headphones....do you know how annoying that is? 7 hours on a bus....super annoying. But, thats about all from my panama trip....3 days and my mom and sister will be here :)

for the next couple of days....bring on all the goodbyes :(

baby please don't go

I am officially done with two more classes. I had two finals today-my spanish grammar class and my cultura de costarricenses class. It feels good knowing I have one more final left....and its the dance recital. Although, I am very nervous. We are practicing tomorrow for 3 hours before...lets hope that helps :)

I got a 100% in my administracion de recursos humanos 2 class.....I WAS SO EXCITED. Not bad for taking a class in a different language....

I said another goodbye today, to my Spanish tutor. We have met for 3 hours each week for a one-on-one session for 15 weeks. She is so nice and has taught me so much. Yet again, I got another email address so we can stay in contact! :)

Today-I went to a friends house to make Arroz con leche for our class tomorrow. It was fun to go to another tica house and talk to people i have never met before for 3 hours and be able to understand everything and respond....so crazy how much I have learned over these past 6 months.

I leave for Panama Friday at 430am...yiipppppyyyyyyyy. I will return sunday and have so much to update you all on. Random fact of the day-did you know PANAMA'S currency is the AMERICAN DOLLAR? How they get away with that, I dont know. But I am determined to find out this weekend.

let the "see you later's" begin :(

So, today marked my first official "goodbye" or "see you later". Whichever you prefer. Last week was the last time my HR class was meeting. My classmate that I had been working with all semester on a group project asked if I would meet him this morning because he had some presents for me. I met him outside of the business building, he was there waiting for me with a handfull of Costa Rican books along with this email address. He asked if he could come visit me sometime in the states. My response, OF COURSE (in spanish) ;)

I cant believe everything I have done here, my daily routine, my friends, my family...i am leaving it all in 15 days. Lets be honest, the chance of me seeing some of these people are very slim. so sad. This way of life I have made for myself for the past 5.5 months....will be gone, in a matter of days. So weird to think about.

I am procrastinating and not studying for two finals I have this Wednesday. I should get back to studying. chaooo!

Angels Cry

In two weeks from today, my mom and little sister will be here in Costa Rica. I have one word for that-CRAZY. Where did these past 6 months go? I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and the future scares the crap out of me. I have so many options and I don't know which is the best way to go or which one I will be more happier with. I was accepted/approved to stay in Costa Rica for another semester, but had 3 days to accept or deny the offer. That was a tough decision. Then, I found a internship in Spain dealing with law for the summer of 2011, but its a lot of money. decisions decisions. I am starting to look into law schools-i have no idea where to begin with this search. I never really had to choose or decide where to apply for college, because I had always wanted to go to NWMSU since my freshman year of high school. But, I keep on trying to tell myself everything will work out and don't worry about it so much. Time is too short to be stressed out about the future.

I have all my finals this upcoming week. I will not be doing anything this weekend but attempting to study for them. I hope my teachers are nice to me :)

For my dance class, we are putting on a dance recital. I AM SO EXCITED! It will be so much fun to be on stage, putting on a performance in COSTA RICA! I can't wait. For all you costa rican's reading this, you are more than welcome to come and watch-its thursday afternoon in the dance studio building at UNA! :)

On sunday, i think i am going white water rafting! I AM SO EXCITED! Then, because I have the best parents I could ever ask for, I AM GOING TO PANAMA!!!! Specifically a island off panama, bocas. I am so so so so excited. Mark another country off my list of places I want to visit :)

I skyped with my little nephew (he is 4) thursday morning before class. It made me so so homesick. He was singing "i like it" by enrique. So cute. and he asked what I was doing for the day and how he was going to be in Kindergarten next fall! ahh, so precious. I absolutely cannot wait to see my nephews and nieces. He also agreed to going with me to get ice cream. The summer before I left for Costa Rica, he would cry while getting into my car because he was such a momma's boy and didn't want to leave his mom. but he said he wouldn't cry because he is now a big boy! 17 more days.

I was also skyping with my dad and stepmom and stepsister and my other nephew the other day. They all left the office for a second...but my little nephew stayed and we played peek a boo for a good two minutes.

This is one of my nephews, AJ. He just turned 2!

Ok, I need to go back to studying. Buenas noches y nos vemos muy pronto :)

Playa Tamarindo

Friday-Kelly, Ashli and I decided to go to playa tamarindo, in Gaunacaste. We got up arounf 430, took a bus to san jose and waited for a couple of hours to get on the bus to Gaunacaste. It was raining the whole way there. We got to Tamarindo, and it was still raining. So, we went to our hostel, put all of our stuff in our room, and walked around the town in the rain. Later that night, we went out to a bar that was suppose to be the place to be. It had two different sides of the bar...one playing a live band and the other side a DJ was playing music. I personally didn't like it. It was weird and the two different types of music clashed.

Saturday-We set our alarms for very early to wake up and see if it was going to be sunny. AND it was!!! We got out to the beach around 730 in the morning. We layed out and swam until lunch time. For lunch, we went to Subway-its very good here! After lunch, we went back to the beach until about 3 or 4. After the beach, we just stayed in our hostel and attempted to work on homework. I got burnt...while using SPF 100 again...obviously they need a stronger SPF if 100 is not working and i re-applied it multiple times!

Sunday-We got up early again so we could take advantage of the sun! We were at the beach for about 3 hours then went back to the hostel to shower and get back on the bus for san jose. While we were laying on the beach at about 730am, a guy decides to put his rental surfing board business RIGHT NEXT TO US. And, we were the only ones on the beach...he would decide to put all of his stuff right next to us-these ticos are so crazy. An hour later, a crazy man comes over and lays down right beside me. I was kinda scared at first and he was trying to tell me how he wasn't a creeper and how he just wanted to be my friend and i was like dude, i am trying to sleep. and he was like okay, i will watch you sleep. so creepy! He then left, came back 5 minutes later with a flower for me?? he was crazyyyyyy. He was for sure on something. He was getting all mad because there wasnt high enough tides to surf...like freaking out-throwing his shirt around mad. soooo weird!

En general, tamarindo was so so nice. I want to go back :( I can't believe i only have 23 more days here...where did the other 170 days go?!

I will see you all VERY VERY soooon. Two weeks and two days before my mom and sister are here.....

Nicaragua experience

I had to Get up at 330…Kelly and I took a taxi to san jose. From there, we got on the bus at 6am and were headed to Nicaragua!!!! About four hours into driving, we arrived to the border. It was CRAZY! When we first got off, we were harassed by about 15 guys wanting us to exchange our money with them. To finally get into Nicaragua…you have to pass two different borders, one for costa rica and one for Nicaragua. There are different processes at both of them, depending on which way you are traveling. We got back on the bus after the costa rica border, and then went to the nicaragua border. We had to get our bags checked…here, we saw lots of people walking around and asking travelers for money…so crazy. Moms would make there little kids walk around and ask people for money. How sad!

After the Nicaragua border, we got back on the bus for another four hours. Kelly’s friend miguel was waiting for us at the bus stop in managua-capital of nicaragua where he lives. He showed us around managua-we saw lots of historical things. We went to the mall to eat and then went to one of his friends house to pick her up then went to another friends house and hung out and drank. When we were driving around managua looking at the historical things, at the stoplights…kids would come up to the windows begging for money…and would get on the car and touch the windows and try to grab things inside the car. At first, I was very very scared. This doesn’t happen in Costa Rica at all either, so I was somewhat caught off guard. After the first couple of times, we started rolling up our windows at every stoplight.

Random information I learned during our historical tour of Managua:

*There is a lot of publicity for the current president of Nicaragua…and more than 60% of the Nicaragua population hates him.

*I cant say if Nicaragua has more poverty than Costa Rica or if it is just hidden better in Costa Rica. The statistics show Nicaragua has more poverty, but that is besides the point. I saw a lot of houses that weren’t really “houses” and I cant even begin to imagine having to live in one of them.

*Nicaraguans were very friendly and started conversations with me on the bus, just talking. It was so neat to have a conversation in Spanish and actually understand everything. I think costa rica is paying off!

Saturday-we woke up around 830….ate breakfast at the hostel then miguel came to our hostel and we took a bus to Grenada. Grenada is the “spain” of Nicaragua. It resembles spain so much. We got on this little carriage thing for five dollars that was pulled by horses to a lake nearby. It was so so pretty. We walked around grenada the whole day. Took lots of pictures, shopped, and ate pizza. After grenanda, kelly and I went back to the hostel and took a nap, showered, and got ready for the night. Miguel came and picked us up, we went to dinner/drinks, then we went to a discoteca. SO MUCH FUN! I was introduced to a guy from HONDURAS! We was super short, but he asked to dance, so I did. I got owned on the dance floor, that is for sure. He was attempting to teach me how to dance to swing and all this random stuff. I was not so good at swing, fyi. He was so good! At the discoteca, there was girls standing and dancing on the bar, that usually doesn’t happen in the bars that I have been to back in the USA.

Sunday-woke up at 830, we ate breakfast at the hoste, then said goodbyes :(

Overall, Nicaragua was such a great experience. I can’t believe I had the opportunity to go there. Now, I just need to go to Honduras and meet my step family!!!

This past weekend, I went to san pedro on Friday with Daniela, my tica friend. We went to the street full of bars where all the college students go. Saturday, Kelly and I went to Alajuela and went to the Casino, called Fiesta. It is super close to the airport, where I will be in 23 DAYS to pick up my mom and sister! After the casino, we went to a bar near our university.

Its starting to scare me that I have less than 30 days here. As much as I miss my friends and family back in the USA, I don’t really want to leave. If it weren’t for my wonderful family and friends, I would honestly consider moving here. Buuuut, good thing I have the best friends and family a girl could ask for. Thank God.

I am super busy right now with final stuff, so off to studying I go.