Gallo Pinto

Hi Everyone:  I’m sorry for the lack of posting.  I’ve been having some technical difficulties, ie. inconsistent and hard to find internet access.  However, after a month.  I think I have gotten around the problem.  I realize that I’m back-logged about several weeks, but I’ll try to upload the rest of my pictures and posts very soon.

Took a wonderful day trip off about 3.5 hours west of San Jose.  Isla Tortuga is a private island off the west coast and you have to travel by a boat or ferry.  Thanks to my thoughtful boyfriend, I have a nifty underwater digital camera.  I was finally able to put it to the test when we went snorkling.  I”m still trying to get used to it as my hands were pretty shaky and there were so many fish that I kept getting distracted and kept just clicking away maniacally.

La Fortuna is the small town at the base of Arenal Volcano, the third most active volcano in the world. Unfortunately, this whole weekend we were not able to see the volcano at all. The clouds were so thick we were lucky enough that we were able to see in front of us. During the day however, my friends and I were able to hike through the rainforest to a small waterfall. We were able swim at the base of the waterfall before moving onto the observation point. During the night, we were able to take a dip in the river that runs at the base of the volcano. The volcano’s activity is able to naturally heat the river producing waters with a heat of about 30’C. A welcome for us all after a cold and rainy day.

4:00am - wake up with birds chattering out my window and a rooster going crazy

4:10am -  go back to sleep

6:30am - wake up and out of bed, shower and dress

7:10am - Come to the kitchen for breakfast which always consists of fresh bread and coffee.

               Some days my tican mom serves a huge plate of fruit, others cereal, but when I’m           

               lucky I get a huge plate of gallo pinto

7:35am - head to the bus stop for Conversa about 7 blocks away.

7:50am - catch the bus in the town center

8:00am - Arrive at school and shoot the breeze with the professores

8:30am - Class begins:  first set of class usually consists of conversation of what you did in

               the past day, new grammar

10:30am - coffee break and snack

11:00am - Grammar exercises and trying to apply new grammar to conversation

1:00pm - lunch

2:00pm - “Super-Intensive” students stay at school.  I have enrolled in this course in hopes

               to acquire the language a little more quickly.  Usually consists of applying past

               grammar that I’ve had trouble with. Asking questions about Costa Rican culture etc…

3:30pm - Class ends

4:00pm - Get back to Santa Ana center.  Either run a few errands at the bank, grab a happy

               hour beer, hang out with the other students.

5:00pm - Am usually back at my house to help Laura prepare dinner.  Gustavo usually arrives

               around 6 and we eat dinner with the news on in the background.  We finish dinner

               and I usually do dishes and help with clean up.

7-9pm - I usually spend studying or review my notes from the day.  Since the days begin

               so early here, I’m usually do not stay up past 10 or 11pm.

This is the school that I have been assigned to by Rotary International.  Currently I am enrolled in the ‘Super-Intensive’ Spanish course.  This requires 5.5 hours of in-classroom time, most of which is conversational.  So far, I have definitely been impressed by the quality of the teachers and the organization of the school and administrative staff.

This will be my home for the next several months.  I live in a small compound, or vicindario, surrounded by a stone walls and a huge iron gate.  The compound contains four other single-story homes each with their own families.  Usually when I come home, there are about 5-8 kids running around the vicindario.  It makes for an interesting welcome.

When visiting my other classmates, I have noticed that the homes they live in are also part of a community of 3-5 homes in close vicinity of each other guarded by an iron gate that is usually locked after a certain time in the evening. This type of housing pattern seems to be prominent at least here in the town of Santa Ana (I can’t comment on the rest of Costa Rica)

On hot and humid days, when the ventilation within the homes are not optimal, you’ll usually find everyone sitting outside their fronts doors chatting with each other.  It’s social and friendly.  Having the iron gate at the front allows everyone to feel secure in keeping their doors wide open during the day.  It’s not unusual for a neighbor to drop by unannounced to eat breakfast at our table or meander in during the evening to chat about the what’s been said on the news.

Each student at Conversa Language School is paired up with a Costa Rican Family.  The school is very adament about living with a family as it reinforces the Spanish we have just learned at school in an unstructured and casual environment.  From speaking with the other students, host families come in all different flavors.  Some are widows, some are grandparents, some know a little English, others don’t, some even include parrots as part of the family.  I feel my family is pretty standard: Mom, Dad, 1 girl, 1 boy, and a whole lot of awesome.

My host dad:  Gustavo; age 44; good natured and provides for the family as an accountant.

My host mom: Laura; age 34; very generous and patient, loves to cook and bake, works twice a week at a local hospital in addition to being a full time mom and host.

My little sis: Maria-Fernanda; age 10; nickname Ma-Ri; looooves peace signs, bright colors, and Hannah Montana; Favorite subject: Math and Music (plays violin)

My little bro: Frederico: age 3; nickname Fred; loves dressing up and cars (usually imagining that they blow up); gets cranky when it’s really hot.

Just 10 miles west of the country’s capital, Santa Ana is a small community with a population of 34500. I arrived on Sunday afternoon and was greeted in the customs terminal with a heat of 85’F. My host dad and his daughter came to welcome me (more detail on my host family soon), and after I ate lunch with them, unpacked and had a 2 hour power nap, we headed to the main street for the Santa Ana Street Festival. I have yet to figure out what the significance of this date is for Santa Ana, but I liken it to a street fair or farmer’s market (in terms of size and layout). After being there for a few minutes, I got nostalgic for those summers at the Monterey County Fair. Cruisin’ the vendors with my high school buddies, grabbing quick eats from the food carts, hollering at neighbors and friends… My first evening in Santa Ana and it already felt a little familiar.