May 2010
1 post
2 tags
Watch
April 2010
1 post
Lo Siento
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.
March 2010
8 posts
1 tag
Isla Tortuga -> link to album →
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...
1 tag
La Fortuna -->link to album →
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...
1 tag
Schedule
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...
1 tag
Conversa Centro Linguistico -> →
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.
1 tag
Mi Casa
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...
My Costa Rican Family (mi familia tica)
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...
Santa Ana
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...
February 2010
4 posts
One Bag -> →
I was getting anxious the other day. It was something on the lines of: ohmygodihaventevenpackedyethowmanypairsofunderwaredoineedtightsisabikiniinappropriate… My hard-core backpacking friend Sophies calmed me down, slapped some sense into me, and reminded me that I probably only need to take one bag full of essentials. She recommended this website as it would help me narrow down the things...
1 tag
Costa Rica Elects First Female President -> →
Ex-Vice President of the National Liberation Party, Laura Chinchilla, won 47% of the country’s vote on Sunday. The dominant theme of the campaign was voters’ concerns over rising crime, and Ms. Chinchilla, a former minister of justice, has promised to raise spending on security by 50 percent Although she follows the center-left welfare policies of her party, she is social conservative...
The Happiest People -> →
This article was published about a month ago in the New York Times about Costa Ricans (Ticos, as they call themselves) being the happiest people of the 148 nations to rate themselves. With beaches on both sides of the country and one of the most well preserved rain forests in the world, I would think so. Interestingly, the author attributes much of the countries contentment to the nation’s...
2 tags
January 2010
1 post
1 tag
Flight Booked
I’m confirmed and Costa Rica bound. I depart at the end of February.