San Jose & Rafting

I spent this weekend in San Jose, and vowed not to do that again unless I have to. On Friday, our counselor, Tatianna took us to the theater to see a contemporary ballet show downtown. It was a great performance which taught us a bit about indigenous culture. ICDS paid for our tickets and transportation! It was really nice of them because this wasn't a planned event. We just all expressed interest and they said they would provide the tickets and transportation. ICDS is a great program because they truly do care about our experience and they care how we are feeling. Although, they're not perfect. Most of us came into the program thinking that we would have Fridays off to travel, but we don't. After I expressed interest in changing the schedule of some classes so we could have Fridays off, they denied our request. It really does impede on some of our plans, but they are thinking about giving us a few Fridays off so we can travel to farther places. That would be perfect, but we will see what happens. Also, every student is assigned a volunteer location for Monday mornings. It is supposed to be like a mini-internship in the subject of your program. Unfortunately, its not like that at all. I am in the environmental sustainability program and I was placed at a local grade school to help students learn English (that has nothing to do with environmental sustainability). I'm not too upset about it because I didn't join the program for an environmental internship (I mean come on, I go to Drexel), but a few others did and I understand why they are upset. ICDS can be disorganized. To us it is disorganized, but to them it is normal because that is sort of the culture of Costa Rica. Pura Vida! So make sure to keep on them if you really need something. Some other students have switched locations because they wanted other volunteer opportunities, but I am going to stick it out at my school and see what happens. Its always good to be well rounded. Anyways, enough of my ranting. On Saturday I scheduled a trip with Rainforest Tours to white water raft down the Pacuare River. I never white water rafted before. IT WAS AMAZING! I loved every minute of it. The company picked us up form ULatina, gave us a delicious breakfast and lunch, and took us rafting for 4 hours. Rafting is one of the most exciting things I've ever done. The rapids went up to class IV difficulty, I even fell in a few times, even on purpose! I would go again in a heartbeat... if I had the time and money (It was $85). Today I just hung out around the house with my host family. I needed a calm day to finish some homework. It is important to get all of your homework done during the week so you can be care-free on the weekends. That's gotta be on the top ten list of study abroad tips right there.

Tortuguero

I cannot begin to explain how happy I was this weekend. This was one of the best weekends of my life not just because of the places I was at, but because of the people I was with.
This weekend, we went on a trip that ICDS (my program) planned to Tortuguero. Tortuguero is a national park in Costa Rica known for its beautiful canals and sea turtles. It has a lot of other things to offer as well. We left for Tortuguero on a small bus at 6:15 am. The bus ride took about 5 hours which included breakfast at a local restaurant, the food was good as usual. Once we got into the small rural town, we took a boat through the canals which led to our small resort. The resort was beautiful. We slept in huge tents (about 5 beds to a tent) which was the best way to do it. It was an eco-friendly lodge so there was a noticeable effort to reduce electricity and water consumption, which was nice.  Once we got there, we ate lunch and I took a tour of the waters through a kayak and also ended up lounging around on the hammocks in the resort. Then, we took our boat over to the local school. This school was very small and poverty stricken. There is 1 teacher and 6 students in the entire school. All afternoon, we built a path for the students so during the rainy season they could walk to school without ruining their shoes and clothes everyday. It was manual labor, but extremely rewarding and fun. After that, we all embraced our sweaty-ness and played some volleyball, then got showered and ate dinner. We ended the night by singing around a campfire and talking ourselves to sleep. Falling asleep to the sounds of the rainforest was so amazing, I cannot describe it. Throughout the day we got up close and personal with a really cute sloth, saw and heard many monkeys, and saw a ton of cool birds, insects, and plants. On Sunday we woke up at 5am and took our boat to a green sea turtle sanctuary. We watched the turtles get pulled out the sand, we measured a few, and then released them all. They were so adorable. We took the boat back to the resort, ate breakfast, hung around the resort, and headed back to San Jose. Oh and right before we left, we saw a small crocodile!
The weekended was phenomenal. Like I said before, I cannot begin to describe how amazing it was. The teacher, counselor, and guide who accompanied us were so happy to have us and they helped make this weekend one of the best in my life. I am so thankful! Remember to get to know your teachers. Our teacher, Helen, came with us and she is a great friend! She is so knowledgeable and down to earth.
Unfortunately, I need to start my homework. Sundays are always the days I have this great realization on how wonderful my life is... and then I start my homework.
Here is a picture of our captain, boat, and a bit of the canal:

Manuel Antonio

This past weekend, I and 8 other people from the program went to Manuel Antonio National Park. We stayed at a hostel called Vista Serena for 10 bucks a night... how perfect is that?! The view from the hostel was absolutely beautiful and the rooms were not too shabby (not perfect though). We took a direct bus from San Jose to Manuel Antonio on Friday afternoon, after classes, and got to the hostel around 6 pm. We hung out around the hostel and got to know the other people who were staying there. We also visited a local bar inside a resort... it was a great night! The next day we all woke up very early, ate breakfast and went to the national park. It was soooo incredibly beautiful. The beach water was pristine and blue and the surrounding forest was really cool. We completed a few hikes and saw monkeys, sloths, large lizards, etc. The hikes tired me out and we were all dripping sweat by the end, but no worries because we just ran right in the ocean right after each hike! We left the park around 3, got home showered and walked around Manuel Antonio a bit. We didn't end up going to a local bar or anything like that because the buses weren't favoring us and we kind of all just wanted to hang out with each other anyways. On Sunday, we stayed at the beach right outside of the national park (because it was free) and then took a bus home at 1. Also, it didn't rain at all the whole weekend! That is a major accomplishment because it rains every day in San Jose. That just goes to show how many different ecosystems there will be in Costa Rica. There are so many different climates, elevations, and natural boundaries. All together, the whole weekend cost about $80, give or take some. That may seem like a lot, but I don't think we could've gotten it down much lower. What was most expensive was the hostel, admission into the national park, transportation, food and drinks.
All in all, I cannot describe to you how happy and lucky I felt this weekend. Multiple times I had to stop what I was doing, look around, and soak in what was really happening. I know that coming here was a great decision and I am where I am supposed to be.

ULatina

So today was the first day of classes, which means we just took a tour of ULatina and a Spanish placement test.
ULatina is a small university and it was easy for me to find my way around. Even taking public transportation to get to the campus is simple, but the traffic is ridiculous! The bus stop is right outside of my house and about 8 other students live in my neighborhood so we all take the same bus.
I did horribly on the test, which is expected, because I came to Costa Rica with just about 0 Spanish. I took classes in high school, but have forgotten most of it over the years and I came to Costa Rica without a review. So as a lesson, language should never deter you from traveling! I am managing well.
This weekend I went with a couple students and their host moms to the city and market area of San Jose. It was definitely an experience. San Jose is a city, much like any other, but the Latin American vibe is easy to see. Obviously there aren't many tall buildings and the infrastructure isn't as well managed as it is in the States. There are a few small parks throughout the city and some nice markets where its easy to get some cheap souvenirs and food. Although San Jose is great and there are plenty of places to go within the city, my plan is to travel every possible weekend to an exotic locale throughout the country.
As for the financial burden of traveling, its not too much to worry about. Everything is cheaper in Costa Rica than it is in the States (but not by much). For instance, I can get typical lunch (or casado) which includes rice, beans, vegetable, choice of meat (or vegetarian option), a fresh drink, and a salad for about 5 dollars. Yes, 5 dollars. Oh and so far, multiple times this trip I've said "This is the best milkshake, pineapple, strawberry, plantain, etc I've ever had!" so definitely try tons of fruit because they are all so delicious and perfect. Also, a bus all around San Jose costs a whopping 50 cents and a bus to most of the beaches costs around 5-15 bucks. I definitely plan to budget, but I also try to remember that I'm not in Latin America every day. Its important that I spend money to travel and try new things while I'm here. This is a once in a life time experience and I plan to make the most of it!
That's all for today! I'll have more about classes and the weekday life later this week. Adios!

The Beginning

Today is the 4th day of my trip. I really do love it so far! Flying over and entering Costa Rica was a lot easier than I expected it to be. There were no problems and ICDS staff found me right away!
When I arrived at my homestay I was incredibly nervous. My host mom didn't speak too much English and my Spanish was even worse but, after only 3 days I've improved a lot! My Spanish is slowly coming back to me and my host mom is extremely patient and kind. Surprisingly, not many people in San Jose speak English. Not nearly as many people as I was expecting at least. I'm up for the challenge.
At first, I was worried about coming to Costa Rica as a vegetarian but, its no problem at all! My host mom cooks delicious meat-less meals for me and in every restaurant there are vegetarian options... Success!
The other 16 students in the program are amazing. I can see myself becoming great friends with all of them over the course of these three months, mostly because we all love to explore. As a group, we are in the midst of planning trips every weekend to different parts of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
So far, the ICDS staff has taken all of us to a small resort for orientation, a national park and inactive volcanoe called Poas, a farm with cows (where I milked one), the cloud forest, and of course to ULatina, the university I will be studying at. The entire trip has been wonderful. All the locations we visited were beautiful and we really had a lot of fun. I've already learned a lot about the Costa Rican environment and culture..... and I haven't even started classes yet.
Now for the not so perfect part of the trip: As for the whole being thousands of miles away from my family and friends part, well of course I miss them. Honestly though I haven't had much time to dwell on it. I've constantly been taking part in group activities and trips so the only time I begin to think about home is when I am alone in my bed at night and that's not even bad because I pass out quickly from exhaustion. The trick is to stay busy! So to be honest, so far the trip is relatively perfect.