Volunteering

Do you feel welcome yet?

How about now? These are my little girls. Greichel (I'm assuming her mother heard "Rachel" somewhere and this is how it turned out. This actually happens a lot. There's a man in San Jose named "Usnavy" aka US Navy), Quecha (the one who was glad I remembered her), and I don't know the 3rd girl's name.

Quecha and Katie. How cute :) She's such a little sweetheart!

Ale and Jess were having fun with the kids. Trying to read to them. But this guy - Axel - was not having it! He found a mini cannon and chaos ensued...

Mikey and Emily. Mikey LOVES soccer. If you ask him about futbol, he starts to do this little happy feet dance showing you how he plays. It's adorable. But it was so sad when we couldn't find a ball for him on Monday.

Isla Tortuga and Jaco beach

The gang on the boat to Isla Tortuga. (L to R) Jess Lowman, Shannon, Jess Lima, and Dakota in the back. Emily, Katie, and Amy in the front-ish.

Turtle Island. See it? It looks like a TURTLE! Haha.

I liked the bird :)

Jaco beach. Which has Jersery-like waves. They beat us up a bit.

And extremely intense sun. That burnt me severely.

And that's about it...

Cafe Mundo

Me with Ale and Dakota. Don't you just love the artwork in the background?

Jess Lowman and Emily enjoying their meal

Mmmmm flan :)

Cooking Class

My prof showing other girls how to make pineapple empanadas.

I was so excited that we got to help a bit :)

You have to use the appropriate technique...which is difficult (for some of us cooking challenged people) to learn in a foreign language. Lol

Proof that I did something in this class. Dakota and I diced potatoes for the picadillo.

When my host mom makes picadillo, it's just like chopped, cooked veggies. But in class, it was like an awesome variation of hamburger helper (which I much prefered). Sadly, cooking classes are done :( I can't wait to try out my new recipes at home, though!!

Museo de Oro

These pics coincide w/ the post regarding Thurs 7/22

The Gold Museum has things other than just gold... In fact, it has everything regarding the Precolombian History up to present history, regarding the native people and way of life. So they have artifacts that coincide with all aspects of life - for instance, these lovely ceramics that Katie Vannah White Zapel is showing off.

This little woman represents power. So I appreciated that. Though I'm not sure I'd want someone to make a replica of me in this form...

We were so excited to find something in the museum that we could TOUCH! This is an example of their goldwork, though I'm assuming it's a replica.

I'm a big fan of dioramas - can't you tell? This scene made me think of Night at the Musuem. Anyone read the book? Do you recommend it?? Or should I just stick w/ the movie?

Gold work. They would've worn things like these as status symbols, for protection, and in special ceremonies/rituals. I'm just impressed by how detailed they are considering the "crude" tools they used. Remind me again why we [our society] think we know so much?

Volunteering...

On Mondays, we volunteer at a day care thath is run by a/the Church (big surprise, there, right??). We found out about it because there was a sign to volunteer here at the U, but it was for "save the planet/hug trees" kind of stuff. They decided that they weren't going to have one fo those programs this summer, but instead, Luis - who does everything, literally; he's the tour guide/planner/director/go to man if you have questions. Anyway, Luis also started an outreach program through his church with 4 other men who work at Veritas. They recruit and send volunteers to like 10 different places to help out w/ various things. For example, there's a men's shelter, a youth/teenager's shelter, the daycare, a place for women, a drug rehab place, etc... So a group of us AIFS girls decided to sign up.

Anyway, we go on Mondays to volunteer. The first visit was a bit tough to swallow for me. It was somewhat ovewhelming. I mean, things could have been so much worse...but they were def not up to "American standards" of hygiene and cleanliness. I'm not sure if you want details or not...

But the 2nd trip was much better. I really enjoyed myself. Which is unusual because I was with children. We took pictures, colored, played games. And then I met up with one of the girls I had been w/ the 1st day - that was the best part. She was so excited that I remembered her name and she came over and hugged me and laid her head on me. It was so sweet. Pictures to follow. Now, back to clase! :/

This past weekend

Well, on Saturday, we (7 ppl from my AIFS group) went to Isla Tortuga - Turtle Island, where I thought we were going to see turtles. Silly me, there aren't any turtles to be found. In fact, the island got it's name because it is SHAPED LIKE a turtle. Which is also very cool. It took us a 2 hour bus ride followed by a 2 hour boat ride (we left at 6 am) to get there to spend 5 hours on the island and then another 2 1/2 hour boat ride and 2 1/2 hour bus ride home. So it was a LOOOONNNNNGGG day, to say the least. But it was VERY VERY fun! The bus was nice and comfy, so I napped. And the boat was good because we sat outside, so I didn't get sick. I looked like a moron because I had to protect myself from the sun via any means possible (I still got a little burnt on the top of my legs...), but the ride was enjoyable. O, and we had to combat a fleet of wasps - which wasn't so fun. Emily was our resident "bee killer" so she kept us safe. I really think she managed to kill a whole hive one wasp at a time. We took a video of the craziness and carnage. I'm sure it'll be quite hilarious to watch!

This island is a huge tourist destination, but it's still relatively untouched. There was 1 tourist shop, 1 restaurant, and 1 set of bathrooms - all owned by the tour company who took us there. Other than that, it's natural. I LOVED IT!! Anybody want to help me buy an island retreat? Lol. But it was just so peaceful and beautiful. We wanted to go snorkeling, but the timing didn't work out; I didn't really feel let down, tho, because the water wasn't all that clear. But it was a nice beach with lots of coral, rocks, and shells to be found. And the water was "persuasive" - our word of the day because it wasn't aggressive, but it wasn't still either. It was rather enjoyable and relaxing. We went kayaking, too. So, my 1st kayaking experience was IN THE OCEAN IN COSTA RICA. Not too shabby. I kept up w/ the other girls, tho, so I was proud even tho I discovered that I truly have no upper body strength (or coordination - thank you soccer). I def want to try kayaking again at home (preferably not in the ocean).

Sunday, we once again rose at an un-Godly hour (if the sun's not up, I shouldn't be either) to go to the beach. O, la playa, the things I do for you. We took an 1 1/2 bus ride to Jaco (pronounced "Ha-co") and then spent the day being fried. Literally. It was HOT HOT HOT. My FEET are sunburnt. The rest of me is fine. But my feet and legs, not so good... It was fun tho becuase this beach reminded us of Jersey (2 girls are from Jersey, and that's where I always go to the beach). The beach was a bit gritty and rocky and the ocean/waves were very aggressive. There was no wading. There was being pummeled, however. Who knew we could find a bit of home in CR?

It turned out to be a very hot, sunny, sandy, salty, and wonderful weekend. Yay for independent traveling!

Thurs. 7/22 (and a bit of today, too)

OMG, yesterday was such a good day. I mean, I didn't get to go into the forest to plant trees, but it was still splendid. I love being busy here in CR! We actually had class class in the morning - which was such a bummer after 2 days of field trips. Then, Emily (a classmate who is also in AIFS - I think I write about her a lot) worked on our presentation for today that was about our visit to the Gold Museum [the field trip on Tues] (it went quite well, in case you were wondering. It was the first time I've ever had to do a legitimate presentation in Spanish. The purpose was to learn about CR culture firsthand and then share w/ our class. It's what we've been talking about all day - culture, that is - so I've been a happy camper. I think I've been dominating the conversation. This is definitely my forte - much more than volunteering w/ little kids, which is what some girls from my group are doing on Mon afternoons. It's awesome, tho, because I can share my Ecuador Experiences with my classmates and use this [plus what I've learned in my classes - it makes me the "go to girl" whenever anyone in our program has a question about anything here in CR, really] to better relate to what my prof is teaching. So I love it. I mean, I chose to study this at home because I enjoy it). But anyway, back to YESTERDAY first...

Afterwards, we had our cooking class. Not sure if I explained, so really quickly: we don't actually get to cook, but we sit there and this woman teaches us how to cook (in Spanish, of course), and we get the recipe (also in Spanish), and then we get to eat it at the end. So I'm sure you can tell what my fav part of this class is...But we made pineapple empanadas! Yummmmm. I had like 4 of them...Whoops! I'm def going to have to walk a ton w/ Stryder when I get home!!! But it was neat because you use the same "dough" to make any kind of empanada (fruit, meat, cheese), so I feel empowered. Lol. I am for sure having a CR cooking fest when I get home. Y'all are invited (you can come help me cook, too). ;)

Then, Ale and I went exploring again. Thursdays are our days to explore because I don't get out of cooking until 3 and many things close at 4, so we just pick an area and wander to see what's open and interesting. This time, Jess Lowman (we have 3 Jessica's on the trip) went with us, too. (She's from Ohio, so she understands/knows a lot about our area). We went to the cultural centers (Mexico, North America, and England), which turned out to be like mini consulates that teach English as private tutors. It was interesting. We went into a couple stores to see what they were like.

Then, a bunch of people from my class and AIFS went out to dinner at Cafe Mundo. I think I mentioned that place before. That was really fun to get a bunch of us together for a "nice" dinner of our choosing. I don't really even do that at home...

After dinner, we went to Castro's a discoteca/salsa club/bar. We DANCED AND DANCED AND DANCED and had a fabulous time. It was the first time we've gone out in CR that I didnt want to go home. We just had that much fun. AND I danced with a Tico boy!!! Sorry Doug. 2 guys came over and asked some classmates to dance, but the 1 girl didn't want to, so the 1st guy asked another girl and the 2nd guy just grabbed my hand and started dancing. I mean, it's dancing, so I didn't object. The order of events was quite funny to me, though. After not asking me to dance, his only question was, "Are you a student at Veritas?" (This whole convo was in Spanish, but it's just easier for those of you who wouldn't understand). Then, a minute or 2 later, when he realized that I actually COULD dance, he started trying slightly more complex moves and asked, "Would you rather dance salsa or merengue?" I told him that it didn't matter since I didn't really know how to do either. He said it was fine and I was doing alright. Then, another minute or 2 later, he finally asked, "What's your name?" but didn't offer his. It was Jorge, btw. Which I found hilarious because that's waht I usually name everything (good thing Ernesto was unique). But we danced for maybe 7 minutes (1 song, but it was a long, discoteca dance-y song). I had a blast! In Ecuador, the only local I ever danced with was my host brother, so this was for sure a very exciting experience for me.

As you can see, it was a very full, but very fun day. Yay!!! :)

Pics from Tues & Wed

In Los Juncos Cloud Forest, helping to reforest this secondary forest. How exciting!

Me under a "poor man's umbrella" (sombrilla pobre) plant. That is their name in Spanish! Love it. And yes, they are actually that big.

Emily planting Leila right next to Ernesto

Taking care of my little Ernesto. He's going to grow tall and strong and straight and be bilingual and make his momma proud.

Here's my little fellow before I put him in the earth to grow. I spoke in English and Spanish to him so he'll be big and strong (moms talk to their babies in the womb so they'll grow well, and he's my baby, so...)

This is the crazy hippie lady at the raggae night. She supposedly has a facebook page (which I have yet to search for/ find) titled, "la doñita que baile en los conciertos"/the woman who dances at the concerts. Absolutely crazy...

Good week, tho!

Tues 7/20 + Wed 7/21

so i know this is a bit scattered and sloppy, but i hope you enjoy. i'll add pics and hopefully some coherence soon

tuesday was good. ummm we went to class, hung out, and went to a raggae club in the evening. actually, it's a "jazz club" that features a different band every night and that night happened to be raggae. the other girl and i wore our "wear a million" ways dresses that we bought here. they're some indian (dots, not feathers) design, made out of silk.
there was this crazy hippie woman there at the club....gosh i'll tell you more abt that later. but i'm so exhausted or something. i'm out of it. i can't think clearly. we had to get up super early today to go to the forest to plant trees. which was AMAZING. they laughed at me cuz i named them, tho. mine was ernesto. he's gonna grow tall and straight in the cow path. must nap,now tho... there will be photos.

BUT anyway.... abt the forest. i LOVED IT SO FREAKING MUCH!!! i want to spend every day in costa rica either there or at the beach!!!!

it was a horrendous drive, tho. i started to get sick there and back - for the first time really in cr. and then we hiked all over, which was fun. i took tons of photos.

i'd love to research the rainforest!!! can u imagine? it would be AMAZING!

we were in a secondary cloud forest, which means it's all been replanted. the area we were in is all abt dairy cows, so they clear cut EVERYTHING and had it all as pasture and these 2 guys created this organization to teach them why that's BAD and they reforest by planting, caring, guarding, tagging, etc (sry, i keep thinking of the spanish words and then i'm not sure how to say it in eng. lol) but you'd never know it had been clear cut cuz there's stuff growing EVERYWHERE, EXCEPT where we planted our trees (duh). it's what's left of the cow path.

they tag & number the trees, and they thought it was absolutely hilarious that i had already come up w/ a better system: name them. mine was an aguacadilla tree and his name was ernesto. emily's was leila. there were also dama trees. 2 of our other classmates - i named their's too - were zoe and marco gustavo. the guide like marco gustavo best cuz he had 2 names and ernesto cuz i was the one to name them all. he thought i was so funny. and i must admit i was in a rather hyper little kid mood today (you know how i get when i'm excited abt new things).

idk y, but i just KNEW he was an ernesto! immediately! he was my baby. i told him so. and i talked to him so he'd grow big and tall and strong. and i want to go back and visit him in a few years and see how he's doing. the guy said that if we send him our pics w/ the names, he'll make plaques and post them :D can you believe it!? i'm so excited. the world will know about my little baby ernesto. and he and leila are taking care of each other but i a friend way; they're not ready for romance yet!

According to Rebekah Swineford: treeplanting is so your thing. you should live in central/south america and replant the whole thing! :) naming trees all the way down to cape horn

actually, when we get back, we have to do a local project that has global connections - like a legit reason in cr for me to do it in usa. and i didnt have a clue until today. like, i had ideas, but they were all a bit stretching it jsut so i could do something. but today i decided, i want to plant trees in the btown area. like maybe in the state park? idk. but for sure. i mean, isn't it a great idea?

and the other day,w e saw these shirts that said, "plant a tree. costa rica" which i thougth was cool but not really relevant or necessary. but now, i totally wish i had bought one!!! if i can find them somewhere in san jose, o baby look out!

and idk what else. i'm jsut still so excited even thinking abt it! today was such a good day

and then after planting the trees (i was sad that i only got to plant 1 tho :( ), we were supposed to go to a butterfly farm, but we were late getting back cuz the bus driver forgot to come get us this morning and we were an hr late leaving, so our grp left w/o us :/ so emily and i decided to go to the jade museum. which turned out to be very similar to the gold museum we went to yesterday in class, but it was still very interesting. we grabbed an awesome lunch at the cutest cafe ever (i'm totally going back. it was cheap and the food was FABULOUS!). then i napped while she went to class. my nap was so awesome, btw. I ACTUALLY SLEPT! mark this day down! then, we worked on our project. and that was our day. it was quite lovely :)

o, and the girls from our grp got rained out at the butterfly farm today, so they got rainchecks (they won't have to pay again) and we're all going back on friday. que perfecto, si?!



oooh, at the cafe today, i bought an horeja to go. its like an elephant ear/beaver's tail. amazzzing. if you hold out your arms and make a circle - that's how big it is. and it's thin and crispy and fabulous. o, and it cost 600 colones. (roughly 500 colones = $1) need i say more?? it's like carnival food only CHEAP! they have them in every bakery here.

haha, my prof has the best saying ever: el problema es siempre masculino y la solución es siempre feminina ;) [the problem is always masculine and the solution is always feminine. which is relevant because we sometimes get our m/f confused on words like this that are tricky] something to that effect. and i love it because i think it's true on many levels

Waterfall/Volcano. Opposites, right?

The waterfall

Toursity photo - posing with the falls.

Finally, we had a clear view of the volcano. You can see the vegetation on the left and then none on the right side of the mtn because it erupts on that side.

Looking back across Arenal Lake at Arenal Mountain. Georgeous!

The view from the crazy carride to Monteverde. These roads were more than questionable. 219 on steroids. Straight cliff drop down. Yikes! But I like this pic :)

Hot Springs + Waterfall = Waterful Weekend

More pics from last weekend's trip to Arenal, hot springs, waterfall, and Monteverde cloud forest. (I know I know. I'm working on it!)

Our group AFTER the long hike DOWN to the waterfall - La Catarata Fortunada (catarata is the same as cascada. they both mean waterfall). These were the brave ones who strayed from the path; hence, the ferocious pose. It amazes me to see so much green and rock in the same place. Brandon, no wonder you loved CR!

Foliage.

Let's face it, it's hard to take a great photo when you're sweating, hiking, and being attacked by bugs, while it's raining....Welcome to CR!

This was the path/hike down to the waterfall. Thankfully, most of it was this type of weird paving stone - I guess it's sort of like cement blocks cuz there are holes cut out that are just filled with mud. But let me tell you, my thighs were burning after this! Haha. The COLD water was definitely appreciated. However, I did not look forward to the climb back up!

I really loved the mural at our hotel that had all the "Costa Rican" elements. Name of hotel? Luigis. Yes, random Italian name in CR. Alright, we're gonna go with it...

Looking out over the hot springs that we went to on Friday (June 9) night. I had a great time there! Except for losing the key to my locker...Not my fault, but it was a bit stressful. Other than that, I enjoyed the 14 different little pools and the waterslide! I just wish it would've actually been NATURAL. The water came from a natural hot source and was different tempurates based on how far they had piped it. The pools were all made out of rock, but the were created for this purpose; they weren't just naturally chillin there. They actually drained the pools every night for cleaning and then somewhat purified the water. I'm not understanding the "natural part".... Guess I'm a purist, tho.

Regardless, we had the most beautiful view of the stars ever. Minimal light pollution because we were up in the mountains and only a few hot springs resorts were around. I could've stayed there forever. Hot springs Friday night, Waterfall Saturday morning. So much water, so happy. What more could I ask for? But I am part fish...

We hoped to see the lava flow from Volcano Arenal, but alas, it was cloudy...

On the Road

More pics from the trip last weekend. Enjoy!

Fresh coffee anyone? We passed TONS of fields full of it. As I'm sure you can gather, everything is so lush and green here. Don't have a green thumb? No problem. Move to Costa Rica and your plants will thrive. Promise. It's pretty impossible for them not to with all the sun and rain. It's crazy. Except I would HATE to have to mow the lawn here! PS that's the #1 thing I DON'T miss from home! ;)

I just thought this was a really cool view from the bus.

Emily and myself on the bus.

Looking out over the town.

Even the car ads are aimed at soccer fans. They took El Mundail/ the World Cup VERY seriously here, and I loved it!

San Jose

Pics of San Jose taken from the safety of our bus on the way to our weekend excursion :)

How'd you like to go here to have your car fixed?

I wish we had bright colors like this is the states. It's such a shame we're so boring and conservative.

I LOVE all the parks, too! Seriously, why don't we have parks for adults in the US?

A little bit of history mixed in with the modern :)

An Interesting Find

Aubrey and I also went to the Artisan's Market last Thursday. I title this post an interesting find not because I encountered the market, but because of what I saw INSIDE it. While walking along and trying to pick out gifts for people back home, I spotted some textiles that I recognized. I'm in a foreign country that I have never visited before. So how is it possible that I have seen these objects before?

Well, they're from Ecuador. My Otavalos made them. Here is my work from last summer, from Ecuador, staring me in the face in a "local" Costa Rican artisan market. Hmm....

I felt excited to see something familiar, to see how popular the Otavalos' work is. But I also felt betrayed/annoyed/a little angry. Where were the Otavalos? Could they be here? I know they sell their products all over the world, and they usually don't use a middle man. But I didn't see any Otavalos. So why weren't they selling their own textiles? What were these products doing here in Costa Rica, masked as local objects? I had so many questions. I wanted answers. And then it hit me: I have to do research here in Costa Rica; what better research project than to work in this market (I wanted to work in the Otavalan market this summer anyway, had I gone there instead of CR) and find out as much as these people would be willing to tell me? I was so excited at the prospect of my project.

Since my little epiphany, I have only gone back to the market once. I plan on returning at least once more (depending on time, I may go back 2 or 3 times). I threw out my plan to the other AIFS students, and a bunch of the girls agreed that they would like to go and see what the market is all about, learn a bit about my research, and of course buy some gifts. So that's how we spent yesterday afternoon.

At the first stall that had Otavalan textiles, I had Alejandra (Ale - pronounced A-lay) ask because she was born in Mexico and lives in Texas, so she speaks Spanish fluently. That, combined with the fact that she is a Latina, should mean that they would be more honest with her. Or so I thought. The woman told her that they were local, made in Costa Rica - even gave her the name of a town; said they were made by hand and other things. It made me so angry. I knew she was lying. Yes, they are made by hand; I know this because I helped! And it's not right that the artisans who made them shouldn't get credit. I was also a bit angry because she thought she could lie to us just because we're gringas; we're white and foreign, so we wouldn't know any better. Little did she know that was not the case. We told her it wasn't true and walked away.

I was a bit more successful at the 2nd stall. They had a TON of stuff from Otavalo - almost everything at the stall, actually. There was also a lot of stuff that I recognized as being from Nicaragua. When I was standing, waiting to talk to the owner, some of my friends asked what I was doing. I explained it to them, pointing to some of the items. I'm not sure if that's what helped me obtain the truth - becuase they heard me say Ecuador, so they could tell I knew what I was talking about - or not, but I became estatic when they told me, yes those items were from Ecuador. I explained to them about my work last summer and why I was interested, hoping they'd answer more questions, but I didn't really get anywhere. They wanted to make a sale or have their own conversation. A little bummer, but I'm hoping to go back and ask them more specific questions. If I pester them with a series of questions, they won't ignore me. I was just too excited to think that clearly. I was so proud of my Otavalos that they were at least being represented in what is basically the tourist capital of Central America.

The 3rd stall was awesome. The woman knew about the Otavalo - could describe how they look/dress. She even told me that she didn't know why it said "Costa Rica" when it was made in Ecuador. Then, she showed me "molas" which I told her I knew and that they are made it Panama. I think she was impressed and appreciative that I knew what I was talking about. Ending my day with her left me hopeful for more success when I return. I'm very excited to continue working on the project of my own creation :)


This is what it looks like in the market, though it is usually very crowded. Tons of stalls. Lots of noise. Not so bright. Your typical market, I guess.

A very touristy, but fun, place. They have EVERYTHING that you could possibly want for a souvenir. It's a bit overwhelming your first time in there. There is just so much stuff. Vendors call out to you, tell you there stuff is the best, they give you a good price, ask you your name. And all this happens even if you are just walking by. Should you happen to stop or walk into their stall, then they don't leave your side. You must be fully served. They want to show you all the great things they have that you MIGHT like and tell you how much you need them. For us foreigners, it can be too much. We like our independence and our space. We don't want to be followed around, told what to buy. It's the reason many Americans hate shopping for cars. And this is your experience the ENTIRE time in the market. Ah, Latin markets....

Also, most of the stalls have almost all of the same stuff. So it's up to you to shop around, hagle for the best price, remember which stall has what exactly, and decide which one you like the absolutely best - because, even though they have the same products, they aren't all the same quality or design or whatever. And you have to do all of this in a foreign language and a foreign currency. Eventually, you just have to walk away. I've watched this happen to almost everyone around me; I've even felt it myself.

But if you can stick it out, you will have survived a really interesting experience. You'll also feel truly satisfied with your purchase because you had to work for it; you earned that keychain, darn it!

The outside of the artisan's market. You can see some wares hanging on the right to be sold. The market actually consists of a long strip of stalls on either side with a wide corridor to walk down the middle. The entire length of the market - probably 1 or 2 city blocks - is covered with a metal roof.