Mi fin de la semana

This past weekend was filled with activities. On Saturday, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for the beach. A group of 15 students left Tuis for Cahuita at 5:00 a.m. When we arrived, we ate breakfast at a restaurant close to the beach. I ate gallo pinto - rice with different types of vegetables - a typical and delicious meal in Costa Rica. The beach, Cahuita, was very pretty and different from other beaches that I have been to. Right next to the sandy beach was a path through the "jungle". I saw crabs running into thier holes, monkeys jumping from branch to branch, and a raccoon stealing food from an unsuspecting group of tourists. After our time at the beach, we went to a restaurant to eat dinner. I ate a pasta dish with shrimp that was delicious. We returned to Tuis at 9:30. The following morning, I woke up at 6:00 to go to Volcano Irazu. We ate breakfast at a restaurant before arriving at the volcano. After, we began to drive for Volcano Irazu. I was sleeping a little when I heard a "pop". I opened my eyes and saw smoke coming from the front of the bus. We stopped on the side of the road. While they tried to fix the car, the other students and I took advantage of the opportunity to take pictures, like good tourists do. Four to five hours later, we arrived in Tuis, without seeing the volcano. In all, though, it was an adventure and it was a good weekend!

Poor van...but the horse is getting along fine. :)

El fin de la semana pasado fue activo. El sábado, me desperté a las cuatro y media y me arreglé para la playa. Un grupo de 15 salieron de Tuis para Cahuita a las 5 en la mañana. Cuando llegamos, desayunamos en un restaurante cerca de la playa. Comí gallo pinto - arroz con diferentes verduras - una comida común en Costa Rica. La playa, Cahuita, fue muy linda y diferente de otras playas que yo conozco. Caminé por un sendero en la selva muy cerca de la playa. Ví cangrejos corriendo entre sus huecos, monos brincando de arbol en arbol, y mapaches robando comida de un grupo de turistas. Después nuestro tiempo en la playa, fuimos a un restaurante para cenar. La comida fue rica. Regresamos a Tuís a las nueve y media. La siguiente mañana, me desperté a las seis para ir al Volcán Irazu. Desayunamos en un restaurante antes de llegar al volcán. Después, empezamos a manejar para el Volcán Irazu. Dormía un poco cuando yo oí "pop". Abro mis ojos y veo humo viniendo del microbús. Paramos al lado de la calle. Mientras ellos trataban de arreglar el carro, los otros estudiantes y yo aprovechamos la oportunidad para tomar fotografías como buenas turistas. Cuatro-cinco horas más tarde, otro bús llegó y regresamos a Tuis a las 5 sin ver el volcán. ¡Pero, fue una adventura!

El Viaje Sobre La Selva

Costa Rica tiene muchas selvas donde hay oportunidades para adventuras. Ayer, visité un exótico bosque tropical con un grupo de estudiantes de CISA. Para llegar a la selva, tenemos que andar sobre un camino con muchos huecos, lodo, e irregularidades la vía. Así viajamos 20 minutos. Cuando llegamos a la selva, empezamos poner nuestro equipo para el "tour" por la selva. Necisitamos llevar cascos, aparejos, y guantes para nuestras manos. En ese "tour", fuímos por zipline, rapelling, y puentes. Durante el "tour", ví hormigas grandes, chicharras, y un tucán. También, había un río que corría por la selva. Al principio, tenía un poco de miedo. Pero, tenía cada vez menos y menos miedo conforme el "tour" se desarolló. Cuando estaba en el zipline sentía que estaba volando en la selva como un ave. A mí, me gustó mucho esa experiencia y me gustaría hacerlo de nuevo.

Costa Rica has many tropical forests where there are opportunities for adventures. Yesterday, I went to the rainforest with a group of students from CISA. In order to arrive at the jungle, we had to drive over a road with many holes, bumps, and mud. This lasted for 20 minutes before we arrived at our destination. When we arrived, we began to put on our equipment for the tour through the jungle. We had to wear helmets, "harnesses", and gloves for our hands. In this tour, we went on a zipline, rapelling, and over bridges (not normal bridges though). We also saw huge ants, green cicadas, and a toucan. Also, there was a beautiful river that flowed through the forest. At the beginning, I was a little afraid. However, as the trip continued I had less and less fear and more and more excitement. It was as if I were a bird flying through the forrest or a monkey swinging on a rope. :) I loved the experience and would do it again!

Clases de Español, Ejercicio, y Cocina

This past week I have been learning more and more Spanish through my classes in the morning, watching different programs on tv with my host mother, trying to read and write in Spanish, and having conversations with different people in Spanish.

Often times my conversations turn out looking like more of a game than a conversation. For example, I'll be talking to my host mother and she asks what my father does. I can't think of all the right words in Spanish, so I go and get my notebook and draw a picture to show what I am trying to say. She tries to guess what word I'm thinking of and hopefully at the end of it all, we're on the same page.

The other night I was talking to her about different words for vegetables. She was telling me how to make this Costa Rican dish, and she used a food word that I didn't know. I asked her to explain what the word was, and so she begins to describe it to me using motions and different explanations. She started talking about a kids program and I had no idea where she was going with this explanation. She continues and then sings the theme song for this program, "Popeye, the sailorman" (in Spanish of course). Ah, I finally got what she was talking about...spinach/espinaca. Unfortunately, at that moment in trying to think so hard in Spanish I couldn't think of the word in English either. :) I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know another beautiful family that lives in a different part of the world than me.

On Wednesday, I had a cooking class. Unfortunately, I probably won't remember all of the recipe in order to make it when I return. In addition, it requires platanos which are not a common food in Indiana. However, I do have pictures to remember it by.

On Thursday after classes, the other students and I went to a exercise class. The husband of a lady who works at the mission is a personal trainer. So, we took a bus to Turrialba and did various exercises. Since it was very hot, and I don't look so great doing exercises, you won't be seeing pictures of this one.

The Turrialba volcano has become active for the first time in 40 years just recently in the past two weeks. This is a picture of the volcano (from a distance of course) :).

He Llegado a Costa Rica

As I am typing this blog, I am watching the rain pour down in torrents. This is a normal occurrence in Tuis de Turrialba. I wake up to a rooster crowing at 4:00 in the morning and then turn over and try to go back to sleep until 7:00. In the mornings, the sun is shining brightly, the birds singing, the dogs barking, and the temperature is perfect. Then it begins to feel more humid thorughout the day. It normally rains in the afternoons, but will clear up as if it never rained in the evenings. The climate is tropical, and the neighborhood where I live is called "La Selva" which means forest.

La Selva

This is where I get on the bus every day to go to school. If you walk up this path, my house is just to the left.


I arrived to a fiesta at my host family's house on Saturday night. Mecho and Macha have four daughters. They were celebrating the 35th birthday of Laura, their daughter who lives in the house with them. I had just missed the mariachi, but was there in time to meet everyone. I was immediately introduced to every family member and neighbor who was at the fiesta. It was a great introduction to Costa Rica and the family. They tried to teach me how to dance, but I don't know that that was a huge success. On Monday, I went through orientation at the school and went on a tour of Turrialba, the main city near Tuis.


Turrialba


This is a picture of the central park in Turrialba.




There is a family and two other girls who are studying at CISA also. More students will be arriving this weekend. Since most of us are at different levels or arrived at different times, I have a one-on-one class which is great.



CISA



This is the building where I study Spanish.





These are a couple of different views from the school. The blue building in the distance is the school in Tuis.


I have enjoyed my time here so far - the culture, the language, and the people. My body took a little longer to adjust to the climate and differences though. I felt kind of sick on Monday and Tuesday with a fever, headache, and stomach ache. However, I feel much better today! This evening, I will join the other students for a cooking class on how to cook a Costa Rican dish.