el parque, el baile y mi amiga nueva

(the park, the dance, & my new friend)

Yesterday Luisa and I took a field trip to InBioParque Costa Rica - which is a combination of zoo, science center, and arboretum. The park is unique because it is designed to represent the all of the distinct climates and landscape that exist in Costa Rica in one area. It was a perfect sunny day as for strolling through the bosque húmedo (humid forest) with all of its lush, thick vegetation and beautiful flowers, the bosque seco (dry forest) with its unique array of plants and wildlife, a garden with a variety of fruit trees, another garden of medicinal herbs and plants, a vegetable garden, and the farm (complete with pigs, goats, rabbits and a small barn. There was also a mini-butterfly farm where we walked through a sea of butterflies in a array of gorgeous colors. Among the animals I saw: iguanas (lots), turtles, deer, tarantulas (well, not really since I looked the other way), fish, and mini-crocodiles (i forget the proper name). It was a great place, and Luisa was a very knowledgeable tour guide. Minus the sack lunch, school bus, and 30 other classmates, it was just like the fieldtrips of the good ole elementary days. :)

This afternoon I had my first session of dance class. The instructor taught Gaby, Faby, and myself a number of highly intricate (okay, maybe not so much) and fun dance steps. Coming from someone who has not had an ounce of dance instruction in the past, I think I was truly living up to my ¨gringa¨ title at first, but hope I redeemed myself slightly in the end. After more classes in the next several weeks, I am sure I´ll be hitting up Soul Train - Latin America. :) It was actually quite a workout as well!

And the final news for today.... I made my first friend today! Well, first friend that I have met completely on my own that is. I was running around the neighborhood this morning and as I was returning to the school a fellow gringa asked me if I knew where a local museum was. She is from Tennessee and goes to school at U of Tenn but is currently an exchange student taking a semester of classes at a nearby University here. It turns out that she lives just a block from the school here! She asked me if I was a student as well and I explained that I was studying Spanish now but would be going to Limón to work at the church and teach English. She asked me about the church and my church back home and was thrilled to find that I was a Christian. Apparently I am the first American that is a Christian that she has met since coming here in January. Anyway, she said she would love to hang out sometime so I gave her my phone number. How crazy.

This weekend I am headed to Manuel Antonio with Pili (my other teacher) and her sister. They have an uncle that lives there that we can stay with. It is supposed to be a gorgeous Pacific coast beach city with lots of monkeys to be seen! I am sure I will have stories to report...

Adios!

la iglesia y la comida

So I have two things to report on... first, the Catholic church in Costa Rica, and second, learning to prepare the typical Costa Rican meal.

On Sunday morning, Luisa, Gaby, Faby, and I attended mass at the local Catholic church here in Barva. As far as I can recall, this was my first time attending a Catholic mass. I am not sure if starting off with a different language is the easiest way to comprehend, but oh well. I am all about jumping in head first. The service was very interesting to me - probably largely in part due to the fact that it was a traditional Catholic ceremony with the procession of the priests/fathers led by alter boys carrying incense. And there was a lot of reading and responding, liturgy, prayers, songs, and standing up and sitting down. The church was pretty big, and full of people too. There were people sitting on the floor, standing against the wall, etc. And Luisa said that wasn´t even a crowded service. I can´t imagine attending on a major holiday - say Christmas, in the middle of the summer. It´s safe to say I might have experienced my second ever fainting spell if that were the case. Anyway, it was very interesting to me, and I was proud of myself because I understood most of what the father said during his sermon. And I think it is rather amazing to be part of a church service in a different language. It gives new meaning to the understanding that God is God for all people, in all places, in all languages.

Today, after my usual morning Spanish class, I had a lesson in Costa Rican cooking. Luisa, Pili (my other teacher), and I made Arroz con Pollo (Chicken with Rice) and traditional salad and beans. The main dish (arroz con pollo) consisted of shredded chicken that had been boiled with water and vegetables and seasoning. We used the broth from the pot of chicken to cook the rice with diced carrot, onion, chile dulce (sweet chile - like red bell pepper), corn, peas, and the shredded chicken. The red beans (kidney) were cooked with 2 large beets in the pot. The beets were then removed and diced up and mixed with diced hard boiled egg and mayonnaise with limon (yup, it is a packet of mayo that has lime flavoring in it...interesting, i know). So this is the salad and it is a beautiful bright pink color and served atop lettuce. The cooked beans we puréd in the blender with a little bit of the juice and Salsa Lizano, which I might say is the best flavor ever and I will be bringing back a gallon when I return. So there you have it - homemade beans, salad, and arroz con pollo. Serve with a side of toasted potato chips and you have the traditional Costa Rican food that is often served at parties or on special occasions. I am definitely taking detailed notes of all the fine culinary skills and ideas I am learning here. I may try and reproduce a little bit of Costa Rica in my own kitchen someday! (That is of course, not until I finally ¨settle down¨ and actually start investing in houseware and kitchen products of my own!)

San José y fútbol

Yesterday Luisa and I went into central San José for a bit of a walking tour and history lesson. We went to the Teatro Nacional (National Theatre) which was built in 1897 by the first people who had made money by trading and selling coffee. These early businessmen had the hope of building a country and society that was not merely farmers and laborers, but people with their own culture of art, music, and the like. The theatre is still in its original condition, more or less. Some of the ornaments on the walls and ceilings are still made of the gold they were originally created with. It is a beautiful sight, and the greatest part about it is that it is still used as a theatre today. The theatre hosts plays, concerts, and even special government events like the ceremony for the changing of one president to the next. We also went to the Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold) and learned all about the many sources of gold that were found by the Spaniards after Christopher Colombus discovered Costa Rica in 1502. The indigenous people had been making ornamental jewelry and such out of the gold for many years, with no knowlegde of the material´s monetary value. The sad part is that once the foreigners discovered it here, they began a practice of digging up graves and tombs of important and wealthy people who had died, in order that they might rob them of the gold they were buried with. We also saw the Museum that shows and describes the history of the money used in Costa Rica.

San José is a bit different than most capital cities. It is very old and dirty, and in need of a lot of restoration and renovation, but they don´t have money to invest in that. Plus, the city was built with esentially no organization or planning, so it is a bit of a chaotic mess. They are slowly making improvements and changes, whenever possible and Luisa´s husband, Ibo, has been involved in the articheture and design process of a lot of these projects. There are a lot of people walking and driving through the city, and mostly in what seems to be a method of partially-organized chaos. The traffic signals, if they exist, seem to be merely a suggestion, and the pedestrians tend to take to the streets when and where they please. Add to the madness the fact that in a few hours the big championship futbol (soccer) game between the San Jose team and its rival was to be played just a few km away. What a sight of jerseys, flags, hats, t-shirts, and other paraphenalia.

Luisa, the girls and I watched the game at the home of a friend of Luisa´s. They had a big screen TV and lots of people and food - just as we might gather for the super bowl. Being a soccer fan myself, this is a part of the culture that I love. But at the same time, one of the harder parts to learn and understand about the language.... Just think about all the things you might say while watching a game, then try and imagine that in another language. There are so many sayings and catch phrases that are used that, even if i could understand the words being said, the meanings mostly likely wouldn´t be understood literally. It is funny because even though I was watching the game with a big group of people, it was as if I was by myself, only with a mass of construction work going on outside or something. All the noise, but not a lot of meaning to me. When I am able to understand and participate with the locals in watching a futbol game...then I will know I have arrived as a Spanish-speaker. :)

Las frutas, las frutas!

Me encanta el mercado (I love the market!)

Yesterday morning before my Spanish class Luisa and I visited el mercado (the market). And for you Southern California readers....by market, I do not mean the grocery store. :) I mean something more similar to a farmers market, where they have stands and stands of fruits and vegetables that were picked and delivered from the farms early in the morning. Luisa has been shopping from the same two vendors at the market for about 8 years, so they know her well and were eager to offer all samples of anything and everything. No sooner than I could ask what something was, there it was being sliced, opened, washed, whatever, so that I could try it myself. I think I must have sampled about 8 new fruits. And I liked them all! Seriously, I think the market alone, and the plethora of amazing fresh fruits and vegetables that are available is enough to make me want to live here forever! And it is so cheap too! The guys at the market put all of our purchases into a giant potato sack and a card board box, and I think the whole trip cost us maybe 10-12 dollars. And we are talking a whole bushel of onions, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pineapple, guava, mango, and a whole bunch of other things I can´t remember and/or don´t know the name of!

Today is my 3rd day of Spanish classes. I have two teachers - Luisa and Pili (short for Pilar). Pili is one of Luisa´s good friends, whom she met while she was getting her degree in education at the university. Pili is 24 and is from Heredia, but was a nanny for 1 1-2 years in Minnesota and is waiting to hear about another placement in Canada. They are both great teachers and I know I will learn a lot because I am the only student! So my Spanish is coming along pretty well. It is good to be surrounded by it - on TV, the radio, the newspaper, and of course to hear everyone talking. And I am trying to get myself to talk as much as possible. You all would probably laugh if you could see how little I talk here. They must think I am quiet and shy... Ha. With time...suddenly one day they will say - who is this girl that won´t stop talking?!

So classes are in the morning and then in the afternoon Luisa and I have been making lunch, doing errands, etc. until we pick up Gaby and Faby from school at 2:30. Then we all eat lunch together and the afternoons are spent either here at the school, reading, relaxing, the girls doing homework, etc. or running errands or doing whatever they need to do. I am just kind of along for the ride. It´s nice because I don´t have anything I have to do, anywhere I have to go, no responsbility, etc. What a nice little break...

So I guess that is about it for now. This weekend I think we are going to do a tour of San Jose and then of course watch the big futbol game between the local rivals - Liga y Saprissa. I love how crazy they are about soccer down here!

Snorkeling and Burning

15 – abril

We got up around 8:30am and the whole group made and ate a traditional Costa Rican breakfast – eggs with onion and cilantro (maybe? I’m not sure…), a type of sausage, queso frito (fried cheese), tortillas, orange juice, and coffee, of course. We all headed back to the beach – this time it was a bright sunny day. I tried round 2 of snorkeling and got to see some very beautiful and colorful fish. It couldn’t help but think what an amazing opportunity I have to be experiencing all of this. Just a few weeks ago I would have been working at my desk on a Friday morning (and enjoying it) and now I am snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea!! The only bad part about the snorkeling experience is that I got fried!! I wouldn’t have guessed it and don’t think sunscreen would have lasted very long anyway, but my whole back and backs of my legs are so red! I look like a lobster. People here make comments that I am a blanca (white girl) but now I am a roja (red!). That is the only bad part of my whole time here so far though, and with the help of some aloe vera gel, hopefully I will escape with little pain or peeling. We went back to where we had stayed to shower and change, and then headed for home. We stopped in Limon to drop off the girl that lived there, and she had us all into her house for a pipa fria – which is cold coconut juice. Basically you crack open the shell of the coconut before it is completely ripe and dry (and has formed coconut) and inside is a clear liquid that you drink. It tastes very good, kind of like a sweet water. And you can eat the little bit of coconut “meat” that is on the sides of the shell. I guess it could be compared to scraping and eating the “meat” on the inside of a pumpkin. So that was indeed a tasty treat. Along the way from Limon there was a big accident on the road (we are guessing at least) and the traffic on the single lane road was very backed up so we followed a bus and took an alternate route – which happened to be through the middle of several banana plantations. We passed lots of Dole, Del Monte, and Chiquita semi trucks and I got to see the banana plantations in action. <>
We made it home around 7:00 pm and unpacked, started some laundry, and I applied aloe to the red (ah….why didn’t anyone tell me that it might be a good idea to do a little bit of tanning before I came b/c as much as I hate tanning it could have been a gentler introduction for my poor skin…?!) What adventures I have had already in just a few days here!

Me gusta el mar caribe (I like the Caribbean Sea!)

14 – abril

We got up around 7 am and had breakfast shortly thereafter – rice with a little beans, scrambled eggs, and a biscuit-like bread. Of course, there was the prized Costa Rican coffee at every meal as well. And with enough sugar and milk, I enjoyed it as well! After breakfast we said goodbye and hiked back down to the river. We made a quick stop at the new secondary school (like middle school) that was built with the help of a group from my church, Colorado Community Church, when they were here in January. Another team from church will be coming this summer to help build another building to lodge guests. The school consisted of a single room, but they have text books and a television so they can function as a virtual classroom/school. We rode the panga back down the river to our cars and back to Benson’s office, which also has lodging facilities. We changed and headed to the beach – to Manzanillo, which is at the southern tip of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. There are several popular beaches along the way and because this is Holy Week many businesses are closed and the schools have vacation all week so there were so many people at the beach. It was crazy. The beaches here are very different from the US – there are few restrictions or rules as to behavior at the beach. People pitch tents, camp out in their cars, have all sorts of food and drink, blast their radios, etc. It is kind of like a dance club in certain spots, and people everywhere. Plus all sorts of little stores, shops, and street vendors. We tried to find a less crowded part of the beach to hang out. It was a pretty cloudy, not too hot day, which was nice. Benson was going to go snorkeling so I decided to give it a try. (Which is big for someone who is just fine with laying on the sand and never touching the water!) And wow, let me say, I love the Caribbean!! The water is so warm – it is like a bath! Unfortunately it was fairly late in the afternoon and cloudy so there was not a lot of light to see very far in the water, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. After showering in an outside shower behind the house of one of Benson’s friends, we ate dinner at a great local seafood restaurant where I ordered a filet of fish! (If you can’t tell already, I am really trying to do as much and try as much as I can here…) It came with ‘salsa caribena’ (salsa Caribbean) which is grilled onions, tomatoes and green peppers on top and ensalada (salad) – which really turned out to be coleslaw! Ha! After dinner we walked around Puerto Viejo and the little shops, vendors, and tons of people that were out. We stayed the night at the lodging at Benson’s office. So that makes three nights in Costa Rica and three different beds and three different environments – from the city: Heredia (just outside of San Jose) at Luisa’s house, to the jungle: Yorkin, and now the beach: Puerto Viejo. I know that many people come to Costa Rica for a week or even more and don’t experience even part of the diversity of the country I have seen in just 3 days!

Into the Jungle...

13 – abril
We got up at 5am this morning in order to leave for a mini-vacation (already, I know). It was a little different packing for this because even though Luisa explained a little bit about what we would be doing, I wasn’t really sure what I needed to bring. Oh well, nothing like jumping in head first. We drove about 3 hours or so to Limon, where I will be living eventually. To get there we drove through the mountains and national rain forest. The landscape is beautiful – a lot like Washington because it is so green and lush, but with different types of trees. We saw pineapple farms, banana plantations, and all sorts of trees and plants. In Limon we could see the beach and the Caribbean Sea – my first time to experience that sight. We went to Benson’s (Hugo and Luisa’s brother) office a little bit further south than Limon, near Puerto Viejo. Benson works for an agency that is involved with conservation and social work with a variety of groups and organizations in Costa Rica to preserve natural resources and to support the native people and teach them how to use and conserve as well. Along with Benson, there was 2 people from San Jose, a girl from Limon, and a guy named Eric who is from Washington D.C. and his father. Eric had been a volunteer with Benson about 10 years ago and now had returned to make a documentary movie about the projects and things they are doing in Costa Rica. (So watch the Discovery Channel and maybe you will see me! Ha.) We drove about 30 minutes into the jungle, mostly on a windy gravel road with huge potholes (as most of the roads here do) to a town called BriBri. Here we parked the cars and carried our backpacks down to the river where 2 “pangas” were waiting. Pagas are like canoes, except they are made of wood – a single log, actually. The two we rode in were huge – must have been a huge tree as well. The indigenous people carve these boats from the logs and then use a little motor on the back to power them. We put our stuff in plastic bags and then loaded the bags and ourselves into the boats. Our guias (guides) took us for a one-hour boat ride up the river and further into la jungula (jungle). This was really the jungle indeed, and although we did not see any (too bad), there are lots of jungle animals including tigers and pumas and crocodiles, that live there. Along with the cars we left behind electricity and cell phone service and road access. Welcome to Costa Rica, huh? What an incredible experience – and only my first day in the country! Parts of the river are like what we would go rafting on and in these parts the guides had to kill the motor (so it didn’t hit the rocks on the bottom) and use long sticks to maneuver and power our way up the rapids. I suppose it was vaguely similar to the gondola tours in Venice, but well, not really at all beside the boat, water and guide with a long stick.  Upon arriving at our destination – a town called Yorkin on the border of Panama and Costa Rica – we emptied from the panga and walked into “downtown” Yorkin – which consisted of 2 or 3 small buildings for the school, a soccer field, and a small building for the church. So let’s just think about this for a minute, one day I am driving through downtown Los Angeles and the next day I am walking through downtown Yorkin – talk about diverse cultures! We hiked through the jungle along a somewhat beaten and partly muddy path to the women’s center in Yorkin. Benson started working with this group of indigenous people about 15 years ago and has since helped them to organize and unite themselves, discover the resources in their own backyard to support themselves and provide a future for their children. It is really quite amazing. They have built a community center and lodging for guests – all from materials they have at their fingertips (including roofs made of huge palm leaves) – no need to waste the little money they have trying to transport in materials for construction. The women have learned to make handicrafts – both to use themselves and to see to tourists – from the trees and plants they have. They are able to provide a very unique opportunity to tourists – a chance to experience the life in the jungle, complete with the panga ride, hike to the village, accommodations in an open air building with nets over the beds to keep mosquitoes and bugs out, and an informative tour through the trees, plants, and river in the area. Not to mention that with a short swim across a calm area of the river, you can set foot in Panama as well! I ate my first true Costa Rican mean – rice, heart of palm, a type of plant similar to fern, and a soup with chicken and a vegetable very much like potatoes – and it was good! I also got to see how they make chocolate. The whole process from cracking open the fruit of the cacao plant (it looks kind of like a round gourd or squash) and removing the seeds – which look like large almonds and are covered in a white sauce-like substance. The seeds are put in a bag to ferment for 6 days, then laid out to dry for 4 days. After drying the seeds are ground using a manual grinder to crack open the shell and crush it along with the ‘chocolate’ inside. All of this is spread on a flat piece of wood and with a little ‘shake, shake, shake’ (I’m sure it is all in the wrist…) the shell is separated and tossed out. The remaining ground seed is then ground on a finer grind until it turns into a thick chocolate paste. It takes a lot like bittersweet chocolate, but then they mix with condensed milk to sweeten it and wow – the best chocolate sauce you have ever had! If only I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it!  The women there shared with us a little bit about their history – how the women’s organization started, what they are trying to do, etc. which was very interesting. I must say that I didn’t catch it all as it was in Spanish, of course, but I could get the gist and Luisa translated the highlights for me. (I guess this would be a good time to report on my Spanish status… I am doing alright. As expected, I can understand easier than it is to start speaking, but I am trying. Luisa speaks fluent English and the girls study in school and speak very well also. This is nice, but I do want to immerse myself and force myself to learn. It is good to be surrounded by it at least. I hear it a lot of course, when anyone else speaks, or on the radio, signs on the road, etc. ) Dinner was rice with a little black beans, mashed ‘potatoes’ (as in the soup earlier), a different cooked plant (kind of like cooked spinach) and mango. A mi me gusta mango!
In Yorkin, we slept in the lodging facility which had small mattresses on the ground with a single sheet and the mosquito net. But with the sounds of the jungle, the river, and me being exhausted from the past few days, it was not a problem to fall asleep.
The jungle is very humid, as one might expect, so I was definitely warm there.

Bievenidos a Costa Rica

12 – abril

After leaving LAX at 1am and a 3 hr layover in Houston, I arrived in San Jose around noon. In the plane I was able to see part of the Caribbean islands and beautiful colors of the water. It made me excited, but also partly wished that I was headed for a tropical island with a friend or two. As we landed in San Jose I could see the lush green landscape and some of the civilization around the area. It was at this time that I really felt nervous and a bit scared for the first time. For a moment I wished I was landing in Seattle or Denver (as I usually do) and not in a completely strange place. It was only a minute before I reminded myself of the grand adventure, the beautiful sights, the amazing experience, and incredible opportunity for learning that I was headed for. After waiting for immigration lines, then my luggage, then customs, I made it out of the security area and into the mass of people waiting for friends & loved ones, taxi drivers awaiting patrons, and a whole new world. I wasn’t sure how to proceed from that point, but just at that moment I spotted Luisa, Gabriela and Fabiola on the other side of the glass window, holding a sign and waving to me. They greeted me with beautiful pink roses and warm words of welcome. Luisa was a great guide as we drove from the airport to their house. She explained (in English) a lot of things about the areas we drove through, sights, landscape, etc. Their house is great. It has pretty much all the amenities I am used to, yet completely different structure, architecture, etc. Pretty much everything is made of a dark colored wood (stairs, walls, floor, etc) and it sort of has the feel of a bungalow in the jungle, but big. Fabiola is sharing a room with her sister so that I can have her room and she even cleaned out all her clothes from the closet, and dresser, posters from the wall, and books/decorations from the shelves. I felt so welcomed to have my own room that was cleaned out just for me. Luisa even asked Hugo to find out my favorite colors (I said pink and blue) and she had bought 3 new sets of sheets – some pink, some blue – for me to choose from, as well as a new pink comforter! This is better service than you get at the Hilton! Their yard is amazing. They have so many different trees and plants that produce so many different fruits, including manaza de agua (translated – waterapple), bananas, sugar cane, and several others that I can’t remember names. I tried about 3 different types of fruit that the girls just pulled off the trees and said here – try this. It’s amazing to have all this in your backyard. And next to their property is a coffee plantation so I got to see the coffee plants. Luisa’s husband, Ibo, came home a little bit later and then the five of us drove around the area a bit, saw the school “Centro Cultural Educativo, Etc.” (Etc. as it is referred to) they just built and I will be attending, and went to dinner at Hugo’s favorite seafood restaurant where I ate ceviche con cammarones – which is basically shrimp (crazy, I know) in a pico de gallo/salsa type sauce and chicken in a tomato sauce, as well as platanoes (I can’t remember…) which is mashed platanos (similar to bananas) that are fried. They look sort of like little pancakes. They eat a lot of seafood here so I’ve decided to get over my dislike and try the local specialties and favorites, even if they are from the sea.

I'm off...

Well this is it, my last hours in the good ole US of A. At least for awhile. After 5 days at home and then a glorious weekend of fun in Vail with the girls, I have been in LA for the past week hanging out with friends, wrapping up a few loose ends, and just relaxing in preparation for the big adventure. I leave at 1am tomorrow (Wed) morning and will arrive in San Jose around noon after a layover in Houston. (My first time to Texas, yay.)

I am still really excited about this adventure and haven't really had any anxiety or nervousness creeping in. It is such a huge unknown that it is hard to grasp what my life will be like in just a day. I know that God has given me this peace and excitement, as He has continually been confirming that this is what He wants me to do.

I will be taking a trip with my host family the first weekend I am there so I don't know when I will be active on the email, but I am going to try and at least pass on a "I made it" message as soon as I can.

THanks for all the love and support!