Welp, its half-time of the Netherlands futbol (soccer) game, so I thought I’d share some deets about my weekend.
Friday, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to watch the opening ceremony for the World Cup, which was totally worth waking up for (I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway). After the excitement of the opening ceremony, I threw on my green and yellow tank top and yellow shoes, sporting a self-inflicted “Bafana Bafana!” tattoo on my forearm while I ran out the door to take my final exam at the Mesoamerica Language Institute. I practically ran to school (about 2-3 miles away) to find my teacher watching the Mexico-South Africa game. All over Central America, most people share the same negative feelings towards the Mexican national futbol team, so everyone I talked to here was going for South Africa to win the game. We watched the first 15 minutes of the game together, then decided that I should get the exam over with. The exam was 3 ½ hours of mental gymnastics, covering every area of grammar I wasn’t good at in Spanish (being the only one in my class, my study program was tailored to my needs, a double-edged sword because it was all my problem areas, but good because now they aren’t so much of a problem!). To celebrate after the exam, I ran to the bakery to get 2 gigantic cinnamon rolls, hot out of the oven, oozing with gooey cinnamon bits and cream cheese frosting (numnums). I plopped on the couch at the school with cinnamon rolls and ice cold liter of milk in hand and watched the Uruguay-France game for my victory lap.
Friday night I hung out around the house; highlight was definitely the curry chicken my ticamadre made for dinner, which went perfectly with the Casillero del Diablo 2008 Chardonnay =]
Saturday morning I woke up early again to watch some futbol; my ticamadre’s reaction to waking up seeing me glued in front of the small kitchen TV clutching a half-drunk pot of coffee was “¡Que bárbaro! (literally translated: “how barbaric!”, but without the negative connotation barbaric has in English) After the watching a downright (Lionel) Messi Argentina game, I left again with my host dad for the Farmer’s Market. We left with two grocery lists: one for Flori (ticamadre) and one for his hermana (sister). So by the time we were finished shopping, we had over 100 pounds of produce and I was chomping at the bit, hoping we would make it back for the U.S.-England game. Saturday night I made the trek to San Pedro to JazzCafé, a relatively small but chic hangout spot for junkies of the local music scene. Playing at JazzCafé Saturday night was the ultra popular Costa Rican band Malpaís, the 6 piece band I talked about in an earlier blog. The concert was absolutely amazing, with songs featuring accordion, violin, irish whistle, piano, drum, and ukulele solos. Needless to say, their music was moving, and the intimate atmosphere of the concert (150 people?) made the experience pretty sweet (they even made frequent eye contact with me because I had a seat up front =] )
I got back from the concert around 2 a.m., took a little nap, and then woke up at 7:30 to get ready for church. I walked to Bill and Aletha Green’s house in Guadalupe to meet for worship. The Green’s are a missionary family in Costa Rica and have been here for many, many years. They are a part of the Reformed church and have started multiple churches, a Christian school, and a very thriving printing/publishing business for theological books. We headed over to the church property for Sunday School and worship around 9:30 a.m., which was all in Spanish. Pastor Bill (Guillermo, as they call him here) is a man of many skills. He preached a passionate sermon in perfect Spanish, played guitar for pre-Sunday School singing, and played the piano for singing during the worship service, all in stride. The sermon he preached was on the importance of the church in the coming of the Kingdom, and how the church is the spearhead of the Kingdom. A very good sermon, encouraging not only spiritually but also for my Spanish comprehension ability! Post-service, we all climbed back in Bill’s mini-bus to head back to his house. There were two other groups of 15 that were down for a mission trip, one from Loveland, CO and another from somewhere in Michigan that were at the Green residence Sunday, so needless to say it was a busy place. A little overwhelming for me to hear tons of simultaneous English conversations happening at the same time, something I haven’t experienced in some 5 weeks. After feasting, Rev. Green showed us his print shops, explaining the whole process of his Christian publishing ministry. The progression of his undertaking is incredible- you can definitely see God’s hand at work through his ministry here. We also toured the multi-storied Christian school, where I met some of the gringo English teachers, and was even offered a job at the school if I changed my mind about getting on my plane home tomorrow.
(Pause)
Ok, game’s over. 2-0 Oranje! Hup Holland!
Just had my last breakfast of banana pancakes, courtesy of Reina, our housemaid. I told her I think she’s ready to marry, because she can cook (in Central America, it’s a well-known saying that when a woman learns how to cook well, she is ready for marriage)
Back to the Green’s- I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the work they have done down here the last umpteen years, and the impact they have had on the community is huge! I definitely am keeping an option of coming down here to work with them in my options for the future.
Today is my last day here- my plane heads out tomorrow morning at 6:20 a.m. Gotta catch a cab from my house at 4 to get to the airport on time, yikes! With my last day I’m steppin over to the city center to hit up the artisan’s fair that is going on right now to get some cheesy Costa Rica souvenirs and seize my last opportunity to buy some coffee to bring back.
¡Adios, Costa Rica!
Pura vida
Monday, June 14, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
One last shot
Welp, this is my last week of class here in Costa Rica. It is strange to me that I am almost done here already; it seems like I just got here! Although, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't getting ready to go home. Because of the brevity of my remaining time here, I've found myself in a frantic rush to experience and take in all I can before I head back. =]
This past weekend was rather uneventful- I had made plans to go to the beach on the Pacific coast, a place called Playa Manuel Antonio. But, God had other plans in mind I guess, because I woke up Wednesday morning to see on the news that the zone was to be shut down for 8 days because of heavy tropical storms. This news announcement was accompanied by images of local residents' houses thrashed and flooded from the storm; needless to say, I was more than convinced that I needed to alter my plans for the weekend haha
So, instead, I discovered that my host family has HBO and other movie channels, so I entertained myself by watching movies such as "Indiana Jones:Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Hitch" in Spanish. Also, I went to go see the new movie "Prince of Persia" in the theater here, which was very entertaining. I ventured to Costa Rica's version of Trader Joe's and picked up some exotic dark chocolates and a few bottles of red wine from Chile and Argentina ("Carmen-Merlot" from Chile and "Fabre Montmayou-Cabernet Sauvignon" from Argentina.
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to watch the Costa Rica national team take on Slovakia in a friendly soccer match. After it was done, I went with my host dad to the local Farmer's market, which was an enormous, chaotic assortment of fruit and vegetable stands with vendors yelling constantly. I felt a little out of place, probably because my blonde dome popped up above the masses. There were probably a few thousand people at this place, as Costa Ricans have a diet based heavily on fresh fruits and vegetables. My host dad goes every Saturday and buys a shopping cart overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, and that is to feed 6 people for a week. I don't think I bought half that much produce in an entire year at college haha!
Today marks the beginning of my last week of class here. My classmate Muriel went back to Utah, where she is the Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Utah (embarrassingly, I found that out her last day of class. woops.) So, I'm flyin solo in class this last week, which means no daydreaming, wandering thoughts, or sleeping because most likely my teacher would notice...
Since its just us guys left, I'm predicting a hearty hunk of class time will be dedicated to discussing the impending World Cup (starts on friday woo!), which I am more than o.k. with! In other news, today I was given a crash course in Costa Rican slang, which I quickly found out was a monumental task. In trying to describe one "slang" phrase, my teacher dropped the f-bomb in class sans qualms; I was pretty stunned that he carried on like nothing happened, because it caught me by surprise. But, then I realized that cursing in another language doesn't have near the effect as they do in your native tongue, because you haven't been trained to react and think that it is a bad word.
To reward myself for going for a run at 5:30 this morning when the sun rose, I cancelled out my athletic gains by gorging myself on two cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven, washing with a liter of icy-cool milk. I'm not really sure what my rationale was for making this into a meal; must be my genetic disposition towards sweet desserts (this one is directed at you, dad!) Probably the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had (now you're jealous Lyle, I can hear your drool hitting the keyboard 2500 miles away =] )
Well, I think this post has been exhaustive enough- I think I hear my ticamadre calling for me to ask about her Farmville farm!
Final exam on Friday heyo!
¡pura vida!
This past weekend was rather uneventful- I had made plans to go to the beach on the Pacific coast, a place called Playa Manuel Antonio. But, God had other plans in mind I guess, because I woke up Wednesday morning to see on the news that the zone was to be shut down for 8 days because of heavy tropical storms. This news announcement was accompanied by images of local residents' houses thrashed and flooded from the storm; needless to say, I was more than convinced that I needed to alter my plans for the weekend haha
So, instead, I discovered that my host family has HBO and other movie channels, so I entertained myself by watching movies such as "Indiana Jones:Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Hitch" in Spanish. Also, I went to go see the new movie "Prince of Persia" in the theater here, which was very entertaining. I ventured to Costa Rica's version of Trader Joe's and picked up some exotic dark chocolates and a few bottles of red wine from Chile and Argentina ("Carmen-Merlot" from Chile and "Fabre Montmayou-Cabernet Sauvignon" from Argentina.
Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to watch the Costa Rica national team take on Slovakia in a friendly soccer match. After it was done, I went with my host dad to the local Farmer's market, which was an enormous, chaotic assortment of fruit and vegetable stands with vendors yelling constantly. I felt a little out of place, probably because my blonde dome popped up above the masses. There were probably a few thousand people at this place, as Costa Ricans have a diet based heavily on fresh fruits and vegetables. My host dad goes every Saturday and buys a shopping cart overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, and that is to feed 6 people for a week. I don't think I bought half that much produce in an entire year at college haha!
Today marks the beginning of my last week of class here. My classmate Muriel went back to Utah, where she is the Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Utah (embarrassingly, I found that out her last day of class. woops.) So, I'm flyin solo in class this last week, which means no daydreaming, wandering thoughts, or sleeping because most likely my teacher would notice...
Since its just us guys left, I'm predicting a hearty hunk of class time will be dedicated to discussing the impending World Cup (starts on friday woo!), which I am more than o.k. with! In other news, today I was given a crash course in Costa Rican slang, which I quickly found out was a monumental task. In trying to describe one "slang" phrase, my teacher dropped the f-bomb in class sans qualms; I was pretty stunned that he carried on like nothing happened, because it caught me by surprise. But, then I realized that cursing in another language doesn't have near the effect as they do in your native tongue, because you haven't been trained to react and think that it is a bad word.
To reward myself for going for a run at 5:30 this morning when the sun rose, I cancelled out my athletic gains by gorging myself on two cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven, washing with a liter of icy-cool milk. I'm not really sure what my rationale was for making this into a meal; must be my genetic disposition towards sweet desserts (this one is directed at you, dad!) Probably the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had (now you're jealous Lyle, I can hear your drool hitting the keyboard 2500 miles away =] )
Well, I think this post has been exhaustive enough- I think I hear my ticamadre calling for me to ask about her Farmville farm!
Final exam on Friday heyo!
¡pura vida!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Arenal volcanoes the same?
Well, I survived my weekend at one of the most active volcanoes in the world, the Arenal volcano in Northwestern Costa Rica. After I got done with class at 12:30 p.m. last Friday, our group promptly left the school in our small van/bus which had "turismo" conspicuously labeled on the side, just in case anyone was wondering who was inside the van. After a windy, curve-filled 4-hour drive, we finally arrived at our lodging for the weekend, the Hotel Los Lagos, which is situated right at the base of the volcano (about 3-4 km from the peak).
The hotel's landscape was absolutely magnificent, with their houses of 8 rooms/building sprawled out among almost a hundred acres of lush rainforest-filled hillside. Our rooms were some of the closest to the volcano that exist, so that was pretty amazing.
We were blessed in our entire trip that it was sunny and clear almost the entire trip. Usually during the rainy season the peak of the volcano is rarely visible, as clouds normally cover it. But, for our entire weekend we were incredibly fortunate to have the weather be clear AND there were an unusual amount of eruptions (I think around 8 or 9 in total)! It was an incredible display of God's creation as we gazed into the night sky to see stars littered throughout the black backdrop, with the moon shining brightly upon the volcano's peak, revealing bright red/orange lava flowing down the side. Since the lava only flows down one side of the mountain, I was only able to see it flowing down once, and regretfully I didn't have my camera :'(
The hotel we stayed at had some divine pools complete with water slides and also a naturally heated hot springs pool that had a sweet swim-up bar nestled under a tiki hut. I definitely adopted the motto "When in Rome..." and ordered a piña colada served in an enormous carved out pineapple, which I enjoyed immensely. The Saturday we were there, we went ziplining through the rainforest canopies; a stellar experience. Saw some monkeys swinging in the tree tops about 140 feet above the ground, and was immaturely entertained by watching their feces fall the entire distance to the ground, probably reaching terminal velocity...
After ziplining above the unbelievably exotic rainforest, we saddled up on some horses for an expedition around the volcano. Donning my obnoxiously red Papi tank top, I was given a pony named Tequila for the trip. At first I was a bit uneasy, but we soon became friends and he agreed to listen to my commands (although he didn't agree to not chafe my legs and make my buttocks extremely sore afterwards...) The horseback ride was spectacular, taking us on trails all around the volcano where a village once stood before the large eruption in 1968 which wiped the entire thing out. We got as close as 2 km from the peak when our guide told us in Spanish that if the volcano would have a large eruption, the ash/lava/toxic gas would travel so fast we would be consumed within seconds, so if we tried to gallop away on horseback we would only die tired. Super encouraging- thanks Pancho, for that helpful tidbit.
After the activities, our group was famished so we returned for lunch of fresh ceviche and Tilapia, which was followed by a refreshing 3 hour pool sesh on my part. Unfortunately I fell asleep by the pool, so I got a little bit charred, but nothing too bad.
We had our own church service in a tropical garden with the volcano in sight, and then returned home. I took a few photos of the volcano, and even got a few of it erupting. Enjoy!
In other news, we started studying Costa Rican art/literature/poetry this week. Hard to believe I only have 2 weeks left :/
pura vida!
The hotel's landscape was absolutely magnificent, with their houses of 8 rooms/building sprawled out among almost a hundred acres of lush rainforest-filled hillside. Our rooms were some of the closest to the volcano that exist, so that was pretty amazing.
We were blessed in our entire trip that it was sunny and clear almost the entire trip. Usually during the rainy season the peak of the volcano is rarely visible, as clouds normally cover it. But, for our entire weekend we were incredibly fortunate to have the weather be clear AND there were an unusual amount of eruptions (I think around 8 or 9 in total)! It was an incredible display of God's creation as we gazed into the night sky to see stars littered throughout the black backdrop, with the moon shining brightly upon the volcano's peak, revealing bright red/orange lava flowing down the side. Since the lava only flows down one side of the mountain, I was only able to see it flowing down once, and regretfully I didn't have my camera :'(
The hotel we stayed at had some divine pools complete with water slides and also a naturally heated hot springs pool that had a sweet swim-up bar nestled under a tiki hut. I definitely adopted the motto "When in Rome..." and ordered a piña colada served in an enormous carved out pineapple, which I enjoyed immensely. The Saturday we were there, we went ziplining through the rainforest canopies; a stellar experience. Saw some monkeys swinging in the tree tops about 140 feet above the ground, and was immaturely entertained by watching their feces fall the entire distance to the ground, probably reaching terminal velocity...
After ziplining above the unbelievably exotic rainforest, we saddled up on some horses for an expedition around the volcano. Donning my obnoxiously red Papi tank top, I was given a pony named Tequila for the trip. At first I was a bit uneasy, but we soon became friends and he agreed to listen to my commands (although he didn't agree to not chafe my legs and make my buttocks extremely sore afterwards...) The horseback ride was spectacular, taking us on trails all around the volcano where a village once stood before the large eruption in 1968 which wiped the entire thing out. We got as close as 2 km from the peak when our guide told us in Spanish that if the volcano would have a large eruption, the ash/lava/toxic gas would travel so fast we would be consumed within seconds, so if we tried to gallop away on horseback we would only die tired. Super encouraging- thanks Pancho, for that helpful tidbit.
After the activities, our group was famished so we returned for lunch of fresh ceviche and Tilapia, which was followed by a refreshing 3 hour pool sesh on my part. Unfortunately I fell asleep by the pool, so I got a little bit charred, but nothing too bad.
We had our own church service in a tropical garden with the volcano in sight, and then returned home. I took a few photos of the volcano, and even got a few of it erupting. Enjoy!
In other news, we started studying Costa Rican art/literature/poetry this week. Hard to believe I only have 2 weeks left :/
pura vida!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
rainy days, thursdays always get me moooody
Yup- still raining. So how bout that walk around the city today? Guess that's why they call it the "rainy season"...
Finally forced myself into going for a run this afternoon, although it did start raining :( So, to top off my workout I came back to my room and did a yoga workout I found via Podcast. If you're fishin' for a morale booster, I would not suggest yoga. Watching 50 year-old women execute athletic maneuvers you can't do is not the best idea for motivation.
Today for class my other classmate, teacher and I met in front of the Teatro Nacional (National Theatre), one of the only old buildings remaining in San Jose. The theatre was built in the 1890's, and according to Costa Rican's was built by coffee. Not literally, but the funding for the theatre reflected the newfound wealth of teh country solely from the exportation of the coffee bean. After walking all around San Jose, seeing beautiful old colonial buildings and a cornucopia of flora and fauna, we walked back to school after lunch. I met another student named Newton from Amherst College in Massachusetts, whom had just arrived to Costa Rica last night. He is here on a grant from his college to conduct a study on interracial relationships in Costa Rica, i.e. interaction between Ticos, Nicaraguans, and Afro-Caribbeans. A very cool dude- dad is from Jamaica. We went out for a very cheap lunch on the UCR campus, then chatted awhile. He is like me in that he doesn't have a very strict schedule while he is here, so he might come with me on some future weekend adventures!
Yesterday morning, my alarm clock "sounded" in the form of a medium-sized earthquake, which conveniently woke me exactly 2 minutes before my alarm clock was set to go off, but did so in a more graceful manner!
Tomorrow I leave for the Arenal Volcano with the group from New York wooo! We're staying in a pretty nice hotel I think, seeing that I handed over some serious dinero for this excursion (my pockets are weeping.)
(A passionfruit flower)
Hard to believe I've been here over 2 weeks already! I'm enjoying myself immensely, and I feel as though my Spanish is vastly improving, as well as my understanding of Costa Rican history and culture.
Hope you all have a great weekend and pray that the volcano doesn't explode on me! :D
(but seriously, it erupted earlier this week and they had to shut the park down... hahaha) Don't worry mom I'll be fine!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
take a mental picture
Here are some fotografias of my stay here so far:
This is my room at my host family's house
An up-close shot of a coffee bean plant. The coffee is just beginning to grow now-they harvest in February I think?
Some bags from Cafe Britt
At the moment, I am quite "blogged" down with homework, preventing me from being persevering in my posts as before. But, I did try out my new french press today and broke up open a bag of ground espresso- the results were magnificent. Although I forgot the fact that usually espresso is taken in shots, not by the mug like normal coffee, so lets just say I was probably more excited than I should have been to be studying the Spanish past imperfect tense...
Listened to a lecture today on religion in Latin America- its quite interesting to hear how exposure to other denominations is causing a huge shift from the previously dominant Catholic church to other Protestant religions; 25-30% of Latinos are Protestant currently. Although, the exposure also has many negative effects as well, leaving room for false cults and sects to spread.
I am also in the process of planning a hiking trip to a huge rainforest Southwest of San Jose. It starts at the top of a mountain where rivers that go to both the Pacific and Caribbean originate, and I would cover about 38 kilometers in two half days. The trails weave through rural villages and jungles, and are home to countless species of animals like monkeys, parrots, tropical frogs, over 100 species of birds including the sacred Mayan quetzal, and possibly even a jaguar or two (don't worry, that would be highly unlikely haha). The hike ends on a bus route that would take me to a famous beach, Parque Manuel Antonio, where I could get my tan on and rest after my strenuous excursion.
This weekend I'm headed north to the famous Arenal volcano, which actually was on the news yesterday for having a semi-large eruption. !
The place we're staying has several hot springs, naturally heated by the volcano, with swim-up bars and options for zip-lining and horseback riding. yeehaw!
This is my room at my host family's house
An up-close shot of a coffee bean plant. The coffee is just beginning to grow now-they harvest in February I think?
Some bags from Cafe Britt
At the moment, I am quite "blogged" down with homework, preventing me from being persevering in my posts as before. But, I did try out my new french press today and broke up open a bag of ground espresso- the results were magnificent. Although I forgot the fact that usually espresso is taken in shots, not by the mug like normal coffee, so lets just say I was probably more excited than I should have been to be studying the Spanish past imperfect tense...
Listened to a lecture today on religion in Latin America- its quite interesting to hear how exposure to other denominations is causing a huge shift from the previously dominant Catholic church to other Protestant religions; 25-30% of Latinos are Protestant currently. Although, the exposure also has many negative effects as well, leaving room for false cults and sects to spread.
I am also in the process of planning a hiking trip to a huge rainforest Southwest of San Jose. It starts at the top of a mountain where rivers that go to both the Pacific and Caribbean originate, and I would cover about 38 kilometers in two half days. The trails weave through rural villages and jungles, and are home to countless species of animals like monkeys, parrots, tropical frogs, over 100 species of birds including the sacred Mayan quetzal, and possibly even a jaguar or two (don't worry, that would be highly unlikely haha). The hike ends on a bus route that would take me to a famous beach, Parque Manuel Antonio, where I could get my tan on and rest after my strenuous excursion.
This weekend I'm headed north to the famous Arenal volcano, which actually was on the news yesterday for having a semi-large eruption. !
The place we're staying has several hot springs, naturally heated by the volcano, with swim-up bars and options for zip-lining and horseback riding. yeehaw!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
let the rain fall down
hola! Contrary to popular belief, I have not been kidnapped here- I indeed am still alive and a free man.
Sunday afternoon and the clouds are makin it rain out here! I have never seen it rain this hard before, I can barely hear myself think over the pitter-patter of the gigantic raindrops assailing the metal rooftop. The sky is dark and cloudy, giving no hint that it will subside any time soon. Good thing I got a run in this morning while it was still sunny and warm! For those of you who don't know, Costa Rica basically has two seasons: the rainy season (May-November), which is like winter; and the dry season (December-April), which is summer and temperatures tend to climb. In the current rainy season, or "winter", it is usually warm and sunny in the morning (often 80 already by the time I walk to school at 7:30 a.m.), and then the thunder clouds roll in around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. This is quite the opposite of what I'm used to in California, where many days consist of cloudy/foggy mornings of which the sun burns through by the afternoon. Because of this concept of weather patterns, I have been duped by the weather here many times, waking up to clear, sunny skies. I throw on some shorts, tank top and begin my sultry (the non-sexual meaning of the word, of course!) walk to school. Then, the weather decides to throw me a curveball and sends in swaths of clouds over the mountains to surround me on all sides, leaving me without proper rainwear and sans umbrella. Fool me once, shame on you weather. Fool me 12 times, shame on...me? Maybe one of these days I'll get it right.
Lets see, what have I been doing the last 5 days.
Wednesday: -learned how to make empanadas from a local Tica woman
-finished reading "Every Young Man, God's Man" (highly recommend it to all
dudes out there!)
Thursday: -studied por/para for about 3 hours, after which I wanted to break/destroy
something. If you weren't aware, "por" and "para" are both Spanish
equivalents of the English "for", but are used in different situations.
There may or may not be claw marks on my desk.
-Went for a lengthy run through the UCR biological preserve, joined in on
a yoga session that was goin on; not sure if that was kosher =]
Friday: -Went to downtown San Jose to walk around for a while
-experienced a 6.2 earthquake that hit in the afternoon while I was taking
a nap; shook my entire bed for a good 20 seconds! made all the
earthquakes I've felt at home seem like child's play
-finally figured out a way to watch Glee here (woop)
Saturday: -woke up early and got picked up to go to Cafe Britt, a famous Costa Rican
coffee plantation nestled in the hills surrounding San Jose. The place is
owned by a quirky, older American who has started the business 25 years
ago as a way to keep decadent Costa Rican coffee in the country, not
exported like most of it is. Tour was awesome- I learned a lot about the
coffee-making process and the sustainability practices being used.
Also, I got to taste some outstanding coffee-definitely the best I have
ever had before. I'm afraid
I will become a coffee snob now, refusing to drink potty water coffee
because I've been tasted the sensational nectar they serve here. Its ok,
I cleaned out the gift shop before I left and intend to bring home 8 bags
of fresh coffee =D Got back from the tour around 4 in the afternoon, and
walked around downtown for a while, buying a fresh fruit smoothie from
Fruitilandia to rehydrate myself after drinking the equivalent of about 7
cups of coffee. Came back and watched 2012, an entertaining movie at
best. Went out with host brother Leo and his friends for his birthday,
then came back for pizza and Spanish karaoke afterwards. bomb!
Well that was an exhausting list of my activities of late-time for some homework! Rain is still pounding away, and an occasional thunder boom rattles the house. I would dare say it has rained 2-3 inches in the last hour and a half. Hopefully I can upload some pictures from Cafe Britt sometime soon.
gonna make a cup of organic, shade-grown coffee in my new french press :D
doie doie~!
Sunday afternoon and the clouds are makin it rain out here! I have never seen it rain this hard before, I can barely hear myself think over the pitter-patter of the gigantic raindrops assailing the metal rooftop. The sky is dark and cloudy, giving no hint that it will subside any time soon. Good thing I got a run in this morning while it was still sunny and warm! For those of you who don't know, Costa Rica basically has two seasons: the rainy season (May-November), which is like winter; and the dry season (December-April), which is summer and temperatures tend to climb. In the current rainy season, or "winter", it is usually warm and sunny in the morning (often 80 already by the time I walk to school at 7:30 a.m.), and then the thunder clouds roll in around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. This is quite the opposite of what I'm used to in California, where many days consist of cloudy/foggy mornings of which the sun burns through by the afternoon. Because of this concept of weather patterns, I have been duped by the weather here many times, waking up to clear, sunny skies. I throw on some shorts, tank top and begin my sultry (the non-sexual meaning of the word, of course!) walk to school. Then, the weather decides to throw me a curveball and sends in swaths of clouds over the mountains to surround me on all sides, leaving me without proper rainwear and sans umbrella. Fool me once, shame on you weather. Fool me 12 times, shame on...me? Maybe one of these days I'll get it right.
Lets see, what have I been doing the last 5 days.
Wednesday: -learned how to make empanadas from a local Tica woman
-finished reading "Every Young Man, God's Man" (highly recommend it to all
dudes out there!)
Thursday: -studied por/para for about 3 hours, after which I wanted to break/destroy
something. If you weren't aware, "por" and "para" are both Spanish
equivalents of the English "for", but are used in different situations.
There may or may not be claw marks on my desk.
-Went for a lengthy run through the UCR biological preserve, joined in on
a yoga session that was goin on; not sure if that was kosher =]
Friday: -Went to downtown San Jose to walk around for a while
-experienced a 6.2 earthquake that hit in the afternoon while I was taking
a nap; shook my entire bed for a good 20 seconds! made all the
earthquakes I've felt at home seem like child's play
-finally figured out a way to watch Glee here (woop)
Saturday: -woke up early and got picked up to go to Cafe Britt, a famous Costa Rican
coffee plantation nestled in the hills surrounding San Jose. The place is
owned by a quirky, older American who has started the business 25 years
ago as a way to keep decadent Costa Rican coffee in the country, not
exported like most of it is. Tour was awesome- I learned a lot about the
coffee-making process and the sustainability practices being used.
Also, I got to taste some outstanding coffee-definitely the best I have
ever had before. I'm afraid
I will become a coffee snob now, refusing to drink potty water coffee
because I've been tasted the sensational nectar they serve here. Its ok,
I cleaned out the gift shop before I left and intend to bring home 8 bags
of fresh coffee =D Got back from the tour around 4 in the afternoon, and
walked around downtown for a while, buying a fresh fruit smoothie from
Fruitilandia to rehydrate myself after drinking the equivalent of about 7
cups of coffee. Came back and watched 2012, an entertaining movie at
best. Went out with host brother Leo and his friends for his birthday,
then came back for pizza and Spanish karaoke afterwards. bomb!
Well that was an exhausting list of my activities of late-time for some homework! Rain is still pounding away, and an occasional thunder boom rattles the house. I would dare say it has rained 2-3 inches in the last hour and a half. Hopefully I can upload some pictures from Cafe Britt sometime soon.
gonna make a cup of organic, shade-grown coffee in my new french press :D
doie doie~!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Mango + ice cream = (my)ce cream
I just want to quickly describe the ambiance going on right now; a little five senses checklist. I see the city lights of San José dotting the lush hills out of my bedroom window to the left. I hear my ticapadre Berto trying to sing along to Simon & Garfunkel (he's obsessed with 70's and 80's music from the U.S.) combined with an occasional neighing of a horse (my ticamadre just discovered Farmville, an internet game where you harvest crops from the looks of it??). I feel my laptop burning my lap. Seriously, the name laptop is so deceiving- it should be more like "conveniently fold-able computer that will singe your mid-section" I smell my Old Spice Fiji deodorant, which tantalizes my olfactory receptors. Also, my room just has a humid musk about it. Finally, I taste the creamy mango ice cream I got at Helados POPS, the best ice cream in Costa Rica. Not really, actually, but I wish I still tasted it. Actually my mouth tastes like a blend of the ceviche (raw fish "cooked" in lemon juice acid, served with peppers and celery) and the Altoid I ate a few minutes ago. snarf!
Today the group from New York came. It was a clear, hot and humid day and I think I literally think my pores closed up for the day a few minutes ago (seems to be a common theme, ya?) After class we traveled around the city for a while, seeing most of the main attractions the downtown has to offer. If you ask me, the group from New York did nothing to try to blend in- their habit of taking a picture of everything they saw was rather conspicuous, and ill-advised by the natives (its faux-pas for tourists to flash their "things" in public; its pretty much a free invitation for thieves to relieve you of your belongings) Had my double cone of guanabana-flavored ice and mango ice cream, which gave me another what I like to call "Ratatouille moment" (named after the movie...basically when you eat something so delicious you close your eyes and music starts playing in your head. some cultures know it as "euphoria")
Gotta finish my homework quick and then I can get back to Robinson Crusoe. great book! Also making reservations to visit a world-famous coffee plantation this weekend w00t!
stay thirsty my friends!
Today the group from New York came. It was a clear, hot and humid day and I think I literally think my pores closed up for the day a few minutes ago (seems to be a common theme, ya?) After class we traveled around the city for a while, seeing most of the main attractions the downtown has to offer. If you ask me, the group from New York did nothing to try to blend in- their habit of taking a picture of everything they saw was rather conspicuous, and ill-advised by the natives (its faux-pas for tourists to flash their "things" in public; its pretty much a free invitation for thieves to relieve you of your belongings) Had my double cone of guanabana-flavored ice and mango ice cream, which gave me another what I like to call "Ratatouille moment" (named after the movie...basically when you eat something so delicious you close your eyes and music starts playing in your head. some cultures know it as "euphoria")
Gotta finish my homework quick and then I can get back to Robinson Crusoe. great book! Also making reservations to visit a world-famous coffee plantation this weekend w00t!
stay thirsty my friends!
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