from Liberia to Heredia and possibly back again...

So I’m so glad I don’t have to write this blog in Spanish because I just have so much to say! So I went out for the first time to a bar and a discoteca with other members of my group on Thursday and we realized that it was okay to speak English. Which was an important thing in order to actually get to know each other better. And now we kind of speak Spanglish which is pretty perfect because I’m still practicing my Spanish by speaking it to everyone else but getting to know the people in my program on a much less superficial level. Everyone is seriously GREAT. I cannot tell you one person I don’t like!          Okay, so to begin, after going out on Thursday and dancing the night away and coming home wreaking of smoke because so many people smoked in the club and drenched in sweat I realized how much fun this semester is going to be and that homesickness is normal and it takes time to get used to anything this different. Talking to my dad also helped so much because he reminded me of what I’ve believed for a while, that Costa Rica contains a prime example of the lifestyle I wish most people had-laid back, not gluttonous, open, and close knit. And while the streets might not all be perfectly clean, the parks not all pristinely maintained, and the houses without dishwashers, all of those things are really not a big deal and are part of a less materialistic lifestyle.

            So Friday we had a fiesta with all of our Liberia host families. I had to help my abuela cook our assigned arroz con pollo which is ironic because I’m one of two people who doesn’t eat meat. But all I actually had to do was cut vegetables. The fiesta was actually really really fun. We all brought our dishes, and I went with Adrian and Adriana because my host mother, Iris, self described as “una mujer moderna” even though she’s 52, had to go to San Jose for work. The group of us IFSA kids donned colorful traditional garb and then attempted to perform the three Costa Rican dances we had learned, laughing at ourselves and crashing into each other the entire time. The music had to stop several times and start over once because we were so bad. But it was a lot of fun. We then got to eat and hang out.

There was a festival going on nearby with food and dancing and cows and other cool things, and I decided to go with my friend Abe and his host family. The only thing was I didn’t exactly think about that decision because I left my host brother and sister who are only fourteen to find a cab themselves, while neither of them have cell phones, and apparently neither of them had keys or money. And then I peaced. Their mom called and seemed kind of worried about that decision so I decided to go back to bring them home, but they had already left. So then I started worrying. Ten minutes later I was searching for a cab with Chatham pretty unsuccessfully while freaking out, walking in circles and continually repeating “I’m going to cry” because apparently the kids hadn’t gotten home yet. But everything ended up being okay. I felt so bad because I almost lost the kids after only knowing them a few days.

When I got home I apologized a million times, kept hugging them and telling them how happy I was, and then went out to the festival. It was so much fun! Abe’s host brother Mau and then his host cousin taught me how to salsa and meringue; they were so much fun and so sweet. Mau’s best friend thinks I’m the funniest thing ever; he literally just laughed at me constantly. Whenever I broke it down on the dance floor or tried to say anything in Spanish he just looked at me and cracked up. Mau says it’s because I’m really nice…for all of you who know me and my dancing and Spanish capabilities I’m sure you agree that isn’t it.

But seriously guys here are either slightly creepy on the dance floor and make you run away to one of your friends and insist he’s your boyfriend or they’re the most chivalrous people ever. They pull out your chair, pay for your cab, and greet you with a kiss on the cheek. That has never really happened to me before…well actually I won’t say never but not until recently in the US.

Saturday we woke up very early to go on an adventure. We went on a hike to Rincon de la Vieja National Park see all of these crazy trees and vents and thermal mud pools and a huge waterfall. It then started torrential down pouring during our hike and we had a slightly treacherous hike back and had to sit on the bus and go to lunch soaked. Oh, and did I mention that even though it was apparently mentioned approximately nine times in Spanish that we weren’t going back to our home base hotel that night where all of our luggage was I still thought we were and literally brought nothing with me other than the bathing suit, shirt, shorts, and rain jacket I was wearing, a Costa Rican guidebook, a towel and sunglasses.

So then we went to the hot springs where there were like five natural Jacuzzis of all different temperatures to soak in and a middle aged man with a garbage bag cape painted us with mud that is good for your skin. It was SO COOL and we stayed there for a super long time. Since I didn’t bring any change of clothes with me I put back on my damp hiking clothes with nothing under them since my bathing suit was wet. We proceeded to Hotel Ocotal which is right on the Coco beach in Guanacaste where we ate dinner and even though I had barely slept the past two nights I couldn’t resist going to the parties on the beach at night where we again danced the night away (me in those same super lovely I’m sure very smelly clothes). I managed to shower and borrow clothing to sleep in afterwards.

This morning we woke up before seven to realize that our hotel was right on the beach and one of the most beautiful places ever (familia, you need to stay at this hotel when you come!) Then we ate this awesome buffet breakfast and went out in this pirate ship called, creatively, La Perla Negra. The issue is it’s been storming all week, the boat is made of wood, I barely slept, and I get very motion sick. That boat literally rocked like the buccaneer. It was ridiculous and very difficult for me to get through with my breakfast in my stomach. When we got back we went swimming and ate some lunch, showered, and I put on those same really really dirty shorts, and got on the bus to head to Liberia to get our luggage. Once there I actually put on clean clothes then we took the bus to Heredia!

After 3.5 hours on a bus with Hello Kitty toilet paper in the bathroom we got here and were picked up by our host families. My house is beautiful, pretty big, and I have my very own room with a lovely closet and my own bathroom. Also, my family ate really delicious salad for dinner. And they eat almost completely vegetarian! So I’m not going to have a problem at all being almost completely vegan. The family is very sweet and friendly and welcoming, and my host sister is lovely. My host brother apparently works a lot, so I have yet to meet him. I sat with them to say grace which was pretty weird for me. Then the mother told me the rules of the house. I have to wash all of my dishes after using them, make my bed every day (that should be interesting…), tell her where I’m going at all times, never come home drunk, and only have friends over if she’s home and never have them in my room. I guess it’s all pretty reasonable, but it makes me pretty nervous because their daughter seems pretty perfect and the house is so pristine. I feel like I’m going to mess something up with my occasional lack of common sense…Okay well that was a long entry, and I am so unbelievably tired I don’t know how I’m functioning. But I’m super excited to be in Heredia; it’s pretty bustling and much more like an actual city than Liberia and really close to San Jose. I just wish I was closer to a beach! A few friends and I want to go back to Liberia to visit and go to the beach for a weekend when there’s nicer weather and meet up with some people from our host families and everything. We shall see! I really really love my room a lot and the fact that I’m unpacked and no longer living out of extremely disorganized suitcases.