When people here in the house told me that my days would "fly by," I did not really believe them. The first week felt prettty long to me. But, sure enough, in less than 3 days I will be on my flight back home. Strange. Strange. Strange.
As I think I mentioned in my last post, maybe not, I spent this past weekend in La Fortuna. It is a touristy town about 45 minutes from Ciudad Quesada where one can find all things "adventure"- bungee jumping, water fall propelling, you name it. There were 5 of us this weekend and we opted for a little ziplining Saturday morning. Very fun! The only time I have ever done some sort of ziplining was at Madeira during like "outdoor ed" while in elementary school. This was just a few steps above that. There were 11 lines and they went over rivers and through tree branches. I am a wee fraid of heights, but after the first few it was nada. Did I mention, fun?
Sadly, the rest of the weekend did not exactly continue on the same path. We enjoyed each other's company, however, the dern rain would not go away! We spent most of the remaining time in our room aweing over the television...something I had not seen in the past 5 weeks.
This week I am making sure to get some pictures of life in the CQ and enjoy my last days. Today was my final day at Amureci, which is the women's group that sells products made from recycled paper. They are a cute group of women and I will miss them! Tomorrow I'm off to the community college for the last time and finally Friday I am going to the elementary school that I worked at for their end of the year party.
Saturday I will return home to the freezing cold that is Washington, D.C.! Although being warm in December seems somehow wrong, I know that from the moment I step of the plane I will be longing for the few sunny days I was able to enjoy on my beach weekends here. I am ready though to see Christmas lights and actually be able to understand the Christmas music playing in my car.
Cant wait to see everyone who will be in D.C. over the holidays! I will have a long layover in Atlanta Saturday afternoon and have my phone so feel free to keep me entertained! Happy Wednesday!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sick, Sun, LOTS of People!
Costa Rica Entry #3
I have been here a little over 3 weeks now and here is post 3....I would have to say I am still not very good at this.
Last week just flew on by. As did this weekend...sort of. Friday after lunch Juliana, Becca, Carin, and I set out for Jaco Beach which is about 3.5 hours from the CQ. Last week there were only 7 of us in the house and then 3 were leaving Saturday so there was only 4 of us left to travel. It was a fun group, nevertheless. Juliana is from Maine and also taking a gap year, she will start at Mount Holyoke next September. Becca is from Philly and here in Costa Rica for her Senior internship for Penn State. And Carin graduated from Villanova about 3 years ago and has been in public accounting but decided to take some time off and re-elvauate life goals etc. Eclectic little group we had.
So why the title of this blog? Well, Sick is what I was all of Friday night and Saturday. When I talked to my mom she called it Montezumas Revenge. I had never heard that before but that's what it is called when you get sick while traveling abroad. Not fun! Especially sad because it was SO beautiful on Saturday. And coming from the land of rain as I described in my last post, I was in dire need of some rays. Alas, by Sunday I was feeling better and better and by afternoon I was laying on the beach. So, not all was lost. I even got a little color! That is where the "Sun" came in. Although you may think that Costa Rica is all about conservation and a clean environment, I was shocked to learn from a bagel man that you really shouldn't swim in the water in Jaco. This is true because the town pretty much dumps its waste (human included) into the ocean. No Bueno!
After a fun/not so fun weekend, we arrived back in the CQ at around 8pm. This is where the "People" come in. We came home to a house filled with 17 new volunteers! Ahhh is all I can say! I felt bad because all I wanted to do was shower and sleep but that comes off a little rude when there are 17 new names to learn. Last week I had a room all to myself, now I have 3 new roomates. You think you dont have any privacy in college, mis amigos, come to the CCS house this week.
Okay, I am in Spanish class and should probably do some learning! I miss everyone TONS and want to know about your lives. Keep me posted!
I have been here a little over 3 weeks now and here is post 3....I would have to say I am still not very good at this.
Last week just flew on by. As did this weekend...sort of. Friday after lunch Juliana, Becca, Carin, and I set out for Jaco Beach which is about 3.5 hours from the CQ. Last week there were only 7 of us in the house and then 3 were leaving Saturday so there was only 4 of us left to travel. It was a fun group, nevertheless. Juliana is from Maine and also taking a gap year, she will start at Mount Holyoke next September. Becca is from Philly and here in Costa Rica for her Senior internship for Penn State. And Carin graduated from Villanova about 3 years ago and has been in public accounting but decided to take some time off and re-elvauate life goals etc. Eclectic little group we had.
So why the title of this blog? Well, Sick is what I was all of Friday night and Saturday. When I talked to my mom she called it Montezumas Revenge. I had never heard that before but that's what it is called when you get sick while traveling abroad. Not fun! Especially sad because it was SO beautiful on Saturday. And coming from the land of rain as I described in my last post, I was in dire need of some rays. Alas, by Sunday I was feeling better and better and by afternoon I was laying on the beach. So, not all was lost. I even got a little color! That is where the "Sun" came in. Although you may think that Costa Rica is all about conservation and a clean environment, I was shocked to learn from a bagel man that you really shouldn't swim in the water in Jaco. This is true because the town pretty much dumps its waste (human included) into the ocean. No Bueno!
After a fun/not so fun weekend, we arrived back in the CQ at around 8pm. This is where the "People" come in. We came home to a house filled with 17 new volunteers! Ahhh is all I can say! I felt bad because all I wanted to do was shower and sleep but that comes off a little rude when there are 17 new names to learn. Last week I had a room all to myself, now I have 3 new roomates. You think you dont have any privacy in college, mis amigos, come to the CCS house this week.
Okay, I am in Spanish class and should probably do some learning! I miss everyone TONS and want to know about your lives. Keep me posted!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Rain Rain Go AWAY!
As I have said before, I am really bad at keeping a blog. But I feel like that is okay because there are probably about 3 people maybe less who will read this!
So, COSTA RICA! Well let me just say that it is not the sunny bright place you all may be imagining. It has been raining, non stop, since I arrived 3 weeks ago. One more time- NON STOP! Luckily, on the weekend I am able to get out of Ciudad Quesada (the "CQ") where our house is (and the rain) and go to the beach! Although the beach is not always sunny, we usually get at least one day of sun. This weekend we are off to Jako which is supposedly a nice beach town where the sun likes to shine bright!
So what is a typical week day look like in the CQ? We have breakfast between 7 and 7:45 at which point we are yelled at by Greivin (volunteer coordinator) to get in the van. Then off we go to our different placements. I have been splitting my time between an elementary school, a community college, and a women's group which recycles paper to make books, cards, bookmarks, etc. The women's group is called Amureci and I have really enjoyed my time there. Working at the school has been good as well but sadly classes are basically over because it is not their summer break. After placement we come back and wait an awful 30 minutes until almuerzo. It can be touch and go sometimes haha. After lunch we have field trips or spanish classes or just hang out. On Thanksgiving I went on a really sweet chocolate tour where we got to see how chocolate is made. Chocolate grows on trees! And tastes very fruity when picked just off a tree, if you didnt know that already. Crazy stuff. Dinner is at 6:30 and our day is over!
Hope everyone had an amaaazing Thankgiving! Eat some pumpkin pie for me?
So, COSTA RICA! Well let me just say that it is not the sunny bright place you all may be imagining. It has been raining, non stop, since I arrived 3 weeks ago. One more time- NON STOP! Luckily, on the weekend I am able to get out of Ciudad Quesada (the "CQ") where our house is (and the rain) and go to the beach! Although the beach is not always sunny, we usually get at least one day of sun. This weekend we are off to Jako which is supposedly a nice beach town where the sun likes to shine bright!
So what is a typical week day look like in the CQ? We have breakfast between 7 and 7:45 at which point we are yelled at by Greivin (volunteer coordinator) to get in the van. Then off we go to our different placements. I have been splitting my time between an elementary school, a community college, and a women's group which recycles paper to make books, cards, bookmarks, etc. The women's group is called Amureci and I have really enjoyed my time there. Working at the school has been good as well but sadly classes are basically over because it is not their summer break. After placement we come back and wait an awful 30 minutes until almuerzo. It can be touch and go sometimes haha. After lunch we have field trips or spanish classes or just hang out. On Thanksgiving I went on a really sweet chocolate tour where we got to see how chocolate is made. Chocolate grows on trees! And tastes very fruity when picked just off a tree, if you didnt know that already. Crazy stuff. Dinner is at 6:30 and our day is over!
Hope everyone had an amaaazing Thankgiving! Eat some pumpkin pie for me?
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