Message for Exchangers

I said I would try to update my blog about once a week, but this week I don't have much to say. Last weekend I had a great time with others from the US in Jaco, although I am now suffering from some pretty bad burns. (I swear I used a lot of sunscreen) so, I will write a post with a little advice about exchanges.

Exchangers in General:

• No matter how much you don't believe it, time slips away from you in the blink of an eye.
• Be prepared to spend a lot of money. And by a lot..I mean a lot!
• When you are in your host country, do anything you can to observe how your host culture is. Observe what is important to them, observe their general way of life. You can learn a lot from any person you meet, and chances are, ideas in your host country will be different than yours.
• No matter what, it will be hard. But that's what makes it worth it. You know that you aren't just on a vacation whether you are sitting on the beach everyday, or living in a country that doesn't have the ability to flush toilet paper down the toilet. (Both of these are true to Costa Rica..at least the toilet paper part)
• Travel and experience your host country as much as possible. Chances are, each place will be a little different.
• Even though you will be on a budget, try to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. 

Exchangers in Costa Rica:

• Don't expect to be placed in an extremely hot climate! Although it's possible, there are also parts of Costa Rica that get pretty cold at times.
• Take in, and live the expression Pura Vida.
• Ticos are very laid back and generally spend their free time with the family.
• Bus rides are a workout if you don't want to hit the person sitting next to you. (At least mine from my house to the center is extremely bumpy and a little scary at times since we live on a pretty steep hill)
• I'm still not sure if the drivers here are really talented, or just really lucky. Everyone drives crazy, but I have yet to see a car accident (except a motorcycle accident)
• Ticos are generally protective of their kids, especially with the girls. If you are placed in a traditional family unfamiliar with different cultures, it's likely you won't be able to travel very much with your friends or go to the beach by yourselves.
• Ticos are very touchy. It's hard to tell who are couples, and who are just friends! It's normal to be sitting in class and have someone start playing with your hair, even if you don't know the person.
• I've found that people either really like to talk to you because you are from the US, or they don't want to talk to you because you're from the US. We don't exactly come with the best reputation.
• Ticos are generally really nice, but in my time here, it has become appparent that when you meet someone, they are extremely welcoming, but secretly judging you inside. I don't mean this in a bad way, they just notice the small things very easily!
• They also love to gossip and will believe anything you tell them!
• The guys are openly express their feelings to you while you are walking down the street. It's just something to get used to and it's best not to respond to it.
• Dancing is BIG here. And VERY different from the US!
• Taxi drivers have become my new favorite people to talk too! I have been lucky to normally get funny ones and it's a great way to practice my spanish! haha although it isn't as fun when you get one who tries to rip you off, which is pretty common as well.
• Religion is a big part of the culture. Most people are catholic, and religion is not something that is separated from public schools and meetings that I have with the rest of Naranjo.

So, I think I will stop there for now. If I think of more, I will add to it! But right now I feel like this is a good start! Tomorrow I'm off to a supposedly gorgeous beach called Punta Leona with the rest of the kids leaving in January, so I'm excited for that even though it means I am truly leaving soon!

I will be sure to update after that and before I leave for Panama with AFS!!

Until then, hasta luego! (see you later!)

Tieta

So Little Time

So, I now have about 7 and a half weeks left in Costa Rica. My host dad was explaining to me that I am now going through the stage of my exchange where I want to do everything and go everywhere I can because I can feel my time here slipping away. I would definitely agree with this as I look back on the last few weeks! Going on trips over the weekends with friends, going on AFS trips, signing up for more AFS trips, and planning more trips with friends to go on. I am extremely lucky to have a host family that understands this and is willing to help me with anything I might want or need! I am also very excited for this upcoming month because I have so much planned! I am going to spend a weekend in Jaco with friends from the US for Thanksgiving, my sisters and I are going to an amusement park the 3rd of December, my host dad said he would take me fishing for 3 days straight on an island that doesn't have fresh water or food(we would bring food of course), we are going on a trip to a beach for 3 days with cousins and aunts and uncles, we have christmas(that should be interesting without snow and a fire to keep us warm), there is a celebration in San Jose for Dia de la Luz, and im going to panama for about a week!! Also somewhere in there, I am hoping to fit in going to Monte Verde with friends! So, long story short, I would agree I have hit this stage of wanting to go everywhere and do everything.

A few days ago my host sisters, my host dad and I went trekking through coffee fields and cabbage fields in search of I don't even know what. My family doesn't like to stay on the path, so that's why we ended up going through various fields, eating cabbage along the way, picking oranges, and me learning more about how coffee is made! I also had the pleasure of almost stepping on an orange and black hairy spider about the size of my hand.

On Tuesday I was supposed to go coffee picking with my family, but we couldn't find someone who had a basket to lend us for me to use. My host sisters say it's awful because there are spiders and mosquitos everywhere, it's a lot of walking, it's really hot, and your hair always gets caught on the branches..but of course I insisted I go just for the experience. (and you get paid about 4 dollars for a basket full of coffee beans. A basket is about as big as if you were to put your arms in a circle with your fingertips almost touching, but not quite.) Yeah, so it's not a lot of money..but I've become a lot more appreciative for every cent that I have!  It's okay, one day we will find a basket for me to use and I will go coffee picking!

Monday me, my sisters, and kids from the neighborhood all went to the soccer field near our house and played baseball! Even though it was far from playing the actual sport on an actual field and with a plastic blow-up ball and a tin tube for a bat, it most definitely made me think of home! We played into the night and sat on the field and ate oranges when everyone was tired. Around 7(it's pitch dark by then) we started walking back to our houses, all laughing and joking around.. and I had a moment. A moment where I realized once again that this has become my life, and I couldn't be more happy to say that. Being an exchange student, I have gone through a fair amount of ups and downs, and think I will be happy to return to the US in January. Then, I have a moment like this and think I could easily stay for a year, or even for a lifetime. Pura Vida.

Tieta Keetle

Once again, busy weekend!

La Cena
So last Friday I went to a celebration for one of my host sisters' and her graduating class. I believe it was in Grecia, a town near us and surprisingly, it was very nicely decorated and set up. We left around 4 30 and got home around 2 in the morning. There were a lot of things that surprised me about this celebration. The fact that many parents were serving their kids a little alcohol from the bottles that were passed out to each table, the extent of dressing up that people went to, the way people danced in front of their teachers and parents, the people that showed up in ridiculous costumes, and the surprise maryachi band. (I have no idea how to spell maryachi.) Anyways, it was actually really fun and I'm glad my sister invited me to come! It was great to see her friends again! I have found that it is a lot more fun hanging out with kids a little bit older than you here, since the kids in my class usually don't do things out of school and when they do, it's to study.

Trip With Ryan And Raina
The next morning I woke up at 5 to start making my way to San Jose to meet up with Ryan and Raina(two friends from the US). We went to Volcano Poas which was absolutely gorgeous, and even provided a little excerise which is much needed for almost all of the exchange students! When we got there, we bought a few different kinds of fruit that were extremely cheap and I decided to buy an apple pie which turned out to be absolutely amazing! (I had been missing it since I know that currently all my friends and family are enjoying it since it's apple season) So after the volcano, we went to Puntarenes(a different place in Costa Rica) to spend the night at a cheap hostel and go to Doña Ana the next morning. Doña Ana is a beach that is very popular with tourists because of the monkeys that love to hang out in the trees and come down to eat your food. Honesly, that was the coolest part of our trip for me. Since we were unable to find bananas, we used my fruit loops from my dinner the night before and I'm pretty positive they liked those better than the bananas that other tourists were giving them! The beach there was absolutely gorgeous, and of course the water was the perfect temperature to make you want to stay the entire day in the water. Unfortuantely, we all had to get back to our families and I had another birthday party to go to!

Feliz Cumple, Leon!
After returning from my trip, I immediately started getting ready to go to an exchange student's house for his 17th birthday with the rest of the Naranjo Commitee. It was nice to see everyone, but once again I hung out with the older ticos because all of the exchange students were speaking in German. There were a couple that would sometimes try to translate things for me into english or talk to me in english, but I told them that I understand that sometimes it's nice to speak in your own language. So, that night I became closer with some of the locals who were all about 18 and 19 years old which was fun!

I have about 9 weeks left in Costa Rica.....and I almost cried when I recieved my flight itenerary in my e-mail. There is still so much I want to do, and I look forward to trying to cram it all in once school is over and before I leave for the US.

I hope everything is going well, and I will try to keep up on my posts better so that I don't have to make two in one day and barely go into detail!

 at tortuguero after picking up trash with some kids from the US and a german!

 at Leons house for his birthday!

 Feeding a monkey at Doña Ana!

 Me, Ivannia and my host parents before the dinner!

 This is what I mean by people being dressed up in costumes I didn't understand!

 Going to the Volcano!

At the Volcano!

 It was gorgeous!

 Sofia's birthday!


Okay, I'm finished updating now. I really hope everything is well with everyone reading this!

Pura Vida!

Tieta

Catching Up

First I would like to say, sorry for not blogging in a while! Now, I have a lot to say from the past few weeks.. I think I will probably split ip up into two posts!

"No Soy Una Gringa"
The beginning of this blog post is going to be something about the term "gringa". Most poeple get annoyed by this term, but for me it has become second nature to respond to the label gringa. My host family sometimes calls me gringa, my friends at school sometimes call me gringa, and of course basically everyone I walk by on the street calls me gringa. I don't take it personally, they are just responding to my obvious nationality. Earlier this week, I was at my host cousin's house and my host uncle told me I no longer was a gringa to him. Even though I don't mind being called that, it felt good to hear him say that in 3 and a half months I have slowly been picking up habits within the tico culture. Therefore, "no soy una gringa" means I am not a gringa. Although I always expect to hear that word thrown at me on the street!

Feliz Cumple, Sofia!
A few weekends ago, we celebrated one of my host sister's 21st birthday. We had a lot of family over and had a "barbeque." Obviously, the barbeque was not something I was used to, although it was still fun! I helped cook the meat while people socialized, chatted, and danced on our "porch." The party lasted until about 11 at night, but even then, there were still people hanging out around our house. Most of the party consisted of people talking all at once and arguing about how we will celebrate Christmas this year and trying to agree on what to do for the yearly trip to the beach for 3 days. Everyone was talking at once and it was incredibly dysfunctional; but I understood the majority of what people were saying!

Tortuguero
A couple weekends ago I went on another trip with AFS. We went to a place called Tortuguero with about 30 other exchange students. The hostel was gorgeous and made you feel as if you were in the middle of the jungle(although we actually kind of were). We had hot showers, comfy beds, great food, and beautiful sights. When we first arrived, we went straight for the turtle shaped pool, even though it was raining and the pool wasn't heated. Honestly, I think the rain was what made it fun! We also went to the beach to pick up trash, which gave us time to enjoy the sun since most of the weekend it was constantly raining. After dinner we once again made our way to the pool until it was closed. The next day, bright and early, we wne ton a boat ride inside canals to look for different animals, birds, and insects. Once again it was raining, but we were still able to see a lot of monkeys and different types of birds and iguanas. When we got back to the hostel, we saw a sloth about two feet from us in a tree! There were also howler monkeys that apparently aroused people at about three in the morning, but I had been too exhausted to let that affect my sleep. Anyways, later that day, after lunch, I went kayaking with some friends on a river filled with crocodiles and cows! Some people were able to get masages at the hostel, but unfortunately I am on a tight budget right now, and still trying to figure out ways to go on two more trips with AFS to Nicaragua and Panama!

So that is enough for this post, in my next one I will talk about my most recent weekend! Everything is going great here!

Tieta