Snow In Costa Rica..Tico Style

Last weekend I went to a parade in San Jose! There were more people there that I had ever seen in my life. The name of the parade translates to Festivals of the Lights..or Lights Festivals. I went with my sisters and a friend, hung out with them for a while, and before the parade started, a few friends and I went to find more exchange students. On our way to meet up with another friend from the US, we had to walk and push our way through thousands of people. When we finally got to a street that didn't have as many people, it became apparent how obvious it was that we were from the United States. People had bags filled with tiny circle papers about the size of snow that they would throw at people. It's a little hard to explain without it sounding really childish..although I guess it kind of was! Literally all of the center of San Jose looked like it had a blanket of snow on the ground, and the people were covered in the little pieces of paper as well. The minute we stepped on the street, we became targets for getting this "snow" thrown at us. We would just be walking, minding our own business, then about ten people would thrown the pieces of paper in our faces and yell "Gringos!". By the time we made it to our friend, we were absolutely covered. We had papers in our hair, mouths, and even in our eyes. Although, we soon decided to join the fun. It was definitely a different experience seeing this, but it turned out to be entertaining..even though I was still picking the papers out of my hair the next day.

 two of my host sisters (Sofia&Faby)

 My friends and I after accepting the fact that we were targets, and taking a picture to remember that interesting night.

The next day, my friends and I went to a concert in Cartago, but unfortunately didn't get to enjoy a lot of it. One of my friends got sick right before, so we only stayed for a little then went to my other friends house to stay the night. It's really interesting seeing where other exchange students live and how their life differs from mine, even though we are in the same, small country.

Sorry this is such a short post, It is just a quick update to keep people interested! I have less than 4 weeks left, so I am planning on spending it with my host family, and getting some last minute travel plans to work! Until next week,

Pura Vida.

Tieta

Exploring Panama

Thursday afternoon I left for San Jose to meet with other exchangers before we left for Panama. We met around 6 so that we wouldn't be in the bus stations when it was dark. For dinner, I had my first bagel since I left South Burlington, Vermont! We walked around the mall for a bit, and by 10:00 pm, we were all set to load up the buses and head to the border. We got to the border very early in the morning, and had to wait about 4 hours for them to open. It was then another long wait for us to get through customs and paperwork! It ended up taking us 20 hours from when we left San Jose to get to our hotel in Panama. The hotel wasn't the nicest I've been in, but my friends and I quickly found the roof and the gorgeous view it gave of Panama City at night..which made up for that!
The first thing I noticed about Panama was the obvious difference between the lower class and higher class. Driving through Panama City, there would be run-down houses clustered together on dirt roads-with skyscrapers and nice stores literally 2 feet behind them.
The first full day we had there was Saturday. That day, we went to an open "lake" where we were greeted by an indigenous tribe in nothing but cloth and standing in long canoes. We put on our life jackets, got on the boats, and we were taken through a mini canal leading to a beautiful waterfall. After swimming for a bit, they took us to their "town". We ate fish with our hands that still had the tail on it, and plantains for lunch. The food was delicious, and it was interesting to see their school, town hall, houses, and basketball court/soccer field all be literally 5 feet from eachother. We had a man who lived there explain how life was 50 years ago, and he compared that life to how they are living now. To our surprise, their life is much more advanced in these days than it was 50 years ago! He also did a demonstration on how they used to tell if women were virgins or not. I don't know if I can fully explain it, but the main idea is this: The girl is kneeling on a rug, and they take something like a necklace and put it over her head and around her neck. They then put a piece of  the necklace in her mouth, and if something rises, that means she isn't a virgin. I was a bit confused on how that actually works, but he did a demonstration on one of the exchange students, and I guess the result of it turned out to be true! It was interesting to say the least, seeing that! We then went swimming in the river to wash off, and got back in the boats to go to the buses. This first day was my favorite, although my friends and I felt a little weird about it. We sometimes got the feeling that it was as if we were in a zoo or a museum. The way people took pictures of the houses and school was weird when you think about how it is their daily life, yet a tourist attraction as well. That night we were taken to a MASSIVE mall in Panama City to eat dinner and look around.
The next day, we went to the Panama Canal which was cool! We walked around for a few hours, then watched a boat go through it. Later, we went to a different mall for the rest of the day. (Things are really cheap in Panama, so a lot of people wanted to go to the malls) At night, they took us to a point that was filled with yahts bigger than you could ever imagine, and fancy resteraunts. It was gorgeous, although there wasn't much to do and everything was very expensive. It was also one more reminder of the differences between how the rick people live compared to the people strugging to make a living.
On Monday, we were taken to a mini ciry that made us feel like we were in Italy. It had been built by an italian, so that explains why we felt that way. That was also really cool, although it was really hot and we didn't feel like we were in Panama anymore! Then, we went to the same mall as the first one. My friends and I didn't feel like walking around again, so about 5 of us went to see a movie. That night, we set out for the border once again. This time the drive was only 18 hours..which was an improvement. It's almost impossible for me to sleep on buses, so I was extremely tired when I finally returned to my host family. Overall, it was a great trip and I now have more stamps in my passport!

Just a side note: I have dreams in spanish now! Apparently I was talking in my sleep the other night and my host sister overheard me saying things in spanish!

 This was what awaited us when we first got off the buses

 The waterfall that we swam in!

 Welcoming us into their homes

 The river we later went swimming in

 Testing to see if she is a virgin

 Our lunch!

 Panama Canal

 A boat coming into the Panama Canal

 Panama City in the background!

 In the city built by an Italian

Some houses were a little run-down..



I hope everything is going well with my readers. I will be back in the United States in less than 4 weeks!

Tieta

End Of Stay Orientation&Coffee Picking

The Rich Life of Costa Rica
Last weekend I had my end of the stay orientation. We stayed the night in San Jose after doing things to prepare us for the changes we will experience at home, then they took us to a GORGEOUS hotel at a beach called Punta Leona. The hotel was more of a residency than anything. The rooms looked like apartments, and most people who stay there rent golf carts and 4-wheelers to get around. The beach was private, with warm water, a gorgeous view, and constant music playing from the bar right next to the beach. There were two pools, a disco, a mini golf course, and a soccer field all included in the hotel. Although, the best part..was the food. Unlimited delicious food and deserts with every meal! It is very safe to say that over half of the exchangers could barely walk after the meals. (I would say lots of us have been deprived of quality eating depending if your host family has money or not..and even then, everyone eats beans and rice at every meal everyday.. so it's good to get a break from that.) When I see hotels like this, and the tourists who go there, it just makes me glad that I am here on an exchange. People who stay in Punta Leona aren't seeing the same country that I see everyday. I believe that Costa Rica is absolutely gorgeous, but in a different way than what tourists would think. I see the struggles that my family goes through to buy a carton of milk, while rich tourists see the beautiful beaches while getting waited on hand and foot. For the past two days, I have experienced what it is really like to try and earn money if you aren't married to someone with a steady job.

Hay Muchas Nicas...Y Nosotros
(There are lots of Nicaraguans...and us.)
Tuesday morning two of my host sisters and I woke up at 5 in the morning to pick coffee in the coffee fields near by. We loaded up on bug spray, met up with neighbors, hiked up to the coffee fields, and my host sisters explained to me "the rules of coffee picking." The biggest rule is to not pick the green ones. When your basket is filled, empty it into a sack and keep picking. When everyone has finished their row of coffee, we begin to pick up the beans that fell off onto the ground.
So, I got started and shared a row with my sister since it was my first time. To say the least, I was the slowest out of everyone. Although by the end of the day, they said I picked a fair amount for my first time! After picking our first row, we crawled on the ground going over our tracks to pick up every single coffee bean that fell. For the record, the rows are extremely long! After we finished that, we made our way to a different part of the field and began to eat lunch. We ate with our filthy hands, sitting in the middle of the field. After about 20 minutes of eating and taking a break, we started picking once again. This time I was a bit faster and was able to finish my part of the row and begin to help others finish theirs, which got me more coffee! We stopped for a break to actually drink some coffe and eat some bread, then once again continued picking. After about 11 hours straight of picking, I earned myself 3000 colones (6 dollars). After that day, I was sore, tired, and had spider bites and splinters all in my hands..and had to go to bed early because yesterday we woke up at 4:30 to head out at 5 in the morning. Yesterday we went to a different part of the coffee fields and had the pleasure of them all being wet because of a little rain we had gotten in the middle of the night. Even though this made us all wet since you are constantly on the ground as to not miss a branch of coffee beans and always brushing up against the plants, it helped keep our hands just a little bit cleaner! We ate lunch after finishing our rows(I had my own this time) and then began to retrace our steps in the field to pick up the fallen coffee beans.(That is my least favorite part since you end up getting very close to insects and spiders where you're better off not knowing they exist. Anyways, we ended early that day and got to come home around 1 which was nice! So, in 9 hours of picking coffee, I earned myself 3 dollars. (I was feeling lazy yesterday and our rows unfortunately didn't have much coffee in them.)
The reason why my title to this part of the post is "Hay muchas nicas..y nosostros" is because that was what one of my sisters told me as we were walking up the first day. In this part of the year there are Nicaraguans everywhere in Naranjo because of the coffee. Nicaraguans often work for less money than Costa Ricans, and therefore take a lot of jobs from the Costa Ricans. For this reason, Costa Ricans generally don't like Nicaraguans and always make fun of their accent. Although in the coffee fields, we were working side by side with the Nicaraguans. And there were definitely a lot more of them in the fields than Costa Ricans.
Although my pointer fingers are still swollen from picking, I am really happy I went with my host sisters, cousins, and neighbors. I think it is a good experience to have and makes me appreciate the whole minimun wage thing that we have in the United States!

 this earns you about 2 dollars!

 coffee beans!

Loli, A family friend of ours who came with us!

So, I am off to Panama later today. I will take lots of pictures and try to write a detailed blog post about it in a couple weeks! :)

Pura Vida.

Tieta

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