Study Abroad "To Don'ts"

Read this article.

Then disregard absolutely everything it says. I can honestly say I disagree with every single point (except for it advising, in most cases, to not pursue serious relationships while abroad).

Main frustrations:

1. No host families? I have had an infinitely more meaningful experience with a host family than my friends who live in apartments. Plus, family dinners, church get-togethers and Cartago day trips have been so much more interesting than the luxury "to drink wine with a meal".

2. Emphasis on partying? I know that virtually anywhere someone goes to study abroad will have a lower drinking age than the U.S., and I'm not saying by any means that you should not experience the nightlife of the city in which you live, if that's your thing. I just think that by NOT being a bar hopper, I got to get up early and travel, build relationships with the same groups of people, stay healthy, and save money.

3. Don't pack peanut butter? Please. You can buy hygiene products anywhere in the world, but if you love peanut butter, bring some.

4. Don't go to class?! Maybe this is a joke I'm not understanding? If you want to stay a student at your home university, don't mess around with classes. Your grades count just as much abroad. And I learned way more about Spanish and intercultural interaction from my classes than any other part.

In summary, what the heck, study abroad article.

New friends

I can't believe I haven't told you about my friends in the GAP program yet!

A few months ago, I met a girl named Lauren outside of a certain place in Sabanilla (OK fine, Casa del Pie). She is also from Kansas (!) and here interning with a group of students learning about Spanish and the bible here in San José. We traded phone numbers and I didn't think much of it.

A few weeks later, they invited me to church. It was really inspired timing. I had just gotten really busy with school and was really missing my support system of my bibs girls and going to Heartland with my mom. Spanish church is neat, but when I'm working on language learning I'm just not using the same part of my brain as the wow-I-love-spending-time-with-God part. So when they told me that they had an English worship service for their program, it was just like, this is exactly what I need. So I went.

The rest is, if you can forgive the cliché, history — I have had just a wonderful time with this group. I play frisbee with them on Mondays, participate in a Thursday night small group (which was so wonderful to be included, since I know small groups aren't always so open to visitors), go to their house on Sunday nights for church and they even invited me hiking with them last Friday (and it was wonderful).

I feel like it's cheating since they're not Costa Rican, but one of the things I will most about Costa Rica is my time with the GAP kids. Every single one has been wonderful to me and I feel like I am able to come home in a really good place emotionally and spiritually because of their support. Beautiful hearts, every single one of them.

After hiking the mountain of the three crosses!

Questions

Sara told me about a hilarious interaction between her and Jorge, the newly-turned-three-year-old who always has a million questions. The conversation was in Spanish, so forgive me that it's not verbatim.

Jorge: Sara, why does Maggie come over here?
Sara: Because Maggie is a friend of Bailey's.
Jorge: Why are they friends?
Sara: Because they get along well.
Jorge: Why do they get along well?
Sara: Because they have the same tastes [meaning interests].
Jorge: Do they both like chocolate chip ice cream?
Sara: Sure, Jorge, they probably do.
Jorge: Do they have the same mom?
Sara: No, Jorge.
Jorge: Why not?
Sara: Because Bailey's mom lives in one place and Maggie's in another.
Jorge: What is Bailey's mom's name?
Sara: Jami.
Jorge: Why?
Sara: Because her parents named her that.
Jorge: Why did they name her that?
Sara: Because that's what they wanted to name her.
Jorge: Why?
Sara: I don't know, Jorge.
Jorge: What's Maggie's mom's name?
Sara: I don't know.
Jorge: Can we go ask her?

... and on it went. So inquisitive!

Art City Tour

Liz and I have mutually decided that, instead of spending our last two weeks spending money and time on buses and hostels, we would like to explore the cultural diversity of our city, San José.

I promise it's not a bad set-up for a joke! Sunday we went to a Christmas concert at the National Museum and today we went to some shops in Sabanilla and then on a free art tour, eloquently named Art City Tour. It was like the classy side of San José I never knew existed. We went to, among other places, two contemporary art museums, two design stores, a French art collective, and some kind of artisan co-op.  Some pictures can tell you better than I can. However, not pictured: me playing a videogame in which the US is sent to Costa Rica to fight the war on drugs, but instead marijuana plants become sentient and soldiers have to shoot them. In the moving art exhibit.

Elizapedia came with me, and a sweet old lady was in our group too.

Unrelated to much else, but this was the strangest sign I think I have seen, ever.

Golden plane raining bombs in teoréTICA gallery.

And finally, the favorite of the night: the caption says "Adonde la llevo, mi reina?" Unfortunately represents virtually all of my experiences with taxistas.

Don't think too much more of SJ, though, because I'm still not getting along with taxistas (ha) and I think doctors and motorcycles (?) are on strike. Some things never change.

Withdrawing

Today (Thanksgiving) was really kind of a sad day. I had a lot of school and the office was closed so I didn't get to see Isa or Zaida, and I got out of class so late I didn't get to see my family when I got home. I did, however, go to El Búho with Vero, Danielle and Maggie and get tasty vegan food for cafecito.

What's been on my mind this week is how dearly I miss my family, university, friends and life in the States. It's been totally new, the strength and the emotion of this, and it totally caught me off-guard. I have loved my time here. I have two free weeks to travel and play, starting today! But I would give anything to make it feasible to fly home tomorrow. What gives?


One of the ladies gave me the wisdom that my heart is just trying to prepare me to go home. That everyone else is feeling it too. Knowing that your time in a place is coming to an end, you start withdrawing from your life there in preparation for your life starting again somewhere else. I am doing awesome at this.





But really, today is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for being done with my finals as of twenty minutes ago and that I get to go home soon.

the Truman

Every year, 60 or 70 juniors in the United States are awarded Truman scholarships, which supply up to $30,000 for graduate study to the institution of their choice. They are awarded to students with a passion for creating social change in a specific area of need.

A couple of weeks ago I applied for KU´s nomination for the award, and I have a Skype interview tomorrow. I´m a lot more nervous than I normally am for these types of interviews and subsequently have had a lot about education policy on my mind (more than normal, I mean). I can´t pretend that I know all about the particular challenge of being a language educator -- my semester here has certainly proved, through my various volunteer work, that I don´t have it all figured out -- but the more I read, the more I see the need for people to want to care and think about it. Here´s what I´ll be telling the KU honor´s program tomorrow, about what I think I can change in this world if they give me a little bit of a jump start.

I see the need for a system-wide change in language education that will be implemented by people willing to work on an individual level. In the United States, English Language Learners (ELLs) are a group that has suffered from politics governing education policy rather than effective teaching methods. I believe that that the direct result of this is the widening gap of achievement between ELLs and other students — ELLs score between the tenth and twelfth percentile in standardized tests.

As part of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, all subgroups (including ELL students) are required to fulfill the goals Annual Yearly Progress (AYP). ELL students struggle with poorly adapted standardized tests, resource inequalities, lack of trained teachers, inadequate materials and bad or poorly designed facilities. Also, unfortunately, this group is defined by its deficiencies. Once a student has been declared proficient by achieving an arbitrary percentage on a language arts test, they are no longer part of the subgroup. On a macro level, these facts mean that schools in areas with high immigrant populations are doing markedly worse and schools are struggling to teach ELLs the bare minimum for the tests. On a micro level, we are failing each student that does not learn in a hurting system.

Because of increasing immigration, I believe the success of future generations and our nation as a whole lies in our ability to effectively educate all linguistic and cultural backgrounds to function effectively in an English-speaking society. This begins with effective ELL programs.

 I don´t care near as much abuot the money as the prestige, and I care almost as much about the KU nomination as the award itself. This is a huge passion of mine, now more than ever. I interview tomorrow at 4. Send good thoughts my way!


(Sources: Jost, Kenneth. “Bilingual Education vs. Language Immersion.” CQ Researcher 19.43 (2009): 129-50. CQ Rearcher. Congressional Quarterly Inc., 11 Dec. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2011.Crawford, James. No Child Left Behind: Misguided Approach to School Accountability for English Language Learners. Forum on Ideas to Improve the NCLB Accountability Provisions for Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners. Center of Education Policy, 14 Sept. 2004. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.)

"Shoes for tomorrow"?

TOMS shoes is very much a company after my own heart. I remember when I was 15 when Rachel told me about these shoes she'd heard about at church, that donated a pair to children in Africa. She bought a cute blue plaid pair she wore threadbare. I remember distinctly thinking they looked weird. By senior year, I had caught the I'm-gonna-change-the-world bug and bought my first pair — picnic plaid, and I wore them in my senior pictures. In college I heard Blake Mycoskie speak about how what he does isn't just philanthropy — it's an effective business model. It plays off of consumerism and people's simultaneous desire to make the world better for someone else. And it's worked. Clearly, sustainable global change won't come from buying a new pair of shoes — I'm not so naive — but I fully believe that if everyone fills their life with little meaningful actions like buying shoes from a socially responsible company, great things will happen. I have had four pairs now (and I'm sure I'll get more).

TL;DR: I love TOMS.

Imagine my surprise when I realized they were being sold here, in Costa Rica! And they costed less than in the states? I wasn't sure how that worked, but I got up early to go to Best Brands at the mall to check them out.

They were fake TOMS.

You are probably not surprised. I have fake Birkenstocks from here (that I do regret). However, my loyalty to the company and my belief in this mission made it so my heart was totally broken that Ticos might go buy Toms to support a cause and really just be overpaying for poorly made shoes that fund someone's illegitimate business. So, Costa Rica friends, be careful: those TOMS might not be what you think they are.

Here's the top 5 reasons how I knew:

1. TOMS has registered retailers. To sell TOMS and receive Toms, you have to sign up. There is only one in this dear country I live in: Guanacaste. An easy way to know if you are being sold TOMS that are legitimately straight from the company is to see if they are at a registered retailer.
   
2. International TOMS scams. In non-U.S. where real TOMS aren't as accessible, it's easy to pass of a pair as real to people who don't see real ones everyday. I was already wary.
   
3. Only some styles exist. For example, black with shimmy gold swirlies is not a design of TOMS — which means the ones I saw weren't either.
   
4. Shoddy design. The stitching was uneven, the sole wasn't glued into the shoe, the TOMS logo on the back of the shoe was crooked, and you could still see the glue oozing out from where the sole was glued onto the canvas body.
   
5. The TOMS flag. Filter results for pictures of people with their TOMS flags. Every pair comes with a cloth flag. These didn't.

I don't really like to soapbox much, but please, don't buy the fake TOMS! It will hurt my heart.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

Without Thanksgiving, the end of Halloween signals the jump into the next holiday: Christmas.

And let me tell you. We are in full Christmas mode here in Costa Rica. All of the Mas por Menos cashiers have Santa hats and there is a continuous "Deck the Halls" kind of background tunes playing.

What really got me, though, was in my aerobics class this week: We're standing outside preparing to do some sprints when a breeze comes. It's been rainy a lot (surprise!) but this morning was pretty sunny — maybe 70 degrees. Anyway, this breeze comes, and my teacher gets this huge grin on her face.

"Look girls! It's just like Christmas weather!"

And everyone coos appreciatively.

Welcome to Christmas in Central America, everyone.

Shoes, shoes, shoes.

I have the worst luck with shoes here. I have broken virtually every pair I've tried to use. Here's the problem: I walk and bus everywhere, in the rain, all day, on sidewalks that are gravel. It has torn up everything I own.

Because I daydream that I will show this blog to other students someday that are going to study in Costa Rica and they can be enlightened to all the things, I made a chart to explain my mistakes and successes with footwear.

Personal favorite part: the price to durability ratio, or more aptly, the degree of regret. Click to make it bigger.

Tricks and Treats

So Liz and I were buying Liz some (gorgeous!) boots in downtown SJ today when a middle-aged man approached to us.

"Hi, I'm so embarrassed to have to be asking two girls this, but I just have no where else to turn." Perfect English. He looked at us, pleading. "I'm an American. Can you spare a minute?"

Sure, we said. What's going on?

"Well, I just got here last night, and the taxi guy drove me to this hotel, Casa del Rey, that's like a casino. I don't do that stuff. I was walking and I got mugged. I lost everything — my laptop, passport, money. I don't have money or a place to stay. Look, here's my plane ticket to prove what I'm saying. I'm from Florida. Anthony, that's my name. It's even tattooed on my arm. Look, I don't know what to do. The embassy and the police just drove me around. I can't pick up a wire transfer until I get a new passport. I need your help. I'll send you free hams every Christmas if you can just help me."

My BS radar and my bleeding-heart-liberal radar (and my free-food radar, of course) were simultaneously activated, fogging my judgement. Naturally I referred to my backup: Grupo de Kansas, specifically Zaida.

"One second," I said. "I'm going to call someone who would know what to do." I told the Zaida the story on the phone.

"What do you think? How can we help?" I said. I avoided the word 'scam' in case he could hear me.

"I don't know, Bailey..." Zaida said. "I know you want to be nice, but this is a pretty common thing. Even for Americans to do. I wouldn't give him anything. If you're feeling nice we could call the embassy for him, but even then, I just don't know..."

"Have you called the OIJ? The embassy? The police?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I just... they just drove me around. They can't do anything."

While I finished talking to Zaida, he went back in and told Liz about his messy divorce and why he had come to Costa Rica in the first place (he was avoiding his divorce settlement). Zaida, always wise, finished telling me her opinion. And then there's me, standing uncomfortably outside the shoe store, while the man returned and started staring at me expectantly. I didn't know what to say.

Just then, Liz strides out of the store, eyes wide, phone in hand.

"Bailey. We've got to go. Maggie just called. She's lost in San Pedro and can't find the bus stop, and she's really sick..."

"Oh my gosh," I said, caught off guard. Maggie wasn't feeling great earlier. "Yeah. We've got to go."

"Look, I'm so sorry, sir," Liz said. "Here's my phone number. I really hope everything works out." And we half-jogged back toward the bus stop.

--

As you might have divined, now, Maggie was just fine. But Liz almost convinced me in her moment of fake panic (even though the chances of Maggie wandering San Pedro lost are about zero. She's one of the most level-headed people I know.) And, if you were still nervous, she didn't give him her phone number.

Time to debrief. ALLRIGHT, Mr. Ineedyourmoney. Here's what you did well and did not do well, regardless of whether or not your story was true:

Good ideas

Bad ideas

Specific details, like dropping the name of a legitimate sketchy place I have seen before (Hotel del Rey) A detailed story about getting mugged, which caused me to sympathize personally, although he probably didn't realize it Showing a tattoo of his name that matches the name of the plane tickets he is using as proof to show that he is American Showing cuts on his arm as a result from his mugging (however, this is the most pitiful thing if this was all a scam and he did them to himself) Being consistently friendly and not aggressive, even when we were clearly not comfortable with what he was asking

Trying to legitimatize your need by expressing your embarrassent to be asking some "young girls" Appealing to our sense of "Americanism", neglecting that we might be self-aware enough to know this also makes us more wary of people taking advantage of us Saying the US Embassy "wasn't helpful" because, to my knowledge and based on everything I was told, the embassy would NOT tell you go to beg on the street after getting robbed. Telling Liz about flying to C.R. to avoid paying your wife and kids after a divorce. Makes you sound like an entitled American jerk, not like someone I want to give money to. Not explaining why you still had your plane ticket, even though everything else was robbed. Rejecting every non-giving-money idea (i.e. going back to the embassy, calling collect to the U.S., going to the OIJ) as not useful

In conclusion? I don't know. I hate to think that I might have missed an opportunity to really help someone, but I am just not sure I can make myself vulnerable again here by revealing I have things of value with me. Good think I have Liz, who knows better than me. And then we went to Pie after. It was a good day.


To hear much sassier, less wimpy Liz's version of the event (with extra details about Pie!), please go here and read about it!

You or you or you?

A little grammar discourse for Sunday!

If you've studied a language that's not English, you're probably familiar with the idea with social registers. For some reason English doesn't do it —or lost it in some stage of evolution — but languages like Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and so on have different ways to refer to someone depending on social status. Whether you say "Do you want to go?" to your best friend or to the president, the word you use for "you" will be very different, because of this difference in register.

Let's complicate this a bit. These distinctions are totally culturally constructed. For example, in some cultures, this division is very simple: virtually everyone gets the informal. What we learned in high school Spanish is that people older or with more authority, use formal register. This is the word Usted. Peer level or less, use informal. This is the word tú. It's simple and never really a big concern. However, in some oriental cultures this distinction can make or break a relationship, so I was careful to pay it attention in Costa Rica.

Let's muddle things a bit more. Here in CR, my family virtually always uses Usted (formal register). Jorgito the 2-year-old is Usted, the dogs on the street are Usted. However, outside of the family, when people want to be informal (read: in University interactions) the Ticos use a new word: vos. This is essentially the same meaning as tú, only with different conjugations and all that. And of course, it was totally unfamiliar. It's a Latin American thing and so not really taught in my KU classes. I mean, imagine learning a new word for "you" in English? It totally throws off your groove.

My strategy initially was to call everyone Usted and be done with it. Now a few months in, I feel like a total goof in a group while everyone's throwing around the vos and I'm still stuck in my formal Spanish register. I think I'm about ready to make the switch over to vos. Let today, October 30, mark this transition.

Wish me luck!

Hello, let me just share a poem I totally dig because everything else is going normal and well.

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver

The Rainy Season

I used to count myself really lucky that it only ever really rained hard between 1 and 4 p.m., when I was almost always in class. It was predictably sunny in the morning, dreary at noon, raining after lunchtime, then cool in the evening. This way, I avoided the worst of it. I even forgot my umbrella a few times without consequences.

October though. In the morning? Let's rain on me at 9 a.m., walking to aerobics. How about all night? That sounds great too. Don't get me started on evening rains, I don't think I've gotten home from ballet without being soaked these past few weeks. I wonder if it ever stops. If it does, it must be in the early hours of the morning, while I'm still sleeping. Everything I own is drying in different parts of the house. My shoes and umbrella are in the garage, assorted jackets in the laundry room, pants draped over furniture in my bedroom. 

Some things I just take for granted will not be dry again, whether from rain or the resulting humidity, like: my hair. My toothbrush. My backpack. My umbrella. Any of my tennis shoes.

Honestly, though, it doesn't bother me (except for on my way home from dance). For the most part, I've just gained a lot of respect for Ticos and my (fourth!) sombrilla, for the abundant greenery and for time I get to spend mercifully indoors. And I wash my hair more to keep it from mildewing too much. 

Los ticos

One element of the culture here that I'm not sure I will ever wrap my head around is how men act towards women in Costa Rica. I know I've already talked some about "piropos" and chances are if you've ever had a Spanish class you already know about those — the catcalls women receive in the streets, ranging from sweet (Que linda!) to super-vugar (#*&!@*$&?).

Anyway, there's a boy about our age who works at Casa del Pie that we've been trying to get to know. He's totally mysterious. After weeks of our detective work, we have a name: Javier. We can't get him to say much of anything to us, though, much less look pleased to chat. Finally we asked our friend who works there, Porque el muchacho nunca se sonrie? Why does that guy never smile? She told us it's because he's shy! Precious, right? This is really pretty much the norm around college-aged guys here. They're not necessarily timid, but they seem to not, as a rule, approach women.

Contrast it with this: after this encounter I went over to Mas por Menos to buy some more trail mix. An elderly stopped me while I was in line.

"You look sad," he said.

It totally caught me off guard — the English. I laughed and told him I was just thinking (I was thinking about Bioland organic hair products, but didn't share this part.)

"Be careful," he said. "That can be dangerous."

We chatted while making our purchases and he told me he's a retired marine from New Jersey. He told me he was making ribs and invited me for a beer. I politely declined.

See what I mean? I have no idea what to expect from men here. I was whistled at a couple times on my walk home, too, all by men who presumably are old enough to be my father. So it goes.

Hablando se entiende la gente

I took a break from thinking about living my life here.

I mean, obviously: I am still here. I am living my life. But none of the self-reflection that gives me funny, insightful, or culturally interesting things to blog about. Last night after ballet class and Casa del Pie, I went to see a monologue by Hernán Jiménez (the director/writer/lead actor of El Regreso, a beautifully made film that I think that captures the essence of Costa Rican life perfectly).

In Hablando se entiende la gente, Hernán presents a series of characters with different stories: a man waiting outside his girlfriend's front door trying to convince her to let him in and give him one more chance, an armed guard who works in the local MiniSuper and has just had his first son, a tico who has just been in a motorcycle accident. The most frequently-met character is a man who reveals little about himself but comments on the ridiculous music they play in Más por Menos, how men with guns don't need to yell: you will give them whatever you have, and a personal favorite, a commentary on the state of theater in Costa Rica. And how Shakespeare is hard to understand (a truth in any language).

"Mae, que bueno Shakespeare..." he says in that last one, how ticos react, which totally got me. Hilarious.

Overall, it let me see from a much more intimate perspective the totally vibrant culture Costa Rica has, even if it's not manifested in a super-unique cuisine or a dominant indigenous culture. It's in a little bit of everything, in how Costa Ricans talk, who owns the supermarkets, how Sabemas is a laughably cheap brand, how ticos always want to please everyone. I give this monologue a sobresaliente. It reminded me how much I love to live here.

Hacemos fiesta

This song should be playing in the background for this.

After a busy night in the Solano household, with a bunch of Jorge playtime and some family friends stopping, the parents left to take people home and left Sara and I unattended.

What else is there to do? Obvious — dance party. I pulled out the Ana Laura and we rocked the living room. Even threw some end-of-the-day cleaning in there. Ended with some epic couch jumps.

You can't even tell me life isn't good.

"Fearless"

Around the time of New Year 2011, I was shuffling through ideas of resolutions. I think I decided something arbitrary, like to bite my nails less (which I still do) or run more (which I still don't) and wrote it on a piece of paper and put it up in the lobby of Templin, where I lived. At the time, I was harboring a secret love for the song "Fearless" by Taylor Swift, and while listening to it about 89459385 times a day, I realized the reason it stuck with me so much:

Taylor and I, as 20-something females, have grown up in worlds of relative comfort. Sometimes I feel like most of the problems I have were invented to give myself something to worry about, but in reality, the world (all of it, but especially mine, graciously) is a beautiful, vibrant place, filled with experiences and people and places. I can't let my pseudo-worries stop me from living fully in it.

So, the real resolution, in that I've carried in my back pocket on my adventures thus far: be fearless. Climb the tree in Monteverde. Fly to New York City on a whim. Climb the rock wall, go snorkeling. Apply for study abroad, even if you're not sure you're mature enough, or whatever. Everything. If it scares you, what that really means is now you have to do it.

Disappointingly, after this incident, I'm having more trouble with this conviction. I know my fear of walking around Sabanilla, bringing schoolwork out of the house, parked cars, all men, etc., is a lot more rational than jumping off the dock on Catalina Island, but I still want to dig my heel and crush it until the fire is just embers. I can keep the caution that accompanies, but I will not let the fear keep me from soaking in every inch of this country, eyes wide, incredulous.

On a more whimsical note, I've translated all the places I go into English to make them sound less intimidating.

I live in "Saint Joseph," in the country of "Rich Coast."
I live in "Goose Mountain" county, in the city of "Alter Cloth."
I take the "Alter Cloth" bus to the part of town where my university is, "Saint Peter."

Doesn't everything sound better?


Really though. Thanks for the inspiration, Tay. In summary, I read this the other day blog surfing and it has really stuck with me: this will not be me.

"I thought of how different I was a year or two ago, what I dreamed then and wanted and believed about the future. I didn’t say it aloud but I felt the thoughts punching my chest: I should have been braver. I should have done it alone. I made so many mistakes. How terrible it is to sit with the knowledge of the ways you’ve made yourself less because you were afraid."

Adventures with Mom: Days 7 and 8

And thus our trip came to an end.

The seventh day my mom was here, we braved the Costa Rica rainstorm to explore San Pedro and part of downtown. Dinner was Casa del Pie (obviously?)

The next day, we bussed to Puntarenas to take a private yacht to Tortuga Island to snorkel. It was as great as that sounds. They didn't make us wear life vests while we snorkled so it was easy to dive down to see the starfish, anenomes, sea snake, octopus, and hundreds of rainbow fish. It is the kind of beauty that just extends to everything else you see for a while.

We enjoyed lunch there, too, a fun boat ride back to the mainland and a fun dinner with Liz. I was sad to take mom to the airport the next morning at 4. And sorry Mauricio I dozed the whole way home. Tortuga wore me out.

Thank you so much for visiting me, Mom! It was the best birthday that I can remember, and like I wrote, I am notoriously bad at birthdays. I love you so much and can't wait to see you again.

Adventures with Mom : Day 6

Debatably the coolest day of my mom's visit.

Dia de la Independencia — In honor of Costa Rica turning 190, we went to Sarita's school and watched traditional dances, dresses and ate traditional food! Sara represented San José in a gorgeous dress. This is extra cool, because most of Costa Rica's independence day activities are in the form of parades and celebration put on by the schools of the country.

Volcán Irazú — My host fam surprised my mom and I with a visit to the volcano! It was way up on my list, and a lot easier and more fun as a car ride with all parts of your family than on a bumpy city bus. It was chilly and beautiful and I love volcano crater and the plants that only grow at high altitudes.

Exploring Cartago — We stopped by a couple family houses and ate lunch in the mountains, overlooking the city. Cartago is as-of-now my favorite province and a great contrast from a touring perspective to the hot beaches and steamy forests.

Harvesting chayote and guyaba — One of my mama tica's sisters lives across from a chayote farm and they let us go play and pick chayote, a tuber sort of like a potato! Also we picked guayabas from a tree and ate them right there. It was like a big food tasting party. I was so full but I still had the chayote in soup form for dinner.

It was a wonderful day. We even got in a good Yahtzee game (mom vs. me vs. Sara) when we got home.

Adventures with Mom : Days 4 and 5

Look how expansive Panama City is from the Bosque Nacional Metropolitano. It is like San José, if San José decided it wanted to be clean and pretty. Mom and I hiked up and looked out over the world; it was a perfect ending to our stay in Panama. The next day we spent almost entirely on the bus and going through customs.

In present news: Someone must have unloaded the gringa bus, because Sabanilla is swarming with machitas. I hope to God I don't stand out as much as they do.

Adventures with Mom: Day 3

Day 3. Welcome to the Panama Canal! This boat was so big, they called it Pana-max. Get it? Maximum size. It was even funny in Spanish. Aha. Boats move approximately six inches per hour while going through the canal. It is a thrilling way to spend a day.

No, but really. We had lots of fun on Monday.

Casco Viejo — A neat neighborhood that looks a little bit like Italy and a little bit like New Orleans. In going to an indigenous goods shop, we met a 75-year-old man living in a refugee camp who followed us around the rest of the morning. You know what? It was great! He showed us all kinds of neat churches and buildings, and although he made us nervous talking so much about the underground dungeons, even those were interesting. What a deal.

Miraflores Locks — Infinitely more interesting than I expected. We ate some excellent food and watched the barcos be lowered down before entering the Pacific Ocean.

The Islands — After negotiating with our taxi driver, we asked him to take us somewhere interesting. He drove us out to three islands (?!) where we wandered around and looked in shops until the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful and fantastic.

Then we went to a cafe by our hotel, and to bed. Great fun!

Adventures with Mom : Days 1 and 2

Being totally overwhelmed after not having done schoolwork for ten days, I'm going to post about my last few weeks in day increments. As you can maybe remember, my momma hopped on a jet plane and came to see me for my birthday! And as you probably already knew, she is the greatest mother I have ever had or could ever hope to have.


To begin: days 1 and 2. Highlights include spending all of that time on a bus. Then we got to Panama, checked into our hotel which was graciously right next to the water and wandered in awe of what a beautiful city Panama City is.

I am a fan.

Anyway, we negotiated with a taxista to drive us around and find us a place to eat, which is apparently hard because I do not think that people in Panama eat. Finally we got Mediterranean food and called it a night.

Stay tuned for action-packed Day 3!

Wait, what?

So I was just talking about presents.

This is the proverbial icing on the cake. Fitting because I'm talking about birthdays. Or perhaps then, this is really the whole cake. So the cake is decorated with maní garipiñado. Wait, what? I'm OK with it though.

Anyway: the cake.

I have a camera!!

Wait, what? My mom got here and had an extra gift bag for me, besides the backpack I had asked for. It was like 10 p.m. and we were going to go to the bus to Panamá, so I waited to open it. But she made me. Welcome into the world a new Nikon point-and-shoot, beautifully portable, 12.1 megapixels, memory card and case. 

"Wait," she said. "You have to see the card."

So, in the back seat of our tiny car filled with my familia tica and my mom and I opened the card. And it was a cat card, and it was signed by, like, twenty people from T6. And apparently not even everyone signed it. T6, my old home, my "residents" or what-have-you, my best friends last year, bought me a camera. 

I cried even harder than I do during the resurrection stone scene of the Deathly Hallows, which I watched again on TicaBus. Oh my goodness. I have no words. Best present of my life. I love you friends. I love the camera. It is absolutely wonderful. I dedicate every single future blog post to you. 

O sea, I have pictures again!! From Panamá and Independence Day today! It was great, I will tell you all about it later!

Also my mom is here! It is the best! Hi mom!

So so so so so much love from the tropics,

Bailey

20.

I am normally really bad at birthdays.

But obviously not at this one. There is nothing I can do but be happy today! Sara and I played for like four hours today, and then everyone came to Casa del Pie to celebrate. Is that fantastic? Life is so simply great sometimes. And my Casa del Pie friends gave me FREE PIE, and my Portuguese teacher was there, incidentally (per my recommendation) at the same time I was.

Perhaps the best part, though: mom will be here in two hours. I will see my mom in two hours!


Also, when there is no obligation to be given things you don't need, your friends just hang out with you for your birthday. Or if they do get something, it is maní garipiñado, the best food ever created and a popular choice for birthday presents (see photo above). Or things to read in Spanish. I have great friends.


Off to Panamá with mom now, see you in a week!

Cupcake update

Those cupcakes we made?

So good.

The sank so much and never turned cake-y though, so we called it pudding and everyone was impressed.

Chalk one up for the Liz-Maggie-Bailey baking trio! Sort of.

Major Change #85074801

Don't worry: I'm keeping American Studies. But today, I had a revelation.

I really, really, really love linguistics.

Old news, right? But I have a six consecutive hour block of linguistics classes on Tuesdays, and that's enough to make you hate just about anything. But somehow linguistics is the only thing I want to do. Case in point: two weeks ahead in my ling classes, won't even have to make anything up when I miss next week for Panama (reading-wise, at least).

And I always just feel like the world is more beautiful on Tuesdays. About two hours into class, I'm thinking, I really can speak Spanish! I'm understanding everything! And three hours in, I'm thinking about how great my professors are, about how great learning is. By the end of the day, I'm on to just thinking I'm probably one of the greatest girls in the world (no longer related to the topic at hand).

Don't worry, that's promptly crushed when I go to my other classes. The point is: KU, I am picking back up my linguistics major. Forgive me that I only know how to talk about how much I love it in Spanish.

Why I Don't Bake in Costa Rica

Dear Maggie and Liz,

You know how much I love spending time with you guys? A lot. I feel like we have the same priorities and the same interests and like Casa del Pie as much as I do, and for this I feel like we really just mesh well. This is why I was so happy when I realized we all like to bake, too! I consider myself a bit of a cupcake artiste in the states (see exhibit A), and anyone who knows good flour-sugar ratios in their baked goods is golden in my book.

You've taken good care of me in the past: lava cakes, the chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, scones, lemon curd and so on were all absolutely delicious without my help. And since we all had terrible weeks, I knew it was my time to sponsor an ingredient purchase to make something tasty. And what else? Cupcakes, of course. Peanut butter chocolate chunk.

So let me tell you about my trip to Mas por Menos tonight!

1.) They don't even have cupcake liners. I actually walked over to MegaSuper in my ballet clothes to check if they did, but they didn't either AND they didn't have my mango nectar, so I went back to MxM and cut my losses.

2.) Have we really been paying $5 for a bar of chocolate?! I mean, it is good chocolate, but I am a poor girl here. Forgive me, but I decided to forgo the Baker's Chocolate and bought a bag of Costa Rica-brand chocolate candies. We can chunk them up. (730 colones instead of 2,600, thank you very much.)

3.) HOW IS PEANUT BUTTER SO EXPENSIVE. Right when I thought I would go ahead and splurge on aforementioned Baker's Chocolate, I noticed that good ol' creamy Jiffy is 2,847 colones. That's almost $6!! The Nutella was cheaper! There was no way around that one, unfortunately... peanut butter cupcakes without peanut butter? Please.

4.) Frosting. A dinky can of Betty Crocker was $3. Not bad, I know, but I just couldn't get into it.

5.) So... I bought cream cheese and powdered sugar. Costed less, will be more fun.

6.) The victory was definitely the stick of butter! I bought the brand NuMar margarine on sale for 185 colones! That, my US friends, is 37 cents. I don't really want to know why it was so cheap. NuMar.

As you can see, I am pretty revolted by the fact that I essentially bought peanut butter and garnishes for $10. This is ∞ times more than my weekly income. However, I love you and I love baking and I love baking Saturdays with you, so I am happy to do it. Just peanut butter may not be the dessert theme again.

Love,
Bailey

p.s. I did redeem myself in that I, for once, managed to get a 550 colones taxi from MxM.

p.p.s. Exhibit A. What the cupcakes will not look like, because where the heck would I buy fondant.

Perspectives

I've been wanting to do this for a long time! Here is my world superimposed over Lawrence, Kansas, all distances the same (courtesy of Google Maps).

My family lives in Sabanilla. For the sake of this map, I put myself living on Daisy Hill.

Casa del Pie is my favorite study/pie place. It is about as far as Allen Fieldhouse.

MxM stands for Mas por Menos — a grocery store. It is the nearest bus stop and where I have to go if I want to get anywhere. It is the equivalent of going to Oliver Hall (as travelled from Templin Hall).

The Grupo Office, where Grupo de Kansas is based, is about at 24th and almost-Kasold. Letras, where I have about half my classes, is just a little bit to the north.

Curridabat, way out there on K10, is where a lot of the other people in the Grupo de Kansas live, and also the direction of some fun shopping centers.

The school at which I'm teaching English in Tibas, which is an hour an a half by bus and too dangerous to walk, is across the street from Lawrence Gymnastics Academy, or just a little bit south of Orange Leaf.

The bus terminal Coca Cola, where I went to take the bus to Jaco, is just kind of out in the middle of nowhere. We walked from San Jose central, which is at the top of the big hill at Wakarusa and Clinton Parkway.

Enjoy!

Dedicated to my super-legit friends and family all over the American continent!

So I went to the beach this weekend! I really love the beaches here — something about black sand (which is still stuck in all my hair) and five-foot waves and fresh guanabana juice and good friends totally balances out my 12-hour-of-class Thursdays. It is such a wonderful part of this country that I can run away from the city on the weekends to the Pacific, to the rainforest, to wherever for outrageously little money and effort. And everything in CR, like always, is beautiful.

Sorry if I am being too saccharine here — I actually had a pretty rough day, and I feel like to be honest, I should tell you about that too. On the way home from the beach I was robbed (as well as another girl in my group, with whom I was walking, through the neighborhood, at 6:30) and lost most of the more valuable things I have with me. So future pictures will be borrowed from friends. The irony, you might note, is in my last blog:

"About had a nervous breakdown I was going to get mugged (Where did that come from? I always feel safe in Sabanilla and today was not any different)"

May I just say, though, that Costa Rica has been totally redeemed for me in the past day. I have been loved on so much by my friends and family here (as well as significant amounts from my friends and family in the states). The infinite goodness of humanity in comparison to the tiny abouts of lack of goodness always impresses me. This, in turn, has made it easy to love on other people in my life, which in turn keeps me feeling good, which really is just makes everything worth it in the first place.

To seal off the cheese factor, I am going to post an inspirational bible passage! I hope that those of you who are Jesus lovers can appreciate it for the strength that has given me, and those who are not can respect that although life rarely feels as simple as "It's OK! Jesus loves you!", the message just being happy with where you are is a good one.


Phillipians 4:10-13: "I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

Dig it, right? Keep me in your thoughts this week as I rebuild my life without a lot of things I am used to having.

Today is a weird day.

I remember talking to Jeff (who came to Costa Rica a month earlier than I did, but is in the same program) and him telling me just how weird things felt. I was still in my post-arrival awe for a city with mountains and no named streets and didn't really know what it would be like once I, too, had been there almost two months.

Now I know: it's weird.

Like today, I woke up to a someone calling my phone for the person who had it before me (this happens several times a day). Laid in bed for forever because my whole body hurt after weights in aerobics yesterday. I have been super tired lately and it's just so hard to get moving on days I don't have class. Finally got out of bed, breakfasted and got ready and caught the Vargas Araya bus that took like three times longer than usual. The bus driver just pulled over and let people pass while he talked on his phone. Realized I left my own phone at home. About had a nervous breakdown I was going to get mugged (Where did that come from? I always feel safe in Sabanilla and today was not any different). Was super late to meet people at the mall to go to the Grupo de Kansas barbeque, and was therefore left behind, got on another bus and realized I didn't know where I was or where I was going. Freaked out more. Luckily, saw Veronica and Danielle walking down the sidewalk — what are the chances — and jumped out of the bus door (should've seen the driver's face) and ran over to them.

Crisis averted, but I was way on edge.

Two hours later we finally made it to the barbeque, which by the way was wonderful! Zaida has a gorgeous house out in Tres Rios, which is east of the city. I played Pit and Bananagrams and laughed and snuggled and ate grilled mushroom burgers and it was such a wonderful afternoon, really.

Then I got super grumpy walking home — it was drizzling. My shoes are all broken so it was hard to walk. And I didn't want to pay for my fifth bus of the day. And I didn't want to walk with the big group. And ugh! I was exhausted and in a terrible mood.

Then I got home to a house FULL of people because three pastors from Atlanta are here to partner with my family's church! I knew they were having a dinner party, but missed this in translation. At first I was kind of frustrated because it meant I couldn't just relax after the day. But I got to chat  in English since the Atlantans didn't know much Spanish and I realized that my English skills in talking to authority figures in formal situations has certainly deteriorated. One of the guys wanted to talk about Worlds of Fun and I had just no idea where to go with that. ("Oh, you're from KC?! How's that amusement park?") So I went upstairs and played Wii with Sara and Josue (a guy from the church who is in high school). And that ended up being great fun! I was super relaxed and so had no problems with joking and chatting in Spanish, which is usually a challenge for me and something I have worked on. It was super rewarding.

Now I am laying in bed, absolutely exhausted. I can't figure out if today was a good day or not. I mean, it really was, but I am just in a weird place in my Costa Rica transitioning. Hopefully if you made it until this part of the post, you understand that a little better... or at least know what a normal Friday looks like for me. That is to say, every day is an adventure.

Welcome back to school, KU!

It's such a bizarre thing to hear about everyone starting school again and be thousands of miles away! Watching this video made me miss KU itself a whole lot, and I can be WAY cynical about KU. I mean, just look at how cute Lawrence is. And the best part about KU and Lawrence, obviously, you can see at about 1:36...

This played at convocation this year. Glad I am still there, even if just in a small way.

Volcán Poas

Oh my gosh, I went to an active volcano today! It was so fun! I could literally hear it rumbling the whole time! Just wait til you see the picture! Gosh, you will be so impressed with my photography and the beautiful sight I was able to capture! 

....

Introducing, Volcán Poas. Click on it for full effect.

That's the main crater! Can't you see it?

What? It's too foggy? How can that be?! I never expecting there to be fog on a rainy day at 2 miles above sea level!

Okay, I'll turn the sarcasm off. I really had a wonderful day trip today to Volcán Poas. It was just a beautiful area, way up in the mountains and with some beautiful vegetation straight out of Land Before Time. The bus ride was easy and we were literally up in the clouds the whole time. Of course, in typical Costa Rica fashion, the weather ruled today and we didn't get to see into the main crater (although it was smoking and rumbling today, which is neat!). But one of the smaller ones, a dormant crater with a sulfur lake we did see, and it was lovely.

Course, though, I think the most of what made it a great day was that Maggie is a great travel buddy and we played in the gift shop and walked as fast as we wanted and accidentally color-coordinated our shirts with our umbrellas. Here is her pointing out this lovely wooden carved chair with built in leather cup-holder and adorned with "Costa Rica" engraved on all the leather parts. Sold for U.S. dollars, of course. Perfect for your second carry-on on the airplane.

We tentatively discussed trying to get to all the major volcanoes in Costa Rica over the weekends, so stay tuned!

On staying and leaving

My heart has been in a weird place these past few weeks.  I absolutely love my classes, and for the most part (read: all but this evening) I've stayed engaged for the full three hours. And I signed up for ballet! I have new vocabulary, like Empuje!! when I'm not pointing my toes enough, or Su cola! when I stick my butt out too much when I plie. I have been having wonderful fun with Maggie and Liz here. On the other hand, I've been thinking a lot about home. Like RA things (Warner, Eryn, Aaron... I can't believe you're getting started already! Will you tell me about it please? I miss you crazy).  And I miss T6, and anyone who ever played Cops and Robbers or sat in section 7 at E's or watched Baggage. And I can't wait to see the people who bake/eat/watch movies with me in Shawnee. And I have friends who are going off to college for the first time (Annie, already?!). And I love my cat, family, etc.

I had a dream the other night, though, that I woke up in Kansas. Back from Costa Rica. And it was so surprising, because I was just upset about all the things that I should have done. And the friends that I missed. And I wanted to go back to Sabanilla, and to Casa del Pie, and practice my Spanish, and read and feed pigeons on the Pretil.

I've complained before that for all of the running around I do, between travelling and school and Shawnee, I feel like I never have a home. I think the real problem is that I have so many places that are.

Also to Michelle, in case you read this sometime soon:

Michelle.

The first day I really realized I was going to Costa Rica, really leaving for six months, was at Study Abroad orientation. I was so worried after they told us all of the million bad things to expect and that I wouldn't know anyone. And then you know what? You said you'd go see Harry Potter with me, and I knew I'd have at least one friend. I've had so much fun being around you these past few months. You are hilarious, sweet, do the best job of dressing like a cute Tica in the whole group (totally envious), and just always wonderful to be around.  Kansas will be lucky to have you back.

Much love, good luck and Sabanilla (and I) miss you already!
Bailey

Who knew?

Turns out people in Costa Rica are super into Bailey's Irish Cream.

The benefits of this are twofold:

1. Sugar free Irish cream flavored coffee (my favorite in the states) is readily available;
2. People are learning to pronounce my name. 

This is somewhat of an enigma, because all of the sounds in my name, /beli/, exist phonologically in Spanish and English. It could be a Spanish name! However, here are some of the pronunciations I get:

• Billy
• Belly (most common)
• Bayschee
• Diley (?!)

I also almost always see my name spelled "Bayle." Fortunately, I have found a way to avoid the awkward confusion of trying to explain why "Belly" isn't quite right... Me llamo Bailey. Como la bebida. My name is Bailey. Like the drink. My linguistics class got a big kick out of this, everyone laughed and I think someone made a joke about how "rica" I am.

Course now, everyone calls me Baileys. But we'll worry about that later.

This week I learned

....how much Jorge likes headlamps, Kirsten's Peru phone (likes to pick it up and say "Si si si! No contestó") and my KU sunglasses. And the camera. And he even asked for me one afternoon I wasn't home: "Dónde está la muchacha con la cámera?"

... 100-pages-worth about psicolinguistica antropológica, in Spanish. OK, let's not lie, I read about 1/3 of it and called it a day (after struggling through a section on eye movements while reading that ended with "this has no relevance to psycholinguistics")

... where to get Mexican fast food in Cedros.

... the joys of planking?

... about travelling around San José at night

... how to dance hip-hop and parkour at their respective workshops at the culture festival in downtown San José

... how much I wish my future dance classes will teach me how to do this.

... how to make cookies with no measuring cups, white sugar, etc. OK, time for more honesty, I got there after Liz and Maggie made the cookies. They just told me about them. They were delicious.

...how much I love puppies!!!! I love puppies so much!!!!! This is Ella at Maggie's house !!!!! I love her!!!!!!

... where to buy flowers for La Día de la Madre, or Mother's Day here.

Back to school tomorrow — about to start another busy week. Kansas has been on my mind lots this week (people moving back to Lawrence, friends heading back to other schools, RA training, trying to bake here, talking to a lot of you on Skype, etc.) and so I would like you all to know that I am wishing you lots of good things at the start of the school year! Lots of love from the CR.

Scumbag Sabanilla Bus

Done with classes for the week! Celebratory computer playtime!

a poem about my Wednesday

C is for Casa del Pie (it's the best!)
O is for often that I need more rest,
S is that Sara and Jorge and I play,
T is for Terramall and shopping all day.
A stands for all the times we were lost
R is for raising the Sabanilla bus' cost*,
I is important that my classes were great,
C stands for cheddar cheese we couldn't locate,
(and now the last thing that I'm going to say)
A is for awesome — just like my day!


*This is not OK. It was 200 until today, now it is 210, which is SO much harder to count out (10 cent colones weigh approximately the same as a piece of dust). I'm going to start a "scumbag Sabanilla bus" meme.

Classes and questions

School started today! Because of bureaucracy my schedule still isn't finalized, but thus far it looks like it will be as follows:

Tuesday (6 hours):

Psicolinguistica Antropologica (KU equiv: Topics in Linguistic Anthropology)

Introduccion a la linguistica II (KU equiv: Language and Mind)

Thursday (9 hours):

Aerobica para mujeres (KU equiv: Aerobics)

Portugues Basico I (KU equiv: Beginning Portuguese)

Sociologia Educativa (KU equiv: Sociology of Education)

This leaves me with Monday/Friday to travel as I desire, and I'm going to call around tomorrow to sign up for dance classes. I will also be leading a study group for English students at UCR on Wednesdays as well as most likely helping teach at an elementary school in Tibas (another part of San Jose)! Pray this works out — I cannot imagine anything more wonderful this semester than really just working at a city school in bilingual education (at elementary and collegiate level). This is what I study. This is what I do. 

Also blog readers, I wanted to get some feedback if I can — what is fun to read? What would you like to hear more about? This is effectively just a way for me to tell you all about my life at the same time, so don't feel like you have to hear me go on and on about Casa del Pie when you really just want to hear about the city's (lack of) grid system. Be honest. This is why you can comment. I am requiring you to do so.

Nos vemos! 

One month

Today is my one-month anniversary of being in Costa Rica.

9 things that have been hard:
1. Being insignificant in the University of Costa Rica's enrollment process in that, one day before classes start, no one can tell me if I'm actually going to be able to take linguistics or not. If not, I'm not a full time student. Making a list of backup classes if not.

2. Not being able to go anywhere without getting sweaty or rained on.

3. Adjusting to not eating snacks, ever, and having butter on nearly everything.

4. The fact that I can't watch hulu or Netflix or Pandora out of the country, effectively reducing my ways to destress.

5. Not having a place to exercise, besides just running, which never really sounds fun here. And not finding a dance studio yet, or having gone swimming yet.

6. Feeling like I lose my personality in Spanish, because I can't communicate quickly enough to make jokes or eloquently enough to show everyone how thankful I am.

7. Learning which things that are personal preference in the States are culturally inappropriate here (not bathing every time you leave the house, wearing shorts, wearing shoes in the house, etc.)

8. Not having a church or my bible study, and not really being sure how to find one that will fit me.

9. Having to rely on the internet for all of my friend communication/connection to current events. Subsequently logging more time on facebook and reddit in proportion to other sites than ever before.

9 things I am so excited for:
1. More cheap, delicious, readily available coffee.

2. The wonderful friends in the Grupo de Kansas that I've already made and can't wait to continue spending time with, travel with, go to Casa del Pie with...

3. Beginning my classes at UCR and learning about things that are genuinely interesting — while not being able to avoid speaking in Spanish, and having to make friends in my classes.

4. Travelling more. So far, I have absolutely loved the beach and the rainforest was also fantastic.

5. Getting more comfortable with my Spanish and growing my vocabulary and pronunciation skills. I can already see the improvement.

6. Seeing my mom in September, and the idea of how glorious it will be to see friends (I'm looking at you Kirsten and Jessi and Andie) when I get back in December.

7. Spending more time with my Tica family, who are all so wonderful to me.

8. Beginning volunteering, most likely, in an elementary school working with bilingual education. In Tibas, somewhere near-ish to San Jose.

9. Making even more friends.


Which leads to my favorite: "But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5

Punta Leona

Oh hello! Sorry it's been so long, but I went to a beach resort for three days and swam and ate three full Costa Rica meals at the buffet (I had Mrs. E's syndrome where I spent my first five meals eating absolutely everything I saw) and saw all kinds of things.

Mostly though I feel like I played with animals.

I mean, the first morning were the monkeys. They spied on us while we ate our breakfast and snuck down and grabbed food that the waiters were clearing. When they couldn't get their hands on some half-eaten bananas (not kidding, the spider monkeys loved those bananos) they would just steal sugar packets.

And then we went on the sunrise bird walk. Scarlet macaws and toucans and parakeets and all that. Mom and Bruce, I wish you were there: you would have loved it. I was a little bored, to be honest. The buffet opened and I wanted to go.

Can't forget the iguanas that also watched us eat.

Or the crabs, fish, sea slugs, anenomes, and crayfish we found in the tidepools on the beach in the early morning!

The butterfly garden was also beautiful.

But here's the kicker: I got stung by a jellyfish. A real one. On the wrist. This is not a joke! I was STUNG by a JELLYFISH. Una medusa me pico. I know what you're thinking, and no one had to pee on me. I got vinegar from the bar. It still hurt worse than anything in a long time. I was lucky, though. One literally latched onto Shanina's back: all we had to do was rip off my bracelet.

Let's be honest, though: I feel so tough. See the photos here in my Costa Rica facebook album.

Seesters

I'm still pretty convinced Sara is the coolest person I've met here.

The Romeria

Or, "Bailey and Maggie's adventure day" or "The longest walk/run I've ever seen" or "How much Aleve do I need to take to not feel like I'm dying of sunburn?"

Ah, the Romeria. A grand Costa Rican tradition. From here, about this year's Romeria:

The annual Costa Rican pilgrimage, known as the Romería, honors a small statue of the Virgin Mary, called La Negrita, which some believe possesses miraculous powers.

Authorities told the daily La Nacíon that they expect two million romeros, or pilgrims, this year. A Red Cross post has already opened at the basilica, which will provide assistance and treatment to pilgrims exhausted from the 22 kilometer journey.

People have marched to the basilica each year for the past 228 years, except for 2009, when it was cancelled due to the H1N1 flu virus. The majority of participants will leave start the pilgrimage Monday for a morning mass on Aug. 2, but some are already on their way. In the past, they’ve arrived from as far as Panama or Guanacaste, via horseback, bikes, or even while crawling.

As for Maggie and I, after a sudden change of plans, we decided to walk on Sunday. You probably know already that I'm not Catholic, but such a show of loyalty is impressive on its own. The Romeria and the walkers, known as romeros, provide such an authentic show of Costa Rican culture, and finally one that is free of overtly tourist appeals. It was wonderful to watch the grand variety of people — babies in strollers, men running the whole way in just athletic shorts, a team of people pushing relatives in wheelchairs, teenagers, familes, adults, indigenas. Here is our day.

This is exactly 22 km from San Pedro to the church, mind you.

8:20 a.m. : Meet Maggie at the Sabanilla bus stop. Take bus to Mall San Pedro.

8:45 a.m. : Begin walking east, through Curridabat, to meet Matthew.

9:05 a.m. : Stop at McDonald's for some cafe and the bano.

9:30 a.m. : Try to meet Matt at bus stop. Try to locate bus stop. Can't find bus stop. Panic, call Danielle because Matt doesn't have a phone. Walk back half a kilometer to the Taco Bell, like she told us. Solicit more directions that don't help.

10:15 a.m. : Give up on finding Matt. Continue walking.

10:30 a.m. : Begin passing hundreds of vendors. Trying to resist buying fresh fruit, $10 polo hats, Diet Pepsi, fresh-squeezed juices, Costa Rica scarves, images of La Negrita, rosaries, etc. Successfully resist (nearly) everything.

11:45 a.m. : Decide we might walk back, too, because it is such a nice day and this walk feels so good!

12:15 p.m. : Begins pouring rain. Panic because of nice camera in cloth bag.

12:45 p.m. : Arrive in the province of Cartago. Wade through the streets. Completely soaked. Watch a dead rat float by in the river that we are walking through.

1:15 p.m. : Spot Virgen de los Angeles church!!! Glorious moment!!

1:20 p.m. : Enter church, look around.

1:23 p.m. : Get shooed out of church so more people can look.

1:25 p.m. : Continue wading until we find a soda where we can order coffee. Eat refried bean and onion sandwich my mama tica packed for me (debatably best thing I have ever eaten). Talk to locals who insist Maggie is my mother. Use free bathroom while we can (most along the way cost 300 colones).

2:00 p.m. : Inquire about San Jose bus stop. Expecting immediate success because we have seen practically hundreds of busses. Police officer laughs, points to longest line I have seen in my life.

2:10 p.m. : Thought we knew what the line was. Still walking to the end.

2:20 p.m. : Find end of line. Decide not to walk back because we would be arriving after dark.

3:30 p.m. : Buy mani garipinado from street vender in the line for 100 colones. Happiest moment of afternoon.

3:45 p.m. : Finally board bus.

5:30 p.m. : Ask guy on bus if we are in Curridabat yet. He tells us we are in San Jose central. We panic again and get off the bus. Start walking really fast.

5:45 p.m. : Realize we are in sketchy part of town, ask for directions. Still pouring rain if you were wondering.

6:15 p.m. : Finally, after three directions stops, find Sabanilla bus stop.

6:30 p.m. : Arrive at Mas por Menos stop. Start walking.

6:45 p.m. : I am home!!! Take the best shower of my life. Simultaneously, observe worst sunburn on my life. Good always outweighs the bad.


Bonus topic: Top 3 Piropos of the Day

3. "Hola, guapas!"
2. "Heyyyy" (in very strong Costa Rican accent; trying to impress us with English knowledge)
1. "Eyy, Costa Rica! Aye. Chicas! Costa Rica! Ey, USA! USA! (laughs) USA!" (for about five minutes)