Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Tragedy....


Hola everyone! So last sunday I went to see Romeo y Julieta at the national theater. I was really excited to go because I have grown to appreciate the dramatic arts more as I have gotten older thanks to my wonderful Gma taking me to the Fox and Disney World numerous times.

Well let me tell you, I have be ruined! I'm so spoiled by the Fox Theater in St. Louis that even a country's NATIONAL THEATER pales in comparision! I did not care for it at all. However, I tried to keep in mind that it was a traveling company and so was probably extremely low budget. Plus they could not carry an entire set with them if they were traveling. BUT STILL! I mean, the set was literally a few peices of plywood on wheels with the occasional blanket thrown over them. I have seen and entire house on stage! I have seen witches fly! Really fly! Mary Poppins even flew over our heads! I am beyond spoiled. Nevertheless, I acheived my basic goal of simply exploring the theather, seeing what it was like on the inside, and trying to engage in a cultural experience (though there was absolutely NOTHING engaging about it). The theater really is pretty from the inside (again, not holding a candle to the Fox). I will put those pics up soon.

Well, time to go to class and give yet ANOTHER presentation. This time with Colleen and TWENTY minutes long. Here's to trying!

I miss you all so much
Meg

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Culture Shock


Hello everyone! Sorry its been awhile. Let's see, where to begin...

So we went to Manuel Antonio last weekend. It was pretty, but very touristy. Someone was always trying to sell u something and the taxi fares were JACKED! But we did have a sloth living in a tree right outside our hostel so that makes up for it. Lol. The hostel was much nicer than I expected. We had access to a kitchen, pancakes in the mornings, internet access, and decent beds. I was happy. Some of the girls think they got robbed though because they left their wallets in an unlocked cupboard over night and were missing money the next day. I don't think I did though so whew! I didn't get surfing lessons like I had planned because we really didnt have a lot of time there. I did borrow a friends and tried it twice. I stayed on my stomach the first time, and got on my knees the second. It was really fun so I think next time I hit the beach, I may get my own board...maybe lessons. Wh0 knows. The scariest thing that happened there was that some of the girls saw a crocodile in the ocean! Luckily we weren't swimming at the moment, but we had been swimming earlier! lol. Oh well. None of us got eaten so it's all good.

Sunday we came back and get this....we get football here! Like real NFL american football! Its amazing. I had resigned myself to not seeing a game until I got back, but I have seen four since I have been here! Tomorrow is Cowboys and Giants! Gotta love sundays.

Oh I got my presentation and test grade back. I think I got an 89 on my presentation which surprised me because I stuttered a lot. My test went really well too. So that's a relief. Now I just have one more presentation and one more test this week for this class before it ends. I guess I should start working on that pres...ick.

Tuesday we didnt have school because It was Costa Rica's independence day! We went downtown and caught the very end of the parade. We intended to see ALL of it, but three diff ppl told us three diff start times. Lol. That's just how it is down here. No one really knows what's up and no one really cares. Pura vida. Go with the flow. I have the cutest picture of these two little girls dressed for the holiday. I'll have to put it up later since I'm not on my computer right now.

Wednesday I went to a movie and get this...the ticket cost me less than two dollars! Wednesdays are half price here! Its my new favorite thing to do. The movie is called the Time Traveler's Wife in the states, but here it is Te Amare Siempre, which literally translates into I will love you forever. Not exactly the same title. Lol. It was in english, but with spanish subtitles. I wonder if all the humor and other emotions translate well? I think this wednesday we are gonna see The Ugly Truth. Speaking of which, everyone here now swears that I look like Katherine Heigel. I don't see it. But they wont shut up about it! Lol.

I went bungee jumping this morning. That's right. I jumped off a bridge with rushing water and huge rocks at the bottom. It was AMAZING. I have never felt anything like it and I cant wait to do it again. U feel like u can fly. The crazy part is u are seriously only strapped in and caught by your ankles. It was great. They taped it for us so I will put the video up sometime on facebook. So so worth the money.

Tomorrow we are going to see Romeo y Julieta at the national theater downtown. I'm pretty excited to see what it's like. They say it's a really pretty building and I'm wondering how it compares to the Fox. The only disappointing thing is that it is in English. But maybe it will have a different style to it since it's Latin American. I swear, no matter where u go, u cannot escape English. It's everywhere.

Well I guess I better go do laundry. My running clothes seriously SMELL. Lol. Love you all!

Meg

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Almost Done!

Hola!
So another school week had passed! It it's getting a little easier to get up in the mornings...and most of the time I don't even drink coffee!!! Crazy! And if I do, one cup will more than suffice because they brew it STRONG here and I love it!

We had to give a presentation today in front of the class. It had to be in spanish obviously, but it also had to be AT LEAST ten minutes long and we couldn't use notes. It was not fun! I stuttered so much. It was so embarrassing! And now we have a test tomorrow! Speaking of which...I should probably study. Sigh. Until sunday (we are going to the beach this weekend!)

Love,
Meg

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Dancing

Hola! Time to catch ya'll up!

So its my first weekend here. The school week dragged on FOREVER. I'm pretty sure listening to spanish for four hrs a day is helping my comprehension tremendously...but i'm still worried about my speaking. I haven't really gotten to practice that much yet. Except for yesterday when me and Judah met a tico (costa rican naitive) in downtown jose because we needed help finding the crafts market. He was super nice! Bout 24 ish i think and he lives and works at the beach we happen to be going to next weekend! And get this...he gives surfing lessons! So i met my surf instructor by chance! lol. I can't wait.

The crafts market is crazy. Just so busy and SO colorful. And i get so distracted by color so it takes me a long time to pull myself away. A lot of the vendors sell these amazing hamock chairs that you can hang anywhere and are super strong. I got to sit in one and it is so comfortable. Only ten dollars! Of course i haven't bought one yet because i would have no idea how to get it home. I really wanna buy a full sized hamock, but I have no place to put that in the states. lol. Speaking of the crafts market, they have tons of neat stuff and i wanna bring some back for friends and family so email me and tell me what u guys want! Jewelry, purse, tshirt, shot glass, pen, keychain, scarf...almost anything!!!

We walked around the city again today to try to get a better sense of direction. As u all could probably guess, i'm failing horribly at it. If we take a route i have taken before and actually paid attention to, i'm fine. But when they start saying "oh we could just take this street, it goes the same way" we always get lost. U guys should look up a map of San Jose. It's crazy. I don't think parallel streets exist here. Every street seems to snake thru the city and some just dead end at random times. There is definitely no hope for me here. lol

So last night we went to a dance club. I have been to the dance classes at the Universidad (tho there have only been two so far) and think i have the basics of salsa and merengue down. But i didnt get to try it out last night because none of the ticos asked me to dance. :( I think i'm so tall i scare them! They are all pretty short. I guess it didnt help that i wore heels. Next time, flats. Definitely flats. The other girls got to dance tho and they really liked it. They said the guys don't mind teaching u at all and they are great leaders. It's so crazy how all the guys down here dance and almost none in the states do. Sigh. Anyway, a few others and I left a little earlier than everyone else. I wanted to leave mostly because I felt like a giant and also because there was a really really REALLY creepy american guy that would not stop talking to me. He had started out hitting on Judah, but then she left so he came over to talk to me. Then I left so he went to talk to Sarah. Lol. He kept touching our arms every two seconds which would have been ok...if he was a tico. See, it's part of the culture down her to touch casually a lot. I mean A LOT. But he was straight from L.A. with a horribly sun damaged face and an inflated ego. Not cool. So hopefully next time will be more fun.

I have to go do laundry now. Ick. It's two american dollars a load here plus we had to buy detergent. But that's only till we move in with our families cuz then they do our laundry! Sweet!

Oh side note: ticos y ticas are OBSESSED with shoes. You cannot walk two feet without running into a shoe store. It's insane. I have already bought two pair. One pair of dressy tennies (guys of course) for fun cuz they are really colorful, and a pair of very sturdy (guys once again) hiking sandels. I'm not sure if my size even exists here in womens. Oh well. What's new.

Mucho amor,
Meg


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

So Tired!


Oh my gosh! I' m so exhausted. It's been non stop running around since i got here and up every morning at six. I'm about falling asleep while typing.

So today was the second day of class. I did get placed in the highest level possible (advanzado 1), so that's a relief that i'll receive credit back home. Class is four hours long every morning. It's a lot to take. Just imagine having to concentrate on every individual word someone speaks for four hours straight whilst sitting in the most uncomfortable chair one could fathom. Like seriously, who designed those torture devices?!

I also have blisters on my feet from walking so much in sandals. But i HATE tennis shoes unless i'm working out. Oh well. I'm sure my feet will adjust.

I'm going to the Costa Rican equivalent of a Walmart in about an hour to get a cheap watch and look around. I def should have brought my watch. There are no clocks ANYWHERE. I'm not even joking. It's the costa rican way of life though. Time is no where near as important here as it is in the US. I mean, we literally have clocks in every freaking room (even bathrooms) in the US. I have not seen a single clock since I have been here, not counting the alarm clock I brought from home.

Get this. We went to the rainforest yesterday! Well, not exactly...but sorta. It was the rainforest, but it was also kind of a touristy spot so the animals were on display for us. None the less, it was amazing. They had a frog habitat where the frogs were just hanging out on random leaves right by your head! And of course they were so colorful! The butterfly garden was really cool too. In the hummingbird garden I kept flinching because there were so many that I could swear one was gonna put my eye out the way they were all zoomin around! And they even sit still every once in awhile there! The coolest was prolly the toucan habitat cuz we got to go inside and feed them, pet them, and hold them! Such colorful beaks! The bus ride there was crazy though. Up all these dirts roads winding up the mountain, driving a foot away from the edge (you know, from certain death), and during the rainy hours of course. It was great! The girls and I had so much fun cat calling all the boys in the tiny villages we drove through in the mountain too! I suppose I should explain. Here, as in many Latin American countries, honking is a way of life. It means many things. But the most common is for the men to honk at girls walking on the street. It's not meant to be degrading, though it does take a little getting used to for us US ppl. It really just means u look nice today. So we figured we would turn it around on them and see how the boys liked being called at! lol. It was great. Many confused looks. But most enjoyed it of course. One of the girls called out to a guy on a bike...with his girl on the back. Lol. Bad move. When he pulled over to look as we drove by, his girl got off the bike and slapped him in the back of the head. It was pretty funny. They were both smiling so I'm sure we stupid Americans didn't destroy the relationship or anything. lol.

I think that's all I'm gonna say for now...except for that this ONE spanish class is shaping up to be A LOT of work. Too much freaking studying for being in Costa Rica! But whatever.

To Ma specifically, you can leave comments on any of my posts and I can read them, but I can't repsond to your post specifically...at least I haven't figured it out yet if I can. Isn't your email vendico3@aol.com? That's what I sent my last email to but you said you didnt get it.

Love Love Love
Meg