September 1-8

Well, it´s been over a week so I apologize and say in advance that this may be a long one. So here´s what I´ve been up to....

Friday we had orientation the whole day at the LASP office. It was a bit overwhelming getting the syllabus and realizing, oh yeah, I am here to study. For my Advanced Language and Literature concentration I have to complete all written work in Spanish, including the 7-10 page research paper due at the end of October(ahh!!!). My basic schedule is Latin American Studies class 2 days a week from 8-12, ILE grammar and conversation class M-F 1-4, and the other times usually consist of getting around town and studying.

Last week was spent hanging out with my family and just doing whatever they did. Friday night I went with Fabiola to basically a high school dance. It was pretty fun, but I went home a little early and hung out with mom watching her favorite telenovela, or soap opera. Saturday morning we went to the equivalent of a farmer´s market except much bigger. It was a lot of fun especially learning all the new words for new fruits and veggies I saw. Bananas and carrots were like a foot long. It was a fun little day. That night I went with Fabiola and Vanessa and friends to a Spanish rock concert at the school. It was fun and I felt a little at home since I think of rock music as American.

Sunday I went with mom to church at Oasis de Esperanza (Oasis of Hope). It was such a neat experience. They sang several contemporary Christian songs in Spanish so it was easy for me to sing along. It´s a really big church, full of enthusiasm and passion. I really liked it and the coolest part is worshipping God in a new language. I always feel that my vocabulary is too small to praise God, and it´s cool to have another language´s vocabulary to use. After church I went with my mom and 2 of her sisters to the mall and window shopped. That night we just hung out and did homework. LOTS OF HOMEWORK!

Monday was the first day of riding the bus by myself. I was a little late, but I didn´t get lost so I was very proud of myself. I woke up around 6:30, left at 7:30, classes started at 8 and ended at 12, took a cab to ILE, ate lunch, had classes till 4, took a bus to San Jose, took a bus to Moravia my neighborhood, and arrived home around 6. What a full day! Homework, dinner, shower, and bedtime around 10-1030. I know it´s early but I am so tired by the end of the day! The sun comes up bright and early through my windows at 5:30 so I usually wake up then anyways.

Tuesday I didn´t have class at LASP so I just went to San Jose for a while then on to classes. Wednesday we had class at LASP and had a speaker who talked about TLC (or CAFTA in English) the Free Trade Agreement in the states. It´s a big deal that´s being voted on in October, so I´ll be here to witness a historical moment for Costa Rica. It´s really interesting. Basically the US is trying to impose its neoliberal policies on Costa Rica which tend to make the rich richer and poor poorer. It´s debateable, but the statistics back that view. This is in contrast with Costa Rica´s socialist government which historically has had pretty equal population. It´s a fight to hold on to old ways, or step into the new way many governments tend to be moving. This is just one of the many interesting topics that will be dealt with this semester. I´m not a very political person (really I´ve never paid attention) but here they are really throwing stuff out there and making you think about it. It´ll be an interesting semester, but I like the challenge and new viewpoints.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty normal. Friday everyone was talking about weekend plans. We all want to take advantage of being in Costa Rica! Jessie, Caroline, Rachel, and I bought bus tickets for Saturday morning at shady Coca Cola terminal. Glad we don´t go to that part of town much. Caroline spent the night and we were up at 5 Saturday. A taxi picked us up at 6, we went and got Rachel and Jessie, made it to the terminal, and got on the bus headed for Quepas on the Pacific coast. It was a $4, 4 hour busride that took us to the beach! Manuel Antonio is a natural park like 10 minutes from Quepas. We spent the day there swimming and hiking. It was absolutely beautiful! We saw monkeys, huge lizards (like 2 foot), and other wildlife just hanging out. The park was everything you think of when you think of Costa Rica. Now we are at a hostel overlooking the beach and trees and beauty. We´re taking an early bus back to San Jose tomorrow to go to church and do homework. So here´s the rundown: $4 bus, $7 park ticket, $12 night at hostel, which equals a $25 weekend getaway to the beach! Priceless.

Costa Rica is such a cool country because you have mountains, beach, rainforest, volcanoes, everything! I love it. San Jose is a pretty dirty city but it is surrounded by mountains which make it beautiful. Homework has started to sink in and take its toll, but I still love this experience. The weather here is crazy. Sunny in the morning, rainy in the afternoon-night, 7 days a week. Although it didn´t rain at the beach today, Praise God! I´m getting used to the routine here and making my way around town. I love being immersed in the language and it is so comforting to have Caroline, Rachel, and Jessie to share this experience with.

I´m trying to think of a funny story to tell because I have laughed so much, but most of the stories are had to be there. We did have a scary experience on the bus this morning. We crossed 2 bridges where we had maybe 6 inches on either side of the bus. It wasn´t a concrete bridge either; it was like boards across and the bus shaked over every one. They weren´t very high off ground, but the crocidiles in the water did not make us feel any safer. At least we lived to tell about it and look forward to crossing them again in the morning on the way back! Pray for us.

Well, guess I better get back to my sunset on the Pacific ocean...love!