The day I discovered Endorphins

Today has been a GREAT day! Actually, it has been a pretty great week overall. Last week was the first week of school, but I had two papers due for my Costa Rica class. But now I am free! Classes are going pretty well, but I have only had 3 days of classes. I don't have Monday or Friday classes, and for some reason we had a snow day last Thursday. Oh well!

Today I had my lab for Dynamic Earth, which meant I drew arrows on a map and did some math. After, Michelle and I worked out- and it was great! Everybody always talks about how exercising releases Endorphins and you will be happier. I have NEVER experienced them before though, guessing I was just too out of shape. But today I didn't work myself too hard, but just kept a steady pace. It was really nice, and though I had a few moments of struggle I made it through with a smile on my face! Now, I only got a couple hours sleep last night (for reasons I wish I knew) but I was so happy/hyper tonight. After dinner Michelle and I went to Target and on our way back I was crashing. But we are motivated to go work out pretty much every day, because while we were at Target we tried on bathing suits. We probably should have just avoided them at all cost- but it made us decide for sure that we were hitting the Huff tomorrow(Huff = Huston Huffman Center/aka the Gym).

In other news, I got selected as an Alternate for an internship with the US Dept. of State. This is super cool, as 12,000 people applied for 1,000 positions. However, this doesn't give me any clear mind of what I will be doing this summer, which I don't like. They could call me up 4 days before and tell me that the spot opened up. This is something I REALLY want- and it would be the opportunity of a lifetime! So for now I am just praying that the people chosen get better offers of things to do for this summer- and that they are willing to turn down the DoS. So, despite the super cool-ness, I am having a little trouble getting excited about it. I am trying though, and I am sure the Endorphins are helping! :)

Last Full Day In Costa Rica

So, I am actually writing this post in March. I thought I finished all of my Costa Rican blogging, but I failed and didn't. Here is what I remember best from my last full day and then the travel-day home:

Thursday:

Went to class, and went over the last couple chapters for our class. We joked a lot because it was about Women in Leadership, and said that since we weren't testing over it, obviously our teacher didn't think Women in Leadership is important. This is completely wrong, but made us laugh. It was a really enjoyable day for class. After class, a bunch of us went downtown to an artisan market to by some crafty-looking/stereotypical souvenirs. I think I am kind of over souvenirs, because I only bought a keychain* and a magnet. Oh, and some really cool earrings made out of old Costa Rican coins.

Later that night, we decided we would still have the dinner that got cancelled the night before. The hotel helped us rent a bus for the night, which we discovered was MUCH cheaper than taxis. The bus took us up a HUGE hill/mountain for about an hour, and then we realized we couldn't find it. Costa Rica really needs to learn about the beautiful invention: addresses. We ended up making it, and the restaurant had a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous view of the whole valley lit up at night. We also caught the tail-end of a dancing performance which looked like a lot of fun. I truly love latin dancing! Also, to keep us entertained during the bus ride, we all sang. Patrick sang a lot, because we all love hearing him sing. Then Emily joined in, in which I started to harmonize. They then discovered I could sing, so Emily and I sang and Alicia Keys song (I think). It was fun to sing- it is a hobby I truly miss. This group has really helped me get out of my comfort zone, and I greatly appreciate it.

The rest of the day/night involved packing everything up and hanging out with others on the patio.

Friday:

The next morning, everyone started leaving. A lot of us were on the same plane, so we rented a van (again, much cheaper than taxis), and headed to the airport. It was a beautiful last day. The radio was even celebrating with us by playing a mix of 90s songs for us.

The plane ride was just fine as far as I can remember. It was weird to be on the plane with everyone, not sitting together, and knowing who they were. A complete turnaround from the plane ride to Costa Rica. When we got to the airport, customs took their sweet little time and so did immigration. Then so did security. I literally ran my heart out to my gate (after waiting on the train to get to my terminal that was moving way too slow). I got to the gate, and there was only one person in sight. The door was already shut. This was very reminiscent of my day-trip to D.C., and I thought there was no way I was going to make it on the plane this time. However, I was wrong. Apparently, Anna had told them I was coming, because she was one of the last to board. They asked if any other people were coming from Costa Rica. If it weren't for her, the amazing person at the end of the hall by the plane wouldn't have seen me looking in the window about to cry.

( I would like to say that as I was running, a man on a Gator-cart asked me where I was headed and told me to hurry- he thought it was already gone. Did he ask to take me down there? Nope. I decided I was too antsy anyway and my adrenaline was pushing me, my backpack, and 40 pound suitcase with higher horsepower than the Gator-cart had. I was better off running and sweating.)

On the plane, we ended up waiting for a very long time, without a/c. I was disgusting- hot, sweaty, and pumping with adrenaline. I don't think the guy next to me noticed though. He was quite the chatter bug. He was from Louisana- and was a very stereotypical "Bayou-man." After noticing he was trying to send very inappropriate messages from the air (without service, while flying--NOT supposed to have a phone on), I decided to not really let him talk to me anymore. That was a wise decision.

Then, outside the window, was that beautiful Tulsa night sky. I was home, and I was happy. (Of course I was even happier once I got my Taco Bell on the way home.)

:)

*Sadly, this keychain is now almost none existent. It was a chain with really colorful beads hanging off of it, and the very bottom bead is a heart. Now all that remain are a few beads and the heart. If it were a dog, this dog would have one of those really bad allergies to Grass and only have patches of hair randomly placed on its body. That is now how I view my sad, formerly really fun and cute, keychain. I apparently have bad luck with keychains, because my last one fell off in the parking lot outside and I have yet to see it again.

Test Day... Dun dun dun

Today was test day. Last night we were told that it was 30 minutes earlier. We get a wake up "call" from a friend yelling downstairs that she was wrong and it is actually the time we were originally told. But, of course, half of the students had already left because they wanted to go study at the school. We thought they were going too early, so we stayed at the hotel until closer to class-time so that everyone else wouldn't get us freaked out about the test. The test ended up not being the worst thing ever, but I know there were some things that I got wrong.

For lunch, we all piled onto the bus to go to a pizza place that was LITERALLY around the corner. Then, the bus couldn't park on the street and ended up waiting for us at the school's parking lot. Silly silly. But the pizza place was great. Pizza pizza pizza... and then.. an unexpected dessert of CREPES with NUTELLA. It had ice cream too, chocolate, but that did not matter to me. It was amazing, and tasted exactly how they do in Paris. It brought back that horrible addiction that I had in Europe, only I could only have one crepes. The girls around me only ate a few bites- but I went for it. You don't hand an ex-addict a nutella crepe and expect them to care about how many calories it has. It was fabulous.

Afterward, we went to Nature Air, which is a really cool airline that is the first carbon-neutral airline in the world. Basically, they fly small, twin-engine planes that have a max of 18-19 passengers. Each passenger has a specific weight limit of baggage, and if you go over they WILL NOT allow you to get on the plane with it. This is because they really can't put any more weight on the plane. We even saw a group of male fishers that encountered this problem and were trying to figure out what to do. Also, if you are over a certain weight you have to buy two tickets. All-in-all, this was a really cool company that was taking care of the environment serious. To be carbon neutral (since even thought these planes are better--they aren't perfect) they help fund a certain amount of eco-protection projects (like rainforest preservation) to make themselves neutral. I really learned a lot from this company. I keep thinking- but it isn't a perfect airline- but that is based off of the luxury that we are provided from our non-eco friendly airlines. It really made me think about what we take for granted and think is necessary that harms our environment. While I am not about to give up a lot of the things I love (like driving), it really makes me think that we need to reconsider how we view our lives.. I think I just repeated trains of thought but that was the best way I could express myself. :)

After Nature Air, we were supposed to visit HP. We got all pumped up and ended up at the wrong HP office, apparently. This time of day the traffic is worse than what I expect NYC's traffic. We attempted to go to the other office, and made it about a mile in an hour. Sean entertained us during this time, but needless to say we ended up turning back. We cancelled our group dinner to try to go to this, and ended up doing neither. When we got back, everyone was planning to go out for dinner, which meant waiting 2-3 hours before getting food. By this point, my carb/sugar crash from pizza and nutella crepes had hit my body full-force, and I needed food pronto. So, Patrick, Mary, and I went to a nearby soda (a Costa Rican walk up cafe type thing). We ordered meat and rice dishes called casada, which means marriage in Spanish. It is called Casada because it is like the food is having a marriage. They are cute. It was really filling (and cheap), so we came back from eating (before everyone else even left for dinner), did classwork, and then went to sleep.

Sometimes you just have to laugh

So, today was our "Epic" trip to the Rain forest. On the schedule was a 3 mile nature hike through the rain forest, a barbecue lunch, and going on the zip-line.

First off: We were told that the weather would be nice, sunny, only a little colder than the amazingly warm weather we have here in Santa Ana. Instead, it was cold and later rainy, and for the first trip this whole time I left my jacket at the hotel, go figure. I was sucking it up though. We opted out of the hike because we were all underdressed and they could take us in cars instead. Come to find out, most of the "nature hike" was up a gravel road up to the forest. The rest of the hike was going through ten feet of mud in the forest to a water hole. By water hole, I thought we would see a small pond or something. Actually, it is an area that is even muddier, with a sewer-type opening. They lifted up the cover, and it was clean water running over rocks underground. I mean, it was pretty cool how it all worked, and the water is supposedly clean to drink, but it was extremely anticlimactic. Also, we didn't really see any wildlife, which was also a little disappointing. During the hike our teacher got really upset and started talking to the guide in spanish, saying something like, "If anything happens to these kids I am screwed." I thought this was entertaining, but needless to say she is picking a more tourist-y place next time. It was fun to hike around though, and we were pretty muddy afterward. People were losing shoes all over the place! Haha. One thing we learned was that there are primary and secondary rainforests. Primary are original, and secondary are ones that have been cut down but are being grown back. The vegetation is more heavy because there is more sun. Oh, and I forgot to mention- the cars we drove in were real jeeps. I have pictures.

Then it was time for lunch. We had to wait over an hour because we were really ahead of schedule. We were at a really cool place- a pool, pool house that was two stories, indoor/outdoor kind of thing. It had a foozeball table, comfy seats, and a high "jump" for the pool. The boys thought it would be a great idea to jump in off of it, multiple times. They never dried off sense it was so cold/wet outside. I was entertained though. The food for lunch was: 1 piece of chicken, 1 piece of sausage, 1 piece of beef, corn tortillas, and tomatoes. It was really strange.

After eating it was time to get in our harnesses for the zip-line. The first zip line was really cool- I went through fog and was in love. I couldn't see anything for a while, which was amazing. Then I was able to see some, and realized I was a million feet of the ground and there was a river. The second zip line would have been great, but right at my turn we got cut by a smaller group. By the time it was my turn again, it was raining and very foggy. So I was a little upset. I just wanted a clearish sky for at least on of them. Then I had to check myself and stop feeling that way. After that we had two more that would go faster. It started raining even more and we were all freezing, and I just had to laugh at the situation. It was a lot of fun, though I still couldn't really see. Two of the girls ran into a tree because they couldn't brake enough. Apparently this place has only been open for 6 months(originally a lawyer's fun place for his family that they decided to turn into a business). This explains that it was really disorganized and probably too fast for a zipline. Oh, and the fact it was raining. Haha.

Right before the ride back down the hill it grew even more rainy. The car I got in was one without a roof, and we just had to laugh at the situation. Well, Ashton and I did- everyone else was a little upset. But it was cold, rainy, and we were scared to fall out of the vehicle. No biggie. We arrived back at the bus, put dry clothes on(we were told to bring some for the mud) and then went across the street for hot chocolate. It was amazing hot chocolate. I could taste the lactose in it- but I didn't care. I love hot choclate, in case you didn't know.

I napped and studied on the bus. For dinner we ordered pizza and studied all night. Bed at 10:30 to wake up for our test in the morning.

Oh- and apparently there is a stomach virus going around Costa Rica, so that is probably what we all had.

Getting there..

Today I am feeling better, but my stomach is still bothering me. Our rainforest visit was moved to tomorrow to give us sickly ones another day to get better. Waking up this morning, we found out that Cindy is sick and class started at 10. We finished our movie and it was pretty good. Then we had a group assignment and chilled till lunch. People played volleyball again, but I am pretty sure my stomach would have killed me if I joined in this time. Recess today = checking my email and relaxing.

The rest of the day was fairly easy. Cindy came after lunch and we had more class time. Then I came back and napped before heading to dinner. I studied a little bit, skyped with Marc and Mallori, and checked up on everything back in America. Pretty easy day.

Tomorrow, the rainforest!!

Cabin Fever

Today was our second free day. Unfortunately, I woke up at 1 am sick. I slept horribly all night, but napped a lot throughout the day. There is something going around our group, but I seem to be doing the best out of everyone who is sick. I watched some English movies on tv and talked to my parents a little bit. Cindy got us some adult pedialyte stuff and crackers. My diet for the day has been Crackers, Bread, and Cheeze-its. Plus powerade, water, and the adult pedialyte. I have been slowly getting better throughout the day, but am not perfect yet. I was lucky though, because nobody was really doing much of anything today.

My friend Mary brought me Haggen-Das Dulce Leche ice cream. :) She remembered me saying that my mom would get it for me to cheer me up. It made my day. I haven't eaten it yet, but it will be great when I do!

500 Stairs

Today was one of our free days. Most of us got together and rented a bus to go to Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna. This city has the Arenal Volcano. We saw the volcano, but not the top of it like at the Poas Volcano. It was a three hour drive, and half of it (at least) was made of up really curvy roads, making some car sick. We ended up getting there 45 minutes before the Hot Springs opened, but we were able to entertain ourselves. The hot springs were amazing! They got hotter as you went up, and there were many pools. The first pools had swim up bars where later we all got smoothies. Continuing up there were some water slides, which were a ton of fun. At the very top- a really cool man-made waterfall with scolding hot water (though some people thought it felt great). I stayed in the water as long as possible, and was very pruney by the end. It felt so great to get to swim around again. It had been too long! After the hot springs, we went to a Mexican restaurant in town that was pretty good. I tried fried Yuka, which is like a potato and tasted similar to french fries, just less greasy.

After lunch, we headed to the La Fortuna waterfall. It was 500 steps up and down, some very steep and complicated, but we made it! The waterfall was beautiful, and I will definitely post pictures later! I didn't have my bathing suit on anymore, so I just got my feet in. It was fun watching the few that got all the way in attempt to swim toward the fall. Heading back up the stairs was difficult, but my group knocked it out quickly to get it out of the way. After that I watched the waterfall from a lookout tower, and did not want to leave. It was then time to head back, and we were all wiped out. After an hour nap, we all started waking up to a very, very foggy evening. I am surprised the bus driver was able to drive those curvy roads with so little visibility. We entertained ourselves with joking and singing the rest of the way back. Some of us then ordered pizza, and I went with a group to a nearby Chinese restaurant. She spoke Cantonese, and so does our friend Patrick, so he ended up ordering for us since the menu was in Spanish. It was fun.

Pereza!

Today we had class for a little while, and then left to go to INBioparque. It is a nature reserve type area that specializes in researching and protecting the environment and all the species in it. We ate lunch there, which was actually better than yesterdays. They had the best chicken I have ever had. EVER. It was perfect. I think most of the food here is just made so much better than in America. Surely not everything, but at least chicken and vegetables. Costa Ricans really love chicken though, especially fried. After lunch we got an introduction to INBioparque, and then started our tour. We saw two sloths!! They were adorable and really high in the trees. They were two different species, one was short-haired and one long-haired. Sloth in Spanish is "pereza," which literally means lazy. Apparently sometimes the sloths get out and the neighbors call- much like America and dogs. It made me laugh. Silly sloths. We also saw baby deer, which were incredibly cute. After the tour we listened to a speech about environment and corporate responsibility. We were all having trouble staying awake and were thankful that it was over in 30 minutes. Getting back there was a TON of traffic. Since it was taking so long, we began to entertain ourselves. My roommate, Madelyn, started a game with herself to high five people on the street. She automatically one the game if she high-fived someone in a car. She finally got a car high-five, and it was a victorious moment for the whole bus. She was going for people in a bus, but a guy that was obviously on drugs saw her and looked like he fell in love instantly. We were very grateful to get away from that bus quickly, because they guy was very creepy.

For the rest of the night, we went to dinner and went out dancing. Dinner was half McDonalds/half restaurant because it was farther away than we thought. We took the bus, and were told a couple blocks, but in reality it was much farther. We stopped at McDonalds because some of us were starving. Then we switched destinations to a better place, so we took taxis there. The clubs were right by the restaurant we went to. It was a fun night, aside from the fact my friend Mary's camera got stolen (we are pretty sure by the waiter). On the way home, our taxis raced each other, so we yelled things like "andale" and "bamanos" to them. They weren't speeding, just having fun. Our taxi one, most likely because I was the one with the directions. :)

#11, Check!

This morning was our trip to the Poas Volcano! First off, seeing a volcano is on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Check!! We had to leave an hour earlier than usual, but it was very worth it. Our tour guide was Louis, and he was great. He told us lots of fun stories about Costa Rica. Some of the fun things he said:

-His son will be president of Costa Rica someday

-The cows in the mountains produce a very sweet milk and it is very famous.

-He has us hold our hands in the air, crossing our fingers that we could see the volcano- and we did! Afterward he thanked god because he was Christian that we could see it. It was cool to me, because he was really cool about it- not afraid of being politically correct like in America.

-There were these giant leaves that were the first plant of Costa Rica. Long ago, Costa Rica was the last country to emerge and the volcanoes rose with these leaves on them. They only exist in the "cloud forest"- the forest that is high enough to be in the clouds.

-He really wanted us to experience things, so he had us stop many places along the way.

-He also told us we were learning Spanish today, and taught us Spanish words all day.

We drove across San Jose and into the province of Alajuela. The mountains began and we started out trip up with beautiful sights to see. Louis had us stop to take pictures with the Central Valley in the background. It was amazing to see. We continued on and stopped to get some Doka Estate cappuccinos (the coffee company we traveled to later). I don't like coffee, so I got a mocha. After adding sugar it was actually pretty good! It seems I keep travelling to areas of the world that specialize with my least favorite drinks(ironic?)- and I end up starting to like them!

Then we went to the Volcano. He told us that if it smelled like sulfur than we could only stay for a maximum of 10 minutes. Luckily, we couldn't really smell it and could stay a little longer. At first it was all foggy and we couldn't see anything. But then all of a sudden the clouds were gone and you could see the crater. It was one of the coolest things I have seen in my life! After that trail we walked up another to the Botos Lagoon. It was beautiful blue water surrounded by forest- very idyllic.

After the lagoon it was time to hit the road again to head for lunch. On the way, we stopped to buy strawberries. This area isn't just none for coffee and sweet cow milk, but for strawberries. I got a bag for 1-2 dollars and was in heaven. Then we stopped down the road for strawberry milkshakes. They were different than what I expected from a milkshake- but they were really good! Forget being lactose-intolerant. :)

Then we were finally on the way to lunch. We headed to the coffee farm, Doka Estate, and had a buffet lunch. The desert items were plantains and a coconut bar thing- which was actually pretty good despite my dislike for coconut. They gave us mango juice to drink, which had a strange taste but was better than nothing. After lunch we had a tour of the coffee farm. It was really cool- and like I said before, I don't like coffee. They took us through all the steps and it amazes me just how much goes into the process and how long it takes. The coffee is still hand picked, also, and people get paid I think a dollar per bucket of berries- which is a lot of picking! They said it is not a job people like, and I can see why. At the end of the tour, they set us free in the gift shop where they let us try chocolate covered coffee beans. I absolutely loved them, and bought two bags. I think I ate too many though, I could feel it.

When we got back to the hotel it was time to get some homework out of the way. After that, we went to dinner as a group with Cyndi(the director of JCPenney Leadership Program and our teacher for the trip). We went to a restaurant that looked like a house, and ate on the "patio," which meant that our chairs were in gravel. It was strange, but it was a nice place and the weather was great. I love getting to eat outside so much. Dinner lasted for a very long time, given that it is a nice restaurant and there are over 20 of us. I ate bruschetta and a tilapia dish. Dinner was also accompanied with a "panel" of boys and girls giving relationship/dating advice. It was very entertaining. After we finished, the bus had a flat tire. They boys tried to help. The first problem was it had rained all day and they had trouble with the jack. Then the nuts couldn't be taken off no matter how hard they tried (they even broke one). Someone said they were cross-something, if that means anything to you all. Cyndi ended up calling taxis for us, and that was the end of our night. Because dinner took so long, class got pushed back 30 minutes for tomorrow!

Day 2

Waking up today was a little bit more rough. I attempted to sleep to my alarm, but the construction workers across the street decided that I was not allowed. Breakfast today included Pancakes though, which brightened my spirits! The first part of class was great- discussion time which included a "recess" where we played circle-volleyball for thirty minutes. It was a lot of fun and was the perfect race. Recess is a great idea!

After lunch we had a speaker come in that works on environmental management/research in Costa Rica. He was Australian, and with the echo in the room it was difficult to hear(I was sitting at the back). He talked a LOT about carbons, haha. After that we stayed late so that we won't have class on Saturday, and began a movie called "Stand and Deliver."

Next, we had dance class! :) We learned Merengue and Salsa. I know some Salsa already from ballroom, and I got a thumbs up from the teacher, haha. I think I want to take just a Salsa class, because it is definitely my favorite. For dinner we all went to a place called "Old West" that the hotel suggested to us. It took a while to get our food, but we all had a lot of fun and the food was amazing. One of the waitresses would take our names for our order, and then giggle. She was a lot of fun. The other waitress failed and was mean- but the other made up for it. Then we all came back and began reading for Friday's class. Tomorrow- Volcano!!!!!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Today was our first day of class. I woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning! It was dark in the room, and I opened the bathroom door to blinding light. Once I recovered, we opened the curtains and doors and enjoyed a lovely morning. We eat breakfast at the hotel, under a straw covered patio near the pool. I was definitely loving that setup. After eating, we met up with Jay, the international student coordinator(or something like that) for the school we are staying at. We are at the United World Colleges campus in Costa Rica. Jay took us the long way to school so that we could see the different ways we could get there and a little bit of what is around us. On the way, I saw a cat sitting on a roof. A tin roof. And I instantly thought of the play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." :)

Once we got to the campus we had to be let in by a guard and then we also had to sign in. The campus is fairly small (nothing like OU). It has a soccer field, and the buildings are connected by a covered walkway that stair-steps downward. At the end is the Library, where we have class. Beyond the library is a field and a stage.

The first part of class was an orientation from Jay about Santa Ana and United World Colleges (UWC). UWC was created in a response to World War II, to prevent it from happening again by inspiring young adults to have better awareness of other cultures. UWC is actually a high school that is intended to prepare students for University. The campus was also originally an orphanage, which I think is cool. Something I found interesting is their mindset on the environment. Jay told us that Costa Ricans share the idea that nature was here first and will be here long after us, and so to let the insects be- even giant spiders that are inside. He said if we were till go around on a killing insects than the Costa Ricans wouldn't be very fond of us. Americans tend to just kill anything because they are simply annoying. They are better at co-existing than we are. During orientation some students from the college were with us. There were 3 from Haiti, one from Thailand, one from Hong Kong, one from South America, and one from Kenya. We split up with them and talked about cultural differences based off of some questions that Jay gave us. It was really neat to get to interact with them. I am truly amazed by them also. One of the boys from Haiti came here knowing no Spanish or English, and now he knows both very well (after 1.5 years). It is always good to see people who accomplish so much. I feel sometimes we take for granted what we are capable of, and it is really inspiring to see.

After orientation we had snacks that the college provided for us. They had Cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, and two pastry things (one sweet and one with cheese and ham). They were really good and now we wish we could have snacks every day. Following snacks we had class for a little bit, reviewing what we had learned in America before Finals week. Then we headed to the cafeteria for lunch, right across the way. It is interesting how it works- you can have one entree and one starch. They had Chicken, Pork, Mashed Potatoes, and Rice. You cannot get both rice and potatoes. Also another idea I never considered. In American cafeterias growing up, I could get whatever I wanted. Here they only want you to take enough that you can eat. While we were eating the gave us a cooler of popsicles to pass around. The flavor was something unfamiliar to us, but fruity. You also put your trash separate from the food you didn't eat. The food leftover goes to feed a pig. They remind me of Native Americans in the way they make use out of everything they can.

After lunch we convinced Cindy to have class out on the stage. It was nice, but got interesting when we saw all the spiders living above us and things started falling from the trees. We moved class back inside when some women came to have their dance class on the stage. After class three of us went with Jay as he showed us around the "city center" of Santa Ana. Apparently in Costa Rica, the city centers are all around the main Catholic church. The Santa Ana church is called the 100 year old church- though they aren't quite sure how old it actually is. We found some new supermarkets and some places to get food, which came in handy later. Oh, and as we were leaving the school, some kids outside the "cat on a hot tin roof" house were roasting marshmallows over a makeshift fire on their driveway. I loved it. Also during our tour we tried Chicarrones (chaccaron? anyone?), which are some pork things that are really tasty. The shopkeeper was very nice and simply asked if we wanted to try them, even though we weren't buying any. They have fried ones that are kind of like chunks that remind me of really crunchy bacon, and non fried ones which you cut up that remind me of the texture of turkey legs. We decided we really liked these.

After the tour we had to get back to work. We had a ton of things to do. We did some group case studies, which took a little longer than I expected. We breaked for dinner, where I led a lot of us to a nearby Mexican restaurant that Jay pointed out during the tour. The dinner was very interesting, and the food was amazing. It is an actual Mexican family that owns the restaurant, and they were really nice. Then we went by an ice cream place we saw on the tour, but it was closed. So then the search was on. We ended up going to a bakery that had some interesting flavors. I passed since I am lactose-intolerant and none of the flavors were all that appealing.

And then it was 9 o'clock when we got back. My group finished our assignment, and then it was reading time. We had many articles to read, and I finally crawled into bed at 12:30. A very busy day, but I still love it here!

Pura Vida!

So, we have now been here for 4 hours. It feels like much longer than that already, but in a good way! The plane ride was not bad at all, and I absolutely love being in the same time zone. Our hotel is great- apartment style buildings. Right now we have the doors open and are enjoying the nice breeze of a possible storm coming in. Oh, and we can see the sunset from our windows. :)

The weather here is AMAZING! I got a little warm earlier, but the air feels so nice. I am definitely going to like it here! After we got slightly settled in, we went exploring. After getting directions (only a couple of us know spanish- and not the best) multiple times, we made it to the bus stop which we would take to get to the "strip." Near the bus stop, some of us stopped at a small stand in a building and got empanadas, since most of us hadn't eaten since 9 am. They were delicious! The others missed out and headed to the supermarket. We met up with them with plenty of time to spare.

It is funny- at the supermarket everything was pretty much the same. I guess I just expect it to be like China where you have to guess what everything is. I also keep thinking in Chinese. This shall be interesting!

After the supermarket, we realized we couldn't go the same way because there was a funeral march. We went out of the way (led by a guy who chose the wrong way, haha) and ended up finding the cemetery that the people were heading to. This was no normal funeral march. The street was packed with people and following a station wagon. I have never seen this many people heading to a funeral before; it seems like the community is probably really strong here.

That is my update for now! I am having a great time!

New Year, New Country!

So, I know that I haven't finished all my China blogs yet. Maybe that is my first New Years "to do."

But, I am going to keep you all updated on a new trip! I am leaving in the morning for Costa Rica! I will be staying in Santa Ana, San Jose, Costa Rica. I am going with the JCPenney Leadership Program and we are taking a Leadership class. For half the day we will have class, and half the day is free time or excursion time. I look forward to this trip and hope it is a great fresh start to 2011!

Map of Costa Rica

Zip-lining through the rainforest! I will get to do this!

I will be sure to catch one of these for you guys!! :)