Wind whips the back of my shirt as I leap onto the curb in the street outside my house. A car horn honks in the distance answered by four or five more honks, as if the noise will speed up traffic. I do a quick side step to avoid the strange holes randomly placed in the sidewalk. It would be far too easy to break an ankle just walking to school if one was not cautious of the sidewalk condition. The smell of fresh baked bread and pastries dances on the wind (if you have ever walked past a bakery specifically in Latin America you know what I mean, if not it is something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime). Each morning I walk past the same green, yellow, and orange houses. Their gates are grand and formidable, but I know that this extra security is the way of life here, they are not housing prisoners. I have grown to love the ways of life that are so different, because they make up parts of this always exciting city that I call my home. I pass the little park with the graffiti of “Leo Indio”, the man with the pickup truck full of fruit shouts good morning, and I almost trip in the same potholes every day. And in the moments where I am alone taking in the simple things that make Santa Marta a bustling neighborhood full of vibrant people, I am grateful to be exactly where I am.
Aunque San Jose es muy diferente que todo yo soy acostumbrado en los Estados Unidos, yo he crecido a encantar mucho. Todas las cosas normales aqui en mi barrio de Santa Marta son especifica a Costa Rica, entonces por eso son muy especiales a mi. Santa Marta es un barrio encantador, y a mi me encanta mucho pasar tiempo aqui. Me siento seguro casi todo del tiempo aqui, pero por su puesto siempre tengo sentido comun. No hay palabras para describir todo, pero es un lugar muy especial y lindo.
Last weekend a few brave souls wanted to venture to a waterfall close to San Jose. One bus ride downtown and a walk down the busy avenue in San Jose Centro led us to our first destination. Not many people know about directions in Costa Rica, but there is no such thing as an address, or a map. So we paused at the corner where my parent’s instructions stopped to ask for further directions. From there we were told to go 200 meters left and 100 meters right. When we asked again we were told to go 100 meters straight and then 50 meters to the right. There we actually found the bus station! Of course, it was the wrong one. So we went 100 meters right and 300 right again, where we asked someone else and turn left for 50 meters. After that we were told to go back and go 400 more meters left and then to the right. We eventually did find the bus station that would take us to the waterfalls, only to discover that we were too late and we should take a different bus from a different station in order to get to these specific falls. After 3 hours walking in the hot sun no one had the energy to try and find the correct station, so we decided to try another day. Although I felt very defeated after this particular adventure, part of me found it comical. This is something that gives San Jose its character, and it is a way of life to ask for vague directions everywhere we go. I have come to accept that I need to let go of my attachment to knowing exactly where I am on a map at all times. I am slowly learning the names of landmarks used as references in directions, and learning that I will never get the same set of directions from any two people. I have also learned that people will give me directions whether they know what I am looking for or not, they genuinely want to help. Although I’ve gotten lost countless times due to this fact, I think that it is a sweet quality of the Costa Rican people. It’s all part of this experience, and I am still loving every second.
Aqui en Costa Rica las direcciones son muy diferentes que en los Estados Unidos. No hay mapas de las ciudades, nuestro mapa es la gente que viven aqui. Toda la gente quieren ayudar, y siempre tienen algo para decir. No may numeros o nombres en las calles ni cases, solamente muchas preguntas y las palabras de las personas. La gente aqui en Costa Rica simplemente conocen su pais, y es digno de admiracion.
Last Saturday night (October 24) my tica mom and I went to the dance performance of a friend’s daughter in downtown San Jose. We took the bus downtown which is an adventure in itself, not to mention finding our final destination. Of course my mom knew exactly where to go by simply looking at the buildings around us, it is so cool to see how well she knows the city without ever knowing the street names. The dancers were incredible! They performed four very lengthy dances that were very abstract and beautiful. The last was named “La Lloraria” which was based upon a popular Latin American anecdote. It was creepy because of the premise of the story, but the dancers all did so well. Afterward we had coffee and empenadas downtown and rode the bus home. I have been loving my time with my host parents. They are wonderful and kind, and they love to practice Spanish with me. Sunday mornings I get up late (after they go to church) and we make breakfast together with hot chocolate with cheese. I feel grateful every day to have been placed with such a loving family.
Mi mama tica es una de las personas que conocen Costa Rica muy bien. Ella puede guiarme a traves de San Jose centro a un baile. Despues ella encontro un restaurante para comer empenadas y beber café. Y al final camino con migo a los buses para regresar a nuestra casa. Yo admiro a mi mama mucho porque ella tiene un buen sentido de direcciones, y puede mostrar eso a mi.
This past Friday (October 30) Alyssa, Jacob and I bussed to Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo for the day. The highway winds right through this incredible mountainous national park, while clouds hang so low that you could touch them out the bus window. We hiked to a ridge overlooking the Rio Sucio, which means “dirty river” even though it was beautiful and clean. The hills rolled up and down in front of us and fog hung heavy in the air. It really looked like a place so unexplored and exotic that dark and dangerous creatures could thrive there without ever being discovered. The tree canopy was so thick in this area that for parts of the trail we couldn’t feel the rain as it began to fall. When it turned into a torrential downpour, however, we didn’t just feel a few raindrops, we were soaked all the way through from sopping wet backpacks to squishy socks in our hiking boots. The mud became incredibly soft and slippery, as did the rocks and we misjudged a few watery areas, resulting in even more wet and squishy socks. It was an awesome day! Being surrounded by the wondrous trees and wildlife of the forest could never be ruined by a little (or a lot) of rain. We were actually grateful on the bus ride back that we had to stand and there were no empty seats, because we would have soaked them through.
La lluvia tambien es una cosa que no soy acostumbrado. Cuando llueve en Costa Rica, nadie esta seguro. Si esta afuera, estaria muy mojado. En el bosque hay poco refugio, pero no mucho. Es magico estar en el bosque cuando esta lloviendo, porque todo parece nueve y fresca. Hay rios en los caminos y cascadas en los arboles, y es tan bonito para ver. Me gusta la lluvia mas y mas cada dia, porque es un parte de la vida que me encanta aqui en Costa Rica.
Yesterday (October 31) nine adventurers wandered out to Colone to visit the home of one of our professors at Universidad Fidelitas. The home was nestled far down a winding road lined with fuchsia flowers, gigantic crooked trees and waterfalls. We hiked down to a river nearby, and what we found was both beautiful and horrifying. The wide river tumbled down the mountains with grace, but lining its banks was a skirt of trash. So much trash that it looked impossible to clean. A huge problem here in Costa Rica is the throwing of trash into the rivers. There seems to be a lack of forethought as to where all the trash ends up when people carelessly throw it into rivers as the rush through the cities. In this rural area hundreds of various plastic bottles and boxes clogged the rocky shores. This was very hard to see, especially because I don’t know of any active efforts to help clean up and prevent this problem in this specific area.
After seeing the river we went back to our professor’s house, where in his yard there was waterfall! We relaxed in the water and let it pound down onto our heads. I explored down the creek a ways, into the peaceful wilderness. It was amazing to see such a beautiful and tranquil place so easily accessible. Costa Rica keeps surprising me with all the wonders it has to offer. I feel fortunate to have been able to experience this life force of water gushing forth from the earth. We all cooked lunch together and chatted before returning to San Jose in the afternoon, all in all a very successful adventure!
El viaje a la casa de nuestro professor Ro fue muy bonito. Visitamos un rio en Colon, fue el real “rio sucio”. Hubo bastante basura en las orillas. El rio fue bonito, pero la basura fue muy feo y triste tambien. Quiero educar mas las concequencias de basura en la naturaleza, porque es una gran problema aqui en Costa Rica. Nosotros vimos cascadas tambien, y esas fue limpias y muy tranquilas. Nos encantaba las cascadas y disfrutabamos nuestro tiempo mucho.
Aunque San Jose es muy diferente que todo yo soy acostumbrado en los Estados Unidos, yo he crecido a encantar mucho. Todas las cosas normales aqui en mi barrio de Santa Marta son especifica a Costa Rica, entonces por eso son muy especiales a mi. Santa Marta es un barrio encantador, y a mi me encanta mucho pasar tiempo aqui. Me siento seguro casi todo del tiempo aqui, pero por su puesto siempre tengo sentido comun. No hay palabras para describir todo, pero es un lugar muy especial y lindo.
Last weekend a few brave souls wanted to venture to a waterfall close to San Jose. One bus ride downtown and a walk down the busy avenue in San Jose Centro led us to our first destination. Not many people know about directions in Costa Rica, but there is no such thing as an address, or a map. So we paused at the corner where my parent’s instructions stopped to ask for further directions. From there we were told to go 200 meters left and 100 meters right. When we asked again we were told to go 100 meters straight and then 50 meters to the right. There we actually found the bus station! Of course, it was the wrong one. So we went 100 meters right and 300 right again, where we asked someone else and turn left for 50 meters. After that we were told to go back and go 400 more meters left and then to the right. We eventually did find the bus station that would take us to the waterfalls, only to discover that we were too late and we should take a different bus from a different station in order to get to these specific falls. After 3 hours walking in the hot sun no one had the energy to try and find the correct station, so we decided to try another day. Although I felt very defeated after this particular adventure, part of me found it comical. This is something that gives San Jose its character, and it is a way of life to ask for vague directions everywhere we go. I have come to accept that I need to let go of my attachment to knowing exactly where I am on a map at all times. I am slowly learning the names of landmarks used as references in directions, and learning that I will never get the same set of directions from any two people. I have also learned that people will give me directions whether they know what I am looking for or not, they genuinely want to help. Although I’ve gotten lost countless times due to this fact, I think that it is a sweet quality of the Costa Rican people. It’s all part of this experience, and I am still loving every second.
Aqui en Costa Rica las direcciones son muy diferentes que en los Estados Unidos. No hay mapas de las ciudades, nuestro mapa es la gente que viven aqui. Toda la gente quieren ayudar, y siempre tienen algo para decir. No may numeros o nombres en las calles ni cases, solamente muchas preguntas y las palabras de las personas. La gente aqui en Costa Rica simplemente conocen su pais, y es digno de admiracion.
Last Saturday night (October 24) my tica mom and I went to the dance performance of a friend’s daughter in downtown San Jose. We took the bus downtown which is an adventure in itself, not to mention finding our final destination. Of course my mom knew exactly where to go by simply looking at the buildings around us, it is so cool to see how well she knows the city without ever knowing the street names. The dancers were incredible! They performed four very lengthy dances that were very abstract and beautiful. The last was named “La Lloraria” which was based upon a popular Latin American anecdote. It was creepy because of the premise of the story, but the dancers all did so well. Afterward we had coffee and empenadas downtown and rode the bus home. I have been loving my time with my host parents. They are wonderful and kind, and they love to practice Spanish with me. Sunday mornings I get up late (after they go to church) and we make breakfast together with hot chocolate with cheese. I feel grateful every day to have been placed with such a loving family.
Mi mama tica es una de las personas que conocen Costa Rica muy bien. Ella puede guiarme a traves de San Jose centro a un baile. Despues ella encontro un restaurante para comer empenadas y beber café. Y al final camino con migo a los buses para regresar a nuestra casa. Yo admiro a mi mama mucho porque ella tiene un buen sentido de direcciones, y puede mostrar eso a mi.
This past Friday (October 30) Alyssa, Jacob and I bussed to Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo for the day. The highway winds right through this incredible mountainous national park, while clouds hang so low that you could touch them out the bus window. We hiked to a ridge overlooking the Rio Sucio, which means “dirty river” even though it was beautiful and clean. The hills rolled up and down in front of us and fog hung heavy in the air. It really looked like a place so unexplored and exotic that dark and dangerous creatures could thrive there without ever being discovered. The tree canopy was so thick in this area that for parts of the trail we couldn’t feel the rain as it began to fall. When it turned into a torrential downpour, however, we didn’t just feel a few raindrops, we were soaked all the way through from sopping wet backpacks to squishy socks in our hiking boots. The mud became incredibly soft and slippery, as did the rocks and we misjudged a few watery areas, resulting in even more wet and squishy socks. It was an awesome day! Being surrounded by the wondrous trees and wildlife of the forest could never be ruined by a little (or a lot) of rain. We were actually grateful on the bus ride back that we had to stand and there were no empty seats, because we would have soaked them through.
La lluvia tambien es una cosa que no soy acostumbrado. Cuando llueve en Costa Rica, nadie esta seguro. Si esta afuera, estaria muy mojado. En el bosque hay poco refugio, pero no mucho. Es magico estar en el bosque cuando esta lloviendo, porque todo parece nueve y fresca. Hay rios en los caminos y cascadas en los arboles, y es tan bonito para ver. Me gusta la lluvia mas y mas cada dia, porque es un parte de la vida que me encanta aqui en Costa Rica.
Yesterday (October 31) nine adventurers wandered out to Colone to visit the home of one of our professors at Universidad Fidelitas. The home was nestled far down a winding road lined with fuchsia flowers, gigantic crooked trees and waterfalls. We hiked down to a river nearby, and what we found was both beautiful and horrifying. The wide river tumbled down the mountains with grace, but lining its banks was a skirt of trash. So much trash that it looked impossible to clean. A huge problem here in Costa Rica is the throwing of trash into the rivers. There seems to be a lack of forethought as to where all the trash ends up when people carelessly throw it into rivers as the rush through the cities. In this rural area hundreds of various plastic bottles and boxes clogged the rocky shores. This was very hard to see, especially because I don’t know of any active efforts to help clean up and prevent this problem in this specific area.
After seeing the river we went back to our professor’s house, where in his yard there was waterfall! We relaxed in the water and let it pound down onto our heads. I explored down the creek a ways, into the peaceful wilderness. It was amazing to see such a beautiful and tranquil place so easily accessible. Costa Rica keeps surprising me with all the wonders it has to offer. I feel fortunate to have been able to experience this life force of water gushing forth from the earth. We all cooked lunch together and chatted before returning to San Jose in the afternoon, all in all a very successful adventure!
El viaje a la casa de nuestro professor Ro fue muy bonito. Visitamos un rio en Colon, fue el real “rio sucio”. Hubo bastante basura en las orillas. El rio fue bonito, pero la basura fue muy feo y triste tambien. Quiero educar mas las concequencias de basura en la naturaleza, porque es una gran problema aqui en Costa Rica. Nosotros vimos cascadas tambien, y esas fue limpias y muy tranquilas. Nos encantaba las cascadas y disfrutabamos nuestro tiempo mucho.