Firsts and Lasts

This week marks the last week that I will spend in Quepos with my host family before heading off to San Pedro (a suburb of San José, the capitol) where I will spend the next six weeks. This past week flew by as I realized with each day that I was not going to be in Quepos for much longer. Here is an overview of my last week in Quepos (10/21-10/27):

Monday: Spanish class today consisted of reviewing for the final exam on Friday. Gloria, our teacher, informed us today that most of this week is going to be a review of everything we learned. However, we will also be learning Spanish words unique to Costa Rica. ¡Que chiva! (How great!) Our class decided to make Oreo Balls (aka Bolas de Oreo) for our host families. We started this process in class while we reviewed. After class, Kelly and I walked around Quepos to find a gift as a going away present for our host families. I ended up buying a hand made napkin holder for my host families. I figured this was a way that my host family could be reminded of my presence at each and every meal as I know I will be thinking of them often.

Making Oreo Balls in class!

 Tuesday: I had another day of review in Spanish class today. After class, I went to Tipico, a restaurant very close to COSI, where I ate chips and guacamole before going back to the school to work on my final paper for my NCC class. After working hard on my paper all afternoon, I went home to relax for a bit before dinner. Once dinner was over and I was done conversing with my mamá, I talked with my family from home via Skype. Towards the end of the conversation with my parents we went downstairs to talk to my Mamá Tica so that my parents could say thank you to her for caring for me for the past two months. I served as the translator during this conversation and afterwards I realized more and more just how much I am going to miss my mama.

Wednesday: Today was a very long day of class. I had my last NCC class this afternoon. We had a round table discussion about our final paper topics. I talked about the legends of Costa Rica and how they apply to the culture of Costa Rica today. After class, I came home to work on a bit of Spanish homework for class tomorrow. Then, as tradition holds, I attended Zumba for the last time tonight! My Mamá Tica said that she couldn’t come tonight to Zumba with me because she has a huge sewing project to work on. She was sewing around 130 hats for the fish market where my Papá Tico works.

Thursday: Reality hit today because after Spanish class I came home to pack up my things for when I leave for San José. It was something that I really did not want to do. However, I knew that if I didn’t do it this afternoon I would be up very late tomorrow packing because Jacob and I were making dinner for our host families tomorrow.

Friday: Today was a day filled with many “lasts” as it was my last day in Quepos. I took my final exam in Spanish class today and did very well! It was great news that I preformed so well on the final showing that I had really learned a lot but I am really going to miss my teacher, Gloria. Jacob and I invited her to dinner tonight at Jacob’s house for a meal made by both Jacob and I for our host families and Gloria. Luckily that was one less goodbye that I had to say early in the day on Friday.

After class, Jacob and I ran some errands and then went to La Feria (the open market) with his parents that were visiting from the States to buy supplies for dinner tonight. At La Feria we bought 12 tomatoes, 10 potatoes, 6 onions, 6 peppers, 3 gloves of garlic, 3 chili peppers, 3 avocadoes, 3 limes, and 1 cucumber. We bought all of these supplies for about 6500 colones or around $13 in order to make salsa and picadillo. My mamá insisted on making the rice and beans for the meal that was very kind of her and ended up working out for the better because Jacob and I ended up cutting up ingredients for a very long time. We started preparations for the meal at about 5:30 and we didn’t eat until 8 o’clock, granted we did have a few interruptions to our cooking including a trip to the super market to get meat, chips, and more peppers. All in all, the meal turned out very well and the experience was very eye opening to witness first hand the materials and conditions that our host moms cook with each day. The only downside to the meal was at the end I had to say goodbye to my teacher, Gloria.

Before preparation...

I graduated!

The Last Supper

 Saturday: It was quite sad waking up this morning and knowing that today is the day that I leave Quepos, the town that I called home for two months and will forever be my casa Tica, to go to San José. After saying goodbye to Jacob’s host family and my host mom’s sister and mom, Jacob, my Mamá Tica and I all piled into a taxi to drive to the location where we would be picked up to head onto the journey. Once the bus arrived (20 minutes late due to an accident) it was officially time to say the hardest goodbye yet…saying goodbye to my Mamá Tica. We had spent so much time together and I have gotten to know her so much better since the time that I arrived that saying goodbye knowing that I wouldn’t see her everyday was going to be difficult. However, I knew that this goodbye wasn’t the final goodbye as I plan to make at least one more trip back to Quepos to spend a weekend with my host family and say one final goodbye. Nonetheless, it was difficult to say goodbye and I still miss her dearly.

Once all goodbyes were said and done, we were on our way to San José. It took about 3.5 hours to arrive at COSI in San Pedro (a suburb of San José). We drove on roads that had many curves and turns and swerved in and out, up and down the mountainside. It was quite beautiful. However, when San José hit it felt like a whole new country! There was traffic everywhere and stores that we see daily in the U.S. we saw scattered throughout the city. For example, we saw Starbucks, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, etc. This was definitely going to take some getting used to because for the last 8 weeks we had been living a very laid back lifestyle with very few modern conveniences. Although it is quite a change, I am looking forward to the upcoming weeks!

Tomorrow we leave bright and early to spend a couple of days in Nicaragua. Check back next week for an update on how that trip went. ¡Hasta Luego!

~Kailey

The weeks are winding down...

It is crazy to think that this past week was my second to last week in Quepos and my last full weekend with my host family. I know I keep mentioning how fast the time here is passing by, but I still cannot believe that after completing this last week I only have one week left in Quepos! Despite being amazed by how fast the time flies by here in Costa Rica, I continue to enjoy myself each and every week. Below are the highlights of the past week (10/14-10/20):

Monday: From class to class to more class, my day stayed quite busy. This morning I took Spanish class as normal. I then enjoyed an hour break to rewind and refuel before our class for North Central in the afternoon. And of course, I attended Zumba tonight with my Mamá Tica.

Tuesday: Spanish class today was a bit different than the normal because we had class in the Backpacker’s Hostel common area. Our classroom was under construction for the day. After class, I stayed at COSI to work on homework for the week. My Mamá and I ate dinner together tonight just the two of us because my Papá was extremely tired and was already asleep. After dinner, the Mexico versus Costa Rica soccer game was on. This game was a VERY big deal for the Ticans. Costa Rica ended up winning the game that was a major accomplishment because this was the first time in 21 years the Costa Rica has beaten Mexico.

Wednesday: My day today was similar to that of Monday. I had Spanish class in the morning and then my NCC class in the afternoon. After class I came home to catch up on some emails and such. Then, as always, my Mamá Tica and I went to Zumba. While my Mamá and I were walking to Zumba tonight we discussed how I only have 1.5 weeks left in Quepos. This is when it really hit me that although I am ready for a change of pace and a new environment in San José, I am going to miss my Tican family here in Quepos!

Thursday: Today I had Spanish class in the morning, which I attended. However, I ended up being about 15-20 minutes late to school today because the bus from Quepos was caught in a long line due to construction. The electrical lines along side the road were being replaced today. This was an eye opening process as it involved many men and very little equipment. It was very nerve racking for me because after the line had finally let up and we were able to pass by on the road it was quite risky. In order to get through the road, the bus driver had to maneuver his way in and out and sometimes over dangling electrical wires! Thankfully, I made it to school in one piece.

Friday: In Spanish class today we took a quiz. The quiz was not very difficult; however, it did take a very long time to complete. After class, I stayed at COSI to work on my essay for Profesora Cook’s class (NCC in Costa Rica). I then walked to Café Milagro where I treated myself to an Espresso Shake after all of that hard work! Tonight ended up being a very relaxing night spent with my host mom. I watched T.V. and chit chatted with my mom for a while before heading to bed.

Where the one and only Espresso Shake can be found

Saturday: Saturday began as a day with very few plans and turned out to be a day full of surprises! Jackie and I decided that although our original plans to travel to Matapalo to see the turtles by working in the hatchery as volunteers during the day and on patrol at night fell through that we will still go to Matapalo in hopes that there was space available in a night patrol to see the turtles and a place to stay over night. We took the bus costing about ¢1000 or $2 to Matapalo. Upon arriving in Matapalo there was very little surrounding us, just a single road with a very small grocery store. We looked around for a bit before seeing a sign that advertised a hotel and pointed to Matapalo Beach. We knew that we needed to get to Matapalo Beach in order to find the turtle hatchery. After walking for about 15 to 20 minutes we arrived at the turtle hatchery “headquarters” where we asked one of the workers if we could sign up to go on a patrol that night. She said yes and wrote our names on a whiteboard. We were set to go on a two hour patrol of Matapalo Beach to look for the turtles and collect turtles eggs to bring to the hatchery to later be released back into the ocean.

At 11:15 that night we set out under the bright light of the full moon in search of las tortugas. Our tour guide began to warn us that not every patrol gets the pleasure of seeing turtles and especially with the bright moon tonight we may not have the best of luck! Despite these precautions we were hopeful that we would be able to see a turtle. As it turns out, we were extremely lucky! We had the fortune of not only seeing a turtle return to the ocean after laying it’s eggs, but also of counting and collecting the 79 eggs that the turtle had laid, holding the turtle eggs that had just been laid, and viewing along with holding a baby turtle before it was released into the wild!! Over all this adventure was quite eye opening and very well worth the journey.

The sign that led us to victory at Matapalo Beach

The beauty of a sunset on Matapalo Beach 

The sign in front of the Turtle Hatchery

Sunday: After an exciting series of events last night, we caught the 9 o’clock bus in the morning back home to Quepos. The remainder of the day I spent reading two chapters and writing a paper for my North Central class here in Costa Rica.

Thank you so much for keeping up with my blog and taking the time to read. Until next time!!

~Kailey

El tiempo pasa volando…

I apologize in advance for the very late post. I have been keeping myself very busy and have just had time now to make this post. Week 6 just finished and I am now on to week seven here in Quepos. With only 2 more weeks left here, the time is really flying by! I am realizing how I truly need to treasure each and every moment and memory that I have here because before I know it I will be heading back to the United States. This week consisted of an abundance of homework and the following events  (10/7-10/13):

Monday: Today I had both Spanish class and NCC class. After classes I came home to begin the homework that I have due for this week. Sometimes, I have to take a step back from the beautiful weather and scenery around me to realize that I am still in school. With this being said, I must also realize that there is a lot of homework to be done in the next couple of weeks. This week I have a composition due, an oral presentation, workbook activities, and readings to complete. Aside from homework, I made sure to have time to attend Zumba with my Mamá Tica as I do every week.

Tuesday: This morning I walked downstairs to eat breakfast before school and Samuel greeted me. He proceeded to inform me that his grandma (my Mamá Tica) went to Super 2000 (a local convenience store) to buy bananas for my breakfast this morning. I then thought to myself…how sweet of her to make a special trip to the grocery store just to buy a banana so that I could eat it with my breakfast, but I could have done without a banana for breakfast for one morning. This just showed me how truly blessed I am to have such a great host mom while here in Quepos. Today after class, I worked on my oral presentation that I have to present tomorrow in class. I am a little bit nervous for this presentation, but I know that my Spanish has improved tremendously and that I just need to slow down and have confidence while presenting.

Wednesday: Today was the day that I have my big oral presentation of the semester. I presented on various teaching strategies for children. Before I left for school this morning, my Mama Tica told me that she has confidence that I will do great on my oral presentation today. She told me that my Spanish was very good and that I was definitely going to do well. Despite these words of encouragement, I still had my doubts. However, after it was all said and done, my presentation went very well and I ended up talking for nearly 20 minutes!

Today, my dad had to arrive at work at 6am. After asking my host mom a few more questions about my dad’s work, I established that work here is very different than in the U.S. for the most part. For instance, my Papá Tico has a different schedule for every day of the week. He doesn’t know what time he needs to arrive at work until the day beforehand. At times he can arrive at work very early in the morning and depending on how much work there is he may not arrive home until 6 or 7 o’clock that night. My host mom was telling me that the latest he has ever arrived home was 10pm and that she never knows when he will be home because there is no set time. If that isn’t Tico Time, then I don’t know what is…

Thursday: Today consisted of school in the morning and cooking class in the afternoon. For cooking class today, we made empanadas from scratch. Empanadas are corn tortillas (made by hand) with some sort of filling. Today, our class filled the empanadas with refried beans and cheese topped with Salsa Lizano (this to me tasted like a type of spicy BBQ sauce). As always, the food was delicious! Afterwards, I came home and played with Samuel a bit before eating dinner and heading to Trivia at Dos Locos. Yes, I am very loyal to both Zumba and Trivia each week. This week my team finished in the top of the pack taking third place for the night.

I finally took a picture of the infamous DOS LOCOS.

Friday: As always, I took a quiz today in Spanish class. The quiz wasn’t necessarily difficult, but it was very time consuming. After class I went to the pool behind COSI to relax for the afternoon. However, the rain that began shortly after we jumped in the pool cut this short. Our plans changed very quickly and we ended up eating nachos at a restaurant nearby. Tonight I went to Zumba where Leandra (a previous student staying with the family) met my Mamá Tica and I. She is here to spend the weekend and it is so great to have her back to visit.

Saturday: Today was a very chill day for me. I spent the day catching up on personal emails and homework that needed to be completed as well as taking breaks here and there to play with Samuel, Antoine, and my host family.

Sunday: Once again plans to spend the day at the pool by COSI were altered when a group of Tican parents and children showed up at the pool for a birthday party. The pool had apparently been reserved for the party and we were not informed. We felt like we should probably leave the area and find somewhere else to spend the day. We ended up walking to a hotel resort called Los Altos where we spent the remainder of the day in their beautiful pool and ate lunch and had a few drinks as well.

Thank you all for keeping up with my adventures along my journey through Costa Rica. Until next time!

~Kailey

Feeling Settled In!!

Another week, more adventures, and new lessons in the culture of Costa Rica have come and gone. With each week that passes I realize how difficult it is going to be to leave my host family along with the beautiful town of Quepos and Ticans that occupy it. The time is slowly dwindling as I only have three more weeks here in Quepos. Nonetheless here is what happened this week (9/30-10/6):

Monday: Classes occupied the majority of my day today. However, after class today I came home to get a start on my essay due for tomorrow. Upon my arrival home, two cute smiling faces greeted me. Antoine and Samuel wanted me to play with them and I obviously couldn’t resist. We played hide and go seek tag, soccer, and marbles. Antoine informed me that in Costa Rica they do not have coupons for stores like we do in the United States. I found this piece of information very interesting and need to confirm this fact with my host mom. Sure enough, Antoine was right! My Mama Tica said that they don’t have coupons here and that Antoine knew this information because he saw it on the T.V. After playing with the boys, Mama, Jan, and I all went to Zumba for a bit of exercise.

Tuesday: Spanish class for four hours in the morning and homework in the afternoon occupied my Tuesday. Despite a day filled with schoolwork, I was able to have a little excitement while seeing Toucans up-close and personal at COSI today!

Hey look, a toucan!

Wednesday: Spanish class today was quite eventful! Our class decided to teach Gloria (our teacher) about dancing and music in the United States. One thing led to the next and we were teaching Gloria the very unique dance craze…twerking. It was quite comical! NCC class continued that afternoon. After class I came home and talked to my host mom for a while before going to Zumba. A delicious dinner followed and we practiced some “trabalenguas” or tongue twisters that evening. It was reassuring to see that it was difficult for my host mom to say some of them as well!

Thursday: Spanish class this morning consisted of practice upon practice upon practice of the subjunctive tense for our test tomorrow. After class I went to Café Milagro once again, but this time I tried their Skippy Shake (chocolate ice cream and peanut butter). It was very tasty and delicious. However, I don’t think that anything will ever be able to top the Espresso Shake for me. Tonight at dinner my host mom’s sister and niece were here with us. It was great to have them and talk with them for a bit. Tonight I went to Dos Locos for Trivia Night, but I showed up late and didn’t partake in the questions and actual Trivia too much. Following Trivia I went on an adventure to take money out of the ATM. I successfully withdrew money, but learned a lot about the bank system here along the way.

The ATMs here in Costa Rica are in a room, not through a drive through or out in the open. You must open a fogged glass door to enter. The door will then shut behind you and often lock for safety. I also learned in my adventure that lines at the bank are very long, especially on Fridays (pay day) and when the locals need to pay their electric bills. The only way to pay your electric bill here is to go to the bank.

Friday: Today’s quiz was difficult but also very rewarding. We corrected our quizzes in class today and I was able to ask Gloria questions about the mistakes that I had made on my quiz. I was able to really learn from my mistakes. Tonight we skipped Zumba and Jan and I ended up going to La Feria instead. Tonight was Jon’s last night in Quepos. We ate dinner as a big family with my host mom’s sister and niece once again. Afterwards we took family photos. My host parents are both so sweet and they said that we were their “hijos” or kids. After the family photos Jan and I along with the North Central group went out for the night as one last goodbye.

Saturday: Today was a day of relaxation and a bit of homework on the Manuel Antonio beach. After the beach and dinner, my Mama Tica and I talked about our families and extended families. It was very interesting to hear about her family. She has one sister and six brothers!

Sunday: Today was a very long and eventful day. We went white water rafting on the Savengre River about an hour drive from Quepos. We left this morning around 7:30 and returned back to Quepos at 3:00 in the afternoon. The rapids were rough and a thrilling adventure! We were out on the river for a total of 4 hours. We stopped along the way at two different waterfalls, one for a photo shoot and to swim in and walk behind the falls and the other for a snack. We also stopped to see a boa constrictor curled up in a tree in its natural habitat. It was really cool but at the same time a bit scary knowing the sheer strength and power of such an animal. All in all, it was great to be able to experience wildlife and nature here in Costa Rica. The strength of the river amazed me and I have now experienced first hand the power of nature along with the respect and precautions that need to be taken when enjoying the beauty that Costa Rica has to offer. 

A "High 5" after success through a section of the rapids

A pit stop and photo at a waterfall along the way

Miss you all and thank you for your support and continued reading. Until next time, ¡Pura Vida!

~Kailey

A Month Gone By, Already?

Well, it has officially been a month that I have been in Costa Rica. I still find it hard to believe how fast the weeks fly by. I am continuing to enjoy every experience that the unique country has to offer, as the events of this week are sure to reveal. Here is what happened this week (9/23-9/29):

Monday: Classes were in session all day today…Spanish class from 9am to 1pm and then following that class for NCC from 2 to 4pm. We have a new student in our Spanish class for this week. Her name is Dominique and she is from Switzerland. It is neat to be able to learn about more than one country at a time. After a busy day of class, I went to Zumba. Dinner tonight was strange for me because I was the only student at dinner. It was almost like being an only child, which I have never experienced. David, the man who stayed with us for a week, left today to live with another family in Quepos because he decided to attend a different language school.

Tuesday: Today I had Spanish class in the morning as always. However, this afternoon the students from NCC took a cooking class with Ilvania. She is an employee of COSI and serves as janitor of sorts. In cooking class, we learned how to make tortillas from scratch and picadillo. Picadillo is a mixture of potatoes, carrots, peppers, garlic, oregano, and a few other spices. All of the ingredients in the picadillo are finely chopped hence the name picadillo coming from the Spanish verb picar meaning to chop. To eat this dish you place the picadillo on top of the tortillas and enjoy. Similar to all of the food in Costa Rica, it was delicious. ¡Que rico! We also celebrated Kayla’s birthday today as a group and went to the Manuel Antonio Beach to watch the sunset which was incredibly beautiful as always. 

NCC group at Manuel Antonio Beach for the sunset

The beautiful sunset at Manuel Antonio Beach

Wednesday: Once again I had class at COSI in the morning and class for NCC in the afternoon. After classes, I went to a local place that serves hamburgers and French fries. I know, how very American to be eating this in Costa Rica! Nonetheless, it was very interesting to taste the difference between the burgers here and those in the United States. Today, I realized that in Costa Rica they do not have mustard. Instead of mustard in the yellow mustard bottles that normally contain ketchup and mustard, the bottle contains mayonnaise. The Ticans mix together mayo and ketchup and dip their fries in the mixture. It is surprising really tasty! After this adventure to taste some American food in Costa Rica, I went to Zumba, then later I ate dinner and finished my homework.

Thursday: Spanish class in the morning and beach in the afternoon filled my schedule today. I once again attended Trivia night at Dos Locos. My team is still a far way away from winning the gold, but we always have fun. I continue to learn more and more each time I go to Trivia and my brain always seems to hurt when I leave from thinking so much!

Friday: As always, we took a quiz today in class. However, the quiz this week was a midterm for our class. How crazy that I am halfway done with Spanish classes in Costa Rica. After class, Kelly and I set up our Canopy and Zip line Tour for tomorrow. We then went to get pizza from Pizza Pata before sitting down to get a start on our homework for the weekend. I finished off the night with Zumba. My papá tico brought my mom and I umbrellas while we were at Zumba because it started raining while we were there and he thought that we didn’t bring them along. However, my mamá tica quickly told him “Mujer preparada vale por dos.” and that we had our umbrellas along. In other words, she told him that women are always prepared not only for just themselves but for two people.

Saturday: Today was a fun-filled and very busy day. I went Zip lining through the rainforest this morning! It was an awesome experience. There was wildlife all around us as we rode on 10 different zip lines through the rainforest. We had to learn how to “break” or slow ourselves down before we reached the platform at the other end. I struggled with this technique at first and had to be stopped abruptly by the guide on the other end before running into the tree that followed. Thankfully as time went on I figured out how to break on my own. 

Here I am zip lining!

A picture of the zip lining crew while on a short break

After an exhausting but very fun morning of zip lining, I came home to relax for a little while before going to see a play with my padres (Tican parents) tonight. The play was a comedy and although I didn’t fully understand everything that was being said in the play, I was able to comprehend the general storyline. I definitely had some good laughs as well. It was great to be able to spend the night with my Tican parents.

Sunday: I took today to relax and enjoy the beautiful weather here. I went to the Manuel Antonio Beach for a majority of the day. When I returned, a new exchange student had arrived. His name is Jon and he is from Germany. We took time before dinner to play with Samuel and Antoine, which is always a fun adventure!

Thank you all for continuing to read! ¡Adios!

~Kailey