Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Life goes on
Lately I haven't really felt like I have anything to interesting to write and I have also been too busy. I guess that's just a testament to how normal life here is becoming for me. I had an AFS camp this weekend. It was great to have a little break. School was kind of dragging on last week. But thankfully I could leave for the orientation on Thursday. I really like it here. And I like school but everybody needs a break sometimes. Going to the camp was very refreshing to be able to speak in my native language to people who are going through the same thing. We kind of went crazy. We stayed up super late every night talking some girls even lost their voices from all the talking. It was a lot of fun. But I am exhausted this week from the lack of sleep this weekend. And I have exams. So lets just say I have had better weeks.. However I now only have 3 1/2 months left here and I am determined to enjoy it and appreciate and take advantage of everyday. Even if I am just sitting around studying or watching tv I want to appreciate of even he dull moments. I have the feeling that in July I will be sad to go. And I already have mixed emotions about it. As much as a like it here it will be nice to be at home again where everything is familiar. At the Same time though 5 months is really a very short time to actually get to know another culture and language. Realizing this I want to make the most of the time I have left. This new goal has been a struggle this week though with exams. Everybody acts like its so important that I study but I just can't muster much motivation. They all have been studying all last weekend at least and started asking me like 3 weeks ago if I had started studying. It's so hard to focus ready boring text in another language. Speaking of language I am starting to see that I have improved a lot. I pretty much understand everything now. And I can actually joke around and have complex conversations with my friends. They don't always get my sarcasm though which had lead to some awkwardness... A random observation: the tv programming here is the same everyday. On Channal 7, the morning always begins with Ave Maria, funeral announcements, Costa Ricas national anthem and then of course news, when I am home in the afternoon it is always the same Brazilian telenovla an fthen at night there is always a wierd sports games show of the same really fit people competing in the same games and singing the same songs every night, then there is some sort of prize show. It's wierd every day it's like some wierd dashavu ( I totally butchered that word, I have no idea how to spell it), My sisters always watch an insane amount of Disney Channal every day with the same shows but hey never seem I get bored. More later. Chao
Thursday, March 13, 2014
A little over a month
I have now been in Costa Rica for a little over a month. It has definitely been the most stretching month of my life. But I am starting to really enjoy it here. I am starting to feel like by the time July comes I won't want to go home. Any time I start to miss home all I have to do is remind myself that it's 20 degrees and snowy in Wisconsin and I immediately feel thankful to be here. Being away from home and experiencing life somewhere else has really taught me to appreciate home though. Wisconsin has become a more special place to me. Things I have learned to appreciate:
1. My family and friends (obviously)
2. My independence. The culture here is very different as far as young people. It's normal for kids to stay with the parents until they are married. One of my cousins is almost 30, and still lives with her parents and works in her dads office. Also you can't drive here till you are 18. I have been missing having a car. It's a stupid thing to miss but a car and a licsense gives you so much independence. In Wisconsin i could just take my car to a friends house or Madison practically any time I felt like it. Here getting around is a struggle. I haven't felt like I know the city well enough to take the buses. I am just starting to feel like I know my way around. So I have pretty much just gone everywhere with my family.
3. Madison. I thought every city was like Madison. I couldn't have been more wrong. I really miss the culture in Madison. The diversity. All the college students with a zillion peircingd and crazy hair. All he hippies and organic food. Honestly when you are abroad you miss the weirdest things. I really like how in Madison everyone is ( as a generalization) is so conscious. There is hardly any trash in the streets, or stray dogs. Here the street is used as a trashcan. street is littered. People just don't think sometimes. They throw gum in the street, and my friends litter without even thinking about it. Also there are about a guzilion stray dogs which is really sad. People also don't think about wasting food. They leave out a lot of things that we put in the fridge so things spoil quickly. And there are always a ton of leftovers that get left out and go bad.
4. One of the ways that has stretched me the most is not having control over my life. I never know what's going on till its happening. Like I generally don't know we are going somewhere till we are leaving. I have been learning to just go with the flow and just do whatever my family is doing. Also I used to be a really picky eater. I made a lot of my own food. Here I eat whatever is on my plate. And I am learning I like some foods I would never have tried. Like plantins with honey and cheese, and cauliflower and eggs.
5. One thing that I miss is how active our culture is. At my old highschool everyone was in sports, music, drama, or some sort of club. And often like 3 or 4 different things at a time. Here sports really aren't that big of a part of the culture. Clubs either, everything is more relaxed. Which is good. But it's a hard a adjustment being a person who loves to be busy. People take bike rides or go for a run at times but it isn't that common. When I went running in my neigborhood people gave me wierd looks.
6. Another thing I miss is my anominousness. I don't even know if that's a word but whatever. Here I really stick out. At school people are more subtle about looking at me but on tr streets I turn heads like 90 degrees. I am still not sure of its rude to stare here or not. Like people driving by literally turn and stare at me, I am surprised there aren't more accidents caused by people being distracted by staring at someone. My host mom even comenented that I have a lot of " lookers". It's just unusual to have blond hair here. And I am extremely blond for Costa Rica, plus my hair is extremely long. So I pretty much always stick out. I really don't like people staring, but I am getting used to it. Also like I can hear my class mates talking as I walk by and I can hear them exclaiming about my hair. Everyone loves to play with it and comment on it. Like I will feel someone touching my hair and turn around and some random person I have never met is playing with my hair, most I the time they don't even say anything just keep on playing with my hair and smile at me. It's kind of awkward. People also group around me and bombard me with questions at school, which makes me kind of uncomfortable because I tend to be a shy person.
Although this post was dedicated to things I miss, I really am having a great time. And am very thankful for how welcoming the family I am staying with has been. Everything is getting so much easier.
1. My family and friends (obviously)
2. My independence. The culture here is very different as far as young people. It's normal for kids to stay with the parents until they are married. One of my cousins is almost 30, and still lives with her parents and works in her dads office. Also you can't drive here till you are 18. I have been missing having a car. It's a stupid thing to miss but a car and a licsense gives you so much independence. In Wisconsin i could just take my car to a friends house or Madison practically any time I felt like it. Here getting around is a struggle. I haven't felt like I know the city well enough to take the buses. I am just starting to feel like I know my way around. So I have pretty much just gone everywhere with my family.
3. Madison. I thought every city was like Madison. I couldn't have been more wrong. I really miss the culture in Madison. The diversity. All the college students with a zillion peircingd and crazy hair. All he hippies and organic food. Honestly when you are abroad you miss the weirdest things. I really like how in Madison everyone is ( as a generalization) is so conscious. There is hardly any trash in the streets, or stray dogs. Here the street is used as a trashcan. street is littered. People just don't think sometimes. They throw gum in the street, and my friends litter without even thinking about it. Also there are about a guzilion stray dogs which is really sad. People also don't think about wasting food. They leave out a lot of things that we put in the fridge so things spoil quickly. And there are always a ton of leftovers that get left out and go bad.
4. One of the ways that has stretched me the most is not having control over my life. I never know what's going on till its happening. Like I generally don't know we are going somewhere till we are leaving. I have been learning to just go with the flow and just do whatever my family is doing. Also I used to be a really picky eater. I made a lot of my own food. Here I eat whatever is on my plate. And I am learning I like some foods I would never have tried. Like plantins with honey and cheese, and cauliflower and eggs.
5. One thing that I miss is how active our culture is. At my old highschool everyone was in sports, music, drama, or some sort of club. And often like 3 or 4 different things at a time. Here sports really aren't that big of a part of the culture. Clubs either, everything is more relaxed. Which is good. But it's a hard a adjustment being a person who loves to be busy. People take bike rides or go for a run at times but it isn't that common. When I went running in my neigborhood people gave me wierd looks.
6. Another thing I miss is my anominousness. I don't even know if that's a word but whatever. Here I really stick out. At school people are more subtle about looking at me but on tr streets I turn heads like 90 degrees. I am still not sure of its rude to stare here or not. Like people driving by literally turn and stare at me, I am surprised there aren't more accidents caused by people being distracted by staring at someone. My host mom even comenented that I have a lot of " lookers". It's just unusual to have blond hair here. And I am extremely blond for Costa Rica, plus my hair is extremely long. So I pretty much always stick out. I really don't like people staring, but I am getting used to it. Also like I can hear my class mates talking as I walk by and I can hear them exclaiming about my hair. Everyone loves to play with it and comment on it. Like I will feel someone touching my hair and turn around and some random person I have never met is playing with my hair, most I the time they don't even say anything just keep on playing with my hair and smile at me. It's kind of awkward. People also group around me and bombard me with questions at school, which makes me kind of uncomfortable because I tend to be a shy person.
Although this post was dedicated to things I miss, I really am having a great time. And am very thankful for how welcoming the family I am staying with has been. Everything is getting so much easier.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
La fortuna
I have been living with a family in Costa Rica for just about three weeks now. It feels like it has been so much longer. It's hard to believe that I have has all these new experiences in three weeks. It also feels like I haven't been home in years but in reality it's been less than a month. At the same time it feels shorter than three weeks. In that I still not very good at Spanish. I am definitely improving but maybe not as quickly as I hoped. I can see though that I am improving I understand about 70 percent of what my teachers say, and it's getting easier to get around at school. I understand about 90 percent of what my host mom says to me and about 50 percent of what my host dad says to me. And I can communicate with my classmates even though it isn't always very graceful. At times it takes like ten minutes for someone to explain something to me, but they are very eager to help me for the most part. We have had some very funny conversations like when one kid tried to describe what butter is to me in Spanish and he said it was "white, liquidy, cheese" as you can imagine I was pretty confused. Also it is really confusing when people say things in" English", like my classmates were talking about Las Vegas. And I had no idea that's what they were trying to say cause of the accent. To me it sounded like "las baegas". Yesterday we drove to La Fortuna, a town about three hours away from Cartago. It is very touristy. It is full of Gringos like myself, and as a result over half the signs are in English. It is a tourist destination because it is in the shadow of the largest volcano in the country Arenal. Arenal is huge. It's a little intimidating to look up at. Although it has been "sleeping" for 3 years or so, we were still able I see smoke rising from the top. This morning my host family went to a bike race. And the little girls and a I spent the morning at the hotel with a cousin. There is a small pool in the courtyard where we swam. Then in he afternoon we went with some aunts and uncles and cousin, to more pools. Some of these pools are very hot because they are fed by he scolding water which trickles down the mountain. It was nice to be in the sun, although it is very very strong here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)