Vacation part one.. Monteverde

This week I have had my much anticipated vacation.   Semana Santa has finally arrived and it has been great to get a break from school and well my life in general.  My host parents went to cancun Mexico for vacation so I spent most of the week with my friend Sigurlaug from Iceland.  I left for her house on Saturday because my host parents were leaving that day.  I took with me a huge backpack stuffed with all the clothes I would need and then I took the public bus.  I have never felt more like a gringa I looked as touristy as it gets with a huge orange backpack that they lent me.  I could hardly fit through the isle and the bus was pretty full, getting off I pretty much lunged off the bus.   Later one of my school friends told me he saw me with my bag on the bus... Great just shows you I was pretty easy to spot.  I walked to her house and stayed the night there, we walked around in cartago, then went back to her house and watched American movies in English, and ate watermelon it was awesome.  The next day after another movie and a lazy morning, we left to go pick up a cake from her grandmas house and brother from San Jose before the adventure began.  Her brother is thirteen and loves videa games, he was at an anime convention in a suburb in the far side of San Jose.  It felt like it took years to get there because the traffic was so backed up.  We headed off again after getting McDonald's for lunch.  I have actually found one non disgusting thing on the menu so I always get green salad.  A long day in the car awaited us, but I enjoyed the view of endless rolling mountains, with the windows down and some melodramatic ballad in the back ground.  The main roads in Costa Rica are pretty good, although a little slow due to curves and up and down, until you get to guanacaste there is no such thing as flat.   Eventually we reached our destination a town which looked more like several houses and a pulperia peeping out if jungle.  Her it was hot and sticky.  As we were driving by we saw the family we planned to stay with were at a baby shower so we joined them.  We were offered ice cold coke which was refreshing, and were offered sea food rice, and rice pooding.  Inga and I walked around and saw a big black monkey in a tree, as well as a mango tree.  We got to the house and dropped off our stuff before heading to the river.  The aunt and grandma showed us though way across a somewhat sketchy hanging cable bridge.  The whole thing swung gentle from side to side as you walked and the wood looked questionably old I held tight to the cable.  The river wasn't too deep as we are at the peak of the dry season, although we were told it is very dangerous in the rainy season able to take down trees, and splashing the bridge which now stood a good 15ft above it.  At this time of year though it hardly hit my waste, but the cold water felt nice.  The current was still strong enough though to make walking up river a struggle paired with the slimy rocks it was a challenge.  We walked up to some rapids and slid down them letting the current carry us over the rocks.  It was a lot of fun and worth the shorts I probably ruined with green stains.  That night we went out to a resturaunt and got to experience an annoying guanacaste and puntarenas "tradition".  There were men at the resturaunt drinking and they would just do this weird scream/whoop thing ever few minutes.  It's honestly the most annoying noise I have ever heard.  What shocked me was that nobody kicked them out of the resturaunt although it was extremely rude.  Apparently it's a tradition for men here to whoop when the are happy but was very annoying for everyone else at the resturaunt.  The next day the grandma made tortillas and gallo pinto for breakfast.  The tortillas were homemade a thick mix of cornmeal and water hand patted into a circle and fried on the skillet.  We left for monteverde, along winding steep gravel roads with an incredible view.  Puntarenas was much drier than cartago, with yellow hills from dry grass.  Monte verde however was much lusher.  We went to do canopy.  Canopy was 2 hours of various ziplines including What is supposedly the "longest zipline in Latin America".   This was superman style on your stomache about 200 ft up crossing a valley.  It was about 1500 meters and very fast.  The view was gorgeous although I struggled to enjoy it.n  I could only focus on hoping I would make it to the other side.  I enjoyed the canopy style ziplines better where you could sit up and hold on the the rope and the cable behind me.  Although it was probably just as dangerous it was comforting to be able to hang on to something.  The forest there was just like it had been in the numerous nature movies of my childhood and wish I had had time to enjoy it more.  Although it was awesome being able to see it from above monte verde is defiantly somewhere I would love to go back to.

Mercado municipal..

Today I went to the main market in Costa Rica with my host dad and sister.  I love going to the market, there is such an abundance of color and smells (not all of them good).   First we went to buy fruit.  When they buy fruit here they go all out.  Two HUGE bags practically overflowing, and so heavy I could hardly lift them.  There are all these tropical fruits, some that I have never heard or seen before I will never learn all the names.  Then we went to the market indoors.  In the US this market would be illegal.  It's a health hazard.  The meat is sitting out unpackaged on ice and to give it to you the venders use their fingers without gloves.  The stands of meat smell disgusting.  It has a low ceiling and is very crowded there are people walking around selling what I think are raffle tickets.  In the meat shops the sell long strands of sausages all linked together that must be like three feet long and when someone wants sausages they chop off a piece.  The same stands sell cheese and eggs.  The eggs are just sitting out and are in flats they aren't sold in cartons, if you buy 1kl the give it to you in a little plastic bag, or if you buy more they'll give you the whole flat.  The cheese is also in huge blocks and they will take a knife cut off a hunk of the type you want stick it in a plastic bag and give it to you.  There are also little bakeries and sodas ( or little resturaunts).  We went to a soda and had delicious sanfwiches for lunch.  Cheese with egg torte and lettuce and tomato with is grilled its delicious.  Also some sort of juice which is brownish in color and tastes like some unknown fruit.  This is great for me, before coming here i was a total germaphobe and now I am learning to just eat whatever.  I also tried a spoonful of som scary looking fish soup. It was cold and they poured ketchup and mayonese on top.  I thought it would be something i woulnt like but it wasn't even that bad, it tasted more like lime than anything.

My last post turned into a bit of a rant.  This is just an example of how United Statesish I am.  to generalize we don't like double standards and tend to question authority, and are not afraid to criticize everything.  I would like to say that despite the faults in my school here, I enjoy it much more than in the US.  It's more relaxed more breaks, everything is more chill.  And some of the classes are interesting and all are great for learning Spanish.  As I was talking saying People from the US criticize everything that isn't the case so much here.  People say everything is lindo, or almost everyone is buena gente ( unless they are gossiping which hey also do a lot).   Coming from the US as much as we all love our country we aren't afraid to bash it every so often and will be the first ones to admit all its flaws.  Costa Ricans tend to describe their country more positively ( they are very proud to be from this beautiful country :D ) so I have to be careful when I am talking about the USA when I am negative about it they'll think it's a bad place or that I don't like it when the opposite is true.  Today I was very sad to see on the news the fort hood shooting.  It's scary to see this kind of news about your country when you are abroad.  When you are in another country everything that happens in your own country feels so much more personal.  It's wierd to see things from the outside.  According to my host parents there are never shootings in Costa Rica, or terrorism either.  And from their perspective I can see how the USA could appear dangerous, or that we seem like violent people with everything broadcasted in the news.  It makes you wonder what causes this violence.  It also makes you imagine all the things that could happen to your family when you are gone.  Going abroad everyone worries about what could happen to you going some where unknown, but sometimes you worry about what could happen to your family at home, no matter how unlikely it may be.
On a different note I would like to apologize for the guzilion typos in every post and say that you can blame my iPod.  I wrote these posts from my tiny iPod screen and am constantly hitting the wrong buttons.  It would definitely be unintelligible if it went for spellcheck.

School...

I have learned to appreciate my education in the US.  before coming here i thought our education  i i system was terrible. But I have learned that we have it pretty good.  Last week I had exams.. I am pretty sure I failed practically everything.  I have go back some of my grades a 56% in physics and a 100% in English (obviously), a 46 in Spanish and 37 in biology that's the worst I have done in my life..  I did get a 74 in social studies though which is a passing grade,  I have never been more proud.  As bad as my grades sound the shocking thing is that I did better than my friends..  I got a higher score in every subject than several of my friends.  It's really surprising I would say almost 1/2 to 3/4 of my class failed everything.  When I got a 74 in sociales my friends were all like super impressed. like here you have done good if you passed.  in fact one of my friends got a 40% in socials.   It's very strange I didn't study and I have minimual Spanish but I still managed to get about twice as many points.  I guess that's just a testament to the difference in education.  The socials test was wierd, it started out with the most basic questions identifying the continents.  Which some people didn't get right :(.  Then there were a bunch of really obscure random questions, which I can't help but wondering why thy are important.  For example what is the highest lake in America?  ( it's Titicaca if you were wondering). My grades thankfully don't count in my highschool in Wisconsin but of I don't pass my classes I won't get any credit for them.  Coming here I assumed it would be easy to pass my classes but it may be a struggle.  In the USA everyone wants you to pass.  There is like no one in my school that has failed enough classes to need to repeat a year.  It's practically impossible as long as you pay minimual attention in class and do your homework once and a while you should squeak by.  And if you are doing bad you are forced to go to a special class and everyone interrogates you about why you aren't succeeding and try's to help you.  Here it's different it just seems like nobody cares how you do.  The parents obviously do.  But the teachers don't seem to be too concerned.  If you do bad it's your fault you should have studied.  Which is the opposite in the USA if everyone does bad you blame be teacher.  Here And when half the class fails, I guess that just sucks for them..     The teschers here don't teach all they do is dictate from some sort of text book.  And then we copy.  It's not like we are learning anything to difficult they just don't teach.  The whole point is to pass the exams who cares if you remember anything of it in 3 months.  And although these grades don't matter and I am only here for 5 months the education system here makes me upset.  I am sure it's better in the private schools, but in public schools it is just a massive waste of time for the students.  For me it isn't because I am learning Spanish and learning a lot but I feel bad for my class mates.  If the next exam is like this one most of them wil be repeating next year.  Homework here counts for almost nothing, there are two exams a semester which counts for 70% of the grade 35% each, if you don't do well I guess your just out of luck. Some of the teachers are also habitually late to class, this is also due to the fact that many of them have other responsibilities in the school, like working in the lunch room. Another thing is that the female teachers dress what in the USA would be considered a little innappropriate for anyone but especially for teachers.  They wear 6 inch heals, tight jeans, or leather leggings and see-through, tight or low cut tops, revealing love handles and everything. It's really different because the students have a very strict dress code, but the teachers apparently not.  to me it seems like a big double standard.  the dress code is very strict.  In some classes we all have to stand up and the teacher looks to make sure the pants aren't too tight and we aren't wearing makeup, also guys hair has to be short.  If the teacher is in doubt he actually takes the material of the pants and moves it around to make sure it's loose enough.  Also some teachers make girls take off their nail polish they will hand you a bottle of remover and cotton swabs.  It's very ironic though because many of them wear heavy makeup which we aren't allowed, and have colored hair which is also against the rules.  These are all thing s that my class mates think are normal, but I find strange.  How can a teacher tell you to take off your makeup when she has it caked on?  It's just cultural differences.  I have to remind myself as AFS says its not better or worse just differnt.  I guess that in Costa Rica the students need to take more responsibility  for themselves which can be a good thing..

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

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.

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.