Sickness of all Kinds

These last two weeks have been a little rough. Mostly because virtually everyone in the house caught a really bad cold. Coughing, fevers and mucus galore. Although I think I am completely over it, my sister and mom here are still going through it. Because of the sickness, we just started up doing INSANITY again yesterday. My fit test this time around was exponentially better than the first which makes me super happy. Although I havent lost as much weight as I might like at this point, I feel a lot stronger, slimmer and confident anyways.
I have found that I definitely get altitude sickness, since when we went to see the Irazu Volcano I felt exceedingly weak, nauseous, out of breath and dizzy. I noticed similar feelings when we went to the Poas Volcano and the Cloud Forest. I suppose its good to know but it really sucks.
As far as classes go, I am enjoying most of them even though we have mid terms this week. I feel like I am learning a lot and that I am growing up as the days go on. My spanish is also improving immensely which really helps me communicate with my host parents and assimilate into the culture better. La Cometa is also a pretty good place to be at. All we are doing at this point is organizing the library and puttting checkout slips into all of the books that dont have them (which is like 90% of them). I like the job more than I did working with Los Ancianos although it does get a bit boring and repetitive at times.On the upside though, I think we only have to go 5 more times so...:)
Lastly, even though I love my host family so much, I really miss being at home in MI. I miss my guy friend, family, pets, friends, fall and my bed. I thought it was so sweet that my host mom bought a pumpkin pie for me so I know that she can see how much I am missing home. I know that this is a great experience for me and that the homesickness will pass with time. Some days though, I just yearn to be home so much that I sink into a bit of depression. I just have to keep my head up, keep living my life here and learn as much as I can because before I know it, the six months will have passed and then Ill be dreading leaving CR. Ill try to keep looking on the brightside of things...

Long Time No Blog

So, I realize it has been a long time since I last blogged but I have just had so much going on that it really has gotten away from me. First of all, the whole crew and I went to Tortuguero last weekend and it was AWESOME!. The hostel we stayed in was beautiful and right on the river and we saw so many cool animals (sloths, howler monkeys, jesus lizards, crocodiles and turtles, to name a few). Also, we got the chance to release baby turtles into the Carribean Ocean! It was amazing how fast they could go and how they just knew instinctually to go towards the water. Add on top of all that great food, and excellent tour guide and a little bit of kayaking and you have a spectacular time.
Another thing that happened this week was that my partner and I got switched from working with Los Ancianos and now we will be working in a library!!! It is an organization called La Cometa that apparently tries to provide for teens without a lot of opportunities to learn or use a computer or read a book. I am super excited about this assignment because organization is my thing (at least when it comes to libraries :)).
Last but not least, I started the workout program INSANITY with my host sister and mom this week! It is super intense and I am sore as all get out but it feels so good!. My pants are already starting to slide off me and I feel my energy and motivation have increased exponentially since I started. I am in such a good mood all day after I do it  so even though we have to get up pretty early in order to accomplish it, I think sacrificing an hour of sleep is totally worth it. I feel fabulous and it is just the first week.
Also, yesterday Amelia, Milana, Jillian, Henry, Emme and Myself went to see The Conjurer in theaters after school. I thought it was pretty good, although it wasnt super scary in my opinion. And, tommorow, the whole group is going to see a dance performance at a real theater and on Saturday we are going white water rafting!. So much fun in store...

Long but Interesting Weekend

So, starting on Friday, I would say that everything has been going really well thus far. My Community Engagement class seems like it is going to be just about as enjoyable as my Politics and Democracy class. We talked about how we define ourselves/what defines us, what we were expecting Costa Rica to be like vs what it actually is, and we also got to talk about the differences between Costa Rica and the U.S. I found it was really interesting to hear what other people had to say  about their experiences here thus far. It helped me to realize that I am very lucky to have landed in a very affluent home where we eat different food every day, the water pressure and temp are really good in the shower, and the mother sends me with lunch everyday. It makes me so appreciative of what I have and less apt to complain about the little things that get me down. I also got to try my hand at walking home alone on Friday, which was exciting and moderately nerve wracking(we aren´t supposed to walk home alone because it is dangerous, but the rest of my crew went on a weekend trip to get drunk at the beach and hike) :) I think that walking home alone was a good experience for mebecause it helped me to see that even though I need to be cautious, I am not helpless and I am capable of doing things by myself,even here in Costa Rica. Saturday was interesting in the way that I got to go grocery shopping with my host parents, which was CRAZY. There were SO MANY PEOPLE!!! Think about the most people you have ever seen in a store at one time and triple that. There were so many peole that it was virtually impossible to move anywhere in the store! Carts and cars and  people all over the place. It was intense and overwhelming to say the least. The best part of the experience though was that I really got to spend some quality time with my host parents and we ended up going to see Nery´s mom. She is a super sweet old lady who lives in San Francisco; Costa Rica with a Nicaraguan girl as her only companion. Her home was very neat and tidy and we spent a good amount of time talking and watching an old school Mexican show (I think it was called Cantabile but Im not completely sure). Also, I learned that I tend to speak a lot of Mexican Spanish which makes my host parents laugh and my host sister roll her eyes. Apparently, Costa Ricans aren´t fond of Mexicans because they feel like Mexicans look down on them and talk to them in a condescending manner(plus their accents are annoying, (supposedly)). Needless to say,they are all working on teaching me Tico spanish :) As for today, Sunday, I am just chilling at the house, celebrating Independence Day with the family and doing homework. Tomorrow will be my first day working with Los Ancianos de Santo Domingo(the elderly of Santo Domingo) so we will see how that goes...

Thank You Nery!

Today was actually a very good day. My classes were interesting, I got all of my homework done early, it didn´t rain hardly at all today and Nery packed me a lunch!! Nery is my host mom and according to the rules, she doesn´t have to give me lunch during the week. To my surprise, I woke up this morning and she made me the most delicious and cutest lunch ever! First off, she made me a salad with lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumber, cheese and beets(which were surprisingly delicious on this salad). She also packed me rice, flavorful pinto beans and delicious lemon garlic chicken. I was so surprised and grateful to her for doing that for me. Her doing that for me like she does for her own kids really makes me feel like part of the family. I don´t know how I could ever thank her enough, or express to her just how much that gesture means to me. I guess since there stil is a bit of a language barrier in place,  I´ll have to settle on ¡Muchisimo Gracias! and hugs to get the point across...

Good but Crampy

I would say today was good overall. There wasn´t a lot of rain, my classes were super interesting and I had some delicious Burger King for lunch :) I am really surprised by how much I think I am going to like my Politics and Democracy class. Throughout the whole class, people had so much to say about what 9/11 means to them and, of course, they all talked about the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers that happened in 2001. After everyone had said their piece, our professor really gave us a new perspective on what 9/11 has meant to the rest of the world. She told us about the Chilean Coup that occurred in 1973 on 9/11, where the CIA backed the killing of then president Salvador Allende and then put Pinochet in charge. She also reminded us that today is supposed to be the day that the U.S. decides whether or not it is going to put a "limited" military presence in Syria or not. I really like all of the connections she makes and how she relates so much to what has already happened, what we think we know and what is happening now. POWER was the big word of the day and politics is really all about the getting and maintaining of power. It was super interesting and I am excited to have that class again on Friday. Now, if only this headache would go away...

The Sky is Falling!

Today was a pretty good day overall. I found out who I would be having class with for the next couple of months (Hillary, Erin, Caroline, Blanca, Julianna and Michelle) and I got to meet two of my teachers. One of them seemed abit out there today but maybe it was just first day jitters?... the other professor was very kind and amicable and I think I will learn a lot from her. Anyways, the most stressful part of the day was after classes when it was raining cats and dogs for about 2 hours. Since the Sabanilla crew has to walk home from school everyday, it goes without saying that the weather conditions were definitely not hospitable towards us. When we finally made it back to the hood, my shoes, feet, legs, arms and torso were soaked from the huge puddles, rushing water, torrential rain and strong winds. It was pretty awful I must say but we made it through and I am dry and content now :) I am very curious to know what Spanish I placed into... As a side note, I have noticed that the rain really makes me anxious and when I get anxious, I always want to shove something in my cake. Although I know I should try not to give in to that urge and that I need to sit down and really evaluate why I am anxious and how I should deal with it in a healthy way, I definitely failed at that today (Subway). All I can do now is try again tomorrow...

1st Day of School

Today was a pretty good day overall. This morning, Simone, Amelia, Henry, Milana y yo made it to school extra early so that we could get a feel for our surroundings. Then Lulu gave us a tour of the old campus, the new campus and the new ICDS building. U Latina is quite a bit bigger than I expected but it is still only composed of 2 decent sized buildings and an office down the street. When we finally started class, we basically got a recap of what we learned in orientation, plus a few extra phone numbers. I also found out who I would be volunteering with and what we would be doing. Apparently, we are going to be working at an old folks home and get to do just about anything we want to do with them. We are just supposed to entertain and engage  about 25-30 of them for about 3 hours once a week. My partner, Michelle, seems to feel pretty confident that we will have a great time with them and she has a lot of good ideas on what we could do with them. I am more than willing to follow her lead because I definitely don´t have any great ideas on what to do with elderly people that they would actually enjoy.Anyways, after class, we all went to lunch. Although everyone else decided to go out, I stayed in and ate at Subway (super American, I know). I guess I was feeling really overwhelmed with all of the new information and people that I really needed to do something normal and sit in a quiet place so I could collect my thoughts. Also, it doesn´t help that it was raining cats and dogs at that time so staying in definitely felt like the best idea. In the end,  I ended up grabbing a 6 inch BMT and a beef empanada and ate upstairs alone. I then went into the classroom where we would be having our Spanish placement tests and read for about an hour until it was time for class to start. The placement test was definitely more difficult than I expected but the lady that I did the oral portion with said that she was impressed with how much Spanish I know, considering how few classes I have taken. She thinks Intermediate -Advanced is where I would fit in best. I don´t really know how I feel about that at this point but I guess I am just hoping that I am not put in a class where the Spanish is way over my head. After the placement tests, Milana, Amelia y yo went to the supermarket in Sabanilla and then we did some exploring. Even though my first instict was to go straight home after school, I am glad I went out. I got to know Amelia and Milana a lot better and we actually had quite a bit of fun surprisiingly. Hopefully, I will get the chance to chat with my bf later, which would be totally awesome. Otherwise, I am just going to chill for the rest of the night. Who knows what tomorrow may bring....