This is a Different Culture

       Time is going by very quickly here! I can't believe it's been a week since I last made a post. I've been having so much fun with my friends and host family...and of course doing a lot of Spanish for my academics. It seems like every weekend ACM has something fun planned for our cultural learning and program experience. Last week, we went to Limón and Cahuita for four days. I had such a great time because the beaches and hotel were absolutely stunning!

       First, we left the ACM building almost two hours late because one of our professors had something come up. The bus ride was longer than we expected because we got stuck behind log trucks...reminded me of Wisconsin actually. But we arrived there eventually, three hours on the bus chatting with Heidi...and we saw the hotel we were staying at for the weekend. They were almost loft designed with a very tropical atmosphere because it was surrounded by trees and greenery like in the photo in this post! Each of us got our own bed and the beach was only around two roads away. As soon as we unloaded our bags, we all got our bathing suits on (I of course forgot mine in my host family's house so I ended up borrowing Sarah's since she likes to generally overpack...I wasn't going to miss out on beaches in Costa Rica) and headed to the beautiful beach in Cahuita, with warm waters and sunny temperatures...perfect!

       The whole property was gorgeous and large. The couple who owned the hotel and property even had a beautiful pool and jacuzzi, along with a yoga lounge and entertainment plaza and long pebble paths to each one, etc. I'm not even kidding, the place was acres and acres of luscious, green property. It looked so natural and healthy! Although, that also included natural cockroaches in the bathrooms...but I don't mind them that much since they're all over Costa Rica! Matteo was telling my table at dinner that when he saw there was one in his bathroom, he took a quick shower and just kept an eye on it near the sink to make sure it hadn't moved. Later on Friday night, we all went out to a local bar in the town by bus and everyone got different alcoholic drinks to make comparisons between the alcohol in the US to the alcohol in Costa Rica. There was a dirty shirtless man outside who regarded Esther in a disrespectful manner and then tried to kiss her as she walked by him to enter the bar! Then as he saw me pass by, he did the same exact thing. My first instinct was to smack the heck out of him...but he was very muscled and I decided that wouldn't be the smartest course of action. I didn't buy any alcohol because alcoholic drinks can get expensive, even here! So I thought to myself, why not just try a little bit of some friends'? They were very nicely presented with the umbrellas and decorations, but very strong. Afterwards, we all danced together in the dancing area next to the bar and sweated it up while others in the bar saw us dancing and joined along beside us! Manuel (my Music, Society and Identity professor) came with us to the bar and was dancing with us too, while holding my purse the entire time! I had asked him previously to watch my purse while I was dancing and I guess he really took that to heart. The entire weekend truly was a blast, even though there were several last-minute changes and confusion with the communication between the professors and students with our schedule. The beauty of the trip really made up for that aspect though. :)

       We ended up having to stay the night in a hotel Sunday because of a horrible car accident on the road through the mountains we were taking to go back to San José. There was a horrible landslide (mainly due to all the rain we receive here every day!) and three cars were buried under the mud. We ended up leaving two hours late that day than we wanted and Chris (ACM director) told us that we might have been involved in the accident if we had left on time because it was very close to where we where stuck in traffic earlier on the same road. It was okay though since we all got to celebrate Christina's birthday gathered in the same small hotel room with a slice of cake and singing ¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí! exactly at midnight as she turned 20.

       As for my post title... :) I have found Costa Rica absolutely beautiful...and have also discovered my idea of the culture's faults, like there exists in any country. I wonder what's the worst fault I can think of the United States? Anyways, it takes time to reveal the pros and cons of living in a different culture than what you're accustomed to. It's interesting because I sincerely doubt that my military father could live in this culture because time importance and structure here is very pale compared to that of the military in the United States. I really miss home, but at the same time, I'm starting to feel warm, comfortable feelings towards my host family's home here! But then again, there are some cultural things in the host home that I haven't fully accepted yet into my daily-life usage. For example, Ticos are very polite and say "thank you" and "please" it seems in almost every other sentence. I thought I remembered my Spanish professor GGG at Ripon saying that Costa Ricans don't find that over-polite aspect appealing and he is originally from Costa Rica. But the more I think about it, the more I think that may be what his friends from Spain told him. Which means that I probably would have fit in more with Spain in this aspect! I just find the "never raising your voice" and "please sir, thank you sir" aspect very repetitive and another cultural aspect I'm getting accustomed to with time. But I'm getting better at adapting and will be fine overall! Well, I'm leaving for my rural stay tomorrow, so I might or might not have internet access. :( But I heard that Christina is right across the street from me in my community (since we are working at the same women's organization) and her host family has Wi-Fi, so maybe there is a possibility! :) Miss you back at home    

I Thank My Tican Family for Everything They Do

       There were several fun things that happened this week, and this weekend is going to be so much fun! The ACM group is leaving for Limón and Cahuita tomorrow to get a feel of the different sub-cultures in Costa Rica! It doesn't sound as if the differences are going to be huge, most likely very subtle. But since they are more of the tourist areas of Costa Rica, there will be at least some differences from San José! But going back to what was fun this week...on Friday night, I went to a Karaoke bar and then went dancing with a friend and some of her native friends she made recently. The Karaoke was pretty much a dud as far as the Karaoke goes because everything was in Spanish (imagine that Crystal) and I couldn't understand any of the songs the Costa Ricans were singing! My group did sing "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey though, which was fun because the crowd was somewhat cheering (there weren't that many people left since it was nearing 10 pm and they were migrating to other places). Afterwards, Sarah, her friends Katie and Alejandro, and I went to a club that required our IDs, meaning that Matt and Anya had to leave since they left theirs in their host families' houses. I don't remember the name of the club we went to, but after talking to my Tican sister the next morning, I at least know it wasn't XXX, since that one is with prostitutes and strippers...and I would have left immediately if I saw those. The building was two stories and screens with music videos playing along to the songs blaring in the background. I had already put tissue in my ears to block out most of the loud music from the Karaoke bar, so the thumping base didn't bother me as we entered the club. Overall in the two hours we were there, I had five tequila shots, and I paid nothing because Alejandro was nice enough to buy all the drinks for us ladies! I have to admit, tequila really tastes good if you have the legit shots, with the lemon and salt (which we did) :) The whole time I was missing Elliot though and wishing that he was with me to dance with. I got a taxi by myself (which isn't advised here, but Sarah lives in the complete opposite direction), and soon realized that I didn't exactly know how to explain in Spanish where my host house is! I ended up telling him to take me to the church in El Carmen...without knowing that there are actually two...although I should have known since there seems to be a church at the end of every block here! I ended up paying $8 because we had to backtrack! I had an issue with a guy at the club and him not knowing that it's absolutely rude to just get up behind a girl and grab her waist, ESPECIALLY when she already said that she was with a guy and didn't want to dance with him. Besides that though, it was a fun night with my friends from ACM and I'm glad I went out. By the way, I had a lasagna meal (vegetarian of course) with a side salad and water all for $4! In celebration of Costa Rica's Día de Independencia (today), the ACM group did presentations yesterday (in Spanish of course) about the different typical Tican foods eaten on this holiday. :) We have a wonderful cook/caretaker of the ACM school building named Iveth (pronounced Ivet in Spanish...or at least that's how I've been pronouncing her name) who cooked a delicious banquet for us students and the professors based on the foods we researched.
      
       As for today, my Tican sister and I went to the town parade in celebration of Costa Rica's Día de Independencia and met up with her best friend...and I don't remember his name... :( But that makes sense, since it usually takes me several meetings before I remember someone's name! I kind of had fun, but there were so many people crowding around us that I mostly saw people walking in front of me than the actual parade. At least I'm taller than most of the Tican women here though because I believe the average height for the women here is around under 5' because the men are around 5'! So I could see over the heads of the people in front of me mostly, while my Tican sister probably couldn't see anything! There were a lot of children/high school bands playing national Costa Rican songs and girls with the national flag. :)
    
       As for the title of this post, I have been spending a lot more time with my host family since the academic miscommunications have been handled at ACM and I no longer feel like crying from the stress- finding myself with more bonding time. They say that my Spanish is improving, but I still feel like I sound very stupid from time to time with my lack of Spanish vocabulary and understanding of the difficult grammar aspects, like the subjunctive tenses. My Tican mom and I are starting to be able to talk just the two of us now, without my Tican sister, which makes me think that I must be improving because she doesn't know any English. It's so nice to be able to joke with my Tican family and laugh because I can understand what they are saying, whereas before I had almost no idea. This also shows that I'm starting to become comfortable and knowledgeable about the Tican culture, since I laugh at things that I wouldn't have understood before I came here. I will admit though, looking back now on my first week here when I couldn't speak my mind out loud in Spanish, it was funny how they stopped smiling after I started to say my joke because they lost track of what I was saying since I was taking too long to get out one sentence. They have been so nice to me, and I'm so glad that I was placed in this family to spend my time here with. I feel like I want to put an awesome quote here, but I'm getting tired and can't think of one. Every time that I eat somewhere else besides my home here, I think of how much tastier it would have been if my Tican mom cooked it. She is such a great cook, especially for someone who doesn't like to eat meat, like me! Last night, she cooked a dough kind of pastry with fried zucchini and rice and beans! And the night before was a regular pasta night, but I never knew that a pasta sauce could have so much flavor!

       Oh! This is a picture of one of the beaches we're going to visit this weekend- the one in Cahuita. :)

Tango :)

       The last thing you guys heard was that I was possibly going white water rafting this weekend. Well, that plan has changed since I really need to start watching how much I spend here on fun activities! Tonight, I am going to an Italian restaurant with some friends that one of the professors here recommended to us. Apparently it smelled awesome when they walked by it yesterday after class. Afterwards, we are going to meet up with more friends to go to a Karaoke bar. Since I am in Costa Rica, I have no idea what it is going to be like, especially since I have never gone to one in the United States either. I just hope that there won't be that much smoke, since smoking in public places is legal here. I wonder if all the songs are going to be in Spanish? I'm going to have a blast! :)

       On Tuesday, I went to my first tango class here (me wearing shorts and a tank-top). When I got there, I spoke to the male instructor Max, and he started laughing in less than fifteen seconds because he knew that I can't understand rapid Spanish that well after I said "I don't understand" after his first comment. He then asked for the female instructor (I don't remember her name) to come over, and then she started talking to me in intermediate English. My whole hour-and-a-half class consisted of me following the techniques by observing others around me, and her only speaking English specifically to me when I had a confused expression on my face. I could tell by the first fifteen minutes that this class was more in the upper intermediate level (which I'm in the lower intermediate), but I decided to just stay and see how well I could do. There was an even number of men and women (five couples), but only two men danced with me. One was really nice and even showed me some new technique moves! Although, he pulled me in way too close for my comfort so that our foreheads were touching and we were within kissing distance. It wasn't in a creepy way, I just don't like being THAT close to a complete stranger. After my class ended at 7:30pm, I got ready to take the first of two buses back home. I normally only take one bus ($.75 each way) to school every morning, but everyone here warns women against walking alone at night past sunset. But since I took two buses and apparently there is traffic at 8:00pm here, it took me an hour-and-a-half to finally get home, when it only takes less than fifteen minutes driving. I named this post "Tango" because I am very excited to continue taking classes while I am here in Costa Rica; so actually, I will be improving both my Spanish and Tango skills. I think the photo above is of the two instructors at Fantasía de Tango, but I'm not sure exactly.

       I've been very stressed out this week because of the amount of grammatica homework assigned every night for the past two weeks (10-30 pages). I haven't even been able to spend time with my family or friends here lately because I've been spending hours and hours on the homework load. I had a nervous breakdown yesterday and cried for over two hours at school because I've been so frustrated with my lack of Spanish proficiency! But it should be getting better now, since there was a serious miscommunication between the professors here as to the amount of homework load that should have been given in my class (now there should only be 4-6 pages every night). To look on the bright side, I've been practicing a lot of grammatica. :) I can't wait until my brain actually starts making sense of all the Spanish I've been cramming into it the past few weeks! I'm thinking the rural stay (three weeks of living in a rural community with only one student in each community, so all of us are spread out across Costa Rica) is really going to help with that, since most of the people in the rural communities in Costa Rica don't speak any English. I'm going to miss not being able to Skype or facebook chat with Elliot for three whole weeks, since most of the rural communities only have café internet access, and that costs money. But I will get through it, (along with missing my mom and loved ones) because they are always in my heart and thoughts. <3

Such Beauty

       Well, I went on fabulous trip this past weekend to a tour of the Finmac Tirimbina area, which had organic cacao plantations and a beautiful protected rainforest. Our program group left on the bus for the two-hour ride the same time classes begin, 7:30am; meaning, I woke up at 5:00am like I do every morning here. I'm so glad we had a comfy bus because it would have sucked if we had the buses with the hard cushioning. I had a great conversation (in Spanish of course) with a friend Heidi the whole way there about how we both were in AWANAS (a bible group) and our upraising in our religions. We got to the first stop (the organic cacao plantation) around 9:45am. Oh my goodness, it was so hot! I understand that Costa Rica in the tropical zone...but I was sweating sooo much from the humidity, it was gross! I was wearing jeans (which made the humidity almost unbearable) because they recommended us to if we didn't want to have a lot of bug bites by the end of the day. It was very interesting to see each step of the chocolate-making process, from getting the cacao from the trees to eating the liquid chocolate after the sugar and other ingredients were added by huge machines. As you can see from my facebook profile, all of us were taking many pictures because it was fascinating and we wanted to remember that day. We all ate a wonderful (but extremely large) lunch made from the women who run the packaging and design aspect of the organic cacao company. I had to take a nap afterwards because they put so much food on my plate (and my friends know that I almost never leave food on my plate because I hate wasting food with a passion) and I also had a headache from the humidity combined with cramping from my period. It was not pleasant. But after I slept and woke up like 20 min. later, I felt so much better and refreshed. We also got the chance to meet Teddy, the baby sloth in the pictures on my facebook profile and the one in this post! It was great to get on the bus because it had air-conditiong. I have always had a lot of respect for people who work manual labor, but to work in humidity like on the organic cacao plantation...oh my gosh! Later on that day, we traveled through a beautiful rainforest (you can see the pictures from my facebook profile and more to come once I upload them), where we crossed a bridge that was very high up from the ground and overlooked a wide, flowing river.
   
        Earlier last week on Tuesday, I went to Fantasía de Tango because I want to take Tango classes during this semester. I figure it's really cheap here compared to how much I was paying in California for private lessons, and it would be a good way for me to practice my Spanish with the Ticos and have fun at the same time. I walked there with mi hermana Tica because I'm still not comfortable walking around in this area by myself. The building seems very small from the outside, but it's three floors tall; therefore, it's actually a good size for a dance studio building. As soon as mi hermana Tica and I walked in, I heard beautiful Tango music and a very handsome man my age walked up to us and asked if he could help us. After that, there were a lot of confused expressions between myself and him because my sister was letting me talk (since she won't be there to translate for me when I go for my first night tomorrow to dance). She finally had to explain to him that he needs to talk a lot slower and pronunciate his words more clearly. I can only imagine how tomorrow is going to go when I am standing there with my partner and the instructor is trying to explain (in Spanish) a technique. Oh and also, while we were talking about the cost of each night (only $10 for an hour and a half) and what night I should attend (Tuesday every week), I was looking in the window of the studio room on the first floor to my right, and there's a guy doing the splits and other breakdancing moves. He was also very handsome, as are most of the young Costa Rican men around here. I am looking forward to learning more Tango, but I can tell right now that I'm going to be in the intermediate-low class. I hope they will be patient with me, since my Spanish is greatly improving (according to my professors), but I'm still an intermediate level.
      
       Yesterday, my family and I went to the San Pedro Catholic Church to hear my brother sing. I didn't understand practically anything any of the speakers said because of the enormous echo from the size of the enormous church, but the echo was wonderful when my brother and another male singer sang with a female guitarist. I have no idea what we are going to do this weekend, but some girls were talking about possibly white water rafting for two days! It should be lots of fun, but it's also almost $250 for the whole weekend! I will let you know what happens...miss you all!