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
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