I Hear Christmas Coming Soon, Feels Close

       Hello again!! Wow!! The past week has really flown by! I can't believe I only have a little bit more than two weeks before I head back for California to see my mom and friends!! I'm so excited, I've really missed my mom - it's funny since I never said that while living with her. :] Anyways, not that much has passed since last week - I've been sick for the past five days, so I've been in bed most of the week. Gave me a great time to catch up on my academics though! I named this post "I Hear Christmas Coming Soon, Feels Close" because when I get back to the United States, it will only be a few weeks until Christmas! - here's one of my favorite Christmas songs from one of the most gifted actresses/singers of all time! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4lY8Y3eoo
You can listen to it while you read the rest of this blog!

       Last weekend was amazing, even though I was sick through most of it. I'm mostly speaking of the family party ACM hosted on Saturday. It was very cool to meet the families of all the students I have heard about so much. There weren't that many dads there though, including mine. Most of the families consisted of moms, grandmas, children, and siblings. I'm not really sure what to make of the fact that mostly women were there....maybe a cultural thing? It started off with some snacks and meeting everyone. The food there was very delicious, I ate a delicious tuna sandwich in a fancy bread with lentils I think? It was very healthy and delicious, it can't get any better than that? After that, the students put on jerseys that stated ACM because we played soccer against the fathers that were there. There had to be some boy children though (interesting that none of the girls wanted to play) since again, there weren't that many dads. I was starting to feel sick by then so I didn't play...also because I don't know how. We ended up losing around 10-3. But it was to be expected since soccer is what all Costa Ricans do in their free-time here and only about four of the nine ACM students actually have played soccer before. After, some of us went in the pool at the place we were at, some sunbathed, and some ate delicious lunches with their families. Afterwards, I played pool with my sister and her cousin - which happens to be another ACM student - and his model brother. There was a professional Latin American style dance couple that performed for us and also taught us some salsa, meringue, bachata...etc. Overall, the day was very fun and even the hard-pouring rain midway through couldn't get our spirits down.

       So. The weather has really been off here lately, hence me being sick for almost a week because of the big climate change. It really is hard to predict the weather here! It makes planning for touring weekends difficult. I don't mind staying at home though, I'm saving a lot more money this way. My friends here on average spend about $50 a weekend traveling. Anyways, since I only have two more weeks here, I'm really trying to not let personal problems back in the United States get me down. I mean, how often do you get to live in Costa Rica (if you're a foreigner I mean). Haha, all of this academic work is also keeping me very busy! Doing classwork in Spanish always takes me ten times as long if it were in English!

       As you all know, Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I'm used to not really celebrating it with my family, so you would think that being away wouldn't be so bad. However, I really miss my mom and wish I could celebrate it with her this year (it's probably because I have been living with a different family for the past three months). But I'm so grateful that ACM is preparing a special Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow with dinner plates that are usually at Thanksgiving in the United States. As you can imagine - Costa Ricans don't celebrate Thanksgiving the same way we do. They do have a Día de Gracias (Day of Thanks) here though. We will be having the awesome cook Ivette doing most of the cooking. But, some of us (and when I say us I mean others :P) will be making desserts. So it really is the next best Thanksgiving ACM could give us in a foreign country. I'm so excited to eat all the food!

       I am really striving for all As in my classes. The fact that I may possibly do so in two classes that are almost 95% of the time in Spanish just shows how much I have progressed throughout this program. This weekend I am determined to talk a lot with my host mom and practice my speaking fluency for my oral exam on Tuesday. It's going to be videotaped so the head of the Spanish department at Ripon College can distribute it to my Spanish professors for them to see how much I have improved...therefore, I am nervous as heck.

       My experience here has been very difficult, but extremely rewarding at the same time. I'm a little sad to see it end soon. I'm really going the group here, they're so awesome! We are all so different, yet all of us have remained friends throughout almost four months. It's going to be so different to go back to the United States and not spend every day with them in the ACM building....seeing Sarah and Mateo and Kallie cooking up a storm in the kitchen, seeing Anya doing breakdance moves, hearing Amanda speak Spanish everywhere, going to gym everyday for kickboxing and conditioning with Christina and Carmelita...etc. I'm wanting to tear up just thinking about it! But, life consists of many changes...this is just another block of my life about to end! It has been such a hard, amazing, frustrating, rewarding, tearful, loving one. :]

Releasing the Emotions

       It's only been four days, but I'm going to be so busy with schoolwork that I figure I should blog now that I have the time! Time is going by so fast right now. It feels like just yesterday that I arrived in Costa Rica! I can't believe that was almost three months ago. Well, I should really enjoy these past couple weeks while I can!

       Let's see. The weather here has been dreadful lately. We have had one sunny day in the past week, and the rest was darkness and rain. I really hope it clears up by the time my sisters get here after the program! It's supposed to be getting summer here too, not lots of rain. It's honestly not that bad though because I have not had to use my light therapy my entire time here in Costa Rica.

       Today I went to my fourth session of anger management at the San José hospital, one of the tallest buildings I think I have seen here yet (9 floors). I've decided to title this blog (hence the title) based on my emotions I've been feeling here during the program. One of the biggest things I am practicing here is tolerance. While this country is similar to the United States, it is also very different...especially for me the religious aspect. But I have fabulous insurance here - like everyone else ;) - so the therapy sessions are free! It has been very interesting for me to go to therapy here (in a different country) and see parallels in therapeutic practices with what I've experienced back home. I know that psychology is universal, but it's always interesting to see similarities in different countries around the globe. She also speaks English, by the way, otherwise I wouldn't be able to understand anything! We are doing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, which is a form I have never experienced before! Anyways. I believe that all students experience a change in their tolerance and acceptance level whenever they live in a different environment and culture, it's almost necessary! Especially when you are living in a host family that is very different from the one you have back at home, like mine. But this experience has been wonderful for recognizing what you are most thankful for. I never realized how comfortable and fortunate I am to have the independence I have in the United States. I have been so babied here with my host family it becomes quite annoying sometimes, but that coddling is very common in this culture.

       There are so many differences and similarities I can point out between Costa Rica and the United States I have observed throughout this experience. But that would take a VERY Long blog and would end up being more of a novel. I will say that it is very interesting to come from a country of many different cultures to one that Catholic-based and has one main culture since it is so small. I feel like there is a church on every street here (definitely more than schools I believe)!

       Tomorrow we are going to visit the Volcán Irazú and one of the most important churches in Costa Rica, La Basílica. Like many visits we have done here, the weather really determines if the experience is going to be as awesome as everybody claims it is. For example, many people here have said that the beaches are beautiful...but it can only be so much if it's down-pouring the entire day with no sun. The weather here is also very unpredictable and can change in less than an hour sometimes. Therefore, I hope that we have clear weather tomorrow so we can have awesome sights from atop the volcano. I have been so blessed with so much wonderful touring of sights that I have a hard time finding time to upload all the pictures on my facebook and organize my photo albums. I am so grateful for technology and photos because I don't want to forget with old age the beauty of Costa Rica after I leave. I'm also glad that my friends and family back at home can read this blog and follow me along my adventure! *stares at floor* And there is another cockroach crawling along on the floor towards the bathroom...another one... This would be the third one I have seen so far in the past three months! Haha, cockroaches are so common in the households here that my friends have started naming each one in their houses.

       So friends and family, I love it here but can't wait until I'm back at home in California with loved ones. Since I won't most likely be touring on the weekends anymore (to save money for when my sisters get here and also because I'm focused on academics and getting all As in my classes), I hope to write about the actual volcano trip, what happened, and anything else interesting that happens in a week. ;]

Some Sweet Experiences

       Well, it's just about that time where I need to update you all! This past week has been very eventful and fun. I've had so many "sweet experiences." Last weekend some friends and I went to Puerto Viejo and Punta Uva! There were some beautiful beaches there - and I was stupid and really burnt myself, so now I'm very tan.
     
       The hostel we stayed at was very hippie - let's just say the structure and artwork was beautiful, but I couldn't take a shower for two days because they were so grungy! The artwork was amazing because everything was done by past tourists for the past couple decades. There were people from all over the world with us at the hostel (Germany, Italy, Australia!)! I brought food to cook in the kitchens, since it seems most hotels/hostels here include a kitchen....but no towels for hands or body... But I decided to check out the food as well since the hostel had a restaurant joined with it! I had the best veggie burger in my entire life with also a bread I've never tried before: focaccia! And for dessert, I had coconut breaded fried banana with vanilla ice cream, fruit, carmel, hot fudge and granola!
     
       Anyways, we stayed from Friday afternoon until Sunday noon. The main item on our agenda was to go see Punta Uva  (the name of the beautiful beach nearby) and snorkeling in the clear blue waters. That was very pretty since the corral reefs are so close to the beach, we only had to wade out about ten feet before we just put our heads in the water and could see fish activity and corral. I ended up going with Anya and she is scared of deep waters. So even though we could literally stand up in the water, I still held her hand and guided her along until she was more comfortable. The hostel had two floors, the bottom being full of over 300 hammocks! The second floor consisted of over 100 single and double single tents with mattresses in them. So of course it rained a tad bit during our stay (it is still the rainy season here!), but it was fine because I relaxed so comfortably in those hammocks. Friday night we were able to see performers with fire around 10:00pm. The dark contrast with the night was very nice. I have seen fire performers here before, but these three were very different. The fire was huge and I thought several times that someone's hair was going to catch on fire. The women was once on the shoulders of the man and they were both juggling great balls of fire in the air. There was also a bonfire (very big and hot at times because one of the Americans didn't understand the concept of lots of wood=lots of heat) on Saturday night. It was awesome because we roasted marshmallows. And when I say we, I mean my friends who like charred ones asked me to do it. It's because of all my practice in Girl Scouts at campfires. It was quite interesting at times because it seemed like everyone was drinking...except me of course...and the songs/phrases that were coming out of their mouths *shakes head* We all had a lot of fun though throughout the weekend. I'm working more and more on my Spanish and I can feel myself improving.