Catching up - Part 1 - Punta Leona

As expected, I have fallen behind in my reporting, but since the weekdays are less eventful (mostly class, homework, hanging with the host family, etc.), I'll try to bring the blog up to date in the next few days. For this entry, I want to post some pictures from my trip  the weekend before last to Punta Leona, a reserve/resort on the Pacific Coast. None of us in the study abroad program were entirely sure why we were brought to a resort for a weekend, but none of asked too many questions either. We arrived figuring we would have a project of some kind to complete (especially since our two Spanish teachers were chaperoning), but the weekend was purely dedicated to relaxation. After taking a short hike through a nearby wooded area, we arrived at the resort for lunch, during which a gang of fearless monkeys hopped from roof to roof in pursuit of leftovers (see picture above)--I couldn't believe how aggressive they were. The majority of the weekend, however, was spent at the beautiful beach, "La playa blanca". We lucked out and didn't get rained on until late afternoon on Saturday. The ocean was the perfect temperature and the great lengths of time I spent in it were well worth the ridiculous sunburn I found on my back the next day. On Saturday night, we danced our asses off at the resort's one and only discoteca, which, if I do say so myself, was pretty lifeless until we showed up. Being at a resort like this, which was relatively foreign to me, reminded me of the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall, because we kept running into the same people (staff, guests, etc.) everywhere. All in all, made for a relaxing and silly weekend. I'll try to catch you up on the following weekend in an entry to appear soon...

Sunset at the beach 

Sunday morning at the beach

  Crazy-looking flower from the short hike

More photos...

Church in Coronado

Posing with the jeep that gave us problems

In action...

Host family fotos

The grandkids minus one....

That is all for now. The internet is being sporadic again, so I'll do a few pictures each day. Sorry (especially to Uncle Arthur if you're reading) about the bad grammar. The last entry was rushed and I'll try to be more mindful. 

Off-roading Adventure

 

On Sunday morning, two of the my host parents' grandkids asked me I wanted to go with them in the jeeps--I didn't really know what that meant and that was all the more reason to go along. We drove out to Coronado, which is a town that borders San Jose.  We drove up a hill to a more rural area of the town where there were muddy roads that made for a shaky, fun ride in the jeeps. The photo directly above is a fancy shot (the grandkids and I had some fun with iphoto when the power went out Sunday night) of the two-person jeep that I was riding in with a friend of the family. The whole fun of the outing, however, was getting stuck! My host mother’s son, Carlos, was driving with his wife and three kids in a larger jeep, and had a more difficult time avoiding this fate. Every it happened, it was an excuse for everyone to get out of the jeeps and laugh on the situation. Towards the afternoon, the big jeep was stuck on a muddy hill and there was not much hope of it making its way to the top and no exit (or so we thought) at the bottom. As we tried to create a path for the jeep, we joked nervously about the inevitable downpour as we watched the clouds roll in (see below). 

We did not escape before the downpour began, and it took a change of directions (there did turn out to be exit at the bottom of the hill) and fixing a broken down jeep before we made it out, but nobody let that ruin the day. Everything that happened was simply funny to everyone and nobody ever doubted (except maybe me, as I struggled to understand everything people were saying) we would figure a way out. An enjoyable day to say the least...

...When I have access to a faster internet connection I'll be sure to post some more photos from the trip. This coming weekend I head to Punta Leona on the Pacific Coast, so I'll be sure to share some photos and highlights from that too when I get back. Hope all is well with everyone...

Because they said I wouldn't..

As most of you know, I have just recently embarked on my  trip to Costa Rica (for 5 weeks) and Chile (for 5 months or more) with the ultimate objective of mastering the spanish language (or at least improving..hella). Prior to my departure, several people expressed the desire to be updated on my travels, and a few proposed blogging as a possible solution. Since there are so many people that I'd like to keep updated, I've decided this is the best way to do so. I'll admit blogging is not typically be my kind of thing, but I'm going to give it a try since there are some doubters out there (you know who you are) who expressed a lack of confidence in my ability to keep in touch. I'm not yet certain of the extent to which I plan on sharing my experiences, but I suspect this is where I am going to share the highlights, the funny stories, and hopefully a good deal of photos. 

Just to let you know where I'm at right now, I have been in San Jose, Costa Rica for three and a half days and have loved my experience thus far. On Thursday, I arrived at the airport and met my host family for the first time. Technically, I am only staying with a couple in their 50s (or 60s),  are a great deal more people who are in and out of the house. Both of their kids, now grown up, live in the units above us, with their kids (a total grandchildren for my host parents). The first day I met everyone and Deiman showed me how to reach ULatina of Costa Rica--the university where I will be attending an intensive spanish language program called Spanish and Sustainable Development in Latin America.  On Friday, I had my orientation for this program and they took us for a quick tour of San Jose and of the Teatro Nacional, a beautiful building modeled after the Paris Opera House. In the chaos of the pouring rain (which happens pretty much every afternoon here during the "rainy season") I forgot to bring my camera, but I will be sure to return and take photos. The highlight of Saturday was watching Costa Rica's match versus Trinidad--a victory for the Ticos 3-2. The game was very close and I got really into it, especially when my host father turned up the volume on the TV after ever Costa Rican "goooooooooooollllllllllll!!!". Today I went with my host parents' son and his family and friends to a nearby town called Coronoba, where we did some off-roading in jeeps. This adventure is deserving of its own post so I will be sure to share it with you as soon as I upload the pictures. That is all for now. !Pura vida!