back in the States

So i have been back in the states for almost 2 weeks, but 2 days after I got home on aug. 1st i left for vacation for a week. I am finally back home and its kind of weird. The last week i was in Costa Rica i was really wanting to come home. thats all i really thought about.  But after my last day of classes and after graduation i wanted to stay. i was so glad to be done with classes i just wanted to stay and be with all the people and go on more adventures. I really miss everyone there now. Since i was there for so long, i got close to the people at the school, my host family, and my friends at the school. And now that i am back home i am starting to miss Costa Rica. I am going through the transition period of being in another country for 2 months to returning back to the states and reality.  

I am so glad i did this. it was an amazing experience! i learned so much about myself, God, and another country.  It was a challenge, however, living in another country and having to speak the language as soon as i got there.  I miss talking in spanish now, and i actually miss hearing it all the time. its nice to watch tv though in english (i dont miss spanish tv). i need to keep up with my spanish so i dont loose it which i feel like i am. one of my family members speaks spanish so i am hoping i can talk with her to keep it up and she has told me that she is only going to talk to me in spanish now. that should help, i hope. i have tried to talk in spanish here a couple times and one lady just looked at me weird and gave me some attitude, and one man was surprised and said "que bueno" to my spanish speaking. : ) people aren't so friendly here. 

Now it is time for me to start getting ready to go back to school.  I need to get into that mode now and back into reality. 

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers while i was gone. i believe it really helped and made my trip a safe one! 

This is the end of my blog for Costa Rica, but i know i will be going on more adventures and trips so maybe ill have blog for those one day.

: )

take care everyone!

one more week!

these past 2 months have gone by so fast! i only one week left! this has been the best experience and an incredible summer! i have learned so much about myself, the culture, the people, and have become closer to God through the mist of it all. i feel like He is all around me through his creation. its an awesome feeling! i dont feel this way at home, and i hope i can continue to feel the way i do now when i get home. 

this past saturday was the Independence Day of Guanacaste which is the province Samara is in. July 25th is the day Guanacaste received their independence from Nicaragua. my school celebrated it on friday and some of the students did a dance, there was a slide show about Guanacaste, and we sang a couple Costa Rican songs. it was cool. On saturday there was a big festival in Nicoya which is the bigger city in Guanacaste and about 45 minutes on a bus from Samara. i went last night. there were booths of different types of jewelry and other stuff to buy, food, ice cream and churros stands, 2 trampolines, a couple carnival rides for the kids, and a concert. about 4 different bands played and they were pretty good. : ) it was defiantly a Costa Rican experience. 

i am really going to miss it here. i have been here for so long, i feel like i am one of the locals now. haha! i have never lived in a small town were everyone knows everyone. its neat because ill be walking around town or out at night with friends and i always see someone i know, even the locals that i have meet while i have been here. Everyone is so friendly here and very relaxed and chill. its going to be a huge culture shock going back to the states where everyone is in a hurry and always has somewhere to be at a certain time. another thing about Costa Rica is that nothing is on time. its called "La hora Tica." you could wait 45 minutes to an hour for your food at a restaurant, and the bus is always late but at least 45 minutes. even some of the restaurants and stores dont open when they say they will be, which is annoying. haha! this is something i had to get used to. no one is in a hurry and they are so casual here. i like that. : )

an adventurous weekend to say the least....

This weekend i went on a coffee tour on friday at a place called Diria Cafe. It was very interesting, and we tasted the coffee after. it was so good. it had chocolate, milk, and ice cream in it. YUM! and while we were enjoying the coffee we watched a traditional Guanacastan Costa Rican dance. the last dance they did, they had us dance with them! it was fun and i couldnt stop laughing and smiling! : ) On saturday some friends and i decided we wanted to get out of Samara and go to Liberia for a movie because that is the closet place with a theater and its 3 hours away on a bus! we got to the bus stop in Samara a little before 10am because the bus was supposed to be there at 10, but had to wait till 10 45 until it came. we got on the bus and headed for a place called Nicoya which is half way to Liberia to get on another bus. once we got there we only had to wait 15 minutes for the next bus. the bus ride wasnt too bad. all the windows were open because it was hot, but other than that is was fine. After many stops we finally made it to Liberia and had to take a taxi to the theater. We got inside and checked the movie times and the next movie wasnt for another 2 hours. we got lunch and while we were eating lunch we watched a performance of traditional Costa Rican dances with a band. 2 traditional dances in one weekend! it was some nice entertainment : ) then we headed up to the theater after getting some movie snacks at the store, and to our surprise there were tons of people there waiting in line. (when we first got there to check the movie times there was NO ONE there) I really wanted to see transformers, but it wasnt in english i know that i would have been frustrated watching the movie because 1 i would only understand parts of it and 2 the mouths would not match the words.....so i saw Harry Potter. It wasnt too bad. i havent seen any of the other movies so at times i was lost but it was good entertainment and funny hearing the reactions of the Costa Rican. This movie was in english with spanish subtitles, much better : ) after the movie was over we got a taxi to the bus station again and just made it in time to catch the bus. i had to stand for most of the way to Nicoya, but it wasnt bad. i kind of enjoyed it! we got to Nicoya and it was too late for the buses, so we got a taxi. the taxi is much more expensive but a lot quicker. we got to Samara at 9 15pm. that was a LONG day. i got home and my youngest sister was getting ready to go to a birthday party with the rest of the family, so i jumped in the shower and got ready to go to the party. it was fun being with my familia tica. we danced and ate and had a good time. it was also a great time to practice my spanish and interact with the locals. im glad i was able to spend time with my family like that before i left. after that i went to Tabanuca for Reggae night. it was their anniversary so there were many people there dancing and hanging out. One of my sisters, her aunt (tia), cousin (primero), and her boyfriend (novio), showed up later, so i danced and hung out with them for awhile. on sunday some friends and i bought a dead chicken and took a taxi to Playa Cabrillo to feed to crocodiles under a bridge there. it was incredible! we put parts of the chicken on a rope and took turns dangling it in the water for the crocodiles : ) there were 3 of them and they were HUGE!! i got some great pictures and a couple videos of it. we attracted many ticos. we had quite a crowd watching. it was awesome! 

so that was my costa rican weekend. my time here has been great, but im looking forward to go home. i have just less than 2 weeks here. 2 more weeks of spanish classes. i am really going to miss my familia tica though and hope to keep in touch with them.

I have to say that i really feel the protection of God around me all the time. I never feel like am in much danger. thanks to all of you who have been keeping me in your prayers while i am here! i greatly appreciate it!!!! Muchas gracias!!!

Muy Tranquilo

Things have been pretty laid back this week. the weather has been pretty humid lately and it looks like a storm is about to roll in. this week i have been to yoga class twice here and school and i am so sore from it, ha! i also went to art class and started making a bracelet (i havent finished it yet). all of the ticos are on "winter vacation" these past two weeks and there have been so many people on the beach! this friday i am going on a coffee tour. Costa Rica has amazing coffee and we are going to see how they make it and brew it, and then we get to try some with a snack and enjoy it while watching a traditional Costa Rica dance! it sounds interesting and very different and only something you can do here! 

so the food i have been eating... for breakfast i ALWAYS have pineapple with either a banana, strawberries, mango, or papaya (which is dont like at all). for lunch i eat around school at the restaurants and have nachos, quesadilla, arroz con pollo, platano con guacamole, etc. and for dinner i eat at my house and always have rice with either pollo, carne, potatoes, beans, gallo pinto, and to drink either chocolate milk, tea, water, or rice milk (which i dont like at all). 

oh when my family was here to visit, my dad installed a shower head with a wand and everything. he would totally do something like that. he is such a giving man! i love him : ) before all they had for the shower was a pipe sticking out of the wall. its very nice showering with a shower head. my tica mom was very happy and said "perfecto!" 

i have 2 1/2 weeks left. i am getting ready to come home, but trying to take it all in while im here! i really do love it here and will want to come back in the future! i am having an AMAZING experience here! : )

On my Own

Well, my family left on saturday. It was a good visit and they are safely back at home now. It is now time for me to get back into the swing of things and get used to sleeping in a warm room with only a fan, and taking cold showers. I got used to sleeping in an air conditioned room and taking warm showers.  I have about 3 weeks left. I started classes back up again today and i will continue to be in classes for the next 3 weeks.  This weekend after my family left they dropped me off at mi casa which was bitter sweet.  It was weird that they were leaving without taking me with them, but i was ready to continue my adventures. I am getting ready to come home, but i still want to go on another excursion before i leave. 

Sunday was a relaxing day. I laid out for awhile, and then went surfing for about an hour and a half and caught 11 waves!!! it was so fun! then i played volleyball which was the most competitive game i have played here yet. it was GREAT! it ended up being a fun day!

Today i had class in the morning. My spanish has definitely improved since i have been here. however, i am not even close to being fluent. 

I thank the Lord everyday for keeping me safe. His angels are definitely watching over me. He is amazing and I still cannot fathom His greatness! 

A week off from School with the Family

its has been so great having my family here. we have done so many things this past week and a half. last week we stayed in a house in samara that had a pool, and it sleep 12 people! i still went to school that week and did things with them during my time off. i didnt go to class on my bday. in the morning we went house back riding on the beach, surfing in the afternoon, and then out to dinner. it was raining during dinner and the power was out so the majority of our time was in candlelight. it was fun! we were outside under a hut right on the beach and the lightning lit up the entire sky! i did have a couple drinks and a shot- im 21! por que no! everyone was giggly and acting silly that night. it was fun! 

on thursday i had class in the morning and then we all went on a canopy tour in the afternoon. it was raining then too but it was still lots of fun ziplining through the forest! : ) that night i had 3 of my girlfriends over from school Francesca, Angie, and Claire and we ordered pizza, and went swimming! on friday i went to class in the morning again, took my test, and then we all left to go up north to Tamarindo for the week.  Tamarindo is more of a touristy place, but its nice. we are staying in a condo this week. this is my break from school, i took this week off and it has been so nice and so needed. this week we have been surfing, Jerry, Chris, Tim, and I went surfing for about 3 hours the other day. the waves were great and pretty big! Rachel and i have gotten 2 massages- AMAZING! we went snorkeling and swam out to an island, on Monday we went ATVing which was SUPER fun! going along the beach, and riding FAST 

other than that we have just been laying out on the beach, swimming in the pool, shopping at the local stores and relaxing. its been superb!

SURPRISE!!!!

sooooo this weekend has been a blast so far and it only got better! yesterday, saturday, i went on a boat with 5 of my girls friends to the island that is right outside the beach. it was an adventure for sure. it was a small fishing boat, and the waves were crasheing into us and flooding the boat. we had to pale out lots and lots of water. haha! our driver's name was Pablo. he is a local here and one of my friends knew him so he was happy to take us out on his boat. so we finally made it to the island and when we were close he told us to jump out. the island was beautiful. it has rocks up from the water and then white, soft sand. it was amazing! we hung out there, went swimming, had some drinks and snacks. it was paradise!
today, sunday, i was hanging out at school, waiting for my mom and staci to get here. i went into the kitchen because my friends were making dinner. i came outside to see if they had arrived and i saw my mom walking through the gate with staci behind her. i came running to my mom, and began to tear up because i was so excited to see them! THEN, a little farther away i saw Rachel(my friend who is like my little sister) and Chris! i screamed and went running to them and pretty much jumped on rachel and chris, and started to cry!! i COULD NOT believe they were in costa rica. then chris said, someone else is here. and i looked farther down and saw my DAD!!! i went running to him and jumped into his arms and was crying even more by this time! it was UNREAL!! and jerry (rachel's dad) was there taping the whole thing, of course. my friends came running out because they heard me screaming. they said they thought i was dying or something. haha! I AM SOOO HAPPY!!!! and i STILL cant believe this happened! i am having such a great time. we are staying in a huge NICE house, with a pool, and i took a warm shower for the first time in 3 weeks! it felt so good!
i am so excited for the next 2 weeks!! we have lots of fun stuff planned and my bday is on wednesday!!!!!

What a Life

i have been running everyday this week on the beach. it hasnt been raining in the morning and i have to go at like 6 30 or 7 because its so hot out. it is beautiful running on the beach! its nothing like running on sunset cliffs at school : )
I have made some really good friends here. i feel like you get closer to people faster when you are all in an uncomfortable situation and you hang out together everyday! there are people here from all over, some from switerland, germany, france, canada, south carolina, texas, colorado, arizona, michigan, and im the only one from california.
As far as spanish goes, i feel like i am improving. i am for sure doing better with writing, and i am getting better at speaking. i am starting to speak more with my host family, and im doing better during the conversations in class. i am definately more comforatble here and i am all settled in!
The food is so good here! and i have been eating way too much! haha! yesterday i went to cooking class and made arroz con pollo, rice with chicken. it was sooo good. we ate that with a corn tortilla! YUM! there is a lady that comes to out school everyday and sells empanadas at break. i love the pollo ones! i get one almost everyday! they are delicious!
i have been drinking a lot of peach iced tea (and some of you know i never used to like tea) and its pretty good. my tica mom makes it all the time and i usually have that with my dinner.
my mom and her friend staci are coming to visit me and they will be here on sunday! im so excited to some familiar faces! they are renting a house here in Samara, and it has a pool! yay! i miss swimming in a pool, however this past weekend 2 of my friends and i got a hotel room and they had a pool. it was so nice to lay out on a comfy cushion and not the sand, and to be clean, swim in the pool! it felt so good! it was her last weekend here and she wanted to do something fun! and on friday night we went to "Reggae Night" at a restaurant called Tabonuco (which is every friday, im going again tomorrow) its right on the beach! it was fun hanging out with friends, and dancing to reggae music : )

i am trying to take in all of God's beautiful creation! it is absolutely unbelieveable and so gorgeous! He is amazing and so creative!

A Tropical Storm

This week has been quit a storm. it all started with HUGE waves on monday! all the local ticos were out surfing on them and it was so entertaining. some of my friends and i sat and watched for a couple hours. then on tuesday it was beautiful and sunny in the morning and so HOT, my friends and i layed out on the beach, and at about 12 45pm it began to POUR AND POUR!!! there was thunder and lightning that was literally right on top of us! it was CRAZY! it didnt stop raining until about 7 30pm, oh and the power was out all day. my friends and i had to ride our bikes home in the rain, and not all of the road is paved so we rode in the mud. it was memorable. ha! and i had a candle light dinner with my tica mom and my sister. it never usually rains that long here. it usually rains for maybe an hour and then its done. yesterday, wednesday, it rained in the morning and was overcast in the afternoon. oh and the tide has been really high almost up to the school! and now this morning it is raining again! my first couple weeks i was here it didnt rain that much. this is sure one tropical storm! and its warm rain.

What i have learned so far...

1. i eat fruit with every breakfast especially pineapple. its delicious!
2. the eggs kinda taste sweet
3. instead of saying de nada for your welcome, costa ricans say mucho gusto or con gusto which means with pleasure or gladly
4. you have to get used to the chickens and the roasters waking you up, and just making noise all the time
5. many people ride their bikes, walk or have a mopede. my ride is a red beach cruiser!
6. it is VERY relaxed and chill here. no one is in a hurry. im lovin it!
7. Tico is the name of the locals. tico for male and tica for female
8. you pretty much sweat all the time, unless its raining. but im getting used to it and actually not sweating as much as i was when i first got here or maybe im just getting immune to it.
9. it rains randomly, but its warm
10. i basically live in a bathing suit. i wear it all day long!
11. monkeys live in the trees and make unpleasant hawling sounds
12. there are a lot of bulls and horses, however they dont usually go into town, unless someone is riding a horse. they stay in or around the field.
13. the water is ok to drink, however there is still a filtered system at school for us to fill our water bottles with
14. i dont like horchata.
15. i have rice with every dinner, and beans with every other
16.mamon chino is a fruit that has a shell that looks like a spikey ball, and you peel it open. inside there is a squishy clearish ball that you eat. it has a seed inside, and i felt like i was eating an eyeball.
17. i really like empanadas
18. never throw the toilet paper in the toilet, always in the trash!
19. Geckos sound like birds. they climb on the walls and one went behind the picture frame that is in my room, and started making noises like a bird. i thought there was a bird in my room somewhere....ha!
20. i took a shower with a crab. they tend to roam the streets

im having fun and learning alot!

My typical Costa Rican day

*wake up around 7 (cant sleep in here bc of the roasters and monkeys)
*class alternates times, sometimes it goes from 8am to 12pm or from 1:15pm to 5:15 with a 20 minute break. In class this week there are a total of 4 studentsa with a teacher. there is never more than 6 students in a class. the teacher changes every week depending on which class you move up to. this week i am in beginner 3 : ) in class we usually start with conversation, and we ask each other questions, and we answer, or the teacher asks us questions, and so on. then we move into grammar and structure, however we still do some conversation. we are only allowed to speak spanish in class and they strongly encourage us to speak spanish outside of class (we usually speak english with some random spanish words) in class we also do different activities, for example, last week we played pictionary, guess who, a matching game, and this week we played tabu. haha! these classes are totally different than anything i took in high school. there is so much interaction with spanish.
*then we will have lunch, usually at guanafruta which has smoothies, empanadas, tocaos, and sandwiches which are really good. this place is known as the fast food place.
*and then go surfing if the tide isnt too far out and the waves are descent.
*after surfing, lay out on the beach for a couple hours, nap and read.
*then depending on the day do activities. monday salsa, merengue dance class. tuesday dance or art class. wednesday dance or cooking class. thursday dance class. they also have yoga and aerobics, but i havent been to those yet.
*when those classes are done then ride bikes home, shower, eat dinner, and do homework. and depending on the night/mood go out with the amigas. the usual place is bar olas which is like a night club, but i dont really like it that much.
*and then go home and go to sleep.
: )

My weekend at Volcan Arenal and Monteverde

This weekend i went on an excursion with a group from school. First we went to Volcan Arenal which is an active volcano. It had smoke coming out of it! so cool! on friday we drove 4 hours in a van to the volcano and went to the hot springs. the hot springs were not like i expected. it was like a resort with pools everywhere and there were 3 water slides like at raging waters! it was so amazing and so fun! we stayed there for about 2 hours and then went to the hotel. the next day we went to a water hole with 2 waterfalls and there was a rope swing. we swam, went under the waterfall (so cool) and jumped in the water from the rope swing. there were leaf cutting ants there, you know the ones you see on the discovery channel. it was so cool! then we went on a walk through the rainforest and ending up at the base of the volcano. it was beautful! there was a huge valley with green trees and lava rock. then we went on a boat ride across the lake there to Monteverde. Monteverde is a small town, cold (about 67 degrees) with lots of tourists. ha! Then next day, sunday, we did the canopy tours with the zip line. it was absolutely AMAZING!! and so incredible! we would be high up in the air over this valley and you could see for miles. it was so green and so beautiful! i am trying to take in all of Gods beautiful creation. its unbelievabe! we did 40 zip lines, we repelled and did a tarzan swing which we were on a plateform and we basically stepped off a 50 foot drop and then swang on a rope! it was amazing!!!!!! : ) after that we headed back to samara for a 4 hour ride in the van again.
it was an awesome weekend but i missed the beach and i was ready to come back to samara. i missed it here and i missed my room. its starting to feel like home here : )

I AM HERE!

i have made it to beautiful Costa Rica! i am safe. i got in yesterday to Samara about 2 pm, and seriously those who have been here know what a taxi ride it like, and if you havent they are very aggresive drivers haha! it is an hour ahead here. i have met my host family and they are very nice and only speak spanish, however the youngest daughter speaks english and helped me a lot yesterday. i have my own room which is nice, and the food is pretty good so far : ) today i had my first day of class. everything is spoken in spanish which is good for learning but a huge culture shock, however the students here speak english. i have meet some nice people so far. and i already went surfing! it was SOO fun! the school is literally right on the beach. you walk out the gate and you are on the sand. anyway.... its great here and i cant wait to do more things!!!! oh and there are bulls and horses everywhere. i was walking to school this morning and horses where just chillin on the side of the rode.

My Address

Here is my address if you want to send me something : )

P.O. Box 113-5235

Playa Samara, Nicoya

Guanacaste

Costa Rica

America Central

Getting ready to leave...

Just to fill all of you in on what i am doing....i am going to Samara Beach, Costa Rica to study abroad and ill be taking Spanish classes. i will be getting credit and the units will be transferred to PLNU.  i leave this saturday (June 6th) for 8 weeks (ill be back on Aug. 1st).  I will be staying with a host family, a single mom who has 2 daughters- one is my age and the other is 14. I am very excited for this adventure and i will be blogging as much as i can while i am there so that i can share my experiences with you : )

I appreciate your thoughts and prayers while i am getting ready to leave and while i am gone!