Some notes I took...

Ok so I was taking notes the first couple days and I realized I forgot them. So here they are:

5-15-08
Watching the traffic report for highways going to San Jose. A biker rides past the camera.
Sun rises at 5am, school at 8am.
My friend’s host dad said I looked like Obama.
Not very many small mammals (squirrels or anything), a lot of little birds.
Comí los platinos ayer. Eran muy ricos. Son como bananas que son fritas y carmalizado. Me gusta el pollo frito aquí. Ayer mi padre dijo que su familia es del norte y tienen costumbres mezclado con los nicaragüenses. Me siento bien. Mi cabeza me duele mucho los días antes. No hay sal en mi dieta.

5-16-08
La republica dominicana elegío su presidente. Y ninguna persona en los estados unidos sabía esto.

Costa Rica Part 2

So in the first actual week of classes I didn't have class on Monday, followed by 2 4 hr sessions on Tuesday, one 4 hr session Wednesday morning, another 8 hr day on Thursday followed by morning class on Friday. I took a Latin America Cinema class and Hispanic Literature 1 and 2. This meant I had 24 hrs of class a week. Enough about class, the weekend soon came.

The first week everyone but the five of us, Bianca, Gabi, Maxine, Laurice, and I decided to go to Manuel Antonio. The most tourist place in Costa Rica. We decided to go to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, a Caribbean town with a Jamaica feel to it. We got on a four hour bus very early Saturday morning and crossed mountains and waterfalls to get to the Caribbean lowlands where everything truly was Pura Vida.

We found a hotel that had a room for 5 people and it had a really sweet garden in the middle. There were two Europeans next to us that were going round the world. We then found some grub and headed to the beach. Jammin's Jerk Chicken was pretty good if you're ever down there. Long story short: was a great weekend, various problems occurred i.e. drama, lack of money and too little time on perfect beaches on top of a shit ton of rain all afternoon and morning. There were lots of little crabs all over the beach too. We went to a beach party at night and relaxed the rest of the weekend.




The game seen to the right is called mache. Around the edge of a circle you try and hit a ball to knock washer/screws off some posts while going between your oponents posts. Theres a whole point system and its kind of cool. It's only played in one park in San José. A must see for all Costa Rica bound travelers.

Things I started to miss include: padded carpet, a computer, a communal room (since everyone in my house had their own computer and TV it was kinda lame), sports bars, and people visiting (I lived in in BUFU and no one would come out near my house, not to mention it was taboo to have friends over).

1st Post America Central post

Hi,
Sorry to all those waiting for a post. Found out that taking 9 hours of class/having fun in a foreign country is hard, especially without a laptop.

So on the first day, my host dad picked me up at the airport and drove me everywhere around town. With the confusing, curving roads, I couldn't keep track of directions and lost track of everything he said. So then I started analyzing his Spanish. Very cool stuff. Then I realized he was talking about how I need to meet a Tica (Native Costa Rican girl) so she can give "besas como pollos" or chicken kisses. He tried to explain what that meant, but I didn't follow. Mucha lengua perhaps?

So I met his sister who had spent a lot of time in New York in the Buffalo area and I was like holy crap, I was born in NYC and I spent a few years in Syracuse. I was like you have to love this weather and she was like, "I miss the snow". When I heard that, especially after coming from 40 degree May weather to 90 degree plus 50% humidity at 9pm, I was like Costa Rica is the closest to bliss that I'll ever be in.

That week, we were given a tour of San Jose, famous ruins, and churches. Basically the lamest tour ever. It was kind of ridiculous. They were using advanced Spanish grammar to explain the church, but they wouldn't spend the effort to take us on real buses that Ticos use so we were on a shitty tour bus.

That afternoon, we went to a country club and learned to dance. I won't complain about dancing here, only to save that for a later time. We swam a bit. At this point it was kind of lame to be hanging out with 32 other Americans, having seen no beaches, or cool animals.

That night, there was a dance and a lot of nice, but cheap alcohol. And a great night.


So thats the end of my post but I would like to leave readers with poems that I have been reading and enjoying from the Spanish language. The following is by Gioconda Belli, a nicaraguan and the first female poet that I have thoroughly enjoyed reading. Its called Castillos de Arena and the way its written is the way I imagened sand castles when I was little. It gives the reader a sense of a child's imagination and it makes me happy.

Poema Castillos De Arena de Gioconda Belli

¿Por qué no me dijiste que estabas construyendo
ese castillo de arena?
Hubiera sido tan hermoso
poder entrar por su pequeña puerta,
recorrer sus salados corredores,
esperarte en los cuadros de conchas,
hablándote desde el balcón
con la boca llena de espuma blanca y transparente
como mis palabras,
esas palabras livianas que te digo,
que no tienen más que el peso
del aire entre mis dientes.
Es tan hermoso contemplar el mar.
Hubiera sido tan hermoso el mar
desde nuestro castillo de arena,
relamiendo el tiempo
con la ternura
honda y profunda del agua,
divagando sobre las historias que nos contaban
cuando, niños, éramos un solo poro
abierto a la naturaleza.
Ahora el agua se ha llevado tu castillo de arena
en la marea alta.
Se ha llevado las torres,
los fosos,
la puertecita por donde hubiéramos pasado
en la marea baja,
cuando la realidad está lejos
y hay castillos de arena
sobre la playa…

Costa Rica

Hi all,
I'll be in Costa Rica traveling and studying from May 13th, 2008 to June 28th 2008. I'll be traveling for 2 weeks after that, meeting my brother and mother in Panama City and slowly over 2 weeks traveling to Managua, Nicaragua. Back in the states July 15th, 2008.

Done with sophomore year. Taking my DATs in January of 2009. We'll see what goes on from there.