¡Costa Rica (Rich Coast)!

There is a reason why Costa Rica is called the `Rich Coast.´ I discovered why this last week as my host family brought me to their family cabin near the western coast in the province of Guanacaste. I felt some of the warmest ocean water I have ever felt and relaxed on paradise like beaches. For five days, we (host Dad Victor, host Mom Bilma, host sister Fabiola, and I) basically traveled down the coast. What I mean by that is we went to a ton of incredible, absolutely beautiful beaches. Every day there was a new beach to go to, to explore. One of my favorites was Playa Conchal which basically means Seashell Beach. The beach was only made up of seashells as you can see where the name came from.
One very special thing about these beaches was that they had water that you didnt have to get used to. You could just jump right in and instantly enjoy it!! I definitely had some amazing times in the waves.
There were the beaches but there were also the ANIMALS!! On this trip, I probably saw as least 20 monkeys, I would say, in the trees (that is a first), some igwanas, and parrots. Here there is such a variety of animals. There is always a new bug to look at or a butterfly to pass by. Im living in the jungle baby!
After that vacation full of beaches, animals, great food, talking, and discovering, we headed home. That same day we went to a family party to celebrate Fabiola´s Grandfather´s Birthday!! That is what I call a party!! It was night full of meeting a ton of new people (at least 30 people there), eating, singing, laughing......ah it was so great. A mariachi band came to play for the family (the band with the trumpets, guitar, etc. where they sing traditional songs) which was so entertaining. There was the band in back and a man dancing in the front, once and a while making the whole family laugh! I absolutely loved it! There was also Karaoke...and of course they wanted me to sing some English songs. Hahaha....oh good times! Picture a group of grown Spanish speaking men and me all singing Dancing Queen. Loved it just loved it! Family here is a very very important part of life here. They all live near each other, generally all on the same street. When there is a celebration, birthday or something everybody comes and there is a lot of laughing. Its a big family reunion all the time!
Speaking about families, there is an amazing Christian family at their church. Just last Sunday, I was in the service and didnt really understand what the pastor was talking about. Yes I understood some main parts but I wanted to truly understand the pastor´s message completely. In that certain service, people had the option to use headphones and listen to the service translated in English. I loved that option! I got the headphones and suddenly the pastor´s message became so clear. Before I got them, the pastor told a few funny stories that I kind of got but not really. With the headphones, I was laughing right along side the whole congregation. After the service was over, Katherine (older host sister) and I were invited to a lunch with the missionaries who translate for the church and others who spoke English. Those headphones opened doors. I met the translator of the service, a young man in college by the name of Gabriel who live in Texas but is here on vacation. That lunch was the first real English conversation I had since I had been with my host family. Languages are incredible!!
Well those have been some highlights from my adventures here in Costa Rica!! There is more to come. This next weekend my host family is going to bring me to another beach on the east coast of Costa Rica where they said there are going to be turtles....how cool! ¡Que chiva!
My host Dad, Victor, wants to say Buenas Noches or `good night´ to you all as well as I do too! Until next time..........over and out!
Love,
Serena

Adventures!

Im here writing with a full stomach of gallo pinto which is a breakfast dish with a mix of beans and rice. Here Costa Ricans eat beans and rice for basically every meal. I love it!
I also love how Costa Ricans are so into SOCCER. The FIFA games are the TV shows that my family watches or what all of Costa Rica watches. No more American futbol, Costa Rica futbol baby!!!!! On the last day of school before vacation (this last Thursday, June 24th), I was the only girl in the whole school who played soccer with the guys. I had a blast with them! They were shocked that I wanted to play. Whenever I did a move, they would make noise, ha ha good times. Girls here do play soccer but I guess they dont like to play with the boys (a cultural thing). I broke that!
It has been hilarious to be in the English class as well because the teacher is not always correct. All the 17 teenagers in Fabiola´s class got back English tests and some of them asked why things were wrong. You dont think of it grammatically when you are a native English speaker. Also Fabiola and her friends have `English time.´ Its where they try to speak English. Randomly, one says English time and we start talking. They have hilarious Costa Rican accents!
Here, every day Im learning new words and cultural differences, as well as slowly but surely understanding more Spanish. The last few days Fabiola, her friends, and I have been sharing music. They know all the popular songs, movies, everything! Just last night, I saw Toy Stoy 3 in 3D with Fabiola and her sister Kathy. I recommend it to all. Yeah, its a children´s movie but you can learn so much from simple things. ¨You got a friend in me, da da da, you got a friend in me...¨
Today we are heading to San Jose which is the capital of Costa Rica. Fabiola, my host sister, has three weeks of vacation so now we are traveling and they said they are going to take me zip lining (canopy in Espanol) through the rain forest one of these days!!! WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That is what I have always dreamed of..and now it is going to come true. ¡Pura Vida! as they say in here in Costa Rica. Until next time...

First Days of Costa Rican Life!!

My adventure began two days ago now where my group (Partners of the Americas) arrived in the capital of Costa Rica-San Jose. We took a bus to a far away jungle bungalow, as you may call it, where we then stayed the night. Costa Rica is basically one big tropical jungle! That is when it hit me that Im actually going to be here for TWO MONTHS!!! The day after, my host family picked me up where we then went to an incredible restaurant with cultural food--beans, meat, strawberry milkshakes..so good.
People here do speak Spanish quite fast but my very kind family understands that I can only understand so much. I have a very nice host sister who is 16. Today I went to her private school where there were tons of kids every where. Sometimes it was so loud you could barely hear the teacher. It was also very interesting to see how they learn. Instead of the students moving from class to class, the teachers are, and they teach all levels in that subject for all classes. Interesante!
More adventures to come! I just played the guitar with my host sister. I taught her a few chords and now we are playing worship songs together!! Pura vida! (pure life as they say in Costa Rica). ¡¡Hasta luego!!

The Adventure is About to Begin

It's the night before I leave, just trying to get packed. I'll try and post regular updates about my travels and experiences in Costa Rica.

Just for your information, I'm going with a program called "Partners of the Americas." Where Oregon is partnered with Costa Rica.

I will be there for about two months, from the 19th of June to the 14th of August 2010!

I'll be living with two different host families, but I do not know who they will be yet, or where they will be living. I'll figure that out on the plane.

Hasta Luego!