Pura Vida!

Buenas!

Now that I am settled, I figure it is time to update everyone on my time here so far! I have a lot to update on so it is going to be really long (and detailed so as to please my mother). If you don't feel like reading the entire update: here is a summary-I am so happy here! Costa Rica is the best.

I am going to start with Saturday, since Friday was mostly travel and by the time I got to Costa Rica it was dark. Saw a great sunset from the airplane, though!

Saturday
Morning
We had orientation with everyone from the program on Saturday. Which was annoying because it was so beautiful out but we were stuck inside for most of the day! It was ok, though because I got to meet everyone from my program. There are only like 30 of us which is perfectly non-overwhelming, and everyone is so nice =)

I signed up for my classes-I am in track 2 spanish and will have Spanish Monday-Friday from 8am to 10:30am. By the time I am done, I will have taken the equivalent of FOUR Spanish classes at UMD. It will be very intense! But I'm excited to improve and be better at understanding everyone here. My Spanish professor is so nice, and there are only 8 or 9 people in my class so I think I will learn a lot.

The other classes I am taking are a Tropical Plant Ecology class which should be sweet! And a Comparative Education class that I am very excited about-it will compare the education practices between different areas of the world (with an emphasis on Central America). Costa Rica abolished its military about 60 years ago and put all of that money toward education, so I am interested to see what they do differently. The professor who teaches that is also teaching a gender studies class that I wish I had time to take, but regardless her interests seem in line with mine! Also I am taking a Latin American dance class!!

Also, I signed up for a "Tico Friend" (Tico is the word used to describe a Costa Rican), which is a student from the university who I can practice Spanish with while they practice English with me.

After orientation we did a tour of the campus, which I got to see even more of on my run this morning. It is so beautiful! Some parts of it feel like you are in the middle of the rainforest. They have a cafeteria where you can get a whole lunch for about $2. I love how cheap everything is here-you can take a taxi for $1 or 2 and even travel to the beaches, rain forests, mountains, volcanoes, etc by bus for less than $20 round trip. I am hoping that I will be able to travel on most weekends.

Afternoon
After orientation, my roommates and I moved into our new house! The house is amazing-it is in a really  nice, quiet, safe part of Heredia. We live two doors down from some important member of the government, so there are always security people walking around. And it is less than 10 minutes from my school. There is a park a block away that I worked out at after my run this morning-it has a great view overlooking the part of town below us, and all of the mountains surrounding.

Anyway, the house is awesome. We each have our own bedroom and bathroom. I have never had my own bathroom before! I am not used to such privacy- I am used to sharing a bathroom with 35 freshman girls. What an upgrade. And my room is bigger than any bedroom I have ever had! All for what it would cost to live like under the kitchen table of an apartment in College Park. Woo hoo!

Also, my roommates are really great. They lived together last semester in Puntarenas, another city in Costa Rica, so they have been endlessly helpful at helping me here, which is nice to have in lieu of a host family. They also come equipped with Tico friends who helped us move in and hung out with us, so I was already making friends with local people without even having to try =)

Night
Once we moved in, we went out for dinner before going grocery shopping. There is a super nice Persian man who owns a restaurant/Hookah bar right near us with Middle Eastern food...so yummy. None of the restaurants or stores here have doors or outside walls or anything-they are all open, which is great because the weather is always so comfortable!!

We went grocery shopping after that and then met some people from the program out at one of the bars. We met so many Ticos and Ticas! Everyone is SO NICE. It is very different from places I traveled in Europe, where people are excited to meet you because you are American. In Costa Rica, everyone is excited to meet us because we are in Costa Rica. They are so proud of their country and want to show it off so that we can love it, too. I have only been here 3 days and I have already made friends who want to show me some of their favorite places in Costa Rica =)

The bar we went to was a lot of fun. They play some really crappy American music, though. They love it!! I love the Latin American pop music they play much more. We had a great time!

Sunday
On Sunday, 6 of us from the program went to a sports bar to watch the Ravens game. Afterwards, one of our new Tico friends took us around Heredia since we hadn't gotten a chance to see the whole city. I will post some pictures later.

It is difficult to describe Heredia. It isn't particularly beautiful-but it is still really nice and pretty. It is surrounded by mountains, which is something that I am not used to but love a lot. The weather is perfect-70s every day, with quite a bit of breeze.  I can't quite put my finger on what I like so much about it, but I really really love it here. Everything here is so simple, which is a really good way to describe the culture in general. Their motto is "Pura Vida" which translates to "pure life". Which means that the mentality here is a very no worries, no rush, no cares type of mentality. Everyone always seems so happy and relaxed, including myself.

I will go more into the culture once I have been here for longer, but it is worlds away from culture in the US, despite the presence of many American fast food restaurants and brands (Aeropostale is really trendy here...should have saved all of my clothes from middle school-I would be so cool here!!).

I was exhausted by the time we were done touring the city, so when I came back I made some yummy dinner (Nituke for any macro friends) and went to sleep at like 9.

Today
This morning (6 am!) I went on a run around my neighborhood and school. There are so many hills-I was dying...but I did a workout and some yoga afterwards in a little park near my house that overlooks the city below us and all of the mountains. Really nice =)

I went to my first Spanish class this morning, and then came back to make myself a salad with delicious fresh veggies and update this blog before I head back to school for my afternoon class. Today is orientation for new students and registration for the Ticos at UNA (the school that we are taking classes at)-so there were thousands of Ticos all around-all staring at our big group of Gringos walking to our classes. As one of the girls in my class said, it felt like we were walking in our underwear.

UPCOMING:
-Every Wednesday we are going to play soccer with Ticos!
-This weekend we are going on a "Crocodile Tour" through the jungle and then going ziplining! I am so excited!!!!


Sorry for writing so much.

Adios =)
-Rachel