THis is it folks. I arrived home thursday evening and i've just been hanging out here at home. Panama was an amazing experience. Living with an indigenous tribe on an island was an experience i will never forget. It is great to be home but also very strange. Currently living the joys of reverse culture shock. : ) Thanks to all you who followed. Hope you had a good time reading the blog. I'll let you know when i go back to costa rica : )
pura vida
paz afuera!
KT
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I'm leaving on a jet plane...
12 days!
Might blog one more time but this is pretty much it. Monday morning i fly to panama. April 21 through the 26th i live with an indigenous kuna family on an island. April 27th we become tourists for a day...planning to see the panama canal. April 28th 6:45 pm safe and sound back in miami : ) April 30th 3:05pm land in chicago!!!!!!!!
It has been a wonderful semester. I've already had to say some tough good byes to two host families and i'll have another tomorrow. Said paz afuera (peace out) to down town San Jose yesterday...it was bitter sweet...but an oreo mcflurry made it better :) I am very excited to be home but i already know i'm going to miss costa rica and I have promised two host families i'll be back for a visit so at least the goodbyes are not permanent. And I'm mostly excited for all the Hellos i get to say in 12 days! Cant wait. Indigenous week is going to be tough...not everybody on the island speaks spanish so tomorrows homework is to learn some key phrases in kuna :)
Love you all.
See u soon!!!
Pura Vida
KT
Might blog one more time but this is pretty much it. Monday morning i fly to panama. April 21 through the 26th i live with an indigenous kuna family on an island. April 27th we become tourists for a day...planning to see the panama canal. April 28th 6:45 pm safe and sound back in miami : ) April 30th 3:05pm land in chicago!!!!!!!!
It has been a wonderful semester. I've already had to say some tough good byes to two host families and i'll have another tomorrow. Said paz afuera (peace out) to down town San Jose yesterday...it was bitter sweet...but an oreo mcflurry made it better :) I am very excited to be home but i already know i'm going to miss costa rica and I have promised two host families i'll be back for a visit so at least the goodbyes are not permanent. And I'm mostly excited for all the Hellos i get to say in 12 days! Cant wait. Indigenous week is going to be tough...not everybody on the island speaks spanish so tomorrows homework is to learn some key phrases in kuna :)
Love you all.
See u soon!!!
Pura Vida
KT
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Practically Home!!
15 days! woo hoo!
Just got back from my 3.5 weeks in a more rural costa rican town. I absolutely loved it! I had an amazing family. Mom and dad and a 9 year old brother and 4 year old sister. My grandma lived next door my aunt next door to her. two housed down was my other aunt and some cousins. across the road was my uncle and his new born baby girl. that was my dads side of the fam. 20min. down the road was my other set of grandparents, an aunt and uncle, some 20 odd cousins and some close family friends. And the crazy thing is i got to know almost all of them. They were all warm and very welcoming and our entire group was crying today when we left them at the church to return to san jose. In grecia (the town i was in) three days a week i helped out in a school. the first week i was a lunch lady...not an easy job! but then while chatting with the principle at lunch he discovered that i was an education major and i got switched to helping the first grade teacher. It was fun and good practice for spanish speaking. Semana Santa (holy week) took place while i was there which was fascinating. The catholic church is pretty different here in CR and every day from wed. to sunday there were processions where they carried statues of mary, jesus, saints, you name it around the streets. Very interesting. We took some small day trips and made empanadas one day. Lots of time with the family. One of the most fun nights was the night we had a pajama party and 3 guys from the church came to the house and serenaded us. : ) aparently its a tradition here that when ever a guy likes a girl, or there is a birthday, or anneversary, or pj party, or just because guys come and serenade. It was pretty much awesome and the 15 of us who were at the pj party were perfectly content to have the guys sing to us all night. :) It was an amazing three weeks and i am already planning my visit back. :) Got back to san jose and was concerned that i was at the wrong house because it got a new paint job while i was gone...it is a delightful shade of blue. : ) I'm content. Cant believe the semester is almost done. Cant wait to see everyone!
Pura Vida
KT
Just got back from my 3.5 weeks in a more rural costa rican town. I absolutely loved it! I had an amazing family. Mom and dad and a 9 year old brother and 4 year old sister. My grandma lived next door my aunt next door to her. two housed down was my other aunt and some cousins. across the road was my uncle and his new born baby girl. that was my dads side of the fam. 20min. down the road was my other set of grandparents, an aunt and uncle, some 20 odd cousins and some close family friends. And the crazy thing is i got to know almost all of them. They were all warm and very welcoming and our entire group was crying today when we left them at the church to return to san jose. In grecia (the town i was in) three days a week i helped out in a school. the first week i was a lunch lady...not an easy job! but then while chatting with the principle at lunch he discovered that i was an education major and i got switched to helping the first grade teacher. It was fun and good practice for spanish speaking. Semana Santa (holy week) took place while i was there which was fascinating. The catholic church is pretty different here in CR and every day from wed. to sunday there were processions where they carried statues of mary, jesus, saints, you name it around the streets. Very interesting. We took some small day trips and made empanadas one day. Lots of time with the family. One of the most fun nights was the night we had a pajama party and 3 guys from the church came to the house and serenaded us. : ) aparently its a tradition here that when ever a guy likes a girl, or there is a birthday, or anneversary, or pj party, or just because guys come and serenade. It was pretty much awesome and the 15 of us who were at the pj party were perfectly content to have the guys sing to us all night. :) It was an amazing three weeks and i am already planning my visit back. :) Got back to san jose and was concerned that i was at the wrong house because it got a new paint job while i was gone...it is a delightful shade of blue. : ) I'm content. Cant believe the semester is almost done. Cant wait to see everyone!
Pura Vida
KT
Friday, March 20, 2009
Spring Break and such
So it has been a little while since ive blogged. It wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to say but because I didn’t know how to put into words what I have seen, experienced, and felt. And in some aspects I still don’t know how to verbalize my thoughts but I’m going to try a bit here. We shall just have to wait and see if it makes any sense. We returned from Nicaragua in the evening on Friday the 13th. Walking into down town San Jose a bustling Americanized city after spending a week in the puro campo (extreme rural area) was very surreal. I’ll admit that my first thought when I was in the campo was San Jose is not really any different than the USA. The buildings are big, the people busy, fast food common, and public transportation packed. I was kind of grumpy at San Jose and Costa Rica in general (which I realize makes no sense but that’s what I felt) I was angry that my host family in costa rica wasn’t so protective of me like my family in Nicaragua. I was annoyed that people in costa rica have a negative image of Nicaraguans. And mostly I was ticked off that the costa Ricans all thought we were going to our deaths by going to the puro campo and in reality I was having the time of my life. As we came into san jose though my attitude changed. Maybe its just the middle child adaptation mechanism in me but I began to change my anger to happiness and my negative thoughts to gratitude. I really do love my family in san jose and the city really is fun for a time. The culture is different than in Nicaragua not better not worse just different. I spent all day Saturday writing an essay about Nicaragua and trying to verbalize my feelings in Spanish…I fear I was not overly successful. : ) We had a short spring break then and me and three other girls left early Sunday morning for Monteverde a serious tourist town that is surrounded by rainforest. The first day we went exploring and wound up hiking for about 3 hours on a tiny muddy trail that didn’t lead anywhere in particular : ) It was a blast we climbed up hills that people had left ropes by so you could pull yourself up, we each fell several times, we were sucking wind because everyone on this trip is seriously out of shape, and we took in the amazing sites of a rainforest. Monday we went to an actual park called Santa Elena cloud forest. I’ll be honest I don’t know why the word cloud was there because it was a perfectly sunny day. : ) It was a little calmer hike and was only about 2 hours and there was an actual path but the view was incredible. Green everywhere and some impressive spouts of red flowers and some creepy crawling thingys. : ) I was struck by the care God puts into His creation and couldn’t help but think if he takes this good care of something that doesn’t have a soul to worship God with how much more does he take care of us whose only job is to praise Him and follow Him. The rest of the trip we spent hanging out around town and eating lots of good food. It was a wonderful spring break but at the same time I was not able to turn off my brain. I was there on a spring break simply enjoying God’s creation and spending too much money on tourist food and I had a family in Nicaragua that was waking up at 5am to milk their cows so they had something to drink. And there are costa Ricans who will never get to enjoy the beauty their own country offers because it is too expensive. These pesky thoughts in the back of my mind hit full force when we got back into san jose Tuesday night. Waiting for the bus no less than 3 homeless people asked me for money and when I got on the bus a mentally handicapped/drunk man was making people angry. I got to my house feeling thoroughly confused about the world, people and their attitudes, justice, and personal responsibility. I have a ton of questions and not many answers but I know that God’s Love is unfailing. The only thing I know to do is to follow God 100%. The God who cares deeply about Nicaraguans in the puro campo, busy costa Ricans in San Jose, homeless men on the street, and the incredible beauty of the rainforest. The God who is bigger than my thoughts can understand and the God who has control. Everything else is one big question mark. But that’s okay. I’m discovering that I rather enjoy living life without concrete answers…it allows for learning from other people and learning from people is far more fun than learning from a text book. So to close this rather random rambling I would like to say take time to listen to the people around you. Take time to see the beauty around you. And take time to slow down and just Be, don’t Do anything for a while. I promise you will like it.
Love you all! See you soon.
PS. Sunday I leave my family in San Jose to live in a town called Grecia about an hour and a half outside of San Jose for 3.5 weeks. I’ll be taking Spanish classes two days a week and working in a school the other three days (working in a school could mean teaching but it could also mean painting walls or raking leaves. : ) There will be an internet café but we are discouraged from spending much time there because the idea is to completely immerse ourselves in the culture. So if you don’t hear from me as often no worries I’m alive I’m just living like a costa Rican. I’ll for sure update before I head to panama towards the middle/end of april. And after panama I’ll be home! See u all soon. Pura Vida KT.
Love you all! See you soon.
PS. Sunday I leave my family in San Jose to live in a town called Grecia about an hour and a half outside of San Jose for 3.5 weeks. I’ll be taking Spanish classes two days a week and working in a school the other three days (working in a school could mean teaching but it could also mean painting walls or raking leaves. : ) There will be an internet café but we are discouraged from spending much time there because the idea is to completely immerse ourselves in the culture. So if you don’t hear from me as often no worries I’m alive I’m just living like a costa Rican. I’ll for sure update before I head to panama towards the middle/end of april. And after panama I’ll be home! See u all soon. Pura Vida KT.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Nicaragua=Love.
Hola everybody!
I'm back in my home in San Jose, Costa Rica. Got back yesterday from Nicaragua. It was without a doubt the most amazing trip of my life. I cannot possibly do it justice on this blog so I will give some high lights and recommend looking at my pics on facebook. The first two days we were in managua the capital city which is an extremely strange city. It is filled with monuments and government buildings and expensive hotels and at the same time there is a shanty town of farmers who are protesting the government. We went into a big park filled with monuments and it was practically dead. We had some charlas while in Managua. One with a guy who grew up a missionary kid in nicaragua, one with two people who work with MCC a missions org there, and a third with Maria Dora Tellez...a nicaragua political revolutionary who faught in the civil war, has held a 12 day hunger strike, and is currently not allowed in the USA because the Bush administration put her on the terrorist black list. So basically I chatted with a "terrorist" : ) After managua the real adventure started. We left at 4am and road on a bus for about 7 hours. Then we hopped off and waited for about 2 hours for a truck to take us to our host homes. The truck ride was about an hour and then we had a 30 minute horse ride to our host church : ) At the church i met my dad for the week and headed home. I spent the next 6 days living in a house with a dirt floor, wooden walls, an outhouse, and a stream to bathe in. I had 5 brothers and sisters plus my parents. I ate enormous portions of rice and beans and quejada (a really salty cheese that i didnt care for much but ate anyway) and tortillas. I really didn't do much of anything. Played with my 11 month old sister a bunch. Went to church 3 times. Sang in church 3 times. Taught a silly song to the childrens sunday school class and then performed it infront of the church. Taught my family english words. Talked with my host mom about anything and everything. Enjoyed the incredible scenery. Milked a cow. Fell in mud 3 times and had my feet washed for me by my host sister and mom 3 times. Road a horse. Played chibolas (marbles) and kick ball with my siblings and nieces and nephews. Went to bed at 7:30pm when it got dark, woke up at 5:30am when it was light. : ) This blog cant possibly do the experience justice but basically all u need to know is i absolutely loved it and plan to keep my promise to my host mom that i will come back and visit some time. After the host stay we went to granada an old kind of victorian city which was really beautiful and stayed in a really nice hostel which was very strange after coming from the campo. I was sick thursday but just about everybody was, its just our bodies way of saying what the heck did u feed me for the last week. But I'm good now : ) So thursday we just hung out and friday we headed home. left at 7am got home about 6:30 pm. This trip was mind boggeling, amazing, awe-inspiring, difficult and a million other emotions that i'm still processing. I am extremely greatful for this trip and encourage u to check out my pics on facebook to see my experience. If your reading this and dont have facebook, email me your email address (or just email me and then i'll have ur email address wont i : ) and i can send you the pics.
Love you all!
Pura Vida
KT
I'm back in my home in San Jose, Costa Rica. Got back yesterday from Nicaragua. It was without a doubt the most amazing trip of my life. I cannot possibly do it justice on this blog so I will give some high lights and recommend looking at my pics on facebook. The first two days we were in managua the capital city which is an extremely strange city. It is filled with monuments and government buildings and expensive hotels and at the same time there is a shanty town of farmers who are protesting the government. We went into a big park filled with monuments and it was practically dead. We had some charlas while in Managua. One with a guy who grew up a missionary kid in nicaragua, one with two people who work with MCC a missions org there, and a third with Maria Dora Tellez...a nicaragua political revolutionary who faught in the civil war, has held a 12 day hunger strike, and is currently not allowed in the USA because the Bush administration put her on the terrorist black list. So basically I chatted with a "terrorist" : ) After managua the real adventure started. We left at 4am and road on a bus for about 7 hours. Then we hopped off and waited for about 2 hours for a truck to take us to our host homes. The truck ride was about an hour and then we had a 30 minute horse ride to our host church : ) At the church i met my dad for the week and headed home. I spent the next 6 days living in a house with a dirt floor, wooden walls, an outhouse, and a stream to bathe in. I had 5 brothers and sisters plus my parents. I ate enormous portions of rice and beans and quejada (a really salty cheese that i didnt care for much but ate anyway) and tortillas. I really didn't do much of anything. Played with my 11 month old sister a bunch. Went to church 3 times. Sang in church 3 times. Taught a silly song to the childrens sunday school class and then performed it infront of the church. Taught my family english words. Talked with my host mom about anything and everything. Enjoyed the incredible scenery. Milked a cow. Fell in mud 3 times and had my feet washed for me by my host sister and mom 3 times. Road a horse. Played chibolas (marbles) and kick ball with my siblings and nieces and nephews. Went to bed at 7:30pm when it got dark, woke up at 5:30am when it was light. : ) This blog cant possibly do the experience justice but basically all u need to know is i absolutely loved it and plan to keep my promise to my host mom that i will come back and visit some time. After the host stay we went to granada an old kind of victorian city which was really beautiful and stayed in a really nice hostel which was very strange after coming from the campo. I was sick thursday but just about everybody was, its just our bodies way of saying what the heck did u feed me for the last week. But I'm good now : ) So thursday we just hung out and friday we headed home. left at 7am got home about 6:30 pm. This trip was mind boggeling, amazing, awe-inspiring, difficult and a million other emotions that i'm still processing. I am extremely greatful for this trip and encourage u to check out my pics on facebook to see my experience. If your reading this and dont have facebook, email me your email address (or just email me and then i'll have ur email address wont i : ) and i can send you the pics.
Love you all!
Pura Vida
KT
Saturday, February 28, 2009
NICARAGUA!!!
Hola todos,
So this e-mail is to let you all know that I have not infact died or dropped off the face of the earth. On monday I am leaving for Nicaragua and I will return March 17th more or less. While in Nicaragua I will spend the first two days in managua listening to guest speakers and living with all the lasp students. Then for 1 week i will be living in rural nicaragua. I don't know exactly what that entails but i do know that electricity will be limited or none : ) and running water is not a guarantee : ) and my toilet might be a hole in the groud : ) Woo Hoo! Go big or go home right? : ) The last two days in nicaragua i am back with the whole group for some more charlas and to check out a little market town. After these two weeks I am planning a little trip because we have a week long spring break. The temporary plans are to go to volcan arenal (a volcano) for a couple of days and then take a boat ride to monteverde a cloud forest for another couple of days. This would be my first trip so i'm pretty excited even though I'm sure I will be exhausted from Nicaragua : ) So if you dont hear from me till the 18th or so no worries I'm just out exploring the world. : )
Pura Vida
KT
So this e-mail is to let you all know that I have not infact died or dropped off the face of the earth. On monday I am leaving for Nicaragua and I will return March 17th more or less. While in Nicaragua I will spend the first two days in managua listening to guest speakers and living with all the lasp students. Then for 1 week i will be living in rural nicaragua. I don't know exactly what that entails but i do know that electricity will be limited or none : ) and running water is not a guarantee : ) and my toilet might be a hole in the groud : ) Woo Hoo! Go big or go home right? : ) The last two days in nicaragua i am back with the whole group for some more charlas and to check out a little market town. After these two weeks I am planning a little trip because we have a week long spring break. The temporary plans are to go to volcan arenal (a volcano) for a couple of days and then take a boat ride to monteverde a cloud forest for another couple of days. This would be my first trip so i'm pretty excited even though I'm sure I will be exhausted from Nicaragua : ) So if you dont hear from me till the 18th or so no worries I'm just out exploring the world. : )
Pura Vida
KT
Friday, February 27, 2009
the Ragamuffin Gospel
So I’m Reading this book by Brennan Manning called “The Ragamuffin Gospel” excellent book I highly recommend it but I just came across some quotes that I wanted to share with whoever is reading this blog : )
“By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did. We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive. We get blasé and worldly-wise and sophisticated. We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the stars or make faces at the moon. Water is H2O, the stars have been classified, and the moon is not made of green cheese. Thanks to satellite TV and jet planes, we can visit places once accessible only to a Columbus, a Balboa, and other daring explorers….We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak the plans and projects we conceive, that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose petals. The ice on the pond comes and goes. The wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window, but we don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up every leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish and fowl in supermarkets, we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.”
This quote is actually quoted in the book and is by someone named Erma Bombeck who wrote a column entitled “If I had my life to live over again”
“I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now get washed up for dinner.” There would have been more I loves yous, more I’m sorrys, but mostly given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it, and never give it back.”
Just some food for thought. Love you all.
Carpe Diem.
KT
“By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did. We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive. We get blasé and worldly-wise and sophisticated. We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the stars or make faces at the moon. Water is H2O, the stars have been classified, and the moon is not made of green cheese. Thanks to satellite TV and jet planes, we can visit places once accessible only to a Columbus, a Balboa, and other daring explorers….We get so preoccupied with ourselves, the words we speak the plans and projects we conceive, that we become immune to the glory of creation. We barely notice the cloud passing over the moon or the dewdrops clinging to the rose petals. The ice on the pond comes and goes. The wild blackberries ripen and wither. The blackbird nests outside our bedroom window, but we don’t see her. We avoid the cold and the heat. We refrigerate ourselves in summer and entomb ourselves in plastic in winter. We rake up every leaf as fast as it falls. We are so accustomed to buying prepackaged meats and fish and fowl in supermarkets, we never think and blink about the bounty of God’s creation. We grow complacent and lead practical lives. We miss the experience of awe, reverence, and wonder.”
This quote is actually quoted in the book and is by someone named Erma Bombeck who wrote a column entitled “If I had my life to live over again”
“I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now get washed up for dinner.” There would have been more I loves yous, more I’m sorrys, but mostly given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it, and never give it back.”
Just some food for thought. Love you all.
Carpe Diem.
KT
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Good times.
So last night was one of those really really good nights where unexpected events lead to bonding with the host family. : ) my mom and i walked over to her friends house last night who is consequently the mother of another lasp student. Their family has been going through a rough time so we went to check on them and bring them bread. My mom and i walked about a half hour to get to the house and the night was absolutely beautiful. One of those perfect summer nights back in illinois where dad whips out the grill...mmm mouth is watering. Anyway so we talked the entire walk about CR and Nicaragua and schools and good last names all sorts of fun stuff : ). Then we got to the house and met a girl my age named estepanie she was incredibly sweet and my mom and her talked for about an hour and i understood most of it : ) woo hoo. Then my moms friend got home with the rest of the gang. There ended up being 9 of us in the house by the end of the night. But we all just sat around and talked and i listened and i even cracked a joke and my mom laughed. After another 2 hours of chatting they drove us home b/c it was dark out and when i got home i chatted more with my mom and sister. Now when i say chatted i do not mean that i am in anyway fluent but with smiles and nods and poorly structured sentences i can communicate. Basically it has been pretty quiet around the house lately and it was really good to chat and laugh and hang out with people. : ) Plus the house was like a little UN. The family we went to visit is ecuadorian my mom and one of the girls husbands are costa rican, there was a nicaraguan visiting, and then me and kate to represent the northern part of the continent. The family was amazing very gracious and loving and welcoming. Basically the night just made me really happy and its one of those nights that will make leaving this host home difficult. I only have about 10 more days with them because we start traveling monday and i will have 3 more host families by the end of the semester. Just wanted to share my happiness with u all. And remind u never to take communication for granted! b/c let me tell u it stinks when you want to talk and cant : )
pura vida
KT
pura vida
KT
Monday, February 23, 2009
seven buses and a priest from new york
So usually when I talk about my adventures they are over a several day span but today was one big adventure. So I have this seven to ten page research paper to write in Spanish. It is due Tuesday morning at 8am. As of 12pm Monday I was one very important interview short of being able to finish my paper. My topic is catholic and evangelical relations here in CR…very interesting stuff. So naturally I wanted to interview a priest and a pastor. My advisor wanted to hook me up with some big wigs in the catholic church. I was slightly intimidated but told her to go for it. Well Friday night I got an email from her that her connection fell through and I was going to need to find my own priest. She recommended the catholic church of san pedro which is close to the university so they like kids like me. So class finished at 12 today and I decided to first check the catholic church by my house so I didn’t have to go all the way into san jose. So I hopped on bus number two for the day (number one got me to class in the first place) I got to guadelupe during lunch break so I wondered around and walked to a book store then to mas por menos a grocery store and bought myself some cheekys (some yummy Costa Rican cookies) I got back to the church in guadelupe just as they were reopening. Went in and told my story in Spanish to the nice lady at the front desk. She said sorry the priests are napping right now (she actually said resting but napping immediately translated into my mind and I think it makes the story a little more entertaining) so she says would you like to make an appointment for tomorrow morning at 9am…as you may recall the paper is due at 8am. I said thank you very much but I’ll try another church. So I hopped on bus number 3 to head into san jose. Got into san jose at about 2pm and quickly found a mcdonalds b/c my bladder was about to burst. From there I decided to kill a little more time just in case the san pedro priests were still napping. So I went into another book store and browsed a bit. A Time magazine in English here costs 5 bucks! Naturally I didn’t buy it. So I figured I had killed enough time that I could go see the priests. I hopped on bus number 4 to get to san pedro. Well all the priests in costa rica must have been at the same convention or something b/c the priests at san pedro were out until confession at 3:30 and I was not entirely sure if it would be appropriate to conduct an interview during confession. So feeling surprisingly upbeat (probably because the weather is absolutely gorgeous!) I headed over to the American outlet mall to buy a calling card so I could call my advisor and find out what I should do. I found the card finally after browsing another book store…not sure what my book store fascination was today but it was fun. So I took the card to the pay phone and dialed my advisors number…turns out its her home number. So I decide to call the secretary at LASP there were two numbers for her so I called the second one…it was her cell phone. So I called her again on the LASP phone so she could put me through to my advisor. My advisor says…sorry go home and finish your paper I’m out of ideas. Well that was not exactly what I was hoping for but I was still shockingly upbeat. So I hopped on bus number 5 to head back into san jose. All the while completely calm, enjoying the scenery and eating cheekys (the cheekys may have had something to do with my happy mood as well) By the time I got into san jose I had decided that I would go back to the catholic church in guadelupe and make the appointment for tomorrow morning b/c I figured the 5% lower late grade would be higher than my paper if I didn’t have both points of view in it. So feeling confident and surprisingly non-chalant about my 5%late grade I hopped on bus number 6 to go back to guadelupe. Hopped off the bus and walked back in to try to explain why I was back and wanted to make an appointment for tomorrow morning. The lady said something I didn’t understand and then said something I did…”he speaks English” Turns out there was an off duty priest from new York who is in costa rica to learn Spanish and if I was willing to wait 15 minutes he was willing to impart his knowledge…in English to me : ) I gladly took a seat. We chatted for about 20 minutes…his English was excellent…we commiserated over not knowing Spanish…and he casually tried to figure out why a catholically raised girl was at a Nazarene university. So I finished up that interview we both said adios…just to say we practiced our Spanish a little and then I hopped happily onto bus number seven singing to myself…outloud. : ) Got on the bus and sat down next to a guy about my age he proceeded to freak out as he tried to figure out why a gringo was sitting on his bus (he didn’t actually say anything but I’ve gotten pretty good at mindreading lately) so exited bus number seven skipped home singing in English the entire way and finished my paper. Thus ends the overly long story about 7 buses and a priest from new York. Hope u enjoyed this page and a half single spaced story about nothing overly exciting.
Pura Vida Y’all!
KT
Ps. Just realized the other day that for the first time since 3rd grade the ppl I’m with don’t call me KT…it’s a little weird! : )
Pura Vida Y’all!
KT
Ps. Just realized the other day that for the first time since 3rd grade the ppl I’m with don’t call me KT…it’s a little weird! : )
Monday, February 16, 2009
Journies!
Journies…2-8-2009 to 2-14-2009
Sunday Febrero 8, 2009: I went to Cartago more specifically Tobosi on Sunday to go to some museums and to play some soccer. : ) First stop was a tiny museum in a guys house that had a lot of indigenous artifacts. Next stop soccer field! It was an Astroturf field about the size of a typical indoor field back in the states. There were two games an all girls game and a co-ed game both played against local cartagans. I wanted to play in the co-ed game but I was recruited to the all girls game first…we kinda got slaughtered 6-2 he he but it was fun. I played goalie for a bit and they only scored on me once. Then it was time for the co-ed game and they changed their minds and said we couldn’t play in both games b/c there were people who hadn’t played yet. I was bummed but had accepted it when…one of the cartogans who had played with us during our practice a few weeks before asked me if I wanted to play for the locals! So me and two other girls played with the locals and we won 9-8 against our classmates. I had a goal and an assist and it was amazingly fun. Then we had lunch and finally went up a mountain like hill and went to an indigenous museum and took some amazing pics…on facebook if you want to see them.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009: Field trip to an organic farm. It was so incredibly cool! It was run by two guys and the guy we met was so enthusiastic about the farm it was catching. He grows shade grown coffee and vegetables and fruits which ps are all delicious…I know for a fact. :) He was really passionate about the organic part of his farming. He views sustainable development as his way of making sure there is a world for his children to enjoy. All of his fertilizer is natural and he creates it at his house. He explained how organic farming is a much slower process than mass chemical farming and he makes much less money and food than the larger farmers but he said in 10 years those larger farmers of today are going to come to him and say how can we switch to organic b/c our land has no more nutrients. It makes a ton of sense and if you’re looking for ways to go green buying organic or planting your own garden is an excellent way to start. :) It was really amazing to meet someone who was truly passionate about his work and didn’t put earning money ahead of spending time with his family and protecting the environment.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009: 8:30pm National futbol stadium in San Jose! Went to go see the world cup qualifying match between Costa Rica and Honduras. It was awesome. About 20 of us students went to the game but there were 6 of us in the north section behind the goal. We were four rows up from the field and had great seats. Costa Rica won 2-0 and everybody was incredibly into the game. For the first time when I walked down the street with other gringos we got honks and cheers because we were wearing Costa Rican jerseys and not just because we are gringos. It was refreshing. The game was very exciting but I didn’t get home till midnight (which I realize is not that late but here I am asleep by 10 most nights so it felt really late. :) It was an awesome experience and I hope you are all following the USA qualifying games back in the states (just in case u missed it the USA beat mexico 2-0 the same night of the costa Rican game)
Thursday, February 12, 2009: Went to the US embassy to Costa Rica to hear the other side of the story. It was strange being on US soil in Costa Rica. Our embassy aka embajada is by far the largest embassy in Costa Rica as I imagine the US embassies around the world and quite spectacular. It was really interesting to hear the US perspective because our focus here is to listen to the Costa Rican point of view and to view things critically. It was easy to listen to the talk with a cynical ear but I tried my best to keep an open mind. To sum things up in a nut shell the United States really does want to develop smaller countries but their focus is always to look out for the interests of the USA. Which I suppose is completely logical you would expect any country to look out for its best interests. The problem comes when you try to put small countries like Costa Rica and the United States in the same category. The GDP of one large city in the states is probably bigger than the GDP of Costa Rica. When the big guy is looking out for his interests it is more likely than not going to come at the expense of the little guy and these expenses are noticeable because the country is smaller and weaker. It was fascinating to hear the embassy workers talk about their lives and jobs. And the field trip gave everyone a lot to think about.
Friday, February 13, 2009: hmm writing the date I just realized that it is Friday the thirteenth and I have not heard a single person say anything about it here. Hmm funny. Anywho this morning we gave up our sleep in morning (not by choice) to go into the LASP at 8am for a camino esperitual (spiritual walk) we didn’t know what we were doing and I for one thought it was a literal walk. However it ended up being a time where we sat in a huge awkward circle and poured our souls out to each other. We were all really uncomfortable with the idea of sharing where we are at and questions we have in front of 40 of our peers but it ended up being really incredible. It is amazing the things people have come through to come to where they are today. In our group of roughly 40 we have probably over 20 from divorced homes, we have a cancer survivor, cult survivors, people who have lived in poverty, people who struggle with depression and now here we all are university students who are giving up 4 months of comfort to find out what the world really holds for them. It was a very humbling experience and it made me extremely grateful for everyone who loves and supports me back home. So if you’re reading this…I’m guessing you care about me at least somewhat and I just want to say that I love you! Also a shout out to the parental…who better be reading this…thanks for being such a good example of Love! Miss you bunches.
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009: Valentine’s day!!! And I’m going to a wedding. My cousin Vanessa is marrying another LASP student’s brother so I’m about to be related to one of my classmates I’m just not really sure how yet. Luckily there are several other LASP students who go to my church so I won’t be the only one there who has no idea what to do…Back from the wedding. It was really different in parts and very similar in other parts. There wasn’t really a wedding party and the grooms parents walked him down the aisle. My 20 year old sister and her boyfriend were ring bearers. There was no dance at the reception but the bride and groom did dance once while we were all still in the church. The professional photographer they used was actually the brother of the groom and consequently another LASP student with no photography experience but a nice camera The vows were pretty similar to vows in the USA and instead of saying I do they said yes I accept. The decorations were balloons my favorite of which said I love you in English :) Another fun part was when my tican mom literally dragged me (she likes to grab my arm and pull me sometimes…not my favorite thing in the world) around to every table to introduce me to my ‘relatives’ it was entertaining and only slightly more awkward than meeting relatives you didn’t know you had in the states. Over all it was a very beautiful service and I am glad I can check that off of my list of things to do before I die…go to a Costa Rican wedding. Check.
amor y pura vida
kt
Sunday Febrero 8, 2009: I went to Cartago more specifically Tobosi on Sunday to go to some museums and to play some soccer. : ) First stop was a tiny museum in a guys house that had a lot of indigenous artifacts. Next stop soccer field! It was an Astroturf field about the size of a typical indoor field back in the states. There were two games an all girls game and a co-ed game both played against local cartagans. I wanted to play in the co-ed game but I was recruited to the all girls game first…we kinda got slaughtered 6-2 he he but it was fun. I played goalie for a bit and they only scored on me once. Then it was time for the co-ed game and they changed their minds and said we couldn’t play in both games b/c there were people who hadn’t played yet. I was bummed but had accepted it when…one of the cartogans who had played with us during our practice a few weeks before asked me if I wanted to play for the locals! So me and two other girls played with the locals and we won 9-8 against our classmates. I had a goal and an assist and it was amazingly fun. Then we had lunch and finally went up a mountain like hill and went to an indigenous museum and took some amazing pics…on facebook if you want to see them.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009: Field trip to an organic farm. It was so incredibly cool! It was run by two guys and the guy we met was so enthusiastic about the farm it was catching. He grows shade grown coffee and vegetables and fruits which ps are all delicious…I know for a fact. :) He was really passionate about the organic part of his farming. He views sustainable development as his way of making sure there is a world for his children to enjoy. All of his fertilizer is natural and he creates it at his house. He explained how organic farming is a much slower process than mass chemical farming and he makes much less money and food than the larger farmers but he said in 10 years those larger farmers of today are going to come to him and say how can we switch to organic b/c our land has no more nutrients. It makes a ton of sense and if you’re looking for ways to go green buying organic or planting your own garden is an excellent way to start. :) It was really amazing to meet someone who was truly passionate about his work and didn’t put earning money ahead of spending time with his family and protecting the environment.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009: 8:30pm National futbol stadium in San Jose! Went to go see the world cup qualifying match between Costa Rica and Honduras. It was awesome. About 20 of us students went to the game but there were 6 of us in the north section behind the goal. We were four rows up from the field and had great seats. Costa Rica won 2-0 and everybody was incredibly into the game. For the first time when I walked down the street with other gringos we got honks and cheers because we were wearing Costa Rican jerseys and not just because we are gringos. It was refreshing. The game was very exciting but I didn’t get home till midnight (which I realize is not that late but here I am asleep by 10 most nights so it felt really late. :) It was an awesome experience and I hope you are all following the USA qualifying games back in the states (just in case u missed it the USA beat mexico 2-0 the same night of the costa Rican game)
Thursday, February 12, 2009: Went to the US embassy to Costa Rica to hear the other side of the story. It was strange being on US soil in Costa Rica. Our embassy aka embajada is by far the largest embassy in Costa Rica as I imagine the US embassies around the world and quite spectacular. It was really interesting to hear the US perspective because our focus here is to listen to the Costa Rican point of view and to view things critically. It was easy to listen to the talk with a cynical ear but I tried my best to keep an open mind. To sum things up in a nut shell the United States really does want to develop smaller countries but their focus is always to look out for the interests of the USA. Which I suppose is completely logical you would expect any country to look out for its best interests. The problem comes when you try to put small countries like Costa Rica and the United States in the same category. The GDP of one large city in the states is probably bigger than the GDP of Costa Rica. When the big guy is looking out for his interests it is more likely than not going to come at the expense of the little guy and these expenses are noticeable because the country is smaller and weaker. It was fascinating to hear the embassy workers talk about their lives and jobs. And the field trip gave everyone a lot to think about.
Friday, February 13, 2009: hmm writing the date I just realized that it is Friday the thirteenth and I have not heard a single person say anything about it here. Hmm funny. Anywho this morning we gave up our sleep in morning (not by choice) to go into the LASP at 8am for a camino esperitual (spiritual walk) we didn’t know what we were doing and I for one thought it was a literal walk. However it ended up being a time where we sat in a huge awkward circle and poured our souls out to each other. We were all really uncomfortable with the idea of sharing where we are at and questions we have in front of 40 of our peers but it ended up being really incredible. It is amazing the things people have come through to come to where they are today. In our group of roughly 40 we have probably over 20 from divorced homes, we have a cancer survivor, cult survivors, people who have lived in poverty, people who struggle with depression and now here we all are university students who are giving up 4 months of comfort to find out what the world really holds for them. It was a very humbling experience and it made me extremely grateful for everyone who loves and supports me back home. So if you’re reading this…I’m guessing you care about me at least somewhat and I just want to say that I love you! Also a shout out to the parental…who better be reading this…thanks for being such a good example of Love! Miss you bunches.
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009: Valentine’s day!!! And I’m going to a wedding. My cousin Vanessa is marrying another LASP student’s brother so I’m about to be related to one of my classmates I’m just not really sure how yet. Luckily there are several other LASP students who go to my church so I won’t be the only one there who has no idea what to do…Back from the wedding. It was really different in parts and very similar in other parts. There wasn’t really a wedding party and the grooms parents walked him down the aisle. My 20 year old sister and her boyfriend were ring bearers. There was no dance at the reception but the bride and groom did dance once while we were all still in the church. The professional photographer they used was actually the brother of the groom and consequently another LASP student with no photography experience but a nice camera The vows were pretty similar to vows in the USA and instead of saying I do they said yes I accept. The decorations were balloons my favorite of which said I love you in English :) Another fun part was when my tican mom literally dragged me (she likes to grab my arm and pull me sometimes…not my favorite thing in the world) around to every table to introduce me to my ‘relatives’ it was entertaining and only slightly more awkward than meeting relatives you didn’t know you had in the states. Over all it was a very beautiful service and I am glad I can check that off of my list of things to do before I die…go to a Costa Rican wedding. Check.
amor y pura vida
kt
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Limon, Costa Rica
If you woud have told me on Thursday that I would be able to cross off half of my list-of-things-to-do-before-i-die in one weekend i would have told u good joke. But indeed this weekend was absolutely filled to the brim with random new things.
On Friday morning we went to LASP (one of our schools here) for a charla (chat with a native costa Rican) this particular chat was given by a native of limon province in costa rica. Limon is unique because it is where 24% of the black population in Costa Rica lives. He talked about poverty, racism, inequality, and the role president obama could have in changing these things. It was very interesting. Then we loaded up the two 24 passenger vans and an SUV and headed out to Limon for the weekend. On the way we stopped at a coffee plantation…(pics of all this are on facebook…I cant remember how to get pictures onto my blog at the moment). We learned about the dangers of pesticides and monocultures and how you can eat the berry around a coffee bean but it is a natural laxative and leaves a funny taste in your mouth. Then we piled back in the vans and drove to a pineapple plantation….quick survey…who thinks pineapples grow on trees? Wrong. no worries I didn’t know either. After the pineapple plantation we drove for about an hour. We drove past the coolest thing I have ever seen with my own two eyes. We drove past El Rio Sucio (the dirty river) and el Rio azul(the blue river) they run literally side by side and then after a certain point combine and form one river. It was amazing. Then we got to the chaquita banana plantation…first stop was the sorting, stickering, and shipping part of the process. Then we drove to the actual plantation where we got to see the bags of pesticides that surround our delicious fruit. Not going to take the time to explain everything here but if your contemplating buying organic fruit, do it. After the banana plantation we had lunch then drove for another hour or so. Saw waterfalls and trees and giant leaves called los sombrillos de pobres. Poor mens’ umbrellas. …sorry to interrupt myself but my next door neighbor is listening to “its been a hard days night and ive been working like a dog…” and I am cracking up : ) anywho the scenery was awesome. When we got to limon we checked into hotel Miami…which was shockingly nice. Then we got into a group of four and set out to find some strangers to interview. After 3 awkward Spanish/Jamaican English interviews we headed to a typical costa Rican joint for dinner…Pizza Hut!!! we were all craving home and we weren’t sure when we would get another chance to eat American food without offending our host families so we went for it…and it was amazing! Then we went to mas o menos…the sort of mini walmart here and bought bread and jelly and apples for breakfast(yes that’s right…I eat jelly now…go fig.) Then we walked around for a bit but it was getting dark and we were getting a disproportionate amount of catcalls so we figured it would be best to head back to the hotel. Saturday morning we got up and drove for about an hour to a native peoples reservation. Did you know that costa rica and the USA are the only two nations who have put their native people groups onto reservations? Guess where CR got the idea. So we listened to a bri bri woman talk about her life and the work her people do on an iguana farm. It was fascinating especially when she talked about the way missionaries have come in and in an attempt to change her faith have ended up changing her culture. Lots to think about with this charla. Then to let our brains rest a bit we went to the beach. Ate pineapple and watermelon and some more traditional food pic-nic style. Then we headed back to the hotel. For dinner we had a traditional Jamaican Costa Rican meal of rice and beans flavored with coco, platanos, chicken, and a salad with I have no idea what inside of it. Then the real fun began. There was a live band at this little place we rented out and where there is music there is bound to be dancing. I tried the wall flower thing for a bit and it was going well until our intern sean decided to make the wall flowers join in the fiesta. Luckily I wasn’t the only first timer and they patiently taught me. I figure it only took about a half hour to learn one salsa step which I preceded to do for the rest of the night. I had a shockingly good time getting pulled out of my comfort zone and into a truly awkward situation. Then we headed over to TCBY for a bit if late night ice cream. Sunday morning I was put on the catholic church group so off to church we went. Oddest mass I have ever been to. The priest only spoke Spanish. The congregation spoke English but with a heavy Jamaican influence. I understood very little but could still follow to an extent due to my superb background knowledge of the catholic church. The music was fun but downright strange. The lyrics were the same as catholic churches in the states but it was as though we gave them the lyrics and not the notes. Not a single song followed the traditional rhythm, beat, or tune. It was fascinating but fun. Then we loaded up the vans and headed home. Got dropped off in Guadalupe and walked about a half hour to get home wearing my skirt from church and my running shoes…looked entertaining but my flip flops were giving me blisters Over all this weekend was amazing and eye opening and downright fun. But now I am back in the real world and my family is gone so I should get some homework done. Love you all.
Pura Vida
KT
On Friday morning we went to LASP (one of our schools here) for a charla (chat with a native costa Rican) this particular chat was given by a native of limon province in costa rica. Limon is unique because it is where 24% of the black population in Costa Rica lives. He talked about poverty, racism, inequality, and the role president obama could have in changing these things. It was very interesting. Then we loaded up the two 24 passenger vans and an SUV and headed out to Limon for the weekend. On the way we stopped at a coffee plantation…(pics of all this are on facebook…I cant remember how to get pictures onto my blog at the moment). We learned about the dangers of pesticides and monocultures and how you can eat the berry around a coffee bean but it is a natural laxative and leaves a funny taste in your mouth. Then we piled back in the vans and drove to a pineapple plantation….quick survey…who thinks pineapples grow on trees? Wrong. no worries I didn’t know either. After the pineapple plantation we drove for about an hour. We drove past the coolest thing I have ever seen with my own two eyes. We drove past El Rio Sucio (the dirty river) and el Rio azul(the blue river) they run literally side by side and then after a certain point combine and form one river. It was amazing. Then we got to the chaquita banana plantation…first stop was the sorting, stickering, and shipping part of the process. Then we drove to the actual plantation where we got to see the bags of pesticides that surround our delicious fruit. Not going to take the time to explain everything here but if your contemplating buying organic fruit, do it. After the banana plantation we had lunch then drove for another hour or so. Saw waterfalls and trees and giant leaves called los sombrillos de pobres. Poor mens’ umbrellas. …sorry to interrupt myself but my next door neighbor is listening to “its been a hard days night and ive been working like a dog…” and I am cracking up : ) anywho the scenery was awesome. When we got to limon we checked into hotel Miami…which was shockingly nice. Then we got into a group of four and set out to find some strangers to interview. After 3 awkward Spanish/Jamaican English interviews we headed to a typical costa Rican joint for dinner…Pizza Hut!!! we were all craving home and we weren’t sure when we would get another chance to eat American food without offending our host families so we went for it…and it was amazing! Then we went to mas o menos…the sort of mini walmart here and bought bread and jelly and apples for breakfast(yes that’s right…I eat jelly now…go fig.) Then we walked around for a bit but it was getting dark and we were getting a disproportionate amount of catcalls so we figured it would be best to head back to the hotel. Saturday morning we got up and drove for about an hour to a native peoples reservation. Did you know that costa rica and the USA are the only two nations who have put their native people groups onto reservations? Guess where CR got the idea. So we listened to a bri bri woman talk about her life and the work her people do on an iguana farm. It was fascinating especially when she talked about the way missionaries have come in and in an attempt to change her faith have ended up changing her culture. Lots to think about with this charla. Then to let our brains rest a bit we went to the beach. Ate pineapple and watermelon and some more traditional food pic-nic style. Then we headed back to the hotel. For dinner we had a traditional Jamaican Costa Rican meal of rice and beans flavored with coco, platanos, chicken, and a salad with I have no idea what inside of it. Then the real fun began. There was a live band at this little place we rented out and where there is music there is bound to be dancing. I tried the wall flower thing for a bit and it was going well until our intern sean decided to make the wall flowers join in the fiesta. Luckily I wasn’t the only first timer and they patiently taught me. I figure it only took about a half hour to learn one salsa step which I preceded to do for the rest of the night. I had a shockingly good time getting pulled out of my comfort zone and into a truly awkward situation. Then we headed over to TCBY for a bit if late night ice cream. Sunday morning I was put on the catholic church group so off to church we went. Oddest mass I have ever been to. The priest only spoke Spanish. The congregation spoke English but with a heavy Jamaican influence. I understood very little but could still follow to an extent due to my superb background knowledge of the catholic church. The music was fun but downright strange. The lyrics were the same as catholic churches in the states but it was as though we gave them the lyrics and not the notes. Not a single song followed the traditional rhythm, beat, or tune. It was fascinating but fun. Then we loaded up the vans and headed home. Got dropped off in Guadalupe and walked about a half hour to get home wearing my skirt from church and my running shoes…looked entertaining but my flip flops were giving me blisters Over all this weekend was amazing and eye opening and downright fun. But now I am back in the real world and my family is gone so I should get some homework done. Love you all.
Pura Vida
KT
Thursday, January 29, 2009
futbol y frijoles
hola todos!!!
typical week of classes except we started practicing for our soccer team on wedensday!!! woo hoo. i am sore cuz well i havent done any physical activity prior to practice but it was soo much fun!! our first game is on the 7th...hope to see u there : ) Other than that we had praise and worship time wed night which was great as always. this weekend we are going to limon a province on the carribean side of CR. going to be hott hott hott. : ) i´m excited...first time ill see a beach here in CR. well i would love to post more but i have already been on the internet for an hour and i havent done my homework yet. love and miss u all.
pura vida
kt
ps. frijoles are beans...and we eat them every day and surprisingly...i love them : )
typical week of classes except we started practicing for our soccer team on wedensday!!! woo hoo. i am sore cuz well i havent done any physical activity prior to practice but it was soo much fun!! our first game is on the 7th...hope to see u there : ) Other than that we had praise and worship time wed night which was great as always. this weekend we are going to limon a province on the carribean side of CR. going to be hott hott hott. : ) i´m excited...first time ill see a beach here in CR. well i would love to post more but i have already been on the internet for an hour and i havent done my homework yet. love and miss u all.
pura vida
kt
ps. frijoles are beans...and we eat them every day and surprisingly...i love them : )
Saturday, January 24, 2009
¿hola me llamo kathy? and other hillarious costa rican moments
Hola everybody!!!! it has been over a week and trust me it has driven me just as crazy not being able to update u all as it probably annoyed u not having any entertaining semi-bilingual blogs to read. so wow first week of classes is done. as it turns out i did better than i thought on my languag exam...i´m in intermediate not basic...he he he. classes were good but i shant bore u with school stuff when so much more entertaining stuff has occured this week.
1. went to a 2.5 hour long pentacostal church service entirely in spanish last sunday...good times.
2. oh i forgot let me back up. when i posted the last blog i thought i was helping out with kids...turns out i was going to youth group. that was fun i understood a few words...and i accidently won a big booty type game.
3. i added it up and i have taken 19 busses this week. two taxis. and walked about 3 hours...woo hoo for travel!!!!
4. on the side of busses...i fell out of one on thursday night. ha ha wow talk about an ego bruise! it was supper crowded so to squeeze through the crowds i put my bookbag over my head and when i got to the last step i tripped and fell. to make matters worse the lady who helped me up i said ´´thanks´´ to which in case u have forgotten is english and not spanish. but alas a mildly bloody knee and a bruised pride and i have moved on. : ) in fact we had a good laugh about it the next morning with the girls who saw it happen.
5. might as well stay on the topic of busses for a bit. last night i couldn´t find my bus stop so i tried to flag a bus...sometimes that works...three drove past and one driver wagged his finger at me as if to say retarted gringo ur not at a bus stop. he he
6. when i did get a bus last night...the driver hit a taxis door...they are crazy drivers here...like chicago rush hour times ten and pedestrians dont have the right of way!
7. enough about busses lets see...ah yes food. tried two more knew things that i refuse to eat in the states...avocados and cuecumbers....and i am dismayed to say they were both good. ooops. : )
8. so when ur living in a house where they all know english but they wont use it with you there are lots of opportunities to make funny jokes in english but alas i cant use it so i simply chat with myself bunches and so that i feel slightly less retarted for talking to myself i shall share some of the things that have made me laugh in the last few days.
a. for Danielle Elizabeth Johnston...mucho gusto does indeed have two meanings other than pleased to meet you it can be used as your welcome...so when you gave that man ur plate everyday in guatamala u said either pleased to meet you or your welcome...he he sigh i hear that every day and i always think of my crazy teammates : )
b. for Becca Gremar the other day my mami was channel surfing and beyonces song put a ring on it was on...i immideatly started grinning like an idiot and thinking of you. miss u bunches little giant.
c. for anyone and everyone...there are 3 students in my language class which is super nice. this week we had a teacher who is from jamaican descent. every single day she had some sort of clothing malfunction. her bib over alls broke one day. twice she wore this ring that looked like a snow globe that i couldn´t look at without laughing at. and her eyeballs popped out of her head so i refused to sit on the side of her because it is even scaryier from a side view. he he
d. along the lines of clothes...it is 68 degrees here and the kids where scarves and gloves and hats!!!! it is freaking hillarious! everyday the ticans tell us how cold it is and every day i tell them how wonderfully warm it is here! especially compared to u poor ppl stuck in illinois! so sorry for you. : )
e. watched the 700 club today with my mom...pat robertson is very popular here...go figure.
f. tried to explain guantanamo bay to some ticos...problem is i dont understand what it is exactly...oh well. : )
g. i found peanut butter in a store the other day. i didn´t buy it but i made me soooo happy!!! auto mercados have all sorts of american goodies like oreos and snickers but they are twice as expensive as the costa rican versions so i stick to the costa rican ones.
h. food here is delicious. rice with everything and beans just about every other day. but yesterday night we had ground beef rapped in lettuce rapped in egg . with rice and steamed cuecumbers. i tried a pupusa the other day that was delicous....i would try to explain it but its too confusing so if ur really the interested u can google it. there really hasn´t been anything i havent liked so far.
i. starting to hear more about our later trips like nicaragua, panama, and the countryside of costa rica...basically i´m living in luxury right now...woo hoo!
j. i am one of the few the lucky who has warm showers every day.
k. i totally forgot....the whole kathy thing from the title of this blog. : ) my mom packs my lunch everyday and the other day she wrote my name on the bag...mi nombre = kathy. which of course made me think of my mommy en los estados. miss u mommy!!!
l. there are fast food places like kfc. mcdonalds. burgerking. quiznos. tcby. and the ever popular pollo companero ( remember from guatemala soccer team : ) i havent eaten at any of them but like the peanut butter in the store it is super nice to see familiar things.
m. started working on my 10 page in spanish research paper this week...i´m going to have to interview a priest in spanish...woo hoo hopefully he is a patient priest. my topic is to find out how catholics and evangelicals get along here in CR. if i ever stop blogging ill get to work on that but i´m not in any hurry.
m. i noticed that i have about 200 face book notices but the church computer that i am on right now hates facebook and locks up when i tryto use it so i´ll have to check those out when i get to an internet cafe.
n. branched out this week and had some fruitloops for breakfast...delicious.
o. my mom made me pasta and garlic bread for lunch one day! que rico! most of the food is traditional but there is a fair amount of variety which i love.
p. i havent exactly figured out the whole laundry system yet so that means that i havent washed my pj sweat pants yet...cuz i sleep in them every night...ooops. dont get grossed out though. i´m in the part of my semester where i get to shower every day. the non showering dirty clothes part comes later. : )
q. wouldn´t it be fun if i got through the entire alphabet on this thing?
r. we watch tones of american TV here with the words in english and the subtitles in spanish...so naturally i read the subtitles...ha. totally kidding. so far i have watched just my luck. the fantastic four part two. the swan (which ps. is disgusting no matter what language it is done in) i watched part of the marine.
s. its not all in english though. the 700 club or club setecientos was in spanish today. and the other day i watched a costa rican prison documentary in spanish....thriller....just slightly more exciting than march of the penguins.
t. i only have seven more letters to get through.
u. congrats if you have made it this far.
v. grandma g. if u made it this way which i know u have i found the little cards in the journal u gave me! love them!!! also love the count down. : ) i write my daily schedule in there every night before i go to bed.
w. i like to go to bed before 10.
x. the days start at about 6am here but for some reason it is so much easier to get up when the skylight directly above your head is sending sunlight down onto you. much easier to get up here than in the states.
y. everybody here has dogs and my next door neighbor has a golden retriever which is not nearly as cute as sadie but still it makes me happy.
z. thanks for those of you who send e'mails, facebook messages, letters and what not. i do read them even though i dont usually respond because well this computer is ancient and there is not enough time in the world.
z1. love you all. hope you are all doing well. miss u all bunches and i think that i shall take all of you who read this blog on an all expense paid vacation to costa rica sometime next year...right after i win the lottery.
z2. Ali i forgot!!! i have somthing for you when i get home...we talked about the school version of the history of the US and then we got a piece of paper with the real history of it...shall be great if u ever stop teaching 4th graders. ps. keep me updated on them chica...u know my e'mail.
z3. k that is probably about 5 pages single spaced and u are all about ready to shoot me so have a great week. hopefully it wont be so long till i post again. LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU ALL!!!! keep in touch.
pura vida.
kathy : )
kt
1. went to a 2.5 hour long pentacostal church service entirely in spanish last sunday...good times.
2. oh i forgot let me back up. when i posted the last blog i thought i was helping out with kids...turns out i was going to youth group. that was fun i understood a few words...and i accidently won a big booty type game.
3. i added it up and i have taken 19 busses this week. two taxis. and walked about 3 hours...woo hoo for travel!!!!
4. on the side of busses...i fell out of one on thursday night. ha ha wow talk about an ego bruise! it was supper crowded so to squeeze through the crowds i put my bookbag over my head and when i got to the last step i tripped and fell. to make matters worse the lady who helped me up i said ´´thanks´´ to which in case u have forgotten is english and not spanish. but alas a mildly bloody knee and a bruised pride and i have moved on. : ) in fact we had a good laugh about it the next morning with the girls who saw it happen.
5. might as well stay on the topic of busses for a bit. last night i couldn´t find my bus stop so i tried to flag a bus...sometimes that works...three drove past and one driver wagged his finger at me as if to say retarted gringo ur not at a bus stop. he he
6. when i did get a bus last night...the driver hit a taxis door...they are crazy drivers here...like chicago rush hour times ten and pedestrians dont have the right of way!
7. enough about busses lets see...ah yes food. tried two more knew things that i refuse to eat in the states...avocados and cuecumbers....and i am dismayed to say they were both good. ooops. : )
8. so when ur living in a house where they all know english but they wont use it with you there are lots of opportunities to make funny jokes in english but alas i cant use it so i simply chat with myself bunches and so that i feel slightly less retarted for talking to myself i shall share some of the things that have made me laugh in the last few days.
a. for Danielle Elizabeth Johnston...mucho gusto does indeed have two meanings other than pleased to meet you it can be used as your welcome...so when you gave that man ur plate everyday in guatamala u said either pleased to meet you or your welcome...he he sigh i hear that every day and i always think of my crazy teammates : )
b. for Becca Gremar the other day my mami was channel surfing and beyonces song put a ring on it was on...i immideatly started grinning like an idiot and thinking of you. miss u bunches little giant.
c. for anyone and everyone...there are 3 students in my language class which is super nice. this week we had a teacher who is from jamaican descent. every single day she had some sort of clothing malfunction. her bib over alls broke one day. twice she wore this ring that looked like a snow globe that i couldn´t look at without laughing at. and her eyeballs popped out of her head so i refused to sit on the side of her because it is even scaryier from a side view. he he
d. along the lines of clothes...it is 68 degrees here and the kids where scarves and gloves and hats!!!! it is freaking hillarious! everyday the ticans tell us how cold it is and every day i tell them how wonderfully warm it is here! especially compared to u poor ppl stuck in illinois! so sorry for you. : )
e. watched the 700 club today with my mom...pat robertson is very popular here...go figure.
f. tried to explain guantanamo bay to some ticos...problem is i dont understand what it is exactly...oh well. : )
g. i found peanut butter in a store the other day. i didn´t buy it but i made me soooo happy!!! auto mercados have all sorts of american goodies like oreos and snickers but they are twice as expensive as the costa rican versions so i stick to the costa rican ones.
h. food here is delicious. rice with everything and beans just about every other day. but yesterday night we had ground beef rapped in lettuce rapped in egg . with rice and steamed cuecumbers. i tried a pupusa the other day that was delicous....i would try to explain it but its too confusing so if ur really the interested u can google it. there really hasn´t been anything i havent liked so far.
i. starting to hear more about our later trips like nicaragua, panama, and the countryside of costa rica...basically i´m living in luxury right now...woo hoo!
j. i am one of the few the lucky who has warm showers every day.
k. i totally forgot....the whole kathy thing from the title of this blog. : ) my mom packs my lunch everyday and the other day she wrote my name on the bag...mi nombre = kathy. which of course made me think of my mommy en los estados. miss u mommy!!!
l. there are fast food places like kfc. mcdonalds. burgerking. quiznos. tcby. and the ever popular pollo companero ( remember from guatemala soccer team : ) i havent eaten at any of them but like the peanut butter in the store it is super nice to see familiar things.
m. started working on my 10 page in spanish research paper this week...i´m going to have to interview a priest in spanish...woo hoo hopefully he is a patient priest. my topic is to find out how catholics and evangelicals get along here in CR. if i ever stop blogging ill get to work on that but i´m not in any hurry.
m. i noticed that i have about 200 face book notices but the church computer that i am on right now hates facebook and locks up when i tryto use it so i´ll have to check those out when i get to an internet cafe.
n. branched out this week and had some fruitloops for breakfast...delicious.
o. my mom made me pasta and garlic bread for lunch one day! que rico! most of the food is traditional but there is a fair amount of variety which i love.
p. i havent exactly figured out the whole laundry system yet so that means that i havent washed my pj sweat pants yet...cuz i sleep in them every night...ooops. dont get grossed out though. i´m in the part of my semester where i get to shower every day. the non showering dirty clothes part comes later. : )
q. wouldn´t it be fun if i got through the entire alphabet on this thing?
r. we watch tones of american TV here with the words in english and the subtitles in spanish...so naturally i read the subtitles...ha. totally kidding. so far i have watched just my luck. the fantastic four part two. the swan (which ps. is disgusting no matter what language it is done in) i watched part of the marine.
s. its not all in english though. the 700 club or club setecientos was in spanish today. and the other day i watched a costa rican prison documentary in spanish....thriller....just slightly more exciting than march of the penguins.
t. i only have seven more letters to get through.
u. congrats if you have made it this far.
v. grandma g. if u made it this way which i know u have i found the little cards in the journal u gave me! love them!!! also love the count down. : ) i write my daily schedule in there every night before i go to bed.
w. i like to go to bed before 10.
x. the days start at about 6am here but for some reason it is so much easier to get up when the skylight directly above your head is sending sunlight down onto you. much easier to get up here than in the states.
y. everybody here has dogs and my next door neighbor has a golden retriever which is not nearly as cute as sadie but still it makes me happy.
z. thanks for those of you who send e'mails, facebook messages, letters and what not. i do read them even though i dont usually respond because well this computer is ancient and there is not enough time in the world.
z1. love you all. hope you are all doing well. miss u all bunches and i think that i shall take all of you who read this blog on an all expense paid vacation to costa rica sometime next year...right after i win the lottery.
z2. Ali i forgot!!! i have somthing for you when i get home...we talked about the school version of the history of the US and then we got a piece of paper with the real history of it...shall be great if u ever stop teaching 4th graders. ps. keep me updated on them chica...u know my e'mail.
z3. k that is probably about 5 pages single spaced and u are all about ready to shoot me so have a great week. hopefully it wont be so long till i post again. LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU ALL!!!! keep in touch.
pura vida.
kathy : )
kt
Friday, January 16, 2009
kisses and language barriers
hola todos. dont expect this regular of an update but i am accidentally sitting at my mamis church waiting for my host sister to do something with kids...i´m not sure what ha ha. so i thought my mom asked me if i wanted to help her with kids at church tonight so i said of course but then my mom left and said stephanie will be here at 630 and we shall be home by 830 ha ha i have no idea what i´m doing but there are kids involved so im sure i will make a fool of myself and have a great time. in other strange news i just kissed my sisters boyfriend. ha ha that might freak some of u out but thats how we greet here and he just came to the church and said hola and then kept coming over to the computer where i am at and then he leaned over and i was like o crap i´m suppossed to kiss his cheek. it is really more of an air kiss with the brush of the cheeks but it takes some getting used to. today was the last day of orientation we talked about really getting into new cultures and not judgeing them for at least 4 months...ha ha. side note can i tell u how much it drives me nuts not putting my usual two hundred smily faces in notes but they key boards are different here and all i can find is the period.... oh well. classes start monday with language classes every day of the week in the afternoon and with culture classes twice a week in the morning. on average i will take 4 busses in a day and they dont use street signs here they use landmarks so i have much to learn about the city and plan to get lost several times. there is talk of starting a lasp soccer team so hopefully that gets off the ground cuz that would be amazing. ! woo hoo i found the exclamation point!!!!!!!!!!!! sigh...so much better!!!!!!! excellent. food is still delicious and i´m eating all sorts of things i would say no to in the states like coconut cupcakes with rice and sandwiches with jelly...look at me branching out! i am excited for whatever i am doing in the church tonight...that should help me branch out and meet some new ppl. homework is going to be a challenge as it will all be written in espanol but thats okay. i talk to myself in spanish a lot which is entertaining. i dont know for sure what language group i am in for classes but based on my spectacular interview i think i´ll be in the basic level : ) WOOO HOO! I figured it out :) :) : ) yippee...ahh the simple pleasures. lets see my host home is teal and my room is tiny but filled with pictures and posters and precious moments so basically it is my home in the states shrunk and put in costa rica! we eat dinner on the couch and i must always have shoes or slippers on in the house. my blind costa rican dog runs into the walls sometimes which is sad...but also very funny. i havent used my lap top yet because i have to find a three prong to two prong adapter but they said they have those in stores...i just have to figure out which ones. : ) it is fun to see other tourists in the cities because our group tries to blend and they stick out far worse than us : ) cameras and shorts are a good indicator that you are not local...oh and being gringo. all though many costa ricans are very fair skinned...it is interesting the contrast between costa ricans and the guatamalans i met a few years ago. lets see...weather is unseasonably cold...probably about 65 but its windy...so thats been rough : ) hot chocolate is big here which i love and coco krispies are my breakfast of choice. well i suppose i should be mildly productive and do a bit of homework. God bless! miss you all.
pura vida.
kt
pura vida.
kt
Thursday, January 15, 2009
i am here
hola todos i´m here and safe and i love it just to give u a heads up there will be no punctuation in this because i cant figure out the computer i am using we are currently in down town san jose exploring the city i got my host family yesterday i have a mom ana lorena madrigal and a sister who is 20 se llama stephanie y un hermano se llama esteban que tiene 23 anos i have decided to educate u all back in the states so i shall use spanish and english in this blog just to keep u on ur toes. i also have a blind dog named cherry yesterday i hung out with my host mom most of the day we talked and talked and talked and i said si a lot i can understand most of what she says but my responses are very 2nd grade ish my most entertaining moment was when she started talking about dodge ball she wanted me to explain it to her it was entertaining. she loved the j316 soccer ball i brought her and this weekend we are going to go to her church and play with los ninos i am very excited. the food has been great and very filling...no illness yet. things start very early here i was up at 545 this morning. i had coco krispies for breakfast they were delicious. not sure what else to add...the other students are nice and my mom is everybodies friend which is cool she talks a lot so i listen alot. i showed her pics of my family last night and she thought my mom was me in one of them and she thought becca was a model..so some things are the same in costa rica and in the states. miss u all bunches but i´m loving it here so far. i´ll try to update this as often as possible. love u all oh and one more thing...it is 70 here and they think it is cold...ha ha ha muy chistoso. mucho amor. dios te bendigo.
pura vida.
kt
pura vida.
kt
Monday, January 12, 2009
Last night in the states!!!
This is it! The night before departure to Costa Rica! Packing four months into one bag is a challenge but I finally got everything in. Interesting feeling, knowing your are leaving home for four months. I went around and said some more good byes today. Got some solid advice from my boss at the library...don't worry because the God who watches over you here in the states is the same God who will be watching over you in Costa Rica. Well I'm off to eat my last
made-by-mom-dinner for a while. I'll keep you posted.
Happy Monday.
KT
ps. pray for the weather tomorrow! Thanks. : )
made-by-mom-dinner for a while. I'll keep you posted.
Happy Monday.
KT
ps. pray for the weather tomorrow! Thanks. : )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)