Last week concluded with my first night out in San Jose. Universidad Veritas hosted a barbeque for all of the international students. Turns out, you needed to have a wristband in order to actually be given any food or drinks. So we ditched that and went to eat pizza. (Yes I have had pizze about three times now. woops.) Right around the corner from my house is a little pizzaria and a bar called Los Profesionales. Apparently, this is the college bar that is basically always overrun by American students from Veritas. So, we went. It was fun but the same as any bar or club at home. We are hoping to go out to a more Costa Rican club soon.
Friday morning I packed up and got ready for my first full weekend in Costa Rica. My friend, Jenny, and I were headed to Manuel Antonio. Manuel Antonio is on the pacific coast. There are beautiful beaches and a national park where you can explore the rainforet. We were all prepared with our hostel booked and previously purchased bus tickets when Costa Rica decided it should remind us that we are Americans traveling for the first time. Basically, I didn't have both copies of my bus ticket so they wouldn't let me on, despite the fact that I clearly bought the ticket...because I had it in my hand and it was one number different from Jenny's. They made me buy a new ticket. Frustrated and panicked, we finally got on the bus. About three hours later we arrived in the little town of Manuel Antonio.
We stayed at Hostel Vista Serena. I loved staying here. The people were great and the view was breathtaking. Jenny and I became very fond of just hanging out on the deck in the hammocks. We spent a lot of time doing this, taking in the beauty of God's creations.
We spent the rest of Friday walking around and relaxing. We went to dinner at a local restaurant and I had my first cansado. A cansado is a traditional Costa Rican dish. Mine was Cansado con vegetariano. It consisted of rice, beans, potatoes, grilled veggies, salad, and fried plantains. So yummy.
Saturday morning we first straightened out my return ticket situation (the bus station there simply reprinted it at no charge) before heading to the park. Within minutes of entering Parque Nacional de Manuel Antonio, we saw a family of three toed slothes and tons of monkeys. I think they were white-faced spider monkeys. It was so exciting. We also saw tons of big lizards and iguanas (our first iguana siting was on the deck during breakfast). We followed some of the trails through the forest along the coast. We then hiked to the high point of the park called Punta Catedral. This was a bit of a workout but totally worth it. I was so excited to finally really be in a rainforest. I have never been somewhere so lush and so green. We hoped to see more color but since it is winter here, only certain things are in bloom. There were several lookouts along the way that took us over where the water met land. The open Pacific looked spectacular. By this time, Jenny and I were both sweaty messes and couldn't wait to get to the beach. The park has several beaches and since the tide was rising, we decided to go to the nearest, calmest, yet most populated beach. Manuel Antonio Beach was a great time. The sand was soft and the waves were fun to jump. We had to put our bags as high up as we could under the trees because of the rising tide and then had to keep a very close eye on them because monkeys and raccoons like to steal stuff. We spotted a few raccoons going after our bags but luckily some other folks made them run away. Unfortunately, the sun and clouds weren't cooperating much so we didn't get a lot of sun. After a bit, we packed up and left the park. We wanted to move to the public beach where we could just lay out, but since it is the rainy season it had to rain. We relaxed for a bit on beach chairs under an umbrella but left soon after. The public beach seemed like a lot of fun with a lot of people, shops, vendors, and restaurants right along it. We headed back to our favorite hammock spot.
Through researching the area before our trip, I saw that Cafe Milagro was the place to go. Two American college kids met while in Costa Rican years ago and were angered that the best coffee is exported from Costa Rican. They decided to change this by doing it themselves. They grow and roast their own coffee beans and now have a few locations within Manuel Antonio and Quepos. We went to their restaurant for dinner and it was wonderful. There was live music and the food was so good. The coffee was excellent, as expected. We ended up with another simple night walking around and hanging out. In the morning we returned to the Cafe to get more coffee. And I bought a couple bags. :) During the bus ride home I found that I must have been extrememly dehydrated because I didn't feel well at all and got really shakey. Luckily, we stopped halfway through so I bought some gatorade and ate a snack. Lesson learned.
Back at work, I am still the receptionist. There have been some stressful moments and times when I just get frustrated with myself. I have been practicing my spanish a lot but answering the phones usually just ends up with me giving it to Martha, if they didn't already ask for her, because I get flustered and am unsure of what they are saying. I have successfully taken a few calls and helped visitors staying here though. I still haven't seen Ana Cecilia since last week and am getting anxious to speak with her about the details of working with her this weekend. They have said she has been sick so I don't know if she will come here during the day while I am here at all or not. I certainly hope so. Everyday I just pray for guidance and assurance that I am doing all that I can and what I am supposed to.
We had our first group discussion for ELAP yesterday. I was nervous on Sunday and early on Monday because we had a project/essay due but I felt that I couldn't complete it thoughtfully with the little time I had spent at my placement thus far. Thankfully, the coordinators understood and appreciated my interest and completing the assignment meaningfully. They moved back the due date fore everyone. It is nothing we get graded on but is part of the portfolio put together at the end of our time here. At the group discussion we played a game that mae us think and talk about stereotypes. It was very fun to be with all the ELAP kids and it sparked a lot of thoughts in me about the stereotypes I may be given as a young, female American in Costa Rica. There are many conversations that can be had on stereotypes. It reminded me of a TED video I watched once. In case you would like to check it out...http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
So, overall...things are going well. After my first week and I can definitely say that life moves slower here and it is something to get used to. I am itching to explore more, even just in San Jose. I am unsure of how many more free weekends I will have since I don't know what weekends I am traveling for work. I enjoy the challenges of being a recpetionist and I guess am kind of spoiled in that I get to read and play online all day. However, I am excited for more responsibility and want to be of more service.
Later today, I am attending a cooking class and am finally going to a dance class. I can't wait.
An aspiring Jane of the Jungle,
Taylor
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