Late Photos

Now for the photos to add some life to my last post.

The view from our room's balcony at Magic Mountain Hotel in Arenal

Volcán Arenal

Exploring Costa Rican flora

Baby Croc

Two more crocs

This one was huge

Little lizard

The view half way up on our horseback ride

My girl Morella and I

From the top point of the ride

La Fortuna Waterfall

The stairs on the way back up. 400 total. 

Taylor, Jenny, Taylor, Jenn in the pool at Los Lagos Hotel

During the ride

Lunch time in La Fortuna

Photobooth shots at the Veritas Party

A couple friends and our ISA and ELAP coordinators

Pura Vida, 

Taylor

First day of class jitters and a weekend at a volcano

I'm catching up! Slowly.

So last week began the second half of my adventures in Costa Rica. No longer a volunteer, but a student. But I think it is true to say that I am always/have always been a student. The only difference is now I am actually taking classes. 

So Monday came and we had orientation at Universidad Veritas with all of the new ISA students and new students from other programs. There are A LOT of people here now. The orientation was fun but boring since, ya know, we are pros and know everything by now.

Jenny and I quickly became, or felt like, the weird kids. We missed our friends that we already made. We didn't have as much drive to meet knew people. We hadn't already made acquaintances like most of them had, etc. Luckily, some of our friends that have also been here as long as us, are still taking class so we do get to see them during the day. We have also met a great group of new friends.

After the orientation, we attempted to go to the contemporary art museum only to find that it was closed to set up a new exhibit. So we just hung out downtown. Later that night, some other friends and I checked out one of the clubs with live music on Mondays. I spent most of the night with Elyse since it was her last week. It was a great time and the band was a lot of fun.

Tuesday morning started my first day of classes. Yikes! I went to my spanish class that I have everyday 8 am to 12 pm to find a lively and enthusiastic teacher. She is a fantastic teacher. I was frustrated because the class was below what I have learned before and wanted to review more difficult material but eventually decided to stay since I enjoyed my teacher and was still learning new things.

My elective, "Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Development" was scheduled for 6 pm to 8pm every night. This made my stomach sad since I would have to eat dinner late and potentially alone every night and also couldn't take two electives (I wanted to take the Theory of Latin Dance class) because they are scheduled at the same time. I went to class and my classmates and I found that we had no teacher. We waited and waited and no one came. We later found out that the teacher was given a different schedule than the students. The class was actually to be 4 pm to 8 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays but for our first class we would come in at 5. 

When we arrived on Wednesday and found our room, we discovered that we had a substitute. Our actual teacher was out of town. Strange. But she was great and is good friends with our teacher. 

I enjoyed my classes and quickly realized that I need to switch back to normal Taylor stressed student mode. These classes have a lot of work. But they aren't bad. 

On Thursday, I had Spanish and later the university hosted a big party for all the international students. It was a lot of fun. We met some Ticos and ended up going to a club with them...or atrempting to. We never actually got in. They were part of the International Club at the school. It was a fun night and interesting to be out with locals. I think they laughed at me a lot and thought I was dumb when I didn't understand them. Oh well. One lesson I learned though...never drink chiliguaro. Ever. Guaro is a type of alcohol made from sugarcane that is poplar here. But chiliguaro is that mixed with chili pepper and tomato juice. First, it's disgusting. Second, at some bars it is insanely hot. (Not what I had.) Third, Ticos love it. Finally, it will make you feel like death. I was not a happy camper the next day despite having little to drink. Never again. 

After class on Friday, we loaded up and headed to Volcán Arenal. For Jenny and I , this was our first excursion with ISA. Included in our program fees were two semi-inclusive excursions. We didn't go during the frat half because we were ELAP then and all of our friends went. Now our friends that are left are traveling on our own and we are with all of the new kids. But we have a good group d friends here too. Arenal is one of the many volcanos in Costa Rica and is still active but it's last actual eruption was in 2000. We were told that it was unlikely we would see the whole thin to the too because it is the rainy season. There are lots of clouds, especially at higher elevations. However, upon arrival and checking in at he resort, we found a clear view of the volcano. It was so beautiful. That was the only time we saw the whole thing but it was great to be able to see that from the balcony of my room. 

We stayed at Magic Mountain Hotel but went to Los Lagos Hotel for dinner. We were also able to hang out in their natural hot springs. They felt great. 

On Saturday morning I went horseback riding!!! I was so excited for this and it was awesome. About 40 people went in our group. We had great guides. They separated is into experienced or not. I went with experienced. This was scary because it essentially just means they will give you the difficult horses. It turned out fine. 

When I was chosen, the guide told me my horse was a little nervous. That was a little discomforting. She was a beautiful paint named Morella (I think). I later found out that she was not 3 years old and the granddaughter of the crazy horse the other guide was riding. They also told me twice that it was her first time actually taking a customer on the ride. I thought they were just messing with me but I'm not really sure. Either way, she was great. She was antsy at times but behaved well. 

The view was great and the terrain was surprising rough at times. I disnt expext that on a trail ride that anyone can go on. We went through deep mud, up and down steep hills, over concrete and difficult round stones, over creeks, and through areas with boulders and mud. I thought it was fun. Truly and amazing 2 hours. 

After lunch in town we relaxed at Los Lagos. Lunch was frustrating when out waitor accused me if trying to cheat him when he gave me the wrong change. But it worked out. We checked out their trails, butterfly garden, and croc farm. Then we hung out at the pool and in the springs. 

Both nights we enjoyed our super comfy beds and air conditioned rooms. On Sunday we went into town for lunch again as headed back. 

It wasa great weekend. It was a nice change from hostels but interesting to see and interact with all of the new students. Someday I would like to hike up Arenal. 

Adventurer at heart, 

Taylor 

Ps. Photos will follow :/

Adventures in Monteverde

A couple weekends ago, some friends and I ventured to Monteverde for the weekend. Annalee, John, Christina and I. I hadn't spent much time with any of these friends prior to this trip so it was exciting to spend time together and get to know each other more.

We got up insanely early on Friday morning and got the 6:30 bus to Monteverde. The drive was, once again, beautiful, although I wasn't awake for much of it.

Monteverde is North of San Jose and is a small town on the top of a mountain that was settled years ago and is now a great attraction. It is a cute little town and the forest is beautiful. Monteverde is known as the Mountain in the Clouds or the cloud forest because of the elevation. At the high point, you are literally in the clouds. This is intensified during the rainy season.

After we arrived and checked in to our hostel, we went to a cute little cafe. We relaxed there for a bit and enjoyed some treats and then decided we would find this special tree we had heard about. It was called the Strangler Fig Tree. We were told it was a hike mostly uphill a ways. We weren't sure why this tree was special or what to expect. We found it pretty easily even without it being marked with a special sign or anything. There was just a path leading off the road. The tree proved to be really cool. It was really tall and looked like its roots were above ground. Its trunk was not one solid piece but many, like vines almost. We climbed the tree from the inside. It was so fun. We felt like tarzan being explorers.

The Strangler Fig Tree

Climbing the inside of the tree

Countryside

Later, we walked around a bit and did some shopping for dinner. After a short break in our room, we decided to go on another hike. We thought it would be fun to hike to the high point in Monteverde. Little did we know that this was quite the undertaking. We set out and knew we had to hurry because it looked like rain was on the way, plus we needed to get back before dark. When we reached the beginning of the trail to the top we realized it wasn't really a trail. It was an undeveloped road that was essentially straight up the mountain with some twists and turns. There was no groomed pedestrian path, no switchbacks, nothing. After the first couple hills (we divided it into 17 separate "hills"), we realized this was going to be more of an adventure than we thought. I was getting nervous because of the clouds, wind, and thunder. We knew that if it rained, we were going to be in big trouble on the way back down. The road was just dirt..or clay, really. This would be really slippery if wet. On the way, we saw some wild pigs/boars.

We finally reached the top and, of course, couldn't see anything. We were, indeed, in the clouds. We had been told that the view was spectacular and you could see into Nicaragua. All we saw were the many electrical towers, telephone towers, and satellites. We quickly headed back down. Our muscles aching and shakey, we made it to the bottom. Luckily, there was almost no rain and we made it with only a few slips and falls. At least we can say we have been to the top.

The view from the top

We survived!

In the clouds

Headed down

In the morning, we went on a canopy tour. Monteverde's canopy tour is one of the best. We were picked up at about 8 and driven up the mountain. We suited up and went over how to zipline. There were about 10 lines, each a little different. They were so much fun! The first few went through the forest. The longest ones went over a big valley. This course has the longest cable in Latin America and the third longest in the WORLD! I did it! This cable and the following one, slightly shorter, I went on superman style. We wore two harnesses that they switched around so that we were hooked up on our backs. They told us to lay down and we were hanging. We had to bend on knees, cross our feet and arms and they sent us off. I was so nervous but it was almost more relaxing and less scary than the normal way. It seemed like forever that I was out there flying over the valley. I even spotted a lone white cow below me. I was able to keep my camera in my hand and take a few pictures. The next line was done in the same style back across the valley. Because this one was a little shorter, we could open our arms and pretend to fly. This was GREAT!

Suited up!

The view ahead of me on the second superman cable

Flying!

Yup. 

The final part of the course was the Tarzan swing. I loved this. It is similar to bungee jumping. We walked out onto a suspended bridge over the valley where they attached a cable in front of us to our harness. They opened the gate, counted down, and pushed me over the edge. There was a short free fall (why its like bungee jumping) and then you just kinda swing back and forth for a while. It was so cool! I definitely screamed on the way down.

Ahhhh!

For the rest of the day we walked around and found some delicious milkshakes at an Argentinian restaurant and chocolate shop. We took the bus home that afternoon at 2:30. The trip to Monteverde was definitely worth it. It is a beautiful place and the canopy tour was like no other.

When I got home, I had a new housemate! Nia is really great and I have enjoyed getting to know her so far. Emily, another new housemate, didn't arrive until Sunday. She is also a fun girl. Sunday afternoon we went with Maritza and Jorge to her sister's house. Rosie and her husband, Craig, live in Santa Ana in a beautiful home. It was fun to have dinner with them again and get to know my new housemates.

Monteverde survivor,

Taylor

Halfway Point

I have been in Costa Rica for 5 WEEKS! That is crazy. I am at the halfway point with 5 weeks left to go. I have so many thoughts and feelings on the trip thus far and on what is to come.

I am still processing the last five weeks and my time as a volunteer at CAP. The many challenges I faced with the culture and with my placement itself aren't completely understood yet. I am still unsure as to why my placement was so...unsuccessful (as much as I hate to say that). I have yet to understand my purpose in being in Costa Rica for that time in regard to my internship.

In all, I have loved it. I have loved adapted to a new culture. I love the friends I have made and my host family. It is all very exciting and invigorating. I love being in such a beautiful country with so many opportunities. I have enjoyed the slow paced life that is so very foreign to me. I have learned a lot and gained new perspectives, which are some of the most important parts of being abroad outside of the immediate goals with internships and classes.

There have been other challenges, of course, outside of my placement and cultural adjustment. Things like missing home and missing people. There is always a struggle between doing everything you can here and not blowing all your money and others.

While I have a fear of the next five weeks outshining the last for some reason, I am very excited for them and think that they should be better. I am excited to feel more productive and like I have a purpose. Part of me feels a sense of relief now that I am done with my internship and no longer have to battle all the thoughts in my head everyday about what I was doing and if I wasted time and this and that. I will have to face it again when I try to get credit at BG but that is a whole separate thing.

I am excited to learn.

I think time is going to go much quicker now that I will be busier and my mind will be much more occupied. I like this because I will be excited to return home but I also feel anxious when I think about all of the places I have yet to visit here.

One of the most prominent challenges and sources of excitement right now is all of the new people. ISA brought in around 80 new students. That is A LOT. There was much less that started on June 1 like me and a few that had been there a week earlier. Many left last weekend but the majority of my friends stayed for another class session or ELAP. However, most of them are leaving this weekend or in the next couple weekends. Just a few are staying until August like me. Jenny and I talked a lot about this today and all of the strange dynamics we are facing now. I was blessed with such wonderful people here and am sad to see them all go at different times. This makes me not want the new students. I don't want to make new friends when I am still building the friendships that are only a few weeks old. I don't want to lose touch or be preoccupied by classes and new hangouts. At the same time, I don't want to isolate myself from the new students to hang out solely with my original group and be left without good relationships when they all leave. There are many more thoughts and feelings on this topic that we are struggling with. I am excited for classmates and meeting new people still. I have new housemates that are great girls and I am excited to continue to get to know them.

So many of my goals have been met or are still in progress and I now have others. With the start of classes and my second half of the trip, I want to (obviously) learn as much as I can about Costa Rica, its people, and its environment. I want to continue to build my friendships and make new ones. In particular, I want to build better relationships with ticos but not just my mamatica. We have been told that experiences are greatly enhanced if relationships are built with local people. I hope to make a good tico friend or at least have good conversations and fun with some. Although I will be busier with work, I want to go to more of the dance spots to practice latin dancing and see locals dance. In all, I just want to continue to have fun and experience as much Costa Rican as I can.

Peace&Love,

Taylor

Never go this long without posting.

Over a week has gone by since my last post and there is much to tell. Adventures in San José, lots of work, and more.

I successfully recovered from my cold last week. On Wednesday, some friends and I went to the movies to see Monsters University. It was really cute....and in spanish. We could understand it enough but I am looking forward to watching it again in English in the future. That night I went home and watched the first Monster's Inc. when I went to bed. They are so cute.

On Thursday, ISA hosted a Farewell Dinner for the students leaving at the end of the week. I get to attend two of these. It is outside of the city in the mountains. The restaurant was beautiful and overlooks the valley. It was fun to get all dolled up and eat a yummy meal. Dancers performed traditional Costa Rican dances. I really enjoyed watching them but was quite perplexed by the strange noises and yelling they made.

The view of San José from the restaurant

Traditional dancers

Attempting to spell ELAP and failing

Dances

On Friday, I had lunch with friends and a dance performance. One of the dance classes I have been attending was for another students' internship at her home university. She held classes on basic technique and compiled a dance with several songs and a fusion between hip hop, jazz, and lyrical. We performed on a small stage in Veritas for a decent sized crowd. The performance went well and we all had a lot of fun.

A few of my friends and I before the performance

We visited the National Museum on Saturday. This museum is housed in a historic military building downtown. The start and end to the journey through the museum is in a large butterfly garden. It was so pretty and I was getting slightly freaked out by all of the butterflies. They were everywhere! The museum was pretty interesting and had a lot of different exhibits. We had a lot of fun being goofy instead of paying attention to the artifacts. Later, we had lunch and went to a free concert downtown. It was part of a cultural initiative that puts on free and paid admission events of all different kinds in the city. We didn't know they were going to be such popular bands but the headliner was an extremely popular Costa Rican band called Cocofunka. It was really fun but rainy.

We do things like take awkward family photos...

Mariposa

And we pretend to be sailors..

The view of the city and mountains from the top of the museum

On Sunday, we went to INBioparque in Heredia. This is Lauren's ELAP placement and was one of my potential placements. It is an ecological and conservation park. It is interactive and fun with all different exhibits, activities, and events. It was fun to explore and see different animals and fauna. We, of course, had fun being silly and playing on the playgrounds. They also have a petting zoo kind of section so we played with goats and bunnies. We went in a maze and did a baby zipline. It was a very good day. INBioparque is an excellent place to go to learn and have fun. Later, we went to Libby's place for pizza and a movie. We watched Mama Mia (ugh). It was nice to hang out and be comfy on the couch with the girls.

More butterflies

Las chicas

I got one!

Bff Bunny love

I also got stuck in a turtle shell...

It was a great weekend spent in San José with friends.

I had been struggling with work still last week. I had made progress in meeting with Ana Cecilia and others and was told that I would be sent work to do. It finally came on Monday morning. I was sent four documents to read, translate into English, and summarize. They all dealt with the TECOCOS law that I had become somewhat familiar with before. Though this isn't the most exciting work, it is difficult and I now understand that it is extremely important because they do not have any of this in English yet. It was exciting to really put my mind to something though. After work on Monday, I found a new supermarket and then attempted to get money out of the ATM but it wouldn't let me. This was slightly alarming. I checked with my bank and they said it wasn't my account or card. Later, we went to El Observatorio for Libby and John's birthday. El Observatorio is a really nice restaurant/bar/club. They have live music on Mondays and the floor was filled with amazing dancers. Some dancers had to have been trained because they were exceptional. I danced a few times with some of the other girls and with a tico who we hang out with sometimes. Luis and his brothers are the tico uncles of some other students. (Their mamatica's brothers) It was a lot of fun. I loved just watching the dancers and wished I could keep up. At some point someone's heel took out my achilles but I survived. Later, we ended up at a little Irish pub and had some delicious potato wedges. Us girls were in heaven.

On Tuesday, I continued to work on translating documents at CAP. Carolina brought a new ELAP volunteer for his orientation so we all met with Ana Cecilia and Francisco. Ana Cecilia clarified what parts she wanted me to translate. This was a huge relief because the documents I had't started yet were huge. Another new volunteer will start at CAP next week. I am interested to see what they will end up doing there. To some degree, I think I almost...prepared the way for them. They understand better now that this is important for us and the new volunteers will know to speak up clearly and early so they don't end up in a waiting game. Frustrating.
Anyway, I learned a lot in this meeting and Ana Cecilia told me how important the translation I am working on is.
Jenny and I met up and walked around downtown. We attempted to get my card to work at other ATMs but had no luck.

Wednesday was a great day. I learned in that day than I probably have the entire time I have been here. Francisco is "a walking monument" as Ann Marie put it today. He is a brilliant man with a great heart. He met Chris (the new volunteer) and I at CAP and gave us a lesson on the history of Costa Rica and Latin America in a world perspective and in regard to the geography of the world. Then he took us to the national government buildings that house the legislative and some executive offices. He was quite popular. Everyone knew him. It was funny. He used to work there for 20 years and was the advisor to the president of Costa Rica for part of the time. I guess he is kind of a big deal. He taught is the history of Costa Rica and its formation. We learned about major players in the government's history and how the government works now. My brain is still trying to process it all. We met several congressmen and the assistant to the President of Congress. We met the leaders of the group that represents the native indian population and others. CAP is right next to all the judicial buildings and these are just a couple blocks away. The president's offices are in Zapote, which is the district I live in and her house is outside of the city. They don't have a White House kind of thing like we do yet. We had lunch and learned some more.

Historical monument downtown that represents Costa Rica's freedom

Pretending to be official

Chris and I with the wonderful, Francisco

On my way home, I decided I would try the ATM and it magically decided to work. I don't get it but I'm not complaining. I stayed home for the rest of the night to try to catch up on things like this and get work done on the translations I needed to finish. I ended up falling asleep on my laptop with the light on. woops.
Today, was another great day. It was my last day of my internship which I have bittersweet feelings about. It was spent visiting the University for Peace, which is a international university chartered by the United Nations. Ana Cecilia, Francisco, and Ann Marie took Chris and I. We, of course, learned more from all three of them. The university is outside of the city on the top of a hill kind of by itself. It is a gorgeous drive. The campus is beautiful. We were met by two women that work at the university and gave us an overview of their programs and admissions and a tour of the campus. The classrooms have amazing views. There are hammocks everywhere. There are monuments and inspirational quotes everywhere. It was a LED certified building and a huge park with tons of trails for hiking, walking, and running. It has lots of gardens. They have masters and doctorate programs there and it looks like an excellent place to attend. They want to keep in touch with Chris and I and want to have us as students in the future. We'll see.

In 6 languages

Monument that represents important leaders for the university. 

This weekend I will be going to Monteverde to go ziplining and to the beach for the day on Sunday. My new housemates also arrive this weekend.
It has been an interesting week or so with lots of ups and downs and adventures. I think I will save reflections for my next post at the end of the weekend.

P.S. Happy Independence Day! How strange it is to be in another country for the Fourth of July. I dressed in red, white, and blue today in order to feel festive.

Missing fireworks,

Taylor