Competición de Mundial de Surf 2009

Today was the day that many of us had been looking forward to for the past couple of weeks now. We were leaving for Jaco beach and Playa Hermosa (about 10 minutes) from Jaco for the 2009 Billabong World Surf Championships. This was the first time for the competition to be held in Costa Rica. We had a group of about 10 go and had arranged for a private van to take us there and back since other ways would be much more expensive and the chance of not being able to return due to the massive amounts of people in town. This was my first experience witnessing a surf competition. Representatives from all different countries around the world were there. We arrived around 11 and the driver dropped us off about 10 minutes down the beach from where the surfing was taking place. It was such a beautiful morning. There was blue sky, big white puffy clouds, sun shining bright, and just the right amount of heat. The sand was very hot and very dark, but the water was a pretty blue color. The waves were very intense and the rip tide was known to be strong. We walked down the beach and grabbed a spot to sit and watch the surfers. It was somewhat difficult to tell exactly who was participating in the competition and who was surfing for fun. There were huge rocks near the surfers and the waves were actually good size, much bigger than what we are used to at home. There were many Americans as well because it’s a tourist city in Costa Rica. Not too shortly after being there, I would say about an hour we saw lightning in the far distance over the water and dark clouds began to take over the pretty clear blue sky we were enjoying. The ominous clouds arrived fast and the next thing we knew everyone was running off the beach to get out of the down pour that had began. We knew it was too good to be true to enjoy a whole day at the beach without having a rain shower. After the rain, we walked around the different stands set up by vendors and then found a hut to get something small to eat. This place was called “Dos Gringos” and it is own and run by 3 American surfer guys from Miami. We asked to see a menu, but they did not have one, only an oral menu because they had only been open for 4 days. They had arrived the week before to live their “American Dream” of living on the beach in Costa Rica and running a restaurant. They were your typical surfers, very relaxed and go with the flow. The menu was cheeseburgers and chips or hotdogs and chips. They had driven 10 days for 10 hours every day from California all the way here with one car, a grill and their surfboards to open up their restaurant. They told us that it would be a while for them until they could have a beer and wine license and even longer for a liquor license. I asked them why and they said that a liquor license would cost them 100,000 dollars because the country likes to create large taxes. Guess that is one way they provide universal health care. After about spending 2 hours sitting around we got back in our van and headed back to San Jose. it was a great experience and I am so glad that we went. I should probably start packing since tomorrow is my last full day here in San Jose, but I am very tired and those of you who know me I like to pack last minute. It is just hard to believe that my 5th week here is coming to an end, but I am so excited for Emily to get here Saturday!! By the way, HAPPY 21’ST BIRTHDAY EMILY!! I hope that you have had a great day and get ready for our adventure!! Hasta pronto…

Puntarenas-(La decisión muy Horrible)

Wow! I’m not sure where to even begin about this somewhat adventure of ours. One of the girls in our group that we have hung out a lot with has made a little “amigo tico” while we have been here. Three of the girls decided they wanted to take the basically one free day that we have had and travel somewhere. Well, the girl’s friend mentioned Puntarenas which is basically one of the many beaches in Costa Rica that sits on part of a peninsula. It is relatively about 30 minutes from Jaco (a big tourist beach). Ashley and I decided that since It was a beach and not too far away from here that we would tag along. Well that decision was the beginning of a ripple effect of events that took place. We had to be at the bus stop really early so we could have all day at this beach. The bus left around 8 am and we arrived around 10. We left the bus stop and crossed the street to where we saw the ocean so we could get some sun since I have basically lost all of my wonderful tan that I had had at the beginning of the summer. To our great surprise the beach was not beautiful white sand. Oh no, it was a horrible dark sand covered with trash. It looked like a landfill where people would just go and dump all of their trash as if it were one big wide open trash can. We figured that if we walked a little bit further that we could find a good part of the beach to hang out on. We were wrong, not to mention that it was so hot and sticky and humid. None of the restaurants opened until 11 and to use the bathroom we had to pay. Well the girls tico friend randomly decided to tell us that he has friends that live near where we were. So after about walking for about 45 minutes the guy was like “well I think he lives down this street but I haven’t seen them in two years. He barely could remember their names. It turns out we found their house but they were not home. Their mom and grandma were the only ones home. Here we are 5 american girls with one native Costa Rican ringing the doorbell to a strangers home out of the blue. She was very kind and as she was getting to literally walk out of the house to work she invited us in so that we could use the bathroom. That was probably the only good thing that came out of being there. After deciding not to take a bus to Jaco for the rest of the day because some people were afraid we would not be able to get a bus back due to the world surf championships we walked back to where we all began; the bus station. Ashley and I just wanted to leave this dirty sketchy city and return to the familiar place of San Jose. we left the others and waited for the next bus. Eventually, the others decided that there was nothing else for them to do so they met us back at the bus station and returned to San Jose with us. I was so frustrated and perturbed by the others and the whole situation that I just wanted to get back, be in air conditioning, and relax at the house. Ashley and I went to Veritas for a bit to check email and what not. When we decided to head back we ran into our good soul of a driver that is in charge of the shuttle for us international students at night. It was perfect timing when we ran into Victor, because he was about to pull off and drop off a group of students. This made our day! A 5 minute ride saved us a 15-20 minute walk back to the house. When we returned we told Emma and her son Alberto along with Victor how horrible the trip was and how annoyed we were. All of them asked us the same question: “why on earth did you go to Puntarenas?” Why did they not tell us about it before we made the trip? The main reason I was annoyed by it all was due to the fact of a complete waste of day spent on taking a bus ride to a beach just to see that it was dirty walk around in the hot weather and ride the bus back. Well, Ashley and I decided that after that day all we wanted to do was relax, so we decided to go see a movie. That was the best decision we had made all day. About 45 minutes before we left for the movie theaters we both heard what appeared to be 3 gun shots that seemed to close for comfort. We both gave a look to one another that represented, “did you hear that? Surely, not gunshots” well about 5 minutes after disregarding that thought a car screeched away in a hurry and not too long after that we heard an ambulance. Apparently, Emma did not hear it but all of the other neighbors did because they were outside in the garages behind their “gated bars” trying to figure out where it came from. It turns out we learned tonight, that a woman around the corner was attacked in home by someone and they had covered her eyes so that she couldn’t seem the attacker. Im not sure if she was shot, but Emma told us that she was okay. The movie we saw was My Sister’s Keeper. This movie is based on a novel and I think parts of the story are based on real life events. The movie was excellent and I highly recommend that you go see this one in the theaters. I am literally still trying to process the events and the storyline as I write this not because I didn’t understand it, but because the issues are so thought provoking and deep. The movie is based on a family who struggles with a daughter who has a very rare type of leukemia. She was diagnosed as a toddler and in the movie is seen at age 15. Her younger sister Anna, was created by in vitro for the soul purpose of saving her sister Kate’s life. Since Anna was born, the doctors had done multiple procedures to help cure Kate’s sister. They story line continues with Anna wanting to become medically emancipated from her parents because she did not want to be poked and stuck any more. Her sister needed a kidney and without Kate would die. Anna did not want to donate her kidney because she wanted to have a normal life. Throughout the movie you see the families’ trials and tribulations, successes, love, determination, struggles to survive and live through and with having a terminally sick child and how it affects everyone in the family differently. The movie makes you cry one minute, and then laugh the next. It was filled with emotions and made you think in ways about things that you 1. Don’t want to think about and 2. Didn’t know you would think about. That movie was the exact thing I needed to turn the day around. Hasta pronto…

El Museo de los Niños

Today we had the morning free so we were able to sleep in a little bit later which was nice. We decided that since we had most of the day free until at least 4 that we would check out the children’s museum. It was basically downtown but everyone said that it wasn’t safe to walk from downtown to the museum because the neighborhood isn’t the best. The children’s museum sits on top of this very large hill and actually is in the building that once was the home to the national prison of San Jose. The prison closed down in 1978 and since then the people have restored it and turned it into a learning place for children. I think that it is ironic that where once prisoners who were locked up for many different things is now a place for children that is educational and fun. Who would have thought that it would have become a place for children? The museum reminds me a lot of Edventure which is a huge amazing kids museum in Columbia. It is actually enjoyed by all ages. Or at least it brings out the child out in adults and us bigger kids. It was so interesting to see an educational place that has things such as the human body, the solar system, the weather, the progression of time and how houses have changed reading, and information on the rainforest and even music is all in Spanish. I took so many pictures because all the rooms were so bright and colorful! It wasn’t very crowded but we did arrive at a good time because as we were leaving, a huge group of school kids had just arrived! I thought that it was well worth the two dollars that we spent to go somewhere new and prevalent to the kids of Costa Rica. The taxi driver that took us back to the ISA office made me a little angry partially because he basically ripped us off and made us pay twice as much and secondly because he tried to act very pleasant and nice and wanted to have a conversation but then pull out the oh well you owe more money card when we arrived. Another thing was that I usually get stuck with having to pay more than everyone else because they all decide to jump out of the taxi before it has been taken care of. There are some things that just boggle my mind about people. That is probably another blog all in itself. I am looking forward to having a car and not having to worry about taking a bus or a taxi every time I want to go somewhere. On the flipside, Emma has been willing to let Emily and I stay the night before we have to catch our flight at her house. She has been so kind and has gone out of her way to make sure that we have been comfortable and feel like we are a part of her family. She just wants us to feel like her home is our home too. It took me a few minutes to make sure she understood what I asked her and that I made sense but she said she understood so it all has worked out just fine. Were going back to the jazz café tonight to listen to a jazz trio; we went there and it turned out to be somewhat crowded. There was a guy with a very large xylophone, a piano player, a bass player a drummer, and every couple of songs a man would get up to join them and sing a few songs. It was very relaxing and in fact made me very sleepy. We ended up leaving early since we decided to make a day trip to Puntarenas. Hasta pronto...

No puedo dormir…(3 de agosto 2009)

It is about one in the morning my time and I just got back from being out with a group for a little bit. I’m not very tired and can’t sleep so I figured I would write a little bit until I get tired. I don’t have to be up as early as I usually do since my morning class is over. It has been nice to sleep in past 6:30 for the past 2 mornings. That is one thing that I am not sure I will ever be able to get used to when I am officially out in the real world. I have adjusted actually relatively well considering I’m not a morning person at all. I would like to try however, to get up before 8am when I return home in order to get my day started, start a devotion and try to work out before my classes begin. I’ve had some very odd dreams during the past week which all have been very vivid, and for some reason I feel is supposed to mean something even if I don’t understand the meaning behind it right away. I know that sounds very strange but I too have felt slightly strange lately, like not myself, not in a bad way so to speak just different. It is somewhat hard to describe I guess. As I’ve met many new people all who are unique and people who I would not necessarily be friends with at school or at home have impacted me in some way while I have been here. Most of us have health care in common but other than that we are all different. Being in Costa Rica, I have seen that even though the country is divided into “certain areas” everyone is relatively the same. In our country however, you go to one part of the country and it appears very different than the part where you are from. We are supposed to embrace these differences and have pride in them since that is what makes us America, but are we all too different and believe in too many different things to where it hurts our country as a whole??? We have many different languages, many different cultures, different beliefs, etc. don’t get me wrong, I love that I am an American and I take great pride in our country and that I get to be a citizen of our country. It is hard though sometimes to look at the fact that we seem to be divided very easily on many different things. The last time that we all came and stood together was during 9/11. Why does it take a tragedy for our citizens to embrace family, and friends and to realize what the important things in life are where the majority of the other countries in the world don’t have that problem? We all take so many things for granted every day, but what I’ve learned here is that people care about the important things in life more. We say that we are a diverse country, but in reality we don’t like to accept diversity or get accustomed to other peoples’ ways of life or other countries’ cultures. During this time here, I have realized how truly blessed I am. I have been given so many wonderful opportunities, and even though I haven’t had an easy life I realize that if life was easy I wouldn’t have been living or have grown into to the person I have become today. There is always someone worse off than me, and I am so thankful to have people in my life who love me and support me and encourage me on a daily basis. Hasta pronto...

El Pueblo

I had my last day of the spanish medical terminology class on Friday. We had a fiesta and everyoe brought in something and we played a few games. We all took pictures with our professor Juan Jose. I really enjoyed the class and wished secretly that it wasn't ending so soon. Our professor was great and always made the class interesting and fun. Later that afternoon a few of us went downtown to the artisan market and look around. Friday night we all decided to go to this place called El Pueblo which is a huge strip mall type place of bars and dance clubs. The group that wasnt in the medical part was leaving Saturday morning so we thought one more night to go out together was the best way to go. This place to say the least was very interesting and had people dressed up in very provocative outfits. Each dance club had a stage with a host and girls dressed up in skimpy outfits dancing all night. Ashley and I decided to go back to the place called Twister where we started out and outside waiting was a huge marching band or at least that's what they appeared to be. they had elaborate outfits with huge head-dress pieces and a part of the costume they wore on the shoulders which had big feathers that looked like what showgirls in Vegas wear. Ashley and I wanted to take pictures of it, but better yet we got to try on their costume pieces and take a picture wearing it! The kids were so nice and probably thought it was funny that we liked it so much. After our photo shoot I ended up meeting the coolest three guys. at first i thought that they were from the United States because they did not look like they were from Europe. It turns out though, that all three of them are from Barcelona, Spain. I was so excited to meet them because I absolutely loved Spain, so i was able to tell them all about the places I had been and where I studied. Also, one of the guys has a younger brother about my age who in fact plays tennis for Georgia Southern University. It is such a small world, and it keeps getting smaller and smaller when you meet people in other countries. Friday night was their first night in Costa Rica and they were traveling for about 20 days around the country. I was thrilled that most of the night I was able to practice my spanish with them. They are all really smart and have great jobs as well. One of them is a financial advisor/ planner, one works for Merril Lynch in London, and the other works for motorcross competitions. We might see them when we go to Jaco this Thursday for the surf championship. We all had a blast Friday night and didnt get home til very late, not caring that we had to be on a bus at 8am with our Tropical Diseases class to head to Puerto Viejo for the weekend. I really felt that the trip we made was pretty much pointless. We were supposed to go to a snake farm, but we never did. We were out in the middle of no man's land and stayed in the middle of the rainforest at a hotel. Prior to arriving at the hotel, we drove around to look at the banana plantations and learned a little bit about how they are run. many of the workers of these plantations are very prone to getting infected with Malaria or Dengue. two good things did come out of this trip though: 1.I was able to have wifi at our hotel, and 2. I was able to save a trip to the hospital because the teachers of our class who are physicians checked me out and finally diagnosed me with Bronchitis. Thankfully, if the cough syrrum doesnt work, then they will bring me an antibiotic to class Tuesday. There were tons of insects flying around, which i did not like the slightest bit. We got back to San Jose Sunday afternoon around 3 and I actually was glad to be back because it wasnt muggy or hot and we would be back in our house. Ashley and I decided to watch a few movies on tv, and Design Star on HGTV. The weekend was very relaxing, but not the best one that I have had here. I'm getting very excited for Emily to get here on Saturday so our adventure can begin! Hasta pronto....

Manolo Chollos

We had our actual last day of our spanish medical class with teaching and review for our final today. after class we had our weekly meeting at the ISA office to update us on things thats been going on throughout the week and upcoming events. we had a huge down pour yesterday afternoon. as much as it rains every day this rain seemed different in way. partially because it a hard rain and partially it seemed refreshing. i love a good rainfall like that, especially when I can take a nap or when i sleep at night. we waited around the office for a while until the rain let up so we could walk home.
lunch was a surprise for us when we got back to the house. Emma had made hamburgers and homemade french fries for us! the hamburgers were actually not that bad; tasted a little different but overeall we all enjoyed it throughly. we even had the vanilla caramel icecream for dessert afterwards.
later we had to get ready to go to our fairwell dinner given by ISA. we went to this really nice restaurant up in the mountains about 30 minutes away from San Jose. I can't remember the name of it exactly, but the road was so narrow and extremely steep. i was trying to not concentrate on that since we were on a huge bus. everyone looked so nice all dressed up and it was the first time everyone in the entire group spent an outing together. we got off the bus and had to walk down a slightly steep gravel road and then followed a stone pathway of steps to the restaurant. our group had one whole section to ourselves. the area was enclosed by glass on three sides overlooking the entire city of San Jose while the other side was exposed to the outdoors and uncovered patio. the patio led to the backyard of the place and a huge wood railing that created the boundary for the top of the mountain we were on. the city looked beautiful against the dark sky all lit up by bright lights. its as if we were in heaven looking down and seeing a city be completely transformed. the dinner was in the form of a buffet style and had the typical costa rican foods. the chicken was really good and an excellent flavor to it. as i waited for other people to finish their dinner, i looked outside the glass next to us at a big table of ticos that were having dinner and drinks. as i watched them i felt like i was wactching one of those european movies that followed a close group of friends that meet at a small intimate restaurant thats shared as a favorite by them all. the kind of restaurant that creates the best memories and conversations, stories, arguments and pictures. the kind where a few bottles of wine are split and the time passes so ever quickly but doesn't seem to phase anyone. i wish that our culture in the states appreciated those little things in life more. the company of family and friends and having chats and meeting for h'ordeurves and wine. we are just so preoccupied all the time with money, and complaints about our job or school work, or bills, that we forget that those things would be eased if once in a while we took a small dose of company and laughter and talks.
after dinner, there were a group of dancers that performed a mini show of dances that pertain to the culture of Costa Rica. we all gathered around the patio as they performed and later included some of us in their dances. i got pulled up and danced twice. everyone was in such a good mood and enjoying the festivities. afterwards, the song macarena came on and all of us decided to take it upon us and do the line dance. i havent heard that song or done that dance since I was probably 8 years old. we even got some of the locals to join us. we took pictures and danced and conversed with one another. it seemed like at that moment not one of us had a care in the world or worried about anything.
the dancers brought out a piece of birthday cake so we could sing "happy birthday" to our friend Alice. It was her 19th birthday and afterwards she got in a mini cake fight with some of the girls. this was one of the best nights that we have all shared here in Costa Rica. a group of us decided to go this place called Jazz Cafe. it was such a great place! there was a live jazz band and tables surrounding the band and two different bars with great mood lighting. it was such a relaxed atmosphere. the band was really good and played for about an hour. it wasnt very crowded but I really enjoyed listening to the music talking with a few people and having a cocktail. we didnt stay out very late since I had an exam this morning. i couldnt go right to sleep though when i got back home so i decided to read a chapter of my book. im going to have to go search for a new book this weekend since i will be done with this one in about two more chapters. the week is almost over but there will be much more to blog about im sure by the weekend. hasta pronto...

Mañana es Para Siempre (Lunes y Martes)

I didn’t sleep very well Sunday night. I had a lot of very vivid dreams all night long. I woke up a few times too forgetting where I was. I heard a lot of voices when I finally woke up for the day. I wasn’t sure who all was in the house. Went to the kitchen for breakfast and Emma was back along with one of her sons, her daughter, her granddaughter, and Luis; a full house was here to help her which was relieving to see. Emma looked good for falling again. She was wheeling around in one of those black office chairs that swivels. I felt better than I had been but still not back to normal. Went to school anyway, which felt like the longest walk of my life considering I didn’t have any energy at all. It was the beginning of our last week of our Spanish class. The other ISA group which isn’t in the medical Spanish leaves Saturday so this is there last week. We stayed at Veritas all day since we had our afternoon class too. I tried to study for our test we had Tuesday, but of course the internet was there to distract me. We got out of the second class two hours earlier because we reviewed for our test and went over one more type of parasite. I’m glad I had the extra time to skype and catch up on some things while we waited for the shuttle.
It seemed like everyone was getting sick in our group. People were dropping like flies. There are apparently many different types of flu going around, and one guy even ended up with a bacterial infection because of the rapid climate changes that we experienced in Manuel Antonio. At dinner, we watched the same show that we always do. It is a Costa Rican soap opera that is called Mañana es para Siempre. The first time we watched it, all three of us felt that it was really silly and a bit strange. The more I watch it, the more it grows on me though. The theme song that plays at the end gets stuck in your head and Luis always sits right up next to it and sings along, or rather attempts to sing along with it. Tuesday was test day and I hadn’t really studied much for it. It was a lot of information on different types of parasites different classifications of worms and the diseases that they cause along with all of the symptoms, treatment, prevention, etc. It started to get confusing after looking at it for so long. The test itself was relatively short; two case studies and a matching section and a short answer. It wasn’t very easy either, more tricky I would say then anything because all of the parasites cause generally the same clinical symptoms. I decided not to go out since I was starting to feel on the better side. I didn’t want to push it. We also had plans for Wednesday night too so I wanted to save my energy for that. Ashley and I watched with Emma the show after dinner again and talked to her about hamburgers and French fries for about 20 minutes. I read through their newspaper and looked for any soccer games that we could go to or concerts that would be happening while we were still here. I didn’t stay up too late. I did read much more of my book than I intended too. It is just soo good that I cant put it down and part of me doesn’t like that fact that I’m reading it so fast because it’s the last book the the series so I am not ready for it to end.
Oh let me just go completely off subject and include one thing that I still have a hard time trying to understand that I haven’t fully adapted to yet: not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilets. It’s a second nature thing for us Americans, but we can’t do it here. With all of the money that they spend on universal health care, wouldn’t you think that the government would find it necessary to update their plumbing and sewer systems so that people could flush toilet paper instead of having to put it in a small trash can that sits next to the toilet? It just seems much more sanitary and you would think they would agree here, but I guess not. Thankfully, none of us has stopped the toilet up yet or caused it to overflow, but it is only a matter of time. That is one thing I look forward to getting back home is flushing toilet paper again. Hasta pronto…

Manuel Antonio y El Gripe

Friday morning I woke up feeling awful. I was achy, stiff, headache, sore throat, you name it. Had to give our presentation too, which I sounded awful and couldn’t talk. After, we watched another movie. After class, a group of us decided to go to our pizza place for lunch before we left for the beach. We barely got back in time and by the time I got on the bus, there was only one seat left. Guess where it was….oh the very last seat in the back of the bus. The one right by the bathroom and the air conditioner is blasted right over you and you can’t lean your seat back and there’s barely any leg room. Lets just throw in the fact that I wasn’t feeling any better, actually feeling worse. Luckily there was this huge space in front of a seat where the emergency exit was so I just decided to lay on the floor and sleep the whole way to Manuel Antonio. We were supposed to go to the national park Saturday morning which has sandy white beaches, and monkeys, etc. well, the one weekend we get to go to the beach and there is sun out I get the flu. I didn’t see any of Manuel Antonio because I could not get out of bed all weekend. I haven’t felt that bad in a very long time, not to mention there was no tv, or internet or my cell phone. All I could do was sleep which is all I did. Everyone else came back to the room with sun on their faces and tans while I looked like Casper. Ginger ale was my best friend all weekend. Finally, we got back Sunday late afternoon and found ourselves alone. Emma had to go back to the hospital at some point because she fell again and really hurt her leg again. Luis was there, but we couldn’t understand him. It was really kind of awkward, because we didn’t know what to do or how to communicate with him since there wasn’t anyone there that could help us or let us know what he was trying to say. I found HGTV on the television watched it for about an hour and then decided to go to bed early. Luis probably talked out loud to himself for about 2 hours and when he talks he doesn’t whisper. We felt so bad for Emma, and we didn’t want her to worry about us. We just hoped that she was okay. We really hoped that she would be back in the morning, in ways we missed not having her at the house. Hasta pronto…