Livin the Tico Life

Hi All!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I don´t know how to start this blog without being a bag of cliches but I will try my best. First of all, a blog sounded like a great idea when I was at work in front of a computer for about eight hours a day. Now that I am in Costa Rica the last thing that I want to do is go to the internet cafe, especially to try to encapsulate my experience thus far in just a few paragrahs. I will try my best because I know how much I appreciated it when my fellow friends would keep me updated on their travels! (Thanks Kimbo, Jenevieve)



My program has been incredible so far. It is exactly what I was looking for in that it¨s main objective is for you to understand the culture. I live with three other volunteers in the CCS house which is in the middle of San Carlos, a city with the population of about 35,000 people. The area produces 80% of the country´s dairy. On the way from the airport, we took a very windy 2 hour roadtrip to our house. We passed acres of gorgeous green land, Tico neighboorhoods, and lots of cows! I loved it. I noticed lots of people sitting outside on their front porches staring out at the streets. They didnt have a book and many times they were by themselves. I have learned that it is very sympolic of a culture that is very laid back. When was the last time any of us sat on our front porch for hours, let alone without a book, ipod, or laptop? This is a whole different discussion!



At our house, we have two cooks who make delicious Costa Rican meals. Lots of beans, rice, and exotic fruits. Rosita is our cook for dinner and she is always smiling, singing, and dancing. We also have a program director, intern assistant, driver, security guard, housekeeper, and house manager- All are Costa Rica natives. Basially our house is easily outnumbered with Ticos and so it has helped a lot in adding to the cultural experience. When I lived in Spain, sightseeing to be honest didnt satisfy me very much. Park Guell was nice but what stook with me more was living with the host family, having Barca friends, and learning about their lifestyles. This focus on culture is very much the objective of the program. We have Spanish lessons twice a week, cooking lessons, field trips (today was the coffee plantation, THATS a whole different discussion) and dancing lessons where we learned about merengue, salsa, and CUUUUUMBIA. Our dance teacher es de Columbia and does not speak a lick of English. We work at our volunteer placements everyday and have the weekend to take trips around the country. You are NOT allowed to miss anywork for trips- sightseeing is very much secondary to your volunteer service and enculturation.



I havent even gotten into my placements at the elementary schools and community college and Ive already writte a novel! Some fun facts- all the kids ask me if i have swine flu since I´m coming from the US! When I introduce myself in the classrooms for the kids, their main questions are about my cats (tienes gatos?? que calores son tus gatos??), if I´m married (tiene un esposo??), and about my brother (tiene hermanos??!). So I definitely spend sometime talking about Panda, Bella, Matt and my brother. I tend to speak more about living in Los Angeles since its close to hollywood and the actors from High School Musical and Drake and Josh!!!!!!! AHHH!! jk They just get very excited about that. One little girl told me she has 14 brothers and sisters but her mom died and now they all have to work on the streets. I knew she was only giving me this crap because Im a gringa volunteer so I told her that she is full of it and to give me the names of all of her brothers and sisters. She couldnt give me more than two names. Another special moment- the teacher had to leave the classroom because she forgot some papers so she had me teach everyone how to fill out a work sheet on colors and body parts. I told them the english words then spanish and I´m thinking ¨"this is going great for just my first day! i could teach english on my own." Then as the teacher came back she asked the students how they are doing and asked in spanish "Do you all understand?" and they SCREAMED with a collective "No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Awesome. It was a little disheartening but the community college the next day was much easier. The students were older, eager to learn, and very very nice. I gave them all English names because I remember when Mr. Cepeda gave all you SR girls spanish names and everyone loved that.

I will hopefully be going to the rainforests tomorrow!!!! It will be my first time out of San Carlos. I am very excited and I hope it doesn´t rain toooo much.

Ok I have to go now. Send me questions or let me know if there is something I didnt touch upon so I can include it next time! I have been taking lots of pictures and writing in my journal everyday so that I can remember the fun/interesting observations of my trip.

Love you all!! Wish you were all here with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PURA VIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P