Roblealto

So writing each day has become far more difficult than I had thought prior to arriving in Costa Rica. We are constantly doing something. We start school at 8am, have a short break at 10am in which we have snacks and reflect without using computers or phones, then finish class at 12pm. Frequently after class we have trips or visits to organizations. After these trips we usually arrive back home in the evening leaving time for dinner, homework and maybe going out.

Yesterday we went to visit Roblealto Bible Home. This is a home for children that have been abused physically, emotionally, and economically.It has operated for the last 75 years. It is a temporary home, in which they have 9 houses, which each house approximately 10 children. I think we only got pieces of what they do and not a very good explanation of the whole thing because the video they had for us had no subtitles and the couple that was showing us around has only lived there about 10 months and are from the states. I think they typically come from very poor communities in Costa Rica in which they have no running water in their house and have a great deal of crime. In each house they have a house mom and dad. The mom works in the house and takes care of the dinner and kids after school while the father works. The house mom and dad also have their own children who live with them, which means there are about 13 or 14 children in the house. They explained that many times families are referred to Roblealto or come to Roblealto asking for help. The kids usually stay there two or three years before returning to their family. While the children are there and interdisciplinary team works with the kids and the parents to change behaviors, therapy and to teach better disciplinary skills.

Every other weekend the kids go stay with their family and every other Sunday the parents come to the home to visit for a few hours and have a group or class. They kept saying that the children are able to experience "love" at Roblealto and their lives are greatly changed. They also reported having a 95% success rate and no second generation children. This success rate is measured from conversations with the child´s family, teachers and others within their social system. Many students were discussing how this can´t be very accurate but we were also thinking that it is more of an American or Western method to quantify research of programs. I assume from my experience here so far that the social workers are very connected with teachers after the child returns home but our view is that there are flaws in such a method or would be in the US.

However, they also report that once a year they have an alumni party in which adults who lived there as children return with their own children as sort of a reunion and live very different lives than if they did not receive help. When going to this facility, you must also understand that there isn´t a foster care system like we have in the states. They do put children up for adoption but more typically when they are born.

It was very interesting that they had this program and the difference of those in the US. I also heard some conversation about the implications of the woman staying home while the dad works. However, my understanding is that this is part of their culture, although many woman may stay home during the day and have jobs in the evening. But you must also keep in  mind that this organization is very religious and receives a great deal of funding from international religious foundations. It sounded like it would be neat to go there for a week to volunteer (painting or building usually) in order to gain a full experience of what they do. It seemed like a pretty quick visit that we had also. Oh, I must mention the kids love visitors and interacting with others, they were very excited to show us their rooms and everything, or at least those that had cleaned their room.

I must also mention how we spend almost half of our class time discussing social problems and how they differ in both Costa Rica and the US, each day. It is great, oh we do this completely in Spanish. From what I understood, our teacher has her psychology license but therapy is not very important here, help for economic problems comes first and thus she is teaching us. Today we each had to do a little presentation on a social problem in Spanish and then discuss the differences in Costa Rica. I learn something new about the culture here everyday. It is interesting because they say they don't have their own culture as Costa Rica has taken so much from other countries but when you discuss social problems and how things are handled or viewed in Costa Rica there is so much that is distinct and different from our culture. I think the majority of the group has already experienced going to the pharmacy for an injury or illness to see a doctor, and it is much cheaper than our pharmacy.

First Weekend y Manuel Antonio

We left for the weekend to visit the beach, Manuel Antonio on Friday. The bus ride was very curvy which made a few people sick but fortunately no one puked.

On the way we stopped to see the crockodiles in the river or as our tour guide says crocodriles. He didn´t know we were all laughing at his pronounciation. They were definitely fat crockodiles as it appeared the community throws them chicken in order for tourists to stop and look and buy souvenirs.

After arriving at the hotel in Manuel Antonio I took a big wipe out near the pool because the flooring was very slick from the rain. I had tried to catch myself with my wrist and ended up with a very swollen wrist and hand by the end of the night. This was a bad start to a vacation weekend. In the morning I went to the pharmacy to see the doctor and had it wrapped and received some stronger ibuprofen like drugs for 20 bucks.

I then wore pants and hiking shoes to the national park to prevent bug bites but by the time we arrived at the beach in the park my feet were covered in bites. I then got more bites while sitting in the bar later that evening. Some of us think the tiny ants were biting or we were bitten while in bed.

Although I had some unlucky experiences it was great to see white face monkeys at the park and titi monkeys in the trees around our hotel. There were also the occasional iguana. Unfortunately, I took few photos on this trip as it was too difficult to carry my camera.

I came back and told my host mom that I got drogas for my hand and found out that only works when speaking of marijuana or hard core drugs in Costa Rica, I was corrected with las pastillas.

Day 4 La Paz

I think my posts are going to begin to be more spread out as it is difficult to do school, tours, homework and socialize with my host family. I am very tired each night lately. Definitely need to get earplugs at the market tomorrow to block out the street traffic, barking dogs, screaming cats (yes screaming cat on my first night), and roosters that coo or cockadoodle doo all night.

After class today we took a trip to La Paz.

Which is a waterfall garden and wildlife refuge. Some of it was destroyed and is being rebuilt after the 2008 earthquake. They have butterflies, snakes, monkeys, toucans, sloths, etc. All of which have been rescued.

On the way up to the volcano area we stopped for a lunch with typical Costa Rican food and fresh fruit smoothies...also stopped for the cows to cross the road.

 Once we arrived, we first fed the toucans.

Than checked out the monkeys, butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes, frogs, and then onto the waterfalls.

Below is a photo of the sloths. The wire on the cage was big enough for a hand to fit through but they just don't care and don't move all day. They were cuddling and it was very sweet looking.

I think we saw three waterfalls, I believe the largest was destroyed in the 2008 earthquake.

The last picture is of course...of the bathroom. When you tell people you went to La Paz, they don't ask what you thought of the waterfalls...they ask if you saw the bathroom. The countertop is all like rock and the water pours out like a waterfall. The difficult part is figuring out how to turn on the faucet. It a little rock that you turn. Since it is so famous, I had to put up a pic of the bathroom.

Day 2 and 3

I guess it is technically day four now that I am typing this, I am getting my days confused at this point. On Sunday morning we met at the school, after sleeping in. I of course forgot that we were going to be outside all day and didn´t put sunblock on or bring it with me. Yes, of course, my shoulders burned. We then took our Spanish exam and did a Spanish interview to place us in the correct class.

In the evening, my host sister was going to take me to a movie but her friend was busy and it started pouring down rain. Instead their friend came over to the house. He happened to know English pretty well and wanted the opportunity to practice. We decided to play pictionary (I know this is normally not a favorite game of mine). Instead of drawing pictures we acted things out. Of course for each word we had to make sure those not guessing understood the English form and the Spanish form in my case. We had tons of fun with it. My host sister´s boyfriend even started yelling out things in English. Afterwards they were all going around speaking "spanglish" and they are still telling people about the game.

Yesterday, Monday, was the first day of our Spanish classes. Fortunately there are only two of us in my class and of course, it being Spanish, I must talk in class for those that think I never talk in class. It is hard work for even four hours. I am unsure exactly where I am placed on the knowledge scale but I think my classmate is much better than me at making complete sentences and carrying on convo but thats my perception. We worked on past tense verbs yesterday and are now on to future tense.

During lunch yesterday, myself and a few of the other students walked to el mercado (market). It is similar to Pike´s place except the throwing of fish but smells the same. They have lots of shops and tons of fresh fruit for sale. It was pretty interesting. They also have food places called sodas, which we ate empanadas with meat for lunch.

When leaving we had one guy that wanted to touch each of our shoulders as we walked by and was saying hello to us later in the afternoon as we walked around as if he knew us. It was a little strange...

After class we wanted to go out for a beer, I hadn´t tried any drinks or beer since arriving. We went to a restaurant and bar that was completely empty around 4 pm and had a few drinks and chatted with the Milwaukee students. We were fortunate we picked that restaurant since it started raining shortly after we went in. The rest of the evening was more relaxing with no activities. I walked home, the other direction of the Milwaukee students and worked on my homework, ate some dinner and worked on my homework with some help from my host sister checking it over to make sure it made sense.

I will try to post some pics tonight after class as I do have wifi at my house now. I think my host family got the password from their neighbors so we could get internet. Tomorrow we head to La Paz to see the waterfalls after class...
(photos were taken with my iphone)

Day one

Yes! I have arrived in Costa Rica. So far I am unable to post pics as I brought my small camera out today but it won´t read the card, I am assuming because it is either 8g or because I formatted it to my dslr. I was stuck with iphone photos but have yet to upload them to the pc. Some are on facebook. Wifi is limited here, so far only at the mall and the school but awaiting to find out the password at the school.

Yesterday I quickly met the group from Wisconsin about two minutes before boarding and was unsure if I would recognize them after the flight. I boarded without having a chance to get lunch in my run across the Houston airport and was concerned until they came around with a meal. Yay! We then arrive around 2pm here and got through immigration rather quickly and then off to be dropped off at our host families´homes. I was concerned when I found I had no roommate and no one else would be near me.

My host mom welcomed me with open arms! We had some interesting/confusing conversations at first about whether I was tired and hanging up my clothes. I unpacked and then watched some television while she made dinner. I of course watched American movies in Spanish.

I then had dinner, I should have taken a picture but I was a bit out of it just trying to get by with my Spanish. It included a bean like broth soup (no beans in it) with a boiled egg inside. A veggie like salad with cauliflower, carrots, onion, tomato and another salad with cabbage, tomatoes and cilantro then rice. It was pretty good.

I then met my host sister, she is about twenty years old and her boyfriend. We then walked a couple blocks down the street to watch her boyfriend´s futbol game. It was very entertaining, full of yellow and red cards and quite a bit of arguing on the field.

I stayed for the whole game although I was asked about a hundred times if I was tired or cold. It wasn´t cold at all maybe 70 or so but I had jeans and a sweatshirt, warmer than a night in Washington right now. After the game we went out to tacos. It ended up being a taco that was similar to a taquito but with cabbage and sauces like ketchup and mayo but dont really taste like it.

I then headed to bed to find out that the street was very loud still and my pillow very flat. I definitely didn´t sleep well but didn´t want to complain in the morning. There are actually chickens in the yard across the street and the rooster was making noise every hour all night. Maybe he is blind and couldn´t differentiate between day and night cause he didn´t make any noise when it was actually morning.

Oh, the most humorous conversation with my host mom was about the fact that it is ok to put TP in the toilet but not tampons. This is what I understood as she pointed at the toilet paper and the toilet and said aqui but then had difficulties with tampons as I didn´t know the term for garbage. But it was also a little confusing cause I had just used the restroom and had read that some septic tanks can´t handle tp and was worried she was telling me I didn´t something wrong because I forgot when I went. But turns out it was ok after a very silly conversation.We also had one conversation that I never understood which was something related to the cemetery but I didn´t understand if they were talking about tombstones or ghosts...they gave up on that convo. They also keep telling me my Spanish is good although they must repeat a couple times before I get a question. More later...

Packing

Pura vida literally means "pure life", but the meaning is closer to "full of life", "purified life", "this is living!", "going great", or "cool!"The phrase has become widely known and is used in many contexts. Foreigners take it as an expression of leisurely lifestyle, disregard for time, and of friendliness (or it has been marketed in this form to tourists). However, Costa Ricans use the phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, resilience in overcoming difficulties with good spirits, enjoying life slowly, and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike. Thus the name of this blog is Exploring Pura Vida as I will hopefully gain a better understanding of the true meaning and experience of it as I doubt I will be lounging in hammocks daily.

I leave tomorrow morning for my three week Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica. I still have a few errands to do and of course more packing cause I still needed some stuff before packing it up. I am a bit stressed and anxious now that I am about to leave on this trip. My understanding is that tomorrow we will be picked up at the airport and dropped off with our Tico host families whom don't speak English.

I have been a bit anxious, wondering if I have refreshed my Spanish skills enough to understand what they are saying to me. Fortunately I have apps on my iPhone to translate with, which may come in quite useful. I am also hopeful that it won't be too difficult since I have been told that they speak much slower than Mexicans.

I am hoping to have the time between classes, homework assignments, site visits and exploring Costa Rica that I will have the time to update this blog with my daily experiences.