Travels in Costa Rica

Before you go...

2009-04-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Some last-minute tips I thought of before you Costa Rica-bound students leave, plus some reminders:

(less than 2 weeks now!)

1. Don't forget to pack a backpack to take your weekend stuff in for the beach trips. I forgot to take a separate little backpack, and you definitely won't be able to fit your suitcases on those weekend excursions!

2. Carry your umbrella with you ALL THE TIME. It will rain pretty much every day, no matter what the weather is like in the morning.

3. Make sure you plan on going to FOFO on Mondays for ladies' night. We always had so much fun at FOFO every Monday night!

4. Be sure to go to the restaurant "Pan e Vino" in Heredia YUM!

5. If you can fit it in your suitcase, take a beach towel. It comes in very handy on the weekend

trips, plus, it can serve as extra padding on those long, sleepy bus rides.

6. Keep a photocopy of your passport with you at all times, just in case. Keep your original passport in a very, very safe place.

7. If you take your laptop, skype is AWESOME for keeping in touch with friends and family at home. I definitely recommend downloading it. If you are not taking a laptop, I suggest investing in some phone cards. Home-stay families will allow you to use their phone to call home with your phone card. If you don't buy one ahead of time, you can buy phone cards in many places in Heredia.

8. BE CAREFUL crossing the street! Drivers in Costa Rica will NOT yield to pedestrians.

9. Don't waste your money on the malaria pills unless you want to be really, really, really safe. I think only a handful of people took them last year, and they made them sensitive to the sun.

10. Take some playing cards or small games to busy yourself during free time.

And, most of all, have fun in Costa Rica!

What to pack for Costa Rica

2009-04-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

When I took my trip to Costa Rica, I realized that there are a few things I wish someone who had taken the trip had told me before I went.

For those who want some tips, here are some extras I would suggest you pack:

-SNEAKERS

If you can fit them, maybe even more than one pair. Since it rains almost EVERY DAY while you're there, your sneakers will get very wet, and you need those for a lot of the excursions!

-SHORTS

Since it is very hot most of the time, you will wear shorts for the majority of the days in Costa Rica. I wish I had packed more pairs of shorts for my trip.

-AN ALARM CLOCK

Since most of us rely on our cell phones for alarms these days, one doesn't usually think to pack an alarm clock while traveling. Since your cell phone won't work there, you'll be out of luck using that for an alarm clock. Thank goodness my parents required me to get a global phone for my trip to Costa Rica, because at my home stay, I was not given a clock of any sort! So, I relied on that little phone to tell me the time and for an alarm. I would definitely recommend packing an alarm clock.

-YOUR FAVORITE SNACKS

There are many foods you can't get in Costa Rica, so if there is a certain food you can't live without, I would pack it. I lived off of the peanut butter I packed, and don't know what I would have done without it! There are also times when you can't go and buy food, like on long bus trips, when food that was packed in advance will come in very, very handy. I would suggest granola bars and other easily packable snacks.

In Costa Rica, I lived off of some of my favorite American staples

-A SAFE PLACE FOR BELONGINGS

This is especially for those staying at the Inn, since on my trip, they had some things go missing. I would pack a small safe or something that can be locked to keep your important things.

-A BACKUP CAMERA, IF POSSIBLE

Many people lost/broke their cameras on our trip. If you have an old camera laying around that you don't use, why not bring it just incase? It's not imperative, but it could be a good idea.

If your camera breaks, you don't want to miss a great shot like this one!

-WATERPROOF SHOES/FLIP FLOPS

And lots of them! You'll be glad you packed them when you're always trekking through the rain and have shoes that dry quickly.

-A JOURNAL

My best friend and I kept journals while in Costa Rica and documented the exciting parts of our trip during our downtime. I'm so glad I did, since it was so easy to relay my stories to my family and friends once I came home! And later, when I'm older, I'll be able to remember all my great times in Costa Rica.

-PEPPER SPRAY

Especially since Dana and I had to walk the streets at night alone since I was in a homestay, we were both really glad we had an extra means for defending ourselves. I would definitely recommend bringing it along with you for those nights after going out.

-A LIGHTWEIGHT RAIN JACKET/PONCHO

You'll thank me later, trust me. That rain jacket will get a TON of use.

I lived in that rain jacket all through our trip!

-AN UMBRELLA

See above.

-HALLS THROAT LOZENGES/DECONGESTANTS

Although you can get Halls easily at the sidewalk pharmacies (ha!), I would definitely recommend bringing your own favorite brand and some cold medicine. Almost everyone on the trip got a chest cold and a sore throat from all the rain.

I went through a TON of Halls on my trip!

-STAIN REMOVER

I ruined quite a few tops while in Costa Rica because I couldn't buy effective stain remover there. I'd recommend taking ZOUT. :)

-MEANS OF ENTERTAINMENT FOR LONG BUS RIDES

I took a few books with me, and I'm really glad I did!

Dana read Harry Potter on every bus ride!

-A TOWEL & 2-3 BATHING SUITS

I made the mistake of only bringing two suits, and I was out of luck when I needed to put a new suit on and only had a wet ones from the days before.

I hope this helps prepare you all for your upcoming trip... only a few more days and you'll be in COSTA RICA! Good luck!

Tour of Cafe Brit

2009-04-05T13:07:00.001-07:00

Our Wednesday morning tour of Cafe Brit was very interesting and informative.

The tour is set up in a corny theatrical way, with a man and a women dressed up as old-fashioned coffee bean-pickers describing how the coffee is made.

the introduction of our Cafe Brit tour

We were taken through a jungle of coffee plants and learned what the best climates and seasons are for picking the coffee beans. Interestingly enough, the seeds are green when they are picked! Those are then shelled, which reveal a brown bean.

the coffee bean seed

We were then taken into the factory where the beans are converted into coffee. We learned about the different roasts and processing time required for each type of coffee.

the factory where they make the coffee

Then we went into a theater to learn what happens to coffee once it is made. We learned that when coffee is taste-tested, it is COLD (interesting!), since one can taste its flavor better when it is not hot. They slurp the coffee from a spoon loudly, as Colby is learning onstage below, in order for the coffee to hit all taste buds on the tongue.

Colby learning how to test coffee to taste

We also learned the history of coffee in Costa Rica, the discovery of the coffee bean, and how it became so important to Costa Rica's culture.

THEN, for our favorite part, we were all taken to the restaurant portion of Cafe Brit and were served a delicious lunch (one of the best we had in all of Costa Rica) of Costa Rican staples like tortillas in mango salsa and great pasta. The iced coffee was to die for!

the iced coffee was SO good!

Also, in the gift shop, everyone went crazy for the chocolate covered coffee beans, chocolate covered guanabana, and chocolate covered macadamias. These were my family's favorite when I brought them back!

The gems of Heredia

2009-04-05T12:47:00.001-07:00

There are quite a few places in Heredia that deserve a visit if one should ever travel to the town. I decided it was necessary to list these places where my friends and I had a lot of fun!

Hipermas

Hipermas is the Wal-Mart owned superstore in Heredia. Dana and I walked to Hipermas on our way home from school (quite a hike, as Hipermas is a while away from the Intercultura school) for our random necessities we didn't bring, like extra shampoo, snacks, etc. Hipermas has a small restaurant side to it, so if you're hungry (which we were!), you can stop for a snack, too. The place is HUGE and extremely crowded, but it was really neat to see what a third-world Wal-Mart is like. Plus, we were able to buy things here that we really needed

the view of the sunset.. taken right outside Hipermas!

The Pet Shop

Dana and I also found the cutest pet shop a couple blocks away from the Intercultura. Here, they are extremely relaxed when it comes to their customers, so Dana and I could just walk in and play with the little puppies in the window. We had a fun afternoon on our way to school with a 6-week-old pair of Terriers, Dachshunds, and a little Chihuahua puppy.

they were so cute!

Clothing & Shoe Stores

There are quite a few great buys to be found in some of the many clothing stores on the sidewalks of Heredia. I have about 5 dresses and shirts that constantly get compliments in the states, which I only paid bottom dollar for. I also found a great pair of shoes for very cheap that I still love!

The Marketplace

On our way home from school, we decided the marketplace we saw on our tour deserved a closer look. When we visited on our own, we realized how much fresh fruit we could buy for very little money. Here, we bought raspberries, starfruit (carambola), and blackberries (mora). Yum!

POPS

POPS is an awesome ice cream shop right near Hipermas. Here, I was able to get a cup of Brownie Dynamite flavored ice cream for only the equivalent of $1.50! This would have cost around $3.50 at a Coldstone in the states, and my ice cream was just as good.

Dana and her yummy POPS ice cream!

The Movie Theaters

When we had little to do at night, Wednesday night movie deals were perfect. Wednesday nights in Heredia are all about the movies, and we went and saw two movies while in Heredia. One of those included Indiana Jones, which was shown in English with Spanish subtitles!

Intercultura Class Fair

2009-04-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

In the Intercultura, the school where we studied Spanish, we had a fair at the end of our studies. Each class was assigned a different province in Costa Rica and decorates a portion of the school to represent this province. Then, while the heads of the school and guests tour through the school, we perform a presentation about our province. We also dress up in order to appear as townspeople of our province.

presenting the rural side of San Jose

My class (made up of the three of us... Erin, Matt, and me) was assigned San Jose, Costa Rica's capital. For our decorating, we had a rural side and an urban side, since there are two distinct sides to San Jose.

On the rural side, where I presented while wearing an Amish-looking outfit of a white blouse, a long black skirt, black shoes, a tan shawl, and a bun with a flower in my hair, we had a coffee section with real coffee beans and a really great scarecrow we made to go with our carreta (oxenberg). The scarecrow was meant to be a "bouyero," or the man who pulls the carreta. In my presentation, I spoke of how San Jose hosts a national holiday with a carreta parade every year in March to celebrate the tradition.

el bouyero

In the coffee part of my presentation, I talked about how the tradition of Costa Rican coffee began in San Jose in the 18th Century and how it used to be a huge export, but now it is really just for tourism.

Erin and Matt presented the urban side of the province. Erin dressed as a modern girl and danced at our remake of the discoteca called Castro's, which we actually visited earlier in the trip. Matt stood beside his great drawing of the Teatro Nacional and spoke of the history of the capital of San Jose.

Erin presenting the urban side of San Jose at Castro's (we painted that dance floor by hand!)

We also decorated with a SAPRISSA jersey, which is San Jose's number one soccer team.

Our group name was "Las Vacas Chingas." This was meant to be humorous, since this name is translated to "The Naked Cows." "Chinga" is a local dialect meaning naked, while San Jose is filled with decorative painted cows. It is so fun to go through the city and see how many different types of cows you can find! There are 120 in all. We even had a homemade cow pinata hanging from the ceiling out of paper mache.

our class, "Las Vacas Chingas," and Nuria, our teacher

It was really interesting to visit everyone else's presentations, too! It really helped everyone learn about all the different parts of Costa Rica.

The Limon group

...and Cartago's presentation!

Next Up: Puerto Viejo!

2009-03-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

Our final weekend trip was to Puerto Viejo, the Caribbean Beach of Costa Rica. This really was the Caribbean - I thought I saw Bob Marley about 20 times the whole weekend!

The coast here is a lot less pretty than Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side of the country. The beaches are dirtier in appearance, and there are places where it is dangerous to swim.

a view of the beach from the street our hotel was on

We were split into two groups of hotels for this weekend stay, and our hotel was gorgeous. We were in raised log cabin-style rooms, all with beautiful amenities, hammocks, air-conditioning (REALLY needed there!!), and nice, thick comforters.

there's the door to our hotel room!

The other group was put up in a hotel that had little cabins. The beds had mosquito nets on top, and although they had no air-conditioning, they had some really pretty bathrooms and a nice bar in the lobby.

Jen in her mosquito-netted bed at their hotel!

We ate dinner at a great outdoor pizza place in town that had delicious cocktails. Because we were such a big group, our food took a while, so we were brought bruschetta on the house - the BEST bruschetta I have ever had in my entire life!

At the restaurant, a Tico named Edwin and his son provided entertainment with guitar-playing, singing, and drumming. He performed all Bob Marley (a common theme in Puerto Viejo, of course), and we really enjoyed him. He even got me up there to perform “No Woman, No Cry” with him, and later, Dan, Chris, and I went up there and sang our Costa Rican version of Margaritaville. I think Edwin liked us!

jammin to some Bob Marley with Edwin and his son was so fun!

Later, we went to a bar/club right on the ocean. Here, there were little tables with candles by the ocean’s edge. It was really neat - very different from anything I’d seen before.

The beach the next day was really fun. We spent most of the time in the water, since it was so hot out.

cooling off in the water in Puerto Viejo

We concluded our Puerto Viejo trip with some shopping. Again, there were lots of street vendors along with the little shops on the road, and I got some great souvenirs for friends and family.

It was sad to return to Heredia knowing that the next time we left the town we would be leaving for the U.S.!

"Noche Tipica Costariccence", a Typical Night in Costa Rica

2009-03-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Intercultura sponsored a bus trip to a “Noche Tipica Costariccense,” a typical Costa Rican Night. This was held in a restaurant on top of a mountain in the big city San Jose, and for a fee of $38, we had access to all we could eat and drink (in addition to a show) all night. The food was okay, but after the great food at La Paz, it was a little disappointing for all the money we paid.

Since we had to change into our dressy clothes directly after class after the waterfalls, we all had had a long day, but still had fun dressing up!

Dana, Jenni, Jen and me in front of the beautiful view of San Jose

The view from outside of the restaurant was breathtaking. In the dark, one could see all the lights of the city of San Jose.

the view was even more impressive in person!

The show after dinner was very interesting. The Ticos dressed up in traditional Costa Rican dress and performed some intricate dances to a live band. Later in the show, people were brought up to dance, and I got to go up there twice!

You can see me in action dancing here.

Dana and me with the dancers!

Then, outside, we were told there would be fireworks. Their concept of fireworks was a little different from ours; there was a little contraption with pipes jutting out from its sides that spun around and shot sparks from the pipes. Not quite the pyrotechnics we are used to, but it was still neat to see how Costa Ricans do things.

Costa Rican fireworks

We all drank drinks called “leche” (which, directly translated, means “milk”... I’m not sure how this drink got that nickname, because it does not taste nor look anything like milk). This included guaro, the popular sugarcane liquor of Costa Rica, orange juice, and sprite. It was a little strong for my taste.

The food at the Noche Tipica was a good representative for me of what Costa Rican cuisine is like. Many would expect the food there to be like Mexican food; however, the similarities end at the tortillas, which are a lot smaller than Mexican tortillas and served cold. Costa Rican food is either extremely bland (usually). When you are actually given hot sauce to add to your food, it is so spicy it is almost inedible. Surprisingly, because of the tease of Costa Rica cuisine, after a month there, all I wanted was Mexican food!

Wildlife And Waterfalls of La Paz

2009-03-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

My favorite weekday tour was of the La Paz resort, which has actually recently been partly wiped out due to hurricanes in Costa Rica. The animal exhibits survived the storms, but the waterfall tour area is being reconstructed.

La Paz is a great tourist spot for viewing all kinds of different wildlife and beautiful waterfalls. The tour involves a lot of hiking, and at the beginning, everyone is given a walking stick to “fend off the snakes” if necessary (we saw no snakes).

We first entered an aviary of all kinds of different birds. All the girls were instructed to take our earrings out, because some types of birds are attracted to shiny things and will actually peck at your earlobes to steal your piercings.

We saw some beautiful parrots, macaws, and the funniest little hopping tucans!

HEY, tucan!

the beautiful parrot we saw upon entering the aviary

There were also owls and other types of birds with which I was not familiar, like the black-bellied whistling duck pictured feeding below, but I loved seeing all of them and their pretty colors.

the owls were still sound asleep (as I would have chosen to be that early in the morning!)

the black-bellied whistling duck

I found more monkey friends, too! There were tiny little monkeys with faces called marmosets who would come close to the cage to see me up close.

they kept coming to the cage to see me!

you can kind of see his little face here

There were also beautiful flowers all over La Paz, and another butterfly garden! The butterflies here were a lot more friendly, and I got to hold a few.

my favorite butterfly, or "mariposa" shot

I finally caught one!

The hummingbirds were so funny to watch flitting around the exhibits. I loved watching their jerky but graceful movements.

it was hard to get a good picture of these quick little guys!

The amphibian exhibit was so cool. Many of the frogs we got to see looked almost fake with their shocking colors. Also, many of them were poisonous, like the bright colored one pictured below.

the picture of this frog is one of my favorites of the entire trip

another type of rain frog

Finally, we hiked the waterfalls. They were quite a site to see!

this shot of the La Paz waterfall is very popular -

just weeks after we visited here,
Sheri Shepard from The View was filmed

in this very spot on the show!

the view from above - these are the spots that are being reconstructed after the storm

The La Paz food was some of the best we had throughout our entire trip. We had a buffet of pizza, garlic bread, rice, fries, as well as Costa Rican staples such as fried platanos and pineapple.

If you are to visit Costa Rica, La Paz is a MUST-see!!

Wildlife Refuge Tour in Manuel Antonio

2009-03-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Our wildlife refuge tour of Manuel Antonio was one of my favorite organized activities of our entire time in Costa Rica.

We were split into three small groups. Our tour guide’s name was Flaco. This means skinny in Spanish, and he explained that it is what all his friends call him. He did a GREAT job in finding us lots of wildlife to see up close and personal.

Flaco and la cucaracha he made me from palm leaves

In the opening of the tour, he made a cucaracha (cockroach) out of two palm leaves. Because I could name the typical Costa Rican meal (Casado - see my Tour of Heredia post) the fastest, he gave me la cucaracha to keep. I still have him in my room at home, preserved with hairspray, just as Flaco told me to do.

The first monkey we saw was a howler monkey. They make CRAZY loud noises in order to claim the territory around them. Apparently, the male monkey who howls the loudest gets to claim his territory.

Next, we got as up close and personal as one can possibly get to a white-faced monkey. Remember how I said the butterflies didn’t like me when we went to the butterfly garden? Well, monkeys loove me.

my monkey friend

This guy wouldn’t leave me alone, and kept trying to grab my hair from a low branch. I was able to capture the end of our encounter with him.

he was ready for his closeup!

You can see this guy in action via video here via youtube.

The guides stressed that it is very important not to touch the monkeys, as they can be dangerous. People sometimes enjoy the beach within the wildlife refuge, and it is important to watch your belongings, as the monkeys will steal bags.

We got to see a variety of lizards, as well. The nicknamed “Jesus lizards” (because they walk on water) were all over the place in Manuel Antonio)

can you find the "Jesus lizard?"

there were MANY different types of lizards around our hotel, too!

Sloths are also plentiful in Costa Rica, and from what we learned about them, they are probably the grossest animal on the planet. They move so slowly that it’s hard to see they are moving at all. They are also so lazy that they don’t clean themselves, causing entire ecosystems to live in their fur. Ew! This shot was taken within the telescope to see the sloth up close.

the famous sloth eating his breakfast

I loved seeing all of the wildlife, especially the monkeys! Can you imagine wild monkeys running around our American beaches?

The best weekend trip in Manuel Antonio

2009-03-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

On our way to our Manuel Antonio weekend excursion (the Pacific Beach), we stopped at a place to eat called “Isla Crocadilla.” We all gathered around on the highway and looked off the side edge to find around 50 crocodiles sunning themselves! They were all humongous - and there were cows just a few feet away grazing in the grass. It was wild, and we all expected to see a crocodile or two decide it was time for lunch.

the HUGE crocodiles!

When we arrived in Manuel Antonio, we found two restaurants right down the road from our hotel. After checking them out, we saw that they served happy hour drinks! From 4-6 every day, margaritas, pina coladas, and daiquiris were 2 for 1. We loved it, and definitely took advantage of the deal the two nights we stayed in Manuel Antonio. My favorite of the two restaurants was called Sammy’s, pictured below. I had some of the BEST pesto pasta of my life there!

happy hour!

On Saturday, we woke up early to take the wildlife tour. The tour was awesome even though it was a rainy, overcast day. We got to see lots of different animals, which I had really been hoping to do. I plan to dedicate my next post to that tour entirely.

our group for the wildlife tour

After our wildlife tour, we had the entire day to do whatever we pleased. We decided to check out the hundreds of street vendors. There was some really neat handcrafted jewelry, clothing, and nick knacks. The vendors were very friendly and used to tourists, and I had a fun time haggling with them for my souvenirs.

My friends Dana, Jen, Bekah, and Jenni and I then took a banana-float ride! For only $10 each, we got to ride on a banana-shaped float behind a speed boat. We all fit on it, and it was so fun (and FUNNY) trying to stay on through the rough waters! The ride was only ten minutes long, but it was definitely worth only $10.

that banana float ride was so fun!

Later that night, we ate at a restaurant called “El Avion” (the airplane). The entrance to the restaurant is an old cockpit fashioned into a bar on the inside - it was really neat, and the seafood there was delicious!

the cockpit entrance to the restaurant

We also hit the bars in Manuel Antonio. Once again, Roberto was kind enough to drive the big bus so we wouldn’t have to pay for taxis. Ladies were free (a common theme in Costa Rica), and we danced the night away until the early hours of the morning. The funniest part of our bar experience was when we found street vendors outside with carts of chicken on a stick. My friend Thomas was so excited over this chicken, and bought about five of them. I tried a piece - it was really good! The concept should be brought to the states for sure.

chicken on a stick, on sale outside the club

Our final day in Manuel Antonio was a free day. Four of us chose to spend our final hours renting a surf board and a boogie board for the great waves! It only cost $15 for two hours, so we got a pretty great deal for a lot of fun in the water. The little son of the boards owner (who was wearing a little shirt... and nothing else) loved Dana and me, and latched onto our legs and wouldn’t let us leave. Unfortunately, it was time to get back on the bus and head home for Heredia.

our new friend, the son of the surfboard rental man

I loved the beaches and fun of Manuel Antonio. If i could return to any of our weekend excursions, I would surely choose Manuel Antonio!

Weekend trip to Volcan Arenal

2009-03-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Our first weekend excursion was to Volcan Arenal, Costa Rica. In order to travel in sufficient time, we needed to wake up at 4:45 AM... not fun!

We traveled in two huge busses on our trips. On the way to Volcan Arenal, we stopped at a big indoor marketplace which had many hand-crafted gifts. I bought a walking stick for my dad (he collects them) and a Costa Rican wooden handmade serving platter for my mom. I also found some cute handmade earrings for friends.

Our stop for breakfast was fun. I had a really yummy omelette. Many people had their pancakes, which were also delicioso.

After finally settling in at the hotel, we hiked up the mountain to see the volcano. The hike was in the pouring rain, of course, because that's all it does in Costa Rica (so it seems), but we got to see some neat plant life and a couple of spider monkeys up high in the trees. Once we got to the top of the volcano, we all took pictures.

Dana and me at the top of the Volcano!

THEN we went to the Baldi hot springs. This was one of my favorite places we visited in all of Costa Rica - it was like one big waterpark with a bunch of swimup pools! The pools have hot water flowing through them from the volcano - it was so neat. The drinks were all crazy expensive ($10 each), but they were very good. My favorite was a banana drink with a coffee liquor called "The Crazy Monkey."

our group loving Baldi Springs!

There were even waterslides!! My friend had an waterproof camera, so we got a lot of pictures of the fun that night. After we had our fill of swimming, our group had a great buffet of chicken, pasta, and salad.

all us girls with our drinks at the swim-up bar!

That night, we went to the discoteca. It was really fun to show off our dance class skills in salsa and merengue, and we had fun watching some of the locals and other tourists dancing the night away around us.

discotecas have great dancing!

The next morning, we got to go ZIP-LINING!!! Zip-lining in Volcan Arenal was one of my favorite special activities by far. We each paid $60 to zip across 10 lines. After an information session, we rode up to the top of the mountain, put on harnesses, and were off.

I LOVED zip-lining!

It surprised me how much technique is involved in zip-lining. It is really important to keep your brake pad (in your one hand) on the cable, your other hand pulling down on the metal clamp attaching you to the cable, and your feet high up in the air. Otherwise, you will get stuck in the middle of the line, and one of the workers will have to come and fetch you. I thought this was so fun - I was only one of three people who got all the way across every line without getting stuck!

It began to rain on our LAST line. After standing in the pouring rain for half an hour, we were told we could no longer ride horses to the waterfall. This was disappointing, but I had a LOT of fun zip-lining and would most definitely do it again!

Spanish Class in Costa Rica

2009-03-05T18:10:00.000-08:00

After an interview in a small office with a teacher in the Intercultura, we were all placed into our classes. Since most students along on the trip were simply finishing their spanish language requirement credits and not minoring or majoring in Spanish, I was guessing my class would be small.

dance class with our teacher Kike was always a lot of fun!

I was right! My class of Advanced Spanish Conversation and Intermediate Spanish Grammar (combined into one class) consisted of two other students and myself.

Our teacher, Nuria, was a super nice Tica. I was a big fan of hers throughout our stay in Heredia. She wasn't much older than we were.. I would assume in her late twenties, so she was more like a friend. This made our class time really fun (which is a good thing - class is 5 hours long Monday through Friday!)

Nuria and our class on Presentation Day - we had to wear the old-fashioned clothing of San Jose

Nuria taught us many things other than the curriculum. In fact, every time I learned a new/interesting word, I wrote it down. My list grew to some interesting terms:

cita a ciegas - blind date

trasnochar - to stay up all night

goma - hangover

batido - milkshake

carambola - starfruit

promedio - GPA

me cae bien - to get along with (if you like a person, unless it's a love interest, it is incorrect to say "me gusta (person)"

molida - crushed

cangrejo - crab

estar con sueno - to want to sleep

cordales - wisdom teeth

hacer trampa - to cheat

chupete - hickie

trenzas - braids/dreadlocks

guacala - ew!

culo - butt

These are the kinds of things I really take away from my trip to Costa Rica, not all that bookwork!

We also had some great dance classes, beading classes, and cooking classes at the school. In dance class, we learned salsa, merengue, and other latin dance. Our dance instructor, Kike, was pretty cool.

In cooking class, we learned how to make empanadas and chorreadas, which are just like pancakes; however, our teacher, pictured below, would get very angry if we said "pancake." Apparently, chorreadas are a big deal, and much better than pancakes (I actually would just prefer pancakes. She served the chorreadas with some gross sour cream).

our interesting cooking teacher making empenadas

Obviously, the classes were the reason we took the trip to Costa Rica, and they taught me a lot, but I think I learned just as much outside of the classroom as I did in class!

Random Facts About (our trip in) Costa Rica

2009-03-03T12:12:00.000-08:00

Lessons learned while spending a month in Costa Rica:

-No wonder they call the month of June the "rainy season:"

it is raining there every single day, especially in the late afternoon. And by raining, I don't mean a slight drizzle - it is always POURING down rain there. Thank goodness for umbrellas (Dana, my roommate, went through two during our trip) and waterproof, hooded jackets. I've never been so sick of rain in my life!

-Costa Rican McDonalds are awesome:

Since McDonalds is an American corporation, when it appears in a third-world country such as Costa Rica, it is pretty upscale. When Dana and I went to McDonalds for lunch before class one day, we were so excited to have some American food. The McDonalds was so much nicer than any one we had ever visited in the US. While in line for the cash register, a women took our orders on a palm pilot and sent our orders to the back. By the time we were at the register to pay, our food was ready! I was very impressed.

Here, I learned how to say my favorite McDonalds fry dipping sauce in spanish: "salsa agridulce," or sweet-and-sour sauce.

Costa Rican McDonald's papas fritas and una hamburguesa... yum!

-For the most part, Costa Rican Margaritas taste like ocean water:

We all tried margaritas at numerous bars and restaurants. Even if we requested no salt on the rim of our glass "no sal en el vaso, por favor," the margaritas have a TON of salt in the drink itself. I like salty things, and I could barely handle more than one sip of the Costa Rican margaritas.

salty margaritas... no, gracias!

-Costa Rican men go crazy over "Gringas":

Cat-calling is the norm in Costa Rica, and it got very old during our month-long stay, especially during our long walks to and from school. Because we look like American girls, Dana and I got a lot of rude attention on the streets. One early morning walk to school, we were flashed by a man on the sidewalk. Thankfully, this was our most eventful Tico interaction on the streets, but I still think I'm scarred for life.

-Internet Cafes are a nice alternative:

Since most families do not have internet access, there are many internet cafes around town. It is relatively cheap to use their computers, and there is a timer on each computer which monitors your activity. These cafes also usually offer snacks. Since we were trying to save our money for shopping and excursion activities, Dana and I would try to arrive at school a little early and use the computer lab of the Intercultura to e-mail our friends and families and update facebook.

-Bananas Fritas are the BEST:

I find that the food I miss the most from Costa Rica has to be the fried bananas that were served with almost every meal, at restaurants AND in our homestay. "Me gusta mucho!"

fried bananas, or bananas fritas

-Pan e Vino is a MUST-VISIT restaurant:

We ate there probably three times, and I would have been happy to return again. Pan e Vino (Bread and Wine) is a great italian restaurant which offers an array of great tasting wines, an array of specialty pizzas, pastas, and one of the BEST flaky calzones I have ever had. One visit to Pan e Vino was just for Calzones for our entire table! We had a great dessert to split between us all to finish.

Pan e Vino, one of my favorite restaurants in all of Costa Rica

-Costa Rican drivers are idiots:

Upon returning from a lunch break of grabbing stamps at the post office, I was almost run over by a car. There are strange garages just placed between storefronts, and until one is directly in front of this garage, there is no telling that there is a car emerging. This is how I found myself half-sitting on a car hood without any idea of how I got there. Clearly, the driver had not been paying attention, and just pulled out without looking.

We learned that in Costa Rica, a citizen does not have to take a road or written test of any kind. This shows in the streets, too. It is extremely easy to have a close call in the streets of Heredia: drivers do NOT yield to pedestrians!

Tours in San Jose

2009-02-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

Our first Wednesday tour (which took place before classes) takes place in San Jose, where we had originally landed in Costa Rica.

San Jose is one of those cities with a little bit of everything. We saw the historical sights, the tourist traps, the local shopping, the Americanized restaurants (McDonalds, Quiznos, KFC, and Wendys), and the really cool markets with great shopping and fun bargaining.

We meet Jose that day, our guide for the duration of our stay in Costa Rica. Jose is a little peanut of a Tico... we loved him!

We begin our tour at the town center at the Museo Nacional (National Museum). Jose guides us through the museum, pointing out the beautiful hand-painted ceilings, Sistine Chapel-style. Jose shows us some beautiful hand-made furniture throughout the rooms before takes us into the National Theatre. In there, a sixteen-year-old world-renowned pianist was practicing for a big performance. She let us watch as she performed two pieces... it was amazing! A few of us stayed behind after her performance to get autographs.

Outside of the Museo Nacional, we found a little old man selling hand-crafted ceramic animal whistles. They were really interesting - they all had different holes all over the animal which whistled in different pitches. A few of my friends bought a few at a discounted price before we headed on to the Parque Nacional, a little tourist park that overlooks the city and includes cultural displays and a butterfly garden.

On our way to lunch, we found a town square with a TON of pigeons. I had way too much fun chasing them around!

the simple pleasures of chasing pigeons in San Jose

The butterfly garden was so cool. The butterflies didn't really like me, so I didn't get to hold any of them, but they flocked to our friends, Colby and Chris.

Chris found a new friend in the butterfly garden

We then stopped for lunch at el Restaurante (The Restaurant). In my opinion, we had to pay a lot of money for so-so quality food, but I still enjoyed learning about the typical Tico cuisine. We again saw the cas and guanabana, and decided to get a fresa con leche, which was like a strawberry milkshake. It was good, but I prefer guanabana!

strawberry smoothies... not bad!

The marketplace was my favorite place in San Jose. We were able to haggle with the stall owners, and I got some great deals on gifts for family members as well as some turquoise jewelry for myself. My favorite purchase was the handmade photo album I got, made of palm leaves, for all of my Costa Rica pictures!

Costa Rican Nightlife in Heredia

2009-02-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

all the girls at Tragaldabas

While the nightlife in America is typically big from Thursday to Saturday, Costa Rican nightlife is raging on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to Saturday.

Our group's favorite night of the week in Heredia was Monday's ladies' nights at "FoFo," a club in town. I can still remember us all texting each other back in the US after we came home from our trip saying, "Tomorrow is FOFO! Let's go!"

At FoFo, every girl was given three drink tickets at the door (raffle-ticket style), good for any draft beer. The Costa Rican beer available everywhere was Cerveza Imperial, an all-natural ingredient brew. I was not a fan of Imperial, but a lot of those in our group sure were!

On those Mondays, would usually find ourselves dancing at FoFo for the duration of the night. The little Ticas would crowd all around the boys in our group, and loooved dancing with the tall, American boys.

those Ticas LOVED our American boys!

Much like clubs in the United States, a DJ with a microphone would make rounds and let people speak in the microphone. At one point, Chris, a student in our group, got to beatbox into the mic. I loved trying my Spanish in the microphone, too!

Sometimes we would see Roberto, our school's driver who I have mentioned before, out on the town, who once even gave Dana and me a ride back to our home-stay house so we wouldn't have to pay for a taxi. That was really nice and a lot less stressful than having to go through giving the taxi drivers directions to our house.

Other nightclubs we tried out in Costa Rica included La Choza, Boulevar, and Tragaldabas, the latter of which took us a looong time to be able to pronounce!

Since La Choza had an upstairs and was more of a "hangout" bar, it our least favorite. We all just had too much fun dancing!

Boulevar, however, served huge "cylinders" of beer with any number of glasses you wish. The cylinders were like a little tabletop keg, and we spent a lot of our time sharing them among our group on our nights out.

Tragaldabas was a techno dance club. It was always extremely crowded, and my girlfriends and I spent a lot of time trying to fend of the Ticos with excuses that one of our guy friends in the group was our "novio," or "boyfriend." After complaining about the creep factor to my teacher in class, she suggested I switch my ring to my left-hand ring finger and tell the pushy Ticos that I was engaged. This rarely deterred them, however.

as you can see from Dana's face in the middle, some Tico men can be pretty creepy...

Techno is pretty huge in bars and clubs in Costa Rica. When we weren't listening to techno, there would be top-40 music playing from the states.

A lot of clubs were strictly latin salsa dance clubs, as well, and our group loved showing off our Intercultura dance class skills all night long. It was quite a workout on the dance floor! When we would be showing off our moves, many Ticos would join in and dance along with us. I had an interesting night at one of the latin dance clubs when a little old man danced with me for about an hour. I'm pretty sure he was under 5 feet tall.

All in all, we had a lot of fun exploring the Costa Rican nightlife! Some Monday nights, I find myself longing for another ladies night at FoFo.

Our first taste of Heredia

2009-02-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

After our placement interviews for Spanish classes at Intercultura, the language school we attended while living in Heredia, we were taken on a tour of the town.

Heredia is a dynamic little town. Each day, Dana and I walked ten minutes uphill (no, really... it was an entire uphill walk to the school from our house) to get to school, and once we emerged from the housing area, we would pass numerous schools (there are several schools on one street), each with their own park or fenced-in playground, a few pharmacies, movie rental stores, bakeries, and stores of all types. General stores, beauty parlors, pet shops, restaurants, and clothing boutiques are set up side-to-side, lining the sidewalks.

enjoying the marketplace and tasting the fruit!

On our first tour, we were taken to the market in the town square. There were varieties of stalls inside the marketplace. Ticos sell baked goods, fruit and vegetables, clothing, and more. It was very interesting to see the way Ticos buy their fruit from the market daily. Dana and I once bought some starfruit, "moras" (blackberries), and "mamone", a fruit with a shell one peels off to reveal a grapelike seed to suck on, from the market. "Guanabana," or guava, is also a common fruit in Costa Rica. One can find it in cookies and artificial flavors all around the country.

After the market, our group stopped for lunch at "Las Fresas" for lunch. There, we were introduced to the typical Costa Rican lunch, "casado," which directly translated means "married." This national dish contains rice and beans with cabbage-and-tomato salad, fried plantains (YUM!), and meat. At Las Fresas, we each had our choice of the steak, chicken, fish, or vegetarian version of casado. I elected to try the chicken, and it was pretty good. My favorite was definitely the friend plantains, which are a staple in almost every lunch and dinner in Costa Rica.

To drink, Ticos frequently enjoy "cas" or "guanabana," a fruit drink made from the fruits that supply their namesake. Cas is a type of guava and is a little less sweet than guanabana (I preferred guanabana), and they are both in a smoothie form. It is normal to ask for these drinks "con agua" (with water) or "con leche" (with milk). With milk, the drink is less of a smoothie has more of a milkshake consistency.

That first tour gave us a small taste of Costa Rican life. After Las Fresas, we passed many of the shops and bars that would become landmarks and hangouts to us in the weeks to come. We couldn't wait to get out there on our own!

Dana, Lauren, and me enjoying our lunch at Fresas

Our Arrival in Heredia, Costa Rica

2009-02-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our group flew into San Jose, Costa Rica on June 1st, 2008. The flight was only around 4 and a half hours, and after a quick detour into the duty-free store ("WHOA - A DRINKING AGE OF 18?"), we were greeted by our bus drivers from the school, Roberto and Felix.

As we would learn later on, Roberto and Felix would be driving us on all of our weekend excursions. Throughout the trip, these two Ticos (again, "Tico" is the term for a local Costa Rican) showed off some pretty impressive navigational skills on the narrow (and I mean NARROW) roads around the mountains and volcanoes of Costa Rica. I can still hear one of my fellow students, Chris Haney, yelling in his southern drawl from the back of the bus, "Hey Ro-ber-to, why dont'cha slap a number on

the side'a this thang and git it on the race track?" I think Roberto got his taste of some real North Carolina living during our time with him! We had a lot of fun getting to know Roberto, whether it was on our bus rides, during our tours, or out in the clubs with him! He would even drive us home from the club in his car so we wouldn't have to pay for a taxi.

On our first drive through San Jose and Heredia, we got a small taste of Costa Rican life. We saw many shops lining the streets in the town center as we approached the residential areas. In the housing areas, the houses are all surrounded by high walls and wrought-iron gates. When I questioned the presence of such high security, Dr. Girelli, our trip advisor, reminded me that we were in a third-world country. Apparently, there is a lot of petty crime in Heredia. It was then that I was happy I remembered to bring my pepper spray.

From the airport, we were taken to our host families' houses. Dana and I were dropped off in front of a big wall with a garden-like entrance. A stout woman of 67, Lilianna, our "mother", greeted us in Costa Rican Spanish. I was sleepy, but still coherent enough to introduce Dana and myself. It was a good thing I had been exposed to so much Spanish in high school, because Lilianna spoke no English at all. Lilianna showed us into a small room which we would share. It connected to the tiled porch and included a twin and a double bed, a dresser, and a huge closet for all of our belongings. We even had a little TV in our room!

Dana and I were later introduced to the pets of the house. First, there was Angie ("named after Angelina Jolie, of course" Lilianna explained), a black and white house cat. Also accompanying us throughout our stay (and waking us up with her shrill barking all hours of the morning) was Molly, the white poodle. I found it very interesting that Lilianna chose such English names for her pets. She agreed with this sentiment, saying that she likes American names.

Our first meal with Lilianna was dinner. She was a great traditional Costa Rican cook; many of her ingredients came from her small garden in front of the house. She cooked us spaghetti and corn in tomato sauce for dinner with a side salad. She cooked us many different types of pastas, but always included a simple side salad with a tomato, an avocado, and sometimes, corn. Basically, the "fresh vegetable of the day" was on our salad every night for dinner - yum! The only dressing for our salad was olive oil. I generally doused my salad with plenty of salt, as well.

The house in which we lived for our month in Costa Rica was pretty small, as are most Costa Rican hou

ses. Lilianna was a very religious Catholic, so the house was very traditionally decorated with Christian antiques and old photos. Dana and I enjoyed discovering different little trinkets and strange decorations throughout the living room on our way into the small kitchen.

We all shared a small bathroom, which was right across the hall from our room, and right next door to Lilianna's room. This meant sharing a toilet, shower, and small sink. The tiny shower was heated electrically from the showerhead, so I had to train myself time and time again to be careful not to touch it while washing my hair. I did, however, get shocked quite a few times.

We also had to wash our underwear in the shower. We learned from a sign on our door that Lilianna would clean our laundry for us, but our underwear was to be washed in the shower. Evidently, this is the norm for Ticos.

It was very different from what we were used to, but we quickly adapted and had the time of our lives doing so!

Adventures in Costa Rica

2009-02-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

Last summer, I took a trip to Costa Rica with my roommate and a group of students from my college, and I can confidently say it was one of the best experiences of my life.

I chose to take this trip to better my Spanish-speaking skills, as I am working towards a minor in Spanish. In order to get the most I could out of the local dialect, I chose to live with a non-English speaking Tico (Costa Rican) family for the duration of the 28-day trip.

This made for very interesting dinner-table conversations!

Once in Heredia, Costa Rica (we flew into San Jose), our trip entailed 5 hour classes Monday through Friday and trips to the coast each weekend. We loved living the life around the city, but those trips were definitely the highlight of our entire Costa Rican adventure.

In this blog, I will highlight each memorable experience I had along the way.

From my class (taught by a non-English speaking professor) experiences, conversations with my traditional Tico family, adventures with my ignorant classmates, and braving the nightlife of Heredia, I have many notable memories from my month in Costa Rica.