Weekend trip to Volcan Arenal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!