Fall Break 08: Don't Die

Nicaragua was absolutely amazing and a part of my heart will always be there. Those people taught me the real meaning of love and just living life to live and not for your goals and plans but just to live and enjoy life. I learned so much by just being with them. I had no idea that one week could change my life so much and I'm still processing it all and trying to figure out what all I learned and took away from it and what that means for the rest of my life. I definitely want to return some day. I absolutely loved it there. The people were great and friendly and open. They really impacted me in more ways then I know.

My Nica house
My Nica sisters
Me and Jonathan :)
The girls and Keyla. She was such a sweetheart and I'm glad we are keeping in touch. Hopefully I'll return someday to stay with her or she'll be able to come to the states and stay with me.
Me and the guys...these were the guys that were our age...kinda they were 14-20. We had a lot of fun getting to know them over the week and spending time with them. They had a real impact on me and I hope that we all are able to keep in contact for a long time.
Me and David! He was a young boy who would come and help out at the church every morning with us. He was so sweet and such a good friend. Our last night at church he sang a song for us and then waited at the church until we had all left. I will never forget him and his smile.
Roomies! We shared a room at the first hostel in Nicaragua where we spent our first 3 nights before heading to our home stays.
Sandino is a national hero and was a pretty cool guy. You should check out some information on him and the revolutions he inspired in Nicaragua.
This is a huge silhouette of Sandino that is located at Loma Tiscapa in Managua (the capital of Nicaragua). You can see this statue all around town. It was really cool.


I got to spend our Fall Break in a beautiful cloud forest in the middle of Costa Rica. It reminded me a lot of the Northwest with it's mountains, river, and waterfall. It was also cold and the leaves were falling...it actually felt like fall compared to the rest of Costa Rica and Nicaragua we had been too. It was definitely different then the extreme heat in Nicaragua. One morning we got up at 4:30 and got in the back of a truck and drove up to the top of the second largest mountain in Costa Rica. The view was gorgeous but it was freezing cold so we didn't stay there long. I also got addicted to The Office...we watched Seasons 1 and 2 and the first disc of Season 3. Now I can't wait to be back in the states to finish watching it. I have to know what happens with Jim and Pam. I also found someone else who knew how to play Pinochle and then we taught 4 more people and were able to play some Pinochle every night. We had one of the closest games I have ever played in my life. It was so much fun. The whole trip was just so relaxing...we definitely needed that. I never went to the beach because I didn't want to have to deal with more traveling and finding a hostel. It was just easier to stay at the beautiful retreat center in the cloud forest. I also was able to make some better friendships with some people in the group and reflect a little on Nicaragua.
This week we have classes and then Monday I head to my new town in Costa Rica for 3 and a half weeks. It is very possible that I won't have internet there because it is a very small rural town. I'll be working in a daycare there. Hopefully I will travel back to San Jose one weekend so that I can answer emails and update my blog. Oh...today we also found out that we are for sure going to Cuba!!! I am soooo excited! Cuba is going to be amazing!

Off to the Cloud Forest and Beach

So I made it back from Nicaragua safe and sound...a little sick but nothing too bad. Nicaragua was absolutely wonderful! I loved our community. We had church everynight and when we had free time we went and played soccer with the local youth. It was so much fun and I feel like we built some really good relationships. It was so hard to leave though. I´m still struggling with that and I wish I could go back. I definately left my heart in Nicaragua. But now the semester is half over and we are on to fall break and then off to our next homestays and internships. Tomorrow I am going to the cloud forest to spend 2 days in the mountains and then I'm going to the beach for the next 2 days. So when I get back I will have to post some pictures! Thank you for all your prayers while we were in Nicaragua.

Leaving for Nicaragua

This is what the sky looks like every afternoon before the rain comes. It is usually sunny and warm in the morning and then it rains in the afternoon and all night. But the mornings are nice.
This is a picture of my brother Mariano after his team won the soccer tournament. It was such a good game.
Here are some of the flowers on the street in Cartago when I went to the festival for the Virgen de los Angeles.
This is Gustavo (one of my teachers at ICADS). We went to POPS (a really good ice cream place here) after class one day and witnessed a car crash and then we took a picture of Gustavo with the crash. He is such a funny guy and a great teacher.

Here is photo of me and my tico dad at the Saprissa game!!!This is a photo of the stadium. Their colors are purple and yellow just like Lambda!!
This is the Ultra Morada section. It is for the biggest Saprissa fans. It is a group that goes to all of their games and they lead all the chants and have fireworks and streamers and are just absolutely crazy!
This is a picture from my post "at least say Dios Mio" when Andrew was feeding the pigeons.
This is a photo of our group at the zoo. It is Sam, Rachel, me, my ticamom Eida, and Andrew.

I made it through the week and now Core Seminar and Spanish classes are done! It's kinda sad that we won't be going back to ICADS anymore...I loved our professors there. On Friday. my professor Sylvia took us out to a panaderia (like a bakery) and then we hung out at the local university before coming back for our graduation! It was fun! But yeah my paper is done, my presentations are done, and I feel good about it all. Thursday night, I went with some friends to a jazz club and the lady who sang was amazing. It was a great night to just relax after a long week. Then Saturday I went with a group of friends to the canopy. We went on a touristy program but it was good because it included transportation, meals, and a lot of fun stuff. We went on a boat ride through the river and got to see crocodiles and birds and turtles. Then we got on horses and rode to the rainforest. Then with it pouring down rain on us we went ziplining. We were soaking wet but it was so much fun and it was perfect to be in the rain forest with it raining. I can't even describe how much fun the ziplining was! It was great! I love heights and just being up there and swinging through the trees was great. And at one platform there were monkeys all around us. If it hadn't been raining so much I would have taken out my camera. Later when it stopped I did get a few pictures that I will have to post later but it was awesome. I want to go back. Then we had an awesome lunch and got to hang out before taking the boat back to the buses. It was one of the best days here. And I also got to know a few people in our group a lot better. It was nice to get to spend time talking to them about their lives. But now I need to pack and spend some time with the family because I am leaving for 2 weeks to Nicaragua. I'll get back next Friday and will be here for a night before going to the beach for fall break and maybe back to the rainforest. So if I can I will post that Friday. But we won't have any access to communication for the time we are in Nicaragua. So don't expect any posts or phone calls or online chats. If it is an emergency, mom and dad have the Washington DC numbers to call. But I love you all and pray for us while we are in Nicaragua. It is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with a 70% poverty rate, so we will be experiencing poverty first hand. Pray for our safety and health as we are told that almost everyone comes back sick from this trip. But we are prepared with lots of meds so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm excited for it.

Mas Fotos!

The beach in Limon....it was gorgeous. All these photos are from my Limon trip so if you want to know more about that read my post from the Limon trip (titled dia de la independencia).
Who can find the monkey in this picture?
Here is a better picture of a monkey. This one was a lot closer so easier to photograph. It was probably 10 feet from me.
Pineapple fields....who thought pineapples grew under ground or on a tree? Well they grow above the ground on these plants...isn't that interesting.
Inside the banana plantation. The blue bags are on tthe bananas to keep the insects off.
Some of the baby iguanas at the Iguana Farm at the Bribri reservation

So there are some photos and I will post some more soon. Last night we threw a surprise party for my mamitica. It was so much fun and she was so surprised that I kept it from her all day because we had spent the whole day together in San Jose. She took me to a museum and a butterfly garden and then shopping. It was such a good day with her. Then at the party my cousins and siblings had my camera and I think we have over 150 photos of the party. It was so much fun though. Well tomorrow will be a long day because I have a 7 page research paper due on Tuesday that I haven't started yet and then I have a presentation on Wed. and Thurs. Then after that it is ziplining and canopy and dancing for the weekend!

Por Fin!

So I uploaded the pictures onto my computer finally! I have over 600 photos already so I won't put them all up but here are a few of them and then I will make an album on facebook with more hopefully later this weekend. Next week is our finals week and tomorrow is my mom's birthday party and Sunday I am going to another Tico party with my friend Emily. So somewhere in between it all I will study and post more pictures! This photo is my host mom and sister and me.

Well I tried uploading other photos and it won't let me. :( My internet is too slow. So I guess you only get one tonight.

Pura Vida

So this past week has been full of activities...first off I´m finally starting to feel better after a week and a half of being sick. Friday we had our ¨camino espiritual¨where we all sat in a large circle and shared our spiritual journeys and struggles with the group. It made me really appreciate the people I am with and I think it brought us even closer together. They really are a great group and I am so thankful for them. Then we had pizza which was amazing!! Saturday was my dia de futbol. I got up early and went to my little brother´s soccer tournament (which they won! Go El Carmen!) then that night I went to a Saprissa game with my dad. It was so awesome!! One of the best experiences so far! It was versus the Leaga which is the other huge Costa Rican team and there were so many people there and everyone was cheering and screaming the whole time! ¡Vamos....Vamos Morada! It was just so cool! Tuesday we went to an organic farm and that was neat to see how he grew everything and to get to taste all kinds of different things. Besides that I have a done a lot of homework. Next week is like our finals week so we have our research paper due and 2 presentations (1 in spanish). So it will be crazy and then after that we leave for Nicaragua!
Jenn....I need your address..you can email it to me or how ever you want to give it to me but I would like it please :)

Quiero esta muerto

So I went to the doctors again last night. This doctor at least seemed to have an idea about what was going on. He said the medicine the other doctor gave me wasn't for the symptoms that I was having. He still wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with me. I think we are still going with a virus or infection. But luckily no more blood work or butt shots. Instead I am on an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and a pain killer. And I hate Costa Rican pills. They are huge and aren't coated so they start to disolve as soon as you put them in your mouth. Then they get stuck in my throat. It's terrible! But anyways...today I have felt probably the worst of all but it seems to be coming in cycles today. I've been nauseous for a week but today was the first time I actually almost threwup and it's happened 3 times. I hate it and I just feel miserable. And after class today I had to take an hour bus ride to Heredia for an interview for my position paper. The ride was terrible but the interview was great. I left finally feeling like I knew where I wanted to go with my paper. Tomorrow I will meet with my advisor and see what she thinks and talk about the interview. Then we took a 2 hour bus ride home. And now here I am sitting in my bed typing this instead of doing homework. Tonight I have to do my second biblical reflection. This one is over the Good Samaritan passage and it is interesting how it challenges your views of it. There really is so much going on here that is really challenging my way of thinking and my views on my faith and country and lifestyle. At the beginning it all seemed so overwhelming but now I think I am finally being able to digest some of it and try to begin to form some of my own opinions about it. Hopefully by the time this is over I will have some idea what I think about it all but maybe I will just come back with more questions then answers. But anyways....pictures will come, write me letters, and I love you all!
P.S. Thanks for the videos mom! I love being able to see my little sister grow up!