New Home!

Wow, a lot has happened since I was last able to write.  I guess I'll start out talking a little about classes.  Right now we are taking three classes.  Latin American Culture and Civilization is on Mondays from 9-12 and Wednesdays from 2-5.  We've talked a lot about social interactions and ethnicity.  There is an interesting culture here because lots of Nicaraguans come to Costa Rica and work.  They get paid less and do harder labor.  It is a little like Mexican workers in the States.  We've learned about the Nicaraguan revolutions with the Somoza, Sandinistas, and Contras.  Interesting stuff for the most part, but I'm not huge on history so it has definitely been challenging.  Spanish Linguistics is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12.  This class is very difficult because of its detailed nature, but it is so interesting to learn about the phonetic alphabet and certain sounds that are used in other languages but not Spanish.  Also, we have looked at how the Spanish language evolved to become what it is today.  On Mondays from 2-5 we have Core 350.  We are looking at different policies in Latin America and especially Costa Rica and are thinking of and discussing policies that we think would be good to implement on campus, such as chickens and/or solar panels on the roof.  Overall I think the classes are interesting, but I don't necessarily like them.  I really want to learn the language, but I've realized that the subject matter of these classes is generally not in my areas of expertise.

As for other areas of life in Costa Rica, the biggest change has been my living situation.  I mentioned earlier that Marta had to work nights two days a week and was generally just not around very much.  I talked to the RA/TAs about it and we agreed to let it go a little longer to see if things improved.  I really wanted a living situation where I got to interact with my host parents and feel what it was like to be a part of a Costa Rican family, and I was not getting that with Marta.  Things did not get any better.  In fact, I would say they even went downhill.  Marta got used to me being around and as a result, when she was home she would go in her room, shut the door, and watch TV (at least that's what I think she was doing).  The next week I spent both Monday and Tuesday at Jill's house again because Marta had to work those nights.  They had an extra room in their house and things just seemed to work out, so this Friday I moved into Silvia and Antonio's house with Jill.  It has been so much better, and I feel like I am part of a loving family now.  I get to have good conversations about all different kinds of things and just basically be included in their lives.  Silvia grew up in Nicaragua and has a very interesting story that I got to hear.  The first night that I moved in I went with Silvia, Jill, and the neighboring family to the ferria (fruit and vegetable market).  It was HUGE!!  It was fun to walk around and see all these different types of fruit that I'd never seen before in my life.  I heard the names of most of them, but there are way too many to remember.  I've been working on remembering the more popular ones.  Then on Saturday night Silvia and Antonio showed us a bunch of photo albums from various times in their lives.  We got to see wedding pictures and pictures of their two boys and vacations they've taken.  I feel privileged to be a part of their family.

On Friday I went to Roblealto, where I am doing an internship, to get orientated and to see the premises.  Roblealto is a Christian organization that has been around since the 1930's in Costa Rica.  They have 5 different sights around the country, but this was the biggest one.  They have houses where a mom and dad and their biological children live along with 10 other "foster" kids.  They live on sight.  The kids are chosen because they come from abusive or unsafe households.  Whether it is verbal, sexual, or physical abuse, these kids need to escape.  The goal of Roblealto is to give these kids a good education and a good living environment, but also to help change their mentality about abuse and hopefully to change their families through them.  They see their families every weekend.  One weekend their families will come to Roblealto and visit them there and the next they will go home to their parents house.  They are all about loving the kids and cultivating a positive and healthy mindset in the kids.  Walking around with one of the directors, Pamela, it was clear how much love they give.  Kids would come up to her from all around to give her a hug and hear a few encouraging words.  It was beautiful.  I will be going there every Friday from 8 am until 4 pm to work in the school, do an after-school program, and just hang out with the kids.

On Saturday our group took an excursion to Volcan Poas (Poas Volcano).  We rented a 15 passenger van and drove there at 8 am.  It was about an 1 1/2 drive and once we got there it was a short hike to see the crater.  Poas is not an active volcano, but there is an amazing crater at the top.  It has a small lake in it and there is a lot of smoke/steam.  We hiked from there up to a little laguna and continued around a loop back to the parking lot.  It was a good little walk and beautiful.  First volcano I've ever seen!  I want to go visit Arenal sometime while I am here too.  It's supposed to be amazing.  On the way back we stopped at a seafood restaurant.  It seemed like all the fish was fried and that didn't sound good, so I ended up getting something called a Burra.  It was a rice/bean/meat soup that was delicious.  It also came with two baked corn tortillas for dipping. Mm mm!

On Sunday I went with Laura's family (another Whitworth student) to visit their daughter.  She lives in San Marcos de Terrazu.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to the house, but we got to go through the mountains.  It was so green and there were some epic views!  While we were there we went to a little student art exhibit and I got to learn about some of the indigenous people that live there.  They work at different types of farms throughout the year, and right now it's getting pretty close to coffee season, so they were in San Marcos.  This area was voted on and ranked the number 1 coffee in all of Latin America at least, maybe the world.  Unfortunately it was Sunday so I didn't get to try it or buy any coffee there.  No worries, other Costa Rican coffee is excellent as well.  Laura and I hung out with their two 13 year old twin boys during the afternoon.  They had a Wii so we played that for a while and we also taught them some different American card games.  It was really fun:)  On the drive back I talked to Laura's dad, William, and tried to figure out which Costa Rican soccer team jersey I am going to buy.  There are the Saprissas which is a younger team and probably the most popular overall.  They are the Costan Rican champions right now.  Then there is the Heredian team, which is the province we are living in.  They are a more established team and have been champions for something like the past 18 years.  My host dad, Antonio, is a Heredia fan, but Katie's host dad who lives next door is a Saprissa fan.  Any suggestions?