Hihi, all! I'm still kicking about down here in the tempestuous latitudes of Central America. The weather here in San Jose has been cloudy and what the locals consider "cold", but this last weekend I went to the pueblo of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean, and it was as hot and humid as I've felt so far in the time I've been here.
This last weekend was a "free weekend", meaning that we had no school organized trips planned. So, some of the kids broke up into groups and went to a few different places. Eight other kids and I went to Puerto Viejo in the province of Limon. We left on Friday afternoon after classes (at 2:00) for a 6-hour bus ride to the coast. It was cloudy when we left San Jose, and dark, hot, and sticky when we arrived in Puerto Viejo. Checking into the hostel was a bit confusing after the long bus ride, but we got things sorted out then went out to dinner at a pretty terrible restaurant called Chile Rojo. Yuck. The best thing about the restaurant was the 2 for 1 cocktails.
After yuck dinner, we went to a couple of bars, the first one to collect part of our group who had gone to a different hostel, and the second one was a club that we had gotten a flier for from some random odd guy walking around handing out fliers and chatting up prospective party goers. This was seriously good times. The kids at the other hostel had met some other English-speaking kids, and we were all hanging out, dancing, drinking...you know, Friday night stuff. And I say English-speaking, because two of them were literally British, which made for even more good times, simply based on speech differences alone.
We left that bar around 230AM to walk home, and it was POURING rain. Like monsoon style. And we were walking. And we got so, so, so wet. And those clothes never really dried out.
Saturday, the entire group of us (kids from OSU, Brits, and three other Americans) rented bicycles and took a waaaaaaaay too long bike ride to a really pretty beach that I was able to enjoy for about 20 minutes because our group had gotten separated and the ones who were in the back never met up with we who were in the front. One of the Brits was with my group (the front one), and he had locked his bike to a tree, however the other Brit (who was with the other group) had the key. Yep. So, two girls and I went off to find the other group, who we eventually found after much more bike riding at a beach that had way more rough waves and loads of coral, which made for a nearly impossible swim.
We had to have the bikes back by 6PM, after which we met for dinner at another not so great restaurant. Yet again, the saving grace was 2 for 1 cocktails. After that, we headed to the other group's hostel, Rocking Jay's, where there was supposed to be a party of some sorts, but it was pretty mellow. There was a fire dancing show, and then we took off to another bar/club for some dancing. However, the rain started earlier, like around midnight, and most of the group wanted to walk back before another thorough drenching. Also, this bar was ridiculously packed with people. So. Many. People. I missed the first group walking back, but walked back with three others with the luxury of two umbrellas, one per pair. Still got wet, just not wet through to my undergarments.
Sunday, half of us boarded the bus to come back at 1PM, and after a 4.5 hour bus ride, got back to San Jose, walked to the city bus stop, then rode home. So tired. Still so tired. But it was probably the most fun weekend I've had so far. And, a couple of the kids we met in Puerto Viejo are also in San Jose, so we have the chance to visit more with them.
Anyhoo, I've put up loads of photos on my photobucket page. I'm trying to decide whether to go to sleep now and miss dinner, or wait for dinner then pass out. I've basically had about 5 hours of sleep every night since last Wednesday. The hang-out nights are understandable for no sleep, but the week nights were because of homework. :/ However, I think I'm pulling an A- so far in language class, so that's pretty OK. I just really want to sleep for a good 15 hours or so right now...
Monday, July 16, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Tortuguero
All-diddly-right-skis, it turns out I'm bad at blogging. Or lazy. Probably lazy. But in my defense, I did try to blog on Sunday night when our group got home from Tortuguero, but the interwebz was being all wonky. Anyhoo, this post is going to be about Tortuguero, the national park area our group went to this last weekend (the 30th and 1st), and the pictures of which I have already uploaded HERE.
Y'all, Tortuguero was awesome frosted with amazing with a side of kick-ass. Definitely the kind of place that, when one thinks of Costa Rica, this is what they imagine. The travel part to get there was kind of pain and included a lovely 35 km of gravel road in a huge tour bus with an hour-and-a-half boat ride to our lodge, but it was worth the leg cramps and slight seasickness.
The Tortuguero national park is a rainforest near the sea, of which I posted an info link in (one of) my previous blog(s). The sea isn't the gorgeous Caribbean that you're probably thinking of with the white sands and azul waters, though. Our guide told us that if we tried to swim here we might very well be swept away. Or eaten by sharks. Most likely both, I would guess. It looked like the Oregon coast. You know, except for the palm trees and coconuts.
Our lodgings were basically what would make people say, "This is what paradise is like." They were little hut-like buildings in the middle of the forest, so we saw large lizards in trees, heard howler monkeys (or some kind of boar, I never really got the definitive word) screaming in the morning, that kind of thing. There was a little pool, a little bar, wifi in the direct vicinity of the reception building.
The best parts really were the animal-y parts. Saturday night we went on a turtle watching tour. Apparently, turtle watching season had literally just started, like, the day before. We crossed the lagoon at about 930PM on a lancha and hung out on an airport runway while the guide explained a bit about the turtles. After about 30 minutes (40? I don't know) our other guide, who had gone off to wander about the beach in search of turtles, called to us to hurry up and get ourselves to the beach. We scampered down the beach, and I got there just in time to see an enormous green turtle scuttling into the surf. Wow. Then we got to see two more. One scootching to the sea, and one just finishing its egg-laying business then off to the sea it went. The moon was almost full, and though the sky was clear where we were, there were clouds and lightning out over the sea, and the whole evening really was amazing. I'm sure someone with better wordcrafting skills could write poems or novellas about it.
In the morning, we woke up bright and early to go on a canal tour by boat, which was basically an animal watching adventure.
It poured buckets on us just as we started the tour, but luckily, the tour included ponchos. We still got wet. Once into the canals, the rain eased up, and we saw iguanas, caimans, toucans (and loads of other birds), one sloth high up in a tree, two different species of monkeys, and one of the biggest ugliest spiders I have ever seen. Then, as we were returning to the lodge, it decided to rain like crazy again. And it's so humid here in Costa Rica, so I pretty much did not dry out all day. It was just an amazing experience all around, rain and bugs and motion sickness and all.
Someday, I might get better at conclusions, but until that day, hasta luego!
Y'all, Tortuguero was awesome frosted with amazing with a side of kick-ass. Definitely the kind of place that, when one thinks of Costa Rica, this is what they imagine. The travel part to get there was kind of pain and included a lovely 35 km of gravel road in a huge tour bus with an hour-and-a-half boat ride to our lodge, but it was worth the leg cramps and slight seasickness.
The Tortuguero national park is a rainforest near the sea, of which I posted an info link in (one of) my previous blog(s). The sea isn't the gorgeous Caribbean that you're probably thinking of with the white sands and azul waters, though. Our guide told us that if we tried to swim here we might very well be swept away. Or eaten by sharks. Most likely both, I would guess. It looked like the Oregon coast. You know, except for the palm trees and coconuts.
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| Beach at the Pueblo of Tortuguero |
Our lodgings were basically what would make people say, "This is what paradise is like." They were little hut-like buildings in the middle of the forest, so we saw large lizards in trees, heard howler monkeys (or some kind of boar, I never really got the definitive word) screaming in the morning, that kind of thing. There was a little pool, a little bar, wifi in the direct vicinity of the reception building.
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| The view from the door of my room at Pachira Lodge |
The best parts really were the animal-y parts. Saturday night we went on a turtle watching tour. Apparently, turtle watching season had literally just started, like, the day before. We crossed the lagoon at about 930PM on a lancha and hung out on an airport runway while the guide explained a bit about the turtles. After about 30 minutes (40? I don't know) our other guide, who had gone off to wander about the beach in search of turtles, called to us to hurry up and get ourselves to the beach. We scampered down the beach, and I got there just in time to see an enormous green turtle scuttling into the surf. Wow. Then we got to see two more. One scootching to the sea, and one just finishing its egg-laying business then off to the sea it went. The moon was almost full, and though the sky was clear where we were, there were clouds and lightning out over the sea, and the whole evening really was amazing. I'm sure someone with better wordcrafting skills could write poems or novellas about it.
In the morning, we woke up bright and early to go on a canal tour by boat, which was basically an animal watching adventure.
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| Our group on the way to see some wildlife |
It poured buckets on us just as we started the tour, but luckily, the tour included ponchos. We still got wet. Once into the canals, the rain eased up, and we saw iguanas, caimans, toucans (and loads of other birds), one sloth high up in a tree, two different species of monkeys, and one of the biggest ugliest spiders I have ever seen. Then, as we were returning to the lodge, it decided to rain like crazy again. And it's so humid here in Costa Rica, so I pretty much did not dry out all day. It was just an amazing experience all around, rain and bugs and motion sickness and all.
Someday, I might get better at conclusions, but until that day, hasta luego!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Hola! Two days of school down, and I'm still alive. Of course, as I write this, it's raining/lightning-ing/thundering so hard that I might just die of a fear-induced heart attack. If it was raining this hard in Albany right now, we'd definitely lose power. But here? I dunno. They must have transformers of titanium or something.
So, for my school routine. School starts at 830, so I wake up at 630 and get myself as presentable as I can with limited clothes and the limited consciousness available to me at this hour. This means I exit my cozy bedroom haven at about 7AM. Eunice (who is *awesome*) has coffee, hot milk, and breakfast ready, and we chat for a bit while we eat. I leave the house around 745 to walk the two blocks to the bus stop. I'm lucky because I only need two keys to get out of/into the house, one for each gate. One of my classmates has 7 keys!
Anyhoo, I hop on the bus which costs 225 colones. There are approximately 500 colones to 1 USD, so the bus to and from school is less than $1. Traffic is messy. Yesterday morning, I was certain that the bus driver was trying to kill us all. I don't know how to describe the way people drive here. I've never been to New York, but I imagine that drivers in San Jose make New York drivers look like Oregon drivers. It's some of the craziest stuff I've ever seen, like, maneuvers you wouldn't even imagine anyone dreaming of doing, and then you just think, "Why? Why are they doing that?"
With traffic, the bus ride takes 10-15 minutes and the stop for the university is about 6 blocks from the main university entrance. From the main entrance, oh, I don't know, it's about another 6 block equivalent to the "building" that my classes are in. I put that in quotes because it's really like a big house. The Casa de Idiomas. The Casa de Idiomas is at the NW corner of campus. And right across the super busy street from that is. . . a Hooters restaurant. How charming, yes?
I have 3 classes. A 3-hour language class daily, a 2.5-hour culture class Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a 3-hour "culture in action" class Mondays which is pretty much a guided tour of various places around San Jose. I took a few photos during that class yesterday, but my tica sister (from whom I borrow the camera cord) is on-call at the hospital, and I don't know where the cord is. I'll have to post them later.
I don't know if I mentioned that the people here call themselves "ticos". Also, did I mention that Angie is a surgery intern? A lot of people here are really educated.
Like any college campus, nearby are tons of shops: little restaurants called "sodas", and places like bookstores/school supplies stores, copy shops (no one here has a printer), internet cafes, and a few clothes shops. I haven't been into the clothes shops, but a couple of the other girls say that things are twice as expensive here as they are in the states.
On long days, school's out at 330, short days (Wed/Fri) 1130. My bus ride home is the same story: walk to the stop, catch the bus, get off, walk home. I'm just glad I get to do some walking, because 3-hour classes are literally a pain in the bum.
I haven't done much of what one would consider "fun" stuff, although I guess that's pretty objective. I've walked up and down the streets near school during breaks and after school a bit, just to see what's around. I haven't gone to any bars yet, but we have a no drinking policy Sun-Thurs, so there's not much point in that. My host family is really awesome, and I like being a homebody here as much as I like it at my own home. Besides that, I want to keep in mind why I'm here: to complete an entire 3 semesters of language classes in 6 weeks! Also, it's only my second day of school after all!
Tomorrow a group of us plan to dink around a mall, so we'll see how that goes. I told my host mom about our plans and she says, "Wear your bag in front of you, not in back. People get robbed there." Oh. Ok. I imagine she means something along the lines of pickpocketed, because I can't think that someone would actually mug someone else in the morning in a crowded mall. I had to buy a new backpack today because I only brought a messenger bag and it was killing my shoulder and knee. The new pack has some of the most complicated zippers I have ever seen. Have fun trying to get into my backpack pickpocketers. Little do you know that the important stuff is in my money belt.
This weekend we have a class excursion to Tortuguero. It looks pretty awesome on that website, but Eunice says that two days is too short of a time. Keril says that it's a 5-hour drive, so I'll be happy to get there without getting super car-sick. Also, we leave San Jose at 550AM which kind of totally blows. Ah well. It will be fun. Right?
Last night I was on my computer and I logged off at what I thought was 10PM (per my computer). I went to plug in my iPod, and my iPod said it was 11PM. I had forgotten to set the time ahead on my computer. So, I'm super tired right now. I reset the time on my computer, but for some reason it keeps switching back, and I don't know why. It's weirding me out. Also, all of this thinking/working/trying to talk in another language pretty much zombifies my brains. I'm going to bed. Yeah, it's only 830PM. What of it?
Besos de San Jose!
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UPDATE: Ok, so my photos are lagging in time a bit from the posts they go with. Meh.
So, for my school routine. School starts at 830, so I wake up at 630 and get myself as presentable as I can with limited clothes and the limited consciousness available to me at this hour. This means I exit my cozy bedroom haven at about 7AM. Eunice (who is *awesome*) has coffee, hot milk, and breakfast ready, and we chat for a bit while we eat. I leave the house around 745 to walk the two blocks to the bus stop. I'm lucky because I only need two keys to get out of/into the house, one for each gate. One of my classmates has 7 keys!
Anyhoo, I hop on the bus which costs 225 colones. There are approximately 500 colones to 1 USD, so the bus to and from school is less than $1. Traffic is messy. Yesterday morning, I was certain that the bus driver was trying to kill us all. I don't know how to describe the way people drive here. I've never been to New York, but I imagine that drivers in San Jose make New York drivers look like Oregon drivers. It's some of the craziest stuff I've ever seen, like, maneuvers you wouldn't even imagine anyone dreaming of doing, and then you just think, "Why? Why are they doing that?"
With traffic, the bus ride takes 10-15 minutes and the stop for the university is about 6 blocks from the main university entrance. From the main entrance, oh, I don't know, it's about another 6 block equivalent to the "building" that my classes are in. I put that in quotes because it's really like a big house. The Casa de Idiomas. The Casa de Idiomas is at the NW corner of campus. And right across the super busy street from that is. . . a Hooters restaurant. How charming, yes?
I have 3 classes. A 3-hour language class daily, a 2.5-hour culture class Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a 3-hour "culture in action" class Mondays which is pretty much a guided tour of various places around San Jose. I took a few photos during that class yesterday, but my tica sister (from whom I borrow the camera cord) is on-call at the hospital, and I don't know where the cord is. I'll have to post them later.
I don't know if I mentioned that the people here call themselves "ticos". Also, did I mention that Angie is a surgery intern? A lot of people here are really educated.
Like any college campus, nearby are tons of shops: little restaurants called "sodas", and places like bookstores/school supplies stores, copy shops (no one here has a printer), internet cafes, and a few clothes shops. I haven't been into the clothes shops, but a couple of the other girls say that things are twice as expensive here as they are in the states.
On long days, school's out at 330, short days (Wed/Fri) 1130. My bus ride home is the same story: walk to the stop, catch the bus, get off, walk home. I'm just glad I get to do some walking, because 3-hour classes are literally a pain in the bum.
I haven't done much of what one would consider "fun" stuff, although I guess that's pretty objective. I've walked up and down the streets near school during breaks and after school a bit, just to see what's around. I haven't gone to any bars yet, but we have a no drinking policy Sun-Thurs, so there's not much point in that. My host family is really awesome, and I like being a homebody here as much as I like it at my own home. Besides that, I want to keep in mind why I'm here: to complete an entire 3 semesters of language classes in 6 weeks! Also, it's only my second day of school after all!
Tomorrow a group of us plan to dink around a mall, so we'll see how that goes. I told my host mom about our plans and she says, "Wear your bag in front of you, not in back. People get robbed there." Oh. Ok. I imagine she means something along the lines of pickpocketed, because I can't think that someone would actually mug someone else in the morning in a crowded mall. I had to buy a new backpack today because I only brought a messenger bag and it was killing my shoulder and knee. The new pack has some of the most complicated zippers I have ever seen. Have fun trying to get into my backpack pickpocketers. Little do you know that the important stuff is in my money belt.
This weekend we have a class excursion to Tortuguero. It looks pretty awesome on that website, but Eunice says that two days is too short of a time. Keril says that it's a 5-hour drive, so I'll be happy to get there without getting super car-sick. Also, we leave San Jose at 550AM which kind of totally blows. Ah well. It will be fun. Right?
Last night I was on my computer and I logged off at what I thought was 10PM (per my computer). I went to plug in my iPod, and my iPod said it was 11PM. I had forgotten to set the time ahead on my computer. So, I'm super tired right now. I reset the time on my computer, but for some reason it keeps switching back, and I don't know why. It's weirding me out. Also, all of this thinking/working/trying to talk in another language pretty much zombifies my brains. I'm going to bed. Yeah, it's only 830PM. What of it?
Besos de San Jose!
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UPDATE: Ok, so my photos are lagging in time a bit from the posts they go with. Meh.
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| The Casa de Idiomas where I have my classes |
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| The view from my bus stop on the way to school, looking west |
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| The view from my bus stop looking east |
Sunday, June 24, 2012
There's not much new to post today, but there are always interesting observations. And now that I've got a cord to get the pictures from my camera to my laptop, there will be a run of photos every once in a while. You know, when I have the chance and the drive to actually make a post. I haven't even really started real classes yet, so I might be slammed with school-work. We'll see.
This weekend has basically been a super mellow one with my host family, which is totally all right with me after two days of crazy air travel and being in a completely new place/country. We've got on several walks, which is super rad, because when I get lost trying to get home alone on the bus, I'd really like to be able to find my way home somehow.
I went to church this morning with my host mom and brother. It was like one of those evangelical/pentacostal type places, which I have never been to. I didn't really understand what was being said, but there was a lot of great music and singing, and the people were *really* into it. It was kind of long and so, so, SO hot. If I go again, I need to take a water fo' sho'.
There are two supermarkets nearby, one pretty much around the corner, and one within a 10 minute walk. Eunice says that the one nearby (Perimercados) is good if you need sundries, but she likes the other (Mas x Menos) because their meat and produce is more fresh. Either way, she is a fantabulous cook.
Eunice is a housewife in the truly Latina tradition. She wakes up with whomever wakes up first to make their breakfast, coffee, whatever. This includes waking up at 4AM with her youngest daughter, Angie, who is currently doing her doctoral internship. I've tried to wash dishes two or three times already, and today I asked where to take out my garbage if I need to, but she says, "You are here to study, you don't need to worry about that." (in Spanish of course) Well, I sneak-cleaned the breakfast dishes this morning so HAH!
Interesting factoids:
- On the weekends the ticos eat breakfast and late lunch with no dinner and an evening snack. Well, I don't know about all ticos, but my family does.
- Tons of people speak English as a second language here. Angie and Keril speak it without an accent, and mix it in when they are talking to each other. It's surprisingly awesome. They are *HELLA* smart.
- There is no toilet paper in the bathrooms at the university. How do you like that? I don't. When I told Keril that, he said, "How ghetto." So I have to carry some kind of paper around with me.
Ok, I'm tired of thinking, but here's some photos of my house. Besos, y'all!
This weekend has basically been a super mellow one with my host family, which is totally all right with me after two days of crazy air travel and being in a completely new place/country. We've got on several walks, which is super rad, because when I get lost trying to get home alone on the bus, I'd really like to be able to find my way home somehow.
I went to church this morning with my host mom and brother. It was like one of those evangelical/pentacostal type places, which I have never been to. I didn't really understand what was being said, but there was a lot of great music and singing, and the people were *really* into it. It was kind of long and so, so, SO hot. If I go again, I need to take a water fo' sho'.
There are two supermarkets nearby, one pretty much around the corner, and one within a 10 minute walk. Eunice says that the one nearby (Perimercados) is good if you need sundries, but she likes the other (Mas x Menos) because their meat and produce is more fresh. Either way, she is a fantabulous cook.
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| My host mama, Eunice. |
Eunice is a housewife in the truly Latina tradition. She wakes up with whomever wakes up first to make their breakfast, coffee, whatever. This includes waking up at 4AM with her youngest daughter, Angie, who is currently doing her doctoral internship. I've tried to wash dishes two or three times already, and today I asked where to take out my garbage if I need to, but she says, "You are here to study, you don't need to worry about that." (in Spanish of course) Well, I sneak-cleaned the breakfast dishes this morning so HAH!
Interesting factoids:
- On the weekends the ticos eat breakfast and late lunch with no dinner and an evening snack. Well, I don't know about all ticos, but my family does.
- Tons of people speak English as a second language here. Angie and Keril speak it without an accent, and mix it in when they are talking to each other. It's surprisingly awesome. They are *HELLA* smart.
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| Me, Angie, and Keril |
- There is no toilet paper in the bathrooms at the university. How do you like that? I don't. When I told Keril that, he said, "How ghetto." So I have to carry some kind of paper around with me.
Ok, I'm tired of thinking, but here's some photos of my house. Besos, y'all!
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| My house. See the little black spot to the right at the top of the green wall, in front of the last little bit of whiteness? That's Jackie's head! |
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| My bedroom |
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| My own bathroom. Fancy, hmm? |
It's a real pain to post lots of photos to the blog, so I've got a photobucket page HERE.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
I was thinking that starting a blog while I was trying to focus on how to understand the lightning fast speech of the Costa Ricans (a.k.a. "Ticos") might just make my brainmeats explode. But, a blog will really be the easiest way to let all you family and friend types know what I'm up to, and maybe, I might write something worthy enough here to include in my actual written word journal-type thing that I have aspirations to keep up on. Not like a journal-journal, but one of those keepsake-y paste pictures and plane tickets and pictures and pamphlets things with some words for the remembering and all that. There's a word for it, but I don't remember what it is.
Anyhow, I'll start off with a note to anyone taking an American Airlines flight in the future. If you have a layover less than 12 hours, you will not see your luggage. I had a layover in Dallas (Portland, OR to Dallas, TX) of 11.5 hours, and I was thinking that I would get my luggage, so I didn't really pack a big carry-on. Lo and behold, at baggage check-in, I was told that I would not see my bag until San Jose, Costa Rica. "Take out what you might need." Well, what I might need included all sorts of fabulous liquids which I was under the impression that I couldn't take on the plane anyway.
Now, I like to pride myself on being an avid reader. I read books, signs, pamphlets, magazines. I read for fun. However, I did not read the security signs that tell you that you can't take any liquids on the plane in a container that is more than 3 oz. So when I grabbed my "essentials" for the Dallas layover, I grabbed my pajamas/clean undergarments, my deodorant, my toothpaste, and my toothbrush.
The toothpaste, brand new and still sealed, was 3.4 oz. That equaled confiscation by airline security. And let me tell you, there's nothing like waking up at 4AM and not having toothpaste. Well, maybe waking up at 5AM and having to be on breakfast duty for 40 geology undergrads and only being able to take a 3 minute shower and being freezing cold but knowing that in 3 hours you will be so scorching hot that you'd rather be in a swimsuit, but that was another adventure.
Random observations:
Passengers at the Portland Airport are straight impatient.
Passengers at the Dallas Airport are super laid-back.
A lot of people speak Spanish in Miami.
You know, just in case you wanted to know.
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So, my host family is super cool.
Mama = Eunice
Papa = Alfonso
Hermana = Angie
Hermano = Keril Alonso
Also, there is another hermana, Eunice, but she is married and lives out of the house.
Dog = Giaqui. Or Jackie. I don't know how it would be spelled in Spanish. Whatever, she's super cute and totally proof that people who say all pitbulls are vicious killers are not 100% correct. For those of you who know Dalia's dog, Sirius, Jackie is similar, but not so jump-up-on-you-eat-your-shoes crazy.
I've got my own room with my own bathroom. Yeah. We have internet at home. Around the corner is a supermarket. My host mama is a great cook. It is painfully obvious that my past tense Spanish verbs really, really suck. There is a neighborhood security guard with a pack of small security dogs that like to bark, but earplugs = best sleep ever. Constant concentration makes me super sleepy.
It rained here yesterday afternoon so hard that I thought for sure the whole house was going to wash away.
It's hot, but humid hot. Sweaty. But the weather pattern, like sky stuff, reminds me of home. Apparently, we are surrounded by mountains, but I haven't been able to see anything through the clouds.
Orientation at the university was on Friday. I thought it was at 830, however, it was really at 10. So, I was super early. Normally, classes start at 830. I guess I was just excited to start? So Eunice and I walked around campus. It's super pretty and really nice with lots of trees, grasses, and flowers. Like a park. Not as groomed as OSU, but still so nice.
Traffic here is COMPLETE MADNESS. My taxi ride from the airport was horrifying. It's kind of smog-tastic here, and I will thank the heavens if I can find my way to and from school alone on Monday. People ride motorcycles like they want to die. If you've seen motorcycle riders in California and thought they were crazy, you really don't know what crazy can be. Drivers stop on the train tracks, and the train actually has to go slow enough to wait for them. There are none of those train-track gate flashing red light things here.
Well, I'm starting to feel like I'm spending too much time on the computer, so I'm going to call it quits for this one. I was going to try and post the 2 photos that I have taken so far, but I can't get this Linux OS notebook to read my &^$%#^$ SD card, and, of course, I left the USB cord in the states. Hmph.
See you all in 6 weeks! Hasta Luego!
UPDATE
Angie has a cord that works with my camera! Yay! So, for the photo that I would have put in this blog.
Anyhow, I'll start off with a note to anyone taking an American Airlines flight in the future. If you have a layover less than 12 hours, you will not see your luggage. I had a layover in Dallas (Portland, OR to Dallas, TX) of 11.5 hours, and I was thinking that I would get my luggage, so I didn't really pack a big carry-on. Lo and behold, at baggage check-in, I was told that I would not see my bag until San Jose, Costa Rica. "Take out what you might need." Well, what I might need included all sorts of fabulous liquids which I was under the impression that I couldn't take on the plane anyway.
Now, I like to pride myself on being an avid reader. I read books, signs, pamphlets, magazines. I read for fun. However, I did not read the security signs that tell you that you can't take any liquids on the plane in a container that is more than 3 oz. So when I grabbed my "essentials" for the Dallas layover, I grabbed my pajamas/clean undergarments, my deodorant, my toothpaste, and my toothbrush.
The toothpaste, brand new and still sealed, was 3.4 oz. That equaled confiscation by airline security. And let me tell you, there's nothing like waking up at 4AM and not having toothpaste. Well, maybe waking up at 5AM and having to be on breakfast duty for 40 geology undergrads and only being able to take a 3 minute shower and being freezing cold but knowing that in 3 hours you will be so scorching hot that you'd rather be in a swimsuit, but that was another adventure.
Random observations:
Passengers at the Portland Airport are straight impatient.
Passengers at the Dallas Airport are super laid-back.
A lot of people speak Spanish in Miami.
You know, just in case you wanted to know.
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So, my host family is super cool.
Mama = Eunice
Papa = Alfonso
Hermana = Angie
Hermano = Keril Alonso
Also, there is another hermana, Eunice, but she is married and lives out of the house.
Dog = Giaqui. Or Jackie. I don't know how it would be spelled in Spanish. Whatever, she's super cute and totally proof that people who say all pitbulls are vicious killers are not 100% correct. For those of you who know Dalia's dog, Sirius, Jackie is similar, but not so jump-up-on-you-eat-your-shoes crazy.
I've got my own room with my own bathroom. Yeah. We have internet at home. Around the corner is a supermarket. My host mama is a great cook. It is painfully obvious that my past tense Spanish verbs really, really suck. There is a neighborhood security guard with a pack of small security dogs that like to bark, but earplugs = best sleep ever. Constant concentration makes me super sleepy.
It rained here yesterday afternoon so hard that I thought for sure the whole house was going to wash away.
It's hot, but humid hot. Sweaty. But the weather pattern, like sky stuff, reminds me of home. Apparently, we are surrounded by mountains, but I haven't been able to see anything through the clouds.
Orientation at the university was on Friday. I thought it was at 830, however, it was really at 10. So, I was super early. Normally, classes start at 830. I guess I was just excited to start? So Eunice and I walked around campus. It's super pretty and really nice with lots of trees, grasses, and flowers. Like a park. Not as groomed as OSU, but still so nice.
Traffic here is COMPLETE MADNESS. My taxi ride from the airport was horrifying. It's kind of smog-tastic here, and I will thank the heavens if I can find my way to and from school alone on Monday. People ride motorcycles like they want to die. If you've seen motorcycle riders in California and thought they were crazy, you really don't know what crazy can be. Drivers stop on the train tracks, and the train actually has to go slow enough to wait for them. There are none of those train-track gate flashing red light things here.
Well, I'm starting to feel like I'm spending too much time on the computer, so I'm going to call it quits for this one. I was going to try and post the 2 photos that I have taken so far, but I can't get this Linux OS notebook to read my &^$%#^$ SD card, and, of course, I left the USB cord in the states. Hmph.
See you all in 6 weeks! Hasta Luego!
UPDATE
Angie has a cord that works with my camera! Yay! So, for the photo that I would have put in this blog.
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| Hola de la Universidad! |
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