Mar 28, 2011

International Marketing: Panama

I promised a new friend of mine, Daniel, that I would do this post in Spanish and English, so the Spanish-language translation of this post, and selected ones after, will be available under the new page in the menu, “En Español”.

But yeah, Panama…Panama was a-ma-zing. In order to describe how I feel about this experience, and really how to describe my study abroad experience in general, I have to paraphrase what my sorority sister, Libby, said at our 2010 Fall Rush party:

"I never would have regretted not doing it, because I never would have known what I had missed.”
Nothing puts into words better how I feel about my trip to Panama than that. She said it perfectly. I went into the trip really nervous because I didn’t know anyone, I was completely out of my comfort zone and I had no choice but to just hope for the best. But, I didn’t have to hope for the best, because from the moment I arrived at the university to leave on Wednesday until the moment I got dropped back off there on Sunday, I never once felt unwelcomed, or alienated, or foreign. The other students were all extremely friendly, and helpful, and they included me in everything. I got off the bus on Sunday feeling like I had made some wonderful new friends, and now I’m just that much sadder to be leaving in 3 and a half weeks.

But yeah, the trip. So we left the U at 1 p.m. (ish) on Wednesday and didn’t arrive in Panama City until around 5 a.m. on Thursday. Yes, it is that long of a drive from Heredia to Panama City. Basically, you need to drive through two whole countries to get there because Heredia is sort of north central in Costa Rica and Panama City is south central Panama. And of course, there aren’t any real highways until you reach Panama, so the trip is that much longer. But as you know from my previous gushing, everywhere you drive in Costa Rica is gorgeous so it isn’t exactly a pain to be stuck in a bus for 6 hours of daylight. It is when it is dark out that it is awful, especially for people who can’t sleep on buses (I, however, am lucky because I CAN sleep on the bus. Point for me.)

During the drive, we of course had to stop at the border to go through customs, which was an experience within itself. We couldn’t be in the bus, while it was looked at, so we went to this market where the sales people are worse the Buckle employees when it comes to following you around trying to help you. I don’t know if they work on commission, or if they are just are told to be very helpful, or what, but it kind of creeped me out because they wouldn’t leave me alone even after I told them I didn’t need help and that I was just looking. But oh well, I guess they were just doing their job, which I can’t begrudge them.

So after we finally get over the Costa Rican/Panamanian border, we finally arrive at our hotel, El Euro, around 5 a.m. on Thursday and all of us go to our rooms and crash because we have to be back in the lobby at 9 to start our day. I got random-roommated with two girls, Jennifer and Lorley, who were very friendly in a situation where they didn’t have to be anything other than civil to me, and we were good roommates for each other. We even helped each other pick out outfits (which in girl world, takes a decent amount of trust).

That day we went out to breakfast at a café called Niko’s which was sort of buffet style. I went up to the counter to pay for my food and realized that I only had colones with me. Of course, in Panama they use the US dollar, so I just sort of stood there looking like an idiot and silently panicking until the girl behind me paid for my meal. We became fast friends after that. I ended up having to borrow USD from my professor and I have to remember to pay her back this week. Luckily, Panama is cheap so I didn’t have to borrow much (I had brought $160 in colones, so that is how much she lent me in USD) and I actually didn’t even end up spending it all (I only spent $145). We spent the rest of the day driving around Panama City and shopping. We went to two different shopping centers, one that was like an Outlet Mall called Los Pueblos (the villages), and the Albrook Mall, which is more or less the Mall of America of Central America. According to the Albrook Mall website, in order to visit each of the stores (not including the eating establishments) for 10 minutes, you need about 56 straight hours at the mall. Also, if you do one lap of the whole mall you burn over 204 calories, and you can also fit 5 of Australia’s Sydney Opera House in the mall. Those are just a few ways to describe to you just how massive this mall is. While it takes 86 hours to spend 10 minutes in every store in the Mall of America (according to the MOA website), it is still VERY impressive to see a mall that size in a Central American country, if only because Panama isn’t very big.

Here is a list of everything I bought during my trip (all for around $70)
8 souvenir shot glasses
2 shirts
1 dress
2 pairs of shoes
1 compact of eye shadow
1 bra
1 set of maracas
2 hand-fans (think frilly and colorful, not electronic)
1 bottle of LOVE PINK body spray
1 carry-on sized hair-spray
1 skirt
1 bottle of nail polish
1 post card book for my host family

Yeah. Panama is a shopper’s dream. I found a lot of great deals. Some of the stuff was normally priced, but generally things were cheap. I was very, very happy. I didn’t spend over $11 on a single item. It was awesome.

That first night, we were all pretty exhausted from the drive and from shopping all day. We went to a restaurant that was in Old Panama City and that had a view of the Panama City skyline that was beautiful with all of its lights. The easiest way to describe Panama City is by calling it a small version of Miami; in fact, it is called the Miami of Central America. There are a bunch of tall condo buildings everywhere. But, this only makes the poverty in other areas more marked. As we were driving, we could visibly see the extreme differences between the shacks and the big beautiful high rises. The levels of living seem to be more defined there than in Costa Rica. I think I prefer the more balanced and equal look of Costa Rica.

When we finally got back to the hotel, we all went down to the pool and sat around and chatted. We played the name game, which was fun, we all stood up one by one and said our names, major, where we live, which university we went to or go to (2 of the students were from the ULatina San Pedro, and some were alumni of ULatina). It was wonderful to have that opportunity, because otherwise I don’t think I would have learned so many people’s names or had as easy of a time getting to know everyone. I don’t know if they realize how big of a favor that was to me, but I think everyone enjoyed it. My roommates and I decided to go to bed fairly early, around 1 a.m. because the next morning we had to be ready to go by 8:30 a.m., with breakfast before then.

Friday was a full day; we visited the Bridge of the Americas, the Panama Canal, and stopped at a few different sites in order to take pictures. The Canal was really cool, and we got to see a really, really big boat get tugged through. We also went back to Albrook during the afternoon to kill some time before going to the Universidad Latina – Panama for a small lecture and question and answer session with one of the professors of commerce at the university. When we got there, we all were issued International Student passes on a lanyard which made me feel really official, as silly as that sounds. It made me feel important like ID cards on lanyards usually do. Anyway, the professor talked to us about why Panama is such an important center in Latin America for international commerce, mostly because of its use of the American dollar, the Canal, and its bilingual workforce, amongst other reasons. It was pretty interesting, and I understood about 90% of what was said. When he started using some technical terms, I got a bit lost, but I understood the general concept of everything, which is the goal. I can only expect to understand so much when he is talking about Maritime commerce. I wouldn’t understand most of that if he said it in English.

That night, we all decided to go out (apparently, its rude in Latin America to not take advantage of the night life if you are legally able to…a tradition that I can accept) to this street of bars called Panama Canal Village. Basically, you pay a $2 cover charge to get onto the road (it’s closed off) and then you can enter any of the bars there and you only have to pay for drinks. And of course, since I was with Ticos, we danced. All night, from 9 p.m. until 3 a.m., we danced. Some people danced until later. I just couldn’t do it because my feet were killing me. But it was so much fun. It was one of the best nights that I have had in Latin America. Ticos really know how to have a good time.

So, as you can imagine, everyone was pretty tired on Saturday, but we were all up and moving to go to the ExpoComer 2011, which is this big International Business Expo. It was interesting, a lot of countries were represented, including Taiwan, Korea, most of Latin America, the U.S., France, and many, many more. We got a lot of free goodies from all of the companies and wandered for about two hours asking questions to the people at the stands and learning about different products and services. Then, we were informed (at 2 p.m., mind you) that we weren’t leaving until 9 p.m. and that we were going to spend the next 6 hours in Albrook. Again. For the third day in a row. Yeah. We were all tired and just wanted to get on the bus and go home, but apparently the bus driver need to sleep. But I guess it’s better to have a well-rested and alert bus driver, but we were still kind of like, “what?”

So to pass the time, we ate a really slow lunch and then a group of us wen to see the movie “Hall Pass,” which was actually pretty funny. I do like Owen Wilson. I would recommend it if you enjoy Adam Sandler or Will Farrell movies. It’s sort of like that. Or the Hangover, it isn’t as good as the Hangover, but it is still pretty good. After the movie, we only had about 45 minutes until the bus got there so the movie group sat in the food court to eat. They asked me which country I preferred, Panama or Costa Rica, and I told them Costa Rica, of course. Not that Panama really had a chance, mostly because I had only really seen the Canal and Albrook Mall, but also because I love Costa Rica. It’s hard to explain why, but it’s something intangible about it. Even when I am frustrated with “Tico time” and other small things like that, I can’t help but love this small Central American country.

But yeah, then it was finally 9 and we got back on the bus and headed home. I fell asleep almost instantly, and the bus was generally quiet because everyone was so exhausted from the night before. We reached the border around 5 a.m. and had to wait around for it to open so that we could get our bags checked and cross, so we didn’t end up on the road again until around 9:30. But, while we were waiting, we stopped for breakfast and every single person (including myself, surprisingly) ordered Gallo Pinto, the Costa Rican traditional breakfast of eggs, black beans, and rice, which I am almost 100% sure I have mentioned before. Apparently, all of the Ticos were sick of the unhealthy, greasy, heavy Panamanian food, which was basically American food, so I was right at home, but even by the end of the weekend I was feeling the effects. I guess I have been eating like a healthy Costa Rican for too long to truly enjoy mall food for any extended amount of time.

We finally made it back to Heredia, and after a weekend of speaking all Spanish (with a little random English thrown in for good measure since the Ticos liked to practice every once in a while), all I wanted to do was check my email, charge my phone, and relax. But of course, when I got home the electricity was out and I couldn’t do any of those things except relax and unpack. Which was fine. But I really wanted a good shower and had to settle for a quick and cold one, but it got the job done. It’s pretty hard to feel clean after sitting in a bus for 19ish hours.
So yeah, that was my trip to Panama. It was awesome. I’m obsessed with all of the people I went with. Like I said earlier, I am incredibly sad that I have to leave in 3 weeks since I just met all of these awesome new people.

We don’t have too much going on this week because on Friday we leave for Nicaragua. I know, another big trip, which will also be fun. I’m really excited because I think I’m going to get to see my friend Brigid, who is also a Carthage student studying abroad this semester.

Read about Brigid's semester in Nicaragua.

So, next you’ll hear from me, I’ll have another nice long post about my weekend in Nicaragua!

Until then, Pura Vida.

Volunteering while abroad - Lending a hand to the country that hosts you

This week there will be two posts (more like two and a half). This one is dedicated to volunteering while abroad and the other will be about my trip to Panama. The photos below are from our time with Children without Borders and a few are also from our sixth=grade English classes.

I have been fortunate enough to have volunteer opportunities presented to me while I have been abroad through Janiva and the Sol Abroad program. I think that volunteering while abroad is a unique opportunity, because volunteering can show a new side to the country where you are staying. Not to mention, it is a good way to give back to your adopted home while you are gone.
Before arriving, we were informed that Sol extends the chance to teach public school students English. Now, every week we teach Kindergarteners during their school day and we also teach fifth- and sixth-graders as an after school program. This volunteering is through the Sol program, and we are in charge of everything. Every week we have to make a lesson plan and design activities that include vocab, grammar, and sentence structure. So far, we have covered topics like occupations, music, ordering pizzas on the phone, and clothes, along with other miscellaneous concepts. It is a lot of fun to get to know the kids and to know that we help them in an area that will be essential for their future.

Although Costa Rica has a pretty decent education system, the area that is lacking is the English department. English has become crucial in order to get a job in Costa Rica; however, public school students do not have teachers who are necessarily qualified to teach it. A lot of the time, public school teachers do not know English and therefore, cannot teach it properly to their students. If a teacher can speak English, he or she will be working in a private school.

We were lucky enough to have this chance brought to us by Janiva, but some study abroad programs do not come with a volunteer program built in. If it is something that interests you (whether it be because it looks amazing on a resume, because you need volunteer hours to graduate, or because you just want to help people), you should ask your program director about possibilities of getting involved in something while you are abroad.

Children without Borders



What I really wanted to cover in this post was the time I spent last week with Niños Sin Fronteras (Children without Borders). Children without Borders is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering free health care to underserved youth in Costa Rica based out of Bajo los Anonos, San Jose. Their mission is to achieve a healthier and safer future for the children living in high risk and low income areas by giving health care and education to the children and their families. Currently, there are 2 offices open in Costa Rica, one located in San Jose and the other in the province of Guanacaste.

Last week Monday and Tuesday I had the opportunity to work with Children without Borders and AMIGOS Eye Care, a group of optometry students from Pacific University College of Optometry, during their free eye clinic. The clinic lasted for four days, Monday through Thursday, and donated 800 pairs of eye glasses to children in need. The medical students and accompanying doctors saw on average 200 patients a day; they performed basic, but desperately needed, eye exams and had the chance to examine some patients with more advanced eye problems. Clinics took place in Bajo los Anonos at the Children without Borders headquarters, Leon Trece, and in two sites near central San Jose.

Catie and I were lucky enough to get connected to the program through Janiva, who knows Christina Marin, the Executive Director of Central American Operations for Children without Borders. They were in need of translators, and Catie and I filled two of the spots. We got to work with the doctors and translate directions for the patients in order for them to successfully give the eye exams. Catie also helped register patients and fill out “comprobantes” which are proof of visits so that people can be excused from work and school in order to be at the clinic. My second day there, I also was able to give eye exams on my own because the doctors were all needed for more advanced things. I had given the directions for them the entire day before, so after a little bit of explaining, I felt like I was basically qualified to help out with it.

I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students, and they were all very thankful for the chance to come down to Costa Rica and get some hands-on experience that they wouldn’t get in the U.S. They also loved the feeling of being able to help kids who really need it.

If you are interested in learning more about Children without Borders and how you can help, even from the United States, or how to get your school involved in Children without Borders, you can visit the Niños Sin Fronteras website. They are also on Facebook.


Mar 16, 2011

Dancing, El Castillo and Montezuma

I'm sorry that this video blog is so quiet. My host family goes to bed pretty early so I didn't want to talk to loudly. Also, it is a bit...sporadic...because I was tired and my brain didn't want to work. But I covered everything I wanted to. Also, I am aware that at one point in my post I say that I am not going to use the word "cool" again...and then I do. Multiple times. It happens. I don't think you realize how tired my brain is. I'm also sorry it is a bit late. Blogger refused to upload the video (well it didn't refuse...it just failed...more than once) so I had to find a different way to host it. Hopefully it works.

post3-22 from Elizabeth Reinhardt on Vimeo.

Mar 7, 2011

Advice on traveling with a chronic illness and the Festival de Boyeros

Since we don't have much going on this week, my post is going to focus more on advice than happenings, but I am also going to touch on a cultural event that we went to. Because I only have pictures from the parade this week, I will put up my Festival de Boyeros pictures next week with my Montezuma and dancing pictures.

As some of you may or may not know, I have a chronic illness, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, which became a large deciding factor in my study abroad process. This week, I want to talk to you all about what I’ve found to be the biggest challenges in studying abroad with an illness, discuss the things that you need to prepare for the most, and give some overall advice on how to deal with your illness while abroad (because yes, as I am proving, it is completely 100% possible to study abroad even if you have a complex medical condition or disability).

No matter where you go in the world, it is going to be possible for you to find medical care, so don’t worry that you are going to get there and not have what you need. You’ll be able to get whatever treatment necessary. The important thing comes down to setting up as much of a basis as you can before you leave. Make sure to speak with your doctors and your study abroad program about your medical needs, because your in-country director is going to be your best asset in finding a suitable doctor if you end up needing one while abroad. I need to be checked out about once a month while here, so I started the conversation with Janiva directly after acceptance into Sol because I knew we were going to need someone on duty when I got here.

It also helps to start discussing with your doctors ahead of time what your plans are, because you may need to compile your medical history. Things like latest lab results, doctors notes, vaccination and immunization records, along with a medication and recent procedures lists. All of these things are available through your doctors’ databases and if they are given enough heads-up, they can help you get all the information you might need. If nothing else, it is important to have a list of your current medications and their dosages so that the doctors that you see abroad know your current treatment regimen.

Dealing with your insurance really becomes the hardest part. Make sure to talk to your caseworker before you leave so that you can find out if you can be covered internationally. Also, you need to know what to get from the doctors that you see abroad to make sure that your international costs are covered. I think that everyone know how much of a pain insurance companies can be about specifics, and it can be difficult to get exactly what they want, but you have to do what you can. My insurance company needs a detailed doctor’s note and receipt, both in English and broken down into US dollars. I haven’t had any issues yet getting a doctor’s note in English, but the receipt can be difficult because usually it is just a printer that is pre-programmed in colones and Spanish. I haven’t been able to get one printed in English yet, but I’m hoping that I can just write in the translation and that that will be good enough.

In general terms, communication is the key. You have to take responsibility for yourself and your health. If you are old enough to be studying abroad for a semester, then you should have a pretty good handle on your healthcare. Make sure to keep your doctors informed of what is going on with you as much as possible, along with your program director. Most importantly, remember to not let your health problems keep you from doing what you want to do. I’ve had a lot of health issues in the few years and a lot of people didn’t understand why I would choose to go away now. But the answer is simple: “why not.” If there is one thing that being Sick teaches you, it is that there is never going to be a convenient or easy time to do anything remotely worth doing. So just do it. But of course, be smart. Know your limits. But never limit yourself.

Festival de Boyeros

Ok, so the big interesting thing that we did this weekend was go to Escazu on Sunday for the Festival de Boyeros, which is a parade of oxcarts that starts in Escazu Centro and goes up the mountain side to a little village where there is a party with food and dancing. We didn’t go to the party, because we didn’t want to walk alongside the carts, but the actual parade was a lot of fun. We got there early to try to get a good viewing point and go to watch all of the carts go by.

The Festival de Boyeros is a tradition all throughout Costa Rica. There are various parades throughout the year; however, they only happen once a year in each city. I know that I have talked about the oxcarts before, mostly in relation to Sarchi, and I still find them remarkably beautiful and intricate. They are more or less a coat of arms for the families of Costa Rica. Each oxcart has its own design (although to the untrained eye, they can all seem very similar) that is specific to a family.

So, the Festival is very colorful and is a lot of fun because you get to see all the different carts. There is also music and people dress up in costumes. And all of the men are dressed in their western best, with big belt buckles and fancy boots and machetes. Some of the women were even in traditional campesino clothing, which in Costa Rica is a white dress with multicolored stitching.

Also on Sunday, one of my host family’s prior students came. She is in Costa Rica until March 23 and is staying here for part of her trip. It is really interesting to see how they interact, because it kind of gives me an idea. We sat and talked and she made me feel less guilty about the fact that I like to sit on my computer and have “me time” during the day. Apparently, she was similar and she has a wonderful relationship with my host family, so that makes me feel good because I want to have a relationship with them after I leave, too.

So yeah, that is all of the excitement for this week. This week should be more interesting. We have a dance class on Monday, are going to a country club for a picnic on Wednesday, and the Friday through Sunday we are going to Montezuma, which is in Guanacaste.

Hope everyone who is on spring break is having a wonderful time!

Pura Vida.

Mar 6, 2011

Good impressions and the week that never seemed to end...

So I know that I have been one of those really annoying bloggers the last few weeks who doesn’t post anything, but I have good reasons. My parents were here for about 11 days, which is mainly why I haven’t written anything in a while. In general, I’ve just been busy. But, all of that busyness means that I have a lot to write to you about! And that I have a lot of pictures.

Good Impressions
It was really great having my parents here. We did a lot of fun things and I think that they are a lot more comfortable now with me being here after meeting Janiva and my host family. Also, I'm pretty sure that Costa Rica left a generally good impression on them, which always helps. I think at first they were a little nervous meeting my host family because only Johan can speak English, and he wasn't around but they were surprised at how well I could keep up with what my family was saying and at my ability to translate it for them. They got here on a Thursday and we all basically just relaxed. I stayed at the villa (Rancho Pura Vida) they were staying in that night because on Friday we had to get up really early to go white-water rafting. We went on a different river than the one that I went on my first weekend here. It is called the Pacuare, and it is one of the best rafting rivers in the world. It didn't take long to learn why. The rapids were big, and exciting, and the views were amazing. You started on the Caribbean slope of the Central Valley Mountains and ended in the province of Limon; I think our guide said that it was about 28 miles or something like that. It took about 3 hours, and although we didn't see much wildlife other than birds, the views alone were enough to make it worth-while. There were an incredible amount of waterfalls and gorgeous trees and river mouths. It was a very fun, but very long, day. We started out at about 5 a.m. and didn't get home until about 8 p.m. due to San Jose's traffic.

Saturday and Sunday we were in Arenal. We stayed at the Montana de Fuego hotel, which I think is sort of new. It was really nice and made up of cabins instead of hotel rooms. They were also located right across the street from the volcano, so you had a perfect view of it (when it wasn't too cloudy to see it). It took a while to get up there, about three hours, but once we were there we were pretty lucky to see everything of the volcano except for the very, very top, which is rare. My dad went zip-lining after something of a struggle. He was originally supposed to go through Eco-Glide, but they lost his reservation. We had the confirmation papers, but they said that they didn't have it, so the hotel ended up having to find him a new place to go through. It ended out well, but case in point, always double- and triple-confirm down here. At least we hadn't already paid for it. While my dad was zip-lining, I went to the hotel spa for a pedicure and my mom wandered the hotel and relaxed. That night we went back to Baldi Hot Springs, but only for an hour or so because we had dinner reservations. Baldi is always a nice way to end your night. Dinner was fabulous, and we could tell that our waiter appreciated the fact that I could speak enough Spanish to get us through the meal. That is something that we came across a lot, and my parents really realized what it is like to be the minority. Sunday we took a horseback tour of the Arenal River Canyon. It was a lot of fun and the horses were fantastic, and so was our guide. We saw a sloth and some very rare wild pigs and got to even ride our horses in the river a little bit. It was something a little different, and that made it interesting and fun.

Side note: There are some birds outside my bedroom window right now that are SO loud. I think they are fighting over something, but I have no idea. It’s sort of annoying because it is 8:30 in the morning.

Monday my parents came to the University after my Public Relations class got out and I gave them a small tour so that they could see where I go to school. We also went out to dinner with Janiva, her husband, Richie, and all of the girls. The restaurant we went to is called L'Antica Roma and is this little Italian pizza place that Janiva loves. I have to say, I can totally understand why because the pizza was amazing, some of the best that I have had since coming down here. It was a really great meal in general because my parents got to know Janiva and the girls a bit more, and we all finally got to meet Richie, which is something that we have wanted for a while! On Tuesday my parents and I did the Café Britt coffee tour, which, although cheesy, was fun. It gives you a lot of great information on the history of coffee in Costa Rica and the process of making coffee in general. My dad and I both won hats for participating in the presentation. That night was their anniversary, so we went to this really nice restaurant in the mountains called Baalbek, which had one of the most amazing views of the Central Valley that I have seen yet; you could see all of the lights when you sat out on the open deck.

We were supposed to go into San Jose on Wednesday, but we ended up not being able to because there was a strike going on in the city by the unofficial taxi drivers because of a new law that is being written up that will make it even harder for a taxi driver who doesn't drive a red and yellow taxi to function legally. I think that for the most part, they just don't want the government to monopolize the taxi system. I don't know how many people really use pirate taxis, but apparently there are enough of them to make a decent strike. So, instead of going to San Jose, my parents and I wandered around downtown Heredia for a bit and then hung out at their place before going to my host family's house for dinner. My host mom made arroz con pollo, which is sort of like Chinese chicken fried rice, but different. I think it is a bit healthier for you, but I'm not sure. The biggest differences are the vegetables used and the preparation. On Thursday, I was pretty busy with volunteering and classes, so I didn't see my parents until that night.

By the way, my yoga professor never showed up for class that night. We waited for like an hour and she never came, so then we just left. It was a bit ridiculous. Also, as I mentioned above, we started volunteering that week on Thursday. We are teaching Costa Rican students in grades 5 and 6 English.

Friday was a lot of traveling, but a lot of fun. We got started pretty early and just went to interesting things more in the area because we were leaving really early on Saturday for Tortuguero. But yeah, so we left Rancho Pura Vida at around 8 a.m. on Friday and went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. It was only about an hour and a half drive, which isn't bad for here, but a lot of the road closer to La Paz was in really rough condition because of a big earthquake that happened about two years ago. La Paz was really interesting though, because you start the walk to the waterfalls by wandering through a zoo-type area that only has native Costa Rican animals. So we walked through an aviary, snake house, butterfly garden, hummingbird garden, saw some monkeys, and ended the tour with the jungle cats. Then, the last stop before walking to the fall is a little traditional campesino house where they had traditional agua dulce (warm water and sugarcane juice) and a type of bread pudding for you to try. Then, you finally got to the waterfalls, which were picturesque and perfect. There were four big ones, and they all fed into each other, so it was sort of like a waterfall staircase. It was really incredible.

After La Paz, we wandered over to Poas Volcano. We realized when we got there that we should have taken everyone's advice and went there first because the clouds had completely descended over the volcano and you couldn't see anything, except for when the wind would push the clouds away for a bit. Because it was so cloudy, we didn't stay long. Also, we were hungry, and in general that ends up taking precedent over waiting for clouds to clear. So we got lunch at this cute little mirador (lookout) restaurant and just sort of enjoyed watching the mist roll by before we headed to Sarchi. I really wanted my parents to be able to go there to see the oxcart painting. I know it's nothing super special, but I just really admire how intricate the work is, especially since it is all done by hand. So, even though we were only there for about an hour, I think that the little extra time was worth it because the oxcarts are Costa Rica's traditional art form, and that is a very important part of a culture.

Saturday we had to leave incredibly early (6 a.m.) for Tortuguero, but we went by hopper-plane instead of by bus, which made it a lot better. By land, you have to take a bus for four hours, and then you get on a boat for two. There aren't any real roads in Tortuguero, so you have to get there by plane or boat, basically. When we landed, it was raining, but we just sat and had a wonderful breakfast until about 8 (yes, by 8 a.m. we had arrived and eaten breakfast instead of sitting on a bus and then a boat for 6 hours) and then went on our first canal tour. The big draw for Tortuguero is its wildlife and boat canal trips. We were lucky because the rain cleared about ten minutes into our trip, and because of that we ended up seeing a lot of animals who were coming out of hiding after the storm. We saw a little bit of everything, a few sloths, some monkeys and iguanas, lots of birds. Oh, and at our hotel we saw a big, blue land-crab and a vine snake! And we had a GIANT spider living outside our room. But that's all part of it...you're really in the jungle there. After our morning tour, we had another lovely meal and then went on a second boat tour, where we saw some of the same, but for the most part different, types of animals. More monkeys and birds, of course, but we also saw a mother Cayman with her babies and a very rare animal called a Paca, which is a really cute rainforest rodent. It was incredible that we saw one during the afternoon because they are nocturnal. Our guide thought that it was out and about because it was running away from being hunted by a bigger creature, so it makes me happy that it seemed to get to safety. I wouldn't have wanted to watch it get hunted...even if it is the “circle of life” and all. We aren't in the Lion King here. But yeah, that night, the maids left us drinks in our room, two glasses of wine...and a juice box. Apparently, I don't look like I'm at least 18. I'm 21, for those of you who don't know. So, although I had the best mixed drink ever with dinner (green mango smoothie with rum) and didn't want anything else, I still was a bit affronted. I mean, I've only been 21 for about a month and a half, but still. I've been over 18 for a good long time. But it was funny, my parents and I had a good laugh about it, because I know that I look young...but I mean I hope that I don't look 17! Anyway, on Sunday our flight out was delayed by almost 3 hours because of rain so we ended up not getting back until 1 p.m. when we thought we would be back around 10 a.m. We just sat around and enjoyed each other's company for a little longer before my parents left. It was also my mom's birthday that day. We were all just completely exhausted, so I ended up going to bed at around 7 on Sunday night. That's just how cool I am.

The week that just never seemed to end.
So the Monday after my parents left was my last day of Spanish language classes during my semester here. I'm sad about it because I want to keep having that time to learn, but I'm still in my classes with locals and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to sleep in a bit. However, my first week without Spanish was ANYTHING but relaxing and boring. I'm sure you'd all like to hear all about it, and you will whether you want to or not.

So yeah, in my public relations class we have project groups, which I know I have talked about in the past. My group is full of really sweet girls; there are five of us. For our midterm project, we had to do an analysis of a local company's internal and external communications. One of the girls in my group (Kennya) has some connections in a company sort of like Time Warner Cable so we chose to do our project on them. So, like usual, my story begins on Monday. Ana drove Sharon and I up to Kennya's house (she lives in the Arenal area) because our meeting was at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and we had no chance of getting up there by 7 a.m. (it’s about three hours, which I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before). We got to Kennya's without many problems (we only got sort of lost, like, two times) and spent most of the night preparing for the next day and getting to know Kennya's family. The next morning, we left on time, which is a miracle in every country, and were on our way. The company is located in a city about an hour from Kennya's house, so we left around 6 a.m. At about 6:30 a.m., the clutch on Ana's car broke. In the middle of nowhere. In Costa Rica. So we called Kennya's dad to come with a mechanic and we all piled out of the car. Of course, right after the car broke down, it started to rain. So we are on the side of the road, in the rain, and I was in high heels and a dress. We wandered down the road a little way looking for a bus stop and finally found one where we could get a bus to the city we needed to be in. It ended up taking us two buses to get to Ciudad Quesada, but we arrived, and got our interviews and employee surveys done. Then, we took a cab to a bus and then the bus dropped us off about 40 minutes away from Kennya's house. Luckily, Kennya's boyfriend picked us up at the bus stop.

This is the point where I was under the false impression that the rest of the day was going to go normally.

So Kennya's boyfriend drove us, and when we were about 25 minutes away from Kennya's house, he pulled over to the side of the road and they all got out of the car and stood on the side of the road talking and laughing. I stayed in the car because quite frankly my feet hurt and I had no idea what was going on and I wasn't going to get out of the car until someone explained it to me. After a little while, a car drove past and Kennya's boyfriend flagged him down and they chat. Ana walked over to the car and asked me to hand her her bags, so I did. Then she gave me this look and a motion like “well come on, it's time to go,” and I looked at her like “what?” as I got out of the car. Then we all got into the other guy's car and he drove us to Kennya's.

That's right, I, unbeknownst to me, HITCH-HIKED through the countryside of Costa Rica. And all the other girls were acting like it was completely normal to ask a complete stranger to drive you home. Three things instantly came to mind:

1. I'm probably going to die today.
2. At least I'm with Ticas.
3. This is really, REALLY illegal in the U.S.

Then, when we got back to Kennya's all that they wanted to do was go to Baldi Hot Springs, which I was fine with, even though all I really wanted was to absorb what had happened that day. We had a lot of fun though, and it was a nice opportunity to get to know them all a bit better.

Finally it was Wednesday, and after 3 buses and 5 hours, I was back in San Jose just in time to go to El Arca Medicinal and Organic Plant Farm at 2 p.m. with the Sol Abroad girls. It was really interesting, actually, we learned about a lot of really cool plants (one that has 1000 calories in one leaf) and the farm itself was gorgeous. There was one point that during a specific part of the day, you could see the Pacific Ocean, and they had a tree house that was solar-powered. And the owner's house was kind of like something out of Robinson Crusoe. It was, in general, just really cool. We got to try a bunch of the plants out, like one that kills all of the bad bacteria in your intestines, and saw a few that were prehistoric. And an awesome multi-colored tree that was naturally about 10 different colors. Then there was also a few that help with menopause, and one that causes abortions, and a plant that can cure an urinary tract infection with just one cup of tea made from its leaves.

I feel like before coming here, I had forgotten how utterly amazing nature is on its own, but this country really throws it back into perspective for you. The people at this farm never use store-bought, chemical-laden medications. Everything that they use is organic and rich and straight from the Earth, and legal. At least in Costa Rica.

Weekends are supposed to be relaxing...

But, instead of relaxation, on Friday I worked on excel worksheets for that Public Relations project for 7 hours. It was atrocious. So all I did Friday night was sleep. Because at that point, all I wanted with my life was to not think.

Saturday was spent at the beach with Jose, Anna, Fofo, and Lacy. It was amazing. We went to Playa Hermosa (which is on the Pacific side near Jaco), and it was exactly what I needed. Even though the sand was impossible to get off, a day of laughter and fun does wonders for stress.

Then today, Sunday, we started pretty early once again (8 a.m.) to go to Volcan Barva. It was a real hike. Seriously. The road isn't a real road, so cars can't really get up to the entrance to the national park. So we got dropped off at a small restaurant/soda, and had to walk for 2 hours up the mountain in order to get to the park. So we hiked...to the hike. Once we were in the park, it was only about another hour and a half to the volcano crater, and it was beautiful hiking weather, sunny but brisk, fresh mountain air. Some of the purest air in the world.

Volcan Barva is a completely inactive volcano, so its crater is now a lagoon. It was incredibly beautiful, very peaceful in the sunshine. So we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch overlooking the lagoon and then hiked back down. The way down only took two hours because it was downhill instead of up. It's amazing how much a little momentum will do for you.

We were all exhausted by the end of the hike, and it was only 2 p.m. So when I got home, I relaxed. And wrote this blog. So I hope that you now realize why I haven't exactly had time to update in a while. I think that it is apparent that I have been busy.

I promise, it will never take me this long to post again.

And there are lots of pictures, so take a look! They will be up by the end of the day Monday.

Pura Vida! I hope the weather is getting better over there in the States!