Bugs, Chickens, and Dogs oh my

   Of course because it is so tropical here, there are bound to be more bugs than I ever want to see. But they are huge. First off there are these types of mosquitos that Ticos are immune to and never get bit. But others fall victim. My first week I had bites all up and down my legs. In Wisconsin I rarely ever got bit by mosquitos, but here my luck has changed and now I know what my sisters feel like in the summer. I haven{t gotten bit since and I hope it stays that way. Also, with all the bugs, one very popular type are ants. They are itty bitty and everywhere. It{s normal for them to be climbing on the walls, on the counter, on the floor, wherever they can reach. Which is pretty much everywhere. At night, another type of ants make their way into the house. They are huge and vicious and yellow. I stepped on one because they{re so ugly and it didn{t die. The ant got up after a little squirming and walked away. One that I did squish, the other ants started eating it. They{re nasty. The windows and doors are always open so bugs are very common in all the houses. Another frequent visitor are these little beetles. They just look like cicadas. Most of the bugs are just larger sizes of the ones in Wisconsin. The moths are huge, the grasshoppers are longer than my fingers, and the spiders are the worst. The other day, I walked into my room and turned on the light to have a visitor on my wall. It was a giant spider. Not a fan. Like bigger than my fist. Ew. And it was hairy and I don{t ever wanna see one again. But thankfully my host family has this spray that poisons and kills bugs on contact. It is powerful stuff.
   Chickens are also everywhere. My host family here owns one. The rest were eaten by an animal some time ago. Almost every family has one or more. They walk around everywhere and some look like the ones in the states and others are a weird breed with spots and gray sometimes. The chickens also generally have fluffy legs like they are wearing fuzzy socks. But you always hear chickens clucking or calling in the morning.
   Dogs are mostly strays and some pets. There are even some that live at the school because they get locked in at night. Some people pick up the dogs and carry them around. That is nasty. What if they have fleas or a disease people can get. They are just really dirty too. The dogs at the school just walk around like it is no big deal. I don{t think they have anything like a Humane Society to send the strays to. In the city there are also a lot of dogs as well that just walk with the crowds of the people as well. I just do not wanna get bit by one or chased by one either.

Volcan Arenal.

The term ¨hiking¨ should be used loosely when you{re going up a volcano.
  This past weekend I went to the top of the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna, Costa Rica with the Red Cross. There was about 15 people and our leaders were 2 men who had been part of the Columbian Army and Marines. It was a 9.5 hour climb up and back down the volcano and I{m pretty sure it was the hardest thing I{ve had to do. It{s so tasking mentally and physically.
   We arrived at the farm where we would leave the cars during the night which isn{t ideal with all the big cats, wild pigs, and snakes roaming around. Luckily we were able to bring the trucks up a little farther and only have to walk about 20 mins from the hour originally planned. We took a little detour to this haunted house I guess. It{s really creepy and has legends of witches staying there. The place we really stayed at was sort of like a sancutary type place with a view of the lake below. But it was too dark to see anything but the pews lit by candles. We went fishing at 11 at night and found this little shelter along the lake to stay in while it rained but no one caught anything. I just went to watch, I am not a fan of fishing. At the religious shelter where we stayed it is all open and during the night one man snored extremely loud which a lot of people were annoyed with but I was grateful because it kept anything from coming near us.
   We were woken up at 5 AM by a trumpet call. Of course. And headed out for the trek by 7. We had to take a roll call by saying our numbers and I was number 7 which was the only way people knew who I was. No one could pronounce my name or remember it so they just called me 7. Because I was the youngest I had to be right behind one of the men from the army who moves very fast. We started off walking through the jungle and if you had to imagine what it was like with it being very moist and weird plants sticking out everywhere and having to use a machete to make the trail, that is what it was like. Once we got out of the hot and humid jungle, it was very very bare. Just rocks and a gorgeous view of La Fortuna. The rocks we had to climb were huge and slippery because they all had this spongey, hairy moss growing on them. It took a really long time getting up that part because we had to go slow in case of falling rocks. Eventually it got too dangerous and we had to go side ways along the volcano to the other side of one of the gorges. They aren{t too big at all but we had to climb a good distance horizontally through sand and cross a lot of vegetation and take breaks for people to make their way safely through.
   As we made our way up the rocks, they got more treacherous. The group began to spread out and a few of us in front ended up getting way ahead. The path we took was a really dangerous. You could not slip and fall because there was no knowing when you{d stop. What we had to do was now go straight up because we got to a ¨safer¨ part of the volcano. It was climbing on your hands and feets up the vegetation and rocks. It{s exhausting and we had gone above the cloud line so it was very wet and slippery everywhere. Costa Ricans (Ticos) have a tendency of changing the truth a little. If our group was getting tired and we took a break, the leader would say only 200 meters left and we would be there. It happened like 8 times. We were never close. They also said this hike was hard but we would be done by mid afternoon. I was not expecting climbing on my hands and feet vertically for 3 hours straight with just the 5 of us in the front group. The man leading us moves very fast and it is exhausting keeping up with his pace.
   It is hard to imagine climbing up the volcano but it is a lot of vertical climbing and trying to keep balance on wet plants, unsteady rocks, and mud. Lots of mud. We would step up to a rock and hold onto the plants growing around, which are really slimy, or rocks, or someone else{s hand to make our way. We went up the rocks and then back down the side to get to a safer place, and back up again but maybe steeper that time. We passed 2 plane accidents that held 10 Canadians touring the volcano but crashed during a cloudy day, and the rescue plan that was ruined alongside. Near the top of the volcano, you can see no more than maybe 15 feet in front of you because it was so foggy and cloudy, but when the clouds moved to look below, it was so cool. You saw all of La Fortuna (which is called that because it was the only surrounding town not to be destroyed from eruptions) and more of Costa Rica. We were exhausted and being on our hands and feet was grueling work to keep moving upward. It is very tasking moving up the volcano so steeply and for so long but 5.5 hours later, we made it to the top. The top is extremely noisy with wind whiping around. It is the wind that moves the clouds. It is also really cold. Around 40° and windy but then at times there were also drafts of hot air from the volcano itself. We stayed for lunch for about 2 hours, the group I was in, we moved so fast we were about an hour in front of everyone else. There are little craters that are extremely warm to sit in because the rocks are all warm and heat our wet clothes and the heat waves feel good on sore bodies.
   Making our way back down again was really hard as well. It was very wet in the clouds. Like yourself was wet, plants were wet, it{s muddy, rocks were wet. I ended up falling into 2 different holes and slidding down a bit on my stomach in the mud on accident. But because we were going down, there were paths of sand, and it was steep, so we skated down. It was so cool skating on our feet up to our shins in sand slidding down the volcano into the fog. Except it didn{t last too long and really cut up your ankles. But one man said he went 200 meters without stopping going down the sand which could be more or less than the truth.
   It was really scary and exhausting going down because of it being so slippery we had to go even slower but also crouching and after climbing upward for 5.5 hours and then squatting really gives your thighs a workout. But as soon as we were out of the vegetation, it got way easier. The group behind us went a lot slower because one woman rolled her ankle and the men had to take turns helping carrying her down the rocks. When we started going horizontal, I was told to go ahead to this other old man who spoke no english and to head the rest of the way down with him because everyone else went back to help the other group. It was a long, quiet journey back down. Before we reached the jungle we stopped and waited for 2 others who were close behind to finish the trek with them. It was already dusk when we reached the jungle so it meant that the group behind us was going to have to finish in the dark which is really dangerous.

   After around 10 hours everyone made it back safely with only a few minor injuries. It is so self rewarding to climb all the way up and even though we couldn{t go to the center to see the crater because it was too dangerous it still was so cool actually hiking a volcano. But lesson learned: hiking is not always what you expect. 

Second day of school

Yesterday was the first day of school but we only went to an assembly for about an hour and a half but it was really boring to me because I didn{t understand anything.. There are a ton of kids. Way more than Poynette. There is around 1000 more or less and there is not much respect to the teachers and principals. When they were talking, people would just be on their phones and everyone was talking to a group or leaving when they wanted and walking across the gym to talk with others. Since all the classes were cancelled I went with my host brother, Pablo, and his friends to another college to visit some of their friends and the other `gringo` who is going to that technical college and is from Kansas. We just walked up onto the campus and into one of the classes rooms to talk with some of the kids who didn{t have class then. But then it was a 3 mile walk back home afterwards and it was very hot and sunny. My legs burned from walking so much up and down the hills.

Today there were actual classes but it{s very disorganized. The schedule is general for everyone in that grade. I{m in 11th grade as a senior but some people in the younger grades look way older than some in the senior class. We have uniforms that are a white polo with the school logo and green stripes on the sleeves. And either green long pants or a green skirt and brown shoes. We got to school at 7 when it starts but the first morning classes were cancelled but I{m not sure why so we waited till 9:30 for the social studies class which was pretty boring because I don{t understand anything because they all talk so fast. Either I lost some of my hearing in the concussions or everyone here talks quitely with a little mumble because it is so hard to hear people. All the time. But the classes here are only 40 mins with a 5 min break every 20 mins. So in the social studies class we had the break but afterwards the teacher decided to cancel the rest of the class instead of teach for 20 more mins about tetonic plates in Central America. Then we hung around for almost 2 hours waiting on one of Pablo{s friends to get out of his class so we could go to lunch. Basically half the school does not have class when the other half does so there{s always a ton of people in the yards or hallways. Lunch maybe an hour.. I{m not sure because there are no clocks anywhere. Ever. Not in houses, not in buildings or stores, not in the school. But afterwards we had math class but we didn{t learn anything. The student teacher relationship is very close so kids would like sit ontop of the teachers desk or move their desks right next to the teacher so they could talk. And people are always on their phones in the open or talking in groups whether the teacher is talking or not. Plus the math teacher had a girl go up in front to try and make a word problem for us but no one could concentrate or agree so it never really happened. And while this went on the teacher would go on her phone as well. That was the last class of the day and we got out about 2 oclock.

Some similarities between my host family and my biological one:
    Both have being deaf running in the family. My family in Costa Rica as great uncles and aunts all born deaf as genetics and my host mom generation was the first not to be deaf. While at home, all of my mom{s side of the family is deaf besides my sisters and I generation. Also my host grandfather sells products from Amway. Same as my dad at home but Costa Rica doesn{t have the variety of products as the States.

Costa Rica

Today we finished our orientation and left to meet our host families for the first time. 

But before then, a lot more has gone on. 

  I left Thursday morning at 4 with the previous few days spent with friends before I left for a long time. It was sad saying good bye and missing everything at home but I{m giving it up for something way better. A chance to live abroad in a new culture, language, and family until July.

  We had orientation for a day in Florida where we met all the other exchange kids from the USA heading to Costa Rica, plus 2 going to Brazil. It was basic stuff about what to expect on exchange but it was so nice leaving the negative 30° with wind chill Wisconsin for the sunny 85° Florida. Friday we left for Costa Rica to stay till Sunday for more orientation with kids from all over the world headed to Costa Rica. It was so cool to meet so many people from so many different countries. There were about 60 in total from: USA, Canada, Iceland, France, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. We stayed in San Jose, Costa Rica in a religious camp place I guess. It had dorms and auditoriums and a soccer field and courtyard plus a sanctuary. It was called San Benitito which means the Saint of Happy Deaths I think. But it{s tiring doing everything that they had scheduled for us. But it was really cool getting to meet everyone from all over the place. Also, the day we arrived, it was at night but we were one of the beginning people to arrive because others had plane troubles so all night people were coming in and Friday night it didn{t seem like anyone ever went to bed because showers were always running and people always talking. 

  On Sunday was the final morning with everyone until we meet again in a few weeks for another orientation. But riding from San Jose to San Carlos (Quesada) is really close but it took almost 3 hours because we have to go up and down so many mountains. It{s beautiful here. Like I could never have imagined a place like this. We made a few stops to let others be dropped off in their host communities and cities and you get really nervous waiting for so long to meet these people you{ll be living with for the first time. I love how pretty Costa Rica is, and WARM! I heard it was negative 9°C in Wisconsin and here it was 33°C! That{s over 90°s. My host family is really cool and super nice. It is 2 parents, an older sister who is 18, a brother my age, and a younger brother who is 4. They showed me around part of the city which is way bigger than little Poynette of 2,500 to 40,000 here. We stopped at a super market which is a lot different than Wisconsin also. It was only fruits and vegetable and it was like a garage you looked around in. My host sister also walked me around to go to a store nearby. For school, I{ll be walking everyday but it{s only 1 kilometer away but very hilly! Wisconsin is so flat compared to here! Also even though I{ll be in 11th grade at school, it{s their last year of colegico (college) before they head off to a University so it{s really focused on tests and your future. Even though it{s Sunday I won{t be starting tomorrow because tomorrow is when you enroll in the morning and that{s all. The general classes that I{ll be taking are: civics, english (grammar), spanish (literature), math, science (either physics, biology or chemistry), and possibly a gym class. I{m not sure if I forgot any classes.. 

  But either way I{m really excited to start living here and meeting so many new people and becoming fluent in Spanish. But it{s been a long few days. I feel like I{ve been gone for more than 4 days because they{ve been so eventful with new things.