Tests on tests on tests

 So all last week and the week before was mainly tests. And it is so hard to have motivation to study for tests. Like kids here start studying 2 weeks or so before and study all the time. The value of the grade on the test isn´t even very much value to the total grade in the class. And it is also hard doing the material in spanish. I know most of the material from classes a few years ago so most of the material in the classes are review but in spanish. So because I am still working on getting the language down and I need to study, I translate the notes into English so I can understand and remember better. But when I have to understand the test and I don´t remember the material in English or Spanish my grades on the tests barely reach 50%.. But eventually it will get better.
Ciencias Sociales: 43%
Biologia: 51%
Quimica: 43.5%
Filosofia: 56%
Physics: 55%
Math: 86%
Spanish: I did so poorly I didn´t get a grade..
Other classes I have but didn´t have exams are: gym, art, music, civics, english, and religion.
So safe to say I depend on my classwork and participation to get me a passing grade. Also on the brightside, some of the grades I got are better than other students in my class!

Besides the poor grades, this week was my younger brother (David´s) birthday! And he got the best present a little boy could get, a puppy! He is so cute and follows everyone everywhere, but he isn´t house trained yet. And there are little surprises every so often when he is inside the house.

On Friday, I had to go to the Central park to meet up with my contact person with AFS so it meant taking the bus for the first time solo. And I missed it. I didn´t know when the next one came so I ended up waiting half an hour for the next bus. Plus I got to walk around Central to see what it is like because I haven´t really seen it much before. Saturday we went to a 50th birthday party for Cesar´s sister. I was so embarrassed majority of the time because I had to sing in front of everyone and it isn´t like I´m someone who says they can´t sing but really can, it´s like I really can´t. And I learned a little how to merengue and it was so awkward because turns out I really can´t dance either. Sunday I went to a concert with some other AFS students in Quesada but we never saw the band. We waited 3 hours and it was so boring so we just went home.

Now I just cannot wait for Semana Santa because another friend from AFS and I are going on a roadtrip to visit other students in Costa Rica and see the country!

Welcome to the family Coco. 

David with his new puppy

Campamento

 Okay so I know it{s been awhile because I didn{t post last week. My excuse is that nothing really happened last week. I mean I went to Marcias{s school where she teaches to see what it was like because I got done with classes early. The kids are only 9 and have smartphones. I{m 17 and don{t. But I also went to an English class for 5th graders and the teacher is super nice except she kept on repeating everything. And she has a really strong accent that has rubbed off on the kids as well. If I was talking with a kid, she would come over and repeat to me what they said when they spoke in English and when I would respond in English, she would repeat me back to them as if we couldn{t communicate when we all spoke the same language. Also I haven{t posted because I have been busy studying for tests. They started 2 weeks ago Wednesday and I{ve had them all last week and this week still as well. I don{t think I{ve done so well. Like I study but then the material I study and know isn{t on the test because I don{t know what to expect.
   I have been able to run more because finally my ankles are healing and my biggest motivation right now to run is because the showers are always cold and I don{t want to be cold in a cold shower. Another reason is the views are incredible. I can see an overview of the city lights, macaws, nature, and see the area and get to know it. Also we eat a lot of bread here. A lot. And I am not used to it. The last reason because I am addicted to running.
   And this weekend was such a great weekend. It was so fun. We had an AFS camp in San Jose from bright and early Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. The main reason for the camp was to get our VISAs and to talk about what the first month was like and what the rest of the stay will be like. It started off with filling out paperwork and going to the station to get our fingerprints taken. For the process we were split into 2 groups, one which arrived the night before and my group that arrived early Friday morning so it was quicker. But it was so nice to see everyone again. I love having friends all over the world. And we met in Costa Rica. On Friday night, it was like a giant sleepover. After dinner, we went to the Super to buy junk food and we really went all out. Like a tub of ice cream, candy, chocolate, mangos, half a watermelon, and soda. And we pigged out. I loved talking with everyone so much and sharing our experiences. But on Saturday was another story. We got zero sleep and had another early morning of orientation. Except we got to go to a national park! It is called IBioParque and is like an environmental center to teach about biodiversity in Costa Rica. The AFS people were very clever. They used the park to show the biodiversity in our lives here in Costa Rica and the culture of how it is different to our lives back home. At the park we did a scavenger hunt which was tons of fun too. Some people got to see sloths! My group didn{t. I really wanted to. We saw a squirrel when we thought it was a sloth. There are HUGE iguanas in the park as well. Like the size of mid sized dogs with an even longer tail. Ew. When we FINALLY got back to the hostel, it was like another slumber party. Everyone hung out with everyone just because we were all friends and we ate a ton of food again. I{m going to miss everyone I{ve met so much. Some of these people I will never see again, but some I{ll for sure visit sometime in the future. It was so nice talking in English and understanding everyone and having fun and joking aroun and hearing stories. Plus I am pretty sure the cleaning ladies think our room is filled with pigs. We had so much stuff in the garbage. Watermelon, tub of icecream, mango, candy wrappers like we just went crazy at the Super.
    Another thing is that I realized we all live in such constricted bubbles. At my school, this weekend was prom and it was weird being on the outside I guess and seeing like that is what I would be doing right now if I never came here. In my bubble here, I have a new family and friends, and I am doing things that wouldn{t be possible in Wisconsin and others look in on my bubble. But when my friends at home in Wisconsin are all talking about prom and spring break coming up, it{s me looking into a bubble I used to be in and seeing how much things have changed. But either way I am absolutley loving it here. It is such an amazing experience and I am so happy about all the people I have met and things I{ve been able to do and learning Spanish so well.

My new school uniform. 

I honestly LOVE bunnies and they had a petting zoo there where you could hold the bunnies.

This iguana is a monster. It is like 5+ feet long. 

Emma, me, and Madi. From Arizona, Wisconsin, and California. 

There was also a butterfly sanctuary in the national park. 

One Month Anniversary

   Well folks, I{ve made it through the hardest month ever. It was physically, mentally, and above all emotionally tasking. From leaving all my friends and family to start a new life in Costa Rica for these 5 months was more than I ever expected. It started with excitement because it was starting to become real that I am here in beautiful Costa Rica until July, and then it faded into homesickness. I don{t think people realize what they are in for when culture shock comes into play. Suddenly it just rolls over like a wave and you feel so lonely and tired and that maybe this whole idea was a mistake. It was hard, anytime someone brought up if I missed my family, I thought I was going to cry in front of them no matter where I was, all I could think about was what everyone at home was doing and what I{d be doing if I was home and how much I missed  everything. It has definitely made me appreciate everything more. And then one day, I woke up and decided I was going to enjoy everything and stop focusing on everything in Wisconsin and everything changed. Plus, everyone leaves home eventually so it was only a matter of time.
   On the otherhand, I have become a lot better at my Spanish. A lot. I understand everyone a lot faster and I understand more. But school is still had trying to understand what the teachers say. But my friends help me a lot. The material isn{t hard at all because I have had most of the classes I am in now before, which helps greatly.
   As for physically I am always exhausted all the time. Every weekend is something new, which I love. It is all so new and exciting which leads to the next day sleeping for 12 hours.. And out of it all I haven{t seriously injured myself. Only bug bites, bruises, cuts, and a slighty sprained ankle. Which occured this weekend hiking Rio Celeste!

   Now for Rio Celeste. It is a big tourist spot and for good reason. It is gorgeous. The photos on Google about it are 100% true. I{ve never seen such blue water and been so close to an actual cascading waterfall. The hike to get to the infamous waterfall took like 3.5 hours because we stopped and took a lot of photos, and then the hike back was only an hour because we ran some. It was a lot of work hiking it because most of it was uphill and really rocky and jumping up and down through the trail. But it was so beautiful there. Even though it smelt at times from the minerals in the water. Plus all the water is naturally blue, there are zero chemicals in there. It was such a cool hike and such an incredible place.
    After Rio Celeste was a quinceñera for one of the cousins turning 15 this weekend. And they go all out. It was honestly like a wedding. The girl wore a huge fancy, custom dress and had boy and girl cousins around her all fancy as well as they marched down an aisle in the gym. There was all of the family and then the girls friends from school sitting at little tables while the girl and her party danced the first dance with her dad. Then there were photos taken, which was really boring because there was nothing to do, and then finally food. Afterwards it was the girl talking with her guests and friends and some more photos but soon was dancing which was more of all the kids under 10 going crazy on sugar. The girl had people who she was close with light these candles in honor of them for supporting her into becoming a woman, she was very emotional about that. Some more dancing followed which included everybody then because alcohol had been served and soon after was the coolest thing ever. It is called the Music Carnaval because these people in costumes with feathers and beads came and played drums that made your lungs tremble. It was crazy and such a good time.

The beautiful Rio Celeste.

Where the water of Rio Celeste meets another river.

At the quinceñera with some cousins.

Posas

    This past school week was really short. Monday, school was out at 4 because I had a 4 hour long tech class which is on the computer and like all the other ones I have taken before in Wisconsin, except this one is in Spanish. Tuesday there was no school because the teachers in Costa Rica went to San Jose to strike or protest the schooling system. I took a nap thinking I{d only sleep for like an hour, it ended up being 4 hours. I am so tired all the time here. Wednesday, was like the most organized day because we got out at 2 and had all our classes. Thursday was a mess because there are groups of every grade that moves to each class together and they are too big so the office is reorganizing them a bit but no one has a schedule with that so some people skipped, hung out with their friends in other classes, or actually went to classes. I went to classes with a small group of people but we attached our group with another actual group in our grade and went to classes with them. It was so confusing. We were out by 11 in the morning and started at 8. Friday was the same except we had a presentation from this lady who talked about Universities in Costa Rica. That was very boring because I didnt understand a thing. But afterwards, all the sports teams in the San Carlos region got together for a cermony type thing because next weekend, they will be going to Nationals for their sports.
     And I have been running a lot lately. At night it is really refreshing but still hot and in the morning by 9 am it is as hot as it would be in mid afternoon in the summer in Wisconsin. It is so hot. Plus I{m planning on joining the running team here as well.
    But on Saturday was so cool. In the afternoon, my host family and I went to a Posa which is like a little pool in the river, and it was so hot. It was heated from springs from the volcanoes nearby and so nice. I have not been in hot water since I left because there are no hot water heaters or anything like that where I live so the water for everything is cold. We had to walk on this trail through the woods for about 15 mins and then got to the river and it is so pretty. We spent all afternoon there. There were waterfalls and areas where you couldn{t touch the ground and others where you had to crawl over the rocks to get to the other side. It was so fun. We also saw a toucan and some macaws, they are so pretty.
    On Sunday we went to church in the main park of Ciudad Quesada and it is so pretty and grand. But afterwards we spent some time in the park itself. Every first Sunday of the month is a big community party in the park. People play soccer and volleyball in the streets and there are vendors and a bounce house and clown type activities people can try. Also I had pizza for my first time here from Pizza Ranch and I{ve missed it so much. In the afternoon I went with my AFS contact person, his friend, 2 girls from Germany who are on the AFS Community Service program and another guy from Germany who is just traveling Central America to learn Spanish, and we went to some more hot springs! But this time it was a tourist place and it wasn{t as exciting but it was cool because we went at night and there were lights lighting up all the pools.

All the teams from San Carlos

A Scarlet Macaw

The posa we went to Saturday

Another area of the posas

Walking through the woods to the posa

A private pool from the hot springs

The main church in Ciudad Quesada

Bosque Termales, hot springs I went to on Sunday