Punta Leona

The final orientation. 13 days left. 18 weeks gone. Goodbyes to many close friends who live in European countries that who knows when the next time we will reunite. Planning for the travels back to Wisconsin. It feels weird for how time has passed. One part feels like I just left Wisconsin yesterday and then it feels like I've been here forever and Wisconsin will be the foriegn land. Especially after our last camp with AFS, it felt so much like the US.

On Friday us students on the spring semester had our final camp together to talk about leaving. It was hard. Especially because most of us had to wake up nice and early to arrive in San Jose at the office. But more because they were trying to prep us for leaving our homes here to return back to our native countries. As well on Friday, Costa Rica played against Italy and won 1-0 and Costa Rica moved onto the next round for the first time since the '90s and people went even crazier than the first game. In San Jose, immediately people began screaming and honking and cheering and a big parade of people on one of the main roads of everyone heading to this huge mall. Everyone wore red and had horns and flags running or walking down the streets. It was so cool for how much pride and excitement there was and it's too bad the US isn't like this because it's so crazy and cool. At night we arrived at the hostel which still by 10 o'clock at night, cars were still honking. And it was nice to have another sleepover with the students, the few of us that there were, only about 15 from the 60 of us were there. When we were all ready for bed and JUST turned off the lights to sleep, the LOCKED door swung slowly open, I was on the top bunk and I thought someone was coming in so I was watching and NO ONE CAME IN. It was so freaky I started freaking out which made all the others scream and then the door slammed shut and we thought it was over and then it swung open again and slammed really fast and cold wind blew through and we are very positive that room is haunted. It was honestly so scary for us that we turned on the bathroom light to sleep. We all made it through to the morning. Which again was early to head to a private beach resort called Punta Leona on the Pacific coast. The nice drive with good friends made it go by soo fast.

Punta Leona has 2 beaches, one white sand beach and one black sand. (But the black sand beaches aren't too black, more like dark brown.) We were placed in our little rooms which were separate little builidings connected by paths and given lots of free time. Which in translation means beach time. We got to spend half the day swimming in the ocean and hiking the cool rocks around the beach and just hanging out before the sun went down. It was just really nice that we got a weekend to just chill at the beach all together before we left Costa Rica and all our friends from around the world. Saturday was the last night a student from Iceland was in Costa Rica for so we had a mini party at the restauraunt and bought a cake and sang Happy Birthday in our languages even though it was no ones birthday. After a long tiring day and night, a few of us took a walk to the beach at around midnight and watched the heat lightning. It was so bright it'd look like daylight over the ocean. We just chilled and enjoyed our last time together. Us from the US woke up early to head to the beach before we had to leave and took our time to get ready to head back to San Jose to split off into our towns/cities again. OH and a little edit: That morning, we went to breakfast and there were MONKEYS EVERYWHERE. They were jumping and swinging on the roof and the trees and nets so they wouldn't fall into the resturaunt and they'd run  in and jump on an unguarded table and steal food off the plates. Or if someone wasn't looking, they'd sneak up and grab some fruit right off and run away. It was like breakfast and a show. That van ride was the last time I will see some of the students in all of my life. I've met some great people on exchange and it's so sad saying goodbye to such good friends from around the world.

Today (Tuesday) Costa Rica played again against England and the excitement just wasn't equal to last weeks. People were more mellow. Mellow being a term to use loosely. We were let out of classes and everyone went to the gym in my school and we also didn't have to wear uniforms and got to wear jeans and red tops and painted faces. Students brought drums and toy horns and everyone was just going crazy. But just not as crazy as last week and for those of you interested, Costa Rica and England tied. Also, today I made brownies from brownie mix and a casserole my mom always makes almost every Friday from Wisconsin for my family because it is a really common for my family to have and who isn't up trying new food? Especially because it's been 5 months of me trying the food here and my family having the same food as always so why not mix it up a bit.

We had to stock up on sunscreen for the beach

Playa Blanca

Cool rocks that had little pools in them

Playa Mantas

The most wonderful fruit I have eaten. Don't judge a book by it's cover because these are delicious. They're called Rambutan in English and they're just really good. 

World Cup

Thursday began the infamous World Cup in Brazil. For those of you who don't know much about the World Cup like me, it is a huge worldwide soccer tournament and happens every 4 years and the whole world is crazy about it. The teams are made of the players on the National level and you play for your country. An example is of a famous soccer player, Leo Messi, who plays in Spain for Barcelona, but only in Spain, and so for the World Cup, he is originally from Argentina, plays for Argentina during the World Cup. There are 32 teams from around the World that have come to Rio de Janiero for a month to compete. My favorite part about the World Cup is seeing all the flags from around the world because some countries have such pretty flags. A personal favorite of mine is of Uruguay that has light blue and white stripes like the US flag and a pretty sun in the top left corner. So on Saturday was the well anticipated game of Costa Rica verses Uruguay. My family and I went to the farm of one the aunts. It's a really nice farm out in the country but it also means that all the roads are rocks, not like gravel but like fist sized rocks. And lots of potholes. But the view it gives is prime. You can see almost all of Quesada and all the way to the Arenal Volcano (which I climbed to the top of). So at the farm which is a little below the trees and hills so you can't see the view from there, we went to the shelter where all the parties of the family are held and there were 2 parties. One for the World Cup which is a lot like a tail gate party I guess with food and everyone wearing jerseys and faces painted and one of the younger cousins had her birthday that day as well. During the game, everyone would go crazy, like yelling at the tv, or cheering them on, and when a goal was made, just crazy. Everyone would jump up and the place just numbed your ears from everyone screaming and shouting and hugging and jumping and hitting tables or walls or the floor. In the end, Costa Rica won against Uruguay with 3-1. During the game, Marcia and I went to a little store to buy some ingredients to make a dessert and we were in the car and 3 macaws came flying in a row right at us. It was so cool and then they lifted up higher just before we got too close. We finished the party with food, and a piñata, and gifts for the cousin, and candy, and TONS of mosquito bites. In Wisconsin I hardly got bit all year, but here, it must be some sweet blood I have because I went on a little walk with some cousins and came back bit all over. Including my toes and fingers. It was better than Felipe because he got some on his face. But these bites hurt and itch and isn't just a bubble type thing but a mound on your skin the hurts so bad. The sunset driving home was gorgeous. So beautiful. You could see the sun set behind the Arenal Volcano and it just lit up the sky for how firey the sunset was. Plus the city lights of Quesada were lit up along the valley and mountain sides.

Before we arrived at the party, we went to a bunny farm! And I was so excited because I love bunnies. And these bunnies weren't just any kind. They were huge. And heavy. Like there were little itty bitty new born bunnies and then giant bunnies that if you know how tall I am, they went from my head down to my hips. Just huge. But the sad reason why there even was a farm was because they breed the bunnies to become huge to butcher and eat. Everyone says it's soo good but I don't ever want to find out.

Lately we haven't had school or get out early because there is no water. Just like randomly or a public service announcement is put out that we won't have water that day from this hour till a few hours later. I have no idea why. No one really has any idea. It's been more frequent lately. Also another big thing is that a lot of the time the roads are in really bad shape no matter how recent construction was. It's because of all the humidity here and not allowing the cement to dry out completey from it. Speaking of humidity, I ran my 3rd race on Sunday and wow do I run better in the cold. It was an early morning race and we were higher in the mountains but it was scorching. 85° and 95% humidity is not my thing. As well as there is hardly no place in Costa Rica where you cannot see a mountain range. By the way, the mountains here do not have snow or any sign of snow on them. Most are made from volcanoes plus the fact that we are only like 10° away from the equator that the sun is too close for snow to exist at any altitude.

Felipe with a tiny bunny

Giant rabbits really weigh a ton

Little bunnies are nice 

My cousins and I at the party for the World Cup

Night lights of Quesada and that little triangle in the horizon? I've been to the top of that. Volcan Arenal. 

I got 4th place and Evy got 1st at the 7k. 

Aniversario de 1 mes.

"A semester has passed and now we stand on the brink, of returning to a world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing being the same. In a couple of weeks we will reluctantly give our hugs and, fighting the tears,we will say goodbye to people who were once just names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends.

We will go back to the places we came from, and go back to the same things we did last summer and every summer before. We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday. As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have become. You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a semester ago don't seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.

Who will you call first? What will you do your first weekend home with your friends? Where are you going to work? Who will be at the party Saturday night? What has everyone been up to in the past few months? Who from school will you keep in touch with? How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking? Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of being an exchange student is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind.

We now know the meaning of true friendship. We know who we have kept in touch with over the past few months and who we hold dearest to our hearts. We've left our worlds to deal with the real world. We've had our hearts broken, we've fallen in love, we've helped our friends overcome depression, stress, and death. We've lit candles at the grotto and we've stayed up all night on the phone just to talk to a friend in need. There have been times when we've felt so helpless being hours away from home when we know our families or friends needed us the most, and there are times when we know we have made a difference.

Just weeks from now we will leave. Just weeks from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random e-mails and phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer, and hopefully years to come. We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.

Just weeks from now we will arrive. Just weeks from now we will unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive over to our best friend's house and do nothing for hours on end. We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the semester. We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past semester. In just weeks we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close. And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two worlds.

In just weeks."

I did not write this, it was posted by another exchange student but it really matches of what it feels like to be on the last month of exchange. This time in 4 weeks I will be at home again, seeing my friends and family after 5 months, eating dinner with them, talking with them face to face instead over messaging or skype. Well some of my family, half of my sisters won't even be home when I am home. It goes by too fast. The past week, with the local AFS chapter here, we had another going away party and this time everyone had come. All of the students and community service, and volunteers that helped us through. It was really nice and weird that some of these people I will never see again. A group of students that had come the year before just left Costa Rica to go home yesterday. Us students also went out to dinner to hang out one last time as well. And then that was it. And in one month, there will be more goodbyes again, and the whole process of readjusting back to our home cultures. And leaving a home behind.

Me and Matthew, Wisconsin and Kansas in Ciudad Quesada

All the students and community service volunteers at Kiwi.

5 from Germany, 2 from US, 1 from Japan, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Australia, 1 from Italy. 

Throwback to my host mom and I burning a field and joking around after the scare of a wild fire. 

Race Day

I'm on my last full month here and wow did it go by fast. When I first left, 5 months felt like it was going to take forever, but I'm down 4 now and 5 months isn't long enough. But I've still got this month to make to most of my time here.

Oh and a little update on this long going strike, the news said it ended today and classes go back to normal tomorrow but no one knows for how long we will have classes again before the teachers get fed up without getting paid. Also, it is not every single teacher in the country. Some teachers, such as my host mom, still get their pay because their documents were not lost, but a very large majority of teachers are not getting paid and if they are, very little. Like less than $2 for the past few months. 

So with this final week of no classes, maybe, Wednesday was just practice and missing buses, Thursday was a reunion with some members of the church and getting served way too much meat than I'd prefered to eat. Like even when I wasn't hungry, they'd say oh you have to try this kind and serve me meat and tortillas and I felt bad saying no because they wanted me to try the culture I guess. 

Friday I went to school with my host mom who teaches 4th and 6th graders. And I found out that out of the population of about 42,000, there are 15 high schools, both public and private. And 40 neighborhoods. Definitely thought Quesada was smaller than this. But at the school, like all morning I just watched the cook make pizza because I love pizza. Really I could eat it everyday and probably have zero problem with it. The next day Evy and I went to central to sign up for a race, just to find out we had to wait till the next day to. But I made some Norwegian bread for my host family. Safe to say they throughly enjoyed them. I made them with my younger brother, Felipe, and he thought we were making pizza the whole time.

And finally my first race since I have been here. I mean, I joined the running team like over 2 months ago. But I haven't exactly been one to appear as often as I should. For a little excuse usually I have prior commitments, practice is cancelled, or I'm travelling. But I still run if I don't go to practice or not because practice is only 3 days a week and the other days I run with my host mom. On Sunday morning I got a nice call while I was sleeping that the bus that we had to catch came earlier than we thought so Evy and I really had to rush our morning to make the bus on time. But all in vain because it was Sunday. And the buses don't start their routes till 11. What timing we have. And taxi it was to make it in time. The race was at 8 and a 6k which is 3.7 miles. And considering it was the morning, you'd think it'd be cooler, nope. It was almost 85° with 90% humidity. What a joy to run in. At least we got water, which was served as little baggies. After the race because it was also the first Sunday of the month, the central park was like a big party. We got complimentary leg massages and dance classes and volleyball and walking on stilts. Those are a struggle. We shopped around some and headed to the church my family and I go to for a pet parade. Someone brought their goats. We had a late lunch with all of the family, cousins and all. And Marcia and I went for a 2.5 hour grocery shopping trip. Plus my knee has this little tiny itty bitty bump on it. Like the size of a pencil tip, and I scratched the bump, and it started to bleed. And would not stop. I used up a lot of guaze that night. At least Monday I could recover from the race and a ton of walking and lack of blood in my system after that little bump.

Felipe and I making Norwegian bread

After the race

Contrary to popular belief, it is raining in this photo. 

After the race, me, Evy, and Tiffany

Dance class in the streets.