Our 5 day home stay experience is over; we moved back into our bungalows this morning! Staying with a host family is one of the coolest things I've ever done... of course there are those awkward language barrier moments and that kind of thing, but overall it was such a great experience to be submerged in a totally different culture.

The wedding Saturday night was so cool. One of the ladies who works in the kitchen was getting married to her long time boyfriend.. they already live together and have two kids, but could not afford a wedding up until now. We drove to the church in lower San Luis (about 20 minutes away) and you could say me and my host mom got real close when I had to sit on her lap the whole way there because their truck only sits 3 people. The roads are ridiculously bumpy so I hit my head on the ceiling of the truck more than anything...we were all just laughing. Costa Rican Catholic weddings are long, just like Greek weddings. The ceremony lasted almost 2 hours, but about halfway through,my 16 year old sister, Naivy, said "Quiere ir afuera?" (Want to go outside?) She was bored... haha. So I went outside with her and we just talked for a while. The whole thing was very informal, but cool to watch. The reception was really fun! There was a lot of salsa dancing and we were able to show off the moves we had learned from Geovanny! All these old Costa Rican men came up to us and wanted to dance, it was so funny! If people in the United States could dance like people in Costa Rica, I am convinced that weddings and parties would be way more fun!

Yesterday, I went to work with my mom in the kitchen here on campus. I mostly washed dishes and chopped vegetables, but I think she remembered me telling her that my favorite food was ice cream because when her shift was over, she pulled out a huge tub of ice cream, scooped some out for us, and we sat and talked and ate ice cream! When we walked back to the house,  we just chilled the rest of the day and I got a bunch of homework done. For dinner, we had...you guessed it...rice and beans and also this type of green squash that's really good, but we don't have it in the US. They are not big meat eaters... (I'm craving some ribs SO bad). Oh and also, we watched Dancing with the Stars- Costa Rican style last night, it was hilarious.

All in all, the home stay experience made me really appreciative of what I do have and also showed me that I have a lot that I don't need. Yeah they have a tiny house and one bathroom that's outside, but they are one of the most loving families I  have ever met and spend most of their time together as a family. It made me miss my family!! And although there were bugs constantly everywhere in their house...who cares?? They didn't bother anyone (unless you were the only one with a light on). I am so thankful to have had this opportunity. We stay in home stays again at the end of February. I am not sure if I will be with the same family again, but I am excited regardless. Lunch time....gotta go.

Click for new pictures!

Pura Vida!

Home stay Pictures

The front yard of my  home-stay casa

Inside the house

My room!

Mi madre nueva, Lorena

Mi hermana nueva, Neivi

Mi padre nuevo, Marcos (Ok I know he looks a little creepy in this picture, but he is not)

More on the Homestay...

Oh man...where do I even begin? The whole homestay experience is REALLY cool! It is so important to have an open mindset before going into it and to keep a positive outlook! I am forced to speak only Spanish and keep my little translation dictionary close by in case I get stuck. My family is so awesome. They have been hosting students for 22 years so they got the hang of the whole bad Spanish thing. Their house is like the size of my den at home, which makes me so appreciative of everything I am priveleged to have that I really don't need. What baffles me the most is that we go to bed SO early everynight! 8:30!!! I mean, I am definately tired by 8:30 after everything we do all day, but I am SO not used to that.

Last night was funny- I was helping mi madre cook dinner and it looked so good...it was rice with a bunch of veggies mixed in and then the trouble came... She pulled out a can of tuna and said "Me gutsta tuna mucho! Y usted?" (I like tuna ALOT, do you?) At that point, I couldn't say no, I said "mas o menos" (it's okay) But she dumped the can of tuna into the rice and it was game over from there. I hate tuna, but I ate it anyway. This is what I mean about open mindset and positive outlook...it's all part of the experience right? :) More about the food, I am getting used to drinking my coffee black because that is the only way they serve it to me. You just have to go with the flow. AND today, for lunch I had something very similar to Vienna sausages... yum ;) Enough about the food though, my family cooks very well but everything is just different.

Mi madre helps me with my Spanish homework every night. She wants to... as soon as I get home, she asks me if I have homework and she is always so eager to help. Last night after homework, I showed her pictures because she wasn't home when I showed the rest of my family earlier. She loved seeing pictures of my family. "Que lindo!" I also showed her pictures of me skydiving and our house at Christmas time...her jaw dropped and all she could say was "MUY LOCA!!" She is very easy to talk to and talks especially slow for me with lots of hand movements so I can understand. In about 2 hours, we are going to the wedding (it's for one of her friends who works in the kitchen with her). I am SO pumped. It will be cool to see what a wedding in Costa Rica is like, plus some of my other friends are going with their hometay families. Also, a lot of the UGA staff will be there and we have grown close to all of them. Everyone is like a huge family here. I don't have much more time to write because I have to walk back to my house and get ready.

Pura Vida!

(Side note: in case yall are wondering what "Pura Vida" means, it's just like THE phrase of Costa Rica. It means "Pure Life" which is the lifestyle they live. You say "Pura Vida" for hello, goodbye, when someone asks how you're doing, or when you're just excited. ) PURA VIDA!

Homestay: Day 1

I survived the first night of my home stay!! :) There are 12 students total in the UGA program so yesterday, we were driven in shifts to our houses. 7 of us were in the first shift and to say we were all nervous would be a huge understatement. As people kept getting dropped off and introduced to their new Costa Rican families, we were pretending like it was Survivor or something. And then there were 2... my friend Lauren and me were the only ones left in the van until we pulled up to mi casa nueva. As we pulled up, I could see my new padre waiting for me in the driveway. Alexa, a naturalist who volunteers on campus, introduced me to Marcos and then I was on my own from there. Marcos seemed very friendly and laid back so  my nerves settled and from there, I met his 16 year old daughter, Marianna (who I didn't know existed) and his 18 year old daughter in law (whose name I can't remember at the moment).  We began to make small talk in espanol and they told me about everyone in their family as we went through a huge shoebox full of pictures. Marcos and Lorena are the parents (Loren works in the kitchen at UGA), Jorge is the oldest son, Vennicio and Arnaldo are the 20 year old twins and Neivy is the youngest and the only girl. I then pulled out my laptop and showed them pictures of my family, grandparents, cousins, friends and Chris (Daddy- you would be happy because Marcos said: "Su padre parece muy joven" Translation: Your dad looks very young). They were all very understanding of my broken Spanish and taught me new words and corrected me when I conjugated a verb wrong or mispronounced something.

Later, Marcos showed me around outside. They have a ton of animals: 3 dogs, a cat, a bunch of chickens and the 2 biggest pigs I have ever seen in my life. They use the chickens for eggs for just about every meal and sell the piglets when they are born. Marianna and Neivy were inside cooking dinner, so I asked to help and snapped some beans and scrambled eggs. Dinners are so different here; They are delicious, just different. We had white rice with black beans and tomatoes on top, and then snap green beans that were cooked into a scrambled egg. The girls had made a cake with m&m's on top so we had that as well...so good! Lorena came home from work at about 8:30 and helped me with my Spanish homework and told me we were going to a wedding on Saturday, which I am excited about. Every time I see her in the kitchen, she comes up and hugs me...she is very sweet. 

I feel like a giant in their house. I am about a head taller than everyone in their family. I am also taller than the refrigerator and a little bit too long for the bed. More about the house... the walls don't quite reach the ceiling (I think to keep the house cool) so you can see when people's lights are on or hear people talk really well...good thing I don't snore!  The bathroom is technically outside, but there is a slight roof over it. There is one toilet, one shower and one sink for everyone in the house. Their house and this whole rural part of Costa Rica in general reminds me a lot of my Papou's house and village in Greece. Everybody knows everybody and the scenery all around is just beautiful. Most people grow their own food and are very self sufficient. 

We all went to bed around 9:30 and because I was using my reading light to read, all the bugs congregated in my room, so I just turned it off and fell asleep. This morning, I woke up around 7 to eat breakfast...rice and beans shockingly enough ;) and then left around 7:50 to walk to campus. The walk took about 25 minutes, but it was a beautiful morning and like I said, the scenery is all you need to keep you occupied. When we all met for class at 8:30, everybody had stories to share about what they had done with their families last night and what they were like and what they had eaten for dinner...etc. So now, most of the nerves are gone and we are all excited about going back tonight. I'm sure I will have plenty of stories to share these next couple of days and I will be sure to take plenty of pictures of my Costa Rican family. 

Pura Vida

"No entiendo mucho español..."

We are leaving for our home stays in about 2 hours... this should be interesting. I have learned a lot in my Spanish class so far, but apparently most of these families speak little to no English. We should all have some pretty funny stories when we meet back up tomorrow for class. I will probably be saying a lot of the title, "I don't understand a lot of Spanish..." We have every  meal with our new families except when we are here for lunch. Everyone is freaking out about being there until Monday night, but I think it will be more fun than we all think...but I am still a little nervous! We won't have internet or much distraction, so we all should get a ton of homework and studying done! But the bad news is, we won't be able to play our daily game of fútbol, which is definitely my favorite part of the day. I don't have much time, butI will update everyone on how my home stay family/experience is tomorrow or the next day. Pura Vida!

Going to the beach in January!?

This weekend was GREAT! Yesterday we went to the beach..in January! It blows my mind that it is January because the weather is so perfect here. We swam on the Pacific side and the water felt so good! The beach is about an hour and a half away, and was nice because it wasn't touristy at all. Anyway, the second week of classes have started. This morning was awesome because for our field experience class, we got to do service rotations and help either in the kitchen, in housekeeping or in maintenance. Me and three other girls were assigned to housekeeping. It was funny because when we got to the laundry room, a lot of the women were sitting there doing their makeup and told us to come back in ten minutes! When we came back in, I was assigned to work with a lady named Lita. We went to all the bungalows and cabinas to make the beds and clean up the bathrooms. It was fun walking with her, speaking broken Spanish, trying to communicate to each other about our families and interests. She was really understanding of my poor Spanish and I think we were just laughing more than anything. We met up with her nephew, Venecio and finished sweeping and mopping the rest of the rooms. Everyone who works here is so nice and now it's cool to say hi to them and start up a conversation when I see them in passing. One of my favorite parts of this trip is the soccer games we play everyday after class with the Costa Rican staff. They are so good and we are not, but it is so fun to get to know them through playing soccer. On Wednesday night, we transfer to our home stay houses. Mine is about a twenty minute walk away from campus. I met my host mom yesterday; she works in the kitchen is a really sweet lady! We stay at their houses until Monday morning, so we will be with them all day Saturday and Sunday! I'm not sure what we are going to do all day, but I'm sure they have something planned. Also, I have added more pictures, so here is another link: More Pictures! The new ones are at the bottom. One last thing, I have been craving a big cheeseburger sooo bad! ADIOS

The Waterfall

Hola everyone! We are done with the first week of class! It's so weird actually being in class and doing homework because I feel like I'm just on vacation. I think I'm going to be really good in Spanish by the time I come home. Yesterday, we got to interact with kids from the local elementary school. We walked them to campus and did an insect project with them. Another student, Jessica, and me walked around with two little girls trying to catch bugs. They were so excited to be there with us and were very talkative! We get to see them about once a week, which I am really pumped about! Today, we did my favorite thing on the trip so far... we took a 3 hour hike to a waterfall and it was incredible. We passed through a man's farm and he gave us sugar cane and we were all sucking on sugar cane as we were hiking- it was hilarious. The trail went through the creek and had little bridges and the views were just breathtaking. The actual waterfall was unlike anything I had ever seen...it was MASSIVE! I just sat there for ten minutes watching it... listening to the sound of the water pound down and feeling the refreshing mist on my face. I took about 20 pictures of it and a video, but it's beauty just could not be captured whatsoever. The only bad part was that I got eaten alive by black flies. I have about 40 bites all up and down my legs. They don't itch, but they look pretty nasty! Today has been pretty much a free day. We walked to the corner store about fifteen minutes away and got juice boxes and snacks for our trip to the beach tomorrow. I am so excited for that because I've heard that this beach is gorgeous. Tuesday, we begin our homestays. My family lives about 20 minutes away walking and my "mom" works here in the kitchen. There are 4 boys in the family... a 25 year old, 20 year old twins and a 17 year old. Apparently, one of the twins just got married and lives next door. These families have study abroad students all the time so I am not too worried about it, just about the language barrier. I think we are going to all gather together tonight and have a movie night...there's not much else to do when it gets dark. Hasta luego!

The time of my life!

Wow, I do not even know where to begin....this place is incredible! I am having the best time! I have had more fun in this past week here with all these girls in my group than my whole last semester in Athens! There's something about being in sunshine and seeing beautiful mountains everywhere that just makes me way happier! Today was our first day of classes...it is weird being in class because we have been spending our days hiking and laying in our hammocks and just goofing off! Classes are not bad though, we have been hanging out with our professors for over a week already so we already know them really well and they are all nice! So, here's what my typical day is like. We have breakfast at 7:30, then at 8:30 I have my field experience class which is where we get to go in elementary and high schools here and teach students (I'm really pumped about that one!!). Then I have a break from 10-12 and today, me and my roommate Alyssa laid out and read our books and ended up getting a little burnt! Lunch is at 12 and after lunch, I have anthropology and Spanish. The class size is insanely small. There are 3 people in my Spanish class which makes me think that I will be fluent by the time this is over. My teacher actually lives in Costa Rica and is really nice! After class about six of us girls started to play soccer on the little field on campus... then two of the kitchen guys came and played with us and it got really competitive but it was so fun! Life is so simple here, I really love it. After soccer, a group of four of us went for a jog on the mountain. We jog about a mile down the road and back and the views are insane. I don't even need to use my ipod because the sounds of nature and just looking around distract me enough. Oh, and our dance lessons last night were so FUN! Alyssa and me have a whole salsa routine- I will post a video of it eventually. It was so funny watching everyone because we are so bad compared to all the Costa Ricans. I think I was laughing more than anything! Tomorrow we are waking up at 6:00 to milk the cows on campus which should be a sight to see! Anyway, I can't believe how much fun I have had in just one week. I already know that I am going to be sad to leave here, even though I miss all my family and friends! I am going to try to put up a link to my pictures for everyone reading this who does not have facebook. Click for Pics! (Hopefully that works) Adios amigos!!

The best lunch I've had in Costa Rica- chicken fajitas, rice, beans and a plantain

 This is how coffee is served in Costa Rica... and it's delicious!!

 A beautiful parrot we saw- it was loud too!

 A monkey we saw at the zoo... (My roomie Alyssa and me)

 Typical Costa Rican breakfast... eggs, rice, plantain

 A giant leaf we saw in the rainforest

Alyssa and me soaking up nature

We are finally at the UGA campus! Internet here goes in and out so I'm not sure how much I will be able to update this. The campus is absolutely beautiful!! We are staying in cute little villas with bunk beds. Today we went on an awesome 2 hour hike in the morning- we saw all sorts of creatures and plants. It rains almost every morning apparently and mists throughout the day so we are all used to being gross and have embraced it. We are all throwing makeup and good hygiene out the window for a while :) Tomorrow we are going into the closest town to get rope for our hammocks and anything else we will need for a while. We are seriously in the boonies of Costa Rica...it's awesome. Classes start on Tuesday, but only last for about 4 weeks until our break, so it's like a Maymester. AND we are milking cows at 6:30 am Wednesday morning which I am really excited about!! Most people who know me know that I am NOT a morning person but since we go to bed so early, I really don't mind it. Oh and also we have dance lessons with Giovanny (one of the servers here) tomorrow night so that will be fun too! That's all for now...Adios :)

Rice and Beans

The past two days have been so packed and busy, but so fun! Yesterday, we went to a history of Costa Rica museum in San Jose which was like any other typical museum and just showed the country's history. More exciting after that, we walked through the market and all bought hammocks to take to the UGA campus and I can't wait to lay outside and read in mine! My friend Alyssa and me also bought really cool slingshots (which we have been practicing using in our hotel room). We also went to the zoo where we saw parrots, peacocks, monkeys, and a BUNCH of turtles.The food here has been great: rice, beans, chicken plantains.. it's all better than I thought it would be. Although I didn't realize that people eat rice and beans for breakfast too. Rice and beans seem to be the default meal here. As we were driving to an archeological site today, we passed the craziest places that I was so surprised to see in Costa Rica... Outback, Taco Bell, Hooters, Dennys...so random! Tomorrow we are going to a volcano then heading to Monteverde to the UGA campus.. I can't wait! I will post some pictures soon.

Finally in Costa Rica!

I figured this would be the easiest way to tell a bunch of people at once what is going on in Costa Rica...so here we go. Today was mainly traveling; After we landed in San Jose, we had to wait at the airport for our group to meet up, then took a funny looking bus to our hotel. The weather here is awesome. It feels like summertime and the breeze is so nice. Once we checked in the hotel, we walked around downtown a bit and got ice cream (my favorite). There are so many cute parks in the city and also beautiful trees and flowers! I am already taking LOTS of pictures. We stay here until Saturday and then we head to Monteverde to the UGA campus. There's not much more to say yet...so far so great :)