Highlights!

After an almost 2 week trek across Costa Rica, I finally feel like I can say that I have seen Costa Rica!I still have many places to visit yet on my list, but I have now been outside my University town, and seen both the Carribean and Pacific coasts. My favorite beach so far would probably be at the National Park Manuel Antonio (Pacific coast) where squirrel monkeys played in the nearby palm trees. One of the highlights was watching a sloth creep slowly along the telephone wires trying to get to the next tree. I saw the glowing red lava spew from the Arenal volcano at night, but was a little disappointed by some hotsprings that turned out to be just your local swimming pool with hot water. My favorite meal would probably be the Carribean rice and beans (made with coconut juice), patacones (fried plantains) and fresh fish. Here they serve the whole fish to you, so it looks like it's staring at you. I have a friend who loves to eat the fish head and all, sucking out the brains. She says its the best part.

Did I mention that I love dogs?

Big dogs!! None of those small yippy, sit in your lap dogs. Sorry Sam (my dad's dog). I have run into the most beautiful dogs here. My absolute favorite is Akira, who is a Samoyed/Huskie cross. She has beautiful blue eyes and and a milky white coat. And then there is Rover(that's what I dubbed him anyways) who I met on the beach. He even swam with me in the ocean for awhile. I almost had to switch host families when I got to Costa Rica because I had put on my questionnaire that I liked big dogs and my host family had a scary looking Rotweiler that I was sure was going to kill me, but he ended up being one of the most docile dogs I have ever met. As soon as I buy my own place, I am getting myself a big dog.

Finals!

Next Saturday I will have completed my first semester abroad at the beautiful Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica. I had one take home exam, which took me an entire day to answer (explaining genre, functionality, and intertextuality concerning semantics of translation) and a spanish/english glossary about trans fats that I have to turn in by the end of this week. Trans fats is made when hydrogen is aadded to vegetable oil-a process called hyddrogenation. Trans fat is found in many commercicaly packaged produts and fried foods. I will have a month of vacation and my best friend Hollie Schiller will be visiting the first two weeks of July so we hope to see more of Costa Rica together. What do I miss most after 6 months abroad, probably driving.?!*

Panama Canal Trivia

Did you know they are planning to widen the Panama Canal? The citizens voted last year and the votes were tallied and the Panama Canal will be expanded to allow bigger vessels access. All I could think about while I was visiting the Canal was how my dad would love to see this-he is such a history buff. Did you know that the US uses the canal more than any other country, and China is close behind. There are 3 locks that barges must pass through to go from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. And did you know that it would take approximately 5,800 trucks/or 570 Boeings/ or 18 trains to accomadate the same cargo that the average barge carries?

San Blas Islands

You know the microsoft screen saver on your computer with the palm tree on the island in the middle of the pristine ocean??? Yeah, I was there. I think it was one of the most beautiful places I have been in my life. I traveled to Panama over Semana Santa and took a small plane to the San Blas islands, about half an hour from Panama City. There I learned about the Kuna Yala, an indigenous community, who live on more than 300 islands off the Atlantic coast of Panama. When a girl gets her first menstrual period, she goes through a ceremony where her hair is cut and she is given her traditonal dress. Most of the women also wear a gold ring through their septum and beads on their ankles and wrists that they call chakiras. Most of the women only speak the indigenous Kuna language, but the men speak Kuna and Spanish. They are fishermen who paddle around in wooden boats carved out of enormous tree trunks. I ate fresh fish (corvina, and tuna) and rice for every meal. The Kuna have their own laws, own police and immigration agents and a chief in every village. They don't believe in prison and are only allowed to drink on special days that have been set aside. Most Panamanians have not visited the islands, however you will find tourists from every country imaginable. The Kuna have grown accustomed to the influx of tourists and charge $1 for each photo taken. They embroidery intricate designs with bold colors on fabric and also carve boats and statues out of wood.

Soap and the 3 T´s

Before leaving the house make sure you have the following:
Soap-because none of the bathrooms have it. It doesn´t make it into the budget here, so I just carry a little bottle with me everywhere...which leads me to my first T...
Toilet paper-also not important enough to make it into the University budget. Always put a wad in your pocket before heading out the door.
Toothbrush-Oral hygiene is very important here. As my friend told me, I have a toothbrush in my car, in the shower and in my backpack. Amazing. I always see people brushing their teeth in the bathroom.
Textmessaging-You always try to avoid talking to someone in person here. First send a textmessage. It is super cheap, and you can do it wherever you are, waiting for the bus, in class when you are bored, in the car, on the plane, when you are sad, when you are mad...

Un día....

Wake-up around 6 am and after a shower have some fresh fruit. Right now cantelope is in season. My Portuguese class starts at 8 am but I usually wait for the bus 30 minutes to an hour on Mondays because the traffic is so bad. It costs less than 50 cents to ride the bus and I get there in 15 minutes. I greet my classmates when I enter the room, even if I get there late and the teacher is talking, because it is respectful here. Class is always very interactive and we do work in parejas (partners) all the time. Class finishes at 10:30 so sometimes I will go have a coffee with some friends at the soda (cafeteria) or I will hit the computer lab. Most businesses and banks close for luch 12-1:00 everyday. I heat up my food at the soda after standing in the microwave line for 10 minutes and enjoy delicious homemade beans and rice and squash and fresh cheese. I study in the library with my friend Andres who is majoring in Chemistry. Most costa ricans have a merienda at around 3pm of coffee and some snack like tortillas with cheese. The campus is beautiful so I usually study outside under the shade of a tree. On Thursday´s I go to the Roteract meeting at 8pm and they usually hang out at a bar afterwards to sing Kareoke or catch a bite to eat. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run with Eleazer, who is a neighbor in his 60´s . He is trying to show me all of Costa Rica on foot. Last Tuesday we took a bus to Santa Elena and ran home along a beautiful trail that was adorned with mango and fig trees, and stray dogs lying in the shade. I used to watch the telenovela Betty la Fea with Grace everynight before going to bed, but the series finished so I usually try and have a mini English lesson with Grace before going to bed. Most of my classes are on Saturdays: Semantics of Text; Strategy of Translation; Terminology and Lexicography and Spanish Syntax and Grammar.