Salsa y Merengue

The past few days have been pretty similar to other days (breakfast, walking to class, lunch, walking back from class, homework, dinner, Combate). A few extra things: we found a soccer ball in ACM that we played with one day. Two days ago it did not rain...a first. Yesterday I had an assignment to talk to my family about the education system here. Some of the things are similar, but some are very different than in the US. Also, yesterday the class went to the national museum as a part of our Introduction to Costa Rica class. They had a lot of artifacts there: pottery, gold, furniture, etc. and also a butterfly room! I forgot my camera so I don't have photos of any of the things at the museum.

Today we had our first dance class. In one hour we learned the Salsa and the Merengue. Our teacher, Roy, is a professional dancer who happens to be one of the mentors of dancers on Bailando por un Sueño which is the Latin American version of Dancing with the Stars. He was a great teacher and dancing with him was much easier than dancing with any other partner. Obviously he knew what he was doing. I still need a lot of practice but I look forward to our next dance class.

As we were leaving ACM for the day it was pouring. Since I have been here, I have not gotten my feet so wet as I did today. The rain wasn't coming down too hard but the puddles on the sidewalks and in the streets was incredible. My shoes were spewing water and sloshing the whole way home.

Breakfast: Egg, pineapple, toast with cream cheese and jelly, coffee
Lunch: Mini pizza, banana, mixed fruit refresco, banana bread
Dinner: Rice, beans, Ham/cheese/spinach bake, peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas:
beca - scholarship
maicero - hillbilly
zorra - fox
tornillo - screw
esfera - sphere
paño - towel (in CR)
reflejo - reflection

Nicknames:
Toño - Antonio
Chepe - Jose
Pancho - Francisco

Yoga

I went to mass with Marta this morning. Then 4 of us ACM students went to downtown San Jose to participate in the activities for the National Yoga Festival. We didn't actually do any yoga. We didn't have mats. We walked through all the stands that were set up and watched some performances. We also walked through some souvenir shops. On our way back to San Pedro a man on our bus sang songs and played his guitar. I wonder how often that kind of thing happens here.

I had a lot of homework to finish today so I spent most of the evening doing that.

Breakfast: Peach refresco, egg with ham, toast with cream cheese and guava jelly, coffee
Lunch: Pepperoni pizza, pineapple juice
Dinner: Casserole, salad, peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas
pasa - raisin
factura - receipt/bill
jugo de jamaica - hibiscus flower juice


Yoga Festival

Familias y futbol

This morning there was a get-together with all the ACM students, their families, and ACM teachers at the sports center of UCR. We got a tour of the area (basketball courts, soccer fields, pool, track). The whole campus is really pretty and I think I will work out there when I have some time. Then we played some games: 3-legged races, races where we had to balance lemons on spoons in our mouths as we ran to the finish line, dancing with a partner while holding a lemon in between our cheeks, musical chairs, tying 2 balloons to our ankles and trying to pop the balloons of the other players. That was the game I won. The activities were really fun and I am glad we got to do them with our families. We had lunch there too and that was really good.

This afternoon I did some homework and Skyped my parents at home.

Around 5:30 I went out with my ACM friends to have dinner and watch the rivalry soccer game on TV  with other Ticos (La Liga vs. Saprissa). It was really crazy seeing the Ticos react when their team scored a goal. It reminded me a little bit of what it might be like to watch the Super Bowl in a restaurant. Nuts. I asked Marta which team the family liked best. She said "Saprissa" so that was the team I rooted for. The game ended in a tie. 2-2.

Breakfast: Coffee, egg with ham, toast with cream cheese and guava jelly
Lunch: Mango juice, chicken lasagna, vegetables, bread, flan
Dinner: Nachos

San Jose Tour

Luckily, I was not woken up by a gecko during the night.
Same morning routine. After grammar/conversation class we went on a class field trip to San Jose. When I first got here, I thought I was in San Jose but really ACM and my house are in San Pedro. We saw many historic sites, parks, and the market. We took the bus to San Jose but we took taxis back to ACM. That was an interesting experience. Like I stated in one of my first few posts, drivers are crazy here. Although, I give them some credit for knowing the exact dimensions of their cars. They get so close to other cars when they stop or change lanes but they never touch.

Graffiti (very common)

Park in San Jose

All-metal school in San Jose

Temple of Music in San Jose

Avenida Central (Central Avenue)

Good luck statue in San Jose

Central Market

Inside Mercado Central

Spices in Mercado Central

Inside Mercado Central

Cat Mural in San Jose

We returned to ACM around 1:00 which meant we had lots of time to hang out. Five of us decided to play Picture Telephone and do magic tricks with cards. We had a good time trying to do the activities in Spanish. After lots of laughs, we decided to explore San Pedro a little bit. We went to the mall. It is a lot like a mall in the United States. We all went home. Nap. Dinner.

Combate. Two new games today: 1) Each team was divided into pairs (1 guy, 1 girl). They had to go through a short obstacle course while balancing an apple in between their two heads. Which ever team had all three pairs finish first won - Costa Rica. 2) One person sits on a swing while another pushes them. Once they get as high as they can go, another teammate passes them a basketball and they need to shoot it into a hoop while an opponent tries to block it. The team that got the most baskets in 2 minutes won - Costa Rica.

Breakfast - Coffee, ham/cheese/tomato/lettuce sandwich, apple slices
Lunch: Pineapple drink (similar to pina colada), beef/rice/vegetable soup, arroz con leche (rice pudding)
Dinner: Chicken, rice, bean dish (not really sure how to explain it...it looked like quiche but it was made out of beans and cornmeal with a little cheese on top), peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas
resortera - slingshot (Carly bought one)
grueso - thick (the more politically correct way of calling a person 'fat')

Laughs, Critters, Umbrellas

Highlights of the day

• Watching Please don't laugh at my English (Japanese game show) in my conversation class and not being able to stop laughing
• Discussing bizarre/unfortunate names of some people Maynor has met
• Talking about safety and gender in Into to Costa Rica class
• Eating lunch at cafe near UCR
• Watching everybody play games on their new cell phones in between classes
• Being told by Chris to take 15 minutes to mediate outside before Biodiversity/Conservation class
• Learning about studies that some previous ACM students have done about biodiversity and species in Costa Rica
• Buying an ice cream cone after class and eating it on UCR campus
• Finding a small lizard running across the walls of my bedroom. As I turn on the light to see better, I notice a cockroach on my curtains. Marta used Raid to try to kill it but it scurried away so she swatted at it and killed it with her shoe. By that time I couldn't find the lizard. After dinner, I saw the lizard again. Marta used Raid and a few minutes later we found it lying on the window sill. It looked dead. When she went to pick it up it scampered away. The way Marta squealed makes me think she dislikes small creatures/insects as much as I do. We looked all over my room but we couldn't find it. I still don't know where it is and I am very skeptical but my sister Valeria said that they only like walking on the walls so I shouldn't be worried about it getting in my bed...Like I said, I'm skeptical but there isn't much I can do.
• Combate. Mostly the same games as earlier this week.
• The brand of notebook that I bought for class is "Skipper" (my high school mascot)

2 other things I learned/realized today:

1) The difference between a sombrilla and paraguas (2 types of umbrellas): Sombrillas are usually for women and they are colorful; paraguas are black and men usually carry them

2) There is an art to carrying umbrellas on the sidewalks where EVERYBODY else has one too. I am not sure I have perfected it but I'm getting better

Breakfast: Same as yesterday except I had peanut butter on my toast (one of Marta's previous students left it with her earlier this year)

Lunch: Chicken empanada, black beans, platanos maduros (cooked plantains), juice

Dinner: Chicken breast, rice, pinto beans, salad, peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas

aspiradora - vacuum

antojo - craving

Photos

ACM Building

ACM Building: Sitting area

ACM Backyard/View

Back side of ACM Building

ACM Backyard View

ACM Sala Grande (Main classroom)

My House

My bedroom : Desk, bed, window

My bedroom: Closet, doorway

View 1 of Kitchen

View 2 of Kitchen

Bathroom

"El Termo" (Shower Head/Water Heater)

Dining Room

Living Room

Street I live on

Outlet mall that I walk past every day

22 de agosto

Same morning routine. Grammar with Mario was fun. He's a great professor and makes class fun and interactive. I also look forward to conversation class. Today we talked about accents, newspapers that we had read for homework, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, prom, and the changes in men's and women's voices as they get older...We talk about random topics but that makes it fun.

Our Introduction to Costa Rica class today was mostly...introduction. We talked about the syllabus, the trips we will be taking, participation and essay requirements, etc. I am really looking forward to all the places we will be going and being able to write about topics of my choice.

Classes ended at 12:30 today. Most of the group went into San Pedro for lunch. We ate at a place that looks like a mall food court but is located by the UCR campus. After lunch we wandered through the UCR campus and stumbled upon an insect museum. We bought discount tickets (we are visiting students there) which were 700 colones or about $1.50. The collection of bugs they had there was amazing. I am glad they were not alive because I saw a lot of spiders, cockroaches, and other flying insects that I do not want to ever come across. Although when I am on my rural stay in a few weeks I will probably see some. There were some beautiful butterflies though.

On our way back to ACM we bought some pastries. I got one that was sort of like a croissant with caramel inside and on top (I forgot the name of it but I will find out). It was fantastic.

Luckily I had my umbrella with me because it rained a lot today. It only rains in the afternoon though.

I did some homework at ACM and walked home. My host dad Carlos gave me a book of word searches to look at and learn some new vocabulary. The funny thing was that my parents had not even heard of some of the words. But I enjoyed learning some new words and watching them try to explain some of them. Sometimes Marta accused Carlos of making up words/definitions.

After dinner, guess what I watched? Combate. My favorite activity today was when the contestants from each team had to go in the pool and swim under and over inner tubes like dolphins. Marta and I also watched Hawaii Five-O dubbed over in Spanish. Shower. Bedtime.

Breakfast: Strawberries and papaya, coffee with milk and sugar, fried egg (omelet-like), toast with guava jelly

Lunch: Cheese and chicken quesadilla with salsa, mora refresco (mulberry/blackberry juice drink)

Dinner: Rice with small pieces of meat in it, refried beans, tortilla, peach refresco (made like Kool-Aid)

 Palabras Nuevas (lots today so I will just choose some)

zancos - stilts

avena - oat

confites - pieces of candy

pica - bite (insect)

mosco - gnat

emisora - radio station/channel

canal - tv station/channel

lesco - sign language

La Bolsa - Costa Rican version of Wall Street

Lilith, UCR, Trato Hecho

Today was the first day I had to walk to school alone. I was a little nervous about crossing the streets and all the people I'd see, but I knew the route and I was just fine. I did not cause an accident or get into one so so far I'm 1 for 1! Today was the first real day of class. We were assigned groups for our grammar and conversation classes. For grammar, I am with Adam, Mateo, Carly, and Emily F and my professor is Mario. For conversation, I have class with Adam and Mateo and my professor Mynor. I really enjoy class. Although I know some of the information already, it is a good review and since the classes are so small I am able to ask questions and receive detailed answers to them. The teachers are great! In conversation class with Maynor I learned that Adam (from the Bible) had a girlfriend (Lilith) before Eve but since she was identical to Adam she was exchanged with Eve...I should probably look that up. I've never heard of that before. I also learned a little bit more about the geography of Costa Rica.

After the morning classes, all of the students and the three grammar/conversation professors went into San Pedro (the suburb/town/neighborhood of San Jose that ACM is located in). We also visited the UCR (University of Costa Rica) because we are able to use the facilities there. I even have a UCR ID. I recognized some of the places we went since I live close to the UCR and walk by it on my way to school. Things I learned (and remember) about UCR: 1) They have their own police and outside police are not allowed to enter the campus, 2) Nobody lives on campus. There are only residences close to campus. However, most students live at home and commute every day, which is sometimes an hour bus ride.

We had lunch at a restaurant near campus and then went to a store to buy notebooks and locks for our ACM lockers.

In the afternoon I had my first Biodiversity and Conservation class with Carly, Jessy, and both Emilys. It's just a coincidence that all the girls are taking this class and the boys are taking the film class. Chris is our professor. Today was an introduction to the class, talking about what we wanted to learn, looking over the syllabus, etc. After class we had some time to relax/do homework before we met with Judy to discuss the ACM library and other academic resources we have.

After class, I went to the mall of San Pedro with some other students to buy a newspaper for one of our homework assignments. I walked home. Finished my homework. Took a nap. Dinner. Combate. I saw only two of the games today. In the first, each contestant was spun around 35 times by the other team and once they were done spinning they had 5 seconds to run 15 ft and kick a soccer ball into a net. Hardly anyone could stand for more than 2 seconds. Marta and I got a few laughs out of that. In the second game, the contestants had to balance a ping pong ball on their backs as they slid over padded cylinders (I'm not really sure how to describe them...something you'd see on Wipeout) without touching the water below or letting the ball fall off. Which ever team got the most people across in 6 minutes won. Marta and I also watched Trato Hecho which is the Spanish version of Deal or No Deal. I found it amusing that the contestant looked like Sarah Palin but I was really annoyed about how dramatic and drawn-out the show is. No different than US game shows.

That about sums up the day.

Breakfast: Fried egg, toast with jam, coffee with milk and sugar, strawberries
Lunch: Rice, black beans, cheese empanada, cooked plantains, fruit juice (not sure what kind)
Dinner: Gallo pinto (rice and beans together), some sort of meat inside a fried shell (almost like a chimichanga but smaller), picadillo de choyote (chopped vegetable pear) (See below), lettuce and tomato salad with mayo dressing, cheesecake with peaches on top, peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas

picadillo - chopped style

hembra - female animal

trato - deal

queque - cake

jungla - jungle (or selva)

bichos - critters

apostar - to bet

carnet - ID

boliche - bowling

pretil - parapet/hand rail

pretiliando - socializing

First Day of Class

Today Marta walked me to the ACM building for my first day of class/orientation. It only takes about 15 minutes for me to walk there and I am glad I don't have to take a bus like the other ACM students do because I'd have to spend more money and time riding a bus to and from school every day. I do have to be very careful when crossing the streets because pedestrians do not have the right of way.

I met the other 7 students in my program. Adam, Carly, and Mateo are students at St. Olaf, Jessy and Armando go to Grinnell, Emily F goes to Colorado College, and Emily C attends Knox. Everyone seems really nice but we were all pretty shy because we either didn't know what to say to each other or we didn't know how to say it effectively in Spanish. The staff at ACM seems wonderful. They are all so nice and helpful. I can't wait to have class with them.

Adam, Emily C, Emily F, Jessy, Me, Carly, Armando, Mateo

Most of the stuff we did today were run-throughs of the expectations the staff and families have of us and what we should expect from them. We got a tour of the ACM building and we discussed the class schedule. We will be going on several field trips and I am really excited about that! We also had a short grammar/comprehension/oral exam so the professors can measure our level of Spanish and separate us into classes accordingly.

After lunch, the students took a walk to the bank for anybody who needed to exchange dollars for colones. I went to the ATM with Marta yesterday but I wasn't able to exchange the cash that I had so I did that today. I didn't think we looked too much like foreigners until we were leaving the bank and we couldn't figure out how to open the doors. Evidently you are supposed to: Push the button on the side of the inside door. Push the door, don't pull. The inside door has to be closed before you can pass through the outside door. Fortunately there was a security guard there to help us out. Unfortunately the security guard was probably judging our stupidity. It will probably not be the last time we are judged here.

Marta came to ACM to pick me up today and we went to the mall with the other families to buy cell phones. It was a little bit of a fiasco because the mom's were trying to figure out which place was least expensive and the students had no idea what type of plan they were buying. My phone works (yay!) but I still have no idea how many minutes I paid for or how to check the number of minutes that I have.

When we got home, I did my homework and took a nap. Dinner. TV time. Today Marta and I watched Combate. It is a game show in which two teams of 6 compete in different physical activities/obstacle courses and whichever team does it the fastest wins. It sort of reminded me of Wipeout because the things they had to do were so random: Swing on 8 ropes hanging above a pool without touching the water, carry as many bags of rice as possible to the finish line while riding a scooter (without touching the ground), hop across the stage with 8 inner tubes stacked up around your whole body, etc. Evidently the show is on Mon-Fri from 7-9 each week with different teams competing. This week is the international competition. Costa Rica is competing against Ecuador. Usually, the teams that compete are just from Costa Rica. I can't wait to watch more! It was actually a nice bonding experience to have with Marta as we talked about the activities and who we thought would win.

Combate

Combate

Below is the link to a video clip summarizing two different episodes.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXQezZEOtHI
They only show 3 games, but you get an idea. At the beginning of every episode, the participants do a choreographed dance to current music hits.
For the first game the players have to jump in and out of the innertubes and collect a coin from the bottom of the pool and drop it in the bucket on the other side of the pool.
Chocofono is a game in which the first player is given a word to tell their teammate. All teammates are wearing headphones so they cannot hear their teammate. They have to tell a third teammate what the word is by only reading Player 1's lips. It continues to the 4th player who has to write down what they think the correct word is. Word 1: universo (Universe), Word 2: vino (wine), Word 3: caligrafia (calligraphy), Word 4: taller (workshop), Word 4: gol (goal), Word 5: fuerte (strong), Word 6: reina (queen).
Naufragos: Each team uses four of its players to swim across the pool on an inflatable mattress. The must bring the flags to the other side without touching the sides of the pool with their bodies.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl0jJXgqeRw
Vaiven: Players try to knock the opponent from the swaying beam. Whoever hits the ground first loses. The team with the most wins wins 300 points. The losing team only gets 100.
Escalera: Players cross the pool using the ladder. They must come up through the end of the ladder and leave the pool without touching the border of the pool.
Rally: Race through an obstacle course.
The episodes are always filled with drama. One team believes the other cheated. They argue about the rules. There might be drama between team members. The hosts talk about one team's failure to complete an activity or problems with the team's communication. Anything you can think of.
Nuematicos: Players must fun across the stage as they get covered in innertubes. The team who has the fastest time wins.
Don Pedro: Players scooter around the obstacle course picking up as many Don Pedro rice bundles they can carry. They must drop the rice into the bucket without touching the ground. The team with the most bags at the end wins. At the end, someone from the public calls in and guesses how many rice bundles are in the buckets. If they are right, they win money.


I figured out how to work the shower. Never take for granted a warm shower!!

Funny story of the day: Watching Mateo's mom Anya run around the mall trying to find her umbrella which Mateo left somewhere while Marta is laughing and laughing. I could hardly stand up because I was laughing so hard when Anya hit Mateo's arm (I'm not sure what she said but probably something like, "why did I let you carry the umbrella?")

Breakfast: Fried egg with ham, coffee, toast with jalea de guayaba (guava jelly)

Soursop/Chirimoya

Lunch: Watermelon, papaya, rice with chicken, refried beans, salad, guanábana juice (a white Latin American fruit called soursop or in English) (also called chirimoya)

Dinner: Rice, meat, sopa de frijol (bean soup with egg), avocado, peach refresco

Palabras Nuevas
escúter - scooter
mamón chino - rambutan (a type of small, red and white, prickly fruit)
olla - cooking pot

Rhambutan

incómodo - awkward/uncomfortable
sombrilla - umbrella

A typical Sunday

Despite having to wake up at 8am (which is earlier than I got up all summer) I had a good night sleep. Probably because I went to bed around 9pm.

Introduction of my host family: I live with Marta (my host mom), her husband Carlos, their daughter Carla, and Carla's daughter Valeria. Marta is an ama de casa. Her job is that of a stay-at-home mom. She is in charge of cooking, doing laundry, cleaning the house, and making sure everyone's needs are met. Carlos is retired. When he was younger, he traveled around Central America playing soccer. Later he had an office job, where he met Marta. Currently, he spends most of his time at home watching television, helping with laundry, and listening to baseball on the radio. Carla works and studies at a local university. Valeria is 14 and she goes to a private school about 45 minutes from San Pedro. She takes about 15 classes, only a few each day. Her favorite class is music. She plays the lyre. She is also taking English, which I told her I could help her if she ever needs.

Marta, Me, Valeria, Carlos

Lyre

One thing I read before I arrived here was that people from Costa Rica, Ticos, like to avoid confrontation, especially when it comes to controversial topics. I think I became one step closer to being a Tico today at church. Marta asked me what religion I am. (I grew up going to a Presbyterian church, but I am not very religious.) I decided to tell her that I was Christian but that I didn't know the word exact word for Presbyterian, but I knew that I wasn't catholic. "Do you believe in God?" I said yes. She responded by saying, then you are cristiana. I just nodded my head.

After mass, misa, Marta and I went to the supermarket and walked through the neighborhood. At one point we got caught in the middle of the street since the lane closest to us was the only one without cars and we crossed half way.  We had to wait a while before we could cross the other lane. That's an experience I don't have in Minnesota, especially on multiple occasions (which I found out later). I also went to an ATM to withdraw money. I was reading the directions in English but I was really confused by the exchange rate (500 colones per 1 dollar). I'm a pencil-and-paper person so it took me longer than it should have but eventually I got some cash. 

Then lunch. Then I watched about 15 minutes of a Costa Rican soccer match. I read the magazine that comes with the Sunday paper. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I could understand. I read articles about redheads, pelirrojos, (which I thoroughly enjoyed), the new American tv show Perception, and Jennifer Aniston's engagement. I also took a quiz about how healthy my sleeping habits are: decent, but could be better. I continued reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. As expected, it rained off and on from 3:00-4:00 with some thunder and lightning. Nap time. 

After dinner I watched La Voz México with Marta and Carla. I have never seen The Voice back home, but now I get the premise. It was fun to hear the contestants sing, but I could barely understand what they were singing. Hopefully, by the end of the show I will be able to understand some of the songs.

Tomorrow I get to go to class and meet the rest of the students in the program. I can't wait.

Breakfast: Fried egg, toast with paté (a meat-based paste), strawberries, coffee with milk and sugar

Lunch: Rice, beans, fish (corvina), potatoes and onions, peach refresco, cheesecake with peaches

Dinner: Rice, beans, chicken, salad with mayo as dressing, peach refresco

Palabras nuevas

corvina - sea bass

jalea - jelly

balcón - balcony

foco - flashlight

pecas - freckles

arándano - blueberry