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