Muchas Gracias!

I just want to say thank you to everyone for their love and support in what I'm doing here. It means a lot to me. This has truly been such a rewarding and life changing experience for me and one of the best things I have ever done. I wanted to come to Costa Rica to learn more about myself and help children who were less fortunate than myself. I wanted to experience new people and places, learn a new language, challenge myself by letting go of my comfort zone, and gain a greater appreciation for other cultures and the world at large. There are some people who don't travel because they claim they have "real world responsibilities", but a lot of it is the fear of the unknown that holds them back. This journey was one of the biggest risks I took in my life. I was scared at first, but knew it took a lot of courage to do. I didn't want to look back and regret not doing something like this later. Life is what you make it out to be and I wanted to spend my time doing something I'm passionate about and dedicate myself to causes I care about.

I have met some amazing people here of all ages who took similar risks as myself. We wanted something different in our lives and haven't looked back since. I met a retired couple who sold everything they had and opened up an orphanage in the jungles of Ecuador, and a 70 year old couple who has always wanted to learn Spanish, a mom who always wanted to be a teacher, and father and son who after years of not talking reconnected and are traveling around Costa Rica together for 6 months, and even an 80 year old grandma who went zip lining through the rainforest! haha! You are never too old to do anything you really want to do. All you need to have is the courage and confidence to take that risk. And trust me, it will be one of the best investments of your time and effort that you will ever put into anything you do. I feel extremely grateful for everything I have in my life and blessed for this opportunity. It's been amazing! Thanks to everyone for reading my blog and following my journey. I wish all of you much happiness and success in all your future endeavors!

Pura Vida!

Festival de la Luz

On Saturday in downtown San Jose, they had the Festival of the Lights Christmas celebration. There was a parade, live music, floats, and best of all...a snow fight with paper, haha. They sold these bags of white confetti and everyone was throwing it at eachother. It literally looked like it was snowing here last night, really cool to see.  

Puerto Viejo

This weekend I went to Puerto Viejo! It's a laid back beach town on the Caribbean side and about a 4 hour bus ride from San Jose. It was in the 90s and our hostel was right across from the beach. It was awesome falling asleep in a hammock listening to the ocean, I didn't want to leave! We rented bikes one day and beach hopped to all the different black and white sand beaches. I even tried surfing! Most of the restaurants and bars are right on the beach. At night, we listened to some reggae music and had a beach bonfire. Also, the stars at night were amazing! Puerto Viejo was one of my favorites places that I have visited in Costa Rica. There were so many times this weekend when I looked around and couldn't believe that I was here. I feel so lucky and it's something I'm going to remember forever :) 

Tortuguero National Park

 

On Saturday, I went to Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. It's one of the nesting sites for the giant green sea turtles. To get there we had to take a boat ride through the jungle, then into the rainforest. There was a ton of wildlife we saw including crocodiles, monkeys, sloths, etc. We also stopped at a banana plantation on the way back. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Teatro Nacional

Yesterday I went with some friends to see a Christmas show at the National Theater in San Jose. The theater is beautiful inside and was built after the one in Paris. There was a live band, singers, and dancers singing to all different kinds of Christmas songs. 

Playa Hermosa and Jaco

This weekend a group of us went to Playa Hermosa which means "beautiful beach" and Jaco, one of Costa Rica's most famous beaches. Enjoy the pics!

Top 20 things I love about Costa Rica!

1) The people and the lifestyle here. Everyone is so welcoming, nice, and really accepting of Americans. Their lifestyle is much more laid back than the States and people enjoy life more. They work to live, not live to work.
2) The country's motto: "Pura Vida!" which means "full of life" :)
3) The weather...in the 80s-90s, beats the cold in Chicago!
4) The kids I teach in Tibas at Mision Santidad. They're awesome!
5) The beautiful beaches, waterfalls, volcanos, and rainforests. Baldi Hot Springs and Monteverde are my favorite!
6) Family. That's what it's all about down here. People really value time spent with family. My host family's relatives all live literally either next door to us or down the street.
7) Los Monos= aka MONKEYS!!!
8) All the people in my program-really inspiring individuals
9) Mi familia tica-"my host family". They're some of the nicest people I have met, so welcoming!
10) The language-love it, wish I knew more, but 3 hours of Spanish a day is going pretty well, lol
11) Salsa dancing!
12) Pickup lines the Ticos (Costa Rican guys) use here to attract girls..."you're as sweet as mango" hahaha!
13) $2 movies
14) The coffee...sooo good!
15) Saprissa-The Costa Rican soccer team. It's like a religion here for people.
16) Imperial-La Cerversa of Costa Rica
17) My host family's Saturday morning pancakes....yummm!
18) Churros
19) Transportation is so cheap here, 30 cent bus rides, $15 bus ticket to Panama!
20) All the fresh fruit-bananas, mangos, papayas, and guava jelly :)

Tibas

I was leaving the church I teach at this afternoon in Tibas and saw my first rainbow in Costa Rica :)

Viernes Negro

Today in downtown San Jose, there's signs everywhere for "Viernes Negro" which means Black Friday! There are a ton of sales! I was surprised they had this too, but besides being so crowded, it's definitely not as crazy here as it is back in the States. The bottom picture is a line of people standing waiting to use the ATM in the building on the right, haha

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday back in the States. A group of us decided to cook our own Thanksgiving dinner at the last minute last night. We went to a friend's apartment and had chicken instead of turkey, boxed mashed potatoes, some vino, salad, and apple pie. Better than any rice and beans yesterday, haha! Here's some pics!

Manuel Antonio!

My sister came to visit this weekend and we went to Manuel Antonio! It's this laid back beach town on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. We visited the National Park and saw a ton of wildlife, monkeys, sloths, lizards, everything! We went kayaking in the mangroves around sunrise, swimming in the waterfalls, and even went ATVing in the mountains. Really fun, I would definitely go back again! Enjoy the pics :)

I also learned a lot more about the visa process from our tour guide. He said it's extremely hard for a Costa Rican to obtain a visa to leave the country. You have to have proof of about $10,000 in the bank, evidence of employment, license that you're married and have kids, a house/apt.,etc. This proves to the governement that you will return because you have something to come back to in Costa Rica. The government fears that once people leave, they won't come back. Our tour guide said that to get an appointment in the visa office costs $200 alone! That's how much he makes for 1 month's salary and he speaks English, it's crazy! The visa process is so corrupt too. Visas are offered to people who don't have the right indentification, but since they know someone who works in the government office, they are able to get a deal...sounds very familiar.

This is one of the many reasons why I love kids

During class today, I taught the children about different professions and had them draw pictures of what they wanted to be when they grow up. Every kid either wanted to become a doctor or a soccer player, haha!

There's a point in a child's life where everything is clear and everything is possible. No matter what's going on currently with them, they aren't afraid to dream and want something more in their life. As we get older, fear is what can stop a lot of us from really achieveing what we want to do in our life. I'm continually inspired by these children, they're pretty awesome! :)

Cartago

I visited Cartago this past weekend which used to be the old capital of Costa Rica before it changed to San Jose. There's this church there called la Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angles Basilica). It was built in 1639 and was partially destroyed by an earthquake. This church is known as one of the most famous churches in all of Costa Rica because of its special "healing powers". People would make a pilgrimage to this church in hopes that it would cure their illness. To show their devotion to God, this pilgrimage was often made with people crawling on their hands and knees. When I was visiting this church there happened to be a Costa Rican wedding going on which was cool to see too. Here's some pictures below of the church and some of the Ruins of Santiago Apostle Church.

Elections!

On Tuesday night, my host family and I were watching the U.S. elections on TV. They were very interested in the race and said that the people of Costa Rica like Obama and believe that he does good work. They also called Obama, "The President of the World", haha! I have also realized that many people here almost know more about what's going on in the U.S. than actual Americans do!

Monteverde and Arenal Volcano!

This past weekend, I went to Monteverde and Arenal Volcano with some friends. It was AWESOME!!! We went zip lining in Monteverde and took a tour of the cloud rainforest, so cool to see! Then we traveled by jeep to catch a boat to Arenal Volcano. This jeep ride was extremely bumpy, pot holes the size of car tires all the way down the mountain for almost 2 hours! haha, however, it was one of the prettiest drives I've ever seen! In La Fourtuna, we went to Baldi Hot Springs and went swimming in rivers with waterfalls. I definitely wasn't ready to come back to San Jose! Enjoy the pictures below!

"Tico time"

"Tico time" is the phrase people use in Costa Rica to describe its laid back lifestyle. Things are definitely much slower paced down here and you see people enjoying life more. We were in a restaurant in San Jose and the food took forever to get to our table. The Costa Ricans just say, don't stress, it's "Tico time", order another cerveza. Even though it's so different from our culture mindset in the US, I really enjoy this more relaxed approach to living :) Pura Vida!

Free medical clinic

We have been having a free medical clinic open to the public all this week. On the first day, we saw over 150 people. The entire police force of Alajuelita came to get regular medical check ups. There was also this man we treated who had a serious catheter infection. He recently lost his job and before that his work was paying for him to get antibiotics monthly to take on a prophylactic basis for his bladder/kidney condition. He couldn't afford the medicine since he's unemployed, so our clinic was able to help him with his medications for the next few months until he finds work again.


We also examined a lady who had extreme pelvic pains and unusual bleeding for over a year. She had gone to the doctor before, but couldn't pay for all the testing she needed. The doctor had told her to return when she could pay. This woman had 2 young kids with her. After examination, it was the thought that this woman could possibly have cancer. We were able to help her get some tests she needed. Here are some pictures of our clinic. The computer room was our "pharmacy" for the day.