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!