Mi Aventura Continúa!

   Hola Readers! ¿Cómo estás todo? I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have been soaking up- not just the beautiful sunny weather- but also, all of the wonderful experiences from this trip, thus far. I'm writing this post, among several others; in complete reflection of the past week(s) I've spent in this remarkable country.

             On Saturday May 16th, with a short travel time of three hours, the UNCW group and I arrived in Costa Rica around 12:30 to be greeted by both Jenny and Jorge, our guides from the CPI (Centro PanAmerican Idiomas) School located in Heredia. Upon arrival, everyone was super hungry-airport breakfast just didn't cut it. Jenny and Jorge took us to a small restaurant called "Snacks," where everybody ordered Costa Rica's traditional dish "Casado." The meal contains rice and beans, chicken, plátanos, and salad. It was pure deliciousness. Following that, we all walked to the local supermarket, where we tasted a variety of indigenous fruits. My favorite was the "mammones" fruit which are lime-like fruits that you break open with your mouth, and slurp out an orange-pinkish jelly from the seed. Other bizarre fruits included, soursop, guanábana and pejibaye- all really different, but unique in rich flavors! La Riviera, our hotel for two nights was beautiful. The hotel had a gorgeous view of the mountains and was in the crux of San Joaquín. Our weekend stay was a solid relaxation or "honeymoon" period before we were to meet our home-stay families the following night.

            Sunday, May 17^th, we met four girls from Missouri State University, as well as their professor Vicki, who would be joining us on the trip. Previously, before breakfast, some of the girls and I picked fresh mangoes from a mango tree and cut them up to eat...qué rico! La Riviera’s restaurant  provided us breakfast- smooth dark roast coffee, huevos, platanos, fresh pina, papaya, watermelon, and gallo pinto. Once the group was all fueled and energized for the day, we went to “La Poás” or the “Peace Resort.” Javier, our highly knowledgeable and awesome tour guide, informed us on specific details about the Costa Rican lifestyle, culture and traditions. The tour was of the lush green rainforest, where we got to see several animals- mariposas, frogs, lion-cats, serpientes, monos, pajaros...I actually had a toucan on my shoulder at one point! Later in the day, we had the opportunity to hike and see all five of the waterfalls- Templo, Magia Blanca, Encantada, Escondida, and La Paz. The falls were amazing to see, such a neat attraction. Toward the evening, anxiousness settled in as everyone waited to meet their host families at CPI. I was assigned to stay with the Familia Esquivel Rojas Family, which included only one woman named Hilda. I was driven to her home because she doesn’t have transportation and is unable to move around much due to her age. Once I arrived, she was so genuine and greeted me with a gigantic smile and hug. My nerves developed fast as I entered her house. Mama Hilda and her friend Yolanda sat in the living room chairs, while they blankly stared at me. I felt somewhat uncomfortable, but I tried to spark as much conversation as possible. I didn’t want there to be any awkward silence, firsthand. As she served me a wonderful dinner of soup with meat, potatoes, vegetables, salad and fruit, I listed off things to talk about in my head. I quickly came up with the idea to grab my “Family Matters” book, handmade by my mom, to show Mama Hilda and Yolanda. They really enjoyed looking at all of the traditional recipes and pictures from my family. The book helped me cope with the unnerving situation of having a language barrier, and my Mama Tica and I got off on the right foot.

            Monday, May 18^th, the rooster crowed bright and early at 4:30 a.m. It was an early rise, but I had to get a couple more hours of sleep, so I went back to bed. My mama tica had prepared breakfast for me around 7:00. I ate huevos, gallo pinto, platanos and café con leche y azucar. Both the MSU and UNCW group met at the church around 7:30, to walk to CPI for a class at 8:30. I thoroughly enjoyed class with Deena, the English teacher from Calle Hernandez Primary School. As a whole, we discussed the importance of Costa Rican education, and how students, among other individuals in this country, value their educational system. Things began to spice up toward noon as we got to Latin cooking class. The group did some dicin’ of onions, garlic, vegetables, chicken and cilantro to create the “oh-so-famous” dish of CR- Arroz con Pollo. Spanish class began at 1, lasting until 5 p.m. I was placed into an upper Spanish class, where members from the UNCW group, Kim, Tess and Bailey were also placed into. My professor introduced herself and we began class with basic conversation starters. Questions, such as, what university do you go to, and what are you studying? I understood the context of the conversation, however, it was difficult to conduct responses using verb conjugations. She assigned three pages of homework for the next day, which surprised me. Later that night, my mama Tica made a wonderful dinner of the traditional arroz con pintos, verduras, fruta and ensalada. Three days into the trip, I am really enjoying my experience of Costa Rica and I can’t wait to continue my adventures!

Pura Vida a todos!