Category: February Blogs

Hola chicos –

This blog will be a lot less action-packed than the last several have been, as the past couple of weeks I’ve been able to stay here in San José and get to know the area a little better. I’ll begin by sharing some of my reflections at this point in my study abroad experience:

Week of 2/12

This week was my second full week of my Spanish course, and wow has it been intense! We’ve had assignments due almost everyday and I’m in class for at least 3 hours everyday for the entire month. I’m still learning a lot and I know that (poco a poco, which means “little by little”) my Spanish is improving, but it’s hard to see all of those improvements in day-to-day life sometimes when I have trouble understanding sometimes what people tell me in Spanish. There are moments that I get super frustrated that I don’t know certain words or that I just can’t understand certain things. Obviously I know that I’m improving (even if I don’t see it) and that I still have so much time left here to continue to improve my abilities.

Something I’ve noticed with my Spanish is that my overall perception (and my abilities with the language) really changes based on my mood and how alert/awake I am. When I’m in a cranky and tired mood, I find it so much harder to use the language than when I’m alert and in the “mindset”. I’ve also noticed that when I spend a lot of time speaking in one language, it’s oftentimes harder to switch between the two than when I’m using both simultaneously or am not communicating for long periods of time. For example, when I talked with my friend from home for almost 5 hours, I found it more difficult to switch to Spanish. Likewise, when I chatted with my host family for 3+ hours on a few occasions, it becomes so much easier to think in Spanish, and I actually had a bit of trouble thinking and speaking in English!

Besides Spanish, I’ve also been just a bit all-over-the-place emotionally the past week. I’ve been able to see these truly incredible locations and have so enjoyed these moments, but I’ve also missed some of the things I’m used to in the States. I miss my bed, and my dog, and my family/friends. I even (VERY slightly) miss the cold and snow in Minnesota.

I know that all of my feelings are normal and are part of the study abroad process. And I also know that I’m doing my best to really put myself out there and make myself part of the Costa-Rican community. This past weekend did really lift my spirits and reaffirmed why I came here (more on that in a bit).

I still am so grateful for my host family. They continuously cook, clean, and look after me. My Mama Tica never fails to make me smile – I know that the love she has for me is not anywhere close to the love I have for her. Here’s a picture of her, me, and my roommate from the other day:

This past weekend was super rejuvenating and was definitely the weekend I needed after a long and stressful past week.

Saturday (2/19)

I went white-water rafting for the first time, and I had so much fun. I love an adrenaline rush, and white-water rafting sure does provide that rush for an adrenaline-seeker like myself.

It was a very early day – a 5:00AM wake-up call greeted me and I definitely was begrudging to get up. Nevertheless, we drove for a couple hours until we reached the entrance of Pacuare River – a beautiful river that flows through canyons that offered some awesome rapids.

I remember on the bus ride to the start of the river, the safety instructor was telling us about all of the safety instructions, and I definitely started to question what I’d gotten myself into. My heart started racing and I was terrified I was going to be that person who was going to cause the raft to flip over.

Once we got on the river, however, my worries faded away. I felt much more comfortable when I learned our guide had done tours on the river for 23 years and knew the river left and right. When we started to do the Class 3/4 rapids, I remember laughing and having the time of my life. We were able to buy pictures after the rafting excursion (as they had several people along the river who took pictures), and I think this photo below encapsulates how I felt gliding along the rapids:

While I loved seeing the rapids and getting that adrenaline rush from them, I think my favorite part from the whole trip was being able to swim in a canyon along the river. We were the last of several rafts (we all went out at the same time – there probably were close to 10 rafts going at the same time!), and we had the chance to swim in the river (when the current was calm). There were no boats behind and we got this beautiful view of this canyon. I can’t take credit for the photo as it’s not mine, but from the tour company that we went with:

What I didn’t expect, however, was how tough paddling would be for 3 hours! As I write this, I’m still a bit sore from my big day of rafting. I also was a bit bummed that, after about 1.5 hours into rafting, I started to get this nasty headache that lingered until I took some advil after the trip. When we hit rapids, I’d be preoccupied with them and wouldn’t notice it, but when we had the lull moments, it would come back and be pretty gnarly to deal with.

Nevertheless, I still had a blast and really want to go rafting again. I might have to convince some friends to go rafting at another river… we’ll see what happens!

After our long day of rafting, we grabbed lunch and then returned back to San Jose. As you can imagine, I was exhausted after my early wake-up call and slept for 11+ hours that following night.

Sunday (2/19)

Today, I spent the morning and early part of the afternoon resting/recuperating from my rafting adventure, and then went to a language exchange meet-up that was happening at a Tico’s house in downtown San Jose! I had a great time meeting some new people and practicing my Spanish with some local ticos. I definitely want to do it again, as it’s great to meet locals that can help with the language and share their personal thoughts about CR and the community.

I don’t have any plans for next weekend (yet…) as I want to rest up before my weekend plans for March (more on that later). Until next time chicos, ¡pura vida!

Hola chicos –

Again, my apologies for the very delayed blog entry. I started my intensive Spanish class this month and my workload has doubled, so it’s been a bit difficult to manage the workload as I travel around! Nevertheless, I have some time now to detail what the past few weeks have looked like for me!

First weekend of February: Bocas del Toro, Panamá

This weekend, I spent 3 days in Bocas del Toro – a lovely collection of islands located in the Northeast Caribbean side of Panamá! This is how the trip went:

Friday (2/3):

We swiftly left San Jose, Costa Rica at a lovely 5:15AM to embark on what-would-be 10 hours of traveling. We stopped at a cute restaurant to have some breakfast (the food was really good at this particular restaurant), and then continued our bus ride until we reached the Costa Rica/Panamá border. I found the border so interesting because the border was a river, so we had to walk across a bridge to cross the border. We simply stopped at the immigration office before the border crossing, and what was even more interesting was that the Panamá immigration office was somewhat hidden after we crossed the bridge! If I hadn’t been with a group, I would’ve not known where the office was. Crossing the border was not what I expected at all, but everything went smoothly and we made our way into Panamá.

We then drove about an hour more (in another bus) to the boat port, which has boat taxis to-and-from Bocas del Toro. The views were already so stunning as we trodded along the Caribbean water to the island.

Upon arrival to the hotel, I spent the rest of the day recuperating and preparing for the next day of adventures we were about to embark on!

Saturday (2/4):

We spent the day doing a boat excursion across some of the different islands in Bocas del Toro!

We first went to this lagoon area that was known for seeing dolphins! Some of the dolphins got really close to our boat. I didn’t take the best pictures of them, but here’s my best shot of getting some a picture of these majestic creatures:

From there, we went to various islands and saw some of natural, untouched lands of the islands. Again, it was so pristine and beautiful to see such beautiful nature.

After having lunch at one of the small islands, we then headed to my favorite part of the trip: La Isla Bastimentos, a Marine National Park located on a tucked-away island. I can confidently say this island was one of the most beautiful places I’ve experienced on my trip thus far. Once we arrived on the island, we did a small hike that had some of the coolest plants I’d ever seen:

We were met with one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen. I remember beaming and laughing uncontrollably when we first got to the beach. I was just floored that a beach like this could even exist in real life.

I wish we had more time to spend at this beach because it really won over my heart. I’m still so blessed I got to visit in the first place, and I definitely won’t forget frolicking in the water like a little kid as I took in the beauty around me.

After the beach, we headed back to our hotel and I had a relatively chill rest of the evening. The next day was filled with more adventures around Bocas del Toro.

Sunday (2/5)

We did another boat tour today visiting a few more islands around Bocas del Toro. We first visited a very tiny island that was known as “Bird Island”, as a lot of birds used the island to grow their eggs! Our boat guide told us that the birds make little holes in the land, and they lay their eggs in those holes until their babies are born. It was majestic seeing all of these tropical birds flying above us as we took in the beauty of this island.

We then went through an open canal that our boat guide told us was actually man-made to help with transportation within the island. It felt like I was riding a Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, but actually in real life.

We then went to a beach called “Playa de las Estrellas (del mar)”, which translates to “Starfish Beach”. It’s called this because many starfish (especially farther from people) inhabit the shores of the beaches. I saw probably 10-15 starfish… I had to be careful not to step on one as they were plenty abundant at this beach. While I don’t have any pictures of the starfishes themselves, I do have a picture of the beach:

After spending some time at this beach, we decided to head back to Panamá and spend the rest of the afternoon on the main island (where our hotel was). We had a great time enjoying life and enjoying the sun of Panamá.

I went to bed early in preparation for our early morning the next day.

Monday (2/6)

We swiftly left Panamá at 6:00AM (which meant a 5:30AM wake-up call) and headed back to Costa Rica. Nothing super eventful happened on the way back, just that I was definitely tired throughout the entire ride. I will say though – the beauty of Costa Rica even when driving is stunning. I sometimes just can’t even believe my life when I take pictures like this one from the bus:

I made sure to go to bed early in preparation for my first day of Spanish the next day.

Week of 2/6

I started my intensive Spanish class this week, and the difference between this one and the one I was originally placed in were striking. My professor actually cared about me and wanted me to understand what was happening in class. She makes sure to explain concepts several times in class, which helps so much in feeling like I’m actually learning stuff in the class. We’ve also talked about concepts that I’ve never learned before, so I actually feel like I’m benefitting greatly from the course.

I’m going to stop this blog here as I’m planning to write another one soon about the past week and this weekend’s adventures. Until then, pura vida chicos!