Blog, blog, blog...

So this week is going to be/has been really busy. I have a final on Thursday and a bunch of stuff to do. But I am letting you know that I went to Volcan Arenal this last weekend and had a blast! An awesome blog about it will probably be posted this weekend, along with some photos.

Volcan Arenal

I am dying to write out this blog, but by the end of the night I am just too worn out from the day, so I promise that this weekend it will get done!

Does This Count as Culture?

Let me tell you something about Costa Rica. 

It is really loud. As I type, two yes t-w-o different car alarms are going off on my street. 

Wanna know why? 

Because a motorcycle drove past them.

Yes, these car alarms were set off because of a loud noise. Now, two alarms is strange, but there is one car in particular that has its alarm go off nearly every single day. Usually pretty early in the morning, and I hear it while I am getting ready for school. It is ridiculous, and it’s not like the owners try to stop it from going off. They just let it do its thing until the alarm cycle comes to an end. That is probably the most annoying part.

Dogs also are another thing. I don’t understand the role of dogs in this country (and from what I hear in every Latin American country). First of all, in regards to this noise issue, most of the dogs that are pets are the smaller dogs. You know the ones I am talking about, those small YAPPY dogs. Walking down the sidewalk is fun. It’s like a game to see which house has the small barking dog that is going to bark its head off at you. 

Now the next thing about dogs is their part in the family. My little sister told me that people here love dogs much more than cats. I asked her if that was the case, why are there so many dogs on the street. She seriously looked at me like I was talking about aliens. She said that when people don’t want their dogs anymore they leave them on the streets. I said that was very strange and told her that in the states we have places where people take their pets when they don’t want them anymore and that there are never dogs living on the streets. The idea was so strange to her, not having dogs living on the streets, I could see it in her face. It is so hard sometimes to see all of the dogs wandering around the streets. There is one black and white spotted dog that lives at the university and it is always laying out in the sun. And sometimes there are the cutest puppies too. None of the dogs are fixed either which only is going to make the problem worse.

So if you are someone that likes the quiet, Costa Rica probably isn’t the place you want to be. Between the cars, dogs and people, the only quiet you get is in the middle of the night.

Coffee!

So I never really realized how much I am gonna miss this one part of my daily life here in Costa Rica. I just finished my cafecito. (This is one of the many reasons I also love living with a host family.)

What is a cafecito you may ask? Well I am gonna tell you right here in this blog.

Coffee and bread. Yum!

Every day in the afternoons (for my family it is anywhere from 3 to 5), coffee and bread is served (it’s usually a sweet bread). I have to tell you that today I was really looking forward to this break as I am working on a really boring homework assignment that is due on Monday.

And the bread selection today was especially delicious (let’s be honest, yesterday was too). Today, I had a selection from doughnuts, empanadas, and this bread they call pudding, but it’s just like a wetter version of bread, not like that Jello stuff. Usually I just eat two pieces of bread and drink two cups of coffee (at most), but today I realized that when I go home, I probably won’t be having coffee and sweet bread every day, so I might as well enjoy it for what it was worth (I upped the bread to 4 pieces, but in my defense, the doughnut was small, and I only ate half an empanada and my first piece of the pudding was like half the size of the second one).

It was probably last month that my host father asked me if we had cafecitos in the US. I told him sort of, but they could be at any time during the day, not just in the afternoon. Then he proceeded to tell me that in any business at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, everyone would be having their coffee and bread at their desks. Now I don’t know about you, but I am all for starting this tradition in the US. I am gonna miss me some yummy bread and coffee.

This is a way to make coffee. My literature teacher
 says the coffee is "mas rico" (better) like this.

Another adventure in Costa Rica.

So, I just got back from the most relaxing weekend since getting to Costa Rica. A group of 12 of us went to this little town of Dominical. It was seriously a tiny little town, and was basically closed by 10PM. The first night we went out for some pizza then went out to the beach. The moon was full this weekend so there was a lot of light and we could see pretty well. We went to bed around midnight and the next morning we were able to sleep in a bit. We ate breakfast at the restaurant at the hostel and I had banana pancakes, so delicious. Then we went to the beach. The only thing that I wanted to do was sit out at the beach, and this beach was huge! We got in the water for a little bit at first. The waves were really big and you had to work hard while swimming out there. I got out of the water and we stayed on the beach for the entire day. It was so relaxing to just be on the beach, watching the surfers and reading a book with friends. We watched the sunset, which was gorgeous over the water. None of us could get enough of the beach as we returned to lay on the beach after eating dinner and it being dark out. We returned on the 6AM bus which got us to Heredia around midday. I have slept for most of the afternoon and finally had a good shower.

I love that we can travel and everything is relatively close and cheap. Being able to go to the beach was really nice and enjoyable. It’s always fun when travelling with your classmates to get to know them better and really hang out with these people outside of class. I look forward to the next adventure. 

Once Upon a Stumble

So there is this website where you can designate your interests and based on the information you input it brings up other websites or articles that may interest you. It is called "Stumble Upon" because you are basically stumbling upon these things. I have found some pretty awesome things on there such as photographs, interesting articles and just things that make me laugh out loud. (And if we are being honest, I have also lost many hours to this website.)


Well the other week I was "stumbling" and this website came up:


www.twobackpackers.com/3192/central-america/10-weird-things-from-latin-america


I read it to see if this experience mirrored mine. For the most part it did. Pay attention to 
numbers 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. 


These are the things you find quirky about living in a foreign country.

Haircut anyone?

So, for those that don’t know, which is probably a lot, I got a fancy haircut yesterday. My mama tica works in a salon and on Monday she came home telling me she went to a seminar and saw a haircut that she thought would look good on me. So I decided I would let her do whatever she wanted, after all, it was free. Then I got to the salon yesterday afternoon and she was talking about blonde highlights. This made me SUPER nervous. But it has turned out great. I really like it and am glad I let her do whatever she wanted. It was a good life choice to be the guinea pig.

It's not the best quality, but it is what it is. I promise to get a better photo!

I am not gonna lie though, I will most likely not keep up the highlights. I am not high-maintenance enough to spend money on these highlights. So I will enjoy them while I have them. 

El Puesto del Sol

So I basically take pictures of an amazing sky from my window every day.

BEAUTIFUL!