Only 11 days!!!!!

Recap of last week….
Wednesday was a pretty chill day. It was super hot out side so Laura and I decided to stay around our town and do some souvenir shopping as it was really my last day to do so! Wednesday night for dinner we had visitors. Josh, a former study abroad student who lived with our host family, and his friend Dusty came over for dinner. Both of these boys are from small towns in Alabama and had the cutest accents! During the evening Laura and I totally forget about how proper Southern Girls are and the topic of Diarrhea gets brought up. After seeing the looks on their faces I snapped into reality and remembered that they’re used to Southern Belles who never think about that kind of stuff, much less speak it! Thank goodness they thought it was funny and not disgusting. Girls from Minnesota obviously aren’t as prim and proper and have no problem discussing the digestive system! These boys also had the best manners I think I have ever seen. They literally stood up when our friend Stephanie entered the room. I don’t think I have ever seen such manners in my life.
Thursday- I had an oral presentation on learning a language in the U.S compared to studying abroad and learning the language in a country where they speak the language. After class we went to a Soda that our teacher’s mom own and had lunch. Later we went to the beach for my last day at Manuel Antonio beach. That evening Laura and I took our host family out to dinner at El Avion, a restaurant inside and surrounding a real airplane. Friday- I had to say goodbye to my host brother Carlos in the morning which was hard, I didn’t want to leave him. Then I went to school where I had a test and written composition. After school Laura and I rushed home to get my luggage, I said goodbye to my mamatica which was sad, and headed to the bus station. When I got to San Jose I went to my other host family’s house where my Mamatica was sooooo excited to see me! She kept saying how much blacker I looked, I guess as of now my tan is no longer a tan but I’m changing races? Who knew! She says that my mom won’t recognize me and will ask where the real Ashley is! How funny! That night we went to Santa Ana to hang out with our BFF Agnetta! We spent the whole weekend with her relaxing by the pool, life couldn’t get any better!
Monday was weird. It was odd going to class without Laura! When you’re with someone everyday for close to three months it is really odd to be separated. Everyone at school was happy to see me, and kept asking if Laura and I got into a fight or something. Nobody is used to seeing us separated! It’s kinda funny! I started classes with a new Professora Marisella who happens to be amazing! I have only 11 days left! Craziness! Can’t wait to be home so I can plan my next trip back!

2 weeks ago...

Sorry all, I have been slacking on my blog! To start out, I love Costa Rica and am practically planning my trip back here! It’s absolutely amazing and it doesn’t hurt that everyone thinks I’m Tica! Last week, Laura and I got the most amazing teacher named Adrianna. She’s a great teacher and sooo much fun! Everyday I find myself laughing out loud at least twice. It’s great! So last week in school we had a week full of mostly talking in Spanish, which was great. I had one paper to write that I chose to write on sports in the United States and the importance of sports in our culture. It was great! I haven’t yet gotten a grade on it but I was quite pleased and so was my dad that I would choose to write about such a topic! We had Tica night last week which included dancers who danced typical Costa Rican dances which was so fun to watch, and participate in. One of their last dances included them each picking a student from the audience to dance with, which was a blast! With the weather being so hot, I have found myself with little to no energy and go to the beach often to sleep! This past weekend Saturday we went to the national park in the morning with our host mom and brother. That was sooo fun! We saw howler monkeys, many lizards, and iguanas and got to swim at a beautiful beach in the park. Saturday afternoon we met up with our friends from San Jose who traveled to Manuel Antonio for the weekend, they ended up going to the national park right after we were finished so we ended up meeting up with them later in the night. Meanwhile Laura and I went out to lunch with our host family at a restaurant overlooking the beach. It was AWESOME!!!! The one thing I really wanted to do during my vacation was sit near the beach and drink a fruity drink with an umbrella. Saturday afternoon I did just that!!! It was great! Saturday night we met up with our San Jose friends for a while, and then proceeded on to Arco Iris, Quepos’ only night club. We had heard so much about it that we decided we might as well go, so we did. This club has typical Costa Rican music, including music for the salsa, meringue. Cumbia as well as other American music. It was super entertaining to sit in the balcony and watch everyone dancing. We had our share of offers to dance from upper 50 year old men who thought we were good looking, but politely continually declined as we really just enjoyed people watching! I will say that the Costa Rican men are super relentless, they asked me to dance over and over again, literally at least 10 times, they just don’t give up! Sunday I went on a canopy tour with my friends from San Jose which was amazing! I absolutely loved being up so high and just giving up control and flying through the trees. It was truly and unforgettable experience. One sad thing that happened this weekend was our friend Sarah from Minnesota was surfing on huge wave and the surfboard came out from under her and hit her right on the side of her face and ear area and currently she is deaf in her right ear. She went to the hospital and it was determined that she return to the US to possibly have surgery. We were so sad to have to say goodbye to her early but happy that we can see her in Minnesota!!! Tuesday was Sarah’s last night so we went out to Bambujam, a club with live music and dancing. What a blast! Our drink of choice for the night was Coca Cola’s and Sarah and I danced the night away with some Tico boys. Usually Laura and I don’t go out on school nights but we made an exception for Sarah. Today I registered for summer classes which was really odd for me, to realize that I have to go back to MN! How weird!!! Today we have an oral presentation to prepare for and plan on making chocolate chip cookies tonight for our teacher and our host family. Only a little over 2 weeks till I’m back in the states!!!!

Terremoto!!!!!

Seriously, its so freakin hot here! Some days I really do count the days till I get to go back to san Jose where the weather is tolerable. Today an interesting thing occurred. Laura and I were sitting in class discussing the earthquake that Costa Rica had in January and the destruction it caused and the difference between an earthquake¨ Terremoto¨ and more of an earth shake or Temblor and blah blah blah, when all of a sudden we felt the earth shake!!!!! Not even joking! It wasn´t like a full on earthquake for us, but we could definately feel the earth moving and feel the table and chairs moving beneath us. It was the weirdest thing I think I have ever felt. It lasted for about 15 seconds and was over. In the area I´m staying in there wasn´t any damage but further south in Costa Rica in the city of Golphito it looks like there was quite a bit of damage, I don´t know if anyone was injured or killed but from the looks of it they had an EARTHQUAKE!!! Thats really all I have for you! I´m loving costa rica but counting the days till I come home as I´m missing some vital events in my families life, like.... Lovey´s Dance show! I´m so bummed about that! Love u all!!! ps. cluck has begun to have a good time too!!!

Just Livin the Dream.....

So this week has been a blast!!! The Family Laura Nannies for, arrived in Costa Rica on Tuesday. The Family has 3 kids, Maddie 8, Maya 6 and Matteo 6 months. So Tuesday Laura and I met up with them, had lunch at a super nice restaurant across from the beach and moved our stuff into their rental house. This house if BEAUTIFUL!!! It has 3 bedrooms in the main house, each with its own bathroom, a living room upstairs with a pull out sofa, a living room downstairs, a pool and a side apartment where laura and I have been staying for the week. Oh and it has AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!! I must say they couldn't have come at a better time. So they came tuesday after our classes, Wednesday was kind of a lazy day, we went swimming in the pool, and ate dinner at another nice restaurant called Mar Luna, this restaurant is right at the top of the hill and has an amazing view of the sunset! Thursday the family wanted to take Laura on a special trip so I volunteered to watch Matteo, while they toured the National Park and went on a Sunset boat ride! Today, Laura and I have school and then we're watching Matteo while the family goes on a canopy tour. Laura and I are planning our own canopy tour in the next week or so. Saturday Laura and I are taking the girls Horseback riding, which should be a blast! And then Sunday we move back into our Host families house! We finish our first class at the new school here today which is wonderful because our teacher is kinda slow with lessons and such!

Manuel Antonio!!!!!

Hey Guys! So it’s so super hot here and I’m dying!!!!! I usually enjoy the heat and the beach, but today was a no go…. All I wanted to do was stop sweating, which of course isn’t possible. Just sitting and talking online with a fan blowing on me, I was still sweating, even just sitting still! And I have noticed that the hotter I get, the crabbier I get also. Not really crabby, maybe just more irritated with people and dumb stuff. Needless to say I either need a nice cold shower or just really need to work on changing my attitude because I’m beginning to get upset over really little things. I think it would be sweet if it were snowing here even for one day, which would be pretty awesome, I think I would appreciate the heat a lot more, but today I’m crabby! It also doesn’t help that I have a 3 foot bubble that I don’t enjoy people entering and here in Costa Rica there is absolutely no such thing as personal space. People are all up in your personal space. I think if it weren’t so freaking hot I wouldn’t mind it as much, but when I’m sweating from every crevice of my body, the last thing I want is someone standing an inch away for me or touching my arm. Get The Freak OFF!!!!! Anyways this weekend was pretty uneventful. Just chilled around the house and hit the beach. I look forward to this week though, as the family Laura nannies for is coming to visit on Tuesday and her sister is coming on Thursday so it should be nice to hang out with them and hopefully stay in an air conditioned house! I have given up on getting ready for any activity. I wash my hair but never straighten it and haven’t worn makeup since I got here. There really is no point at all! As for school, this week I have an in class composition on art to do on Wednesday and an oral presentation to give on eating disorders on Thursday. So this week should be pretty busy. I have officially been here for 7 weeks and have 5 more weeks until I’m back in Minnesota! Crazy to think of, the time has been going by so quickly and slowly all at the same time. Miss you all!!!

¿Que Tal Mae?

Hey Guys!!! Sorry I haven´t written in like forever!!! But I will take this time to recap a lil bit about the things that have been going on! Well Last week Laura and I finished our last week of classes in San Jose, it was super hard and some days I just got so frustrated that I kinda gave up, luckily I did make it through the week, and came out with a B in the class!!! Now a B isn´t an A but for how hard this class was and how much I disliked the teacher and her criticizing remarks, I am thrilled with a B! So to celebrate our last week, at least for a while, in San Jose, a group of students and a couple of workers from the school went out dancing. We went to this little village looking area called El Pueblo, where there were like 12 different dance clubs with different music in each one. What a blast!!!!! It was so great to just let loose and dance with my friends! Saturday came around and my host family went to an ocean town, but I was too tired so I stayed home for a lazy day with Laura. We started out the morning with me making egg sandwiches and cutting up fruit for breakfast, then we sat around watching ¨Big Fish¨ with spanish subtitles of course, later we decided we were starving so we went to the corner store and picked up Costa Rican style Macarroni and Cheese and hot dogs!!!! The mac and cheese was amazing, sooo good, but the hot dogs were super disgusting! I don´t think I will ever again buy hotdogs in costa rica unless they´re oscar mayer´s. After our dinner at my house, we headed to Laura´s where she packed for Manuel Antonio for about 2 hours. Crazy I know!!! Sunday we had to wake up early and my papatico Carlos took us to the holiday inn where we caught our bus to Manuel Antonio!!! With all the crazy busses we had been on to and from different destinations, we decided that with all our luggage and everything to opt for a Private bus, which also cuts down the time of travel about 2 hours. We arrived late in Manuel Antonio, which sucked because our new Mamatica was waiting for us for about an hour. After we got all settled into our new rooms, we took a little tour of the beach and the city with our host mom and host brother Carlos, 14. Later that night we had dinner, family style, and that´s where Laura and I realized what a great situation we had been put into. Our Mamatica is an AMAZING cook!!!!! Everything she has made us has been fabulous! I know once I get back home I will miss her cooking sooo much. Anyways the rest of the week was pretty uneventful, we met a bunch of new students Matt from London, Shawn from South Carolina,Rafael from Switzerland,Megan from Colorado and Sarah from Minnesota State University Mankato!!! Learned a 2 new verb tenses in spanish, went to an event with the bulls where everyone is in the arena and tries to run from the angry bull, I watched but did not participate. The weather here is amazing! Most days its in the upper 90´s or 100´s and usually its not too bad, but today i´m dying! The weather is sooo hot! So needess to say I´m going to the beach today! Oh yeah that´s right, I´ve been here for 7 days, and have been to the beach 7 times! Every day since i´ve been here I´ve been to the beach, it´s pretty amazing, I love it!!! Well I will try to get some pictures up soon, and try to write more frequently but it is a little difficult i´m just soooo busy with the beach! Love you all!!!

Santa Ana!!!

So i have come to the realization that I really only have time to blog about once or twice a week. I will try to work on getting better about this! Today Laura and I discovered that because our classes run for 2 weeks, we are headed for Beautiful Manuel Antonio this SUNDAY!!!! Which is a week or two, not sure, earlier than we had originally planned, so needless to say we're freaking out just a little bit! This week was pretty fun! Being that it was Valentine's Day on wednesday we had a "Dia de Amistad" or friendship day party. For this party Laura, Kathrin (a girl from switzerland) and I made Flan. It was super tasty! Never have I made or tried it before but it turned out really well. Our party consisted of food, valentines cards, music and some of the students had to present on the history of Valentine's Day. Friday Laura and I traveled about a half hour away to meet up with our friend Agnetta, who we met through another friend Kristine in Tamarindo last weekend. We met up with her at a mall near her house and then traveled back to San Jose where we went to a club, yes I know this sounds bad but it's what people do here... So we went to a club, where I proceded to be a good girl and didn't really drink anything... This club was probably the coolest I have seen in Costa Rica, the music was great, the people were all costa ricans, and there were beds with 4 posts and everything in the outside patio area of the club! it was super cool! Agnetta slept over at my house in our spare bedroom and in the morning, saturday, we ate breakfast with my host family, which was pretty fun. Agnetta knows very very little spanish so it was funny to watch how both her and my host family reacted to them only speaking spanish and her speaking minimal spanish. Pretty Funny to be apart of. After breakfast my host mom's daughter Carolina came over with her brand new baby girl Amanda who is only 5 days old!!! Being that I love babies I was ecstatic!!! SO CUTE!!!! Saturday afternoon we went to our nearby mall and hung out at laura's house.... Our plan for valentine's day originally was to chill in San jose, watch movies, eat cookies and pizza. Well last minute we changed our idea... we decided we wanted to continue hanging out with Agnetta so we traveled to her house that she lives in with her mother. THis house is gorgeous!!! it looks like a hotel! So needless to say we had a good time. Her mother is also amazing and it seems like everytime we blinked there was new food brought out for us. It was great! So while at her house, we watched movies, went to the market, sat by the pool reading magazines, and eventually did end up ordering pizza. It was the best valentine's day ever!!!! This week should be interesting, being that we're leaving for Manuel Antonio on Sunday... Tomorrow i'm making wild rice cassarole for my host family and laura was invited also so she's making an apple pie. Should be pretty tasty! Also Laura and I have been anxiously awaiting the movie "He's just not that into you" and it came out here on friday so we're hopefully going to see that this week. Add in our oral presentation, compositions and final exams and we have a full week!!!!! Miss you all!!!! much love Ash