Page 2 of Matt R Clevenger Travel Blog Posts


Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia October 9th 2010

English after the Spanish... Hace un mes, salí de Seattle para Costa Rica. Mucho ha ocurrido en este mes y lo he escrito sobre la mayoría. Los hábitos que han sido más difíciles de adaptar son la comida, el horario, e higiene. Arroz y frijoles son tan populares que cuando regreso a Seattle, nunca querré comerlos otra vez. Hoy dormí hasta ocho y media de la mañana. Más tarde que he dormido desde que me fui de Tamarindo. En lo que respecta a higiene, hay dos aspectos muy difíciles para mí: la falta de agua caliente, y lo que se hace con papel higiénico. Es raro que una casa tenga agua caliente. La mayoría de las duchas tienen un aparato conectado que calienta el agua con electricidad. El problema es que hay solo un nivel de ... read more
Downtown San Jose
Big Shopping Street
National Museum

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Limón » Cahuita October 4th 2010

Lo siento pero no quiero escribir en español hoy. Fue un fin de semana con mucho español y quiero hablar un poco de inglés. Saturday I had to get up at 4:30 am to get ready for our trip to Cahuita. We had a 6 am bus departing from downtown San Jose so we had a shuttle pick us up around 5 am. There were 10 of us on the trip which made it very fun (and a little difficult at times). After a brief argument with the bus driver I snuck my bag onboard (he wanted me to put it under, but with what I have heard about the buses in Costa Rica there was no way I was going to allow this!) and was able to stuff it into the overhead compartment much to ... read more
Where I live
Downtown Cahuita
Our room

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Heredia September 30th 2010

Primero español y luego ingles (first Spanish and then English) Esta semana: Esta semana fue mi primera semana en Santo Domingo de Heredia, y también fue mi primera semana con una familia de acogida. Dos diferencias grandes para mí. Primero, estar en Santo Domingo es un gran cambio de Tamarindo y Monteverde. Aquí, hay mucha más gente y también hay más crimen y menos seguridad. Es una estila de vida completamente diferente del resto de la país. Las casas son más grandes, hay tráfico, y también hay dinero. He visto por lo menos, diez, BMWs nuevos. También las Mercedes y Porsche. ¡Mi familia de acogida tiene un Xbox 360! San José tiene personas con dinero, pero también hay pobres. Tengo mi propio cuarto con una pequeña cama, escritorio, y combinación de tocador y estantes para mi ... read more


Once again there will be an English version after the Spanish! Don't fret. Tengo mucho escribir. Hoy, el domingo, fue un día ocupada. Salí de Monteverde a las ocho de la mañana y encontré la familia que voy a vivir con por las próximas dos semanas. Y no pude dormir anoche porqué tuve miedo que voy a perder mi paseo de Monteverde a San José. Pero antes de hablo sobre hoy, necesito escribir sobre miércoles, jueves, viernes y sábado, 4 días en Monteverde. Miércoles: No recuerdo mucho de miércoles. Tuve clases y después de clase, pudimos cocinar almuerzo con la cocinera de la escuela. No recuerdo que se llama el plato pero fue delicioso y tuvo arroz, carne (estofado), ensalada, y plátanos fritos. Creo que después de este, regresé a casa e hice nada excepto mi ... read more
My Canopy mates, 2 Aussies and a Swiss
You get a bit dirty
It is a bit scary when you don't know where you are going


Disclaimer: The Spanish may not be correct but I tried hard! After the Spanish is a more detailed account in English of the past 4 days! Enjoy. Hint: You can enlarge the photos! I suggest doing this with the ones of the monkeys so you can actually see them! Tengo mucho para escribir y no tengo mucho tiempo. Después de escribiendo mi blog, necesito hacer mi tarea y ya son las nueve y media de la noche. Clase empiece a las ocho de la mañana y si quiero comer, necesito levantarme a las seis y media de la mañana por lo menos. Han sido cuatro días desde la última vez que escribió por mi blog. Tengo que hablar sobre sábado, domingo, lunes, y hoy, martes. Primero sábado. Sábado miré el partido de fútbol americano de los ... read more
she salted everything!
Adios Amigos
So beautiful

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tamarindo September 18th 2010

Friday September 17, 2010: It is Friday! I’m on my 20 minutes break between grammar and language practice right now, and I don’t normally spend it on the computer but I am in such a good mood after talking with my grammar professor that I had to get my thoughts down on paper. My professor L.G. used to teach at the school I will be spending a month at (CPI in Playa Flamingo) and informed me that it has a much bigger facility, a pool, and a very great staff. She named 3 or 4 other teachers here at my school in Tamarindo that used to work at CPI. It struck me as odd that they would all leave if it were such a good school, but then again they also live in Villareal which is ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste September 17th 2010

Lots of new photos up, go check them out!... read more

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tamarindo September 17th 2010

Thursday September 16th: After a lousy night’s sleep (the rest of the group decided to go swim last night and I said no way José, I need my sleep yet I was awoken during their 4 am return) I had class at 8 and spent my break running into town to get my shuttle to Monteverde straightened out. Thanks to Michelle at CR Paradise for having it all ready for me when I got there! After break was language practice which consisted of conversing with my professor Marietta about how she spent her day off, and the gossip of her and her friends. Apparently one of her friends is in the middle of a love triangle of sorts and has two boyfriends, one for the day and one at night, whom she lives with and who ... read more
Mi Amiga Pilar
Fishing
The Groom having some fun

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tamarindo September 16th 2010

Wednesday September 15, 2010: Today was independence day as I noted earlier, however I didn’t do much to experience the parades and parties I fantasized about. Getting to Villareal by 8 am was not practical and instead I utilized the day to sleep in until 10 am and relax on the beach with my fellow students. After a nice (but fairly expensive) breakfast with 3 of the German students at an Italian café, I watched a half of the Real Madrid game and then went to the travel agency to book myself on a catamaran cruise tomorrow afternoon, and to order my shuttle for Sunday’s trip to Monteverde. After that it was off to the beach for 4 hours of sun and fun. We played volleyball for the majority of the time, with a few breaks ... read more
Golden Monkey
The leftovers
The fruits of our labor

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tamarindo September 15th 2010

Monday night and Tuesday: Monday night was very interesting to say the least. After the US Open was delayed for rain again, we went to the pescador, a little restaurant on the beach, for our welcome drink. Since there are only a few students here now, we all went (but only us news ones got a free drink!). There are currently 8 students and 2 interns, and one of the intern’s friends. 11 people, 8 of whom take class regularly. A month (or two) ago, the school had 80 students a week! Wow, it really is low season. Back to the evening, we had our welcome drink, got a pitch from the lady who runs the local travel agency, and ate some chips and guac. Then my friend Dustin and I headed to Sharky’s (the sports ... read more
Parade
One big grasshopper
Sounders Game!




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