Blogs from Alajuela, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Hola! So it has been quite a journey so far... An 18 hour flight with a half way stop in Dakar, Senegal. And although I was worried my past few business class trips were going to make this one stupendously eina - it really wasn´t that bad... I sat next to a very sweet, highly talkative girl who asked me everything: what movie we were watching, whether she would miss her connecting flight, how to fill out her form, whether her handwriting was legible or if she should do it again, and then repeat the questions all over again!!! But I managed to get in a few hours sleep. JFK was a lot smaller than expected, and I got an early morning coffe in at Grand Central where the bus stopped on the way to Newark ... read more

Yeah Playa Tamarindo!! I just returned from one of the most relaxing weekends at one of the most pristine and goregous beaches in Costa Rica. Sounds like paradise right? Yep, it sure was, but believe it or not I found myself calling it my “American” weekend! Complete with 5 star hotels, A/C Shopping Strip Malls with fancy boutiques, fast food chains and high rise condos, Tamarindo looks more American. Yet, walking down the muddy dirt road, with dirty shoes and shorts, after the afternoon downpour of rain I quickly remembered I was still in CR. Gotta love public transportation... here is the scenario on Friday: leave school at 12noon, take a bus to Alajuela after waiting for ½ hour, catch the next bus to San Jose - thankfully which leave every 15 minutes, buy tickets for ... read more

Hola Amigos! Happy Fall to those in “the states”! I bet the leaves are definitely turning shades of red and orange and the sun is setting a bit earlier everyday too, nearing towards the dreaded winter months ahead... it will be quite the shock as I step off of the plane in December because in just 6 short hours I will go from a beautiful summer day in Costa Rica to the chilly Chicago wind...nevertheless I am actually leaving Costa Rica this weekend! This week flew by, as I had school everyday and many things to prepare for my upcoming week. First of all, I am going to Granada, Nicaragua this weekend! All of the students from NCC are going with and we leave bright and early on Saturday morning. Because we were not required to ... read more

Hey Eveyone! Hope the beginning of October is treating everyone great! Im sure the weather is starting to tun colder and the leaves are beginning to fall, but here I am in the middle of the Rainy Season aka winter! Basically that means that everyday its going to rain! It should start getting warmer and no rain in the middle to end of November and then December, January and February are goregous months! Anyways, tomorrow is Friday already and that means that I am half way done with my schooling at the Instiute now. I am studying at ICLC for 10 weeks and then doing a volunteer project for 4 weeks at a school. I am really excited to be helping out at the school! Tomorrow at school, we are making food! We always have our ... read more

We have been welcomed into the home of Juan and Gerarda Ramirez. Juan looks after us in our cabinas and Gerarda cooks all the meals. Their english is very poor but then that is ok as our spanish is even worse. It is a wonderful conversation of charades, sounds and brief pauses to look up the word in our dictionary. In the beginning it took longer but now our spanish is improving we are able to speak in short sentences. The tree is green. The apple is red. The banana is yellow....really important things to say. All fun. Juan and Gerarda have 3 sons, John, Leonardo, and Alijandro aged 16,14 and 12. As young men or boys they are more outgoing and sociable with the guests than you would believe of teenagers. Their english is better ... read more