Hasta Luego San Jose!

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Today was my last day of school! I won't miss it that much. I can definitely say I am a fan of education outside desks and a classroom. It’s weird how fast time goes by. It doesn’t seem like I have been at my homestay for three weeks! I am sad to leave but also really excited for break! And to get out of San Jose – not the best city to visit.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before, but I can show all of you where I live(d) and go(went) to school! Here is the link to the google maps for my house: https://maps.google.co.cr/maps/ms?msid=217573190594832094291.0004b385864e86c0aca33&msa=0&ll=9.928271,-84.031677&spn=0.183632,0.338173

The actual address is: Santa Marta, Bo. Ma. Auxiliadora, del Convento de Monjas suroeste, csa. #90C. I have no idea what it means. It’s hard to get an idea of what the city is really like by looking at a map, but it is still cool to see. I looked at the city before I came on googlemaps (remember Pa?) and was surprised by how different my expectations were from what the city is actually like. Here is the link to the google map for my school, called CRLA or Costa Rican Language Academy: https://maps.google.co.cr/maps/ms?msid=217573190594832094291.0004b385864e86c0aca33&msa=0&ll=9.935254,-84.058706&spn=0.001435,0.002642

The actual address is: San Pedro, Barrio Dent from Autos Subaru 300 meters north and 75 meters west. Except the Subaru Car Business doesn’t exist anymore, so unless you have lived in San Jose and know where the Subaru <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">used to be, you won’t have idea where the address is.

A couple nights ago, the 23^rd, around 7pm there was another earthquake! That makes three total that I have felt since being in Costa Rica. It was about a 6.6 and they saw it was an aftershock of the one in September. Apparently they are still anticipating a big one, but I don’t know how much bigger you can get. We are quite a ways away from where the epicenter was and it shook A LOT. Nothing fell thankfully, but it lasted for a long time – like 30 seconds! We were eating dinner when it happened. At first I didn’t realize what was going on, and felt kind of dizzy (like last time). Then I realized my head wasn’t spinning but the floor was actually moving. My host mom got a little scared and quickly walked out to the front yard.

Yesterday we had our final exam at school. It was not too bad at all. I think my Spanish has gotten a lot better since when I first started. I still struggle the most with speaking, but I always understand the majority when people speak. I hope I can keep using it the rest of my time here. Since today was our last day we took a tour of San Jose with our teacher. We walked the whole time, and on the way we passed a big government building with hundreds of people waiting outside. They were all immigrants, mostly Nicaraguan, trying to get their papers and become citizens here in Costa Rica. Crazy that two countries so close geographically can have such different economic and social situations. We visited the National Museum, which was really neat. A lot of art from indigenous tribes, reminded me a little of the De Young. Also some history. After that, we visited the Artisan Mercado, which is basically just a ton of people selling clothes, jewelry, and random Costa Rican souvenirs. A big tourist attraction. It reminded me a little of the place we visited our last day in South Carolina. Then we went to the food Mercado and ate a traditional Costa Rican lunch. The portions were HUGE so my friend and I decided to split one plate. For how much food we got it was incredibly cheap.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our Midterm break, so a couple friends and I leave for Tamarindo in the morning. We are planning on staying there a couple days and then moving north and east to Arenal, the volcano. After spending another couple days there, we’ll head over to the Pacific side to a place called Puerto Viejo and finish our break there. My friend will have her computer with her so hopefully I will have access to the internet the whole time! I’ll try to update the blog a couple times because I am sure I will have a ton to write and a ton of pictures to post (I’m getting my camera back tomorrow!).

One more thing. I came home from school today and noticed that my host mom had put up all the Christmas decorations. I counted – it’s 61 days early. If you think that places and people in the U.S. start celebrating too early, it is nothing compared to here. Apparently the entire month of December is a big celebration.

More soon!

Kelsey

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Comments

[grammy maggi]

school break
Hi Sweetie...I can't believe you had another earthquake, it's worse there than in LA. You have so much traveling scheduled for your vacation. You are really "taking in the sights" Please continue to be careful, especially when traveling. College kids are often the victims of scams, theft etc. Watch out for the "gypsies" of Costa Rica. We will be following you on Google...it all sounds wonderful. Also happy you will have a camera again. Tomorrow Pa & I are going to the beach & out to lunch somewhere w/your family inc. Summer in honor of Ashley's b-day....we will miss you & be thinking of you. We watched the SF Giants beat the Detroit Tigers tonite in game 3 (2-0) in Detroit. Next game tomorrow Sun. If the Giants win they will be Nat'l Champs. Yahoo !!! Now I'm into baseball.xo