Blogs from San Pedro, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Hi, I'm Ivana and I love traveling, surprised? Naah I wouldn't think so. Anyway, I am currently in Central America, specifically Costa Rica. I've been here since September 2013, trying to learn Spanish, trying to do a good internship, trying to enjoy this country. The latter has definately been the easiest (and most exciting). I just found this place which made me happy (and feel stupid at the same time. Why haven't I found this earlier!?) As stated above, I've been a residence of Cost Rica since september and even though San Jose is a superbooooring city, the rest of the country is beautiful! So much nature and beauty, wow. My fav place is Rio Celeste, it's pure magic. The beaches are nice but I am not amazed by them, there are by far more beautiful ... read more

After such a smooth travel day, things got a little “shakier” on my first night. There was an earthquake! I was so tired that, although I woke up, I convinced myself that I was dreaming. It wasn’t until the morning that I learned that there was quite a large earthquake (magnitude 5.6, whatever that means) on the border of Costa Rica and Panama. For me, this was very remarkable, as I have only experienced one before, but for my host family it was much less remarkable. However, it did give us something to talk about over the rice and beans, cheese, mango, papaya, and pineapple of our breakfast. The earthquake also provided excellent ice-breaking material on my first day of language school. After small talk and coffee, I had a verbal test to assess my level ... read more

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: url=https://maps.google.co.cr/maps/ms?msid=217573190594832094291.0004b385864e86c0aca33&msa=0&ll=9.928271,-84.031677&spn=0.183632,0.338173https://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. ... read more

Well I have my first real weekend starting tomorrow! I am off to Manuel Antonio National Park with about 12 other people from the OTS group. I’m a little bummed because initially I wanted to go to Tamarindo, a beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula in the northwest. But, this morning there was an earthquake there, and they are apparently anticipating aftershocks. So the school didn’t want us to go. I didn’t feel the earthquake this morning but other people in the house did. Today in class we learned about some problems that Costa Rica has, a major one being traffic. I learned that certain cars, for example with license plates that end in a 2 or 3, can’t drive between 6am and 8am during the week to San Jose. I’m not sure if this is ... read more

Well the kids in my host family warmed up to me fairly quickly. They were shy at first and then Mariana, the 4 year old, saw me working on my computer and asked me if I had any “juegos” (games). After that it was like I was babysitting. We played in their playroom where they have tons of toys, and lots of dinosaur figurines. All the boys love “dinosaurios”. I really like having kids around because sometimes they are easier to talk to in Spanish than the adults! Also the water is out here for most of the day L Mayra, my host mom, said that almost a million people have been affected by the construction they are doing on the pipes. Yikes. But it should be all fixed by Monday. Woke up today with all ... read more