Manuel Antonio

I spent this past weekend with some friends in Manuel Antonio, which is about a 4 hour bus ride from San José, and it was great! We stayed at Pura Vida MINI Hostel so we were close to Quepos and took the public bus to Manuel Antonio to go to the beach. On Friday, we checked into our hostel and then went straight to the public beach. It was a good thing we did because after we had been there for a little while it started to rain! It was kind of cool to be on the beach and see the lightning and hear the thunder in the distance. We gathered up our stuff and went back to the hostel to cook dinner and relax for the rest of the evening. 

On Saturday, we got up early and went zip lining. It was AMAZING! We took a shuttle to a spot where they got us set up with the equipment we needed, then took the shuttle deeper into the trees to the spot where the first zip line was. There were 19 platforms and 11 zip lines, and they were each amazing! One of them was the longest zip line in Costa Rica, and then the last one was so fast they said you can get up to like 55 mph! I even went upside down on one of them, which was kind of scary but awesome. The guides were really funny and nice, and so were the other people on the tour. After zip lining we went back to the place where they gave us the equipment and they made us a traditional Costa Rican lunch of chicken, rice, beans, and maduros (friend plantains). It was delicious! Oh and I ran into a guy wearing a Seahawks shirt who was going on the next tour so I asked him if he was from Seattle and he said he was so we chatted a little about that. Small world! :)

After zip lining we went to Manuel Antonio National Park where you have to pay $10 to get in but it's definitely worth it. The beach we went to was beautiful! There were monkeys jumping around in the trees and pelicans flying over the water, and the water was warm and perfect for swimming. We hung out there for the afternoon before heading back toward Quepos and stopping at El Avión for dinner. It's a restaurant that has an airplane built into it, so you walk under the wings to go in, through the body of the airplane to go to the bar, and they send food up to the waiters in a fuselage. The view was the best part because the restaurant is high up above the water and on the edge of a cliff so all you can see is the forest and the ocean.

I can't believe this is my last week in Costa Rica! I don't want to leave!

Guanacaste

I just got home from an amazing weekend at the beach in Guanacaste. My friends and I left Friday morning at 8 and got to Brasilito (a small beach town in Guanacaste) at around 2 PM. We went to the room to drop off our stuff before heading to lunch, and saw monkeys in the trees outside of our windows!

We stayed two nights and pretty much just spent the whole weekend relaxing at Playa Brasilito and Playa Conchal. Conchal is covered in tiny seashells and has really clear and calm water, so it was great for swimming and watching the sunsets. We were usually the only people on the beach at Brasilito, so it was a great way to get away from the noise of the city and enjoy some of the beauty Costa Rica has to offer.

Welcome to Costa Rica!

¡Hola! I've been in Costa Rica for a couple of weeks now and it has been wonderful! I arrived on Thursday, June 19th and spent a week traveling with my friend, Sarah, from home. We stayed in San José for a few nights and spent four nights in Cahuita at the beach on the Caribbean side. In San José we went to a bar to see Costa Rica beat Italy in the World Cup, and the reaction of the ticos (Costa Ricans) was incredible! Everyone went wild with excitement and partied all day and night. In Cahuita, we were able to do a canoe tour and visit the sloth sanctuary, and even went zip lining! It was amazing.

My program through MLSA at the University of Costa Rica in San José started on Thursday, June 26th. I met my host family in the morning and each of my housemates as they arrived throughout the day. I'm living with a Costa Rican couple whose children are grown and out of the house, and there are three other girls from the U.S. and two German guys. Everyone is really nice and my host family has been nothing but kind and welcoming from the moment we met. We each have our own room, which is nice, and are provided with breakfast and dinner each day and three meals on the weekends. Costa Rican food is delicious! A typical meal consists of some sort of meat with rice, beans, salad, and "maduros" (fried plantains). They have "sodas" everywhere which are little restaurants where you can get a meal like that with a drink and it costs around 2,500-3,000 colones, so around five dollars. The exchange rate right now is around 550 colones per dollar, and things seem to cost pretty much the same as they would cost in the U.S.

Our first couple of days were spent touring the university, meeting other students in the program, and attending orientations to help prepare us for the program and for living in Costa Rica for the month. One thing I've had to get used to is using "usted" (the formal "you") with everyone instead of choosing between "tú" (the informal "you") or "usted" depending on who you're talking to. It felt very formal at first to use "usted" all the time but now I've pretty much gotten used to it. The climate has also been an adjustment for me coming from western Washington because it's definitely hotter and more humid here, but in general it hasn't been too bad and definitely more comfortable than a lot of places I could be in July! It's the rainy season so it often rains in the afternoons, but for the most part it's pretty nice for most of the day. Ticos in general have been super nice and welcoming, and so far my experience with Costa Rican culture has been great!

I'm taking two graduate level classes that are taught in Spanish by Costa Rican professors from the university, but where all of my classmates are from the U.S. The first class is from 8:00-10:20 and the second class goes from 10:35-12:50. I'm taking a class on techniques in teaching Spanish and one on Spanish linguistics. There are eight students in my techniques class and only five in my linguistics class, so you really get to know your classmates and your professors. My first class (Técnicas) so far has focused on different methods for teaching a foreign language, and we have readings to learn about the theory and homework such as preparing a lesson to teach to the class for this Thursday. My second class (Lingüística) has focused on learning the theory behind Spanish linguistics and the phonology and phonetics related to the Spanish of the Americas and of Spain. I love it! It's so interesting and the professor is really knowledgeable so we end up having interesting class discussions and I'm learning a lot. The campus is really beautiful, and it's just nice to get to use my Spanish all day and to be surrounded by people who are passionate about Spanish like me. I already know I will be sad to leave Costa Rica!

Here are some photos of the University of Costa Rica campus:

I'm going to Costa Rica!

Guess what!

I just found out that I won the 2014 National Spanish Exam Teacher Study Abroad Scholarship, and I'm going to Costa Rica!!!  :-)

This is going to be such an amazing experience and I can't believe that I get to be a part of it. I can't wait! I'm going to be attending the Universidad de Costa Rica for the month of July. I'm still signing up for classes so I'm not sure what I'll end up being able to take, but it looks like there are lots of interesting classes offered like how to teach Spanish as a second language and a class on Spanish linguistics.

I will also be living with a host family which is really exciting to me because I will be able to have an inside look at what life in Costa Rica is really like. I've never been to Costa Rica so I have a lot to learn in the next few months while getting ready for the program, and I'm sure there will be lots of new adventures and experiences while I'm there.

I feel so lucky to be given this opportunity to improve my language skills and cultural awareness, to collaborate with others in my field, and to share this experience with my students when I return.

Let the adventure begin!

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During the 2013-2014 academic year, I am a teacher at Mount Rainier Lutheran High School where I teach all of our Spanish classes which include Spanish I, Spanish II, and Spanish III this year. I also teach English for our international students and Economics. This year I have a total of 44 students.

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