Gourmet Mac & Cheese

OKAYYYY so I have been super busy but I'll start giving y'all more updates.

Saturday
So after the coffee we were supposed to go to dinner but we weren't hungry like at all but we each had $10 for dinner.  So we went to the supermercado and bought mac & cheese, ice cream, and jello.  So we had an $8 dinner for all of us and saved $22.  Then we went back to the hotel, cooked a gourmet mac & cheese dinner and hot tubbed all night.  It was pretty fun and it was the one night we stayed up the latest.  

This is Turrialba - the volcano in the city.

Sunday
We went rafting!!  It was sooo fun!  And our instructor was super nice.  He's trying to start a new rafting company for deaf kids and families.  His son is 5 and learning sign language.  It's really cool.  After rafting he invited us to go to a barbecue at his house and meet his son and girlfriend.  We wanted to go so badly but we were soo exhausted and by the time we woke up it from our nap we were too late.  So we just went to Maracuya again but this time it I felt really bad for our server.  Our bill was $24 and we gave him two 20s but then we decided to give him 5000 colones - which is equal to $10.  But then when he came back so we could figure out the best way to pay he only gave us our 20s.  So we were trying to talk to him about how that was wrong but he didn't speak english and I felt really bad.  But then this girl came up and translated for us and our server came over and was like oh I'm sorry I didn't understand you.  I felt really bad for him but that's one of those experiences where you really can see the language barrier and I can't imagine how scared and on the spot he must have felt.

Monday
We went to the schools today and taught the high schoolers - 15 year olds.  It was their English class and they were learning passive phrases - like John WAS EATING spaghetti.  And it was really hard just being sat in front of kids without a lesson plan or anything and they're just staring at you waiting for you to start.  It was really hard because they pretty much knew exactly what they were talking about and knew it better than I did so it made it really hard to keep going when it's so boring.  But this school had pre-k, elementary, and high school and it was right across from the university, so all of school is just right there. 

After that school we went to where Paula used to work and where Aurora was for a little bit.  I honestly didn't like it because it was like it's own little town.  There was literally a gate you had to get through to get in and Costa Ricans weren't welcome.  When Paula applied to work there she literally told them she was bilingual and from America and she got the job.  I just feel like if you're going to such a prestige school with people who aren't Costa Rican, then why pay for such an expensive school outside of the US.  There were houses and literally their own emergency phone line.  It had everything but a grocery store.  It felt very excluded from the world.  Even when you're walking through it, it didn't have the Costa Rican vibe - as in the "Hola" with a bright smile niceness you see everywhere around here.  But the people that paula knew and that we met seemed really sweet and nice it was just very different from everything I'm used to.  But one thing I've learned during this trip is:

Different is not better or worse,

it's just different.

But anyways the school is named  CATIE which stands for something but I don't remember what.  They had elementary school, middle school, high school, and I'm almost positive a university too. 

After the school we went to dinner at the same place me, Matt, Lauren, and Kara went the first night - Nazca, but this time we actually got food!  It was pretty decent, I got Nachos Nazca but the pico de gallo was sweet which was not what I had expected.  But Aurora's best friend from when she lived here came to dinner with us with her family so I'm sure it was nice for Aurora and Paula to be able to see all of their former friends and colleagues again. 

After that we went back to the hotel and took a group picture - but as we were taking it a bat flew out of the tree.  It was sooo cool!! He had no idea where he was flying though so it looked like we were about to get pegged in the face by a bat. 

Tuesday

We drove back to San Luis which was a really long drive.  Kara found out that she's allergic to dramamine - however you spell it.  So she was itchy the whole way back and Aurora was putting ice all over her.  Lauren didn't feel all that great and I was feeling so claustrophobic from all of the humidity from where we had lunch - so in all it was a really long, uncomforable, bumpy, whindy ride.

Wednesday



Gorgeous view - you can see the ocean from here

We mainly just worked and had class all day.  But after all of that and after dinner we helped the kitchen clean the dining room!  So we cleaned all the tables, swept the floor, then mopped!  It was actually really fun too!  We had Spanish music playing the whole time so I got to dance while mopping the floor like in all the cliche movies.

Thursday



There's a double rainbow if you can see it

We went to Santa Elena and to the lookout!  It's soo freaking beautiful here!!  I just know that when I get back home I'm gonna be like really... this is all we got?  A lot of people are amazed by all of the trees we have and everything in Georgia but it is soo much prettier when every tree doesn't look the exact same.  After the lookout we went back to the bungalow for a little then walked to the river!  The walk there wasn't that bad - aside from the fact that I really had to pee.  But once we got to the river I couldn't hold it any longer and just hid behind an umbrella and squatted on the side of the road - luckily no one came by on their four wheeler :p  But it was really pretty!  Also on the way there, there was a wild cow on the road and Lauren really wanted to pet it.  But once she got close to him her ran right into a barbed wire fence and broke it.  So Franciny - one of the students from the English camp who came with is - went and lassoed the cow out of the other person's yard while Paula and Lauren fixed the bvroken gate.  It was hilarious!!  But one of the best parts would definitely have to be the gorgeous rainbows we saw.  They were soo perfect!  We also saw two full double rainbows!! 

After all of this, we had a party for all of the homestay families which really wasn't a party, more like a get together that was trying to become a party but failed.  I did get to see Laura and Elisa and Yeison (my brother).  So that was nice. 

Friday

So at the end of this course we have a synthesis paper due and we have to decide a topic.  I finally thought of one - culture as an image - like how does the city look different, how do people dress differently, etc.  So it's basically like if you took someone who didn't know any Spanish - my mom for example - and stuck them in Costa Rica, how would they find everything different?  So I went to my homestay house and interviewed my mom a little for it but it didn't really help.  One of the main things that she found different was that her former students brushed their teeth after breakfast instead of before. 

But I need to go work on my synthesis paper!  And I know it sounds like it's been all fun and games here but trust me there has been a lot of work and a lot of readings but I am just leaving out the boring bits.