What did you do this weekend???

Happy Monday!!  Today is my 10th day in Costa Rica and  already so much has happened!  It feels a little strange because at times it's like I just got here, and at other times, it's like I have been here forever.  I was talking with some of my friends here and I noticed how we've started talk about certain places like we know everything about it.  I definitely feel more comfortable getting around town and being a little more adventurous.  

This weekend consisted of a very full and diverse itinerary.  On Thursday, the student teachers from Westmont and ASU were invited to Director Bimrose's house for a fiesta.  All of our mentor teachers were there as well, which was very interesting.  When we got there, we were ushered outside to a huge table of food and drinks, including the best sangria ever!

After we spent some time eating and chatting with the teachers and some of the administration, live music arrived!  These guys were great!  They played a mix of traditional music and silly music, like the Tequila song...you know, the one where no one knows the words except the part when you shout TEQUILA!
Pretty soon, all of the teachers came up to sing us some traditional Costa Rican music.  Then the dancing began.  It's hard to picture something like this happening in California.  Where else can you drink Sangria and dance with the director and principle of your school??  Only here!  It was so much fun and was a great way to warm up to our mentor teachers!

On Saturday, all 13 of the student teachers decided to take a day trip to Isla Tortuga on the Pacific side of the country.  We had heard great things about Tortuga and decided to go see for ourselves what it was like.  The company that we booked the tour through sent vans to Moravia to pick us up, which was great since it would have taken much longer on the bus.  I've mentioned before how insane the driving is here, and this day was no exception.  We all piled into to vans which unfortunately had one row of backward facing seats (read: vomit row).  It was bad enough to have backward facing seats, but then we had a driver who was worse than most taxi drivers!  I think we spent more time on the wrong side of the road passing other cars than in the correct lane!  Luckily, I was able to focus on distant objects outside to keep from getting sick.  Others were not so fortunate:

Along the way, we got to see a little bit more of the beautiful country outside of the city.  There would be nothing for miles and then a little store like this one, all by itself.

We eventually made it to Jaco after about 2 hours of driving like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.  It was a million degrees warmer in Jaco than in San Jose.  I think we all started sweating the instant we got out of the car.  The beach was small, but nice.  From the beach, we got on a little water taxi that took us out about 300 yards to our "yacht" (according to the website) which was really just an open boat with seats.  Then we rode on that boat out to Tortuga Island.  

We went snorkeling and saw all kinds of cool things.  I saw starfish, oysters, sea cucumbers, tons of fish, and two puffer fish!  One was brown and had huge spikes all over its body.  You had to wear gloves to hold it.  The other was yellow and had teeny spikes that felt more like a buzzed hair cut.  He was so cute!  He looked like an angry fat man with abnormally small limbs. 

After snorkeling, we rode the boat to Tortuga where we had lunch and relaxed in the warm sun.  The island was so beautiful!  Some of us were joking that we were going to open an international school on the island so we can live there forever!

All in all, it was a wonderful day.  And this was the final image we were left with: (cue cheesy sunset music)

When the tour was done, we got back on the vans to go home to Moravia.  We were all exhausted and were starving!  The entire drive, we talked about the many things we should have for dinner.  When the vans got to Moravia, we all got out and got ready to head separate ways to go home.  That's when the bad part of the day happened.  After I got out of the van, I reached back in to get my backpack, which was quite heavy.  I swung it onto my shoulder and lost my balance.  When I took a step to catch myself, I stepped into a 3-foot deep storm drain.  Have you ever accidentally stepped off the curb and realized that the ground was actually 6 inches lower than you thought?  Yeah, this was the same, except the ground was 3 feet lower than where I was standing.  It was so bizarre.  I sat down on the ground and instantly grabbed my foot.  After I felt something pop, I let go and the side of my foot immediately swelled up and looked like I had a golf ball inside of it.  Everyone was so nice and stayed with me until my host family came to pick me up. 

 My host dad, Luis, has a 1978 VW bus that barely works on a good day.  This night, my friend Hannah opened the door and helped me get into the car.  After I was in and we were ready to go, she tried to close the door and it completely fell off the car.  That's right, I'm cringing in pain while 10 people stand around trying to fix the car door!!  After about 15 minutes, my host mom Ana decides we should just take a taxi.  So Ana, Sage (my roomate) and I get into a taxi and head to the emergency room.  I was prepared for a multi-hour wait at the emergency room, but there (surprisingly) was not a single person there!  I walked (or rolled) right in and got x-rays almost instantly.  I knew it was bad news when the radiologist said he needed to call a special orthopedic doctor in instead of seeing the general emergency doctor.  Cue the tears.  I was doing good up until that point.  Then I started to get a little scared.  While we waited for the doctor, Sage took some pictures of the "before" foot:  

Then the doctor came in and showed me the x-ray.

On the last metatarsal bone (the one closest to the bottom) I broke a triangle of the bone completely off.  That last bone should all be in one piece instead of two pieces.  He also said that I ripped the insertion of a tendon off as well.  This all happened around 10 pm, and by 11 pm I was getting prepped for surgery.  Within that hour, I called my parents and explained what had happened, and made sure they understood that I needed surgery.  Cue more tears.  One of the worst things is being sick.  Worse than that is being sick in a foreign country where you barely understand the language.  So by midnight, I was in surgery where they put in a screw and washer to compress the bones together, and mesh wire to reattach the torn insertion.  I was out of recovery and in my own room by 2:30 am.  Sage stayed with me in the hospital, which was so great. 

 

After surgery: the bruise is the same angle as the screw.  Only 3 stitches!!  Orthopedic surgery is rough.  I woke up half way through the surgery and saw them drilling a hole in my bone to make room for the screw!!!  Nasty...

And there's my new souvenir from Costa Rica. 

 I can't walk for at least three weeks, and can start to put put weight on it after week 4.  Until then, I am confined to crutches.  I missed my first day of school today, which was a total bummer.  I've also been reminded of how out-of-shape I am.  I tried walking to the video store today, which is only about 100 yards from my house, and that wore me out.  So the lesson of the story is "watch your step".  You never know when you will encounter a 3 foot storm drain!

xoxo

Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Yesterday was our first day of really exploring the city! Saturday, we went with some of the ASU students to a local bar and restaurant. Pollo Cervecero is only about 4 blocks away from our house, so it was nice to go out a little further yesterday. This is our neighborhood:Almost all of the houses are completely enclosed in gates. I have four keys just to get in my front door. That little blue stand is a security guard station for night time. He's there from dusk till dawn.

My new friend, Carlita!

Yesterday morning, Sage and I woke up early to go to the farmer's market with Mama Tica. Many of the fruits and veggies were the same as what you might find in the states, but there were some that were very strange.

After the farmer's market and breakfast, Sage and I met up with the other Westmont girls and Alyssa (from ASU) to go to downtown San Jose. We had a map with us, but there are no street names or signs anywhere. We got off the bus a little too early, but luckily the bus fare is super cheap so we got back on and headed into downtown. There were people everywhere! Since it's Sunday, most of the shops were closed but at least we figured out how to use the bus system to get places. The weather was perfect for walking around outside all day. There was a chilly breeze and some clouds to protect us from the sun, but some of the girls didn't wear sunscreen and got pretty burnt. It is amazing that even if it feels cold outside, you will still get burned because of how close we are to the equator.

Sage and I also had an interesting dinner last night. Our host parents don't eat dinner on the weekends, so they just make us something light. Since we had spent most of the day downtown, we figured that we would get our own dinner so mama Tica didn't have to make anything. They went to church while we were out, so we waited for them to get home before we left for dinner. However, when mama Tica came inside, she said that she got chicken for us for dinner, which was very nice. So Sage and I walked out to the table and there was a bag of KFC on the table!! KFC in Costa Rica, who would have guessed?? Now, I am not a fan of KFC in California, but here, the chicken is amazing!! So, we had a nice American meal for dinner, extra crispy chicked, cole slaw, french fries, biscuts, and root beer. It was very funny and so nice of mama Tica!

Here are some things I saw downtown:

Today was our first day at Lincoln. I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but the school was much different than I thought it would be. During our orientation, the Director explained that they wanted to build a world-class campus, so they sent their architects to schools in the states to learn how we build things. The campus is amazing. Everything looks brand new. The buildings are big and open, and the resources are unlimited! On our camps there is a doctor's office, a fully functioning bank, a shop with school supplies, a copy center, a building dedicated solely to teachers' union stuff, and an art gallery. Not to mention the several computer labs, science labs, libraries (yes, multiple), teacher resource rooms, a huge cafeteria, and a room set up specifically for video conferencing with classrooms around the world. Pretty cool, huh? I think I will come back to California spoiled!

Today was nice because it was only new teachers and student teachers. We took a tour of the school and learned more about their mission and vision for the school. Then we had a lady come and do a workshop with us on culture shock. She was hysterical and very informative. We watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and talked about cultural and behavioral differences. I'm starting to understand why anthropology is so interesting!

Here are some pictures of Lincoln. Oh, and did I mention that I will be taking the bus to school with all of the students? Oh yes, this will be an experience all in it's own.

Administration Building

The Art Gallery

The high school building and the Gym

The elementary school building

The campus is very cool. They've only been at this location for about a year and a half so everything still looks new and clean. I can't wait to use all of the different resources that are available to us!

xoxo

Traveling is hard work!

Well, 18 hours after beginning my day, I have finally made it to my house.  I forgot how much work it is navigating busy airports with heavy bags!  When I got to LAX this morning, a security guy commented on the fact that I had two bags to check in and how no one checks that much luggage anymore.  I can assure you that I looked like a fool trying to pull two suitcases while carrying my backpack and a shoulder bag.  After I got all checked in and through security, I got some breakfast and watched the sun rise.  

I haven't been up that early in a long time!  Our first flight was to Phoenix, where we had a 4 1/2 hour layover.  I didn't really do much of anything besides eat two mini packages of pringles, a bag of Milano cookies, and like half a bag of Werther's carmel candies.  My New Year's resolution was to see how much junk food I can eat in one day, and I think today wins.  We met up with some people from ASU and got to know each other a bit more before we got on our next flight.  After a 4 1/2 hour flight, we landed safely in San Jose!  Flying in at night was cool because their city lights are so different from flying into LAX.  Flying in over LA, everything is square.  Streets, blocks, lights, they all fit into a grid.  Here, flying over San Jose looked like someone had draped a strand of Christmas lights on the ground.  The lights are windy, and not square at all. 

When we came out of customs, all of our names were taped up at a taxi stand with the addresses to our houses.  My roomate comes in tomorrow, so I was in a taxi all by myself (eek!).  My driver just started going like he knew exactly where the house was.  Actually arriving at the house was a miracle for two reasons.  First, there seems to be no rules on the road.  And if there are, no one follows them.  I always get frustrated when people weave in and out of cars on freeways at home, but here that is the standard.  You don't spend much time in any given "lane".  Second, the taxi driver knew the general area of where the house was, but didn't know specifics.  Addresses here are based on landmarks, like 300 meters south of the Megasuper store.  He stopped to ask another taxi for directions, but that didn't really work either.  Luckily, I remember Kendra talking about Luis' VW Bus.  As we were driving up and down different streets, I finally saw the VW bus and was so relieved!  

So now I'm laying in my bed writing to you!  Ana and Luis are my host family, and they have the cutest dog, Carlita.  I can't wait to start exploring the area.  I didn't see much tonight because it was so dark, but Ana is going to show me around tomorrow!  I guess that's it for tonight.  Now it is time for a much needed rest!  

xoxo

One Week and Counting!

Hello Everyone!

I'm sure you all know by now that I will be doing my student teaching in Costa Rica this semester.  I am a little sad that I won't be at Westmont for my last semester, but I am looking forward to something new and challenging.  

I'm down to just over a week left here in CA.  I still don't really feel like I'm leaving in just a few days.  I think it will probably catch up with me on the way to the airport!  One thing is for sure, I am getting really excited.  I haven't started packing yet, but I think I have all of the little things in order. 

I'm not sure how often I will be able to update this blog, but I am going to try my best!  I know there are going to be a million things going on during the semester, but I'm looking forward to sharing them with you all!  

Until next time, PURA VIDA!