Five Weeks Later...

It has been almost five weeks since I got home from Costa Rica, and a lot has happened in that time. When I first got home, I thought it was going to be really difficult for me to adjust to the cultural changes here in the US. However, I didn't have any problems... at first. But after a while, I started to notice some changes and stressors I had never experienced before.

I had really gotten into the Pura Vida mindset. I always felt very relaxed when I was there, regardless of what was going on. However, the stressed lifestyle of always feeling in a hurry and trying to fit everything in took hold right when I got home. Yes, it didn't help that I had a week to pack for college, work two jobs, and see everyone I wanted to see, but I still felt like I should still have that relaxed outlook. I felt my anger and anxiety come out sometimes, especially over things that didn't deserve it. I was very frustrated.

However, after a nice conversation with one of my best friends who has also been abroad, I discovered it's normal. She talked about feeling like a different person when she studied abroad. When she came home, she felt like everyone treated her like the person she was before and didn't realize she had changed or realized other unique qualities within her while she was gone. I understood that but more thought it was being put back in the same environment caused certain habits to reappear. But she reminded me that I was moving to a completely new place where I didn't know anyone and I could choose to be whoever I wanted.

Since moving to Helena, Montana for school, I have chosen to be less stressed. I do not allow things to bother me that used to. After Costa Rica, I have really started to understand that outlook is a choice. I knew it before but I am really experiencing it for the first time. I can choose to let myself get overcome by stress or I can choose to stay calm and take things one at a time.

I have also kept in contact with Kenny and have talked about going back to Costa Rica. I miss the culture and the people. Costa Rica helped open my eyes even more about what is important to me. I love connecting with people meeting people from other cultures. I love hearing about different lifestyles and making connections with people around the world. Costa Rica now feels like a second home. I really miss my host family, and I think about them often. I would love to go back and work with Maximo Nivel again, maybe even try another program, such as teaching English. I have thought about the kids I met at Rayito de Luz and wonder how they are doing. I think about what impact I made there. I want to do more for them so I may try to keep in contact with them and also go back to visit. I would love to try to organize a fundraiser at Carroll College for the kids in Costa Rica once I get a bit more settled here.

But for now, I am just trying to figure out a routine, meet people, and get comfortable. I am really loving it in Montana, even though it's only been three weeks. I love how there is a city with everything you need, yet there is that country aspect so close by. Everyone is super friendly and I feel very welcome. I also can't get over the fews. I swear, the sky IS bigger, I don't get it. I've also never lived in a place with mountains, and it is quite the spectacle. It makes everything better.

Lesson Learned

My last day. My last day in a place that has started to feel like a home to me. I used my final day to say goodbye to the people I've grown to care about so deeply.

I went to the Artisan Market for a few hours and hung out with Kenny. It was a sad goodbye, we have become such good friends. I will miss him a lot. We spent so much time together. Luckily, we are going to keep in touch and we hope to visit each other some day. Kenny left me with a few gifts to remember him by, which I plan on keeping forever.

I said goodbye to everyone at Maximo Nivel. I love everyone who works there and hope to visit them again soon. I plan on emailing the man who runs the organization because he wasn't around to talk to. I want to get more information about Maximo Nivel, why it got started and such, and hear it from his point of view so I can report back.

I finished the evening by having dinner at Ivannia's with the roommates and then the nine of us went to the Chicago bar for one last outing together. It was a sad goodbye, I've lived with these people and traveled with them for two weeks. We are all going to keep in touch.

A woman from Transleo, the travel company, picked me up to bring me to the airport. Ingrid was the same person who picked me up from the airport the first time. Ending where I started. She was very chatty and I noticed I could pick up on a lot more spanish than I could when I first arrived.

I arrived at the airport and after a couple fails when entering the airport through the wrong door, I made it. I paid the departure tax of $29 and I made it through check-in and security. I made the stupid mistake of buying a big bottle of water before I got on the plane because I was so thirsty. Thirty seconds after I bought it (a bottle costing $8 because everything is so expensive), I found out you can't have any liquids on the plane when entering the country, even if you bought it in the airport. Really? Crap. Lesson learned.

I'm now in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After more than an hour and a half through customs and security, I've finally made it on the plane. It was a bit tight to get here, but I made it.

Some things I'm looking forward to:

Seeing my family

Seeing my friends

Seeing my animals

Packing for Montana

Going back to work

Driving my car

Sleeping in my own bed, or more likely, Adam's bed...)

And last, but definitely not least, A HOT SHOWER

Freedom

It was the last day of spanish class. My teacher, Hilda, was very helpful and supportive of everything I have learned in the past two weeks. I'm really going to miss seeing her each day. I learned so much. Luckily, I have my notes, and I can continue to learn spanish and hopefully get the hang of it a bit more.

After spanish, I met some new volunteers and talked with them about their placements and feelings about being here. I ate lunch with the roommates and then we all headed downtown. Three of us went to the Artisan Market (me included, of course), and two went to get Kendria's credit card, which had been devoured by an ATM machine. I showed one of our new roommates, Cindy, the market. I loved watching her face light up when she saw the different booths.

I headed over to Kenny's booth and helped him sell again. My goal was to finally make a sale. A few people would come over and look, but no one was going to buy anything. And then an older couple walked over. They were really interested in Kenny's bottles. Kenny does amazing work with bottles. He take a regular bottle, such as one filled with alcohol, and puts his clay-like material (called resin) on it. He makes so many unique designs; animals, faces, mushrooms. It's really wonderful. This couple was looking at all of them and I was chatting with them about what they were interested in. Finally, they made a decision. They wanted to buy a bottle. Kenny gave me a high five, and I just couldn't handle it. I was so excited!

After a while, Kenny got a friend to watch his booth and he took me down to the supermarket, where he bought me a popsicle and got some food for himself. We had a nice time chatting in the park and he told me about his life and his family. Eventually we headed back to the booth and worked there a bit longer.

After a while of being with Kenny, I went to Maximo Nivel and waited for my roommates there. I found one of my new roommates, Nina, and we hung out a while. I filled out my evaluation cards about my experiences with Maximo, all positive of course, and received my completion T-shirt. The other roommates arrived and we headed over to Mundo Locco, the bar closest to Maximo, and we all relaxed and talked. The people at the bar have grown to know us. They know our faces, they give us things for free. It's hard to believe that I leave tomorrow and will leave all of this behind. But I just know it's not forever. I've made too many connections to leave for good.

I'm going to be sick...

The roommates split up today into three groups to accomplish our final individual desires before the bus left at 2:30pm. Paige and the girl who was staying in our room, Nicole, went on a canopy tour and ziplining, which I heard was amazing. Kendria and Ilona went to the La Fortuna waterfall and went swimming. I decided not to do it because I thought we would have to hike and my tennis shoes were still wet from yesterday. Unfortunately, turns out it was really easy and beautiful. Luckily, they took a lot of pictures and I felt like I was there!

Ebyan and I decided to stay behind and explore the city. I wanted to see if we could get out of the tourist part of the city. We were able to find a school in La Fortuna. It was pretty large and the kids were out practicing for band. Ebyan and I looked into lots of different shops and got ice cream and lunch together, yes, in that order. We stayed at our restaurant for a while and compared lives back home. Turns out my lifeguarding job and her job at an amusement park are pretty similar.

We headed back to our hostel and met up with everyone else. Hearing about all their adventures was really fun and we all got ready to go. We checked out of the hostel and headed for the bus. The weather was finally clear enough that we could actually see the volcano! It was gorgeous. We got in line and were luckily able to find spots to sit. We were all so excited to get back home.

After a little while on the bus, we got up in the mountains and it got extremely foggy. You could barely see in front of you and the driver had a pretty nervous look on his face. He was driving way too fast and I began to feel extremely sick. We were twisting and turning and everyone was frightened. Being up on a mountain with a little wire being the only thing between you and the ground below makes me scared. Not only that, we are in a place where people already drive crazy.

Luckily, after a little while, the weather cleared up. Everyone was relieved but by that point, I was feeling really sick from the ride. Turned out all my roommates felt the same way. We couldn't wait to get off the bus. We finally arrived back in San Jose and found a taxi who crammed all five of us in his cab and drove us home.

When we got back to the house, we burst through the door. "IVANNIA! We missed you so much!" We were greeted by hugs and a plate full of food. I was cautious about eating too much since my stomach still felt a bit unsettled but everything was so delicious, I couldn't help but finish it. Everyone climbed in bed around 8:00pm and we were all wiped out from our weekend. Ebyan and I stayed up and watched Step Up together, which meant we were up long enough to meet a new roommate. Nina is super nice and is from Canada. I'm excited to get to know her but I'm sad I will only see her for a short time.

I am so happy to be back in San Jose and I feel happy to be alive. I was actually afraid for my life on the bus ride. A few potential crashes during the cab ride home also didn't make me feel much better. But being in my bed brings me comfort.

Rain Never Goes Away

Since our tour of Arenal was not until 2pm, the five amigas got to sleep in! We all felt very well rested and had a lazy morning. We played cards outside and got pizza next door for lunch. Something I notice very intensely here in La Fortuna is just how touristy it is. Every restaurant has everything in spanish and in english. There are souvenir shops everywhere and everything is pretty expensive. While it was fun seeing a new place, all of us agreed that it made us miss San Jose. In San Jose, you really feel like you are a part of the culture, whereas here, you feel like you are just looking in.

When we got back from our pizza meal, we met our new roommate, Nicole, who was traveling around the world after a tough divorce. She was extremely nice and decided to go on our tour with us. We all headed to Red Lava Tour Company together and signed her up. A twenty person tour bus picked us up and after picking up a few more people on the way, we were off. On our way, we apparently saw two slothes, but I was only able to spot one. As we were driving to Arenal, we got bombarded by a thunderstorm. Just like in Drake Bay, we had to ford a river. This river was definitely much stronger than the one in Drake Bay but we successfully made it across. We arrived at a small building, which was the start of our tour. I bought a poncho because at this point, the storm had picked up. Thank goodness I bought a waterproof camera.

We split up into a few groups for the tours and headed off into the jungle. We had to cross bridges and walk up and down hills. I didn't mind the rain, it actually made it really fun. It did kind of bother me that most paths were paved. It was hard to feel like you were really exploring the jungle when there were man made paths everywhere. Our guide pointed out lots of different plants to us and told us their functions. Some smelled amazing and were mosquito repellants, while others held fresh drinking water. It was very helpful, just in case I ever get stuck in the jungle.

After a little while, we arrived at the waterfall. Because of the rain, the water was very brown and powerful so it wasn't safe to swim in. But it was fun looking at it with everyone. Later, we also supposedly were looking at three volcanos, but the storm created fog, which blocked our view. Regardless, it was a really fun tour. When we finished our walk, which took about three hours, we headed back to the bus which took us to the hot springs. On our way there, we got stuck at the river, which had gotten much higher and stronger. We had to wait a little while and then we attempted to cross. You could feel the strength of the river pushing you every which way. Everyone on the bus was nervous and once we made it across, everyone exploded into applause.

When we got to the hot springs, the rain had calmed down so they were safe to be in. We all rain through the dark forest down the path. I used my camera flash to light the way as best I could. We safely arrived and all slid into the hot water. There were small waterfalls around and it was really beautiful and relaxing. Some of the guides put volcanic ash on people's faces, which is an exfoliant. It felt really good and I could feel my skin opening up. Some of my roommates and I also went underneath the waterfall to some tiny caves, which was very exciting. It was a really lovely way to end the tour, especially after getting so cold and wet on our tour.

We took the bus back to our hostel and all took a hot shower. We were all pretty hungry from the long tour (which ended up being about seven hours). We found a cute restaurant across the street and I got an amazing pasta dish. We had a great time, and found some other volunteers from Maximo Nivel. After a nice long meal, we all headed back to our respective hostels, since we were all so exhausted and full. The roommates and I all head back to San Jose tomorrow and we can't wait to get home.

La Fortuna

Today, all the roommates and I are headed out on an adventure to La Fortuna, which is where the Arenal volcano is. We woke up early to pack and get ready and then headed for downtown. I hung out at the Artisan Market for a while with Kenny, who helped me with my spanish homework and then I met the roommates at the bus station. Kenny made sure to help me find a taxi, because he's always afraid I won't get to where I'm going. He worries too much.

The cab driver was very friendly and dropped me off at the station. I found my roommates quickly and the five of us waited for the bus. Once it arrived, we headed for the back. The bus ride was relaxing, yet extremely crowded at points. The bus driver didn't seem to care how many people were on the bus as long as they all fit. There were people crowded in the aisles, sitting on the stairs, anywhere you could think of. The four hour bus ride was pretty relaxing. I loved listening to music while looking out the window. I never got tired of the lush scenery. The towns and farms on the mountains were beautiful and small.

After many bus stops, we arrived in La Fortuna. We headed for Red Lava tour company and they told us about all the tours and prices. We decided that tomorrow, we will go to Arenal, where we will see the volcano, tour the forest, swim in a waterfall, and relax in the hot springs. We were so excited.

We headed for our hostel and found our room. The hostel was small and cramped, but nice. Three sets of bunk beds and a sink was all that was in the room. We relaxed for a bit and then went out and chatted with the bartender, Jose. He told us all about La Fortuna and how beautiful it is. He also told us where we can get a nice dinner.

We couldn't find the spot Jose told us about but we did find another restaurant. It was nice and we all got a meal that satisfied our cravings. It was all very delicious and the street dogs joined us for our meal. They were looking for shelter since it had been consistently raining since we arrived. After dinner, we just hung out in our room. We are exhausted from the trip and are ready for a good nights sleep before tomorrows adventures.

Muchacha!

Today is my last day at my site since tomorrow is a holiday. We brought another 300 piece puzzle for the kids, this time knights on horses. We started out with coloring at Rayito de Luz today. The volunteers got very engrossed in their pictures and the kids loved showing us theirs as well. Some were beautiful, random scribbles here and there, while others were very accurate according to the image they chose.

After a little while, I brought out the puzzle. Kids rushed over and I had some of the same problems as yesterday. I don't know what it is but children love picking up puzzle pieces and throwing them. It also makes me cringe when kids force puzzle pieces together that obviously don't fit. What do they think? "Maybe if I push a little bit harder?" Luckily, most kids lost interest except for the ones who were really good at puzzles. We worked and worked, but this was a hard puzzles. Many pieces could've gone in so many different places. But we had a great time and worked on it for a while. One little boy chose a specific section to work on. Every time he would find a piece, "MUCHACHA!" And would point to the piece. "Muy bien! Perfecto!"

Unfortunately, the two kids who were really into the puzzle lost interest once everyone went outside. I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to stay and keep working on it, even though I felt incomplete. I hesitantly walked away and headed outside. Everyone was eating a nice rice pudding snack and we ran around for a while. All I could hear was "Muchacha" this, and "Muchacha" that. Muchacha is the term the kids use to speak to the volunteers who are women. It literally just means "girl". I swear. If I get called a "muchacha" one more time... especially for the amount of times I told everyone my name...

At about 3:30, it was time for us all to say goodbye. We explained to the kids and the women who run the shelter, "the Tias", that we were all headed home. It was a sad goodbye and we would all miss each other. But I did feel like it was a good amount of time to work there. It was enough time to get to know the kids, but not enough that I felt bored with my placement, like I wanted to do something else.

We headed back to Maximo Nivel, the main office for volunteers, and me and one of the volunteers, Sarah, decided to head out and get some dinner. One of my friends told me about a great cafe, so we headed over and got some food. It was extremely delicious, and the restaurant was a cute little hole-in-the-wall place. Sarah goes to school in Boston, and she is headed back home tomorrow. We had a lot of fun eating and chatting, and turns out we have a lot of things in common, especially our taste in food.

When we were finished, we wanted to catch the bus together since we live in the same neighborhood. However, because of the holiday tomorrow, the buses were slow and not running the way we needed them to. Tomorrow is Virgin of Los Angeles Day, which is the time when many people have started walk to Cartago's Los Angeles Basilica to pay honor to La Negrita, Costa Rica's black Virgin. The streets were crowded with people all walking the same way. It was quite a site.

Sarah and I caught a cab together and she got dropped off first. I then showed the driver my address and he headed off. A few blocks later, he stopped and asked another driver for directions. He headed off and I started to recognize the area. A bit before my turn, there is a fork in the road. He stops there and asks me which way to go (mind you, he doesn't speak any english). I point to the right and he tells me, "Oh no, Santa Marta (my neighborhood) is to the left." I was pretty sure it was to the right but stayed firm and went to the left. We drove for a while and this whole time, I'm thinking, "It was to the right, I just know it." Eventually, he pulls up to Chicago Bar, the bar my host family owns. "No way. Otra de taxi." This man was kicking me out of his taxi because he didn't know where to go. Not only that, but he still insisted I pay him. I didn't want to argue with a language barrier or because of the fact that I was alone, so I payed and got in another taxi. He knew exactly where to go and took me straight there.

I was so happy to be home, I wasn't even that upset about my double cab ride. That didn't stop Diego, my host father, from being mad though. "Estupido!" Diego is probably one of my favorite people ever. One day, while we were eating, he says to me, "Claire! I'm a DJ!" He brings me out to the garage and shows me all his equipment. I told him about how impressed I was that he was a DJ and owned a bar. He then proudly said to me, "And I'm an attorny." I don't get to see Diego very much but when I do, he always points to me and says, "I love you." "No, I love you!" "I love you first." I am definitely going to miss Diego and Ivannia when I leave. They were the perfect host family for me: relaxed, yet loving.