El Volcan and departure

Today is my last day in CR and it is with definite mixed emotions that I leave. On the one hand, I am sick AGAIN, faced with the reality that no one in this country must wash their hands regularly. I´ve become obsessed w/ hand sanitizer, but to no avail. So, the thought of staying healthy for over a week at a time is a definite draw to go back to the US. Then, there are my family and friends...all of whom I miss very much and look forward to seeing. However, on the flip side, this experience has only opened my eyes to how much of the world there is to see and I cannot imagine staying in the States for much longer once I return...a few weeks at most, then off again to parts unknown as of yet.

I haven´t had a chance to write about my adventure last weekend and wanted to get it down before I throw myself into the Christmas rush as soon as I step off the plane in Boston. This was the trip I imagined myself taking last weekend:

The rental car is delivered exactly on time and it´s an automatic (because I forgot to ask about that when I booked it). I pick up Angela at her house, go to my house and pick up my bag and we hit the road. We drive safely and with out any problems to Fortuna and the trip takes a mere 4 hours, much to our surprise at how easy the roads in CR are to navigate.
We check into our hotel and enjoy a hot shower, followed by a comfortable sleep in our gorgeous resort room. In the morning, we awake to rumbles of the nearby volcano and as we look out our window, we are greeted with an awe inspiring view. I change into the clothes I carefully packed and we are off to a lovely breakfast at the restaurant nestled serenely in a lush, tropical rainforest setting. Next, we set off to explore the volcano, taking in the delightful vistas and many photo ops. Angela returns to the hotel for a massage and I check out the hot springs, all of which excede my expectations. Later that evening, we dine at the Observatory Lodge, where we take in the sights of lava, freely flowing from the magnificent volcano. We finish off the night at the local disco, where we both meet the men of our dreams and decide to settle down in Fortuna to have babies and...ok that last part about marriage and babies was not in the plans, but it´s about as far fetched as the rest of the story I've written so far.


Here´s what really happened:
The car was dropped off over an hour late. It was a manual. Angela cannot drive a manual. I can barely. Did I mention that there are a lot of hills/mountains in Costa Rica? And that I´m not so great with first gear? Um, yeah. Anyway, we did go to my house to get my bag but left without it somehow so I was stuck w/ no clean clothes for the weekend. Or contacts. Or anything. Great. The drive took 7.5 hours because we drove about two hours out of our way and had to backtrack. There are NO signs in CR. Like, worse than Boston.


Our hotel was really fabulous and the showers were hot. The roads were a nightmare and I had to drive the whole way, everywhere. It was cloudy for all of the time were were there, with the exception of 30 minutes. At first, we thought it was hoax and the entire town existed for no reason at all and that the volcano did not exist. We did catch a glimpse of it though, so that theory was out. Angela did get her massage and I did check out the hot springs at our hotel. (I had a bathing suit, shorts and a T-shirt with me that I took to school earlier in the day to go to the beach.)
We drove up to the Observatory Lodge (will have to describe the roads later, but let´s just say that I´m VERY glad we had a 4 wheel drive vehicle). They don´t let anyone in after 5pm unless you´re a hotel guest. WTF????? Ok...down the hill we went. We did find a place to check out some lava flowing and that was cool. Even with the clouds, we could tell that it was lava and very hot at that.

The ride home was better and only 6 or so hours. The views in the daylight were magnificent. We were only 20 mins from our houses when we had to cross the last bridge. Ah the bridge. This is a story for another time. However, here are a couple of photos taken from the car, looking down onto the "bridge" as we drove over it:


















I have to get to the airport and pray that flights are running close to on schedule so I don´t wind up spending Christmas in NC.

See you all soon!!!

Manuel Antonio

I went out last Friday night to sample the nightlife here...purely as a scientific exploration, I assure you. I met a bunch of students from my class as well as two of my instructors at a restaurant called Ronnie's Place where we saw an amazing sunset over the ocean. That's about all I remember. (Just kidding mom!) We did have some adult beverages called guarro sours, the specialty of Ronnie's. Yum. (Here I am with some of the other women from TEFL, enjoying them...)
Then, we went to two bars and danced and talked with the locals. Good thing my Spanish is improving or I would have been left in the dust! I really hate not being able to communicate with people when I know what I want to say, but just don't know the Spanish words to use. I think I'm going to take a Spanish class in whatever country I live next.

Saturday was spent recuperating and walking around the town, catching up on email and drinking lots of water. Sunday was amazing. I went to Manuel Antonio National Park (photo of park entrance above) with Jason, another student from class. He's my age and in addition to Angela and Nahir, the person I get along with best. We live close to each other and he's my chaperon when we walk home from school. We got to the park around 10am and walked all of the trails there and hung out at the beach for an hour or so. The first few trails were gorgeous and very well kept up. I was surprised at how well they were maintained but a little sad that it was so touristy.












We saw our share of monkeys and various lizards, some beautiful birds and lots and lots of rain forest.

After taking the first few trails, we hung out at the beach for a while and saw even more monkeys. They come down out of the trees to steal beach-goers' food--right out from under them (literally) at times. I saw one come down from a tree, sneak up to a woman who was using her bag as a pillow, and the monkey reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic bag before she could react. It was pretty funny, but bad for the monkeys. They're eating way too much people food and getting heart disease and that kind of nasty stuff.

After the beach, Jason and I went on the hunt for the waterfall trail that we had heard about. On the way there, we saw a sloth in a tree (they REALLY do move incredibly slow) and three deer.

Seeing deer in a rain forest was quite strange. They were whitetails and an endangered species in Costa Rica. I took a million pictures of them and was able to walk right up to them. It was totally surreal and they were so calm. I plucked some leaves from the ground that they were eating and held them out to one of the deer. It actually ate the leaves right from my hand! Amazing to say the least and certainly not something that I'll ever be able to repeat, I'm sure. We found the waterfall trail and finally, we did some actual hiking. We had to climb over trees, under trees, wade through a couple of shallow rivers/streams, slip down some muddy hills and finally, got the payoff of a gorgeous waterfall at the end of the trail. We were the only people there and it was awesome to be that deep in the rain forest and feel like we were not in a park, but in the wilderness, on our own. Soon enough, it was 4pm and the park was closing so we had to return to the beach. It was a great day and I'm glad I got to explore the park.

This weekend (tonight through Sunday), my friend Angela and I are driving to Arenal in the northwest part of the country where there is an active volcano. We're actually going to stay in a REAL hotel with REAL hot water. Oh, I can't wait!! There are also hot springs there that are pretty famous and lots of horseback riding. There are some caves there as well that I'd love to check out if they're not too wet and I can find a guide to take me. Angela lost her toenail in a night of drunken something and is in no shape to go with me. I'm really looking forward to getting out of Quepos and the thought of an actual shower with hot water is so appealing!

I hear that MA got a LOT of snow yesterday and I'm sure Phil is doing cartwheels of joy. Cathy is the best roommate ever for shoveling the driveway and sidewalks with our favorite boyfriend, Erik. Thanks guys! I hope everyone else is doing well and hello to you all. I can't believe that I'm going to be home so soon! Feel free to email b/c I love hearing about what's going on in your lives!

Boruca and other crazy stuff

I have not been able to write much lately because I have been away from anywhere with an internet connection, or I get out of class way too late to go to the internet cafe. I swear there will be pictures soon; I have them transfered to someone's laptop, but need to get that connected to the internet to get them online. Hopefully you'll be amazed at this crazy place I'm living in as much as I am.

Over last weekend, I went to a village called Boruca, one of seven indigenous reservations in Costa Rica. It encompasses millions of acres of land and is nestled in the most gorgeous mountains ever! We were taken there by one of the teachers at work, Omar, who is Borucan and grew up in Boruca. He shared a lot of stories and legends with us and I fell in love with the lore. Seriously, some parts of the town have not changed in a hundred years, whereas others have progressed in very strange ways. For instance, one of the houses we visited had a dirt floor, thatched roof and a clay wood stove for cooking. However, it had a refrigerator and a rice cooker plugged in and on the counter. Very anachronistic to say the least. Also, there were hundreds of ... you guessed it, CHICKENS!!! I was in heaven! I have to apologize in advance that a disproportionate number of my photos involve my feathered friends. In addition to the slew of chickens, there were plenty of (stray?) dogs (as is the norm everywhere in CR) and cats and roosters (aka boy chickens) and even a wild turkey to remind me of home, and the infestation of turkeys in Brookline. I also heard a wild hog somewhere in the woods but luckily did not get close enough to see it. There were plenty of horses and donkeys and people were actually riding them around like the old West, but on the same dirt road as cars and trucks.

However, just because they have cars and rice cookers does not mean that they have been fully introduced to the 21st century. They still have the same problems with water as the rest of CR and we were without water in the town for 9 or 10 hours. So, just to paint a clear picture of what happens when there is no water, there's also a lack of some other really important things, like cooking (as every meal involves rice, you had better believe that they need water), showering/bathing and well, flushing the toilets. There's not even water to wash your hands so you had better think ahead when planning to go to the bathroom. As it turns out, a lot of people had to use the bathroom and the only suggestion they got was, "El campo?" and were pointed toward the door. I found this hysterical and no big deal really b/c I had even packed toilet paper for myself. I've gone camping enough to not care, but this was not the attitude of most of the group. In fact, I think I'd rather go outside; there were not toilet seats on most of the toilets so you really needed to have some strong thighs to make it in that town! As a side note, I've noticed the lack of toilet seats a lot while here. So, note to self, if you need to ever bring a gift to someone at a homestay, a toilet seat is not a bad idea. We should have thought this out before going to Boruca; we could have been kings in that town!!!

So, like any native village should, Boruca had three bars. This town is so small that you can walk to everyone's house, chances are that you are related to at least 1/4 of the town by blood or marriage, but they have the need for three bars. I only got to check out two of them because the one bar owned by a non-Borucan is men only. Again, what century is this? Because there are no hotels within 20 miles (just an estimate), we all stayed with family or friends of Omar's. I stayed with the local natural healer. I will not say medicine woman, but close enough. How cool is that? I should have asked her to heal my strep, since it seems to be back. I didn't think about that until after we left. I did get to try some of the local brew, chicha, made from maize and it's basically moonshine. It was pretty good, surprisingly. Unfortunately, it was not strong enough apparently to knock out my sore throat.

We got to meet Omar's dad, who is a nationally recognized artisan and makes the most beautiful ceremonial masks out of balsa and cedar. Also, one of Omar's aunts has been declared a living treasure of Costa Rica and we got to meet her and watch her weave. She collects her own cotton right out of her front yard (!!!!!) and spins it into thread/yarn, dyes it and weaves on a wooden loom. Holy moly could she make some beautiful things. Both Omar's dad and aunt started teaching the local kids their crafts because all the craftsmen were dying out and they wanted to pass on the traditions. I am so glad that they did because these are two beautiful, talented and rare people who radiated with warmth and kindness and I'm so grateful that I got to meet them and was fortunate enough to get to see their work.

Also while in Boruca, we got to eat some of the local cuisine. These were by far, my favorite meals so far on the trip. The tamales were unlike any other and made with smoked pork on the inside, then steamed in banana leaves for three hours on a wood stove. Um, yeah, try finding that somewhere in the states! I will admit though, that even when there was water, this is one place where I turned down tap water and stuck to the bottles. We were only there one night so it was no big deal.

The only downfall of the trip really was the bus ride. It was 4.5 hours each way and although I got to see a lot of the country, having to drive on unpaved roads for more than half of the trip was really not so much fun. Plus, I won't even comment on how they pass each other on the roads here since my mom is reading this. Let's just say that even I wouldn't do some of the stuff they do regularly around here!

I should wrap this up since it's getting really long and I've accumulated about 600 colones worth of time here at the cafe and I'm not sure I have that much on me. Oops! I'm actually here with two of the three guys from my class so I can hit them up if necessary. And don't worry mom, I'll have one of them walk me home since it's dark here!

I hope everyone at home in Boston is well and staying warm (haha) I hear you got some ice and snow there and although Simon seems to think this is a bad thing, I am pretty happy to be missing it. Next weekend, I think I'm going to stay local and check out the beach near my school and the park at Manuel Antonio to spot some sloths and monkeys and just chill out after a very long week. I taught my first one-on-one lesson last night and I have a much greater appreciation for teachers now! I team teach my first actual class tomorrow with another student and then six more classes over the next two weeks, two as a team and four solo. It's really intimidating and I'm putting in a lot of time and effort into my preparation...it's very exhausting.

For those of you keeping track, I'm getting on much better now, living in the home stay. I actually hung out with my whole host family last night after dinner and was able to follow most of the conversation and even make some inappropriate jokes w/ the dad (who definitely started it, I swear!!!). So, if I can joke in Spanish, I must be getting better! I am picking up more and more each day and feel confident I will improve greatly by the time I return to the states.

Keep those emails coming...I love getting them and will do my very best to respond individually this weekend when I have more time to be at the computer.

Love to all!

One word: trango

Here are a few bits of info I've learned about Costa Rica:
The water really is fine to drink, at least here in Quepos. I drink about 3 liters out of the tap every day.
There is a reason that "hot water" is advertised at hotels: it is a luxury. You should be prepared for cold only showers.
Costa Rican coffee = awesome.
Toilet paper (or anything else not produced from your body) cannot be flushed in most toilets. However, my home here has some sort of special plumbing so I can flush toilet paper. Whew!!!
Sidewalks? What sidewalks??
For about $3 US, you can get a casado: a meal w/ rice, beans, salad, plaintains, salad and meat.
Sometimes the power goes out. Sometimes there is NO water. Deal.
Costa Rican men are called "ticos" and women are "ticas".
If you're running late, you're really just on schedule for "tico time." Relax.
Monkeys like to steal whatever they can from your bags. They know how to work a zipper too.
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I'm slowly acclimating to life here in Costa Rica, although the whole "pura vida" thing is a hard concept for me. I'm so used to rushing everywhere, always having something to do, that truly relaxing is not easy. So, I don't really relax and my days are pretty filled with activitiy. I joined the local gym: Gimnasio Musculo Mucho which is actually air conditioned (score!) and am now one with the local meat-head population. A few of my fellow students joined as well and I love how well we all get along. It's on my way home from class, so no excuses! Well, aside from the fact that it's really freaking hot here and the humidity makes it difficult to breathe at times. However, no complaints! Better than the 47 degrees I see Boston was today.

I'm picking up more and more Spanish every day and at times find myself thinking in Spanish, which is a very good sign. I was quite discouraged the other night, as I've felt alienated in my host house because I don't understand more than 2 words out of every 50 that are spoken. However, my host dad asked me out for beers two nights ago and he took me to a local fisherman's bar. He works at a seafood export company and is in with the local fishermen. After making our way down a couple of alleyways and down a dirt road, we arrived at an open air bar, complete with view to the Pacific. This is a place I NEVER would have gone on my own and I'm psyched he took me there. He introduced me to a new drink: trango. The waitress brought over two shot glasses, two tumblers of ice and made the drink in front of us. Basically, it was Costa Rican rum, poured over ice. On top of that, a little Pepsi (from a glass bottle). Then, she brought a plate of cut up limon (a green fruit that is orange on the inside and kind of like a lemon, but much sweeter). We squeezed the limon over the drink and stirred. Really, really good! Next, he ordered me ceviche (which I absolutely loved) and some sort of white bean soup with pork. I have no idea what part of the pig it came from and don't want to know because it was fantastic!
Victor, my house dad, speaks less English than I speak Spanish and we spent a couple of hours practicing my Spanish and actually communicating. It was amazing!!! He was totally patient and encouraging. I actually know more than I thought I did and he was a very good teacher. This was definitely a turning point in my trip so far and at a much needed time when I was feeling very overwhelmed. He reminded me that I had only been here a few days and it would come with time. I'm so grateful for his invitation and this, I am sure, will be one of the highlights of my trip. This was the truly authentic Costa Rica I wanted to see and feel.

On that note, I'm off to study and hit the gym! I welcome all emails from people and any news from home!!!

Class begins!

Yesterday was my first day of class and I love it! My fellow students are all pretty great and the staff is wonderful. Yesterday, we all went out to breakfast at this place in Manuel Antonio in a plane that crashed in Nicaragua and was taken here...an amazing feat to think of when you see how shitty these roads are and how steep the hill is to get there! The restaurant overlooked the jungle and the ocean, an amazing vista complete with a monkey to entertain us.

I took my first lesson in Borucan, a native language and it is HARD! I can totally appreciate how difficult it is for someone to be thrown into a new language cold. It was frustrating and I hated how confusing it was, but hopefully today's lesson will sink in more. We're planning a trip this weekend to visit the Borucan people, as one of the teachers here is a native Borucan. I really can't wait b/c it sounds absolutely amazing! There will be plenty of pics to share from that. It's been difficult to find somewhere to unload pics from my camera, but I think I might be able to at my host family.

Speaking of the host family, that's a strange situation. My room is very nice; clean and with two fans, both of which I appreicate! However, in order to go to the bathroom, I have to go THROUGH my host daughter's bedroom. No big deal if she was like 8 or 9, but she's 24 and I feel like I'm totally invading her space. Oh well. I'm sure she's used to it and I will get to be too. It's such a different culture when it comes to personal space and privacy and I'm so not used to it all. For instance, I came home last night and interrupted my host family's chanting of the rosary in the living room. Hey, that was nice. I felt like an ass for having to walk through that. My host mom has this giant rosary hanging over her bed (like 4 feet tall/wide) so clearly they're into this church thing. In my room, someone had gone through all of my stuff, refolded all of my clothes, made the bed and organized everything. I didn't really love that so much and was not sure if I could be offended though. The family has a housekeeper and I hear that they love to micromanage their charges' lives. Not so cool to me. Oh well...all part of the culture I guess.

I'm on a break from class right now and will update more later.

Arrival

So, I made it. I was up at 4am on Friday morning, mostly because I was in pain from trying to swallow and my throat was too swollen to accomodate my saliva. Nice. I couldn´t wait to get on a plane. I was super early for my flight but I did not care because it was better than sitting at my house in pain. At least I was in pain with coffee in hand at the airport.

My second flight from Charlotte to Costa Rica was late and I missed the transfer and the bus to Quepos. (Incidentally, I discovered that Quepos is pronounced like KEPos w/a K like ketchup sound, not the KW sound I assumed.) After clearing customs, I was surrounded by taxi drivers, looking to take this white chick somewhere expensive. I must look really conspicuous. As far as I could tell, the darker skinned people were not getting nearly as much attention as I was. Great. Way to blend Katie.

I took a cab to San Jose, a place, for the three hours I spent there, I would not recommend visiting. It´s smoggy, crowded and well, crowded. Not my idea of fun. I was dropped off at the Coca-Cola bus station (No joke) which happened to be closed. So, I had already missed the last private bus to anywhere, decided I hated San Jose and did not want to spend the night there and was determined to get myself on some mode of transport out of the capitol. I used my handy 50 words of Spanish to discover that I might be able to directly pay the bus driver the appx $5 fare if there were enough seats. It did not look good once I saw him shaking his head at me. However, some helpful guy told me to put my luggage in the hold under the bus and I´d have a better chance of getting on. This was not exactly what I wanted to do: separate myself from my bags with the hope he´d let me on the bus. However, I brought him my bags at the side of the bus and the driver told me something, which I took to mean sit in the back so, I just got on the bus and sat in the back. Ha! I was on, my bags were on and I was not getting off. I just hoped it was the right bus. Right. At least I was getting out of San Jose.

It turns out it was the right bus, I was exhausted and tried to sleep, ignoring the huge drop offs on the side of me, assuming that the driver was better than I at controlling this huge thing. By the way, I had imagined this to be the least safe and most uncomfortable way to get to Quepos. At five dollars, I assumed that it would be me, some half naked men and free roaming chickens on the way to Quepos. Shows how ignorant I am. This is the best deal in town EVER! It was a coach bus, just without air conditioning (but totally functioning windows) and no bathroom. Big deal. It looked safer than the Fung Wah, so I was psyched at my ignorance. The $29 alternative that I was going to take should have been plated in gold or something! We made a stop at some random side of the road food stand w/bathrooms (and running water). I got something for dinner. I know it consisted of rice, beans and something else. It might have been sheep brains, cow intestines, chicken livers, who knows. I surely don´t want to know. It was good and perfect for the bus ride. I could actually swallow it without too much pain and it woke me up some so I could make sure I was awake for my stop.

I didn´t get to see too much scenery since it was so dark and I assume this was for the best. I did move up to the front of the bus when I saw road signs for Quepos and kind of wish I hadn´t. I could see out the windsheild when we came up on what some might refer to as a bridge. This is no Army Corp of Engineers undertaking to say the least. Basically, it looked like some pieces of rebar and a couple of pieces of sheet metal thrown across two supporting beams. No shit. I seriously wanted to take out my camera and document this in case the authorities needed to describe the scene to my family when my body was recovered. However, I thought the flash might scare the driver and it might be kind of rude. I am totally going back there to get it on film though before I leave.

We finally arrived in Quepos, I have no idea what time. Late. I found my hotel, mostly by accident. Took a shower (pictures of the "shower" are forthcoming as soon at I find my camera) and fell into bed.

Now I´m here, still sick but at least not traveling anywhere for the next few days. Phew!

Hope you all are well back home and had a great collective Thanksgiving!

T-Minus Twelve Hours

My last day of work was last Friday and I received a very nice send off from my co-workers. (Thanks to all.) Of course, I was back in the office on Monday, so no one was able to actually get rid of me that fast! Don't worry though; I really am gone now. Well, for the month at least.

I just returned from the big turkey fest at my mom's house and am burning up with a fever and my throat feels absolutely raw. I can't wait to get on the plane tomorrow. Worse, I feel sorry for the schmuck that has to sit next to me. However bad I feel, I wouldn't have missed Thanksgiving for anything. I love my family so much and I'm going to super miss all of them while I'm gone. Just as an FYI to the person whose name I picked for the Christmas thing is getting his or her book in Spanish. So, everyone should start brushing up.

I finished packing last night, but for a few items I have to shove in there last minute (like the water purification system my mom bought me. Thanks Mom!). Thanks to my packing list, I think I have everything that I need. Really, as long as I have my iPod, sneakers and headphones, I'll be a happy girl and those three things are going in my carry on.

I spent the last few days running around, seeing friends and family and picking up all those last minute items that really seem to add up. I did manage to squeeze in some fun and I had a great time at dinner on Saturday night w/ some of my favorite people ever. The six of them, plus alcohol and Indian food...what could be better? According to Simon, we had a super authentic experience since the service sucked and he says this is a true sign of authentic Indian food. Thanks for the clarification Simon.

I ran out yesterday to get gifts for my host family, about whom I know almost nothing but their sexes and ages. However, it's the thought that counts and I do hope that they like what I've picked out for them. I consider it a bribe to not feed me cow stomach or other delicacies so it was definitely money well spent!

I hope everyone sends me good energy to get better, to be safe and to return home with lots of good stories.

Hasta luego todos!

The Day After

Yesterday was my last day at work. Leaving a job that provides stability to venture off into something totally foreign to me, with definite instability is, in one word: frightening. However, I am confident in the thought I've put into this and it all still feels right to me. It's a waiting game for me right now. I'm in limbo for the next week until I step off the plane in CR because I honestly have no idea what to expect.

I received information about the family I'll be staying with and I got the "address" of the house as well. Apparently, Quepos doesn't believe in street names or numbers. The actual address of the house translates to "in front of the public school." Um, what? I'm still trying to understand how anyone gets any mail in the city. The directions came with a hand drawn map and turn-by-turn instructions using landmarks instead of street names. But hey, I'm used to that coming from Boston. Usually it's "Go past two Dunkin' Donuts, turn left at the homeless guy, at the Starbucks go right and it's the third one way street on the right". So, it's really no stretch for me to find my way around like that. One thing that I was psyched about were the waves that were drawn in the map; it looks like I'm mere seconds away from the water. What more could you ask for?

Ave Maria and other pitfalls

It's been a couple of weeks since my first post and things are moving along smoothly. I have my plane tickets (for a mere $30 thanks to my frequent flier miles), my bus transfer to the bus station from the airport (aeropuerto) and my bus ticket to Quepos from the bus station. I decided to splurge and go for the air conditioned coach bus for the whopping sum of $29 for the three-hour journey. I pay more than that for the gas in my car to go that far! I was able to make the reservations on line and in English, making me wonder just how 3rd world this place is.

I have been having the debate (mostly with myself) about whether or not I can drink the water while there. I've found plenty of sites online that say you can and it's safe. Of course, I can really find plenty of sites to say just about anything I want them to with all the misinformation online so I don't know how true they are. However, my need for coffee and my desire to be as unobtrusive as possible in my host family's house is going to have to outweigh any possible ill-fated outcomes. I'm packing the Imodium and crossing my fingers. Please don't let those be my famous last words!

I have also been talking with my career coach, Linda, about other things I might encounter while in Costa Rica that will be uncomfortable for me. Right at the top of that list is the dreaded CHURCH. Since most Latin American countries have huge populations of Catholics (who actually practice Catholicism and go to church), I'm afraid I might be asked to go with someone to church. I think I'd rather have to have something go wrong with the water than to sit through a Catholic mass. However, in the spirit of immersion, I've decided that I'm going to do it. After all, if the mass is in Spanish, I'm not going to have any idea what anyone is saying anyway. I was kind of surprised that this was my top concern though. Sometimes I forget how traumatizing it was to be forced to go to church as a kid. Thanks mom. (Just kidding. I know she meant well and surely did not foresee this outcome!)

I'm really excited to be in CR leading up to Christmas though. I remember this time of year was my absolute favorite in New Mexico. I loved all the decorations, the smell of pinion in the air from people burning the wood in their fireplaces, the overall air of festivities and happiness that saturated Santa Fe...all great memories. I hope that being in another highly Catholic setting will be just as positive; where the emphasis is less on church and more on family traditions and good will.

A Plain Life to a Plane Ticket

I've been at the same job for four years now, bought a condo a year ago, even have a 401K plan. It's a pretty safe existence and would be great if it were a job I liked or was fulfilling, a house located in an area I wanted to live and had any clue about the whole 401K thing. Truth is, I fell into the "adult routine." It all seems like stuff that I SHOULD do, not really stuff that I necessarily want to do. So, after living the past year absolutely dreading going to work (not because there's anything wrong with my job, it's just so lacking in any challenge for me), I've been trying to come up with a solution to the question, "What do I want to be when I grow up?" I've tried out lots of ideas in my head, done some research on a lot of them and nothing has felt right to me. After going back to school twice after getting my bachelor's degree, dropping out both times and racking up a lot of student loan debt, I have been really wary of beginning something else that I might like at the outset, but that I lose interest in quickly. This fear was so great, that I felt crippled and was unable to make any decisions, second guessing my choices and staying stagnant in my unhappy, but comfortable existence.

Enter Linda
I had mentioned to my mom that I was thinking about going to a career counselor and she told me that her best friend, Linda was in school to become a life coach and needed a couple of people to coach as part of her training. I jumped at the chance to work with her, both because I already liked her as a person and knew I could work with her and it was free. After looking into how much some coaches charge, I realized what a steal it was and signed up.

It's still unbelievable to me how much this whole process has helped and really created such an impact on my life. In just the past two months, in working with Linda through a weekly one hour phone call (as she lives in NC and I'm in MA), I have come to some conclusions about what is important in my life and made some decisions about my next steps.

So, here's the deal:
I'm going to Costa Rica for a month to get certified to teach English as a second language in a 4 week intensive course led by TEFL International. While there, I'll be staying with a local family (way out of my comfort zone on that one and more on that later) in the southwestern town of Quepos in the Puntarenos area of Costa Rica.

I'll return to Boston just in time for Christmas (please note that everyone will be receiving bananas or the like for presents this year) and will stick around through New Year's. Shortly after that, I'm off again, but to sunny Minnesota this time. Who the heck goes to Minnesota in January you ask? I'm sure I'll ask myself that a few times while I'm there too. However, I'll be off on an Outward Bound odyssey for 8 days of dog sledding, x-country skiing and winter camping. Brrrrr!!

Then, it's back to Boston to continue the job search and finish up my application for Lesley University. I'll be looking for a job teaching English as a second language in Chile (all are welcome to visit!) for 5 or 6 months and applying to a Master's program in Intercultural Relations at Lesley to begin in Fall 2008.

That's it in a nutshell. I'll be filling in the details later in a hopefully more interesting dialogue. I hope to have lots of stories to bring you from Costa Rica about my trials (of which I'm sure there will be many) and my successes (there had better be many of those as well!!)